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Hibernation Season

October 26, 2022 I feel like everyone has a story of the thermostat in their house when they were younger and how every suburban dad has an internal sensor that knows when someone touches it. Surprisingly, my dad never had that sensor and I never thought about the thermostat until I got to college and started renting my own place where I had to contribute for electric and gas. My bills were never particularly high for any apartment, maybe $30-$60 depending on the season, but when I moved into my current apartment, I became responsible for all utilities.After I moved in, the previous residents must have gone willy nilly with their electric and gas usage. The estimated cost was around $300 a month. I thought, there is no way I will use that much going from a one-bedroom apartment and a low utility bill to a two-bedroom apartment that didn’t seem that much bigger and worked to get it under control. I immediately set up budget billing and started searching for tips to reduce my overall utility costs since they were something I never had to budget for before.Below are some things I’ve tried and how they’ve been working out over the years!
  1. Electric and Gas:
    1. I’m pretty comfortable in the heat so in the summer I rarely need the AC. The exception are days when it’s too hot that my dogs might be at risk so then I turn on the air but keep it set higher around 75. Same for winter, I keep my bills lower by layering up, not turning the heat on until the very last second, and turning it down when I’m sleeping or traveling
    2. To save my heat, in the winter I plastic seal my windows. All of my windows are pretty drafty, but I rent so there isn’t much I can do on that front in terms of replacing the windows
    3. I have a lot of kitchen appliances that I use but not always regularly, so I try to unplug them when they’re not in use
  2. Water
    1. I do all of my laundry in cold water. I actually didn’t know that this was a cost saver. I just learned when I was younger that cold water can help prevent colors from bleeding so here we are!
    2. My showerhead broke a couple of years ago so when my landlord let me choose a new one, I chose a slow flow one
    3. My water takes a while to warm up so in summer I try to catch some water waiting to take a shower to save to water my plants
    4. I turn off the faucet when I’m not using it- when I brush my teeth, doing the dishes – I never run the water unless I’m actively using it
These are just a few tips I’ve found helpful over the years. And even though I have all of my bills on autopay, I still review them every month for inaccuracies. For example, last year I saw my water bill shoot up about $20 one month. I thought that was odd since I hadn’t changed any of my habits, so I reached out to the company to figure out what was up. It turns out they were able to see that it looked like I had 24/7 water usage which meant I probably had a leak somewhere. Even though it was small, I wasn’t about to pay for water I wasn’t using! My landlord was able to find the leak, repair it, and my water bill went back down.I feel like even though I rent because I’m responsible for all my utilities and yard work, it’s been great practice for one day owning a house. What are some of your favorite cost-saving tips? You might also be interested in What a ride it’s been! 2022 has been full of adventure and trying new things and I’m so excited by all the progress Project Money has given me financially... As the end of Project Money draws near, I can’t believe how far I’ve come since we started. Day to day, I always felt like I could be doing something more... How many times did my dad tell me this as a kid when I really wanted McDonald’s? How many times do I tell myself this in a week when I don’t want to cook... It’s that time of the year again when you reminisce and look back over the year and start thinking ahead to next year. Every year, I try to make a personal... Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! This year didn’t really feel like anything special since my goal was to keep it low key. I was able to make a nice dinner... One of the things, or problems, I knew about myself coming into Project Money was that I had a loose budget but I never let that stop me from doing the... I can’t believe we’re halfway through November! I feel like this entire year has just been me saying I can’t believe how time is flying. How is Thanksgiving... One of the biggest things I’ve always been interested in is investing but since I struggle with crunching numbers and finances generally overwhelm me... This week was a busy, chaotic week but a good one and we hit some big goals in this house! First, I finally paid off my last private student loan. It wasn’t...
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