Pinching Pennies – An Everyday Resolution
Sunday, January 4th, 2009
Did you make a resolution this year? If you did, how’s it working for you? I made one, and I’m going to keep it! I’ve got a secret – it’s the same resolution I’ve made for the last five years, and I’ve kept it every year.
I resolved to manage my money to the very best of my ability, providing my family with the very best I can while saving for the rainy day that we all will see one day.
I think New Year’s resolutions fail mainly because they are often HUGE changes in our lives, hard to maintain and depriving us of comfort and enjoyment. For that reason, I have made some very subtle changes which when you combine them, make a big difference in our household bottom line. There are some really simple things you can do to save money in 2009 without feeling deprived.
If you’re like my family, a huge portion of your monthly expense is your utilities. You need to reduce that bill as much as possible, but still keep warm during the winter months and cool in the summer. The first thing I did was to call my power company and request an energy audit. Most companies provide this service for free, and they will send someone out to look at your power/gas consumption and make suggestions to lower your bill. Additionally, studies have shown that you can reduce your heating bill by 10% if you lower your thermostat 5 degrees at night and 10 degrees when you are not home. If heating is half of your power bill, and your bill normally runs $200 in the winter, you’ll save $10/month just making a small change in temperature.
When you wash your clothes, use cold water. We do so much laundry that I wonder how in the world all these clothes fit in our closets. Normally I do two loads a day, and if I washed those in hot water, it would cost me about 38 cents each load. A load washed in cold water costs just 1.5 cents! So if you do the math, I’m saving 73 cents /day for 365 days a year, and that’s $266! See how small changes can add up?
When you’re cooking, turn your oven off about 15 minutes before the baking time is up. The residual heat in the oven will finish baking your food, and you’ll be saving money.
When you leave the house for an extended period of time (2 days or more), turn your thermostat to the lowest possible setting. Don’t turn the unit off; the low setting will keep your pipes from freezing. Also turn off your water heater. When you return, it will only take an hour or so to heat the water back up.
If you have ceiling fans in your home, turn the switch on the base so that the blades push the warm air down on you rather than pulling it up.
We all love to make New Year’s resolutions, but keeping them is a different story altogether! This year, it’s time to get excited about saving some money for your family, and keep your New Year’s resolution!
