How to lose 325 lbs. - Get a DVR

DVR
Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) let you skip commercials.  ​A 1 hour program can be watched in 44-45 minutes using a DVR.  Since the normal household watches 6500 hours of TV every year, 1625 hours could be saved by using a DVR, or you could spend that 6500 hours watching 8650 hours worth of programming.


WHAT TO DO WITH THE EXTRA TIME

1625 hours of running would burn over 1 million calories or 325 pounds.  Of course you could do other things with that time like play charades, bake cookies, read books, write books, or break and then fix the stuff you broke, the possibilities are endless!

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BRAIN WRINKLES GOOD - SHIRT WRINKLES BAD

​Buy wrinkle free shirts unless you're an Olympic ironing champion.

My mom can iron a shirt in 3 minutes.  I can iron a shirt in 15.  It would be unrealistic for me to schedule one hour to iron 10 shirts.  It would be more than enough time for my mom.  So if I need 10 unwrinkled shirts, it's probably a better use of my time and money to buy wrinkle-free shirts.​  I would spend a little more time and perhaps money buying the shirts, but would save myself many hours by not needing to iron them as much.

DISPOSABLE DISHES

For pizza, hamburgers, chicken nuggets, fries, sandwiches, and a lot of other foods, use paper plates.

At 2-3 cents per plate, paper plates cost less than the energy & water required for washing ceramic or plastic plates.  This also means 0 time spent time rinsing the plates, putting them in the dish washer, then back in the cupboard.

So what about bowls, cups, and plastic utensils​?  Save time? Yes.  Save money? Depends.  Using disposable bowls, cups, & utensils will save you the time spent washing them.  It will also help reduce the piles of dishes near the sink.  And if you don't own a dishwasher, I highly recommend living on disposables.  It takes a very long time for the cost of disposable dinnerware to outweigh the cost of a new (or used) dishwasher and the cost of operating it.

However, there will always be cases when disposable dinnerware just won't do.  Microwaveable throwaways are often 2-3 times as expensive, so the cost is often more than using durables.  Special events like Holiday gatherings might also be deemed a bit tacky if disposable dinnerware is used.  Lastly, most people have a dish washer.  Pots and pans don't have paper substitutes, so unless you are on the sandwich-only diet, you're probably going to be doing some dishes anyway.


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TIMELESS TURKEY

​No time to baste the bird or clean up afterward?  Here's a few alternatives:

​- Eat out.  A number of restaurants offer Thanksgiving spreads, like Maggianos in Bellevue, Barking Frog in Woodinville, and Claim Jumper or Buca di Bepo in Lynnwood.  Yes it's a hunk of money, but zero preparation and zero cleanup just might be worth it.

- Cater in.  If you call in advance (at least 5 days prior), caterers will be happy to make your food for you.  It's not cheap, but it's hard to compete with the homely feel minus the stress of cooking.

- Visit family. Be the one visiting, not the one hosting.  It's probably not required, but the host will be thankful if you offer to bring a side dish, pie, rolls, or cider! 

- Visit friends. A lot like visiting family, but bringing something to share is a requirement, not a courtesy.

- Visit strangers. You'd be surprised just how many people are opening their doors to those who are in need or alone.  Check out craigslist.org and type "Thanksgiving" in the General section.

- Volunteer.  Be the reason someone else is thankful.  Help serve at a local shelter or visit a retirement home.  They won't let you go hungry either.


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ASSEMBLY LINE

​Some things are repeated over and over like hanging up shirts right after they come out of the dryer, or taking out the trash from each room.  Treating these actions like an assembly line will save gobs of time!  Here's how:

1 - Follow a specific order.  Example: Remove clothes from dryer, sort, fold, put away.

2 - ​Any step you repeat should take place all at once.  Ex: Put all dress shirts, skirts, pants, etc. onto hangers before going to hang them up in the closet.

3 - Centralize operations.  Growing up, we had a laundry room.  Dirty clothes went in and clean, hung up or folded clothes came out.  It was each child's job to deliver dirty laundry to the room as well as take clean clothes back to their room.  This allowed all washing, drying, folding, hanging up, and sewing to take place in one little room.

Another example is a custodian who pushes a giant trash bin, emptying little trash cans into it rather than moving each individual can to the dumpster.  The custodian also replaces bags at the same time rather than making a second round.

4 - Run full.  Efficient operations run at full capacity.  This is true for doing laundry, turning on the dishwasher, or taking out the trash.  

Update:
5 - Good habits.  Although it may not be the epitome of efficiency, an established pattern is often better than letting trash, clothes, or dishes reach a critical mass before taking action.


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MICROWAVE POPCORN

​If you have ever found yourself waiting a the microwave as popcorn pops, you have been a victim of the microwave screensaver.  Make those 2-3 minutes productive by emptying the dishwasher, emptying the trash, or doing a quick wipe-down of the kitchen counter...  beep! You're done!  Save the rest for the next time you use the microwave.

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