One of the easiest ways to put more into your Mama Money Bags is to cut back up front. Less is more, after all.
Here in my part of Pennsylvania, PECO supplies our electricity and gas for heat. They send these handy dandy charts every month to show you how you compare to your neighbors.
Here's my most recent one, which says we are more energy efficient than our efficient neighbors. The thing is: our mid-century almost 3,000 sf house isn't efficient at all. I just do little things every day to save electricity. Exhibit A: my clothing rack.
We have an electric dryer, but I usually hang and entire load to dry on this Ikea folding metal rack all year long. It's at least 10 years old, and yes, I do about a load of laundry every day, which isn't too surprising with a family of five.
Other ways to save on energy:
--Leave the overhead lights off. When I work (often from home typing on a laptop) I just use one small lamp with an LED light bulb.
--Adjust your thermostats. I included my temperature ranges in my book, but keep adjusting until you find out what feels comfy to you.
--Unplug if not in use, or put things on power strips. I know it's annoying to unplug everything, but it really does help stop standby power usage.
--Add insulation. We put a whole new layer of insulation in our attic and it made a big difference. I even built an insulated door over our attic steps and put insulation in windows at the back of the house and basement.
--Experiment with your house. Windows, curtains, ceiling fans, and even sun rooms can all help you change the temperature in your home. Our sun room heats up fast on chilly spring and fall days--I use that as free heat to the rest of the house, while open windows during early summer can cool off the house; I close the windows during the day to trap the air inside.
--Cook more at once. I often cook dinner and bake dessert all at once (I'm a big baker!)
--Shorter showers less often. Get clean and get out.
Those are just some of my energy saving ideas. We also signed up to pick a cheaper energy supplier and joined PECO's AC Saver Program. Every bit helps so you have more for your Mama Money Bags!
Here in my part of Pennsylvania, PECO supplies our electricity and gas for heat. They send these handy dandy charts every month to show you how you compare to your neighbors.
Here's my most recent one, which says we are more energy efficient than our efficient neighbors. The thing is: our mid-century almost 3,000 sf house isn't efficient at all. I just do little things every day to save electricity. Exhibit A: my clothing rack.
We have an electric dryer, but I usually hang and entire load to dry on this Ikea folding metal rack all year long. It's at least 10 years old, and yes, I do about a load of laundry every day, which isn't too surprising with a family of five.
Other ways to save on energy:
--Leave the overhead lights off. When I work (often from home typing on a laptop) I just use one small lamp with an LED light bulb.
--Adjust your thermostats. I included my temperature ranges in my book, but keep adjusting until you find out what feels comfy to you.
--Unplug if not in use, or put things on power strips. I know it's annoying to unplug everything, but it really does help stop standby power usage.
--Add insulation. We put a whole new layer of insulation in our attic and it made a big difference. I even built an insulated door over our attic steps and put insulation in windows at the back of the house and basement.
--Experiment with your house. Windows, curtains, ceiling fans, and even sun rooms can all help you change the temperature in your home. Our sun room heats up fast on chilly spring and fall days--I use that as free heat to the rest of the house, while open windows during early summer can cool off the house; I close the windows during the day to trap the air inside.
--Cook more at once. I often cook dinner and bake dessert all at once (I'm a big baker!)
--Shorter showers less often. Get clean and get out.
Those are just some of my energy saving ideas. We also signed up to pick a cheaper energy supplier and joined PECO's AC Saver Program. Every bit helps so you have more for your Mama Money Bags!
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