Tips for saving money around the house
Going green can save you green -- cash, that is. When you lower energy and water use, your utility bills drop. A couple veggie meals a week are cheaper than hamburgers, and carpooling costs less in gas and maintenence than driving solo. These small changes won't hurt your lifestyle, and they'll improve your financial bottom line.
Pick at least one for every room of the house!
Kitchen:
- Use a slow cooker to save money and make meals while you're at work. Plus, slow cookers can make anyone look like a top chef.
- Cut down on the number of cleaners under your sink. You'll save money-and you won't inhale gross toxic chemicals. Use baking soda to scrub your sink instead of commercial scouring powder.
- Shop every two weeks instead of every week to avoid wasting food. Eat more eggs and beans instead of meat for protein.
- A faucet that leaks one drip per minute can waste more than 3,000 gallons of water a year. And run up your water bill.
Living Room:
- Vampire power sucking you dry? Try a power strip for all your electronic devices, and turn it off when you go to bed.
- A plasma TV can use twice as much energy as an LCD. And larger TVs use more energy. Buy just the right size of TV for your room.
- Skip the air freshener. Decorate with plants to improve air quality.
- Adjust the brightness of your TV to the "home" energy setting, and your favorite shows will use 30% less energy.
Office:
- Banish junk mail to save time, trees, and headaches.
- When your computer sits idle, it draws a lot of energy. Switch to the power save mode, or even better, turn off the monitor and computer when you're not using them.
- When it's time to upgrade a computer or mobile phone, recycle your electronics instead of sending them to landfills.
Bedroom:
- Get furniture for free on a reuse group like Freecycle, or buy vintage.
- Borrow designer handbags and jewelry from Bag Borrow or Steal, instead of buying new.
- Hand-wash clothing instead of sending to toxic (and expensive) dry cleaner.
- Use carpet tile instead of wall-to-wall carpeting. Carpet tiles use low-tack adhesive, so they can be pulled up for cleaning, or one tile can be replaced rather than the whole carpet.
Bathroom:
- Add a low-flow shower head. It can save you up to a gallon of water a minute.
- Take short showers instead of baths to save water. Or, if you do take a bath, don't fill up all the way and immediately stopper the drain before adjusting water temp.
- Wrap your water heater and pipes with insulation to avoid wasting energy.
Backyard:
- Start a vegetable garden. It can be as simple as planting a little lettuce and get more delicious from there.
- Go for a greener lawn. Your lawn only needs about one inch of water a week, including rain.
- Install motion sensors for outside lights so lights are only on when you need them. Look for LED versions of these types of lights, which use the least amount of energy.
- Try car sharing, carpooling, and mass transit. Driving alone can be expensive -- and lonely.
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