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Dear Busy Mamas,
Welcome to the Three
Minute Mom
Newsletter, a
newsletter that we busy moms actually have
time to read! I'm Carey Keavy, author of Raising
Your Own Children, a book which teaches moms
to
quit their full-time jobs and make living on one
income work for them. Inside of each issue you will
find money-saving ideas, parenting tips, and
more...all guaranteed to be readable in only three
minutes!
Sincerely,
Carey Keavy
| Money Minute: 14 Tips on Saving Money on Your Heating and Cooling Bills by Connie Gardner |
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1. Weather-strip doors and windows and be
sure that the door sweeps on the bottom of your doors
are in good condition. This is the easiest & most
inexpensive thing you can do for big changes in your
home's ability to hold the cool air inside.
2. Replace your regular window screens with solar
screening. It cuts glare and drastically reduces the
transfer of heat through windows.
3. Hang thermal draperies to insulate your windows in
both summer & winter or hang mini-blinds or window
shades to block direct sunlight from heating your
rooms. (TIP: Close the draperies or shades on sunny
windows and change as the sun moves around the
house during the day. You will be amazed how much
cooler your house will be.)
4. Wrap cooling & heating ductwork with insulating
wrap and secure with duct tape wherever possible.
This will eliminate cool/hot air from escaping through
the ductwork before it gets to your rooms.
5. Change your air filters every 30-60 days. A clean
filter allows more air flow and cleaner air for you and
your family. This is especially important for those with
allergies or indoor pets.
6. Use room or ceiling fans to move the air for added
comfort. It's estimated that using ceiling fans will
lower the apparent temperature to your skin by up to 4
degrees. By doing this, you can delay turning on the
A/C until later in the day and save money.
7. Do cooking & baking as early as possible in the
day. Use exhaust fans over cooking areas to reduce
heat build-up and pull steam out of your kitchen as
well.
8. Keep all exterior doors shut while your A/C is
running. Even today's multi-pane glass doors allow
for heat transfer to some degree.
9. When taking a bath or shower use the exhaust fan
to reduce heat and humidity.
10. When replacing appliances, always purchase
Energy Star appliances. These appliances must
reduce energy consumption by a minimum of 10% to
earn the Energy Star rating. Furthermore, there may be
tax credits available to you for installing these rated
systems, some up to $300! Your electric company
may also provide additional rebates.
11. You can save us to 10% on your energy bills by
dropping the setting on your hot water temperature
setting. A temperature of 120 degrees is very
adequate for home uses and will save money. Setting
the temperature above 120 degrees puts your children
at risk of accidentally scalding themselves, so lower it
for safety reasons too!
12. Did you know that your landscaping can also have
a dramatic effect on your energy bills? By planting
deciduous trees and tall shrubs near your home, you
can reduce both heating and cooling bills. The leaves
shade in summer while the empty branches allow the
sun to warm your home in the winter.
13. Be sure to check with your electric company, fuel
oil and propane and natural gas companies to see if
they have programs designed to reduce your costs as
well. Many electric companies have "time of day" rates.
Gas and oil companies have price-lock or contracted
pricing programs available. Some even have budget
plans in which your total costs for the year are
calculated and then divided into twelve monthly
payments. This can be very helpful in areas where
weather extremes make heating and cooling bills
change drastically.
14. Finally, when you are not going to be at home,
raise the temperature in the house by 5-8 degrees so
the A/C runs fewer times while you're gone. By turning
it completely off on during the day, it will make it harder
to bring the temperature back down when you get
home. Conversely, if you leave it running to maintain a
low temperature, you'll be wasting energy, money &
putting undue stress on your air conditioner.
Written by: Connie Gardner, owner
www.nurturedhome.com Traditional Homes with
Traditional
Values. Resource of tips on homemaking, cooking,
home organization, gentle mothering, Attachment
parenting, breastfeeding and all issues important to
women, check us out!
Article Source:
http://greatarticlesformoms.com
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| Mama Minute: The Knock of Sacrifice by Carey Keavy |
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"Here I am! I stand at the door
and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will
come in and eat with him, and he with me."
~ Revelation 3:19-21
Isn't it true? In order to get something better in life, we
often have to let go of something we enjoy. Want a fit
body? No more excess of the food indulgences we
love! Want a peaceful marriage? Well, say goodbye
to your right to be "right" all the time. Looking for a
close relationship with your
children? Adios to all those activities that tear us away
from our time with family. Quaintly stated, "You've gotta
give up something good in order to gain something
better!"
Life in it's entirety is often about sacrifice. It is certainly
never "easy" to live according to our principles. It is
often
challenging to surrender what we value in order to
gain
something of greater value. As the Israelites looked
back and longed for their days in slavery ["At least we
got to eat in Egypt!"], we too will tend to place our focus
on the cost of our loss instead of the prize. We often
forget that anything
good in life comes at a price, and we are not always
willing to pay what is required.
God has been dealing directly with my heart regarding
the issue of sacrifice. This year has been one of
heart-growth. In my walk with Christ, there have been
many
times I have attempted to follow a set of
self-improvement rules in order to change my life.
Time
after time, I have failed to alter the problems. I now
understand that I had been making futile efforts to
change the way I acted on the outside, while failing to
deal with the root issues of my heart. Basically, I have
taken a stab at God's role as the heart-changer.
(How's that workin' for ya, Carey?!)
My heart has finally heard His quiet knocking at it's
door. I have been urged by Him to go to a deeper
level in my relationship with Him (the sacrifice of my
time for Him). He has ushered me into a life of
greater order and less chaos (the sacrifice of my
freedom to do what I want, when I want). He has
inspired me to take better care of myself and to value
my health (the sacrifice of enjoying laziness). God
has pushed me into the use of talents I have not
always been comfortable displaying in public (the
sacrifice of getting out of my comfort-zone by
overcoming fears and being willing to fail in front of
others). In some strange and bittersweet way, I
sense the growth has only begun.
This leads us to the obvious question. Has
God been
quietly knocking on the door of your heart?
Has He
been revealing Himself to you in subtle ways in order
to show you He exists? Is He asking you to pursue
Him and know Him for who He really is? Is He calling
your name, saying, "Daughter, I am searching for you--
will you return to Me?" Is He leading you to throw out
some of
the muck that muddles your life in order to become
more like Him? How is He speaking to You today?
And finally, we come to the most important question of
all. Will you listen? We were not
created by a
loving
God to be obedient robots. God longs for our hearts
and our obedience, but He will never impose. He
knocks quietly, and He waits. Will you quiet yourself
long enough to hear His knock?
And finally, will you answer the call?
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| Menu Minute: Crockpot Stroganoff |
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With all of the heat in the summer, I love
to resort to cooking in my crockpot! Here's a
slow-cooker recipe you are sure to enjoy!
Ingredients:
2 lb. round steak
1/4 c. flour
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. garlic bits
3 tbsp. butter
1 sm. onion, chopped
1 tbsp. soy sauce
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 c. water
Method:
Cut steak into 1 x 1/2 inch strips. Mix with flour, pepper,
salt and garlic. Add to crock pot
with rest of ingredients. Cook on low for 5 hours. Stir
occasionally. Last 1/2 hour, add 1 (8 oz.) package of
cream cheese, cubed. Serve over cooked wide
noodles.
Note: Can also be baked in casserole dish in oven at
350 degrees for 45 minutes.
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