In yesterday’s article, Save Money Now! Living Frugally in 10 Minutes or Less, I shared how you can save lots of money by taking advantage of those little moments in your day that otherwise might be wasted.
Here are even more ideas that you can put to use right now!
Lower the thermostat. Even a few degrees can save money over time. (For even more savings, consider installing a programmable thermostat.)
Hang up a load of wash instead of throwing it in the dryer. Depending on the size of the load and the efficiency of your dryer, you can save anywhere from $.46 to $1.50.
Turn off your dishwasher’s drying feature. At the end of the load, open the dishwasher, pull out the racks and let the dishes air dry. This works especially well when you do it right before bed. Or take the ten minutes to towel dry your dishes.
Cut up some scrap paper to use for grocery lists and notes. Junk mail works really well!
Go through your house and turn off lights in empty rooms. This is a big thing in my house. At any given moment, I can find 2-5 lights that other members of my family abandoned while lit.
Hand wash an item with gentle detergent and lay it flat (instead of taking it to the expensive dry cleaners). Not for the faint at heart, but I do this all of the time.
Organize a drawer or shelf. How many times do we re-buy something when we can’t find the original? Take it from Mrs-Four-Vegetable-Peelers herself.
Replace a light bulb or two with a compact fluorescent bulb.
Don’t let heat go up the chimney. Go now and close that flue.
Close or shut the heating vents and radiators in unused rooms.
If you have zoned heating, why not go now and adjust the thermostat of at one area of the house to be at a much lower temperature. For us, this is the upstairs. We spend most of our days on the main floor, anyway. And, since we like a cooler temperature for sleeping, the upstairs can stay cool and save us money.
Related Articles:
Save Money Now! Living Frugally in 10 Minutes or Less
The First Principle of A Frugal Lifestyle: Reduce
The Second Principal of A Frugal Lifestyle: Reuse
The Third Principle of A Frugal Lifestyle: Recycle