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Save Money On Utilities
Rent already can be a pretty penny, but there’s more than one bill that comes around monthly if you’re living in a rental. Utility bills are rough sometimes and can be surprising if you don’t watch your consumption. No one wants to pay loads of money out of their hard-earned cash each month, but there’s no getting around it. However, there IS a way to lower these utility costs drastically. So sit down, unplug your appliances, turn the water off, and check out these great cost-saving tips to save you money on your utilities!
LED or CFL Lightbulbs
One of the easiest and greenest ways to save some money on utilities (in this case electric bill), is to replace your lightbulbs with LED bulbs or CFL bulbs. With a one time replacement, you’ll be saving about $30-$80 per bulb. On top of that, these light bulbs last longer, meaning you not only save on energy costs, but you save on actually buying and replacing the bulb itself. Using less energy with these will save you money and help the environment. It’s a win-win!
Programmable Thermostat
When the weather gets bitterly cold or brutally hot, it’s time to crank up (or crank down) that thermostat! But heating and cooling your home takes some time. If you want your place to be cool or warm by the time you get home from work or wake up in the morning, you just have to leave it on all day or night, right? Guess again! If you have a programmable thermostat, you can set the times for when it will kick on and off.
If it’s in the middle of summer, you don’t have to leave your air conditioning on all day while away to keep your home a livebale temperature. just set the AC to go off when you leave work and it’ll be nice and cool by the time you get home. This will save you on gas and/or electricity and again, help the environment a little bit. Ask your landlord if you can change the old thermostat out or even if they can make a building-wide shift. If your landlord already offers smart thermostats or programmable ones, you’re already saving!
Heavy Curtains
If you want to go a step further and try to use the thermostat the least amount possible, try picking up some heavy curtains from your nearest store. This simple addition can look stylish and insulate your rental. Having heavy material over the windows will keep the heat out and the chill in (and vice versa). Now, you won’t have to run the heat or AC as much to keep your place habitable. Also, if you’re in an apartment, it will take no time to get to the right temperature and keep it there.
Shower Head
Who doesn’t like a nice, long, hot shower? It’s not the greatest use of the many gallons of water, but this next recommendation can reduce that impact. If you switch to a low flow shower head, you can save approximately 43% of that water bill per year! That’s about half off your water bill annually! Not to mention this is yet ANOTHER way to go a little more green. You save hundreds of gallons of water just by switching. You can get a new fixture or an attachment to the original fixture to make your shower low flow. Just don’t forget to take it with you if you move out!
Unplug Electronics/Powerstrip
WARNING: You may have vampires in your home and not even know it! Of course, they suck electricity instead of blood but either way, it’s not good news. The vampires are the electronics you leave plugged into the wall. Even if they are completely turned off, they still drain electricity bit by bit as long as they’re in the wall. Unplugging every single electronic you have every time you go out is not realistic, but we can help! Invest in power strips or even smart power strips and plug everything into them. You’ll free up plug space and with multiple things plugged into one strip, you only have to pull one plug before leaving.
Check Provider Site
If you want to save a little more on your energy bills, definitely check out your provider’s website. A lot of these utility provider’s sites will have programs or even rebates and tips to help you save some energy and in turn, money.
While these things seem kind of insignificant on their own, compounding these ideas can end up saving you a ton of money across all of your utility bills. These adjustments can usually be made rather quickly and you’ll see results immediately on your next bill. Not only will you be saving yourself a lot of dough, but you’ll be helping the environment by using the tips that reduce consumption and cost at the same time!
