diff --git a/.env b/.env
deleted file mode 100644
index 9f6ff3f..0000000
--- a/.env
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-VUE_APP_API_URL=https://afternoon-escarpment-71350.herokuapp.com/api/contacts
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.env.sample b/.env.sample
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..56d1cf8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.sample
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+VUE_APP_API_URL=PutYourAPIUrlHere
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 403adbc..0035d70 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ node_modules
 
 
 # local env files
+.env
 .env.local
 .env.*.local