Yahoo Finance How to Save Money Around the House
Sometimes I find myself sitting back on my couch and thinking of great ways to make, or save, money. I find the best approach to take while trying to figure out where to make cuts is to look at each part of your budget separately, instead of trying to tackle all of it at once. Having recently moved, a big topic of conversation has been our household expenses. Saving a few dollars on each of your household expenses may seem minute now, but it will add up in the long run. Here are three easy ways to save a buck or two on your household living expenses.
Slash electricity costs. Electricity is one of the biggest monthly bills in our household. So we've decided to do everything we can to live a more energy-efficient lifestyle. First, we lower or turn off our air-conditioning. A few well-placed fans in the right rooms will work wonders for your home. Although you may not feel that cold breeze on scorching summer days, a few powerful fans in common rooms will keep things comfortable. On incredibly hot days, this won't be enough, but in most cases, it will.
Next, try to use major appliances sparingly. Although the major appliances in your house are great for convenience, keep in mind that they were not always around. There are ways around using them at all but that's too extreme for us. My family has tried to make a conscious effort to use these big-ticket energy items as little as possible, and you should too! The stove uses far more energy than the grill, for example, so on nice days, we almost always grill.
Third, try to turn off the lights as much as possible, especially when you leave the room or your house. While one light bulb might not seem like much energy, it adds up over time.
Limit phone, cable and Internet costs. The first thing I would encourage you to do while analyzing these expenses is to establish how necessary each one of them actually is to your house. Do you have a cell phone? If so, how necessary is your house phone? Do you really need cable or can you watch pretty much anything you want through online streaming video?
Another frugal option is to bundle services together. Even if you currently have multiple service providers for all three of these services, often times one of them will offer great incentives, like no installation fees, to get you to bundle. You can also take the time to compare prices from various companies in your area. Some companies will even reward you for switching providers at the time of signing up.
You should also try negotiating. Since companies are so competitive, they are often willing to cut their prices to keep (or gain) your business.
Save on produce. Produce prices have gone up exponentially in recent years. However, that doesn't necessarily need to affect you. First, you can grow a personal garden. My family has recently transformed a portion of our yard into our own personal produce provider. What started out as a chore quickly turned into a fun hobby that everyone now enjoys taking part in. We all took a trip to our local home and garden store and were able to individually pick exactly what we wanted to grow. The excitement our new plants provided was all the motivation we needed to get the prep work done. Now we are well on our way to enjoying great produce for just the cost of seeds, water and a little bit of tender love and care.
If you don't happen to live in a house with a yard, a community garden might be a great option for you. Present the idea to your neighbors and take it to your apartment manager. Often times they will help you pick the perfect spot for the new garden. This is also a great way to spend some quality time with your neighbors and get to know the people who live near you. Not everyone will grow the same things, so don't forget to share.
Farmers markets are another possibility if you don't have time to grow your own food. There are many local growers out there looking to sell what they have grown at a great low cost. Stop by your local farmer's market and see what kind of deals you can get. Often times if you frequent a particular vendor, they will offer great discounts. Remember, this isn't your local supermarket, negotiation is fun and the worst they can say is "no!"
There is an endless amount of ways to save a buck or two on your household expenses, and these ideas are just the beginning. I encourage you to dig around for a few ways to save money in your house. Make it a family conversation so everyone is on the same page and you'll be surprised with how much you can accomplish together.
Joshua Rodriguez is a personal finance writer with ModestMoney.com.
More From US News & World Report
