Cutting Back

Posted on | March 2, 2009 | 1 Comment

It’s tough times for everyone, so I just wanted to give a little reminder of a few ways that you can cut back. The idea of cutting back can be the most daunting part. The first step is figuring out the difference between need and want.First, get your self a notebook to keep track of your spending. For this post we are going to concentrate on the services you pay for. Write down the service and what you are paying to have this service. Some examples are cable, home phone/land line, cell phone, utilities and security system.

Once you have the list take a good look at it. Somethings are needs, like your electricity and water. Other things are wants, you may be able to cut back or cut it out altogether. Let’s look at the needs first as this is a little bit easier.

You are most likely going to have some sort of electric, gas or oil bill as well as water. Even on well water you have charges for the electricity that is used on the pump. If you haven’t thought of it yet you might want to look into solar power. There are even some government programs that will reimburse you for a large portion of the cost (my husband really wants to do this, but we have some concerns because of the weather in our area. The solar panels are mounted on your roof and we are in a super windy area. One tropical storm or hurricane could rip them right off our roof). If you don’t have any obstacles, solar power can be a great money saving way to go.

If that isn’t an option, try cutting back in smaller ways.

Turn off lights and make sure you unplug items that are not in use, they are still using energy.
During the cooler months try extra layers of clothes and blankets rather then upping the heat.
Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible.
Make sure ceiling fans don’t go on automatically with the lights.
Turn off ceiling fans when not in the room.
We just installed water saving shower heads in all our showers. I won’t know until next month if we really saved money, but they work better then our old heads and they only cost $2.50 each!

You can even cut back on gas for your car by making sure your trips are organized. I try to have a list of what I need and work out where I go depending on where I have to be. Even just a little less driving can make a difference on what you spend for gas. I’m sure you all have more great tips so be sure to comment and share them!

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Category: Budget, Saving
Tags: Cutting back

Comments

One Response to “Cutting Back”

Grace
March 3rd, 2009 @ 1:35 am

You have a lot of good ideas! I’m willing to try any little thing to have a little wiggle room in the budget. And I’d love to know if those showerheads make a difference.

An air conditioning contractor friend told my husband to put a timer on a soaker hose and wrap it around our air conditioning unit. He said to turn it on during the hottest hours of the day, and the soaker hose would keep the unit running more efficiently and make the inside of the hose cooler using less electricity. We live in Texas, so I really hope this works.