Animal Haven (which we love)  is the largest no-kill pet shelter in the greater Kansas City area.  They have a large number of adoptable dogs and cats that need a new home.  They manage stray animals for twelve local cities within the Kansas City area plus take in pets from people who can no longer care for them. If you’re looking for a pet and live in the Kansas City area please check out Animal Haven.

See all their recently adopted pets at Petfinder.com

Adoptable Dogs

Adoptable Cats

1. Tutor
Pay: $10.90 to $18.85
Job Description: Provide one-on-one or group instruction. Tutor individuals from your home.

2. Childcare Worker/Babysitter
Pay: $7.82 – $10.18
Job Description: Care for children, organize and participate in recreational activities, discipline children, etc. At-home childcare workers can also provide before-school and afterschool care.

3. Wedding/Party Planner
Pay: $31,049 to $43,668
Job Description: Party planners conceive, organize, and execute special affairs such as weddings, birthday parties, anniversaries, and bar and bat mitzvahs. They custom design an event to suit their customers’ needs and budgets.

4. Answering Service
Pay: $9.46 to $12.69
Job Description: Answer incoming calls from offices (i.e. doctors offices, apartment complexes, etc.) after normal business hours and relay information per specific account protocol.
 
5. Scheduler
Pay: $11.92 to $17.51
Job Description: Handles client calendar and updates appointments as needed.

6. Medical Biller
Pay: $11.88 to $15.72
Job Description: Medical Billing and its related occupations continue to be the fastest growing opportunities in health care. Insurance companies and the government are spending more time and money researching and controlling claims’ fraud, abusive practices, and medical necessity issues. Because of this, insurance companies, doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, and other providers are hiring more.

7. Freelance Writer
Pay: $28.78 to $45.62
Job Description: Freelance writing work generally requires at least one field of expertise. Create technical writing documents or blog about sports, politics, entertainment, etc. Writing assignments can also include grant proposals or academic projects.

8. Caterer
Pay: $9.47 to $11.97
Job Description: Cook food for events, i.e, parties, weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, prepare specialty items, hors d’oeuvres, etc.

9. Desktop Publisher
Pay: $15.98 to $21.30
Job Description: Complete assignments involving word processing, including page layouts, charts and computer graphics utilizing desktop publishing equipment and integrated software packages. May require an associate’s degree in a related area and experience in the field or in a related area.

10. Fundraiser
Pay: $35,349 to $51,291.
Job Description: Responsible for achieving an agreed money-raising target by approaching trusts, corporations, statutory bodies, major donors, individuals and other sources, and by running events. Fundraisers work with individuals, communities, businesses and charitable trusts to raise awareness of the charity’s work, aims and goals.

Source:  Careerbuilder.com

1.) Expose Your Energy Bill With Fluorescent Lamps
If you replace 25% of your lights in high-use areas with fluorescents, you can save about 50% on your lighting energy bill. Although fluorescent lamps are more expensive than incandescents, they more than pay for themselves, lasting 6 to 10 times longer and saving energy. Exterior lighting is one of the best places to use compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). Like traditional long-tube fluorescents, CFLs have a long life, but are smaller so that they can fit in many residential fixtures. If you live in a cold climate, be sure to buy a lamp with a cold-weather ballast. Use 4-foot fixtures with reflective backing and electronic ballasts for your garage and laundry areas, and consider 4-watt mini-fluorescent or electro-luminescent night-lights. CFLs can also be used in portable table and floor lamps, and even in torchiere fixtures; consider carefully the size and fit of CFLs when you select them.

2.) Save Costs on Hot Water
Water heating is a home’s third largest energy expense after heating/cooling and appliances. While it isn’t the biggest energy concern, there are still a few ways to save on water heating: Use less water by repairing leaky faucets promptly and installing nonaerating, low-flow faucets and showerheads. Lower the thermostat on your water heater to 115 degrees and insulate your hot-water storage tank and pipes. Also buy an energy-efficient water heater. Look for the EnergyGuide label that tells how much energy the water heater uses in one year. Look for the FHR (First Hour Rating), which measures the maximum hot water the heater will deliver in its first hour of use. While an energy-efficient water heater may cost more initially than a standard water heater, the energy savings will continue during the lifetime of the appliance.

3.) Cooking Savings in the Kitchen
Use a covered kettle or pan to boil water; it’s faster and uses less energy. It’s also more efficient to match the size of the pan to the burner. If you cook with electricity, turn the oven and stovetop burners off several minutes before the allotted cooking time — the heating element will stay hot long enough to finish the cooking without using more electricity. Use pressure cookers and microwave ovens to significantly reduce cooking time.

4.) Save Energy While Doing the Laundry
About 80-85% of the energy used for washing clothes goes toward heating the water. You can reduce this cost by washing full loads, which results in using less water overall. Also use cooler water — switching the temperature setting from hot to warm cuts a load’s energy use in half. Reduce drying costs by cleaning the lint filter after every load to improve air circulation. Don’t overdry clothes, and use the cool-down cycle to allow clothes to finish drying with residual heat.

5.) Use Window Coverings
Draperies and shades can help you keep your heating bills under control. Open the coverings on your south-facing windows during the day to allow sunlight to enter your home and close them at night to reduce the chilly air you may feel emanating from cold windows.

6.) Save Money Without Sacrificing Comfort
You can save as much as 10% a year on your heating bills by simply turning down your thermostat 10% to 15% for 8 hours. You can do this automatically without sacrificing comfort by installing an automatic setback or programmable thermostat. The latter allows you to adjust the times the heat goes on according to a pre-set schedule, saving energy and money while you’re asleep or at work. Programmable thermostats can store and repeat multiple daily settings that you can manually override without affecting the rest of the schedule.

7.) Be Smart When Using A Fireplace
A fireplace is one of the most inefficient heat sources in your home — a fire exhausts the air your heating system has warmed, sending it out through the chimney. But you can minimize your losses. Keep your damper closed when the fireplace is not in use, and if you never use your fireplace, plug and seal the chimney flue. When you do use the fireplace, reduce heat loss by opening dampers in the bottom of the firebox, if you have them, or open the nearest window slightly — approximately one inch — and close doors leading into the room. Lower the thermostat setting to between 50° and 55°F.

Here are a few simple ways of saving money this summer and winter:

1.) Install a programmable thermostat.  These thermostats, which cost between $30 to $100 can store up to four temperature settings a day.  They regulate air-conditioner and furnace turn-on times, making it easier to manage the temperture in your home.  The potential energy cost savings could be as much as $100 or more over a year.

2.) Insulate your home!  Blowing insulation in the walls or laying batts of insulation in the attice keep week the heat in during the winter and the cool air in during the summer.  The initial cost can be substantial but you will see a return in reduced heating and cooling bills.

3.) Storm Windows!  Consider installing double-pane windows.  Most homes lose warmth and cold air through the windows.  Having a double or triple-pane windows will keep the air inside the house.

4.) Consider buying a new refrigerator.  If your refrigerator is over 15 years old, consider buying a new one.  Since the 1990′s many new advances in energy efficiency appliances.  Look for Energy Star rated freezers.  Models sold after 2001 use up to 40% less energy.  Replacing a refrigerator bought in 1990 with a Energy Star rating would save enough energy to light the average household for nearly four months! 

5.) Replace old light bulbs with florescents!  They use 75% less energy than the standard incandescent bulbs and last up to 10 times longer!  Not only do they last longer but they can save up to $30 or more in electricity over the the bulb’s lifetime.  They also produce about 75% less heat which helps with energy cost associated with home cooling cost.