1. How much are you
spending on long distance every
month? Probably too much compared
to the savings you can get from
prepaid telephone calls where the
time is bought in large bulk
quanties. Prepaid telephone cards
from Wal-Mart can reduce your
long distance to 4 to 5 cents per
minute. You can buy a $10, $20,
$40 or higher card and always
know what you've spent on long
distance at any given time. You
can budget one $10 card per month
and stay within your monthly long
distance budget more easily. In
fact, you should be able to save
$10 to $50 per month with this
method. They also have no
restriction on when and where you
can use them so you can take them
with you. Call up your telephone
company and request a long
disance block but specificy that
you want toll free access that
allows you to dial 1 800 numbers.
You'll need this to dial the
access number on the back of the
card. You can also buy very cheap
international phone cards off the
internet which allow you talk for
hours for only $20 per card.
Website noblecom.com offers just
such cards and you can comparison
shop other cards using your
favorite search engine.
2. Do you really
need a cellphone? Think about it.
Ten to 15 years ago, nobody had a
cell phone. Now, they are a must
have according to the general
public, but is that really true?
Do you really need people to get
in touch with you ALL THE TIME?
Can't they wait to call you until
you get home? Cutting off your
cell phone might be considered a
drastic move, but if you are
deeply in debt and strugglying to
make monthly payments on your
credit cards or other bills, you
might want to consider cancelling
this so called
"necessity." It could
easily save you $50 to $150 per
month which is another $600 to
$1,800 a year you can use toward
your credit cards which are
gouging you at 21 to 30 percent a
year. Chances are, if you get rid
of your cellphone, you won't miss
it that much and might actually
enjoy not being bothered all the
time.
|
|
3. Contrary to popular
belief, you don't need a dryer to dry
your clothes. Hang them up where they can
drip dry on a line. If you live in an
apartment complex and can't hang your
clothes up outside, no problem. Nearly
everyone in Eastern Europe who lives in
an apartment dry their clothes on lines
or wires strung above their bathtub (up
high near the ceiling) or on lines near
the window. They also use drying racks
made especially for the purpose. Your
clothes dryer can be costing you about
$10 to $20 a month in electricty which is
$120 to $240 per year you could be saving
or applying towards those high interest
credit cards. Hooks and string from your
local hardware store are a lot cheaper.
4. You can also save
money buy washing your clothes in cold
water instead of hot. Using hot water
involves your hot water heater which must
run electricty or gas to heat new water
to replace the hot water you used on your
clothes. Cold water will get your clothes
just as clean and will help them last
longer.
Speaking of hot
water heaters, they are giant
money sucking machines on your electric
or gas bill. Here a number of tips that
can save you a lot of money.
5. Turn down the
temperature on your hot water heater by 5
to 10 degrees. If you can live with your
hot water a little less hot, turn it down
some more.
6. Wrap your hot water
heater with a specially made coat. This
will prevent your hot water heater from
losing heat and kicking on and off all
the time to warm up the water.
7. Turn off your hot
water heater while you are on vacation or
away from home for more then 2 days. You
don't need it working and wasting money
while you are gone do you?
8. Insulate your hot
water pipes. A lot of heat is lost on
those pipes as they snake all around your
house.
9. The most important
method for saving money on your hot water
heater, probably around $10 per month, is
to install a timer on it. Your hot water
heater stands ready to give hot water -
all the time. Why? You don't need it in
the middle of the day when you're at
work, nor at night when your're asleep? A
timer control will let you have hot water
when you need it, and automatically turn
off when you don't. Look for big savings
on your bill when you install a timer.
10. Buy low watt light
bulbs. A 40 watt or 60 will do just as
good as a 75 or 100 and burn less
electricity and the new energy saver
bulbs have been proven to save families
$100s on their annual electric bill.
11. Turn off the lights
when you leave a room. Sounds simple, but
it can often be forgotten. If you have
trouble remembering, post a small 3x5
cards by each light switch with the
words: Turn Off When Not in Use -
12. Telephone and
electric surge protectors won't save you
money on a daily basis, but they will
prevent a disasterous surge to your
telephone, computer, television and other
expensive electronics.
13. Water your lawn at
night instead of during the blistering
heat of the day where most of that water
will be lost to evaporation.
14. Use fans instead of
air conditioning on the not so hot days
and put up darker shades to block out the
bright sun which can needlessly warm a
room by a couple of degrees.
15. If you are in the
market for a new electric appliance, shop
for products that are labelled energy
efficient with the Energy Star label.
Energy Star produts must meet strict
federal guidelines for energy efficiency.
|
