Saving on Heating and Cooling

I have ran across many things on the internet, books, peoples advice and such on keeping heating and cooling at a minimum. In the winter open all blinds and curtains to let the sun light in to help warm rooms, this will help your furnace by not coming on all the time. I know that some of us here lately haven't seen much sunlight and if you are tired of that you are not alone believe. If you are not using rooms shut them off during the day this will help save too, by not having to circulate heat in those rooms. Now if you live in a colder area please make sure you don't cut off rooms that may have plumbing in them, that would not be good and a bit messy. I always wondered why my mom and dad would shut off bedrooms and open them about an hour before bed. I know why now it cut heating cost and since we burned wood helped with the wood consumption by the stove. Some homes that is easier said then done for the sunlight option if your home faces the work direction, has woods on one side or the other, but think of it this sunlight on 1/2 the house is better than none at all.
In the summer keeping cool is easy do just the opposite with the blinds and curtains. You can also use ceiling fans or floor fans to circulate the air. This helps your A/C unit not work as hard to cool your home. Other things that help is keeping filters clean on the furnace and spraying off your A/C unit to keep dust and things from building up on the coils. We have a severe cat problem in our neighborhood and the like to walk right by our unit, cat hair galore build up on it. You can close off vents to hotter rooms as well or just shutting doors to will offset the usage. I try to close off a few of the vents in the basement in the summer as it stays fairly cool down there, the air then gets pushed to other vents for the upstairs. We also have a vent in the garage I don't use that vent at all it stays warm and cool enough to have it closed. If you have any more tips on heating and cooling for you home please leave a comment.

Sponsor Wednesday

I have determined that Wednesdays will be ad days here on Easy Peasy Going Green Guide. So today's Sponsor ad comes from Only Natural Pet Store. This is a store that you can buy a natural products for your four legged family members. After all they are a part of our lives and if we can green it up why can we green it up for our pets too. So stop in and check them out you might just find something interesting ;). Treat those pets to a greener and healthier lifestyle.

Gardening

You know for years as a kid my family would garden. My mom every summer would can everything in sight for the up coming winter. At the time I really didn't understand why, I was a kid all I cared about was playing outside and having fun LOL! Now that I am older I understand, it saves money on your budget, also is better for the environment, and you know how its been maintained, and made.
By having a garden I think it would benefit my family a lot. How do I mean exactly, well some of you know that my youngest son has food allergies. We have been having trouble lately with brands of sauces (we have been buying for a while too) changing the ingredients but not the label for allergy info. A spaghetti sauce from Wal-Mart that we have gotten for sometime has started putting cheese and milk products in the sauce, unless you read the ingredients you would never know it is there, the label has no info on it about possible allergens. By growing tomatoes we could make our own sauces, salsa, and ketchup. Savings in those products alone would help the old budget as we use quite a bit. The other is we wouldn't be buying into the transportation cost to have it delivered to our local stores. We can also keep tabs on what kinds of fertilizers and insecticides are used. I want to go as organic as possible. By not buying into the transportation of these products it helps reduce carbon footprints.
The other reason I would like to grow a garden is for freezing foods for the upcoming winter. This will also help with our budget, by not having to buy vegetables canned or frozen, onions, herbs, potatoes, and such having them all in the freezer already. I think my stress level at the store will be better to not always wondering have I got everything, did I leave anything off the list before I go. I might actually get in and out a store without breaking the bank. Gardening is a great way to help the environment and you pocket book too. I know the start up of it might strain it a bit but we will reap the rewards in no time. It will also give my 8 year old something to do to (he wants to be a chef), he can help weed and harvest. So think about it if you can why not do it!!!!!

Homemade Automatic Dishwashing Detergent

My post for today is on the frugal side of things. Are you on a tight budget and want to find ways to stretch your money on cleaning? I know this isn't a natural cleaner but, I know I do have some readers that need cheap and inexpensive ways to help their budget our so this post is geared toward them.

My friend Michelle over @ Money Saving WAHM, made a great post about cheap cleaners. Well I went and bought the products for the Automatic Dish Detergent (Recipe). My husband and I whipped up the recipe and tried it, it really works and it is sooooooo cheap to. This is just mule team borax and washing soda that's it. You can get both boxes (around my area anyway) for less than $10, and they can make a whole bulk amount of the detergent. We used 2 cups of both in a resealable container shook it wha-la just 2 cups of each made the equivalent of a small box detergent. As most of us know those boxes can cost upwards of $4.00 a piece, I have at least enough for 1 maybe 2 more batches this way you can't beat it.

To Michelle keep up the great post on the cheap cleaning. She also has some non-toxic recipes for cleaners as well stop by and check her out. Money Saving WAHM

Why Use Them?

Well I have been really thinking about why people use paper/Styrofoam plates and cups. We used to use them all them time, I finally put my foot down, and said I wasn't buying anymore. I realized that we were only using them because the dishes either weren't done, or just plain laziness. I do have to admit we really need to start taking refill cups with us when we stop at the convenience store, and that is a hard habit for us to break but we will eventually. I do understand that when you have a family, church or other gatherings its just makes it easy but why not have each member bring all their own plates, cups, and utensils, and if there is extra food they can make plates to take home with when they leave. I remember being in 4-H as a kid, we would have our family picnic and local achievement night, would had to bring all of this stuff plus our covered dish. Worked out well no dishes and not very much trash, yes dishes at home but none at the gathering.

I go on my bus route every day and see all the liter on back roads, mostly paper, glass, aluminum but there is one stretch that has all kind of cups, plastic bags and such all over it, the farmers just let it sit there. So sad, I told my hubby the other night I want to walk my route one Saturday and pick up all the cans that are everywhere. Taking the cans in would give us extra money for our emergency fund (yes were are doing the Dave Ramsey Program), or even pay off a small bill with it. He looked at me kinda funny but then he thought about it and said I was right. The other thing about picking them up is I am helping the environment, getting exercise while I am at it LOL! You can't beat that, I told him once a month we could and make it a family thing, why not!

When this blows around eventually the pollutants blow around and end up in creeks, streams, rivers, and eventually end up in the oceans. This causes a huge problem when it reaches the ocean, marine animals are harmed by this. This site SeaPics.com shows the effects on the life in the ocean, take a look and see what happens when an animal in the sea gets ahold of something we throw out. I think it will make you think before you toss or at least it should. They have tracked a large floating trash heap in the pacific ocean and some say it is as large as a small continent. It is just floating there catch every piece of trah that it can from boats, ships, harbors, plattforms and more. I could not find the pic of this little (well not so little) floating trash heap I know there are some just looking through hundreds of pic to find it is the thing.

So do our planet a favor, stop the plastic, styrofoam, and whatever else littering. When we stop our oceans, lakes, rivers, and even Yellowstone will thrive once again.

A Great Product I Love

I have been going to a Chiropractor for a while now (since 1997 when I threw my back out) , he and his dad are great. They have introduced me to a wonderful product called BIOFREEZE. It is a natural pain relief lotion, made of ILEX, from the holly shrub. It basically uses cold to treat your sore muscles. It is like ben gay but much better. You can click on the word Biofreeze in this post to check out the products and research it. I love this product and since it comes from nature I think most of you will too, if you would like more information check with local chiropractors, or natural health doctors to see if they sell it or get a sample from them, I really suggest it.

Biofreeze is a registered trademark of Performance Health Inc. This is just a post about it, that I love it and I think my readers would too.

My Adventures In Foam Insulation

Well I have been playing Mrs. Fix-it around our house lately. So today my post is about weatherproofing your home. We have a room in our basement that was used by a former owner as an office (it is our toy and TV room for our kids), the door that goes out to the driveway area was not properly installed or insulated. The drywall on that wall is not either, there are gaps on the floor anywhere from 1/2 inch to 1 inch wide. Well if you know anything about those gaps and Missouri winter weather well it just gets cold at times down there. I went and bought some of the spray foam insulation to fill the cracks with. Let me tell ya I am glad my hubby didn't grab the camcorder cuz it would have been not so funny. Unless you are over the age of 50 (and not that if you are there is anything wrong with that!) it is not the easiest thing to use. It was a interesting job LOL, I made a mess of all messes and I am still not finished. I think I have the idea of how to use it do it should be better this time around.

If you have areas that seem colder in the winter check when its windy and see if you feel air coming in around the baseboards, electrical outlets, doors, windows, even where lines like cable and such come in the house. Even trek up in the attic or crawl space and check on the insulation. The best way to know if you have enough insulation in the attic is if you can not see the rafters you have enough. Well I know we do not but we have to save a little money for that job after all major repairs and jobs like that do take a little bit of the green stuff. I would like to have the blown blue jean type or the soy foam for our attic. I know those do cost a little bit of money so saving is the way we have to do it. If you have areas around the outside of your home that you could caulk it keep the weather and pest out than that will be the way to go. I must admit we should take note this spring and check again to see about any leaks around our foundation, and fill them. I has to be warmer for me I must admit I am not a cold person. Checking around the internet for products to seal up your home is a great way to find eco friendly products to use.

Here are some links to a few sites:
The Green Home Guide - this has three insulation ideas for your home
Reduce My Energy - products for winterizing
Tiger Foam - this is a foam that you spray yourself.
Green Depot, and Safe Coat - These are a couple of sites that have eco-friendly caulking.
Happy hunting and weatherizing your home. If you would like to share with others what you have done to save energy and winterize your please leave a comment. Thanks!

Those Plastic Store Bags

Well I know that most of us from time to time still get those plastic store bags. I use the reusable store bags, but sometimes I do get the plastic ones, because I don't have enough room in my reusable ones (you would think I would buy a couple more but I keep forgetting to grab them when I see them GRRRRRR!!!!), or I for get that I have to stop by the store and don't have one to use. Well what do we do with them when we are done? Some just throw them in garbage NO! NO! NO!. I keep a bag in my supply closet in the hallway and its always full, I use them around the house for small trash can liners, my hubby takes them for trash bags in his semi, he also uses them for lunch bags as well. I know using them for trash bags is not recycling them but it does save me money on buying small trash bags at the store so I am being frugal too. There are places like Wal-Mart that have a recycle box that you can put them in if you have a bunch of them, which most of us do whether we like it or not.

The other things we can do is put our recycling in them. We have curbside recycle pick up here in our town. I see many of our neighbors using the plastic bags to put the newpaper bundles in (they have to be bundled or they are not accepted), I think that is a great idea really, you don't have to fight with the twine to tie them up and have the headache from it when it goes wrong (I know you know where I am coming from here so don't deny it LOL). I have even seen them used for cardboard, bottles, tin cans, alluminum, and many other things. So instead of throwing those unused plastic store bags out take them to the stores that recycle them (even if you don't shop there!), use them for your recycling, or trash bags around the house and cars, or for lunch bags. There are endless possiblities to use them for. I know a few ladies that even use them for packing material for their e-bay orders ;). So figure out the uses that best fit you and don't just trash them all the time.

I Have Been Remodeling Blog

Hi all and I would like to say welcome to the updated Easy Peasy Going Green Guide. As you can see I have done a little remodel of the site I hope everyone likes it. In future days and weeks I will be adding some product sites in the Ads & Sites side bar. I hope you like them and please take a look at them if you are looking for something in particular, if you have a site that you think I might like to advertise for you please click the link of Advertise your site here thanks, Ill take a look. I reserve the right to refuse any program if I see that it is unfit for this site. Please make sure it is of the nature of the blog, before submission thanks! Enjoy the new look and hope to see you lurking. So don't be shy drop me a comment and tell me what you think all comment appreciated.

Thanks Blogger Guide

As you can see I have changed this around a bit and added a column. Thanks to The Blogger Guide for the tutorial on how to do this, it worked like a charm. I love it thanks again. If you would like this tutorial please click on The Blogger Guide in this post thanks.

Trivia Friday

Well today I am going to quiz you, our oldest son is a part of a youth group at a local church called church mice. Every month they send us a newsletter to let us know what is going on and special events that the mice may have to be a part of (this is not our normal church ours doesn't have a group this age). Well in this month's newsletter there were a set of questions called "Green Numbers" and I am going to share them with you.

1. How many number of hours can a TV be powered by the energy saved from on recycled tin can?
3 Hours

2. Amount of water, in gallons that you could save each day by turning off the faucet off while brushing your teeth?
10 gallons

3. Number of people, in millions that could be fed by edible food that ends up in landfills each year?
49 million people

4. Amount of oil in gallons, that is saved for every ton of recycled paper?
380

5. Number of millions of tons, of e-waste (TV's computers, etc.) that Americans do not bring to recycling centers each year?
2 million tons

Petty amazing when you think about it!

Here are some tips that came along with those "Green Numbers"

1. Don't take more than you can eat.
2. Turn out the light when you leave a room.
3. Walk, rollerblade, skateboard, or ride your bike whenever possible.
4. Turn off your computer or put it in sleep mode when you aren't using it.
5. Turn the water off when you are brushing your teeth.

Just remember it's easier than you think to be green, most people do it and don't even realize they so these things each and everyday. So if you are one of these people keep it up and find something you don't do on a daily basis and try to do it too.

Recycle For $$$$$$

One of the things that I did as a kid was to save aluminum cans for my spending money. I remember my mom telling me that if I was to take care of bagging the cans from the "can" can than I could have the money that was earned. Of course I was a kid and yes anything to get extra bucks. At the time my first thing I saved the can money for was a Pac-Man watch, you know the one you could actually play the game on. I had all but forgotten about those days until one afternoon I really took a look at how many cans we were going thru in a given week and I was shocked. I thought of all the money that we had lost by not recycling them anymore. So back to taking all cans to the "Can" can again.
My oldest son asked me why and I said it was because we needed to and I also challenged him that if he would help, I would split the money with him. At first he was all gung ho about it and over time he started doing less. We have not taken any to the center as of yet but I am sure we will here in next few weeks or so. There is one little bit of this challenge tho if he does get paid, the 1/2 he gets has to be split up as well. It was only 2 categories, but now since we are trying to get the Total Money Make Over going here in our home that has jumped to three. He has to put some much in the three envelopes. If any of you are on the TMMO you all know what I am talking about. If you are not each one is labeled for a specific place. Like save, give, and me; it should teach him to save and think of others more than himself. He hasn't really got on board with it too much and is not understanding it but over time I am sure he will.
So if you are looking for a little extra check out your area for local can/aluminum centers and start collecting you may not get a whole lot but think about this a little is more than nothing at all!!!!!! I think I might use our portiong to help up our emergency fund. I can't think of a better place for it at all, well I guess I could but it should go to that fund before anywhere else.

Baby and Kids Cloths Being Frugal

Well I am like you all when it comes to this subject, what to do with them. We some of us just take them to thrift stores, or charities that will make sure they go to homes that can use them at no charge to the family. Well I have sold them in garage sales, and given them to thrift stores. This go around I am going to try to auction them off. Our youngest has been growing out of cloths right and left it seems, so I am going to place listings on a couple of auction sites and see if I get any nibbles. This is a great way to be a little more frugal and make some money out of it in the end deal if they sell. I don't mine giving to thrift stores but there are times (and I know this can be for almost every home) when my budget needs a little extra. I have been know to take the severely stains cloths and make them into dusting rags, mess rags and what not. There are so many uses its unreal. So if its stained use it as a rag, if not see if you can make some extra bucks and sell it.

I know some moms will even take what they make off of them and put it in a special fund for more cloths when needed. That is an excellent idea have a jar or account that is just for that and fund it thru the year for the back to school buying. I know that's what we need to do around here for sure. I guess that will have to happen when the budget is on the right track again, which is being worked on right now with the help of the Total Money Make Over system I am proud to say. More on that if you would like to read it on my Booting Our Debt For Good blog. So if you need a little extra money thru the month and have cloths just collecting dust in boxes why not put them up on auction sites. I have a new addition at the top right side bar of a sight that is just for those type items. Have a look see and happy selling.

Challenge

Ok I have a challenge for all of you, that you eat your lunch out. Take 1 week and keep track of everything you spend on food for your lunch breaks while eating out. The next week take your lunch and track what you spend. I would say brown bag it but find a lunch box/bag. Most places have fairly cheap ones. The reason I don't want to say brown bag it is why not save a tree or 2 in the process! Yes some lunch bags are made of recycled materials, but some are not or only a little bit is recycled. So that's my challenge to you to save money and trees by taking your lunch its easier to do than you think. Also think of the money you save if you are on the Dave Ramsey TMMO you will agree with me that you can put that towards your debt snowball or just find something you really need to get taken care of in your budget and put the money there instead of in someone else's wallet ;).

Here is a link to a store that sell just such bags.
http://www.reusablebags.com/store/lunch-bags-insulated-bags-c-4_16.html

Another suggestion most of us have those reusable grocery bags now why not use one of them. Some are not to big and would come in very handy to carry a lunch in.

DIY Diapers

I just had to share this with you all my friend Michelle over at Money Saving WAHM has been busy. She started making her own cloth diapers and they are the cutest things I have seen in my life I think. She has done a wonderful job on all of them, she has made some other things to besides the diapers. So stop by and check her diapers out, she even has the patterns I believe up on the blog too and all kinds of pictures too. If you stop by give here a shout and tell her I sent ya.

So that my green tip for the day DIY Diapers not only can you save yourself some money but they are recycling other products to make them!

Here's the link for Michelle's blog
http://moneysavingwahm.blogspot.com/

Great Job Michelle keep up the green efforts.

Happy New Year!!!!

Well it is the new year and time to get things going again. Today I am typing from my in laws house as mine has a gas leak. I am waiting to find out what the problem is. I am so not wanting gas anymore and wish we could go solor for our water heater and furnace only using electricity for a back up. But that will just have to wait I guess because I am not a millionare that I know of. Maybe our lottery tickets won last night I will have to check them today while I am out.

Not having a gas bill would be another great attribute to getting rid of it. That would free up between $70 & $85 a month from our budget. We could use that somewhere else and pay down things, and get closer to living with solor power and water. Not to mention remodeling the house and making it more green. Wishing everyone a great 2009!!!!