I didn't see a list for this and thought there might be a way or two I don't know about. I'll start with some of mine. I use my bath water for watering the garden. I keep a tumbler of filtered water in the bathroom for drinking and toothbrushing. The toilet gets flushed after several uses. I bathe every other day in cool or cold weather, and take a "sink bath" on the days I don't get in the bathtub. I use a leave-on hair conditioner, and only wash my hair every few days. I wear my clothes several times before washing, and hang out towels to air so that they don't have to be laundered so frequently. I keep the bed clothes turned back so that the bed can air out. This keeps the bed clothes fresher longer. Am looking forward to reading yours.

I do everything that you do except for the tumbler in the bathroom. I wash dishes by hand, using quite a bit less than a dishwasher would. If the dish water isn't too dirty, I reuse it to clean the kitchen floor. I wash some clothes by hand, which uses less water than a washer, wash only full loads. In the summer when I garden, I keep a large bowl under the kitchen faucet to catch the odd bits of water that runs when I'm warming it up or cooling it down, or rinsing my hands, etc. I was surprised at how much good water goes down the drain wasted when I started that. 

well I can't say I am that frugal with water.  not a real waster but since we have so much rain, lack of water is not a problem.     

I do set the laundry water level to the needed level and wash dishes by hand.   don't take long showers or bath the kids every day unless they need it.

 water is a flat yearly rate here.

My newest favorite way to stretch water is to put a pitcher under the downspout when it is raining outside. I'll use this pitcher of rainwater to water my houseplants. They seem to enjoy the non-chlorinated water.

I would be interested in getting rain barrels started. Haven't got the know-how to make homemade barrels look good, and don't have the money to buy new ones that already look good. We would have to put up more gutters to direct the water flow into the barrels, too.

slk2042:

My newest favorite way to stretch water is to put a pitcher under the downspout when it is raining outside. I'll use this pitcher of rainwater to water my houseplants. They seem to enjoy the non-chlorinated water.

 I've done that, too. 

slk2042:

I would be interested in getting rain barrels started. Haven't got the know-how to make homemade barrels look good, and don't have the money to buy new ones that already look good. We would have to put up more gutters to direct the water flow into the barrels, too.

I whined about rain barrels most of the growing season last year and never did find any I thought I could afford. I don't know if it's worth it to bite the bullet and order some at the price I could find, which wasn't cheap. You'd think food grade plastic barrels wouldn't be that hard to find. I did come up with some 4 gallon buckets which would work under the rainspout if I can cut it off to the right height. 

Pat:

You'd think food grade plastic barrels wouldn't be that hard to find. I did come up with some 4 gallon buckets which would work under the rainspout if I can cut it off to the right height. 

Something I need to consider is making a closed rain barrel, to keep the mosquitoes from laying eggs in the standing water.

Our local city ordinance forbids "standing water", although I don't know how in the world that can be enforced. I'd need to make sure that what I had wasn't a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Any thoughts?

 If you look at pictures of rain barrels on the internet, some of them have lids through which the downspouts fit.  Others have systems that can be opened and closed. I would think that if you had a lid to put on it after the rain, it would be fine. Otherwise, you can buy mosquito donuts to keep them from breeding in it, or if you're going to use the water strictly for irrigation, a drop of dish soap is supposed to keep them from it. 

Pat:

I keep a large bowl under the kitchen faucet to catch the odd bits of water that runs when I'm warming it up or cooling it down, or rinsing my hands, etc. I was surprised at how much good water goes down the drain wasted when I started that. 

That's a really good idea! I'll talk to my roommies & see if we can start this!

Pat:

If you look at pictures of rain barrels on the internet, some of them have lids through which the downspouts fit.

I've seen some like that--they're very nice.

Last year we had a big rubbermaid-type trunk that we used to collect rainwater, and we would just put the lid on it when the rain stopped. I am looking for something a little nicer than that, though. I'll keep dreaming, LOL.