I’ve written before about the curious nature of my kids, but what I didn’t say was that they come by it naturally. A couple weeks ago I looked through a copy of 5280 Magazine. They were running their yearly “Great Stuff Cheap” issue, where they have all kinds of money saving tips. One in particular caught my eye. The item stated that you could save money on shampoo and conditioner by replacing them with baking soda and vinegar. Hmm. Really? The article said that you make baking soda into a paste, work it into your hair and rinse. Then, if you need some conditioning, just follow that with a rinse of vinegar and cool water.  Read the rest of the story...

I am rarely given to hyperbole, so you can believe me when I say our local utility company is turning my husband into a raving lunatic. No, really, he’s gone crazy! The utility company has a new program which, at first glance, seems like a great idea. Each month they send us a letter comparing us to 99 of our neighbors in similar sized houses and give us a ranking based on energy use. The letter is complete with graphs and charts showing us how our kW/H (kilowatts per hour) usage stacks up against others in the community. The first one we got showed that our house was 34th most efficient among our 100 comparable houses. Not great. At first, my husband seemed only somewhat interested in this news. Then I noticed some changes.  Read the rest of the story...