One of the things that we cannot get away from is paying for utilities. Especially now with our house hold electronics and conveniences of home. The last thing we want to hear is use less of this and less of that.
What I am saying is use it smartly!! Currently I live in a attached house so there are only windows in the front and back so not very much natural light. I work from home during the day so what I did was put my desk by the window for natural light instead of turning on the lights during the day.
Little things like that go a long way especially when you live in a city that has different prices for peak time usage. Sometimes it can be double for on-peak verses off-peak. And watch too, the rates and times change between summer and winter. Don’t get caught up like I did and I was doing all my laundry during what I thought was the off peak hours but actually the peak hours, not realizing that the winter schedule was in effect. Check with your local utility.
Right now in the winter, the off-peak hours here are after 7pm. So the kids take their shower after this time and laundry & dishwasher is turned on only after 7pm. Really if anything is not time critical, you can save by following the off-peak time of use. Sometimes it can get inconvenient, hey just do the best you can. That is what saving money is about.
I tell the kids to charge their electronics in the evening. It is all about just educating them. If they understand the logic, kids are usually pretty reasonable people and they will understand.
The biggest thing is turning off the lights that we are not using and using LED or compact florescent lights. How often do we walk into a house where all the lights are on and everyone is in one room. Hey when I dad used to scream at us to turn off the lights, there was a reason behind it. Hey if, no one is watching the TV, turn it off or unplug appliances that are not being used. The list goes on….
So just be aware of what you are doing. Take note, a few dollars saved here and there will add up. Once you are conscious of what is going on, there are many opportunities to save money.
