10 ways to save money on electricity

1. Unplug anything that glows: There are a lot of electrical items around most homes that have small LCD lights that continue to glow even once the item has been turned off. Believe it or not, those little lights to use up energy, which adds to your electric bill. Sure, it's not going to be much of a savings, but it all adds up. Common items that have those little lights are DVD players, television, cell phone chargers, battery chargers, printers, flatbed scanners and more.
2. Audit your energy usage: The nonprofit group Residential Energy Services network can help you find a professional auditor, but that can get expensive. Contact your local electric company and they might be able to send out an auditor for free or for really cheap. An auditor generally will come out to your home for several hours during one day and will do a study on the electrical usage of your home or property. Then the auditor can offer suggestions on how you can curb your electrical use, and you too can look over the audit to see where you can cut back.
3. Only wash full loads of dishes and clothes: When you run your dish washer or washing machine, they use up a good amount of electricity, as well as water. So don't run those machines until they are jammed full. If your dish washer is only half full, don't use it yet. The same goes for your washing machine and clothes dryer. If these machines aren't full, then you're wasting electricity and money.
4. Take shorter showers: Huh? How does this save on the electric bill? Simple. Shorter showers mean you are using less hot water, and hot water is heated by a water heater. Get it? Water heaters use electricity.
5. Close air vents: If you have rooms in your home that are not used, perhaps a spare bedroom or room over the garage, shut the air conditioning and heating vents to those rooms. This will cut down on your air conditioning usage and thus save you money on electricity.
6. Turn down your air conditioner or heater: For comfort reasons, this is best done when no one is at home for lengthy periods, such as when everyone in the home is gone to work or school. This helps to save in another way, too. During the summer it's hottest during the day, which causes air conditioners to work all that much harder.
7. Use that toaster oven: If you have a toaster oven in your kitchen, make sure to use it for small meals. Obviously a toaster oven isn't appropriate for large meals, but it does use less energy than a regular oven and is perfect for warming up sandwiches, prepares small foods, etc.
8. Don't put hot food in the fridge: This might seem silly, but keep in mind it's the little things that add up to bigger savings. When you place hot foods in the refrigerator, it causes the refrigerator to work harder at remaining cool inside, which means more electrical usage. Allow hot foods to cool down to room temperature before putting them away in the fridge.
9. Buy a self-cleaning oven: But hopefully you've already got one. How does a self-cleaning oven save on the electric bill? Self-cleaning ovens have more insulation than regular ovens, which means they put out less heat into the house. Less heat in the house means the air conditioning isn't working as hard. Which means you're saving a little money.
10. Use ceiling fans: Yes, ceiling fans are run on electricity, but they generally use less electric than an air conditioning unit. You don't necessarily have to shut off your air conditioner, but you can turn it down a little and use it in conjunction with the ceiling fans.

10 basic tips to help your lawn stay green

1. Don't cut the grass too low: You really shouldn't have your lawn mower set to cut more than one-third the total length of your grass blades. So don't let your grass grow really tall before cutting it. Grass that's cut too low can dry up and die quite easily because you've cut into the crown of the plant.
2. Pour a little Epsom Salts on your lawn: Sound crazy? It's not. Epsom Salts are full of magnesium, which is for germination in your grass. Epsom Salts also have sulfur, which makes a good grass nutrient. Sprinkle the stuff on your lawn with a seed spreader, or mix it with water and spray. You'll need about two pounds of Epsom Salts for each 1,000 square feet of yard.
3. Rake up those leaves: That's right. It's Autumn. The leaves are falling by the bushel. And if you leave all those leaves (get it?), they will form a carpet over your grass and kill that grass. Next Spring, after the snows all melt, you'll have a brown, yucky mess instead of a nice, green lawn. So rake.
4. Water frequently: The water needs to sink down into the ground, at least 4 or 5 inches. Why? Because if the water doesn't, then the roots of your grass will not dig down and deep. This is important for healthy grass. The deeper those roots, the stronger the grass. Water near the surface just keeps the roots of the grass near the surface, and that causes weaker grass that's easy to kill by weeds. So, water often.
5. Not enough sunlight?: If you live in the city where there are tall buildings, or have a lawn anywhere that the grass won't get much shade, it is still possible to have a green yard. It just takes some thinking and a little work. For one thing, when you're seeding the area, don't drop as many seeds as you might normally. You want fewer seeds because you want less grass. Sound nutty? The truth is that you want less grass so the individual plants won't be competing against one another so much for what available light there is and for water. Also, don't cut grass in a shady area as often and try not to walk on the grass very much; this will help the grass to grow stronger.
6. Sharpen your mower's blade: Yes, you want a sharp blade on your lawn mower. This not only gives a neater, cleaner look to your yard, but it also does less damage to the grass. A dull blade will whack and tear grass, causing damage to the grass' blades.
7. Know your growing seasons: This is especially important for seeding and fertilizing. The types of grasses found in warmer climes are best treated in the early spring or summer. Grasses usually found in medium climes are best treated in early spring or late fall. In the United States the easiest way to know your climate is to look at a map. Most anything below Tennessee is a warmer clime and anything above not so much.
8. Water in the morning: Yep, the best time for watering your lawn is in the morning, especially before 9 a.m. Later in the day, and the water might evaporate too much and too quickly before having a chance to sink down to those roots. And definitely don't water in the hottest parts of the day, because this will only bake the roots of your grass.
9. What to do with those grass clippings: Raking up those cut grass clippings, or using a mower with a bagger, leaves behind a clean look, but it also denies certain nutrients to the lawn, especially nitrogen. But don't leave big clumps of grass behind, because that will kill the grass beneath.
10. Dethatching is important: Thatch is basically old grass and other organic matters that build up in the soil and around the roots of your grass. Getting rid of thatch can help your yard to breath better, and it also helps the grass' roots to grow stronger and take in more water. Dethatching is a bit of manual work, but it's well worth it, so head to your local lawn store and get a dethatcher. What does one look like? Kind of like a rake, but the sharp spines at the end of the dethatcher will be short and usually curving out and away from the handle.

10 ways to conserve water

1. Foods: Use a pan for washing fruits and vegetables. This will save you from running the tap water as much.
2. Hosing: Don't use the hose to clean off your sidewalks and driveway. A broom will work just as good and it won't take any longer nor much more work.
3. Teeth time: When brushing your teeth, turn off the water while actually brushing. You also could use a cup to hold any water you might need for after brushing.
4. Car washing: If your lawn needs watering and your car needs washing, park on the grass during the washing. The soap isn't harmful to the grass, and you get two tasks done at the same time.
5. Car washing #2: Turn off the water while you are soaping your automobile. To make it even easier, use one of those nozzles that allows you to turn the water off at the end of the hose.
6. Eating: Save the water you use for boiling vegetables to make into a soup. If you're not planning to have soup any time soon, freeze the water in a freezer bag and mark it with a label so you'll know what kind of vegetables were boiled in the water.
7. Sprinkler: Don't water the house and sidewalk and parked car. When using the sprinkler, move it so it is only hitting grass or other plants that need the water.
8. Watch those bills: Water bills, that is. If you have an unusually high use of water one month, the water bill will let you know. Maybe there's a leak somewhere? Go looking for it. Or contact the water company and/or a plumber if the high water bills continue and you can't figure out why.
9. Drums and barrels: Use a water drum or barrel to collect rain water as it pours or trickles off your roof. You can use this water for your plants and yard. Water barrels or drums can often be found for sale at container stores or dry feed stores.
10. The kids: If you have children, make sure to teach them the responsibilities of turning off faucets when they are finished using them.