What can you control with a switch in your home? It’s electricity! Boogie woogie woogie.
You work hard for your money and you shouldn’t spend it all on heat and water in a boring way. Here are some ways to cut down on usage and reduce your monthly utility costs:
Keep your place warm in summer and cool in winter. Well, it’s nice to feel like a cold Eskimo when it’s 90 degrees outdoors. No, there’s nothing fun about opening a $200 electricity bill. Try placing the thermostat at your highest level for comfort (for me it’s 65 in winter and 75 in summer). When you’re in bed, do you really need to warm up until the end? Not! Get a blanket, who are you, Marie Antoinette? If you want to invest a little, buying a cheap programmable thermostat can save you a few hundred dollars a year!
If it’s cold outside, try to heat the house with an oven. Bake a few loaves of bread to freeze, cook lasagna, bake some vegetables for your lunch this week. Reduce the heat and start in the kitchen with a good book.
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Don’t heat up your house in the summer! Bake outside or use crockpot to make your meals. There are 1,001 seasonal fruits and vegetables that don’t need to be cooked. A chopped salad with some grilled vegetables won’t make your location a sweaty motel.
Unplug the devices when you’re not using them. If you hold the TV, BluRay play head, etc. on a power strip, simply turn it off at night. You have to pay for energy filtered by your electronics even if they’re not turned on.
Dry air. If you can dry your clothes outside to dry them, do it! The sun is a natural stain remover and everything will smell great.
Buy some cheap clothes racks to dry inside.
Get into the habit of turning on that switch. Turn off the lights when you leave the room. What is this? Las Vegas?
Make some calls. Call your cable company and ask them how you can reduce your bill. Simple and direct and it usually works.
Put the cable all together and get a streaming device like Roku or Sling. When we moved cross-country, I called to cancel and avoid the cancellation fee by explaining that our new apartment had a TV and internet. I would never support cutting yarn. Never. But you know, that’s what I did and it worked.
Change your mobile service provider. Transfer your phone contract to a cheaper service provider. There are discount service providers at a much lower price – check out Virgin, Straight Talk or Metro PCS.