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How to save money on utilities bills

2010-09-14T22:28:00.011+10:00

Reducing your power usage not only lessens your impact on the environment but can also save you big dollars. With the cost of gas and electricity escalating each year, you may appreciate some of these money saving tips:

1 When not in use, turn off appliances at the power point and unplug them. Even on stand-by, electrical appliances are still using electricity. Do you really need an oven, a microwave and a DVD player to tell you the time? If you are not using them and you have a watch, switch them off!

2 When cooking a meal, double everything in the recipe and make two meals instead. You can then freeze the second meal for a later date. You have used the same amount of gas/electricity (as if you had cooked only one meal) and you have also saved yourself time in the kitchen!

3 When you leave a room, make sure you switch off the lights, heating/cooling and all appliances. It’s an easy habit to get into and can save you money on your electricity bill.

4 Always hang washing on a line or under a veranda or inside on a clothes airer. Clothes driers may be handy but they are an unnecessary waste of power and your money.

5 When your next light globe blows, replace it with an low energy one. The initial outlay may be more but they do last longer than conventional light globes.

6 Avoid using blow heaters. They are very uneconomical and quite inefficient. Split systems have been found to be the most economical heaters/coolers and can maintain the temperature of a room.

7 Check that your door seals are adequate. Cold or hot air coming into your house under or around a door is often easily eliminated by replacing the seals on your doors (you can find them at any hardware store) or by placing a temporary draught excluder or door snake against the gap. You can also reduce your use of heating or cooling by closing doors and just trying to keep one area of your house warm/cool.

8 In hot weather, (unless in a heat wave) don’t leave air conditioners on all night. Check to see if the outside temperature has dropped enough to open the windows and let the fresh air in.

9 Shop around for utilities companies to get the best possible deal. – Brand makes absolutely NO difference in this case.

10 If you own your home and are expecting to remain there for the long term, consider installing solar panels. You will be using free, renewable energy from the sun and you can sell the unused electricity generated by your panels back to the grid. Imagine receiving a cheque in the mail instead of a bill! Admittedly, the original outlay is quite high, but competition amongst providers is starting to increase which could soon bring the cost down. You will need to take into account the amount of time it would take for your investment to pay for itself.

I hope these tips have inspired you to try to save more electricity around the home. For more ideas, check out these 2 ebooks: Save Money and the Planet and Energy Saving House Tips. In my next post I will offer suggestions on how to save water at your place.

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2010-09-09T13:35:00.001+10:00

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How to save money on groceries - 7 more simple tips

2010-09-08T00:09:00.019+10:00

It’s easy to reduce spending at the supermarket. Check out these helpful ideas:

1   Before you hit the supermarket, have a good look in your pantry and fridge. Throw out any out-of-date items and make a note of which items have been wasted. Then, when compiling your shopping list, try to include only items you know will definitely be consumed within their use-by date. Remember any waste of food is also a waste of your hard-earned money.

2   Always compare prices between brands. Get out the trusty calculator and work out the price of the item per unit or kilo or litre. Also, you might find products high or very low on the shelves are more competitively priced. Supermarkets presume their customers are busy people and usually place the highest profit making brands at eye-level.

3   Wherever possible DON’T take your children shopping. They will undoubtedly ask or even nag you for something they have seen on the shelves which may not be on your list. If you need to take the children, try to remain firm when prompted for the inevitable chocolate / ice-cream / toy, etc. Depending on the age of the child, you could offer an alternative treat such as reading a story together or playing a favourite game or perhaps baking a cake or biscuits at home or cooking their favourite meal.

4   Don’t go shopping hungry – you will end up buying treats or other food items not on your list.

5   Give generic brands a go. Often they are made by the same companies as the labelled ones and are just as good quality but at a much better price.

6   Don’t even look at items on display at the counter – if you don’t have them on your shopping list, you don’t need them.

7   Scan the junk mail for ultra cheap specials. Often supermarkets will advertise excellent deals on the front page of their catalogues. Although it is not advisable to go to 3 different supermarkets to do your weekly grocery shop (the cost of petrol to get you there would outweigh any savings you might have made), you might find it convenient to pick up the specials you were attracted to on the way home from work or on the way to the gym or on any other necessary trip. Of course this would only be worth doing if the items advertised are products you know you and your household will definitely consume before their use-by date.

I hope these ideas have been useful! In my next post I will add even more money-saving suggestions.

Happy saving,

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How to save money on groceries

2010-09-03T22:21:00.027+10:00

Whether you are drowning in debt, trying to save for a deposit on a house or just wanting to pay less because you can, everyone can benefit from saving money . I have decided to share some of my money saving ideas which have helped my family not only survive but you could say thrive on a single income for almost 6 years. It really isn’t that difficult. If you take on board only one of my tips you can start saving money immediately. If you want to go whole hog and follow all my suggestions you will need to be determined and, to an extent, disciplined but it’s easy if you are committed to saving.

I am going to show only a few tips each post. You don’t want to be overwhelmed with advice and if you are not used to saving at all, an information overload could be enough to put you off altogether!

I have useful money saving hints on all sorts of topics but let’s start with something everyone needs to face regularly – grocery shopping. Here are just a few of my suggestions:

1   Take a shopping list and stick to it. You may find it helpful to think ahead and plan the meals you will cook in the coming week. You can then write your shopping list accordingly.

2   If you have credit card debt you MUST pay cash. Otherwise you might as well add up to 19% on every item in your trolley because that is what you are paying!

3   As a general rule, buy in bulk. Most items are offered at a reduced price if you buy in bulk. Remember though this is only a saving if you are actually going to consume the whole product before its use-by date. Sometimes items in smaller quantities are offered at a discounted price and for this reason I recommend taking a calculator or using the calculator on your phone to determine the price per unit, kilo or litre (or pound or ounce if you use the imperial system).

4 Buy your fruit and vegetables from a grower’s market. This cuts out the middle man and you can buy your fresh produce for up to 70% less than in the supermarkets!

5 Look out for clearance stock. You can often buy meat at half price if it is close to its use-by date. This doesn’t mean the meat is bad. You just need to cook the meat that night or the next or you can always freeze it for a later date. But don’t freeze marinated meat as this will make it chewy.

That’s all for now. In my next post I will reveal more helpful money-saving tips!

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Coming soon...

2010-09-01T22:58:00.003+10:00

Budget Mum says....

"Stay tuned for loads of valuable money saving tips!"

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