Let your grass grow a little longer.

Here are five of my favorite ways to save money without making your life miserable.

1. Turn the lights off when you are done in a room
   

   And the TV of when you’re done watching it, and the dvd player, the game system, stereo, computer (at least hibernate it)! They all suck energy. If you want to get real hard core you can unplug them. Electronics use electricity even when they are shut off so that they’re instantly able to turn on when you push a button, plus other features like showing the time, and that little light that shows you that it’s on.

    

2. Turn the water off while you are brushing your teeth(Turn the flow down, while washing your hands)

   The average person bushes their teeth for 2-3 minutes. In those 2-3 minutes you just used upwards of 12 gallons of water! That’s just one person. Multiply that by the number of times you brush your teeth per day and the number of people in your house and that adds up fast.

   For more information about savings you can see just by turning off the water while brushing your teeth go here.

    

3. Turn your Heat down 1 or 2 degrees in the winter and up in the summer
   

   For every degree you turn your heat down in the winter (or your a/c up in the summer) you save 3% on your bill, that’s huge!

    

4. Use both side of the paper
   

   This isn’t just for kids. With the price of everything going up due to rising gas prices, paper is sure to become even pricier. I even use the back side of return envelopes from credit card offers for grocery or to do lists. Here is a link for a great idea to reuse paper

    

5. Let your grass grow a little longer.
   

   This is first of all healthier for the grass, requiring less fertilizer and watering, but it is better for the environment allowing the grass to make the air cleaner. Not to mention the gas/electricity you won’t be using to mow your lawn.

    

   Tell us, what are some of your favorite money saving tips?

I love her button nose.

Yesterday was Samantha’s Second birthday. It feels like only yesterday she was that tiny bundle (pictured above) I took home from the hospital. From day one she has been my snuggler and I have loved every minute of it! She is growing up so fast and becoming more beautiful, sweet, and creative every day. Here are five things from my long list of favorite things about here.

1. Her smile

This is so Sammie right now. Hands in her pockets, big smile, and some sort of headband on. So Cute!

It lights up a room and melts your heart in an instant. It’s so big that it’s sometimes hard for this momma to say no.

2. Her laugh

This girl LOVES to laugh, and when you get her going into her belly laugh, well, it makes you laugh uncontrollably as will!

3. Her dancing.

The girl doesn’t even need music to be playing to bust a move (she just like her mommy that way)

4. The way she plays pretend

She has such an imagination. She plays mommy with her baby, she grabs a bag and pretends to be leaving to go shopping, she makes meals and pushes her little grocery cart around with food in it.

5. Her determination

She decided that she wanted to ride the trike in the snow. Needless to say it didn't work so well.

Another word for that would be stubbornness, but I’m choosing to look at the positive side of things. She is determined to figure things out or try it on her own before she asks for help. Part of this comes from trying to be like big sister, but often times she will try something before Emma will. She is quite the dare devil.