7 x Sunday

February 09, 2012, 02:34:08 AM
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?

Login with username, password and session length
*
Pages: [1]
« previous next »
  Print  
Author Topic: No Garbage Pickup Service? (& other utilities)  (Read 1029 times)
khix
Master

Posts: 1975


Forever changed, forever Yours!
« on: January 25, 2010, 07:06:33 AM »
Do any of ya'll live without garbage/trash pickup service?  If so, how do yo do it?  What do you do with all your trash? 

I'm trying to see which things we can live without (and therefore not have the bill), but I'm really thinking that we have to have trash service.  We live in a neighborhood where you're not allowed to burn trash...and plus, our family of 6 generates a lot of trash!  We do recycle the paper stuff when we can....but even with that, we still generate a lot of trash!

Do any of you live without water service?  If so, how?  This one, I'm thinking we'd have to have....

Anyone without electricity?  This one, I'm thinking is do-able, even though it would be VERY hard.

Anyone without home phone and/or cell phone?
Logged
$5 off your first order at www.iHerb.com!  Use referral code HIC104.

www.campaignforliberty.com

http://www.answersingenesis.org/
GarlicMomma
Adept

Posts: 316


My dd took this one this late summer.


WWW
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2010, 08:48:05 AM »
Check to find the location of your local landfill or way station. Most counties have areas where trash service is not available and have way stations instead. Check with the county government. They usually know better than the city government.

We had a way station (also called a dump station) near our house where we would drop off our trash. We did this for 10 years. For us it was even better than trash pick up service.  It would fit into our own timing.  We could drop off when we needed to while running other errands and didn't have to pay anything.

Most landfills charge by the pound. Usually an average household's weekly trash needs (and we have 5 in our family) would hardly make a difference on their giant scales. You would drive your whole vehicle on the scale as you came in and see the difference as you went out. Most of the time, except during renovations, the difference in weight would not be enough to be charged.

We recycle as much as we can. That helps with the trash level too. Sometimes, one needs to look for the other uses in their trash to reduce as well. For example, we hardly use paper towels instead we use some old kitchen towels for most clean up. One can make a compost bin with kitchen scraps (we don't do this right now). There are many other ideas as well.

As for another idea for trash disposal. One relative dug a deep pit on their land for their own use. They would only dump the items that could not be burned/recycled/composted. I can tell you a lot of my children's diapers are probably still there and I have teenagers now.  Not a pleasant thought, but it was solution that worked for them.

I guess you are trying to reduce expenses in every area of your household?
Logged
amy3js
Master

Posts: 1557
« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2010, 11:58:24 AM »
When we lived outside of the trash pick up area, we also took our garbage to the dump. I think they did charge every time, but it was $10-15 and that was usually a months worth of garbage for 2 households.

In terms of reducing garbage, we do the same as garlic mama said and we don't normally have paper napkins, Kleenex, etc around. Instead we use washcloths. And I am actually planning on making napkins and hankies in the near future to have permanent replacements for these items. I also switched to mostly cloth for my feminine needs and this has reduced garbage more than I thought it would. Also eating more fresh fruits and veggies seriously has reduced our garbage output as we are not taking everything we eat out of a disposable package that will take up room in the garbage can.

We do not have a house phone and we recently shut off our cell phones. We are using my sisters cell phone (she pays for a phone she doesn't use cause her company pays for another phone) for right now, but that is only a couple months till her service plan is up and then we will be getting a pre paid cell phone. The initial phone purchase is between $50-100 and then there are 2 plans to choose from, either $30 or $45 a month. The first is 1000 min and text and the second is unlimited min and text and you can change how much you get each month or you can chose not to have cell service that month and resume the next month. And since you buy the monthly service via a card from a store (like walmart) there is no crazy fees and tax that push that amount up. It's just $30 or $45 plus normal sales tax at the register.  Or you can also just go without a phone altogether, especially if you have email to connect with people.

I have a friend who started using candles to light her home at night instead of having lights on. She even did this for her young daughters who wanted a light on when they went to sleep. She would light a candle and put it on a high shelf (board and wall bracket) where they couldn't reach it and it wouldn't catch anything on fire and  they would fall asleep while it was still lit. I don't know how much this affected her energy bill, but if she really didn't turn on a light, I would imagine quite a bit. I started buying candles from the local thrift stores cause I want to try this and candles at the thrift store are WAY cheaper than the store.

Also to save energy, we have turned our thermostat down to 62, which means its really more like high 50's in our home because we have an old and very drafty house. We bundle up and use blankets a lot. But that's something you may already be doing.  Wink

I hope you guys get some good ideas you are able to use to help!
« Last Edit: January 25, 2010, 12:00:32 PM by amy3js » Logged
What I want doesn't matter.
smfmommy
Adept

Posts: 265
« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2010, 12:00:21 PM »
I have friends who take their own trash to the dump.  Its actually easier for her to put the cans in the back of the truck than drag them down their long unpaved driveway for pick up.  Not to mention cheaper.

I have known quite a few people who drop their landline and just have cell phones.  We have considered it and we only have prepaid service.  I think it definitely depends on the amount you use the phone as to whether on or the other would save you money.

I think water is essential unless you have a water source on your property.  As for electricity - you need something to run your refrigerator (unless you can do without that).  I would attempt to unplug everything that uses electricity and see if you can live without it.  Your bill will lower even if you decide you can't shut it off completely.

I sometimes wonder how much we could do "without" but just use because the service is already entering the house.  Have fun on your adventure!

 Grin
Logged
Wife to my best friend for 17 years.
Mommy to four little ladies, ages 13, 11, 7, 5 and two little men, ages 3 and 1.
seekingtruth
Adept

Posts: 312
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2010, 05:10:13 PM »
There are some good ideas here.  You can cut your bills without turning them off.  Unplug everything you are not using.  Just the ghost power draw can add up. That is the power drain from things like lights on appliances, etc. that draw power even when they are off.  You can get flourescent bulbs for cheap now.  I get the daylight ones for better spectrum lighting.

If you have high speed internet, you can get magic jack for a very cheap phone alternative.  Ours isn't perfect, but for the price, it is a good option if money is that tight.  They had just raised my cable internet rate.  I called them to see about a cheaper service.  They checked and were able to offer me a service that was over 2 times faster than what I had for half the price for a year and then $5 more the second year.  So it is only $20 a month and my magic jack is $20 a year.  That is cheaper than just phone service here.

And if necessary it is amazing what you can live without. I no longer buy a ton of personal care products, cleaning products, paper products, etc.  I use baking soda for my teeth, deoderant, shampoo, and soap.  And vinegar to rinse and you can manage.  Cloth or a menstrual cup for monthly issues.  Hankies and washcloths, etc. 

Scratch cooking can have a huge impact on your monthly expenses as well.  And learn to eat beans.  They are cheap and healthy!

You can also look at having your insurance premiums reduces to state minimum requirements.
Logged
khix
Master

Posts: 1975


Forever changed, forever Yours!
« Reply #5 on: January 26, 2010, 07:37:43 PM »
Thank you so much, ladies!!  I will definitely look into finding a local dump or way station.
Logged
$5 off your first order at www.iHerb.com!  Use referral code HIC104.

www.campaignforliberty.com

http://www.answersingenesis.org/
Cecilia
Learning

Posts: 5
« Reply #6 on: January 27, 2010, 07:58:15 AM »
We tried living without trash service for a while, but I found it too much of a hassle and the savings negligible. It's easier to save money in other areas. Where we live, trash service is billed every three months at $45; that works out to about 50 cents a day. That's worth it to me!

Logged
pinkmonkey
Learning

Posts: 5
« Reply #7 on: January 28, 2010, 03:57:08 PM »
We live in the country and the garbage service we use, used to be the only option.  Burning is banned.  Recently we saw a trash container in our area with another company listed.  My husband called and asked for prices.  IT was about 8 or 9 dollars a month less than what we were paying.  He then called our company and asked if they were going to adjust their prices to compete with the other company.  We ended up getting a price 22.00 less a month than we had been paying.  I then told our neighbors and church folks because I almost think if you dont ask they just keep charging the old rate.
Debbieo
Logged
RunAmokFarm
Master

Posts: 1028



WWW
« Reply #8 on: January 28, 2010, 04:14:08 PM »
Nice to "meet" you Cecilia and pinkmonkey...

I agree with pinkmonkey (Debbieo) - watching the monthly prices is very important.  Simple things like checking with the phone company (or water/sewer, trash, internet service) to see if there are less expensive options or plans is a good thing.  They will often have a promotion - if you don't know about it, they won't give the lesser price.  Also, if they think they might lose your business, they are often willing to give a discount.

My mother had aol for $23.95 per month.  Her service wasn't "great", so I called and told them we were going to change to a less expensive internet provider... they dropped her monthly bill from $23.95 to $9.95 per month... for "however long" she keeps the service!  That was almost 2 years ago, and they have not increased her payment.
J
Logged
NR Mini Australian Shepherds & Australian Terriers
www.runamokfarm.com
Custom Pyrography (woodburning)
www.jaquemchenry.com
Natural pet health care consultations
runamokfarm.com/NutritionConsults.html
Pages: [1]
  Print  
« previous next »
 
Jump to:  

Search




Advanced search

Bible Study

General

User

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?

February 09, 2012, 02:34:08 AM

Login with username, password and session length

Stats

Members
Stats
  • Total Posts: 243886
  • Total Topics: 21906
  • Online Today: 30
  • Online Ever: 437
  • (April 01, 2008, 03:09:36 PM)
Users Online
  • Users: 0
  • Guests: 29
  • Total: 29
TinyPortal v.1.0.6 beta 2 © Bloc
Powered by SMF 1.1.7 | SMF © 2006-2008, Simple Machines LLC
Manuscript design by Bloc