It’s springtime. Springtime is traditionally when you clean the house and get rid of unwanted junk. Just look at all the garage sales every weekend. People are cleaning out and getting rid of things that they don’t need.
How about you try to get some changes done in a slightly different way and give your finances a quick spring cleaning. Here’s a few ideas to cut your monthly bills.
Programmable thermostats are great. You can set the time that they turn on and turn off multiple times during the day. If you’re not home why have the heat or AC running? Have it turned down and when you are due to arrive home have it automatically go back up to the spot were it’s supposed to be. You can take it a step further and get a smart thermostat, which learns from you habits and will adjust a temperature automatically. To go a step further, you can actually access these things remotely over the Internet. So when you’re on your way home pull up the app and tell the AC to go down to 75 degrees.
Your refrigerator and freezers also use a lot of energy. Keep those costs under control by opening the doors for the shortest time that you possibly can. And always make sure that they’re closed completely. If you have something not all the way in, it can keep the door from sealing and waste a lot of electric. A better idea, if you have an older fridge or freezer, think about replacing it with a more energy efficient model.
Did you know that you don’t need to buy your electric from the electric company? They will deliver it, but you can purchase your electric from a number of different energy providers. Shop around and see if you can get a better deal.
Speaking of finding a better deal, how about your cable TV bill? If you’re in an area with different providers such as cable company, FiOS or even satellite dish, negotiate between them and get a better rate. If your existing company won’t give you a better rate, consider switching to one of the alternate suppliers. Another bold idea is to cut the cord completely and just stream all of your TV entertainment over the internet.
And last, if you still have incandescent bulbs in your house, replace them. An LED bulb uses an awful lot less energy and they last much much longer. Replacing incandescent bulbs with a new up-to-date LED bulb will pay for itself many times over.