Breaking records is usually thought of as good thing, that is unless it is for the coldest day on record. My mom is really over all of this cold weather and so am I. I heard her the other day complaining to one of her friends about the high energy bills she has been getting and she even said that we would have to cut corners somewhere to keep the electric on. As a teenager, you don’t have a lot on ways to help your parents out with the bills but I figured that I could at least help by washing the dishes by hand instead of using the dishwasher. It would save on some electricity and water anyway. I am really worried because we have had to keep increasing the temperature on the thermostat to keep up with the deep freeze that is going on outside. I started doing some research online to see what else we can do. There are several HVAC dealers in the area that are offering energy assessments for free. This means that they will come into your home and let you know if there are ways to make you heating and cooling work better. They will also show you where you may be losing energy through the windows, doors, and even walls. I think this may help a lot but I only hope we can afford any of the changes that they recommend. I am going to print out all the information and leave it on the counter for my parents. At least if they look into it and it is successful, we can start lowering our bills each month.