Fwd: Simple Times - 1/20/09 - Save money on energy costs; frugal challenge

January 26, 2009

dsimpleTo: CyndikrallSent: 1/26/2009 11:50:02 A.M. Pacific Standard TimeSubj: Simple Times - 1/20/09 - Save money on energy costs; frugal challenge

Simple Times________________________________Vol. 11, No. 2 -- January 20th, 2009http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com/ DSimpleCopyright 2009 Deborah Taylor-HoughISSN: 1527-1269 ________________________________Subscribe: join-simple-timesUnsubscribe: leave-simple-times________________________________Celebrating more than a decade of saving your time, money and sanity!________________________________IN THIS ISSUE:-- "Dear Readers"-- Simple Living Quote-- Saving Money on Home Energy Costs-- Living Frugally Can Be an Interesting Challenge-- Letters to the Editor / Reader Tips-- Assorted Information (archives, etc.)________________________________< < < O.U.R S.P.O.N.S.O.R > > >

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________________________________Dear Readers,

It's hard to believe we're almost at the end of January. Some

months just seem to fly by so much faster than others. How

are your New Year's Resolutions going? Made any progress?

Given up entirely? I gave up before I started this year ... I didn't

even make any resolutions. ;-)

Due to some on-going car troubles, we've been without our van

for over a week. It's amazing how much we can still do without

access to our own car. Thank goodness for public transportation!

Now that we've figured out our local bus routes, I'm finding that

there's something relaxing about taking the bus. My kids have

all felt it, as well. Without realizing it, our life had become a

series of "errands" ... hop in the car and go somewhere and

back ... again and again and again. Now we need to plan things

like shopping trips and stops at the bank much more carefully.

It also feels like wherever we are at a given moment, we're more

"there" than we were previously, probably because we're not

preparing in our minds to run off to the next errand.

My shopping list is narrowed down considerably depending on

how many of us are going to the store and how heavy the bags

will be to carry on the bus. I never dreamed we'd be one of those

families who does their grocery shopping by bus. But here we

are.

I never thought I'd say this but being car-less for awhile has

added to our quality of life rather than taken anything away from

it. It's been quite the revelation. So whenever the van gets up

and running again, I hope I can apply some of these lessons I'm

learning through this current season of life to my normal life with

personal transportation. But because the car repairs will probably

be in the thousands of dollars (eek!), this current "season" may

last for awhile.

So in the meantime, we'll continue our adventures. :-)

Simply Yours,Debi(Deborah Taylor-Hough)Editor, Simple Times Email Newsletter--Author of the popular Frozen Assets series; A Simple Choice: Apractical guide for saving your time, money & sanity; and FrugalLiving for Dummies®--Editor, Simple Times and Bright-Kids email newsletters________________________________Visit my simple living blog!http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com/________________________________SIMPLE LIVING QUOTE "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and

realize they were the big things"

--Robert Brault________________________________

SAVING MONEY ON HOME HEATING COSTS

Copyright Deborah Taylor-Hough

http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com

Approximately 40% of winter home energy bills involves heating.

Here are some simple tips for cutting back on your home energy

costs this winter:

Heating:

--Change furnace air filters regularly (once a month or according to

manufacturer's recommendations). --Schedule a cleaning/maintenance call each year for your furnace. --Install a programmable thermostat. --Turn down the heat one degree during the day. Lower the heat by

ten degrees at night. --Make sure your furniture and carpets don't cover or block vents or

air ducts.

Insulating:

--Add weather-stripping around doors and windows. --Install thermo-pane windows in your home. --Insulate your top floor ceilings and attic. --Replace window screens with storm windows. --Close the damper on the chimney flue when not in use. --Cover your windows with insulated blinds or curtains. Or make window

quilts for the winter months. --Insulate yourself! Wear a sweater and insulated slippers in the house.

--Buy a down comforter for your bed.

Lighting:

--Use compact florescent lights, especially in outside lighting like porch

lights that are left on for long periods of time. --Use photo-cells or motion sensors for outdoor lights. --Open drapes when the sun is shining in your windows (helps to provide

both light and passive heat), and be sure to remember to close the

drapes at night to keep the heat in. --Turn off lights when you leave a room.

Appliances:

--Insulate your older water heater. --General rule of thumb: If you aren't using it, turn it off! --Unplug electronics and electric appliances when not in use (battery

chargers, hair appliances, computers). --Use a power strip as a central turn off point for electronics, videos

games, and computers when not in use. --Use the right size pot on the stovetop.

Cleaning:

--Always run full loads of both laundry and dishes. -If you have a newer model dishwasher, don't rinse dishes prior to

putting them in the dishwasher. --Install an energy efficient showerhead which will not only save on

water usage, but also save money on water heating. --Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible. Hot water heating

uses 90% of the electricity used to run your washing machine. --Use the correct water level when washing clothes. --Don't over-dry your clothes. Hang to dry -- or to finish drying --

whenever possible. --Empty your lint trap before each load.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

--Deborah Taylor-Hough (free-lance writer and mother of three) is the

author of several popular books including Frozen Assets: How to

Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month and A Simple Choice: A Practical

Guide for Saving Your Time, Money and Sanity. Visit Debi online and

read more articles dealing with simple living, frugality, parenting and

much more: http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com/________________________________O.U.R S.P.O.N.S.O.R

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LIVING FRUGALLY CAN BE AN INTERESTING CHALLENGE

Copyright Martin Lulac

Used with permission from EzineArticles.com,

When it comes to saving money it doesn't have to be all work. It

can also be a little fun. I know that living frugally brings to mindall sorts of unpleasant things to many people. But those that live

frugally often have a zealous approach to frugal ideas. They are

actually excited by the idea of saving a little money. And it doesn't

matter how little it really is.

Too many people think that frugality is for those without money.

I grew up in a fairly poor family and the idea of frugal living never

really appealed to me. I like to spend money. I like to have what

I want when I want it. I never thought I'd be a frugal person.

But somewhere along the way I realized that to have everything

I want, I have to stop buying and using things I really don't want.

That almost makes sense, doesn't it? Basically, I set some goals.

And to fulfill your goals, you have to take action.

And I became hooked on living frugally.

Frugal living becomes a game you play against yourself. You are

looking for ways to save. I started out simply looking to see if I

could really lower our electric bill. And I did with very little effort.

Then I looked to our heating costs. Hey, I did it again. Then I looked

to our driving expenses.

Okay, you just get hooked. Now I'm working on cutting our food

costs. I've been trying several methods, so we'll see what works.

In fact, I've become so good at cutting costs, my spouse is taking

a lower paying job that will bring more time at home.

Frugal living isn't something that is easy on a family when you take

the attitude on that you must do it. It is like cleaning house. It is

something that has to be done. You can either make it a good

experience or a bad one. With the wrong attitude you will probably

fail.

Consider frugal living as a challenge. And the best thing is that you

are improving more than just your financial situation. I've heard many,

many financial counselors and advisors say that when people gain

control of their money, they gain control of their lives. That is because

self-control bleeds over into other things. You simply begin to look at

things differently.

Whether you are looking to a frugal life out of necessity or out of a

wise money management plan, start by simply tackling one area

of your expenses. Then move on to another. Over time, you will find

that your attitude changes and you look at things differently. And

you start seeing that you can save money (to spend on things that

really matter) without much effort at all. And that's the best thing

about the frugal challenge -- you save money.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

--Martin Lukac represents, #1 American Financial Mortgage banking

marketplace. http://1AmericanFinancial.com is a destination site of

personal finance, investing, taxes and mortgage rates.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Martin_Lukac________________________________Feel free to forward this newsletter to your family and friends. :-)________________________________LETTERS TO THE EDITOR / READER TIPSWe'd love to hear YOUR tips and ideas for simplifying daily life.Send your simple living comments/tips to: DSimpleRe: Drying Clothes Without a Dryer

We have a clothesline in our backyard, but its not huge. So I load

everything I can on hangers first, then take them outside and hang

the hangers on the clothesline. It makes it easy for my kids to help.

Even though teenagers should know better, they can't seem to get

the hang of clothespins.

This is especially handy living in Central Florida. In the summer,

you get sweaty after just a few minutes outdoors, so doing the hanger

loading inside helps with that. And with our unpredictable afternoon

showers, we can run out and grab the hangers much faster than

unclipping a bunch of clothespins. If I do have a few items that don't

go on a hanger, I pin them up between the hangers. I even can put

pants and shorts on hangers, as long as the waistband is under 33

inches or so.

My husband installed a shower curtain rod in my laundry room

that hangs from chain attached to plant hooks in the ceiling. It works

very well for rainy days and storing the extra hangers.

--Mary-Jeanine

Re: Family Travel Game

We pass a lot of time traveling by this game "In My World."

Basically you give your child a set of items and the first one listed

is in your world or 'category". The second one is not. For example

if your item is fruit: You say "In my world you can have an apple but

not the tree." He then guesses or lists a set for you to consider.

Then you list another set: "In my world you can have a banana but

not a carrot." Etc. You can get as complicated or simple as you want.

My 10 year old had a category of words and the category was words

with 2 vowels and 3 consonants! It can be the meaning of the word

OR the spelling pattern etc. Passes a lot of time and is educational!--No Name Given

Re: Simple Spatial Reasoning Lesson for Kids

My husband and I happened on this by accident. We were doing

a tedious filing project when my 5-year-old son wanted to help. We

handed him the jumble of paperclips and asked him to untangle them.

We could see his spatial reasoning improving as he did it! It was great

to watch and it kept him interested for a long time!

--Deanna________________________________SIMPLE TIMES RECOMMENDED BOOKSBook list for frugality and simple livingGo to: http://snurl.com/simplebooks_______________________________< < B E . O U R . S P O N S O R > >Would you like to place an ad in this newsletter? ContactLaura at marketing Subject line: simple-timesDiscover the modest rates for reaching this targeted market.________________________________As always, a special "Thank you!" goes out to Gary Foremanand the friendly folks at The Dollar Stretcher for making thismailing list possible!== http://www.stretcher.com/ ==________________________________EDITOR'S BOOKS AND AUDIO RESOURCES:Books and resources by Deborah Taylor-HoughEditor, Simple Times Email Newsletterhttp://snurl.com/debisbooks________________________________DEBI'S ON-LINE RESOURCES:Personal Blog: http://dsimple.wordpress.com/Frugality/Simplicity: http://thesimplemom.wordpress.comCooking Ahead: http://frozenassets.wordpress.com/Bright-Kids: http://brightkids.wordpress.comTupperware®: http://snurl.com/DebiTupperwareKids' Books: http://snurl.com/books4kids________________________________NEWSLETTER INFORMATIONSubscribe: join-simple-timesUnsubscribe: leave-simple-timesPlease feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be interested. This is a private mailing list which isn't sold or shared with anyone else. Tips and articles are printed for entertainment purposes only. This free service is brought to you by www.SimpleMom.comCopyright 2009 Deborah Taylor-Hough. .3930 A Street SE, Ste 305-119, Auburn WA 98002Contact us at: DSimple

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