DEFINE YOUR OWN SIMPLE LUXURIES And Have the Life You’ve Always Wanted

Leonne Wilson Jones

TIME WELL SPENT BOOKS

Copyright 2009 by Leonne Wilson Jones

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, by photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the written consent of the publisher and author.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Wilson Jones, Leonne, 1943- Define your own simple luxuries : and have the life you’ve always wanted / Leonne Wilson Jones. ISBN 978-0-9813645-0-6 1. Simplicity. 2. Conduct of life. I. Title. BJ1496.W54 2009 646.7 C2009-905993-2 Cover design—Joey Chivers

Photos—Dave Wilson and Dave Kelly

Editorial assistance—Dawn Renaud and Darcy Nybo

Published in Canada by Time Well Spent Books

www.timewellspentbooks.com

Printed and bound in Canada by Allegra

This book represents the opinions of the author. All products or services named are used only to identify them and their merits. The author and publisher disclaim any and all rights to same.

SIMPLE LUXURIES: MANY DEFINITIONS My first taste of simple luxury began a number of years ago when, as a hardwired ‘foodie,’ I stumbled upon Major Grey’s Mango Chutney. At that moment I developed an almost unmanageable addiction to his spicy-sweet and sour condiment, and would spoon it onto just about any food with a flat surface, or dishes in any way related to cuisine from India.

With opportunities like that I could easily consume a full jar in a couple of days.

Whenever I bought mango chutney I would be taken aback at the price for a very small bottle and wondered how difficult it could be to make a few bottles of mango chutney at home.

I researched a good recipe and waited until mangoes were at their peak, then set about making that first batch. It proved to be a success—at least to my palate—and it planted the seed of an idea. How many other ways I could enjoy simple luxuries?

I polled long-suffering friends and family (and oh, how they suffered), asking them to define a life of simple luxury.

Almost everyone loved the term ‘simple luxuries.’ (Some of the masculine gender didn’t really get it.) Before long, the phrase had taken many definitions, each very different but still an important aspect for each person involved.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines simple as ‘not complicated or elaborate,’ and it lists several definitions for luxury, including ‘thing(s) that one enjoys.’

Together, they become: ‘Not complicated (or elaborate) things that one enjoys.’

This book is my interpretation of ‘simple luxuries.’ Some of it will appeal to you and some will not. It’s definitely not rocket science and I’m certainly not an expert, but I’m happy to pass my experience on to you.

There are sections with basic information on topics that most of us deal with on a daily basis (including tips on how to save money), and the book is designed to give an overview along with quick access to information about things that mystify some of us.

For example: The time has come to get serious about buying new sheets for your bed. You look at the huge selection and are curious about the thread count described on the label.

What is thread count and why does it matter?

The thread count tells you how tightly the fabric is woven, and it matters very much because the higher the count, the softer and more comfortable the sheets. A minimum acceptable thread count for quality sheets is 300 threads per square inch. (A count of 350 would be better, and 500 would be super-luxurious and soft on your skin.)

Another example: You’d like to plant a big pot of garden-fresh herbs to use for cooking, but you don’t know how to make the project come together. You’ll find information on buying the container, potting soil, seeds or seedlings, and how to care for your potted herb garden.

Or perhaps you’d love to have a celebration dinner party for several friends, but you’re hesitant because you haven’t done this before and don’t know where to start. In the Food & Drink section you’ll find a chapter full of tips to help you through the planning, preparation and clean-up with pleasure.

You’ll also find ideas, information and loads of inspiration for almost every area of your home and of your life—and it’s easy to tote along when you need a reference book. The recipes are listed in the recipe file, to help you find them quickly while you’re pushing a shopping cart in the grocery store.

And if you can’t wait to see what goes into mango chutney, you’ll find that on the very last page. (Of course, it’s okay to go there first.)

Define your own simple luxuries, and enjoy!

 

Being Organized  PLANNING AHEAD ........................................................................................................... 1  DOLLARS & SENSE .......................................................................................................... 8  SORTING & STORING .................................................................................................... 15  CLEANING ...................................................................................................................... 26  

Around the House  HOME DECORATING ..................................................................................................... 37  ROOMS TO LIVE IN ......................................................................................................... 40  KITCHENS & DINING ROOMS ...................................................................................... 43  BED & BATH ................................................................................................................... 54  PRETTY & FRAGRANT, TOO ......................................................................................... 71  A ROOM OF YOUR OWN ................................................................................................ 83  

Food and Drink  FOOD ............................................................................................................................... 87  DINNER PARTIES .......................................................................................................... 107  WINES & THEIR COMPANIONS ................................................................................. 120  THEME PARTIES ........................................................................................................... 133  HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS THROUGH THE YEAR ........................................... 140  

Out & About & In the Garden  ADVENTURES ............................................................................................................... 167  TRAVEL: WAYS TO DO IT WELL ............................................................................... 171  BE A GOOD HOUSEGUEST (AND BE INVITED BACK) ................................................ 177  IN THE GARDEN .......................................................................................................... 178  

Personal Care  MAINTAINING YOUR PERSONAL POLISH ................................................................ 201  BATH, SKIN & COSMETIC PRODUCTS ........................................................................ 204  WEAR THE BADGES OF YOUTH .................................................................................. 208  A TOTAL GROOMING & SPA SESSION ....................................................................... 212  PERSONAL STYLE: WEAR IT & CARE FOR IT ........................................................... 214  

Atti tudes & Just Because  BASIC LIFE SKILLS ........................................................................................................ 229  FOLLOW YOUR PASSION ............................................................................................. 231  WHEN YOU’VE ACHIEVED A GOOD LIFESTYLE ...................................................... 238  SHARED THOUGHTS & TRUISMS ................................................................................ 241  

A Final Word 247  

Being Organized Where do you find the time for simple luxuries? Where do you find the money? Most of us would be surprised how much time and money can be saved just by being organized.

Being organized means not throwing out those fruits and vegetables you found rotting in the crispers because they didn’t make it onto a dinner menu last week. Being organized also means not spending late fees after forgetting to pay the utility bills on time. And being organized means having your car and house keys when you need them.

PLANNING AHEAD

Calendars & other handy memory aids Even though many of us don’t use paper calendars any longer, they still have a place in our lives. Here’s one of my favorite uses: When November rolls around, and calendars for the coming year are available, use this as an opportunity to extend reminders, important dates, birthdays, anniversaries, ‘notes-to-self’ and other information into the coming year.

Thanks to technology, there are many portable electronic devices dedicated to organizing our lives—making it easy to keep track of everything from dental appointments to daily trivia such as the dimensions for your bedroom carpet or that special dinner menu on Friday night.

Remembering bir thdays , anniversar ies & spec ia l dates The traditional way to remember special days—using paper greeting cards and sending them in the mail—is still hanging on.

If you’re a traditionalist and want to follow this plan, buy a ‘special occasions, birthdays and anniversaries’ book and jot down names along with the months and dates for each birthday and anniversary. While you’re at it, record the dates on the calendar with a red or green pen, and count back about ten days with a notation to put the card into the mailbox.

Then make a list of the cards that you’ll need to buy and get the stamps as well. When you have the cards that you need, tuck them into the ‘special occasions, birthdays and anniversaries’ book and stash it in your desk.

When a special date comes up on the calendar you won’t need to panic because you have a card ready to send, and you’ll never have to buy another belated greetings card.

An easy, efficient and modern way to remember special days is to register on an e-card site and choose the cards, dates and recipients for the whole year. The e-cards are sent automatically on the dates that you indicated.

Occasions & ce lebrat ions throughout the year On the front of a new calendar, tape a blank piece of paper large enough to make notes for ideas or occasions for celebration throughout the year.

Some examples:

~ January is the time for a skating party (with hot cocoa and sandwiches)—pencil it in

~ February would be perfect for a jaunt to a local art gallery (with dinner at the Italian restaurant next door)—pencil it in

2 ~ Define Your Own Simple Luxuries

~ March is good for an outdoor winter picnic (with hot mulled cider, meatloaf sandwiches and brandy-snap cookies)—pencil it in

~ April is the month of your birthday (and you want to celebrate with lunch at a country inn)—pencil it in

~ Et cetera…

Paying household accounts & everyday shopping If you are always rushed for time, there are several options for easy bill paying.

Consider an automatic withdrawal plan from your bank account for your utilities such as electricity, gas, water, telephone, internet service, cable television and credit card payments. Another option is on-line banking bill payment; it’s easy and efficient. Log on to your banking site and register—then spend about five minutes once a month paying the utilities on-line.

Add to your ‘time-saving tools’ a debit or credit card for grocery purchases and shopping at department stores. Cards can be powerful tools to track spending and can earn rewards along the way, but those rewards will lose significant value if you pay interest on a monthly balance. Bottom line: Make the credit card work for you and pay off the balance each month.

Have a few checks on hand, because you will still need them occasionally to send charitable donations, or a wedding gift for your niece.

Carry a business or personal card Whether you’re in the workplace or not, design a card which includes your name, phone number and e-mail address. A personal card means you’ll save time because you won’t have to fish in your handbag for a little scrap of paper and a pen whenever you want to leave your name and telephone number with someone.

Your ‘personal card’ can have as much information as you want to put on it, in any color or black on a white or neutral background, in any style that you choose. My card has my name and telephone number. If I want to add additional information, it can be written on the back.

Save t ime in the morning rush If you love a morning shower, here’s how to reduce your time in the bathroom by about ten minutes. This routine has been perfected by a squeaky clean family member who prefers to remain anonymous.

To prepare, find a shower caddy to hang on the shower nozzle or on the wall inside your shower stall and stock it with the essentials—shampoo, good quality hair conditioner, body wash, a pair of scrubby gloves, toothbrush, toothpaste and mouthwash. Stash a personal shaver in the shower caddy along with a dispenser bottle of modestly-priced hair conditioner to apply before

Being Organized ~ 3

shaving. (Hair conditioner works great, costs very little and doesn’t dry your skin.) Add a spray bottle of scented body oil or a dispenser bottle of skin moisturizer for your type of skin.

Instead of expensive body wash, consider using a moisturizing bar soap. It works just as well, costs less, and there’s no plastic container to recycle.

Here’s the drill:

1. Step into the shower, wet your hair and apply shampoo. If your hair tends to be dry, consider washing it just twice a week using only enough shampoo to coat your fingers and gently scrub your hair and scalp. Apply the shampoo at the hairline first, using your fingertips and continue to the ends. (There won’t be any lather—but you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how well this works without it.)

2. Rinse your hair well, and apply a small amount of the good quality hair conditioner.

3. Leave the conditioner in your hair to work its magic while you apply the modestly priced conditioner to your legs and underarms. Make a few quick passes with the razor and rinse off under the shower spray.

4. Apply body wash or moisturizing bar soap to the scrubby gloves and wash your beautiful body, starting with your face (scrub very gently) and ending with your feet.

5. Stand under the shower and brush your teeth while your hair and body are being rinsed. (Sounds strange, but it saves time.) Follow with a quick swish of the mouthwash.

6. Step out of the shower; wrap an absorbent microfiber towel around your hair to blot the excess moisture. Now you have a choice: Wrap yourself in a big bath towel and pat your skin dry or, if your bathroom is as warm as the tropics, don’t use one and drip dry on the bath mat. Your skin will retain the maximum amount of moisture.

7. Immediately spray on body oil or apply moisturizer to be absorbed while your skin is damp.

8. Apply antiperspirant and then makeup. (Leave the towel on your hair while you apply makeup, and it will take less time to blow-dry—plus you’ll look really sassy prancing around with nothing but a towel on your head!)

9. Now dry and style your hair, dress for the day, and head out the door with a smile.

4 ~ Define Your Own Simple Luxuries

If you want to save real time shower at bedtime, and in the morning dampen your hair and style it with a blow dryer. Apply moisturizer, antiperspirant and makeup, then get dressed and head out the door.

Quality time saved—20 to 30 minutes.

Coordinat ing & combining c lo thing: One easy way If you wear separates, coordinating clothing can often be time consuming.

One way to lessen the problem: Find two small decorative metal hooks or vintage drawer pulls and mount them on a wall or screw them into the side of an armoire. Position the top one about 60 inches from the floor and the other under it, about 40 inches from the floor.

It’s easy to hang shirts or jackets on the top hook and pants or skirts on the bottom to preview combinations; add or edit garments, accessories and shoes until you get what you want. No more doing ‘try-ons’ or spreading clothes on the bed while you’re dressing. When the metal hooks are not pressed into service coordinating your outfits, they can be used to hang clothes that need to be aired, repaired or pressed.

Planning ahead for weekday dinners If you have barely enough energy to cook anything that remotely resembles dinner when you get home from work (I have had personal experience here), there are some easy ways to plan dinners to make them easier and stress-free.

Most of us can manage five dinners a week, relying on take-out dinners or restaurants on the other two nights, and it can be a workable arrangement. Take-out dinners don’t have to be pizza or hamburgers or Asian food; supermarkets offer family-size cooked entrées of chicken, turkey, beef, fish and vegetarian dishes which can be picked up on the way home and reheated in a few minutes.

If you want to make take-out healthier, add a salad of triple-washed greens or a side dish of fresh or frozen vegetables which can cook alongside the take-out dish while it’s reheating.

Organizing weekday dinners Get a large sheet of paper—any paper—and draw a line down the centre. On the left side of the paper, list a minimum of five healthy and simple dinners that your family loves.

If you need inspiration, grab one of your cookbooks for ideas, and vary the choices—meats, fish, vegetarian, eggs, pastas, cheese, pizza, whole wheat, corn or rice wraps, casseroles and stir-fries with vegetables and fruits in each dinner.

Being Organized ~ 5

When you’re planning the menus, keep in mind the seasonal availability of vegetables and fruits—they’ll be fresher, more nutritious and will cost a lot less too. If your menu calls for vegetables or fruits that are out of season, substitute frozen instead. They are flash-frozen at their peak of freshness and very affordable. Some examples: frozen mixed vegetables (green beans, corn kernels, sweet peppers, broccoli, peas, etc.) for stews, casseroles and stir-fries. Frozen mixed berries work beautifully for fruit desserts and berry crumbles, or thaw them and serve over ice cream.

Once you have five dinner menus completed, list the ingredients (meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruits, pasta or grains) in several columns on a sheet of paper. These ingredients will eventually evolve into a shopping list of the staples you need on a regular basis. Your list will also help you waste less food and green the earth.

If you have children too young to take shopping—i.e. they are too young to be able to negotiate—find a reliable caregiver for a couple of hours. Young children and supermarkets are a recipe for frustration (for them) and stress (for you) and nobody needs choruses of wailing or rivers of tears on a grocery shopping trip. Leave the little darlings at home, and your fellow shoppers who don’t like the distraction of little children wailing will thank you as well.

It’s important to get your food shopping done in ‘jig time’ and preserve your sanity while doing it. Most families shop on a weekly basis—so set aside a couple of hours each week, take your shopping list and go for it. Remember to take along several reusable grocery totes.

Shop for all the food items you’ll need to make a minimum of five dinners, and include healthy snacks for your littlest family members (who often need a small snack to tide them over until dinnertime). You probably won’t need to make any trips to the store for a week, although if you have teenagers be prepared to make another trip for milk.

When you get home stash everything in the refrigerator, freezer and pantry, where it will be available when you need it. Wash the lettuce and other leafy vegetables, drain, and wrap them in a paper towel and then in a reusable plastic bag. They should easily last the week in your refrigerator.

If you wash the other vegetables and fruits now as well, you’ll save prep time later.

Often this is easier said than done. After you’ve made your way to the grocery store, selected the items, put them into the shopping cart, placed them on the checkout counter, then packed them into your car, (or schlepped them home) and carried them to your kitchen, who wants to wash them already?

6 ~ Define Your Own Simple Luxuries

Here’s how to get it done as quickly and easily as possible:

1. Fill the kitchen sink with cool water and add a tablespoon of baking soda. (The soda helps to dissolve the chemical residue and waxes.) If you have two sinks, fill the other with cool water for rinsing.

2. Wash, rinse, drain and wrap the leafy greens, celery, broccoli, carrots, radishes, green onions, cucumbers, zucchini and green beans, etc. in paper towels which will absorb moisture, then put them into plastic bags (unsealed) and stow them in the crisper.

3. Put the washed tomatoes, avocados, kiwi, citrus fruits, pears and bananas in a fruit bowl where they would rather be; all of them loathe a cold refrigerator.

4. Pineapples and mangoes taste better at room temperature, but can be stowed in the refrigerator after they’re fully ripe where they’ll keep for several days.

5. Wash raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and blueberries just before you eat them, because they tend to store droplets of water inside and will mold easily—even in the refrigerator. Give them a quick rinse in cool water and dry them on a paper towel.

6. Potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams are happy to be in a basket in a cool, dark location. Wash them just before you cook them.

7. White onions, yellow onions, shallots and garlic don’t like to be cold. Just keep them in a paper bag in a cool dry place. Sweet Vidalia onions will keep longer in the refrigerator.

8. Freeze breads, butter, meats, fish, etc., and thaw them as you need them.

Triple-washed fresh greens make it easy to assemble a salad. Just add a piece of ripe cheese, special artisan bread and a glass of fruity wine, and call it ‘dinner.’

Each weekday evening (or morning), take a quick look at the menu for your dinner and remove the frozen food from the freezer to the refrigerator to thaw. Collect the rest from the pantry, so all the items will be ready and waiting when you return home.

If you have a crock pot or a slow-cooker consider using it occasionally, but if you’re going to be out of your home for the entire day, take precautions in the event of a ‘crock pot malfunction.’ Place a large baking sheet or roasting pan on your stove and put the crock pot on it, and if there is excessive heat or breakage, it will contain the spill and protect from a burned countertop or worse—a devastating house fire.

Being Organized ~ 7

Using menus & rotating them with the seasons When you’ve gotten accustomed to getting several dinners easily prepared on a regular basis, add to or revise the menus as the seasons change or as your family’s tastes demand.

If, after awhile, you’re still having difficulty getting five nutritious weekday dinners on the table, consider revising your menu plan and cooking for two nights; then have take-out (or eat out) one night, and go back to cooking for two more nights.

Weekend dinners can be planned ahead as well, leaving you more leisure time with your family and friends. If there is another person to take on some of the weekend cooking, that’s even better. It seems fair that if four people in a family eat dinner, then four people could contribute to the cooking (with tiny tots and young children excluded).

On weekends or days off when you have time, prepare two casseroles and stash one in the freezer for a week or two—just when you need it.

Make i t ahead: Food preparat ion for a busy weekend If there is a weekend coming up that will be crammed with family activities and little time to get everything together, prepare some of the food on Friday night or Saturday morning, and you’ll be able to toss together meals in minutes.

Some ideas, depending on the season and how much time you have:

~ A pot of potato, leek and sausage soup, served with sliced crusty baguette and a bowl of roasted sweet red and yellow peppers and zucchini dressed with extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, coarsely ground pepper and fresh herbs.

~ A large pot of beef or turkey chili with classic toppings—grated Cheddar, chopped red onion and sour cream—served with warm cornbread or corn chips.

~ A kettle of savory stew simmered with onions, carrots and mushrooms, served on buttered noodles, garnished with parsley and served with warm crusty bread.

~ Baked ham, Yukon gold potato salad and creamy coleslaw to serve with sweet pickles and assorted mustards.

~ A roasted chicken, carved and arranged on a fragrant bed of fresh herbs such as sage, tarragon and thyme, to serve cold with cranberry relish, tomatoes and cucumber salad along with a loaf of crusty French bread.

~ Smoked salmon—sliced, chilled and served with lemon, capers and fresh dill on thinly sliced pumpernickel bread spread with soft cream cheese.

8 ~ Define Your Own Simple Luxuries

~ Roast beef, thinly sliced, on grainy artisan bread spread with creamy blue cheese along with sliced heirloom tomatoes, mustard mayonnaise and peppery watercress.

~ Grilled honey garlic (or sweet Italian) sausages spread with apple barbecue sauce (combine three parts applesauce and one part barbecue sauce and simmer for 5 minutes). Tuck the sausages into ciabatta rolls and serve with coleslaw made with bright green cabbage, carrots and sweet sultanas in a tangy mayo dressing.

~ Fruits, cheeses and biscuits—a tray of sweet red grapes, small apples, Brie or Bresse Bleu and English Cheddar along with cubed Greek feta and a basket of crackers and biscuits.

~ Bacon, egg, lettuce and tomato salad—oven roasted bacon (place the bacon strips on a rack in a baking sheet and roast at 400ºF until crisp), chopped hard-cooked eggs, baby lettuces and tomatoes—dressed with lemony mayonnaise, garnished with giant croutons of toasted whole-wheat bread and seasoned with coarsely ground pepper. Try this for brunch, with coffee and a glass of apple juice.

DOLLARS & SENSE

How to save money on your e l e c t r i c b i l l Laundry If you have an electric water heater, try using cold water with an all-temperature detergent for all of your laundry. There will be very little or no shrinkage, and the colors will stay true with no fading—Mom was right.

Always try to do a full load of laundry. You’ll use the same amount of electricity whether the washing machine is full or half-full, so why not have the benefit of washing the full load?

Give each member of your family personal bath towels (color coded, or monogrammed if you’re just a little bit posh) that can be laundered on a weekly basis. It’s wasteful to launder multiple loads of towels because one uses a clean towel every day. To keep towels fresh, just make sure they’re hung to dry thoroughly after each use.

The floor is not considered to be a good place to ‘hang’ towels.

Install a small clothesline or wall bracket with clothes hangers in your laundry room (above a heat vent if possible) and use this arrangement to dry freshly washed understuff, socks, shirts and blouses. This works well during the winter months; if you want to extend it to the summer, rig up a discreetly-placed (because nobody wants to see these items) outdoor clothesline.

Being Organized ~ 9

Kitchen Wait until your dishwasher is full before starting the wash cycle. Choose the shortest washing cycle and cancel the ‘heat dry’ option; when the wash cycle is finished, open the dishwasher door to let the dishes dry.

If you wash the pots and pans in the sink with a squirt of dish soap and a long handled brush, you’ll be able to run your dishwasher every couple of days instead of every day. Try this and you might be surprised how much space the pots and pans use on the dishwasher racks.

When you heat the kettle for tea, coffee or cooking, boil only the amount you need. Heating extra water is a waste of water and electricity, particularly when it’s poured down the sink an hour later. If you’ve boiled a little extra, let it cool, and then fill ice cube trays for crystal clear ice cubes, pour it into a glass pitcher for mixing frozen juices, or use it to water your indoor plants.

If you’re using the oven to prepare dinner, use the opportunity to make a complete ‘oven dinner’ which includes the entrée, vegetables and dessert as well. For example: When you’re preparing oven roasted chicken, include a potato casserole or baked apples—or perhaps even a pot of oven chili for tomorrow’s dinner.

You could also roast a ham with mustard and marmalade glaze, or pork roast with root vegetables or perhaps a corn soufflé—any seasonal vegetables are a good choice. A dessert of roasted fruit with a sweet and nutty crunchy topping can be placed in the oven alongside any entrée, giving you time to make a green salad.

With dinner in the oven you might just find an hour to curl up with that book you’ve been trying to finish for the last three weeks (or, more realistically, to finish vacuuming the bedrooms and changing the bed sheets that you didn’t have time to do yesterday).

If you’re a working parent with two jobs—and who isn’t—oven dinners work well on weekdays and particularly well on weekends when the weather is cool and you can use a little extra warmth and comfort in the evenings.

Turn off the extra lights on your appliances. This includes the light above the ice-maker on the refrigerator door, the night light on the stove, the overhead light on the range hood… you get the idea. All of those lights, despite the little electricity they use, don’t serve any real purpose. If you need a night-light for youngsters or nocturnal foragers, plug it in near a bedroom or hallway.

Living room, family rooms & bedrooms During the colder months, close the drapes or window coverings on all of your windows after dark to keep the heat inside and make your home feel

10 ~ Define Your Own Simple Luxuries

cozy and warm. For additional ambiance, light a candle or two in the rooms where you’ll be spending the evening.

Downstairs If you have an extra fridge in the basement or garage and it’s an older model, be aware: The odds are good that you have an electricity hog. Try to replace it with a newer moderately priced model—usually found at used appliance dealers or local moving-out sales.

Outdoors Instead of using the exterior light above your entrance door for night time security, consider turning it off and installing motion sensor lights instead.

The sudden blaze of a bright light will ward off most intruders—just be sure to set the sensors to allow the night time critters such as raccoons and neighborhood cats to wander past without triggering the lights.

How to save money on your gas bi l l Laundry If you have a hot water heater that uses natural gas, consider washing all your laundry— even white clothes—in cold water. There will be less shrinkage and the colors will stay bright longer. (If some items are really grubby, use a little color-friendly oxygen bleach with warm water and then dry them outdoors if you can; it usually works.)

Living rooms, family rooms & bedrooms Turn your furnace thermostat to the lowest temperature that is comfortable during the day (put on a sweater and a pair of socks) and lower it even more at night. You’ll probably find that the humidity in your home is more comfortable, plus there is less static electricity to make you feel like a walking lightning rod.

The lower temperature is beneficial for wood furniture, too, because the hot dry indoor temperature dries it out and no amount of furniture wax or polish will remedy that.

If you have a gas fireplace, turn it on for a few minutes in the mornings and again for a few minutes in the evenings, or if you want the ambiance leave it on at the lowest setting. Gas fireplaces will heat a room in a hurry, but they are also notorious for overheating a room in a hurry.

If you use an outdoor gas grill for weekend grilling, get the most efficient use from it by adding potatoes or vegetable packets to cook along with the meats or fish. Then give it a wipe and use the residual heat to grill sliced fruits for dessert.