There are so many ways we can save around the home, some you may know of and some you may not, hopefully there are a few in here that peak your interest and you can start implementing to save wasting your hard earned money.

Electric, Gas, Water, Phone, Internet (Utilities)

1: Make sure all electric items are turned off at the switch, especially if they have running LED like microwaves and Tv’s.

2: Keep all windows and doors shut with curtains closed to reduce on heating costs, and only heat the areas necessary that you are using, there is no point heating a spare room if no one is using it. Same with cooling your home. Also use the Heating/Cooling in your home sparingly. I prefer to use hot water bottles for bed and cozy throw rugs on the couch.

I’ve also learnt just recently that if you have ceiling fans you can reduce your heating and cooling costs a lot because you can run your cooling a few degrees higher and your heating a few degrees lower and still get the same comfort so we will be doing this in our new build as my hubby loves to use the air con/heater 24/7.

3: Keep your hot water temp as low as possible whilst still having a nice warm shower, you will be amazed how much this saves as it won’t constantly be heating up the water, also you can go a step further and turn off your hot water as soon as everyone has showered and then only turn it back on about 30 mins before the next lot of showers. We went on holidays a few years back for 2 months and were disgusted to get home to a ridiculous gas bill because the whole time we were away our water was constantly keeping itself hot.

4: Use appliances like dishwasher, washing machine and dryer in OFF PEAK periods, which is usually overnight, or even better try not to use a dryer at all or only a few times a year, these babies will eat up your power bill. We always tend to line dry here in Australia, as the weather is usually great.

5: Fix dripping taps as soon as you notice them, this is an easy DIY, just look on you tube and it will show you how, if it does happen to be a big plumbing issue then please get a professional.

6: Go for gas wherever you can, it is much cheaper than electricity (in Australia), and if you can, Invest in Solar Panels as these will save you in the long run.

7: Switch all your lights to LED, these cost much less to run and last a lot longer then regular bulbs. Double Savings.

8: Check all your Bills carefully, many people get overcharged without even realizing, also occasionally ring your provider and ask for a better offer, mention that a competitor is offering you a certain discount and they will usually match or even beat it to keep you as a loyal customer.

9: Always shop around for Phone and Internet Providers, there are so many to choose from now a days there is no need to settle, get the best deal you can.

10: In regards to Mobile phones, we got 2 of the Iphone 6 when they first came out (we still have them) on plans, it cost us an absolute fortune and I will never do that again. So since our plan ran out we just kept our phones but switched to ALDI, who runs on the Telstra network and we pay between $15-$25 each a month, a far cry from the $200 we were paying on a plan. Kogan also have some great deals worth checking out.

Thats all I have for this category, If you have any other ideas I’d love to hear them, I will do more ideas for other areas of the House in future posts.

Seeya GAM