Save Your Money - Save Your Life!!

I recently discovered something about myself: stress makes me sick. Now, I know what you're thinking ... duh. But you have to understand that I don't get sick very often, but when I do it's in conjunction with something else; holidays, events, etc. Turns out, it's the stress of those events and often the cost of them as well that is making me sick. Why? Because I worry.

Well, my husband and I have decided to try something new in '08 to reduce my worry, stress and subsequent illnesses. We are going to slowly change the way we live and thereby save more money and allow ourselves more time for R&R.

You'll find here several ideas that we've used in the past, and several that we plan to try.

1. Lower the cost of your energy bill.
This may seem daunting, but it's easy once you get into a routine. Also, knowing you'll have to make sacrifices helps. First, don't use your heat or your AC if you don't have to. My husband and I both work during the day. If no one is home, there is no need to run either the heat or the AC to make the house comfortable. In the summer, I simply open the windows when I get home and let the heat that has gathered dissapate and the breeze cool us down. In the winter, I block off the rooms that don't need to be heated and only leave the heat on for short periods of time. We use a space heater in our room at night. Also, listen to your mother and wear socks in the house - it helps keep you warmer.

Wash full loads of laundry, not small ones, unless it's absolutely necessary. Hang heavy clothing that soaks up moisture, rather than throwing it in the dryer. Sweaters, jeans and towels all take much longer to dry than socks and t-shirts. Hang these things and set the rest on a "less dry" cycle. You'll run the machine for much less time and it won't have to put out as much energy to dry those thinner items.

Run your dishwasher only for extremely hard to clean items. If you can wash something by hand, do. Don't run the dishwasher for anything other than a full load.