Making a Perfect Christmas Tree

Our tips on the next pages will give you ideas for setting up your tree, lighting it, keeping it fresh, and decorating it to be beautiful.

• Keep Your Tree Fresh and Green

Cut the stump of the tree with a fresh cut and set it in water immediately. A fresh-cut tree will absorb several quarts of water right from the start. So it’s important to check and refill the water level several times a day for the first week. You can cut down on frequency later. Be sure to place you Christmas tree in a stand that has a large water reservoir and keep it filled.

Cut Loads of Energy While Doing the Laundry

It’s easy to cut your energy costs for laundry. About 80%-85% of the energy used for washing clothes is used to heat the water. You can reduce this cost by using less water by washing full loads and using cooler water and cold-water detergents – switching the temperature setting from hot to warm cuts a load’s energy use in half. .

Lower Your Lighting Costs

Increasing your lighting efficiency is one of the fastest ways to decrease your electricity bills. Turn off the lights in any room you’re not using, or consider installing timers, photo cells, or occupancy sensors to reduce the amount of time your lights are on. Use task lighting; instead of brightly lighting an entire room, focus the light where you need it. For example, use fluorescent under-cabinet lighting for kitchen sinks and countertops under cabinets.

Keep Your Energy Bill Out of Hot Water

Water heating can be expensive, but there are a number of ways to lower your costs One way is to use less water. Repair leaky faucets immediately and use low-flow shower heads. (A family of four, each showering for five minutes a day, uses 700 gallons of water a week; you can cut that amount in half by using low-flow aerating showerheads.)

Saving Fuel Costs

Don’t Let High Fuel Costs Drive You Nuts

Whether you drive an economy car or an SUV, there are plenty of ways to improve your gas mileage. Avoid aggressive driving and observe the speed limit. Speeding, fast acceleration, and hard braking wastes gas. Lighten your load by clearing your car of extra weight, and remove roof racks or carriers if not used frequently.

3 Reasons I Haven’t & 3 Reasons I Really Want to Quit Smoking

Smoking Reasons

1. I like it! When I’m not standing in the freezing cold, or up to me knees in water, I just plain enjoy smoking. I’ve put down and picked up my smokes a number of times now, and I always find it easiest to stop smoking over the winter months.
2. I need it when I’m drinking! Ask any smoker who drinks socially, there’s something akin to a strong nuclear force which binds your drink of choice to that smoke you can’t put down. In fact I’ve known people who don’t identify as smokers to light two or three up during a night of drinking.
3. It’s bloody hard! The biological addiction to nicotine may pass in 3 days if you’re quitting cold turkey, but that’s never been the hard part for me. It’s all about the psychology of the habit.

No Smoking Seasons
1. I hate it! Yep there’s definitely a love/hate relationship for me and smoking. As much as I love a good smoke, I also recognize the power it has over me,

You Need a Blog Strategy

The first lesson – and the thing too many people skip – is creating a blog strategy.
Gone are the days when launching a blog was enough; the web is too crowded. You’re going to have to work your tail off to be successful – as you know from reading Problogger – so you better have a good reason to be doing something this hard.

In other words, you need a strategy with clear goals.

Thinking tactically – writing a one-off post, promoting yourself, optimizing for search, building links – is all well and good, but won’t matter in the end unless it moves you towards the right goal.

Here are 6 different strategies for a blog (though there are plenty more). You don’t need to fit yourself into just one bucket (I don’t), but you’ll be more successful the more singular your focus.
1) Spread an idea
There might be one idea you’re passionate about, and you want to reach as many people as possible with that one idea. Maybe you’re into going green, want to get an official elected, or think people need to stop writing making-money-online blogs.

5 Reasons Why Starting a New Blog

Here is 5 reasons we starting a new blog :

1. To Keep Fresh – perhaps the thing that I’ve enjoyed the most about the process of starting TwiTip is that it’s given me energy. While I love ProBlogger and DPS and they do give me energy – there’s something special about new blogs. The excitement of launching, the gathering of a new readership, exploring new topics,

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