10 Ways To Lower Your Utility Bills

The average U.S. household spends about $2,150 every year on utility bills. If you're spending more than $152 per month, you're paying more than average. By making simple improvements to your home you could reduce your utility bill from 10 to 50 percent.

1. Shade Those Windows

How you cover your windows has a direct impact on how much energy you save. Dark curtains and good covering blinds are important. In the summer keep curtains/blinds closed to windows facing the sun. In the winter, open them for some natural heating.

2. Landscape That Lawn

Not just for looks, trees can be an important way to reduce energy. Planting deciduous trees (trees that lose their leaves in the winter) around your home will help keep your home cool in the summer, and let the sun through in the winter.

3. Choose Your Exterior Wisely

When painting, or replacing your siding or roof, be sure and pick white or light colors. This, though it may not help a whole lot, is a no-cost way to reduce your bill. For roofing options, a white metal roof gives the best benefit.

4. Use CFL's (Compact Fluorescent Lights)

CFLs cost a bit more, but use 75% less energy than regular light bulbs and last about 10 times longer -so you save money, and you stay cooler. Replacing just four well-used 100-watt bulbs with equivalent 23-watt CFLs will save you $108 over three years!

5. Turn Off Those Lights

This should be a no-brainer, but we all need reminders every once in a while. This is a 100% free way to reduce your energy bill. If a light isn't being used, turn it off. If this is a hard habit to get into, install timers on all of your lights

6. Buy Energy Efficient Appliances

A lot can be said here, as this is a huge way to cut energy costs. A few things to remember: Every appliance in your house uses energy, and knowing how much energy each uses is a big benefit to you. A good idea is to check the yellow Energy Star label on appliances.

7. Upgrade Your Attic Insulation

If you don't already have insulation, adding it can save you between 10% and 20% on your heating bills. The higher the R value (heat-resistance factor) of the insulation, the better. For the attic, use at least R40. It's also a good idea to use a good sealant on your attic door.

8. Seal Those Air Ducts

The typical home lose 30%-40% of the cooling they pay for. This is because most ducts are leaky. Not a good thing, being as your ducts are the hottest place in your house. To avoid this, seal your duct system with mastic and mesh (not duct tape), and insulated with R-8 or better.

9. Clean Those Air Filters

You need to clean or replace air conditioner and furnace filters at least once per month. A dirty filter makes these appliances work much harder, using more energy and costing you more money.

10. Use More Cold Water

Yet another no-brainer, sometimes people forget this important tip. Reaching for that hot water faucet need not be a necessity. Dishes, clothes and hands can all be rinsed in cold water.
Author: Allan Wilson

Thrift Stores = Saving Money

This is a great way to save money. If you have kids than you know how fast they grow and how expensive their clothes can be. I shop at thrift stores for most of my kids clothing. I can get name-brand clothing at next to nothing prices. They have more clothes to wear because of this!! For the price of 1 pair of jeans I can go to a thrift store and get my kids a few outfits and the accessories. You will have to hunt in the store for the good stuff and make sure you look the items over really good. Check the zippers and buttons. Although I did buy my hubby a Christian Dior dress shirt for a $1.00 that had a button missing because I knew I could go home and sew one on!!!! Now I have a new baby and if it was not for thrift stores he would be naked right now! Also when I was pregnant I got all of my maternity clothes at thrift stores and then resold it on ebay and made 3 times more than what I bought it for! Some people even make a business out of thrift stores - go to them and buy high end items for next to nothing and resell it on ebay! You can even get others items at thrift stores that can save you money. I got some awesome shelves last year. They are very old and I got them for $5.00 each. They are worth a lot more than that. If you really look you can get some great antiques at thrift stores.
Thrift Stores also came in handy when I was homeschooling my kids. You can always find textbooks ,workbooks, and more at thrift stores that you might need for teaching. I bought a chemistry kit one year for only $2.00!! A lot less than if I had bought it new and it did not have anything missing.

Great for back to school shopping!!

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Meal Planning & Grocery Shopping

This is a great way to save some money. Plan your meals for the week and make a list for the grocery store. Actually stick to the list. When you are at the grocery look for store brand items , they can save you quite a bit. Always check the meat-sales. Our local grocery store puts the meat from that day in a "meat-sale" section and you can get some great bargains there. The meat is always just from that day and never out of date. They just do not like their meat to carry over to the next day so they mark it down. I can get ground chuck family packs for $2.50!! Steaks are usually $.99 and big roast are always $3.00!!!! Our freezer is always full. If you have to buy name brand ,than always try to use coupons or buy the item on sale. When they have something on sale that you are always using ,STOCK UP!! Like ,for example, the grocery store has tomato juice (that I always use for soups) on sale for $.89 when it is usually $1.09, so I bought the limit of 4 cans !! Now I have it on hand and saved money! You can sometimes get some great deals on closeouts. I got 5 things of Suave Deoderant that was once $1.99 for $.88 each because it was a closeout that they were not going to be carrying anymore. If you really take your time , leave the kids at home, and stick to a meal planning list ,you can save a lot of money at the grocery store.Download our free toolbar

Save Money At Breakfast

You can save a lot of money if you switch to eating oatmeal for breakfast and with these recipes you can make it an enjoyable experience ,too.

Instant Oatmeal Packets

3 cups oats (quick cooking works best)
salt
8 small zip-like baggies

Process ½ cup oats in a blender (or 1 cup oats in a food processor) on high until powdery. Set aside. Repeat with additional ½ cup oats if using blender. Put the following into each baggie: 1/4 cup regular oats, 2 tablespoons powdered oats, and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Store in an airtight container.

To serve, empty packet into a bowl. Add 3/4 cup boiling water. Stir and let stand for 2 minutes. Adjust water amount for thicker or thinner oatmeal.

Try some of the following variations:

Sweetened Oatmeal: Add 1 T. sugar

Brown Sugar/Cinnamon Oatmeal: Add 1 T. brown sugar and 1/4 t. cinnamon

Raisins and Brown Sugar: Add 1 T. packed brown sugar and 1 T. raisins.

Apple-Cinnamon Oatmeal: Add 1 T. sugar, 1/4 t. cinnamon, & 2 T. Chopped dried apples

Fruit and Cream Oatmeal: Add 1 T. non-dairy coffee creamer and 2 T. dried fruit

Health Nut Oatmeal: Add 2 T. any kind of wheat germ

Chewy Granola Bars

3 cups oats
1 cup flour
1 t. baking soda
2 t. vanilla
2/3 cup butter, softened
½ cup honey
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 cup mini chocolate chips or M&Ms
Optional: raisins, dried fruit, sunflower seeds, chopped nuts

In a large bowl, combine oats, flour, and baking soda. In another bowl, combine vanilla, butter, honey, and brown sugar; add to oat mixture and stir until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour into a lightly greased 9x13 pan. Lightly press mixture into the pan with the back of your spoon. Bake at 325 for 22 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes then cut into bars. Let bars cool completely in pan before removing or serving.

If you cook oatmeal in milk rather than water, the oatmeal will taste creamier. Apple juice, peach syrup, or mixed fruit juice, or even a combination of juices and milk make wonderful new flavors without having to add much extra (if any) sweetener. Cinnamon and nutmeg with chopped apples make a delicious combination. Use your imagination to add whatever you like. (Once, I added hot chocolate mix. That was good!)One last tip for saving money at breakfast: use powdered milk either in part or whole to save money. When powdered milk is cold, you hardly notice a difference, especially on cereal or in recipes. If you think your family will be skeptical about drinking powdered milk, mix it with regular milk. I've served powdered milk with cereal to extended family, and when asked about it later, they never noticed the difference.

Even if your family doesn't want to drink powdered milk, keep some on hand for using in recipes. An added benefit to using powdered milk is convenience. I don't have to run to the store each week for fresh milk since I buy powdered milk in large quantities and make as needed.Download our free toolbar

Sewing For Baby

I am wanting to start with some great sewing websites that I found for sewing accessories for babies. If I did not do a lot of sewing when my son was a baby , I do not know what we would have done. What, with sewing diapers and stuff, it really saved a lot of money!! You can find a lot of places online for sewing patterns.

Free baby sling and carriers patterns

Free Maya Wrap baby carrier pattern

Great resources for making cloth diapers - FREE

Free Cloth Diaper Patterns

How to sew a fitted diaper

Martha Stewert Tea Towel Bib

Martha Stewert Felt baby shoes

Free info on sewing cloth diapers and training pants

Free patterns for making baby toys and there is even one for making a cloth book





These are just a starting point for some items that you can sew yourself and save some money. Reuse bigger clothing to make baby stuff ,like toys etc. Reuse blankets and more. Use your imagination.

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