Busy moms rejoice! Guilt free time saving is on its way. According to the September, 2008 issue of Good Housekeeping Magazine the average American household can save $36.00 per year; that’s $3.00 per month, with an appliance most already have.

Plus, if you already own an energy star model dishwasher that savings increases to $42.00 per year, or $3.50 per month.

The Savings: Energy, Soap, and Water

The University of Bonn in Germany, as cited at TreeHugger.com, found in a 2005 study that not only does the modern dishwasher use less energy, one half to be exact, it also uses on average just one sixth the amount of water when compared with hand washing. Add to that the fact that machine washing also uses less soap and you have a fool-proof recipe for frugality.

Plus, with less water consumption, less energy demanded, and less soap byproduct dumped into sewers and drain fields not only does machine washing trump hand washing for the pocket book, it’s also a win for the environment. And while that’s something everyone can feel good about in and of itself, lets take a look at how to get the most bang for your buck in the process.

Skip the Pre-Rinse

Most modern dishwashers are made to blast away the tiny remnants of last night’s spaghetti dinner. So, while it’s always wise to check your machine’s user guide or manual for specific instructions, rinsing dishes before stacking them in your machine’s racks is probably not necessary.

Wash a Full Load

While you could feasibly do two half loads for the same amount of energy used in hand washing one full load the most savings can be reaped when you utilize your dishwasher to clean a full load of dirty dishes.

Choose “Dishwasher Safe”

Luckily most items that are not dishwasher safe or friendly can be replaced by alternatives that are. Here are some suggestions to get you started:

• Re-usable plastic lunch containers often come out of the washer looking beat up after too many washes, but you can replace them with shatter resistant glass dishes in similar sizes that will come out looking like new wash after wash for years to come.
• Plastic serving and stirring spoons and spatulas also often come out of the dishwasher not quite clean and looking worn, replace them with bamboo or in the case of spatulas and scrapers silicon varieties.
• Pans with non-stick coating can sometimes lose their finish in high heat, high intensity machine washing. Replace them with stainless steel pots and pans that can be machine washed without subsequent chipping and flaking.

Diana Prichard, working wife and mother to two, spouts randomly about the busy, busy life than makes her need for time saving, money saving tips such as these essential at her personal blog Of The Princess and The Pea.

Photo: Courtesy of Carlos Paes via stock.xchng