Oh the weather outside is frightful...

Now that summer is here, one of the fastest ways I blow my budget it with the thermostat. Now that we live in Mississippi, A/C isn't an option. (Trust me... you will beg for A/C with a heat index of 118.) One thing that is an option is what we set the A/C to. We need to be diligent about keeping the house comfortable enough to live, but not so cold we need a sweater. This is something I really need to work on.

When we lived in Michigan, we kept the A/C off as much as possible. To make this easier, we did what Amy Dacyczyn calls "Seeking the Minimum Level." (pg. 87 The complete Tightwad Gazette.)

"To form new, frugal habits, develop an awareness about all the small actions you do everyday. Explore new ways to do things... seek the minimum level. Scale down step by step until the process does not work satisfactorily for your standards. Then bump it up one level."

Once I determined the highest temperature we are comfortable with, I set the thermostat. Anything below that temp and the windows were open.

Another strategy was to just use the air conditioning at our predetermined level of comfort at night and during the day leave the house.

We can (and do) still use the first strategy here in Mississippi.

When the boys were young we didn't have air conditioning, except for in the car. One summer it got so hot that we spent almost every day out and about, each day going to a different air conditioned place. I found a great list of air-conditioned outings at Tired but happy.

In Michigan we lived in an apartment complex with an indoor pool and clubhouse, so we spent most of our hot summer days there. I figured my higher rent pays for the air conditioning, so we should take advantage of it. Here in Mississippi, our pool is outdoors and is not nearly as refreshing as you would think. Once the temperature gets high, the pool water is as warm as bath water. After a while, it seems like you are taking a bath with your friends. :o)