Tight Wad Tuesday-Stay Off the Juice!
Well this is my first shot at offering some simple financial advise here in DDD. I have thought about offering personal finance tips on everything from investing to clipping coupons. And in today’s economy you really need to do everything imaginable to put some money away.
So first things first. When I realized I was going to be staying at home we took a look at every budget category where our family could reduce. Or, conversely, which areas hurt us the most and so needs to reduce. We thought we would tackle the electric bill first.
I am going to list some of the measures we took. Most of these seem simple or common enough. But when you put all these ideas together they can add up to a big cut in your power bill. The first month I took these steps our utility bill was $106 for a family of 4. Our second bill, covering 4 extended family overnights of Thanksgiving, was only $135. Each of these bills saved us easily $50 or more over the norm last year.
How did we do it? Lets get started…
1. Unplug Everything – I unplugged all the phone chargers and drill chargers outside to clocks in rooms we were not using.
2. Manage the Thermostat – Naturally the goal here is to not have the A/C or heater run at all. Now I like a comfortable sleep. Lord knows the girls sleep better if they are not sweating. So I leave the thermostat set in range of a comfortable setting over night. But when I get up and the sun is up I turn the thing off. Let the sun heat or open some windows. Be sure your screens are up or down depending on the climate. But try not to let that A/C unit run!
3. I am always turning off the lights. The girls leave them on and I cut them off. The lights outside I do not turn on until I go to bed; not at dark time.
4. Be sure to do all the loads of wash on the same day so you don’t waste energy heating the water so often. Your water heater is actually the second highest user of electricity next to your heater. …excuse me… …….I had to turn off another light that was burning.
5. Be sure all the TV’s and computers, DVD players and VCRs are turned off before you go to bed. Unplug them if it is convenient. Especially the ones up or downstairs.
Simple enough, right? You just have to do these things, manage them, and stay with it and you can have some extra money for going out yourself. Pat yourself on the back! Great job!
On a separate note I wanted to take a moment and thank Lyell at Cabana9 for all his help and advice on getting this blog up and running. Now I didn’t know Lyell. He is a self-described Nerd so I felt comfortable asking him some questions since I married one and have become a bit of a nerd myself. So Thanks Lyell! Check him out at: http://cabana9nerd.com/ if you want to see what a real (good) blog should look like.
Thanks for tuning in. I’ll be back with a bit more fun, zany and ‘cleverable’ insights tomorrow. Feel free to leave me your energy tips too!
OUR LIFE IN 3D 