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We’re all looking for ways to cut our budget, but there comes a point when you start to wonder just how much you can cut! One way to reduce your monthly costs and save money over the course of the year is to find a way to save money on utilities. This doesn’t mean turning your heat off in the winter and shivering for three months—there are small steps you can potentially take all around your house to save money in utilities.
Electricity & Gas
- Add weather stripping or Great Stuff around doors and windows to keep your warm or cool air inside your house
- Get a programmable thermostat—change the temperature based on your schedule and when you most want to be comfortable
- Add insulation—putting in insulation under our floors saved us hundreds last year!
- Keep doors and vents closed in rooms you don’t use often
- Receive an in-home electricity assessments from your provider
- Get an energy use monitor for appliances and unplug the ones that use energy just from being plugged in
- Sign up for budget billing—this may not save you money overall, but it will help you plan your budget better
- Wash clothes on cold
- Replace your lightbulbs with more energy efficient bulbs
- Turn your hot water heater down
- Clean or replace your HVAC filters regularly
Water
- Check for leaks and repair them
- Get a low flow shower head
- Put a brick in the tank of your toilet to reduce the amount of water you use when flushing
- Use a rain barrel to collect water for plants and outside uses
Cable
- Replace your cable costs with a Roku + free streaming channels (check out my post on 13 Free Roku Streaming Channels)
- For local channels, purchase a digital antenna
Phone
- Get rid of your home phone! In today’s day and age, that’s an unnecessary expense.
- Use a pay as you go provider like Ting Wireless
- Change phone plans or providers—you might be paying for more data than you need, or you might be able to get a good deal by switching service providers
Internet
- Get the lowest speed possible for what you need
- Call and ask for competitive rates if you have more than one provider in your area
- If you have free mobile hotspots and already pay for unlimited data on your phone, see if you can get by with just that
Trash
- If you have to pay extra for trash pick up, make a run to the dump twice a week instead of paying for monthly trash pick up
Do you have any tips for how to save money on utilities? Let us know in the comments!
