sustainability

The Pros And Cons Of Living In A Smaller Home

05.01.2013
The pros and cons of living in a smaller home

Last week, I got an email from Laura who is currently having a little difficulty with living in a small space. So something I’ve been dealing with is that we live in an apt in a 4-flat we own in ******, OO. It’s been great financially but now we have 2 little kids – 2 and 4 yrs old. I’m starting to go crazy (mainly in wintertime) for the lack of space… She asked me to write about the pros and cons of living in a small space and I’m happy to oblige a mom with 2 little kids. It’s [...]

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How walkable is your neighborhood? Check your Walk Score

02.08.2013
How walkable is your neighborhood? Check your Walk Score

If you glanced at my January financial update, you would have seen that we didn’t spend any money on gasoline last month. How is that possible? Well, I filled up near the end of December and the tank happened to last the whole month. It was a bit of luck and I’m not sure how long it will be before we make another no gasoline month. Anyway, now that gasoline prices are going up again, I’m quite glad we live in a very walkable neighborhood. Check out our walk score! We live in downtown Portland and it’s a “Walker’s Paradise” [...]

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Did I just spend $24.89 to save 43 cents a month on the electric bill?

10.15.2012
save power electricity devices

Look what I found at the library last week! It’s the Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor. This is great because I have been trying to cut down our electricity usage this year. Our electric bill has been trending up over the last few years. Take a look at our daily usage graph. The big spike in winter 2011 was due to baby RB40. He was born in the middle of winter and we cranked up the heat after we bought him home. That largest bill was $125 for reference. Previously, we used much less electricity (see 2010) and I would like [...]

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