Launch price $37 ends in Ends Monday, 16 November at 11:59 pm US Eastern. · then $47
Jonas BylerThe old ways, written down
Jonas Byler writing in a notebook by an oil lamp at a long kitchen table

The old Amish ways to lower your bills

Cut your bills the old Amish way.

The plain ways an Amish house stays warm, dry, clean and free of pests, for less. In an average house they take about $190 to $330 a year off the bills*, and most cost under $10 to start. Written down step by step, for the house you live in.

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  • Pays for itself in about 11 weeks*
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JONAS BYLER
The Old Ways, Written Down
How a plain Amish house stays warm, dry, clean and free of pests
The Old Ways, Written Down
  • 9parts of the house*
  • about100old ways, step by step*
  • about250pages in large print*

The book

The Old Ways, Written Down

How a plain Amish house stays warm, dry, clean and free of pests

One book. About 100 old ways. About $190 to $330 a year back in an average house.

What it takes off your bills a year, in an average house

Heating and coolingseal the drafts$80 to $125*
Hot waterthe dial, the tank, the pipes$45 to $60*
The water billthe drip and the running toilet$55 to $100*
The dryerthe line, half the loads$10 to $45*
Altogether$190 to $330

The book pays for itself in about 11 weeks, at the low end.

$37 once · launch price until Monday, 16 November, then $47 · a PDF that opens a minute after you pay

Choose your copySee the math

Choose your copy

One price, paid once. Yours to keep.

The book on its own, or the book with the Seasonal Workbook. Each one is a PDF that opens a minute after you pay.

JONAS BYLER
The Old Ways, Written Down
The Old Ways, Written Down
The book · on its own

The Old Ways, Written Down

How a plain Amish house stays warm, dry, clean and free of pests

$37
  • PDF book, about 250 pages*
  • Nine parts, about 100 old ways*
  • Large print, easy on the eyes
Get the book · $37 Instant download · yours to keep
Best value · book + workbook
JONAS BYLER
The Seasonal Workbook
A house job for every month
The Seasonal Workbook
JONAS BYLER
The Old Ways, Written Down
The Old Ways, Written Down
Both · one price

The book and the Seasonal Workbook

Everything in the book, and a printable workbook for every month of the year.

$47$54

You save $7 against buying them apart

  • The whole book
  • The Seasonal Workbook: a house job for every month, winter and summer checklists, a plain household ledger*
  • Print any page you want to keep
Get both · $47 Instant download · 7-day refund
JONAS BYLER
The Seasonal Workbook
A house job for every month
The Seasonal Workbook
The workbook · on its own

The Seasonal Workbook

The house jobs of the year, one month at a time, on pages made to print.

$17
  • Printable PDF, about 40 pages*
  • A job for every month
  • Checklists for winter and summer
Get the workbook · $17 Instant download · yours to keep

* Counts with a star are targets. The page shows the real numbers once the book is written.

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The math

Where an average house's money goes. And what the old ways take off it.

The book costs $37, once. These are the bills it works on, with the published number behind every line.

The billAn average house pays a yearThe old way that cuts itWhat it takes off a year
Heating and cooling$8201Find and seal the drafts$80 to $1252
Hot water$2851Water heater down to 120°F · Wrap a warm water-heater tank (if the tank feels warm) · Wrap the first pipes off the tank$45 to $603,2
The clothes dryer$25 to $851gas to electricHang the wash (half the loads)$10 to $452,1
Water and sewer$560 to $1,0005,4Fix the drips and the running toilet$55 to $1004
Altogether$1,690 to $2,190all of the ways above$190 to $330

Each saving runs from the bottom of its published range to the middle of it; the small numbers point to the sources at the foot of the page. The bills are 2020 averages, the newest published by use, and energy costs more now, so these figures sit on the low side. Not counted, because no published figure backs a dollar amount: turning the heat down at night (the published figure is only an “as much as”), washing in cold water, curtains at dusk, fans and shade, the plain cleaners, pests, mending, tools, the yard and the pantry. They are in the book all the same.

At the low end that is 5 times the price of the book, every year. At the middle of the ranges, 8 times.

Jonas Byler on his farmhouse porch at golden hour, looking out over the fields

A note from Jonas

“The old ways were not written down, because nobody thought they would ever be forgotten.”

Jonas Byler in his straw hat, by a window
Jonas BylerFarmer · writer of this book

I am Jonas Byler. I am Amish, and I farm the same ground my grandfather farmed.

There is no electric line to our house. We cook on a wood stove, keep things cold in the milk house over the spring, and store our food in the root cellar. Most of what I know, I learned working beside my father and my grandparents, and almost none of it was ever written down.

So I wrote it down. Not for a farm like mine, but for the house you live in: your windows, your cellar, your kitchen and your yard. Every way in this book has its steps, the reason behind each step, and what it will not do, said plainly.

You do not need to be Amish to use any of it. You need a little time, and the things most houses already have.

Jonas Byler

Inside the book

Exactly what you get for $37.

Nine parts and about 100 numbered ways. Pick the ones that fit your house and your budget; you do not have to do them all.

Every way in the book has the same six parts

  1. 1The troublewhat you see in your own house
  2. 2What you needwith today's hardware-store price
  3. 3The stepsnumbered, one action each
  4. 4Why it worksthe reason behind every step
  5. 5What it will not dothe honest limit, said plainly
  6. 6Mind your handsthe one caution, where it matters

Part 1 · about 14 ways*

Warm in winter

Keep the warmth you already pay for.

  1. The draft test with a strip of paper$0
  2. Weatherstrip, door sweep and caulk on the marksabout $15
  3. A window quilt from an old blanketabout $10
  4. One warm room when the bill is high$0
  5. A warm bed without one more blanket$0

Sealing the drafts: $80 to $125 a year back*

Part 2 · about 10 ways*

Cool and dry in summer

A cooler, drier house without running a machine harder.

  1. Shade before fans$0
  2. The night cross-breeze$0
  3. Curtains drawn at the right hour$0
  4. A dry cellar without a dehumidifier$0
  5. Closing the attic hatch tightabout $10

Part 3 · about 12 ways*

Pests without poison

Close the doors they use, and keep them out for good.

  1. Mice: finding and closing the doors they useabout $10
  2. Ants: the line they will not cross$0
  3. Flies and moths, the old way$0
  4. The safe hour for a wasp nest$0
  5. A pantry nothing moves into$0

Part 4 · about 12 ways*

Clean without harsh chemicals

Four plain things in place of a cupboard of bottles.

  1. Vinegar, washing soda, baking soda and soap: what each is forabout $10 a year
  2. The two cleaners you must never mix$0
  3. The kettle, the tub and the tiles$0
  4. Windows without streaks$0
  5. The oven and the stovetop$0

Part 5 · about 10 ways*

Laundry the old way

Clean clothes for less, and clothes that last.

  1. Drying on the line in any seasonabout $15
  2. Whiter whites without bleach$0
  3. When cold water is enough$0
  4. Mending first: five stitches that save a shirt$0
  5. Soft towels off the line$0

The line, half the loads: $10 to $45 a year back*

Part 6 · about 9 ways*

Tools that outlast you

Buy it once, and keep it for life.

  1. Rust off, and kept offabout $5
  2. An edge that holds, sharpened by handabout $15
  3. Loose handles and dry wood$0
  4. Where tools keep best$0

Part 7 · about 10 ways*

The yard and the weeds

A yard that asks less of you and of your wallet.

  1. Weeds without spray$0
  2. Leaves and mulch: free soil from your own trees$0
  3. Watering at the right hour$0
  4. Yard work with the tools you have$0

Part 8 · about 13 ways*

Water, hot water, and light when the power is out

Stop paying for water that leaks and heat that waits in the tank.

  1. The drip and the running toilet$0 to about $10
  2. The water-heater dial at 120°F$0
  3. A blanket for a warm tankabout $25
  4. Storing water the right way$0
  5. Light without the grid, safelyabout $15

Leaks and the water heater: $100 to $160 a year back*

Part 9 · about 10 ways*

The root cellar and the pantry

Food that keeps, so less goes in the bin.

  1. What keeps, and where$0
  2. What must never share a shelf$0
  3. The monthly shelf check$0
  4. Flour, oats and rice kept from going off$0

…and about 60 more ways, each with the same six parts.

* Planned contents: the counts, the titles and what each costs to start are settled when the book is written. The yearly figures come from "The math" above.

Get the book · $37

PDF · large print · 7-day refund

Look inside

Big type. One way to a page.

Two sample spreads, laid out the way the book is: a part opener, then one way from start to finish.

The Old Ways, Written Down
Part one
I

Warm in Winter

A house loses its warmth in small places, and most of them you cannot see. This part finds them one at a time, and closes them with things from any hardware store, or from your own drawers.

14
Part one · Warm in winter
In this part
  • 1. Finding the drafts with a strip of paper16
  • 2. The window quilt19
  • 3. The door snake, and the gap it closes23
  • 4. Closing off the room you do not use26
  • 5. One warm room when the bill is high29
  • 6. Heavy curtains, and when to draw them33
  • 7. The cold floor and the old rag rug36
  • 8. Keeping a bed warm without a blanket more39
  • 9. The list of marks, and what to close first42
15
Part one · Warm in winter
The old way no. 1

Finding the drafts with a strip of paper

The trouble

You turn the heat up, and the room still feels cold down at the floor and over by the windows.

What you need

A strip of tissue paper or a light ribbon, about as long as your hand. A pencil. Nothing to buy.

Why it works

Warm air leaks out and cold air pushes in at the very same gaps. Your hand cannot feel a small draft, but a strip of tissue moves at the slightest air.

16
Finding the drafts
The steps
  1. Wait for a windy day, and close every window and door in the house.
  2. Hold the strip by one end, a finger's width from the edge of a window frame, and move it slowly along the edge.
  3. Where the strip lifts or flutters, make a pencil mark on the frame.
  4. Do the same around each door, the attic hatch, the outlets on outside walls, and where pipes come through.
  5. Write every mark on the list at the end of this part.
What it will not do

It finds the leaks. It does not close them. The next four ways do that.

Mind your hands

Use a strip of paper, never a lit candle or a match. A flame held near a curtain is how a house fire starts.

17

Questions

Before you order

Is this a paper book?

It is a PDF book. It opens on your phone, tablet or computer a minute after you pay, and you can print any page you want to keep in the kitchen drawer.

Do I need to be Amish, or live on a farm?

No. Every way in the book is written for an ordinary house in town or country. Where a way only suits a farm, the book says so.

Is it safe?

Each way carries its own caution at the step where your hands do the work. Follow the label on anything you buy, test a hidden spot first, never mix cleaners, and keep a carbon monoxide alarm in any house that burns fuel.

How do I get it?

Straight after checkout the download opens, and the same link comes to your email so you can download it again later. If a link ever stops working, write to us and we send a fresh one. There is no account to make and nothing ships.

What if it is not for me?

Write back to the delivery email within 7 days and you get your money back in full.

The old ways were not written down. Now they are.

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