With Valentines around the corner I would like to dedicate this to my one true love – The City of Los Angeles! LA, you are super cool. I adore you so much! I could spend all day talking about why but for now, let’s start with the fact that LA spoils me by giving me all kinds of awesome FREE stuff. Here are just a few of the free things I have received from LA in the past year:
Myra is one of my favorite little streets to walk down because I like to stop and admire the beautiful old trees that canopy the street. It would be super amazing to have more of those trees lining the streets of our neighborhood. And we can! For free!
You can either go to a tree adoption event and get a fruit tree or you can be like me and just order a free shade tree online and have them deliver it directly to your door! Shade trees will help cut your electric bill in the warmer months and will add value to your property!
I know this sounds super weird but look, whether or not these last few weeks of downpour are going to pull us out of the drought or not, we should all continue to be cautious of our water usage and use recycled water on our plants and lawns whenever possible.
This is my favorite thing. If you pick the same rain barrel I did (I got mine from Home Depot) the rebate will cover the entire price of the barrel. So it is FREE! Yay! I love watering my plants with my rain barrel water.
REBATES FOR WASHING MACHINES, REFRIGERATORS, ELECTRIC CARS AND MORE!
Okay, okay. I haven’t taken advantage of this one yet. But I will!
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST…A HUGE REBATE FOR EARTHQUAKE RETROFITTING
This and my cheese of the month club are the two best things I signed up for all year! Getting your house retrofitted is so important. A lot of us live in vintage homes. It is impressive that our houses have lasted through so many earthquakes already but God forbid “the big one” hits and knocks your house off its foundation. That would be a bummer. When you go to sell your house (don’t forget to call me!) having your house properly retrofitted is a huge plus in the eyes of buyers. If you aren’t already retrofitted, do yourself a favor and sign up for the lottery. If you are selected, Earthquake Brace and Bolt (EBB) will give $3,000 towards your retrofitting. I used a great foundation company called Seismic Safety to do the work. The whole thing cost me $3,400. Easy math tells me that after using my rebate, I only spent $400 to keep my house safe. That is pretty incredible, right?
All in all, I have to say:
Los Angeles, thank you for spoiling me. I really love you the most!
xo. Tatiana