I know it is hard to believe, but most of us have extra money. It is just a matter of figuring out where it is lurking. If you pay attention every day to what you are spending money on, you will quickly realize how much more you really spend. For example, I purchase a cup of coffee every single day on my way to work. At $1.25 this really adds up over time. Working 5 days a week, for 42 weeks means I spend $262.50 per year just on my daily coffee! My husband does the same thing, but he works about 48 weeks a year for a total of $300.00. Right there is more than $500 per year we could easily be saving if we just started making the coffee at home.  So lets take a look at where you might be able to 'find' a little extra money in your life!

Decrease or Eliminate Unnecessary Expenses
Here are a few ideas...

• Cancel Magazine, Newspaper, and other subscriptions - do you really need them?
• Cancel Club and Organization Memberships - for example, you might be able to exercise at home instead of the gym.
• Eat or Order Out Less - make a point of only ordering out once a week, or none!
• Decrease Your Cable TV to the Basics - no special channels or dvd's. Even better, get rid of it all together and just watch what you can on your computer, Netflix, Amazon, or another service.
• Decrease Your Cell Phone Service - do you really need to have unlimited data? Just using it smart (ha ha) can save a lot of money! We tracked our data use for several months and realized we were paying for way more than we really needed. Cutting back on the data saved us quite a bit of money every month!
• Take Care of Your Own Pool - use YouTube to learn how to do this. It's not hard!
• Mow Your Own Lawn - why pay someone weekly to do this? Especially during the summer when it barely grows anyway. Even better, get rid of the lawn and practice edible landscaping (The food you grow will save you money too!).
• Bike ride or walk instead of driving - if it's close, why not? And you will be healthier for it too!
• Utilize the Library instead of Buying Books or DVD's - there are even online libraries where you can borrow free books to read on your electronic devices! Check out openlibrary.com.
• Trade Babysitting With a Friend or Relative instead of paying for one!
• ​Do you have something to trade? Be it garden vegetables, or a service, try trading or bartering for what you need instead of paying for it. This is like money in your pocket!
• Make Gifts Instead of Buying Them - seeDo-It-Yourself at Home Crafts
• Stop Buying Stuff You Really DON'T Need - before you put it in your cart, consider if it is something you absolutely need, or just want. If it is a want, then choose to stop right there!
• See the Section on Shopping. You can learn how to stack store coupons, find sales, and more! But remember, only do this for things you really need.
• Cut your hair and your families hair instead of going to the salon. Check out how simple it is to cut and color your own hair.
• ​Stop getting your nails done. You can easily do them your self, or get together with a friend and do each others. This will save a lot of money!
• Learn how to change your own oil in your car - some cars are easier than others, but you tube has a video for just about everything!

Earn Extra Money
A few ways you might be able to do this...

• Work Overtime if Possible - if there is extra work offered at your job, then say yes!
• Get a Second Job at Night or on the Weekends
• Sell your stuff - it's so easy to post and sell on Facebook now. We just snap a picture, upload it to a page we are a member of, add a description and a price, and wait for someone who is interested! You won't believe the items that are sold and purchased every day! Take a look and then think about what you have around the house. Check out Selling to learn more (It's part of 'Minimizing our Home Life.')
• Sell yourself - I mean a skill you have! For example, I can tutor students in science. This is a great way to make some extra money on my skill. My husband can do basic home repairs and maintenance, and my daughter is a yoga instructor. Think of the things you can do....​

​

Hopefully this helps you find a little extra money in your life!
Please share any ideas you have for coming up with extra money!
Sincerely,

Ways to Conserve Water at NO COST to you:​

• Turn it off - when you are brushing your teeth there is NO need to keep the water running.  The same holds true if you are cleaning in the kitchen or anywhere else.   

• Don't turn it on all the way - If you're only getting the toothbrush wet, you don't need to open the faucet full force.  Only opening the valve part way will decrease the amount of water that comes out.

• Don't water your lawn -  the grass will not die if you don't water it.  It goes into a dormant state and will come back in the fall.  Unfortunately, your neighbors might not be so happy with you, so maybe it's better to not have a lawn at all!  Grow native plants that do not need a lot of water and skip the grass if at all possible.

• Water in the mornings - water plants in the morning, before the Sun is strong enough to evaporate the water too quickly (And burn the sensitive plant parts in the process!).

• Take Shorter Showers - Since I refuse to turn off the water and freeze during my shower, I compromise by taking a shorter shower which of course uses less water as well.  Check out this pdf from the EPA about shower and the "drops to watts" connection: http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/docs/ws_waterenergy508.pdf

• Displace Water in Your Toilet Tank - depending upon the size of the tank, you can use different items to do this.  In our upstairs bath we have an old bottle filled with water, and in the downstairs bath we have bricks.  They are different because the position of the free space in the tank was different.  However, both of them now use a lot less water to flush.  Note: if you do this and find that the toilet is not flushing your waste, then you are displacing too much water and need to decrease it.  Of course there are fancy things you can buy at the store to help you do this, but we figured why waste more money?

• Full loads only - When you do laundry or run the dishwasher, make sure it is FULL.  Running them for a small load is a total waste of water.  Unless you have a setting that specifically decreases the amount of water used, wait until it is full, but note that every load generally uses the same amount of electricity, so only running full loads will save on both your water and your electric bill.

• Drinking Water - like it cold?  Then keep some refrigerated.  It's a waste to run faucet and wait for it to get cold every time you want a cool glass of water. *But note that if you have any pipes with lead you MUST run the water for up to 2 minutes depending upon when it was last used if you are using it for drinking or cooking. Check out this flyer from the United States Environmental Protection Agency titled Lead in Your Drinking Water (https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPDF.cgi?Dockey=20001R4V.txt​).

Ways to Conserve Water at a Minimal Cost (but are worth it!):

• Use a rain gauge - this will help you keep track of the inches of rain so you know how much to water your plants and garden each week. You need to remember to record the inches and empty it after it rains.  

• Mulch your plants - We have mulch available from our town for free (We need a truck to get it though.), but you can buy it too.  Putting mulch around the base of plants keeps the soil moist.  NOTE: not all garden vegetables and plants should have mulch around them.  
• Plant Native Plants - native plants, which means they naturally exist and grow in your area, should not require any additional watering! Check out the Native Plant Finder Site to see what native plants grow where you live.
  

• Outdoor Water Faucet Timers - we use these for our sprinklers to water our vegetable garden.  I love them because I can go out, turn it on for an amount of time I choose depending upon the rain received recently, and then I can walk away and forget about it.  They shut off on their own!  

• Irrigation System - we tried this in our garden.  We purchased all of the stuff and set it all up and we absolutely despised it.  It clogged up.  The plants blocked other plants when they got bigger so some areas got too much water and other got none.  For us, it was a waste.  We are still looking for a better option as this would save a lot of wasted water (The sprinkler even waters the walkways.). However, to date we have not found what we need in a way that is cost effective. 
• Rain Gauge - This is a very simple, yet helpful, tool that we use to determine how much rain has occurred. If we have had an inch or more in the past few days then we know that we can modify the amount of time that we water our garden.
  

• Rain Barrels - you can collect rainwater to wash your car and water your plants.  We have not tried it yet, but it is one of the things on our future TO DO List.  Here are instructions (pdf file) from the EPA with a parts list: http://www.epa.gov/region3/p2/make-rainbarrel.pdf

• Fix Leaks - fixing any water leaks can save a lot of water believe it or not.  The EPA says that "one drip dripping at the rate of one drip per second can waste up to 3,000 gallons per year."  That's the amount of water needed to take more than 180 showers!  And if you pay by the gallon, you can save a lot too.  Here's a link to the EPA's fix a leak fact sheet (pdf file): http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/docs/ws_fixaleakfactsheet508.pdf

• Water Saving Shower Heads - We bought the Delta Water Saving Shower Head from Home Depot.  It uses 1.5 gallons per minute and cuts typical water usage by 40%.  The head actually makes it feel like a lot more water is coming out of the head than really is.  It also meets EPA WaterSense criteria (see picture of label to look for below).  It was from the Home Depot and had a Home Depot Ecco Options imprint on the packaging.  At  cost of only about $13, that was fine by me. The same one in satin nickel is on Amazon for $22 so the Home Depot was a good deal.
• Water Saving Faucet Aerators - We have two 75% (.5 gallons per minute) water savers for the bathroom sinks and one 55% (1 gallon per minute) water saver for the kitchen.  They were only about $5 each (including the metal screw on part) at Home Depot.  You can also just purchase the aerator insert without the metal for about $3.  They are made by Neoperl and meet the EPA WaterSense criteria as well (see picture of label to look for below).  Note: they can take a lot of getting used to, especially in the kitchen! My husband hates when he is trying to fill a pot with water. However, I shared with him this simple fix: use the spray nozzle. There is no water saving aerator on the sprayer so we use that to fill up pots faster!

Links:
http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/pubs/fixleak.html
http://www.epa.gov/watersense/
http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/docs/ws_waterenergy508.pdf

Thanks for visiting!
Sincerely,

Who doesn't want to lower their electric bill? Especially if you live in a location where the electric costs a small fortune like here on Long Island.  But fret not!  In the past four years, with a lot of work and implementing everything you will read here, we were able to lower our yearly KWH usage from 13,634 KWh's in 2013 to 9,670 KWh's in 2013.  That is a savings of 3,964 KWh's per year! Wow! The goal was to get below 10,000 KWh's and we exceeded that.  What did we do and how can you do it too?

First, we used an energy meter to determine how much energy different appliances were using. For example, we used it on our refrigerator and after seeing how much electric it used and comparing that to the new energy star ones, well replacing it was a no brainer.  This saved us the most KWh's. Read about our new Energy Star Refrigerator here.

Second, we decreased how many hours our pool filter runs in the summer. This was a huge savings as well. Read about our Pool Energy Savings here.

The third huge change was switching to all LED bulbs. This was a bit of an expense to start with, but worth every penny! And since we bought in bulk, it wasn't as costly as it could have been.  Read why you should switch to LED bulbs here.

Read more below about how we decreased our KWh's and lowered our electric bill.

Decreasing Electric Use - Investment required!
The following cost us money, but our electrical use decreased a lot so they were worth it!

• LED lightbulbs - We switched our entire house to 40 Watt equivalents, called A19's.  They only use 6 Watts each!  We saved a lot of money on our bill with this.   Note - We have some bright white and some warm white  depending upon the room in the house.  I prefer the warm color though. I was able to find the A19 - 40 Watt equivalents that use only 6 Watts each for $3.75 per bulb with free shipping on Amazon if I bought the 12 piece value pack here: VALUE LED BULBS or a 4 piece pack here: LED BULBS.  Its a price I have not been able to beat anywhere else yet!  UPDATE:  The 12 piece value pack which I had purchased on Amazon is no longer available.  The 4 piece pack shown at right is though.  Note that comparable CFL's use about 13 Watts per bulb and of course a regular bulb uses 40 Watts.

• Power Strips -  We plug multiple items into a strip and keep the strip accessible so it can be switched on or off as needed.  Example: all the video games in the basement are plugged into one strip.  When we play them, we switch in on, when we are done, we switch it off.  This way all the games are not constantly drawing power when they are not being used. Using power strips also protects your appliances from being ruined if there is a power surge. Harbor Freight sells 4 outlet strips for 3.99 (on sale) and 6 outlet strips for 5.99 (on sale) - bonus: they always have 20% off coupons and coupons for something free with purchase! ​

• Electric Timers - These are great for plugging in Christmas lights or lamps.  Essentially, you set the timer for when they turn on and off.  Every day the timer does it for you.  There's no forgetting to shut something off.  It works for the chicken coop light in the winter as well.  Note that if you have an appliance with a 'soft' electronic button for on/off, the timer will not work. When it shuts it off, it will not turn back on at the set time (just like when the power goes out).  So think about what you want to use it for before you buy it.  We use the INTERMATIC timers.

• Buying Energy Star Products - when it's worth it.  Energy star products are products that have been independently certified to use less energy, save money, and help protect the environment.  They make it easier for us to identify and potentially purchase an energy saving product that meets certain standards.  However, I think it is really only worth it financially on products that use a lot of energy like the refrigerator, stove/oven, dishwasher, air conditioner, air purifier, etc.  Example:  we just purchased an LED television for the basement.  Its energy guide label (edited for use below) showed a yearly estimated energy use of 76 kWh/yr (Note: we ignore the operating cost because electric bills are different everywhere).  This is based on a typical baseline usage of 5 hours per day. Anyway, this purchase was for our basement and typical use for us would be maybe an hour per day at most.  After doing the math, that meant our estimated use would be about 16 kwh/yr. It was more beneficial for us to save money on the purchase of the television rather than buy an energy star one!  Note: if the television was energy star it would have the picture in the bottom corner.  We have however, gone out of our way to purchase the following energy efficient appliances:
  • ​Refrigerator
    
  • Dishwasher (low water use too!)
  • Large living room window air conditioner
  • Master bedroom window air conditioner

Decreasing Electric Use - Little to No Money required:
These are mostly common sense, but reminders are needed every day in our house :-)

• Turn lights off when you leave a room (serious no brainer).
• Keep less bulbs 'burning' in a room.  For example, if you have a light fixture that holds two or more bulbs, unscrew one or more of them (don't leave them empty it is a fire hazard).  Fixtures with multiple bulbs are common in hallways, bathrooms, dining rooms, kitchens, etc.  We did this for all the lights where you can't actually see the bulbs.
• Unplug anything that runs on electric when it's not in use.  This is not as easy to do since some outlets can be hard to get to, but for things like cellphones and computer chargers that may be plugged in on counters, this is  a good idea because they are constantly drawing what is called 'Phantom Power.'  One charger won't matter, but multiply this by all of the other items that draw as well, and it does contribute.
• Hang your clothes to dry!  Especially sheets and towels in the summer.....This can cost nothing and save a lot!  Or you can purchase an inexpensive retractable clothes line and still save!
• Lower the temperature on the pool heater in the summer (we like it about 85 degrees).  
• Decrease the amount of time the pool filter runs per day.  Most people run the filter far too long - the goal is to run all of the water in the pool through the filter once a day.  See our Blog post: Reduce Your Pools Energy Use.
• Close the pool two weeks earlier than normal.  Nobody used it anyway because it was cold.  Our heater only heats the pool if it's hot out.

We are always working to save money on our electric bill and continue to replace high energy use appliances with energy star ones.  The washer and dryer will be soon! Cant wait to see how much we will save :-)

Thank you for visiting!
Check out other ways to Save Money on your Bills & Debt!
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Sincerely,

Three choices for Christmas trees:
Fresh cut - as good as dead, but can be useful in some ways
Balled - a living tree with balled roots that is planted after Christmas
Faux - can be purchased with or without lights on & lasts practically forever

​I know, theres nothing like the smell of a fresh cut Christmas tree but I don't like the idea of cutting down and killing a perfectly good tree just to throw it away after the holidays. If I had a use for it and it wasn't going to go to waste, well then I might feel differently.  Or maybe not.... For many years we purchased a living tree with the root ball and all. We would plant it after Christmas and after a few years we had a nice border down the side of the yard. That was when we lived on a large piece of property and had lots of room to plant. Now we don't have the room, or need, to plant a living Christmas tree so a fake, or faux, tree it is!

​After Christmas about 14 or so years ago I was checking out the holiday clearance at Franks Nursery (when it was still here) and there it was: the beautiful 'fake' tree I would own for longer than I could ever have dreamed.  That day I purchased my 7.5' Christmas tree and I can't even tell you what I paid for it, but I know it was worth it!  It was the only one left and I couldn't believe my luck. I have been using it ever since and figure I have easily saved close to $1,000 over the years! I really love my artifical tree and as you can see it is still in the original box!  

​The tree is simple and has no lights on it. The center 'stem' is two parts that connect together and branches that connect around the stem working upwards. The top is a separate piece that goes on last. I fluff out the branches as I go and I think it is perfect! I have put the tree up for so many Christmas' that I don't even need the directions to assemble it anymore! It is plain, and it is simple.  

​I know a lot of the fake trees available today have lights on them and that this could be a huge time saver (putting on and taking off the lighs can be a hassle), however I am glad my tree doesn't. First, have you really ever changed a bulb on Christmas lights? I have and I can tell you sometimes it's a real pain.  Permanent lights on a tree takes that burned out buld replacement to a new level that I am not interested in! With my simple try I like the freedom to change things up. I am not 'stuck' with the same lights year after year, especially if they're not LED's!  Traditional white lights with an angel at the top of the tree this year? No problem. A colorful star at the top with multicolored with low energy LED colored lights another year? Easy peasy.  I like having the the freedom to change it up every year if I want to and a simple tree with no permanent lights allows me to do this. 

​Best of all, it's still lookds as good as new every year :-)

In my opinion the benefits far outweight the negatives.
​Super simple, and super worth it!

Thank you for visiting :-)
Check out our social media sites through the links above!
​Sincerely,

Do you grow your own tomatoes?  If you do, and if you are like me, then you have a lot of extras.   After sharing my extras with friends and family and even giving some to the chickens every day I still had so many more to go...and more growing every day.  I was trying to think of something different to do with them so I thought why not homemade sun-dried tomatoes?  

I started doing a little research and discovered that most 'sun-dried' tomatoes aren't really sun dried anymore, they are dehydrated or cooked in an oven.  Since my goal is always to do things in simple ways using as few resources as possible I was determined to really, truly, make real sun dried tomatoes. And I did!  It was so simple and so successful that I have made many more batches since then!

After drying them, which generally takes a minimum of 2 full-sun days (depending upon the humidity of course), I freeze them instead of just storing them dry because they last longer in the freezer and I don't need to check them regularly for any mold growth.  Mold growth can occur if any of the tomatoes are not 100% dry.  Any little bit of moisture left over can start growing mold, so since we live in a humid environment and I have a freezer I decided it was just easier and safer to keep them there.

When we are ready to use them for cooking all we do is boil some water, cover them with the hot boiled water and let them sit for 15 - 20 minutes. This rehydrates them so they can simply be added to any dish we choose!

The best part is they cost me practically nothing, they are organic (because they were grown in my own garden), they retain all the wonderful nutrients of fresh tomatoes, and they can be enjoyed all winter long when I have no fresh garden to pick from!

Check out my You Tube video below to see how I made them:

Thanks for visiting!

Sincerely,

These are all common sense, but since the temperatures were recently  hovering around 0°F, yes ZERO , I thought it might be a good time for a little refresher with respect to keeping our home warm without breaking the piggy bank!

It's that time again....a new year with new resolutions.  How many of us actually accomplished all of our resolutions from last year?  I know I didn't.  But this year I have a plan!  FIVE SIMPLE, yet life changing, resolutions!  Each of the 5 resolutions is simple and straightforward  so they should be easier to follow through with, right?  Well, hopefully! But the real plan is that they become lifetime habits that I eventually don't even have to think about!

​1. Eat Whole Foods - this is not a diet but if done properly should lead to losing weight and feeling more energetic.  Eating whole foods means exactly that: eating fresh vegetables, fruits, and meats instead of anything that is processed.  If the foods are all organic, then even better!  If the food required some sort of processing in a plant and has ingredients added for whatever reason, then it is OUT!  Need some help with this?  Then check out the following site:

• Five Foods You Should Never Eat - this is an excellent informative video by a nutritionist about why diets don't work and why eating whole foods does work.  Of course it goes into 5 foods everyone thinks are healthy, but really aren't.  The video is a little long and the goal is to get you to buy into their program at the end, but the information and inspiration makes it well worth watching!

2. Exercise - Five minutes a day is all that's needed to get started and it can be simple like walking to the store instead of driving!

• Check out 4 Simple Steps to Start the Exercise Habit.  They share a simple, and painless way, to get started now.  I started today!

3. More Quality Family Time - are you usually too busy for your spouse, children, or even your parents or siblings?  Then make time for them before it is too late!  It doesn't have to cost anything either!  You can simply make a plan to do something for 1-3 hours each week.  It can be as simple as playing a game like monopoly, or going for a nature walk at the local park.  The idea is to make it a priority and schedule it in if you have to!  

• Read How to Make Quality Family Time a Priority.  The article shares many great points about why and how to do this!
• Check out my Pinterest Page Inexpensive Fun for great ideas for spending quality time with anyone in your family this year!

4. Organize - get the house in order!  This will make everything so much simpler this year.  It makes it easier to clean, takes less time to find what you need (Don't you hate searching for something?), and of course frees up quality time to spend with your family!

• Check out The Household Organization Diet - this gives a list of 15 minute per day tasks toward cleaning, organizing, and decluttering your home in just 31 total days.  It was created for 2015, however I am pretty sure it will also work for 2016!
• Check out How to Become a Minimalist - yes, this is the new "buzz word" however, I think it is a great one and I truly live by it as much as I can. Why?  Because I believe in it.  I believe that too much stuff leads to stress (must protect and take care of that stuff), less time for other things (stuff must be organized, cleaned, and have other stuff to supplement it)....etc.  I think you get the picture!  You don't have to go to extremes, however less stuff = simpler life with more time for your family!  Not to mention you can save a lot of money....
• Check out our Pinterest Home Organization Page for more ideas!

5. Grow Your Savings - even if you have debt, it is important to have some money in a savings account.  Having money saved makes me feel protected in case of emergency like when our stove blew up last year.  I usually set a certain goal to reach each year. I don't always meet it, but it helps!

• Check out How to Grow Your Savings for basic steps to getting started.  
• Check out The Budget Diet - How to Cut Your Spending by $400 a Month - not all of these will work for everyone (For example where I live there is only one electric company.) however there are some great ideas that will definitely  help you to get money in the bank!
• For more ideas on how to save check out our Pinterest Board Household Debt/Budget.