Money Saving Tips Around the House

I like to think that I am very frugal in my everyday living. With this understanding, I have been keeping a closer eyes on my bills lately and have noticed that I have reduced the amount I have spent last year this same time. Now there are some extenuating factors that go into this reduction in the amount that was being spent, however, I have consciously attempted to reduce my bills by making smarter decisions around the house.

With everyone "Going Green" now these days, there are many that are coming to the forefront that enable you to save money around the house. Some require that you invest a bit into certain products, others just require that you change your behavior in your house. I want to share with you a combination of things that I have done around my house to reduce my energy usage and save money.

1. Reducing the amount of electric light usage.
• In my bathroom, I have a bathroom bar that has eight lights on the fixture. EIGHT LIGHTS! Are eight lights really necessary to light my bathroom...I think not. So instead of luminating my bathroom with all eight lights, I unscrewed every other light immediately cutting my energy usage from those lights in half. In addition to that, I am able to cut back on my replacement of those lights when one goes bad because I have four other lights currently not being used.
• Whenever leaving out of a room, I usually immediately turn off the light. Even if I am going to come back to the room, I still make sure that the light is only turned on when I am in the room using it. In addition to that, I find that using natural sunlight (opening a window) is a free alternative to using lights during the day.
2. Reducing the amount of air condition usage.
• One of the best inventions in regards to air conditioning is a scheduling thermostat. Using this, I have been able to turn my air conditioning off when I am not at the house, but have my house cool when I return.
• In addition to that, I typically keep my setting on the air conditioning to be somewhere near 77 - 80 degrees. Many people would call that "uncomfortable", however I find that it just takes time to get adjusted to it. Also, I typically only turn on my air condition at night when going to bed.
3. Using alternative methods to cool your home besides air conditioning.
• Surprisingly, the use of a ceiling fan cools the house well. The use of these fans allow air condition to not even be used during the cooler part of the day. Also, using a portable fan can be a good substitute if you do not have a ceiling fan installed.
4. Investing in Compact Fluorescent Lighting.
• I have made an effort to replace each light bulb that goes out in my home with a highly efficient compact fluorescent lightbulb. Although they typically have a higher up-front cost, these lights tend to pay for themselves within the first six months of use.
• In addition to that, albeit very small, CFLs emit less heat than regular incandescent light bulbs. For more information about these bulbs, check out the Energy Star website.

In June 2008, I paid my electric utility company $125.67. However, this year, I ended up paying $81.92. Saving $40 in one month makes a large difference because that type of money can be better reallocated to other bills or even be contributed to a savings account.

I hope you find these tips useful. If you have any other tips that you use to save money around the house, please leave them in the comments below. Stay Disciplined!