I never thought I would be writing this, but two weeks from today, my husband and I will be moving into our very own home. Neither of us thought we would ever own our own home, and here we are, moving to a beautiful new home together, just days before our first wedding anniversary. The first anniversary is the “paper anniversary,” so I guess our gift is the mortgage papers that we will sign! I asked my husband the other night how he thought we were going to top this on our second anniversary….
As someone who has rented and lived in apartments for the past 20 years, it’s exciting (and terrifying!) to think about owning my/our own home. My husband and I have talked about the immediate work we want to do on the house, and have started planning for the “someday” projects as well.
I have never had to buy appliances before, but luckily, I work for NRCM so I know about energy efficiency and the importance of conserving energy and making efficiency improvements whenever and wherever we can. I know this helps protects the environment as well as our family budget. So, the first purchase for the new house was an Energy Star refrigerator. I had a refrigerator at an apartment in the past that was old and inefficient, and when it finally started to break down, my electric bill went from $35 a month to somewhere around $100. Once I got a new Energy Star fridge, that bill went back down below $35.
Energy Star refrigerator – check! And the next item on our list is insulation. We have some insulation in the attic of the new house, but not enough – and we have a crawl space under part of the house that we feel is important to add insulation to as well. Spending $150 on insulation now will save us over time on our heating bills, and we also know it’s the right thing to do for Maine’s environment.
As NRCM’s webmaster, I have read and posted “Tips of the Day” and the great Maine Green Minutes that NRCM shares on WCLZ radio each day, and many of the tips are ones that I will use as Maine’s newest homeowner. I am excited about making energy efficiency improvements to our new house as we settle in and make it our home.
Have you made energy efficiency updates to your home? I encourage you to download or order NRCM’s Clean and Healthy Housekeeping brochure to learn how to keep your homes clean and pest-free using non-toxic “recipes” included in the brochure.
Do you have energy efficiency or toxic-free living tips to share? As a homeowner, I would appreciate hearing about them, and I know NRCM’s supporters would, too. I invite you to post them here or share on our Facebook page.
Two weeks from today will be exciting for my husband and me as we settle into this new home, and part of that excitement is knowing that we will get to make some decisions that will help us save money, energy, and the environment. Wish us luck!
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