Cheap Ways To Make Your Home More Energy Efficient

Cheap Ways To Reduce Power Bills

Lots of people dream about alternative systems that can reduce reliance upon grid energy. These are great, but they require an large upfront investment. For example, it might take several years to get home solar energy to pay for itself.

You may eventually free yourself from the power company, but it can take several years to actually recoup your investment in the form of cheaper electric or gas bills and payments from the power company for excess energy produced. Consider some cheap DIY home projects to make your home more energy efficient!


Does your home really have enough insulation? 

You might be able to enjoy a very quick payoff in the form or lower utility bills and a more comfortable house if you simply add to your home. Most U.S. homes are insulated, but most do not have enough. Besides, there are lots of gaps in the walls, around fireplace mantels, in window frames, and even below doors that leak out the air you have spent a lot of money to cool or heat.

DIY Home Energy Efficiency Projects

The best news is that a lot of these energy efficient improvements can be made as a DIY project at home. If you tackle adding more insulation to your attic, for example, you might only need to spend a few hundred dollars, and this money might be recouped within a year or two. If you need to plug up some drafts in your home, you could fix a lot of problems with inexpensive weather stripping, sealant, or even duct tape, and you could get your money back in months.

How To Make Your Home More Energy Efficient 

You could start with any cold or hot spots you already notice in your home. Speak with the helpful salespeople in the store to get ideas for affordable ways to fix these problems. You can also find websites that will help you figure out if you have enough insulation in the attic of a house that's a few years old. Many very new homes have plenty of insulation, but houses that are a decade or more old may not. A simple inspection of your attic should tell you a lot

Your long range goal might be to free yourself from the grid, but you will want a well-insulated house anyway. In the meantime, lower your electric or gas bill today. That might give you the extra funds you need to make more improvements in the future, and that is a very frugal course of action.

Are You Saving Any Money?

Yeah, Prepper Dads Save Money 

Even though the main emphasis of being a prepper is trying to stockpile resources against the day when money could become almost useless, a true prepper dad also tries his best to plan for a more likely future. That is one in which money is still needed, and you face a situation where you need a lot of it.

I was, in fact, a bit alarmed when I saw this article : Americans Aren't Saving Enough For Retirement. 

Can You Set Aside A Buck A Day? 

Have you heard of people who don't have a lot of money but try to just set aside $1 a day no matter what happens? That way they have an emergency cache of cash to tide them over when things get tough. Here's a good plan for setting aside 5 dollars a day for the same reasons.

Do You Have Savings Goals?

One of the most important things you can do is to have any sort of goal. Let's say you just want to save $1,000 for the holiday season by December or make sure you have $500 in a cash account in case you need to buy a new tire or fill a cavity. Of course, a longer term savings goal that many Americans are giving up on is saving enough money for a comfortable and secure retirement.

Here's a free savings calculator you can use to illustrate what some of your goals might be and how long it will take to reach them. You simply enter your goal and the number of years you have to meet your goal. Then enter an assumed interest or return rate and the amount of money you have allocated already for your goal. That amount can be zero. Hit enter, and get back the amount of monthly contributions you need to make in case you fall short.

Boomers Aren't Saving Enough For Retirement - If Anything!

Do you need some more motivation? Look at this dire look at baby boomer retirement savings. Apparently, we aren't saving enough money, and some of us are not saving any! 

Why I became a Prepper Daddy

Why are the Neighbors Calling Me Prepper Dad? 

Why would somebody like me - who would rather hire somebody else to mow the lawn - start to earn the nickname Prepper Daddy? I responded a bit to a series of articles on the web about one of the most famous prepper dads - Robert Kiyosaki. You may not recognize the name, but I'll be that you recognize his book's title: Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

Instead of worrying about how people can get rich he's urging folks to stock up on food and implements. When you get to the end of the post , you can watch a video to learn more about this guy's change of direction.

Am I Getting Ready For Doomsday?

Personally, unless that thing under Yellowstone decides to explode - I suspect the economy will not just collapse us back into the stone age. On the other hand, the natural world doesn't make us any promises - as is made obvious by climate change over the last few decades. This is not a political statement - but just a statement of fact. The North and South Poles are obviously losing ice, and this is affecting temperatures all over the world. I think change will happen gradually and not in a moment, but I think some sensible preparation, or prepping, is always prudent.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad Prepper Dad Video

Here's where Robert K. is getting prepared. If you also want to prepare for the worst, in a sort of sensible way, look into some frugal food storage tips in the preppers section of Frugal Pig.