THE HOME
I feel like this category could have the most hidden and varied money saving tips that we may not think about. Everything from buying off brand cleaning supplies and used furniture to how to run the thermostat.
My tip for saving money in the home is to turn it off. Turn off the lights when you don’t need them or leave the room. Turn off the thermostat when you are gone (unless you live somewhere like Arizona or Alaska haha). I think we tend to forget about these things, but if you try to make it a habit of turning off the lights and thermostat when it’s not needed, you’ll save more in the end!
What is your best tip when it comes to saving money for household items, utilities, etc?
YVETTE: I wish I had a good answer for this! In the small town we moved to, utilities are basically only one company each so there’s no shopping around.
HEATHER: We put a milk jug filled with sand in the toilet tank so that we cut down on the water bill. I also plug the drain when I start the shower, wash my hair, then shut off the water and use what’s in the tub to shave, then turn the water back on to rinse, rather than have it running the whole time. I also do common things like running the dishwasher at night, and using blankets and layers rather than turn up the heat.
AMANDA: We decided early on that the temperature in our household is something very important to us. We live in the desert and it’s often 90° or higher. Both of us tend to get very grumpy when we are hot and uncomfortable. So, we “splurge” and always keep our house at a very comfortable temperature. In the spring, it’s easy to open the windows at night and close them in the morning type thing and we always keep the blinds shut in the summer so that helps on costs too.
SAMANTHA: Get on the phone and ask for a lower rate. Or cut back. We have found ways to save SO MUCH money on bills and utilities. Especially cell phone, car insurance, WiFi, cable, etc… a lot of times we will literally call our cable company and tell them we are considering switching to another provider and they will give us a “promotion rate” so we stay with them – it sounds like cheating but it isn’t…at the end of the day…you got to do what you got to do! We’ve cut our WiFi bill by 50% by calling and asking about promotions they are running and if we can be a part of them…and kindly explaining another service provider has a better rate and we are trying to lower our Wifi spending budget.
Also, if you find your family doesn’t watch a lot of TV, don’t have one! Again, a lot of it is finding out what works for your family. We live in a world of conveniences and unnecessary pleasures and “wants”…sometimes I think we’d have less money troubles if we just had what we needed (easier said than done).
MICHAELLA: We figured out what our minimum was in order to comfortably afford bills (rent/mortgage, electricity, water, gas, etc.). Then we made sure that those were the top priorities and always had enough available to pay and not default.
KRISTEN: The past couple of years I have been switching to safer personal care products. The industry has loopholes and lack of regulations and we want to expose our home to the least amount of toxins as possible. I make homemade cleaners and use silver embedded Norwex cloths for cleaning floors, bathrooms, and our kitchen. Recently I’ve been making our own hand soap and dish detergents.
Whether you are a renter or buying a home, call the local energy department and ask for an estimate of the past year of bills on the home. Sometimes a home with a lower rent payment will have higher energy bills and spending a few extra dollars monthly in renting a more energy efficient home will be better savings over a four-year medical school commitment.
In our case, this information was helpful to troubleshoot pre-existing issues for the home we were buying. When we bought our house we had very high electric bills compared to our neighbors. We used a rebate to update the insulation in our home and had our energy company come out to give us energy saving tips. After a year we found out our well pipe needed to be replaced. After this issue was fixed our bills have been very comparable to our neighbors if not lower.
We tend to keep the temperature in the winter at 68/69 and temperature in summer 74 at night which seems to work well to live comfortably and keep our utility bills reasonable.
TAMELA: Live as if you were still living with your dad! Try not to leave lights on and if you can help it, wear jackets during cold weather. This took our electric bill from $40 to $20.
Do you have any money saving tips for the home? Share in the comments below!
This is really helpful. I’ve been trying to research guides and recommendations to make my financial status better every year. Thanks for this!
I’m so glad you’ve found it helpful! Each gal has got some great ideas!