It is the things we do to save money day in and day out which make a difference to our bottom line and enable us to save. I thought it might be interesting to make a list of them. Some of them you may do as well, others you may not have thought of !
Only put the central heating on when the thermostat gets down to 16C and only have it on long enough to bring the temperature back up to 18C.
Hot water heater only on for an hour at a time and then we use the hot water until it is gone.
Washing clothes at 30C and hanging them to dry.
Bringing our own food and drink to work and days out.
Travelling by the cheapest route to work even though it takes slightly longer.
Looking after our own pension money so we don't have to pay a fee.
Opening tea bags to use the tea rather than the bag.
Maintaining a healthy weight so we don't have to eat so much or have so many clothes.
Cutting our own hair.
Saving for big ticket items.
Investing for the long term.
Learning new skills so we don't have to pay for others to do jobs around the house.
Have a water meter.
Shop around for utilities, car and house insurance, telephone and broadband etc.
Don't have a smartphone.
Use open software.
Make your own entertainment or have it bought as a present.
Enjoy the beautiful countryside by rambling rather than paying for attractions.
Vary where you shop and what you eat to pay the least you can.
Pick wild flowers rather than buy them.
Use the library for best sellers.
I think that we have done all of these things this week and we enjoyed the week very much !
I've heard it's economic to leave heating and water on permanently on low so energy doesn't have to be spent reheating. I suppose it depends on insulation but worth checking that one with plumbers maybe.
ReplyDeleteDear Anna,
ReplyDeleteWe have checked with the heating engineers who say this is definitely not correct. It is something often reported, but overall you will spend more by having the heating and hot water on all the time. You can do calculations based on the KWh you spend on heating but we just either use a timer when it is really cold or the method I described in the post.
Good luck with your energy saving and many thanks for the comment ! It is always nice to hear from you!