This is a short essay to help with your energy bills without a lot of fuss.

Ever walked around your home with a candle? If you check around all your windows and doors with a lit candle you will notice some flickering here and there.. OOPS.. a draft.. a small air leak that can probably be easily fixed by cleaning a magnetic strip on your door frame or by using a little caulk ( fyi you don't have to use a huge caulking gun, even the best caulk comes in small plastic tubes now) or maybe by using a draft stopper in a window sill. This is a great energy saver that costs very little.

Another energy saver for me is the squiggly light bulbs that used to cost a fortune but now are quite reasonable. I bought some at Walmart and some at Home Depot in a package of 4.. not very expensive at all... and they are now smaller than those huge bulky ones they used to sell. When you get about 60 watts of light for only 13 or 15 watts of cost this is a fantastic way to cut costs... consider it ... this is about an 80% reduction in energy... and you can still enjoy lights in your house! I like lots of light.... we are readers and crafters so the lights mean a lot to us. Besides, being in the dark most of the time is quite depressing. Oh yes, the lamps that say only 60 watt bulbs can now put off more light with these bulbs as they take much less energy.

Curtains are another way to save energy. Lots of people use blinds on their windows in place of curtains. This is a great alternative but the fabric creates another air space between the window and the room. This helps with your energy saving for heat and air conditioning. Curtains donot have to be placed directly over the window. You can extend the rods over the walls; hence, when you open the curtains the entire window will be exposed for the light and warmth of the sun. The fabric on the wall is another layer for your home. I know this sounds like layering your clothing but your walls, windows and doors work the same way with layering so check out this alternative.

With these easy fix ups for your home you can save some energy. Of course there are much more expensive ways to cut costs. We had to replace our furnace and air conditioner in our newly bought home... but, the BGE budget billing went from $400 to $230.. quite a savings. The furnace was not the best one on the market but much more energy efficient than the one we had.

I wish creativity for all. You can be proud of each small accomplishment!