Cutting Utility Costs

The best way to start spending less starts in your own home! There are some great ways to start spending less on your electricity, water, gas, phone, Internet and other such bills.

Electric Bill: This one is easy but takes realizing what you are doing. We slashed $30 off our monthly electric bill by simply unplugging things we weren't using at the time, that is $360 a year!! That's huge! We always keep our microwave, toaster, kitchen aid and other such small appliances unplugged in my kitchen. We also unplug our stereo when it isn't in use (and we have found that we rarely use it anyway.) We unplug our televisions when we are done with them. We unplug lamps that we don't need during the day, we never keep our cell phone chargers or other chargers plugged in when we aren't using them. Even if something is plugged in but turned off it is using a little bit of electricity. Use the air dry option on your dishwasher. I am also a big stickler on making sure you turn off the lights and ceiling fans when you leave a room. Also by turning up your air conditioner up a few degrees will help a little, and eventually you will adjust to the new temperature. Everything you turn off or unplug will help you in the end.

Gas Bill: This one is a little trickier. In the winter it is easy to just turn down the heater. Wear pants and long sleeve shirts indoors so your heater doesn't have to be quite as warm. I like things a little cool anyway so this is easy for me. I just bundle up my kids a little bit more and we are all fine. Also, go to your water heater and turn it down a little. You don't need to keep your water as hot as it probably is. Then remember to take warm showers instead of hot. Do your laundry on the cold water setting. If you are concerned about using cold water for laundry there are special detergents for cold water, you can probably even find a coupon to buy them for less.

Water Bill: This one is also easy. Using less water is easy if you make a conscious effort to do so. Take a timer into the bathroom with you and set if for 7-10 minutes so you know when to get out of the shower. When you use the toilet you can follow the old adage "If it's yellow let it mellow..." This is a little disgusting. The only time we are letting it mellow is at night when the toilet doesn't get used too much and flushing might wake up a child. When you are doing dishes fill one side of your sink with soapy water so you won't need to leave the water running to wash your dishes. Make sure you get them really clean so when you run your dishwasher you can use the quick wash setting as just a sanitizer for your mostly clean dishes.

Phone Bill: Some people don't know that when they sign up for a landline phone the phone company automatically adds a lot of extra feature onto that phone account. Check your phone bill, all the features you are paying for will be listed on there. Then make a phone call to your phone provider and ask them to cancel all the extras you don't want. We were able to lessen our phone bill by $10 a month by taking off things such as three way calling and other extras we didn't want or use. Chances are you have all the bells and whistles on your cell phone so you don't need it on your home line. By the way, maybe you should cancel some of the extras on your cell phone while you are thinking about it!

Television Bill: Whether you have cable or satellite chances are you can lower your bill if you make a simple phone call. Ask what can be done to get your bill lower. Whether it is cutting out a few channels or cancel a subscription to a movie channel you rarely watch, it is worth the time to make the call and see if anything can be done.

Internet Bill: Just like your phone bill, when you sign up to get the Internet they automatically get you the fastest speed Internet connection available. This is a ridiculous thing to pay for. Make a call and ask if there is a slower speed Internet connection you can switch to. You probably won't be able to tell the difference but your wallet will when you end up saving another $10-15 by switching.

In this economy all you have to do is ask. Ask what they can do to lower your bill. Tell them you are trying to save money and see how they can help you. If it is a service you don't really need (like the newspaper because you can read that online) then threaten to cancel and maybe they will give you a deal you didn't expect! It doesn't hurt to ask, all they can say is no and then you will be paying the same amount you already are.

I know there are many more ideas to slashing your monthly costs. These are all the things we have done at our house, what have you done at yours?

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