Open your Frugal Living Course Notes, Royal Students. It’s time for another lesson in how to live more frugally and effectively. Before we get started, allow me to be a bit personal.
So I have to confess something. This weekend, I was ready to pitch our coffee pot to the curb. We bought it a little over a year ago when our old one went kaputsky and wouldn’t work anymore. We didn’t buy the cheapest one on the market but we didn’t buy the most expensive either, a mid-grade around $25-$30. And gradually the brewing time was getting slower and slower and the coffee was tasting more and more like sludge. This weekend, I decided to make a concerted effort to clean it well before we pitched it and invested in another and boy I’m glad that I did!
I had long heard that you could clean your pot with vinegar to make it run better and the coffee taste better but for some weird reason I was hesitant to do so. But I quickly Swagbucked “cleaning coffee pot with vinegar” and found some very helpful advice. Here’s what I did based on that advice.
I put 1 part vinegar, 2 parts water into the decanter and then poured it into the water area of the machine. I brewed it and after it was entirely finished, let it set for 15 minutes. Since I had never cleaned it this way before, I repeated this process a 2nd time. Then, I put just plain water, filling the carafe fully and ran it through a normal cycle. Since it still smelled a little vinegar-y, I did this one more time for good measure. I read that you should do the vinegar/water cleanser and water rinse procedure at least once a month to keep your coffee pot in good working order. I will definitely be adding this to my monthly chores as the coffee now brews in no time at all AND it tastes SO much better.
A big part of frugal living is looking at what you already have with new eyes. What small things can you do to improve something you already have without buying something new? I’m so glad that the pennies I’m out for water and vinegar are nothing in comparison to buying an entire new and unnecessary coffee pot. What do you have around your house that only needs a little sprucing to make it run more smoothly? I’m sure you can see something right now from where you’re sitting. Whether it’s vacuuming out the coils on your refrigerator, cleaning your coffee pot or stove, there are plenty of ways to keep what you already have in good shape so you don’t have to pre-maturely make a purchase (big or small).
And there you have your lesson o’ the day! What will you choose to do with your new knowledge?
