One of the easiest and worst habits to fall into is spending more than you plan each and every month. Many times this spending is unnecessary and undermines our financial flexibility, preventing us from doing some of the things we want to. The good news is that there are a number of easy ways to minimize the unnecessary spending we do.
On top of that, many methods for boosting your savings don’t even require you to leave the comfort of your own home. And because there are so many things that cost us money in our homes, there are countless ways to save. Even better, they’re easy. You can change that savings account statement check at end of the month from a cringe to a cheer.
Forget Your Credit Card Info
With online giants giving us the ability to purchase just about any item we could possibly want with just a few clicks away, it is easy to find yourself making a number of online purchases and wracking up an extensive bill in the process. While there are a number of ways to begin weaning yourself of this practice, one subtle strategy that many people don’t think about is refraining from memorizing your credit card information. Often the act of finding your wallet, pulling out your card, and jotting down numbers acts a hindrance to those who may be considering making a purchase. At the very least it gives us enough time to ask ourselves if we truly want what we’re about to purchase. Sometimes that’s all we need to save.
Energy-Efficient Bulbs
While hitting the lights off in your home is one way to save, there are ways to put money back into your pocket even when you’re burning electricity. The method for doing this is relying on energy-efficient light bulbs. For many homes, the predominant practice is relying on incandescent for lighting. While they do manage to illuminate our spaces, these bulbs convert ninety percent of the energy they’re supplied with to heat instead of light and have a shorter lifespan than other bulbs that are available on the market. Using light emitting diode (LED) bulbs or compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs will not only last longer but will be cheaper. Even if it is simply getting something like Crestron lighting controls installed, this could make such a difference when it comes to monitoring energy production within your home. At least you’ll be doing your bit for the environment too and it’ll last longer than lightbulbs.
Over the course of their lives CFLs have been found to save homeowners around $50 and are considered to be one of the easiest ways to conserve energy. As the bulbs around your home burn out, start exchanging them for more efficient substitutes. While we’re on the topic of energy efficiency, there are a few things that you can do in the home to make a difference and help you save money. For example, checking out something like this r value guide could give you some ideas when it comes to insulating your home. This way, you might be able to save money on heating bills. This is worth checking out if you are conscious about helping the planet in one way or another.
Get Into Reading
One activity many people cite as something they would like to do more of is read. And not only is this a great goal to have for just overall mental stimulation, it also carries some nice money saving benefits as well, as opening a book requires no pricey accessories or a constant connection to an outlet. While some people do utilize tablets to read, the energy consumed to charge them in comparison to other activities like watching television or using a desktop computer is much smaller. And the portability of novels allows them to be used all around the house and even outside of it on a nice day. It is easy to spend hours looking through a good book and instead of having to buy new ones when you finish, simply having a library card will allow you to get your hands on plenty more. You may even be able to take out DVDs, saving you on watching movies as well.
Entertaining in Your Home
From time to time the opportunity to host an event or get together within our homes may present itself. During those times, the amount of time and money required to make sure things go off without a hitch can be more than we necessarily want to spend. But that does not have to be the case as there are a number of ways to frugally host an event within your home. Instead of filling people up on elaborate appetizers and finger foods, opt for the cost-efficient play by serving chips or pretzels. Not only do they take zero prep time, they can be purchased in bulk from wholesale clubs ensuring you enough to feed everyone while not having to do so too expensively. When it comes to alcoholic beverages, ask your guests to bring their own which will allow you to avoid that expense but supply your party at the same time. And by shifting the time frame of the party from evening to an afternoon or even morning, you can save yourself on some of the included expenses, especially food.
Also Read: 5 Ways to Save Money On Your First Home
Vampire Energy
The electronic devices within our homes have the distinct ability to use electricity even after they have been powered down. This is able to occur because they are left plugged in, giving them access to electricity which they use to make system updates, correspond with servers, or simply standby in waiting to be powered on. That means your microwave, video game consoles, and even coffeemaker can cost you money even after you’ve turned them off. This is known as by several names but is most commonly referred to as vampire energy and it can cost households several hundred dollars each year. You can stop this unnecessary spending by unplugging your electronic devices when you are done using them to cut off their access to energy. You can also use power strips as a means of plugging in a number of electronics so when you no longer have use for them or are leaving your home, you can unplug the strip and power them all down simultaneously instead of having to individually unplug all of the devices.
