Money Saving Household Tips

Sure, your home is a source of pride and security for you and your family, but it can also be a source of saving money if you follow these handy tips for saving money around the household.

1. Change to LED bulbs. By replacing as few as five of your most used light bulbs with LED bulbs, you can save as much as $75/year on your energy bill. You wouldn’t think a few light bulbs would make that much difference, but LED bulbs are so much more efficient than regular light bulbs that the savings can really add up fast.
2. Speaking of light bulbs…….ever hear of cleaning your light bulbs? Dusty, dirty light bulbs can emit as much as 30% less energy than a clean one will. By simply cleaning your bulbs, you can brighten any room and thereby turn on less lights and use less energy. Sounds simple? It is!
3. Fill your fridge. Here is another tip that sounds to simple to be effective. A full refrigerator will retain cold air better and therefore use less energy. If you are going to be out of town and don’t want to leave a bunch of food in your fridge that may spoil, simply use water bottle to fill up the extra space. This is a simple act that will save on electricity.
4. Power strips. You probably have these in your house anyway. Many of your appliances such as computers and coffee pots, will continue to suck electricity even when not in use. A simple way to avoid this is to hook them up to a power strip and flick the switch off when not in use.
5. Set your water heater to 120 degrees. Most water heaters tend to be set much higher than is needed. By lowering the temperature to 120, you can save 3-5% off the cost of your hot water heating.
6. Wash your clothes in cold water. This is another simple tip that may have you smacking your head because you didn’t think of it first, but washing clothes in cold water means you don’t have to heat water for the wash, thereby saving money on your electric bill. Simple and yet effective!
7. Don’t use the highest setting on your dryer every time. Much of the time you are drying your clothes, you don’t need the highest setting and it wastes energy to ‘overheat’ your clothes. They will dry on cooler settings and you can save money by doing so. Want to save even more? Hang your cloths out on a cloths line in the nice weather and don’t pay any electricity to dry them at all!
8. Want another laundry tip? Try cutting back on laundry detergent. You can get by with a lot less detergent per load than that little ‘fill line’ on the detergent cap tells you. Think about it; Tide wants you to use more detergent for every load, so that you have to buy more detergent from them. Don’t fall for it. You will be amazed at how much less you can actually get by with.
9. Ditch the Swiffer. Disposable mop and broom heads cost money. You can get by with more traditional means when it comes to cleaning your floors and it will save you a ton of money on a yearly basis. Plus you will be doing a favor for the environment by creating less waste.
10. While we are ditching things, add dryer sheets to that list. Dryer sheets are not necessary and if you want to get rid of static cling, try tossing a couple of tennis balls into the dryer. You will get the same effect, save money, and again, create less waste.
11. Don’t rinse the dishes. Want to save on the water bill? Get rid of the tedious process of rinsing off your dishes prior to putting them in the dishwasher. You can do a good job of scraping them off into the garbage can and then put them in the dishwasher. Don’t waste water by ‘pre-washing’ the dishes.
12. Keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator. If you drink water out of the tap, save water by not having to let it run to get it cold. Keeping a nice, cold pitcher of water in the fridge will save on your water bill and you can also use a filtered pitcher for added benefits.
13. Cut your shower time. One of the best ways to save money on your water bill is to simply cut down on the amount of time you spend in the shower. If you even cut down by a couple minutes per day, it will save you a lot of money when added up over the course of a year.
14. Close the closet. Many people don’t stop to consider this, but if you leave closet doors open, you are just heating or cooling more space because of it. You don’t need your closet to be as warm as the rest of the room, so shut that closet door and save money on your heat bill.
15. Use ceiling fans. If used correctly, ceiling fans can reduce your bill for cooling the house in the summer and also heating your home in the winter. By keeping some air flow going, you will make both your AC unit and your heating unit more efficient and save yourself a few bucks at the same time.
16. Weather-strip your windows and doors. This is another simple fix that people often forget. Over time, you can develop small cracks around your windows and doors as the original calking or weather-stripping wears out. Make sure you don’t have drafts where hot air is escaping in the winter, and cool air is escaping in the summer.