Laundry Rules!

I have a family of five:  a husband, a junior boy in high school, a sophomore girl in college, and a senior girl in college.  The two college students have had to come home and finish up at local colleges because our family’s single income has continuously gone down since Obama was elected (both times).  I’m back in school recertifying to hopefully attain that non-existent teaching position.  Therefore, it has been my mission to not waste a dime if I can help it. 

Photo from Homemaking for Teen-agers, Book 2, McDermott and Nicholas, 1958, p. 190

Where is Income Being Wasted?

Some major household expenses are utilities, food, and clothing.  These are things everyone basically wastes money on even though we generally have nothing to show for it when all is said and done.  Once we eat food, it’s gone (only the memory of a tasty meal and maybe an extra pound or two remain).  And when we take that extra-long shower (more than 10 minutes), or leave all the lights on and run the TV no one is watching, etc. nothing remains of this expense as well.  Some of us are very good at purchasing and caring for “classic” pieces and shoes that are well worth the initial expense.  However, more than likely, we buy clothes that will be outdated and worn out from misuse well before the expense has been worth it. 

Another Dave Ramsey Reference

I recently heard Dave Ramsey tell a man with a single income of $140,000 (I wish) that if his wife would invest $600 a month on a mutual fund for the next thirty years (she was forty), by the time she was seventy the mutual fund would be worth OVER TWO MILLION dollars!  Her issue was having the latest fancy car, but how much do we spend on clothes each month?  How much does that accumulate each year?  How much would we have if we were more careful with our expenditures and invested the money saved on electricity, food and clothes into a kick-!#* mutual fund.  I would like to be a millionaire if I’m lucky enough to reach seventy!  (P.S.—Dave didn’t mind if she had a fancy new car—just pay cash for it!  And with their income, and only buying a new car every three or four years, why would you not be able to do that?)

Take Care of Investments

Any-hoo, the point of this post is that I find myself at this late date, having to teach The Fam how to wash clothes so they don’t ruin my irreplaceable Whirpool Duet washer and dryer purchased in much happier financial times.  Since I hope to find regular work soon and cannot be on top of the clothes-washing situation, I have to protect our investments of appliances, clothing and utilities.  Plus, it would be nice if everyone knew how to wash clothes properly.  Hence—The Rules. 

The Rules

Believe me, there’s a story behind each rule.  Hopefully these rules posted above the washer and dryer will promote appreciation for how much things cost because “the buck stops here.”  No more Mom buying fancy detergents, clothing for school or gifts, or water and electricity to re-wash forgotten clothes that have mildewed in the washer overnight.  I encourage folks to start their own rules earlier than I did—kids (and husbands) can learn to wash clothes as soon as they have enough to make three loads of just their clothes!  Does this mean they will do it right when they leave home?  Apparently not.  But it won’t be because we didn’t try!  These are the rules for our home:

If you have a problem with these rules, the machine owner (Mom) will be glad for you to take your laundry elsewhere:

1.   Do not start laundry after 9pm.  Fold and put away each load immediately!!!

2.   Never use the Heavy Duty or Whites Cycle without the owner’s permission.  If the clothes are extra dirty or the load a little larger, press the button for more or less soil.  There is even a soak function if the clothes need to soak a while.  Whites and Heavy Duty take much more electricity and most of the time the normal cycle will suffice.

3.   ________ can wash her clothes with Mom’s since she has "so few clothes" because you can never wash all your clothes in one load—that will cost money in the long run due to clothes deteriorating quickly with such abuse.

4.   Everyone has a clothes basket assigned to them.  Only two people—________ and ________—may keep their clothes baskets in the hall bathroom.  DO NOT put your clothes in those baskets unless they are yours!!!!

5.   Everyone should do at least 3 loads of clothes each time they do their wash—DARKS, WHITES, and COLORS.  You can put it on a smaller cycle or get with someone else to make a larger load.

6.   Only ________ washes his clothes with the hypoallergenic detergent.  ________ has bought Gain, and Mom buys Wisk or New Era (red bottles) and Cling Free softeners.  There will always be a $1 detergent and softener available to those too cheap to buy their own.  Most of the time you fill the dispenser only 1/2-full of detergent.

7.   Only wash clothes if you will be available to take them out immediately and start the next load immediately.  With everyone doing their own wash, it will take forever if some refuse to stay on top of their laundry cycles.

Laundry Rules! Printable

In this economy, Dave Ramsey is a hot commodity.  Do you agree that you should "live like no one else so that someday you can live like no one else?"

Get Off The Dual-Earner Treadmill

Does it seem like hardly anyone lives on one income?  That’s because it is literally true!  I personally do not know of anyone who is happy with the dual-earner treadmill.  My advice is do not get on in the first place!  I knew when I was growing up with a mom who was a single parent in the 70’s and 80’s that I did not want to be that independent!  The trade-off for a career and independence seemed to be divorce, stress, practical poverty, and a lousy home life.

With that in mind, the first strategy for a different future and family life was to look for a partner who shared the same family values and was up to the challenge of being the “bread-winner.”  There needs to be serious agreement about this lifestyle before marriage.  Both husband and wife need to know that this is our money.  Deciding together how money should be spent and a reasonable allowance for each early on, will make things smoother in the long-run.  With our family, hubby earns the money, and I pay the bills.  That requires integrity on my part not to waste a penny of the hard-earned income.

The breadwinner is better-off with a career that will cover life and health insurance whether by the employer or an income that will support this otherwise.  Also, too many times we pay for “things” and have nothing to show for them, such as cell phones we hardly use, satellite dishes we rarely watch, junk food and utilities way in excess of the necessities of life.  It may not be feasible to buy cars or houses without a loan these days, but we don’t have to obligate the rest of our lives to paying them off, either!  I once saw on a church sign, “Who are we without our stuff?”  You can’t take it with you, so why not cut back on the nonessentials?

For many years, when my three children were little, we had only one car—and most of our stay-at-home mom friends were in the same boat.  It was fun to take turns “borrowing” the car and car-pooling to play dates, church activities, etc.  We lived in the more affordable down town area and I walked with a double stroller everywhere.  My husband would take an hour-long bus ride both ways to let me have the car for errands once-in-a-while.  There were times where his job offered car-pool opportunities.  Let’s face it, cars are a lot of trouble!  You have to maintain them, pay for insurance and gas.  We decided one car was about all we could handle until we moved to the country.

I recently heard Dave Ramsey say something so simple but also so enlightening.  He said that if we just didn’t incur any more debt—credit cards, loans, etc.—inevitably we would be out of debt!  There are so many times when you feel you must go into more debt for a worthwhile reason—maybe one of you is more apt to do this than the other and they create a lot of temptation.  Without being bullheaded, we need to support each other as a married couple and not bring temptations of deeper debt into the one-income household. 

Last year we filed our taxes so that we would pay more into income tax than we owed, and we ended up receiving nearly three month’s income back.  I had been desperately trying to save up to six month’s worth of wages for an emergency fund, and without even thinking about it, we had saved half that!  I know some would say that was foolish, but we are not so good with savings accounts, so this was a painless way for us to save.

I work really hard to make it on whatever my husband makes.  Our income began at less than $30,000 twenty-three years ago.  There was a time when I would take $50 a week to the grocery store and the groceries would last the week!  I had to learn to cook from scratch and not be too proud to accept WIC (you can earn a fairly good income and still qualify for this worthwhile educational program).  My kids never wore new clothes, but friends were great about exchanging clothes and I learned to get out stains and mend clothing.  Even my own clothes were hand-me-downs most of the time.  My husband was the only one we actually shopped for, but it was worth it to me because I could be with our children and do so many fun and memorable things with them.

You definitely don’t want to hang out with people who will make it hard for you to live on one income.  We had relatives and friends we couldn’t afford to spend time with because their idea of fun was so expensive.  I was tormented by my parents and my husband’s for “wasting my degree” (that we paid for, by the way).  Eventually all of these same people changed their minds as they began to see a distinct difference between our home life and that of their own or others who chose to stay in the Rat Race.

The hardest thing about being a one-income family, is not getting sucked into thinking that both of you have to work.  A lot of prayer and scripture study, as well as studying the words of latter-day prophets and apostles have helped to keep our resolve.  (The Family: A Proclamation to The World is the standard by which we judge our family’s choices).  It takes personal revelation, commitment, and a never give up attitude!  Sometimes we think we have a choice between A and B, and usually there is always a third option.  We have to stretch our way of thinking (“outside the box”) and come up with more original ideas to solve our problems than keeping up with the Joneses.  Sometimes going back to more traditional ways of doing things is what it takes.  How did families make it back in the day?  Find out!

Our family hasn’t felt deprived because we still go on vacations—we just learned to camp at the beach for next to nothing rather than stay at a posh hotel.  And guess what?  It’s fun!  You’re never bored.  We take “one-tank-trips” to all the nearby attractions and know more about our state than the average person.  We have better meals than anything you can get at a restaurant.  My children’s birthday cakes are homemade and taste a lot better than store bought.  The library is full of books on giving birthday parties and such at home and on a budget, and my kids have albums-full of all these sweet memories.