10 ways to save money on your utility bills

Your utility bill is one of the constants of life (when you grow up and do that settling down thing). Cutting down that bill  is a great way to work your way out of debt or towards financial freedom.  Following is a list of 10 ways to save money on your utility bills. 10 ways of saving we apply or have applied in the past that cut down our utility bills. Whether you want reach financial freedom or want to get out of debt, these savings can help you get there a little faster.

Shower 3 minutes instead of 5; I know that’s a tough one. If there is one thing I enjoy it’s the shower in the morning. It is also costly if you enjoy it too long. If you feel 3 minutes is too short, simply take the time to time one of your regular showers and see if you can cut it down by 2 minutes. A low flow shower head will help even more with that. That said I do like my water pressure and am personally not partial to the low flow. I’d rather take a 3 minute shower that blasts than a 15  minute low-flow shower. I’ll leave that one up to you.

Change that dial. In winter turn the thermostat down. I cringe when I see my kids wear t-shirts indoors in winter. It means we’re heating too much. It’s why they invented sweaters. The same goes for summer; I like it cool myself but trying to get your house down to 70 degrees costs a fortune. We now set our Airco at 76 and it is just fine. As a matter of fact when we walk in from the outside heat it feels great. For starters why don’t you lower your thermostat by 2 in winter and and in summer turn the thermostat (Airco) 2 degrees up. If you really want to live dangerously, up the ante by changing 2 to 3 both in summer and winter.

Take a shower instead of a bath, if you’re not sure which one is cheaper, plug the tub when taking a normal shower and see where it lands. If the bath wins I point you to savings number 1. For reference, it takes our bath 15 minutes to fill by shower head. We have a tiny tub and no throttle on our shower head.

Change your incandescent bulbs to CF or better yet LED. Nowadays they’ll outlive your cat. Higher cost up front but in the long terms lots of savings (plus you can take them along when you move). Check out the calculator  

Install sensor detectors that turn off lights after leaving the room. I’ve installed several of these in our basement where esthetics don’t rule. The detectors I’ve used are the ones you put your lightbulb in. You can however purchase wall switches with detectors if the latter is not an option

Better and cheaper yet, turn lights off after leaving the room

Get a programmable thermostat. I’m sure there’s still a few of you that have that single temperature thermostat we all grew up with. We have a NEST that learns about our movement (little creepy). Cool thing is I can control it with my IPhone. You don’t have to go as high-end as a Nest (one might argue you can’t save money with that one due to its price), there are much cheaper alternatives for less than $30 by household names like Honeywell available.

Seal cracks around doors and windows, you’re almost literally throwing money out the door by not doing so. There are fancy heat/cold detectors that can point you to where the cracks are but simply running your hand around the door and window will be a pretty good indicate by itself.

Replace air-condition filter regularly, a clogged filter will waste energy. Better yet replace disposable air-conditioning filter with one you can clean. When we had our HVAC upgraded we got a metal mesh filter that I simply put under the shower to clean. We’ve had ours for 6 years now and haven’t bought a single filter since. It too can clog so if you already have one make sure you clean it on a regular basis.

Plant trees in strategic places around your house to provide shade in summer. I’m all about planting trees but this one is not about saving the world. Having a large tree provide your house shade in the summer can do miracles for your air-conditioning bill. This one may take a while to kick in. Here you go, 10 useful ways to bring down your utility bill (granted the tree planting may take a while to pay off). Let me know if you have more or better ways to save on utilities, I’m still eager to learn.

disclaimer: I am an amazon affiliate member. The images in this post link to amazon product. In all fairness I do own most these products myself.

Good luck reaching your financial goals.