Our story is a common one during these grave and depressed economic times, where we did suffer from the global economic downturn, and our household income has suffered. Thus, we started to think, how can we begin to create a plan based on saving money?  Our income has dropped dramatically, and we now are supporting ourselves with less money, due to the changes in the economy, and with new health issues in our family.  The last few years have led us to buy many cans of silicon caulk, weather stripping, and plastic for our windows and walls.  One day while we were weather stripping and securing a window sash around our home, we ended up going to the emergency room, and spending far more than the stripping could have save us that winter, thus counteracting our saving money measures.

Enough!  The fact that we tried and failed should be your proof and verification to resource and plan to work with professionals.  We have visited the box home improvement stores, hoping to complete our saving money initiatives each time we went to these hardware stores.  The reality is, we ended up spending more money, because we were not spending money on the right saving money actions.  Sure, the new compact fluorescent bulbs are a great way to save money, but they are a simple and easy step, and there must be a better way.

Saving Money Begins at Home

Here is our home, the place we hope to live the rest of our days, and retire.  It is our sanctuary, our respite and our best times are always experienced here.  I can tell you that we have lived here for 14 years, and at this writing, are really excited to tell you our story on recent upgrades we have made to save money.  This blog is built to showcase our efforts to try and save some energy in our home, and how it have impacted our bottom line.  The thing is, housing is becoming a real drain on all Americans right now, and since the housing crisis, many people lost their homes to the banks and the markets.

If you are living in a seasonal climate, like Minnesota, and even if you are in the warmer parts of the country, you are going to benefit from our insights.  Our homes are creating more of a drain on our lives that they should, and if we make some simple changes, there will be long term benefits to these changes.  It is really important to look forward, and see that your home is still a valuable asset to your wealth, and more importantly, your lifestyle.

But how can we really start to begin our saving money campaign?  Light bulbs, an electronic programmable thermostat, and some great colder temperature settings, have kept our energy consumption down.  We were keeping our home very cool in the winter, warmer than we would like in the humid summer.  In Minnesota, the winters can be brutal, lasting a period of 6 months, with temperatures down to around 25 below Fahrenheit.   In the summer, the heat is unbelievable, as we have heat and humidity.  The summer comes on fast, almost with no transition sometimes, flooding is often a common news story, and there are many hot and humid days, reaching near 100 degrees.

This wide spread variable weather element, creates havoc on our homes.  My grandparents lived in Colorado, where the dryness and minimal heat and cold variation, was very kind to homes.  They did have a brick home, with the same roof that was on the home when they bought it, and that roof was still functioning and doing well when they sold the home, over 40 years later.  This is a key to the climate, it is easier to manage homes in a temperate climate, not a widespread one like the upper Midwest.   But, we are not moving, we just need to keep our home as secure and as tolerant to these weather changes, and save money on our energy expenses as much as we can.  The answer is not in a change of topography, but, in how the home is presented to the weather of the day.

The Answer to Saving Money is Insulation from the Weather

When you are cold, you buffer yourself against the cold by wearing more, and creating an insulating area around yourself with your clothing.  It is easy to be outside in the cold, as long as you wear a layered coat.  The best coats today, have three layers, and all of us in Minnesota have this down to a science.  You start out with the first layer, and eventually, end up wear all three on those cold 20 below days.  There is no reason to stay home, when there is work to be done. Your home deserves the same energy efficiency, and the best place to start is by insulating your home from the elements.  We have focused our energy efficiency efforts on saving money by adding insulation.