I have to admit that I was always disregarding our electric use at home. Growing up my mom always told me that I should turn off the light whenever I left a room. She also taught me to not leave the water running while brushing my teeth. Recently I\u2019ve realized simple steps to cut your electric bill in half!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n When I say \u2018simple steps\u2019 that is what I mean \u2013 I\u2019m a lazy gal who isn\u2019t willing to eat dinner by candlelight (despite the romance factor), have a cold shower, or handwash my clothes (like I did when I traveled South America, jup!).\u00a0<\/p>\n Do you wonder every month how the electric bill could possibly be so high? After some experiments and some things I tried, I realized that it\u2019s easy to save tons of money on the power bill. Here are 7 tips to cut your electric bill in half<\/strong>!<\/p>\n One thing I didn\u2019t know is that when your phone charger is plugged in it is still using power, even if your phone is not plugged in. How crazy is that? These power sucks can increase your power bill significantly.\u00a0<\/p>\n I was under the impression that this would only save a few dollars per month maximum. Just to try it out \u2013 we did a little experiment. Over the course of a month, we would unplug everything that we were not using. Well, almost everything. Any large appliances we would leave, taking too much effort. We would unplug our small appliances like our toaster, water boiler, electric toothbrush, and all chargers (phone, laptop, e-reader).\u00a0<\/p>\n Unplugging everything was super easy because everything is plugged into a surge protector<\/a>. To turn them off, you just turn the surge protector off. Just press one button.\u00a0<\/p>\n I swear, this almost cut our electric bill in half. About 40% savings when you\u2019re just paying attention to this and not leaving everything plugged in!<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t believe me, I encourage you to do this experiment on your own and see how much money you could save.<\/em> It can vary by device and electric provider, but I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll save a significant amount of money on your utility bill every month.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t want unused chargers and plugs using energy while the actual device is being used, the first tip is to unplug. When that is too much for you, or you want to easier approach, use a power strip.\u00a0<\/p>\n One handy tip is to use this smart power strip<\/a>, which automates the process for you. It will power off devices that are not currently in use. It\u2019s genius and it will help you cut your electric bill in half<\/strong>. The future is now!<\/p>\n [Read:<\/strong> 25+ Incredible Easy Money Saving Tips<\/a>]<\/p>\n We used to have the standard light bulbs everywhere in the house. It seemed that we were changing them very regularly. Too regularly actually. Especially in the bathroom, the light needed replacement at least once a month. That\u2019s not normal, right? We would buy the cheap light bulbs, but even that it was getting expensive given we have three lights in the bathroom. <\/p>\n After a while, we decided to switch to these energy-efficient light bulbs<\/a> and I\u2019m very happy we did. Since we\u2019ve put it in several months ago, we didn\u2019t have to change it yet. The energy-efficient light bulbs last much longer compared to the standard light bulbs. Plus energy-efficient light bulbs use up 75% less energy<\/strong>, saving your power and money.\u00a0<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t replace all the light bulbs at once, I just waited until they weren\u2019t working anymore and I would replace them with an energy-efficient light bulb. I don\u2019t like wasting things that work, same for a working light bulb.\u00a0<\/p>\n [Read: <\/strong>How To Save Money In Summer And Still Make It Memorable<\/a>]<\/p>\n The washing machines nowadays have an option to cold wash your clothes. Meaning that at a temperate of 20 Celcius (68 Fahrenheit), you can wash your clothes. Your clothes will come out equally clean, the only difference is you will instantly save money!<\/p>\n Instead of doing multiple small loads, I would recommend you wait until you have enough clothes to do a full load of laundry. If you\u2019re washing in smaller loads, they tend to cost the same amount of money per washing cycle as a full load \u2013 making it more expensive since you wash more often. Wait until you have a full load of\/ dirty clothes for the washing machine, and you will be right on track to cut your electricity bill in half.\u00a0<\/p>\n [Read:<\/strong> How To Spend Less Than $70 A Month On Groceries<\/a>]<\/p>\n When you\u2019re right on track to save money on your washing, continue with saving money<\/a> with the dryer. Since I\u2019ve been living in the student- and shared housing, I\u2019ve never had a dryer. Ever. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s necessary at all. I\u2019m fine just line drying my clothes.<\/p>\n I have to agree line drying your clothes isn\u2019t as easy and convenient as just shoving them straight into the drying, but it can save you a great amount of money. When you already have a dryer, give line drying a try! It\u2019s gentler on your clothes, meaning that you will save money not having to replace them. On top of that, you will save a great deal of money on your electric bill<\/a>.<\/p>\n This portable line dryer<\/a> can fold flat, so you can just slide it next to your washing machine when it\u2019s not in use. I have something similar and I have to tell you, it\u2019s very convenient!<\/p>\n [Read: <\/strong>How To Stick To Your Budget \u2013 9 Motivation Tips<\/a>]<\/p>\n When I was in my teenage years my parents installed draft blockers in my room, because I would want to sleep until noon without being woken up by any light. Apparently, they are not for sun-blocking purposes, who knew? Today, I\u2019m using them in my own house as what they\u2019re actually intended to be: draft blockers.\u00a0<\/p>\n They make sure that the cold air is not coming into my heated room. This will save you a lot of money if it is winter and it\u2019s snowing, you don\u2019t want your warm air to heat up the streets. You can get the ones that I\u2019m using here<\/a>!<\/p>\n [Read: <\/strong>18 Ways to Treat Yourself Without Breaking the Bank<\/a>]<\/p>\n In the Netherlands, where I\u2019m from, there are basically no houses with air conditioning. Over the last few weeks, we\u2019ve had a heatwave where it was 40+ degrees Celcius (104+ Fahrenheit). That\u2019s very hot for our little country. Normally our summers are rainy and if you\u2019re lucky the weather is good enough to wear shorts. Not this year!<\/p>\n During the heatwaves, all portable air conditioners and fans were sold out. Luckily I was able to get my hands on a fan, yay for me! Fans are a lot cheaper to run compared to air conditioners, it can save you up to 20% of your electric bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you\u2019re living in a place where having airconditioning is built into the house, replacing air conditioning can be very expensive. When you\u2019re using it less, you will prolong the life of the air conditioner significantly.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t have ceiling fans, you can pick up the cheap portable fan that I got here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\nHow To Save Money On Utilities<\/span><\/h2>\n
1. Unplug\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
2. Use A Power Strip<\/span><\/h3>\n
3.\u00a0 Use Energy-Efficient Light Bulbs<\/span><\/h3>\n
4.\u00a0 Wash Your Clothes In Full Loads In Cold Water<\/span><\/h3>\n
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5. Stop Using Your Dryer<\/span><\/h3>\n
6. Use Draft Blockers<\/span><\/h3>\n
7. Use A Fan Instead Of Airconditioning<\/span><\/h3>\n
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