How to Save Money On Utility Bills

Energy costs are on the rise! Here are a few tips that have helped me control my energy costs and have really helped me save money on my bills.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. First, if you haven't already, switch out all of your light bulbs in your home or business with Energy Efficient Bulbs. These really cut your lighting costs and they last ALOT longer than regular light bulbs. Test it out! Compare your electricity bills from before the switch and after. It's really impressive!

2. Unplug any appliances or electronics that are not in use on a regular basis. Even though these things are turned off, they still consume electricity. Plug them back in only when you want to use them.

3. This one is an obvious one, turn off your lights when you don't need them. Right now, I am sitting at my computer in the dark! I don't need any other lights on, the screen works just fine!

4. Run ONLY a full dishwasher and set the timer, if possible, to go off in the middle of the night when energy charges are cheaper. Apply this same principle to doing laundry... run full loads ONLY and run your washer/dryer at night.

5. Hang a cloths line in your laundry room. For me, my washer/dryer are right by my furnace. I hang thing like bath towels, robes, sheets, etc. on my line and let the furnace work to dry these items.

6. Get rid of your house phone!!!!! In an age where EVERYONE has a cell phone, there is really no reason to have a house phone. Use your cell instead... PLUS in most cases you get free long distance which may cost extra in your house phone plan. Depending on how much your land line service is, you can save up to $800 dollars a year!

7. Decide if you REALLY need any additional cable packages with your television. I switched to basic cable and I am now saving $400 a year! It takes a little getting used to but now I don't miss it... I like seeing how much lower my cable bill is.

8. Save water and electricity by taking quick showers and omitting baths. Baths use a lot of water PLUS it costs money to heat the water. Use cold water for other things too like hand washing, filling pots, etc. Get creative!

[prism]

on 11/28/2008 Great advice. We just switched all our light bulb out a couple of weeks ago. Will be interesting to see how much difference it makes.

[JesaLynn]

on 11/24/2008 A very handy article. We could all use a few extra bucks these days. thanks! 5!