Tips on how to use your home to have a positive impact on your life.

3 Impactful 2013 Resolutions for Your Home

Whether it's most important for you and your family to shrink your bills or reduce your carbon footprint, these resolutions are commendable. Here are some useful tips that can benefit ecological conservation, make more time for family, and lead to home harmonization.
Use these simple strategies to reduce your carbon footprint and also save on energy costs for your family:

• Update lamps with high efficiency light bulbs and place them in corners as the light will then reflect off of the walls.
• Your ice dispenser increases your fridge's energy consumption by as much as 20% whereas using old fashioned ice cube trays won't.
• Have you ever considered using a faster spin cycle on your washing machine? The clothes will be drier at the end of the wash cycle and, therefore, take less time in the dryer: using less energy.
• These statements would imply that not using your appliances is more energy efficient, but this is not the case with dishwashers. One would think that hand washing would be better but, in fact, dishwashers use about 30% less water than hand washing. Just make sure you only run full loads!

Do an inventory of your family’s material possessions, coordinate your family, and de-clutter your home.
Take the time needed to go through each room of your house with some diligence and clear out items that you don’t use.

• Pay it forward by recycling and donating unwanted and unused items to charity. The task of putting your home in order may seem daunting but will have long reaching impact, as the sense of harmonization is deeper than material possessions.
• When your life possessions are in order you tend to be more focused and you can direct your energy to more important matters such as finances, career, or family.
• Invest in some great storage baskets to assist in the organization of the usual clutter monsters like tax receipts, bills, and incoming mail. Having items that are used frequently at hand, but tidy, improves your home's functionality and makes life less stressful.

Whether or not you are planning on selling your home or staying put, basic maintenance and upkeep goes a long way to protect one of your largest investments.

• For example, if you deal with a minor roof leak now it may save you thousands of dollars down the road by not having to replace the entire roof prematurely.
• Furnaces require, at the very least, annual filter cleaning (bi-annual is preferred). The time spent now could save you thousands on replacing the furnace.
• Give some thought to replacing old appliances. If your fridge is more than 15 years old it can consume 20-25% of your family’s energy bill.
  
  Contact your local Centum Mortgage Professional for a full financial tune up