Tips for Saving Money
When you come to thinking about reducing your cost in your utility bills, the first and major factor to consider is efficiency. The other factor is conservation. Here are a few tips that might help.
1. Be sure you change filters in your furnace. Dirty and clog filled filters means your furnace has to work harder.
2. Make sure that the floor, wall, or ceiling vents are set the proper way. If you have a vent closed, the furnace will work harder to heat that room.
3. If you have a room that you don’t need to heat, close the vent and the door going into the room.
4. Turn down the temperature on your hot water heater. If you are the type of individual that has to use cold water with your hot water, then you probably have
that thermostat set too high.
5. Be sure that the main thermostat is set to the desired setting. Leave it there. If you are gone during the day, set it lower than normal. Usually when I
go to bed at night I set mine down about 4 to 5 degrees lower. after all I am usually warm enough with my blankets.
6 Turn off all extra lights. Some times lights get left on in rooms not being used, especially closets and garages. If there is plenty of sunlight during the day,
then there is no need for lights to be on.
7.Make sure all water faucets are turned off and that you don’t have a toilet constantly running. During the flood of the early 90’s, we conserved water by
flushing only after a bowel movement. Otherwise we would wait until the toilet had been used three times.
8.About once a month, drain about half a gallon of water out of the bottom of your hot water heater. That removes the rust that settles in the bottom.
9.Keep doors closed. Some people have the full glass storm doors and like to leave them open. You lose a lot of heat that way as glass is a poor
way to keep heat in your house.
10. If you have cold air coming in under the door, put a throw rug in front of the door.
11. If you have a well lighted room from the sun, open the curtains or blinds and let the sun in. Solar heat is great for reducing heating expense.
12. Dust your house. Now you are saying to yourself why is that important? Dust clogs filters. They also carry allergens, which can cause illness.
13. Keep freezer and refrigerator doors closed.
14. When you do laundry, do a full load.
Here are a few other cost cutting ideas.
1. Don’t let your car idle too long. Most cars today don’t need to warm up very long.
2. Conserve gas in your automobile by combining errands whenever you can.
3. Use your computer to send a message instead of the phone or sending a postal letter for that matter. The cost is a lot cheaper.
4 .Reuse Tin foil and Freeze bags whenever you can.
5. If you have a battery powered radio, use it instead of an electric one.
6. Park your car in a garage, especially in extreme climates. Your car will stay cleaner longer and the elements won’t take their toll on the vehicle as much.
7.Always perform preventive maintenance on your car, house and yourself as well. The small expense now can mean big savings later.
8. Use the small plastic grocery bags for trash bag fillers for your smaller waste cans.
9. Keep and maintain meal left overs. Some left overs can be kept for up to 5 days. Just be careful that they aren’t left out for extended periods of time.
10.Squeeze every ounce out of that tooth paste holder. That goes for any tube that you may have.
These are just a few ideas that can help save a few penny’s on the dollar. However, over time it can mean big savings. I am sure there are other ideas that you can come up with. If you have any to share, please feel free to post them in response to this article.
