With summer on the horizon and blue skies trying to rear their heads, now is a perfect time to take a look into improving your energy rating. As temperatures increase outside, you will have more freedom to dabble with your home, ensuring it’s ready to go and warm as toast for when the colder months set in once more.

While home improvements are a major aspect of improving your energy efficiency, they do come at a price which isn’t always feasible. Many small changes can be done on a lesser budget too, such as changing your light bulbs to energy savers, or turning your washing machine down to 30 from 40. However, you’ll see more of a change in your utilities if you take a look at the larger changes that will require a little bit of investment.

If you’re wise with your money, or you take advantage of any of the government programs available, you could improve your home in no time.

Your Furnace

Whether you have an old conventional furnace and you want to replace it with one of the British Gas combi boilers or your current boiler has clonked out under the pressure, sprucing up your boiler heating system can make a massive change in your energy bills.

Take a look at the excellent initiatives available to help to afford the outlay and read about the various options.

Your Insulation

Take a look at your loft and walls and see whether there’s any room for improvement with regards to insulation. Topping up your loft cladding to the recommended 270mm can save approximately $50 a year, while insulated walls can save up to a massive $1000 annually.

Your Windows

While it may cost a lot initially, double glazing is a wise move, looking ahead to the future. If you’re staying in your home for a while, you can make the money back in no time. Double glazing can save a few hundreds dollars a year on your heating bills, while also keeping out unwanted noise pollution.

Sit down with a cup of coffee and take a look at how you can improve your home and energy consumption to save you money for the brighter things in life.

What do you save on energy?

There are so many extraordinary uses for ordinary things. Baking soda is one of the very common things that can replace many things that you would otherwise purchase separately.

Here are ten things you can do with baking soda:

1. Cleaning The Cutting Board
The cutting board is one of those kitchen items that withstand heavy duty use. Scrubbing your cutting board once a week with a sponge dipped in baking soda will not only give your cutting board a nICW clean look, but will also remove all the unpleasant smells.

2. Refresh The Garbage
No matter how much you refrain from throwing things away, it is impossible to eliminate all garbage. Baking soda cannot help you keep your trash to a minimum, but it can help you avoid the unpleasant odors. Just one teaspoon of baking soda on the bottom of the trash can will do wonders with the smell.

3. Eco-friendly Carpet Cleaning
Rugs and carpets tend to absorb all the nasty smells in the house. Cleaning the carpets usually entails vacuuming, but vacuuming won`t rid of the smell. Sprinkling baking soda and leaving it to act for some minutes before you proceed with the vacuuming will work miracles with unwanted smells.

4. Get Rid Of Weeds
You know those annoying weeds that grow between your pavement or in sidewalk cracks? The weeds are really difficult to get rid off. Yet, if you place baking soda in those spaces where they grow, you will eradicate weeds in no time.

5. Heal Sun Scorched Skin
Scorched skin is not only unaesthetic, but also painful. Baking soda can help you reduce the red skin appearance. You can take a bath and add half a cup of baking soda to it, especially if  large areas of your body are affected. You can also use a mixture of 2 tablespoons of baking soda and ½ cup of water and apply it on your face with a cotton pad or gauze pad.

6. Get Rid Of Dandruff
Baking soda is especially efficient when your skull is affected by dandruff. Using baking soda as an alternative to shampoo once a week can help you clean your skull and get rid of dandruff. Use no more than a handful of baking soda.

7. Clean Toys
Baking soda is very efficient as a cleaning solution for plastic and rubber chemicals. Instead of using dangerous chemicals, you can use a simple solution of 250 ml of lukewarm water and 4 tablespoons of baking soda.

8. Ease Your Heartburn
Heartburn feels incredibly uncomfortable, but you can get some relief if you dissolve one teaspoon of baking soda in half a glass of water and drink it.

9. Restore Your Paintbrushes
If you are about to throw away your paint brushes because they have become stiff and useless, you should know that baking soda can help you restore their function and looks. It does require some boiling in a mixture of water (half a gallon), baking soda (one cup), and vinegar (a quarter of a cup).

10. Clean vegetables and Fruits
In order to reduce the effects of tap water when washing vegetables and fruits, you can add baking soda in the water and let it dissolve.

What do you use baking soda for?

Photo by Dulamae

Often time’s people find themselves paying for the services of a handyman, interior decorator, landscapers and for other things around the house. If you’re like me, you will always try to do it yourself before thinking about spending money to pay someone to do it. Unless I simply don’t have the time, or absolutely hate doing it, I will likely try to do it myself. Not only is it a big cost saver, but it’s also satisfying when you’ve worked on something to completion. Here are some DIY projects you can do around your house.

1. Painting

You do not have to be a professional to paint, I have painted several rooms and they turned out fine. You can give your home a splash of color with the help of a sturdy paint roller or brush. This is a fairly easy task to accomplish. Just choose which paint color you would like to use to brighten up your home and get the materials you need to get the job done. The right choice of paint color has the power to make any room look bigger, cozier, cooler or warmer. A dash of new paint could be all you need to give your home a makeover.

2. Home Designer

Why hire an interior designer when there are so many ideas in magazines, television and online. The services of a professional interior designer can be quite costly and a bit of research can get the job done. The money you use for an interior designer can be used to decorate your home.

Now I know not everyone is blessed with that interior designer eye, but in this day and age, you don’t have to look too far to get ideas. I was walking around in IKEA yesterday and they have some really nicely decorated rooms. You can decorate your whole house the exact same way they’ve set up the displays in their store.

3. Landscaping

A beautifully landscaped front yard could easily transform your home into something more attractive and attention grabbing. No matter how simple the architecture your house may be, you can make it look more appealing by putting pots and plants in the right places. If you have some spare time in the evenings or on the weekends, you could spend some time making your garden look lovely. Home Depot has some great magazines to give you some ideas.

I am not one of those people who like to wait for a plant or flowers to grow from the seed, I much rather buy flowers and just plant them myself, so I get an already made garden versus having to wait for my flowers to grow.

4. Tile Re-grouting

Are you tired of seeing icky mildew on your bathroom tiles? I hate seeing it! Why not try re-grouting your bathroom. This project will not only whiten the tiles but will also make your bathroom look cleaner and fresher at the same time.

Some of the items you will need are, grout, grout saw, grout sponge, sealant, protective gloves and a bucket.  The hardest part is getting rid of the old grout. The job could be really messy if the old grout is in terrible shape. But if the old grout is not that bad, a chemical cleaner should be able to do the trick.

5. Faucet Fixes

If a faucet starts to leak, the first thing that usually comes to mind is calling a plumber. But a simple leak can be easily solved if you have the tools needed to fix it. Just make sure to shut off the pipe that supplies the water to the faucet before you start fixing the problem. There are different types of faucets and the steps required for fixing a faucet may vary, so be careful. Hubby uses YouTube if he has any difficulty when trying to fix any of our faucets. Everything seems to be on YouTube.

There are still many other DIY projects at home that can be easily accomplished even by beginners. Once you start doing some projects yourself, you’ll realize it’s not all that bad.

What types of DIY projects have you done?

Why do people find it so difficult to save money nowadays? Although many believe in putting some money aside for when things get rough, they don’t actually manage to save as much as they need. They are well aware that a lack of savings will only cause problems in the future. That is why they make all sorts of excuses as to why they can’t save money.

Here are five of the most common excuses used by people to hide their inability to reasonably contribute to their savings account:

1. It’s Not In My Nature – It is the easiest thing to blame it on your genes. That would mean that your inability to save is not controllable, which is definitely not true. When people make this type of excuse, they simply sabotage their own attempts at saving. However, the “I am not able to” excuse can easily be counteracted by an infusion of positive thinking.

2. Blame It On Your Spouse – As saving is often a joint venture and both partners need to bring their own contribution, people are often tempted to blame it on their spouse. In fact, it is always the fault of their partner who is spending too much, is not willing to save or simply refuses to save. That excuse is not the best since you can always separate your finances and have everything under control.

3. The Too Many Debts Excuse – This is a common excuse ever. The, the sooner you pay your debt, the less interest you will pay and the more you will save. With every debt that you pay, you regain financial freedom and can save money.

4. My Income Is Simply Not Enough - Your income should be enough to cover your expenses and save. That is the best excuse of all as it is really difficult to save when your income is modest. However, remember that your lifestyle should reflect your income. If you adapt the way you live to how much you make, you will be able to save a reasonable amount of money every month.

5. Blame It On The Recession - The economical hardships with its smaller wages and rising prices makes it more difficult to save, but not impossible. In fact, instead of blaming it on the economy, people should adapt to the new environment. They should make the required changes in their budget to adjust their lifestyle to their income. There are things that simply need to be paid, like electricity, but there are things that some don’t really need, like eating out every night.

When you feel that you are making excuses not to save money on a monthly basis, you should remember the reasons why you need to save. Savings help you protect your family in case an emergency occurs, whether it is a serious work accident or a furnace replacement.

It’s important to be able to fuel your dreams and those of your family, whether it is travelling around the world or your children’s education.

What are some excuses you have heard why people don’t save?

Photo by PB Energy Solutions