No one
wants to waste money. Therefore, everyone likes to save money, right? Not
necessarily. The issue is, we don’t realize the little droplets of money that
keep bleeding on small things. Saving money consistently is really hard work.
The most vigilant budget savvy lapse on some of them from time to time-Trust me
I know. The bright side, of course, is that with so many opportunities for
saving money, there are bound to be a few you've overlooked.
If you
are trying to trim your monthly budget,
this article will help by taking a look at some common ways to save money that
are often forgotten. Let’s go thru some of the ways to save the most money with
each method and find out exactly how much money can be saved with each one.
The
recommended winter setting for a home
thermostat when people are at home is 20 degrees Celsius. If you keep
yours above that, reduce it to 23. Once you've gotten used to that daytime
temperature (or if you already had it set there), try setting it a few degrees
lower. You'll have to experiment to see how low you can stand it -- you don't
want to blow the money you saved on heat, buying mittens. The exact amount
you'll save varies based on heating prices, the size and efficiency of your
house and the temperature outside.
To save
even more, take the temperature down to 15.6 or 12.8 degrees Celsius when
you're away or in bed. (Some people even go down10 degrees Celsius). If you
work outside the home during the day and sleep
eight hours a night, you will be reducing your energy usage for 16 hours per
day. That will translate to hundreds of pounds in savings in just a year or
two. If you're home during the day and need the heat, you'll save about half as
much by just turning it down at night.
By the
way, it's a common myth that you'll use so much energy getting the house warm
again that you won't save anything by turning it down. When you turn the heat
down, the heat doesn't run as the house's temperature falls. You save enough
energy then to counteract the energy used to reheat the house, so you break
even. The savings come during the time you leave the temperature down, since
the heating system isn't working as hard to maintain a differential between the
inside and outside temperatures. The longer you leave the thermostat turned
down, the more you'll save.
Spending
on clothes can be hard to track because it's not something most people do every
week or even every month. First, don't focus on brand names. You are usually
just paying for the name, and the clothes are not always nicer than what you
would find in a lesser-known brand. Considering the insane prices for designer
jeans, shoes and other apparel, you can rack up massive savings with this step
alone, depending on your prior shopping habits.
Next,
sort your clothes and note what you wear regularly and what hangs in the closet
until you forget you even own it. It doesn't matter how little you spend on an
article of clothing -- if you never wear it, it's all wasted money. Focus on
versatile pieces that can be worn in different situations or that match lots of
other things so you can create different outfits.
Now,
plan ahead. You don't want to be buying winter clothes in November because
things are most expensive "in season." Stores cycle through their
clothes pretty quickly, though, so head to the clearance rack if you have to
buy. You'll find incredible deals on clothes that will be in season in a few
months. It takes some digging, since those clearance racks can be poorly
organized, but it's worth it. Imagine a £30 pair of jeans on clearance for 75
to 50 percent off (not an uncommon sale). If you're focused on fashion, you can
still save money while shopping for current styles.
Take a
look at fashion outlet stores and discount Web sites. Also consider store
brands that follow fashion trends without the prices of big brand names
Many
goods are cheaper when purchased in large quantities. Obviously, you want to
stay away from things that will spoil (In other words, don’t buy perishables in bulk). Some
bulk purchases go wrong for reasons you couldn't possibly predict. The best
items to buy in bulk are paper goods. Toilet paper, paper towels and printer
paper never go bad and store easily. It's also sensible to stock up on cleaning
supplies, garbage bags, soap, shampoo, and laundry detergent. These are things
you will always need and will certainly use -- and won't go bad.
Coffee is
a product with a large gap between the price at a coffee shop and the per cup
price if you make it at home. If you buy a moderately priced package of coffee-
If you happen to enjoy even cheaper varieties of coffee, you can get that price
down even lower. If you usually buy a coffee at Starbucks every day, it won't
take long for the coffee maker to
pay for itself, and the savings will start piling up after that. As an added
benefit, you can make your coffee just how you like it, try different varieties
of coffee, and never have to deal with the hassle of trying to order coffee in
a coffee shop ever again.
Public
transportation is another alternative mode of travel, but riding a bike has
advantages over that, too. Wouldn't it be nice to cut that expense out of the
budget?
There's
one more potential savings factor if you ride your bike everywhere. You might
be able to skip the gym membership, since you'll be getting plenty of exercise
just getting around town.
Be creative and find new ways to save those pennies so that you won't get caught out in the cold financially this winter.
Written by Tokie L Brown
About The Author
Tokie Laotan-Brown is the author of the book “10 Steps to Managing your household budget” which provides readers with useful financial management tools to assess how their household expenditure is utilised.
http://www.amazon.com/Tokie-Laotan-Brown/e/B00EOBNWHO
About The Author
Tokie Laotan-Brown is the author of the book “10 Steps to Managing your household budget” which provides readers with useful financial management tools to assess how their household expenditure is utilised.
http://www.amazon.com/Tokie-Laotan-Brown/e/B00EOBNWHO
Twitter
- @tokielbrown
