As a child, besides the return to a new school year, I always enjoyed the special smell in the house the first time the furnace turned on. As an adult and now paying for my own utility bills, I now shudder whenever I hear the click of the gas furnace, signaling that my hard-earned dollars are going up the chimney.

Here’s some tips to help you get through the winter season:

Do you dread looking at your electric or gas bill every month seeing numbers that are larger and larger each time you see it? Do you wish there was something you could do about this dreaded monthly bill? Well, there is and it is easy to remedy. You just have to check your home to make sure that it is the most energy and cost efficient that it can possibly be.

It might be shocking to you that most people do not even know that because of lack of efficiency they are loosing 25 % or more of the energy used in their home.

Did you know that there are some common every day things that you can do to save energy and money around your home. Doing it yourself can save you both time and money that you might invest in someone else’s promises to save you money. I don’t know about you, but I trust myself more than someone else’s empty promise any day. All it takes is a few calculations, some common sense and you can be on the road to savings and increasing your home’s use of energy.

Some of these steps include:

1. Calculating your energy cost. Do you know how much fuel your home is taking to run and how much that cost you? You need to know this before you can determine if you can lower those costs.

2. What will it cost you to save. What things must you put into practice in order to save on your energy monthly? This is where you have to determine the balance.

3. Determine your largest needs. Some practices will save you far greater in the future than others. You must first determine your area of largest need and go from there.

4. Developing new habits. Many of us have habits that cost us energy every day. We must realize those bad habits and begin putting new habits in place in order to save energy, time and money.

These are only a few of the ways that you can begin to save money on your energy bill and have a more cost efficient home. There are many more ways to save and you will love how easy those savings come to you.

About the Author:
Cara Mirabella is a WAHM with one toddler from New Jersey. She owns and manages TheHouseholdHelper.com – a site dedicated to saving your time, money and sanity when managing your household. She has written several articles, reports and e-books including

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