Saving Tips: Home and Related Expenses

Saving Tips: Household Expenses
Tip #1  Change your furnace filter every
month. A dirty filter reduces airflow, lowering the performance and
efficiency of your system.

Tip #2  Replace your old air conditioner or
cooling system with a new high-efficiency model. If your current unit
is more than 10 years old, installing a 16 SEER Ultra High Efficient
unit could reduce your air conditioning operating cost as much as 65
percent.

Tip #3  Do your laundry efficiently by using the warm or
cold water setting for washing your clothes and always use cold water
to rinse clothes. (Save: 4 percent if you have an electric water
heater.)

Tip #4 & Invest in a water heater timer if you have
an electric water heater. Even better, if your electric box is conveniently
located, just flip the breaker switch off after showers, etc in the
morning, and flip it back on in the evening.

Tip #5  When buying a home, save tens of thousands of dollars in interest by
shopping for the shortest-term mortgage you can afford. On a $100,000
fixed-rate loan at 8% annual percentage rate (APR), for example, you
will pay $90,000 less in interest on a 15-year mortgage than on a
30-year mortgage.

Tip #6  Winterizing your home translates to lower utility
bills and repairs. Put a lighted candle at doors and windows to
determine air holes. Clear debris from rain gutters. Place insulation
around water heaters. Wrap outside pipes in tape or rubber. Trim
branches and remove rotting trees close to your house which may cause
damage.

Tip #7  At the beginning of each month, make two lists:
one for food staples you need and one for household items such as
small appliances, cleaning supplies, etc – and post your lists on the
refrigerator. Watch out for sales that month and only buy your list
things when they come on sale.

Tip #8  The same nut, bolt, or fastener can sell for more
than twice as much at the same hardware store, even on the same aisle.
If you are looking for a common size, get your bolt from an open bin
rather than a "system" drawer. These drawers are stocked
with a complete array of sizes and are hugely more expensive.

Tip #9  Plant perennial flowers instead of annuals. You
incur a one time cost and enjoy the flowers for years, with no
additional effort or money. Annuals, on the other hand, require an
outlay of cash and effort every year.

Tip #10  Cut back on paper products.
Paying almost a dollar a roll for
paper towels can really add up. Use cloth towels whenever possible and
break out the dishes. It may require a little more on the cleaning
end, but it is cheaper in the long run.

Tip #11  Freshen the air in your house without paying a
fortune for canned spray. Just squeeze a few drops of a fresh lemon or
a fresh orange into the dust bag of your vacuum.

Tip #11  Don’t pay lots of money for Windex. Wait until
the gallon size windshield washer fluid for cars goes on sale, and
stock up. Refill the Windex bottles you have, and save.