All good budgeting starts at home, and if you’re dead serious about cutting the costs of living, then take a tour of your home and find out where you’re spending more than you should, or more than you need to. You might be surprised just how much you could save each month just by making a few changes. Here’s a quick guide to get you started in different areas of the house.
Living Room
The living room is probably one of the rooms you’ll spend most of your time in, which naturally means that it’s going to be one of the ones that uses the greatest amount of electricity. As we all know, it’s fairly straightforward to save money on this bill. Make sure that all of your electrical items are switched off at the mains when you’re not using them. Your TV might have a standby mode, but it’s still going to be consuming power. Another thing to think about is heating. If you’ve got your sofa up against the radiators, then you might be wasting gas and electricity here, because the heat won’t properly circulate the room.
Garden
Lots of people these days hire a gardener for an hour or two each week or couple of weeks to keep the garden tidy and looking good. It’s not so expensive, or so you might think. Add up the cost throughout the year. You’d be far better spending the money on a few tools like strimmers and clippers to do the job yourself. It doesn’t take long, and it’ll save you another bill coming out of the pay check each and every month. Similarly, you could wash your own windows with an extendable washer, rather than having someone do that for you.
Kitchen
With all of the electrical and gas equipment to be found in a kitchen, it’s no surprise that this is likely to be where the vast majority of power is consumed, and it’s very easy to save money. The oven for instance should always be at the correct temperature, and you don’t want to have excess cooking trays in their either. The fridge too should be no cooler than it needs to be. You can also hunt for cookware that you never use in your cupboards, perhaps that has been given as a gift; you might be surprised at how much you can sell it for. Brands like le Cruset especially.