January 27th, 2010
About a year-and-a-half ago, we signed up for Residential Real Time Pricing (RRTP) with Commonwealth Edison, our electricity provider. Many utility companies across the country offer similar programs, so please check with your local provider for energy-saving opportunities on utility bills.
RRTP uses ComEd’s Basic Electric Service Hourly Energy Pricing. With it, the price of electricity [...]
February 15th, 2009
JC Penney is having another sale on their window coverings. Although not quite as good as the last one when we bought our bedroom top-down, bottom-up cellular shades, the prices still aren’t bad.
Although I initially wanted a natural, woven wood look for our TV/family room, with our plans for the attic space we don’t know [...]
October 24th, 2008
With all the doom and gloom hanging over our heads on the state of the economy, we’re looking for more ways to save — but sometimes that means spending a little money first.
We had the folks from Informed Energy Decisions over a couple weeks ago to perform an energy audit/condition survey of our bungalow.
We [...]
April 4th, 2008
No, don’t worry, no baseball talk here, however I apologize as this information pertains to Illinois residents only, so I’ll make it short. I’m talking Citizens Utility Board (CUB), a non-profit organization dedicated to representing the interests of residential utility customers across the state of Illinois. CUB works hard to block rate hikes and help [...]
April 2nd, 2008
Like Humphrey House and the other residents of Oak Park, we are also fortunate here in Morton Grove to have a recycling program that accepts virtually everything without our having to sort it all: office papers, newspapers, cardboard, chipboard, virtually all plastics including grocery bags, styrofoam containers, glass, cans (including the lid) — even aluminum [...]
March 22nd, 2008
I know, I know. You’re not supposed to eat meals in front of the TV. But we do, and that’s that. I doubt we’re ever going to change that until it gets nice enough to eat outside.
What I’ve always hated about eating in front of the TV are the tray tables — they’re ugly and [...]