The Great Purge

1st Goodwill run

A big part of homesteading is living simple.  Living simple means not having so much stuff.  I am much too much of a stuff collector which is a trait I inherited from the generations before me.  So, after weeks of sorting through and making a piles and piles, today is the day it all left.  What an amazing feeling it is to see all the stuff gone and the space empty out.  This is an essential step to us moving out of

2nd run

the house we are is and into the likely smaller house out in the middle of nowhere.  Clothes, decorations, furniture, appliances, toys, etc.  The only thing that remains safe is tools.  I can't see any reason to get rid of any tools.  I am donating everything I can to Goodwill so not much is going in the garbage.  After these pictures were taken, the man made two more runs with the truck that were full of furniture we had been saving just in case we needed it.  I can't imagine who would ever need 3 coffee tables.  I also gave a few things away to friends who could use them.  Hopefully I can get rid of more stuff soon.

Solar clothes dryer

The less electricity you use, the less you have to pay for.  The less you have to pay for, the less you have to work at your 9-5 job, even though I'm sure you love it.  The less you have to work at your 9-5 job, the more time you have to work on your homestead.  The more ways you find to save money on things you don't really need, the closer you are to giving up that job entirely.  So what I'm saying is that you should give up your clothes dryer for a solar powered version.
A dryer uses about 4 kW per hour to run.  A kWh on my electric bill costs about 14 cents.  If you do 5 loads of clothes per week, it is costing you $11.20 per month to run your dryer.  That is $134.40 per year to dry your clothes.  That may not seen like it is really very much, but it is free to just hang up your clothes.  It also leads to much less wear and tear on your clothes which means they will last much longer and you won't have to buy new ones as often.
Is it really worth the effort? It may not be to someone living in the city, but if your ultimate goal is to build a house and live off grid, then yes it is.  Off grid means that you are relying on wind or solar power to run your house.  You are no longer looking at dollar value placed on running the dryer, but how much electricity you will need and how much you have available.  If your house runs on solar, and it has been a cloudy week, what do you really want to use that electricity for?  Drying clothes or maybe running your fridge?

Balsamic vinegar fruit fly trap

I always seem to have a terrible fruit fly problem at this time of the year.  One day everything is fine and the next the kitchen is crawling with the pesky little things.  I had never been able to get rid of them until halfway through this year.  Balsamic
vinegar.  Put some into a little bowl and cover it with plastic wrap.  Poke a few holes into the top of the plastic big enough so that they can get in.  Then they can't get out.  My bowl filled up the very first day and the fruit fly count is dwindling.  Very exciting.