Thursday, March 19, 2009

Ways to Save Money on Utilities

When it comes to household bills, utilities can be some of your highest bills. I have put together a list of tips to help cut the cost of those bills. I know that you probably can't do all of them, but even just doing a couple of them will save you some serious money in the long run.

Minimize electricity use during peak hours (weekdays during work hours). Do laundry, use hot water, etc. in the evenings.

Cook enough for several meals at once.

Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth.

Turn off shower when shampooing and soaping.

Work or read in the same room with family members or roommates to consolidate light usage.

Take advantage of natural daylight to get your work done. Sleep when it’s dark, get up as soon as it is light (before sunrise).

Hold off on personal phone calls that can wait until evenings and weekends when rates are lower or free.

Wash things on the lawn to water the grass at the same time.

Water the lawn or garden in the early morning or after sundown. Skip watering on windy days.

Use curtains to keep your house cool in summer and warm in winter.

Keep thermostat lower in the winter and wear extra layers.

Don’t separate colors in your laundry; instead, hand wash items that bleed. This way, you can reduce the number of loads. Saves water, electricity and soap.

Keep thermostat as high as can be tolerated in summer without harming your pets, antiques and musical instruments.

Drink lots of cold water to keep cool and reduce need for air conditioning.

Turn off air conditioning in late afternoon, open doors and windows and turn on fans. Spring is a great time to enjoy the fresh air!

Using ceiling fans in summer and winter (reverse directions to push warm air down).

For laundry, set a shorter dryer time. It’s better to have to do a touch up instead of using unnecessary gas or electricity. You’d be surprised how little time some clothing need to dry. If taken out still warm, damp things can still air dry quite quickly.

Cancel cable, purchase a few DVDs a month (which cost less than cable and leave you with an asset) and watch current shows online.

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