Well hello!
It has been quite some time since my last post and boy the things I have learned in the mean time! I have thought many times that I needed to create a new post but each time life would happen and I would forget or run out of time! I have been continuing to work on ways to cut down on our bills and so far have been pretty successful. Some of the things I did was completely on purpose and planned and others were totally blessing in disguise, such as a broke down heating unit that had to be replaced! As I try new ways to save money I will share them with you either way if they be epic fails or great success. Maybe my trial & errors will help you not have to make as many trials (and potential errors) as me.
About this time last year our heating system went out. It was expected it was almost 30 years old... but it still hurt all the same. As I mentioned it was a true blessing in disguise!! We took out inside furnace out and went with an all in one heat pump which meant that the closet that used to hold the furnace is now a much needed storage closet (YAY!!). Also, with the unit now being outside the sound of the old furnace doesn't drown out the TV when it comes on, which is an added little bonus! The biggest bonus of all is that it has averaged saving us a whopping $100 a month on the electric bill!! Isn't that amazing?? I would have never expected a savings of that amount! It was to say the least a pleasant surprise!
Secondly, we bit the bullet and turned off our satellite.... Believe it or not it was not nearly as painful as we expected it to be. My daughter, who is 8, just knew it was gonna be the end of the world. To her & our surprise we have not missed the satellite at all! We installed an outside antenna in place of where the satellite used to be & we now pic up 30 some channels. including 2 that play children's shows all day, 2 that show old shows (like Love Boat, I love Lucy, etc), and one that shows home improvement & gardening type shows. Two great bonuses are that the children are now not exposed to inappropriate so called children's shows and we are saving $90 a month!!
My next project is to make a solar heater out of recycled drink cans and scrap lumber... I will keep you updated on how it works... I hoping to at least be able to use it to heat our garage or maybe at least the dog house... ;) if it doesn't work then I haven't really lost anything... but if it does, How awesome will that be??
Stay tuned on my journey to saving money and trying to go back to a simpler way of life...
