Have you ever felt like you've cut down on so much, as far as spending goes in your household, that there really is nowhere left to cut? You've switched from cable to strictly streaming media, stopped eating out, bring lunches to work and school from home, rent instead of going out to the movies, take shorter showers, changed all your light bulbs to CFLs, and more. What could be left? Well, I wanted to share 3 fairly simple ways you can save money that you may have never considered before.
3 More Ways to Save Money in Your Household . . .
1. Spend more time together as a family. When I was a child, if I was reading in the living room, but my sister was drawing at the kitchen table, then my mother would tell me to go read at the kitchen table? Why? Well, it was so we didn't have to have more lights on in the house than necessary. I used think it was just one of my mother's quirks, but now that I'm paying the electric bill, I can understand her logic. So, why can't the whole family be in the living room at night, even if one is reading, one is on their tablet, another is on their laptop, and someone else is watching television? It may not seem like a huge difference, but every little bit counts and, if you tracked the savings from month to month and from year to year, you'll realize that it really did make a difference.
2. Downsize to one car, if possible. Of course this is not always possible and it's not always convenient, but it is feasible for many households. We were forced to put this to the test when my husband's old car couldn't pass inspection and needed a lot of maintenance. Until we could get that taken care of, we were down to one car. It forced us to consolidate our errands and to organize our out-of-the-house activities in a more sensible way. We save a lot of money in gas that way. If we decide to just get rid of the car, then we would save even more money on having one less car to insure and to pay excise tax on.
3. Rent solar panels for your home. You might think that this would be a huge ordeal, but the use of solar paneling has become more common in recent years. We live in a townhouse, so we are not able to save money on electricity this way, but we have close friends who had solar paneling installed over a year ago with no money upfront from a reputable company, like Sunrun. They pay a set amount per month for their solar electricity, approximately $50 less than what I normally pay per month for standard electricity. They only need to pay an electricity bill if they go over their allotted solar electricity usage. They are locked into that rate for 20 years, which sounds fantastic because of all the talk about how the cost of electricity will be rising significantly in the future. I believe in our state, you also receive a tax break for going solar. Leasing solar panels is a money-savings option that should definitely be explored further, plus it's better for the environment.
Learn more about saving money with solar power in the video below. Visit Sunrun.com to find out how you can get a solar lease with little or no money upfront. We have a special offer for 3 Garnets & 2 Sapphires readers. If you go solar with Sunrun before Nov. 30, you'll get a $500 VISA® Prepaid Card. (Conditions apply.) Get a free solar quote here.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
