Home

How to save at home?

Monthly, a large part of our budget is destined to cover the expenses of services at home such as electricity, water, gas, food, among others, leaving us limited money until the next payday. For this reason, we want to talk to you about saving at home and teach you some tricks to reduce expenses on bills.

Every month bills arrive to pay, with public services in the category of variable expenses, since they are basic consumption that can vary from one month to another. For example, the increase in the electricity bill in the winter or the water bill in the summer. 

These monthly expenses of a house can affect your purchasing power, if you do not have control of them. That is why it is convenient to learn some tricks to save on this type of expense so that you can have the opportunity to save money and use it for other purposes, such as investments, entertainment and others. 

Home saving plan: start with electricity 

Perhaps the idea of ​​making a household savings plan so that the whole family actively participates and contributes to reducing expenses may seem stingy to you. But, once said plan begins to be executed, the satisfactions will come monthly when you see the reduction in the debts to be paid. 

One of the ways to save is to improve electricity consumption habits and for this to be possible we must understand how electricity consumption is structured in a home. 

According to the report on Consumption of the Residential Sector in Spain, carried out by the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving, the average monthly electricity cost is 291 kWh for each home. Of this total, 55.2% corresponds to electrical appliances, 11.7% to lighting, 9.3% to the kitchen, 7.5% to domestic hot water, 7.4% to heating, 6.6% to Standby and 2.3% to cooling. 

With this information, we can point out which are those consumptions that we can reduce, as is the case of the Standby mode of household appliances, for which it is recommended to unplug electronic devices to save. An example of this would be the use of accessories such as the electronic dartboard that, although it is very fun in meetings with friends or family, it is not necessary to keep it connected to the electrical network all day.

Therefore, you can unplug it and connect it right when you start the game. The same applies to other more everyday equipment such as television, decoders, computers, music players, among other devices. 

In the case of lighting, it is necessary to use efficient light bulbs or LED lighting which, although they are more expensive, will help you considerably reduce consumption and have a much longer life than incandescent ones. 

less hot water

Using more cold water will be as healthy for your wallet as it is for your skin. But, as we know that it is not so easy to shower with cold water during the winter, you can use single-control faucets, which allow you to combine hot and cold water to achieve a comfortable temperature that you can tolerate without increasing your electricity bill. 

In this sense, the rational use of water will also reduce the value of the monthly bill for this essential resource, so remembering the household tricks that we were told so much about at school will be of great help: 

Turn off the tap while you brush your teeth and lather up in the bathroom.

Take short showers and avoid using the bathtub.

Do not use the toilet as a garbage can. 

Also, you can use quick wash cycles and full loads to reduce the use of the washing machine. In addition, it is advisable to carry out preventive maintenance or regular checks of the installations and pipes to verify that there are no leaks.

Regulates the temperature in different seasons

In winter we make the mistake of turning on the heating throughout the house, including those rooms that we do not frequent. The same thing happens during the summer, when we use the air conditioning for much of the day, keeping it on even when we leave the house. These actions seem harmless, but they are capable of inflating the electricity rate.

Therefore, we have some tips to save in these situations:

1. In winter wear warm clothes when you are at home and limit the use of heating for the coldest days.

2. Only turn on the heating in the room where you are.

3. Avoid covering the radiators.

4. For the summer, opt for the use of fans than air conditioning.

5. Maintain a comfortable temperature during the seasons that ranges between 18 and 22 degrees.

Regarding this last aspect, it will be very useful for you to install a digital thermostat (check this link for some purchase options) to program the ideal temperature and thus control heating consumption. There are many cheap and functional options on the market, so you can do a review to choose the one that suits your needs.

Other ways to save

Although electricity consumption is a predominant expense in our monthly budget, there are also other superfluous services and expenses that we can adjust to save money and reduce our monthly debts. 

Plan your expenses: You can start with the traditional pencil and paper technique or, better yet, use a notebook in which you can organize your monthly income and expenses. This way you will be able to know what your unnecessary expenses have been and will help you to have a clearer vision of your finances, recognizing the weak points that you must deal with.

Use public transport: Avoid using the car as much as possible, choose to use public transport or bicycle, which is more ecological for the planet and healthier for your body. 

Used stuff: Before you buy a new appliance or clothes, check out online sites that sell used things, or browse second-hand stores where you can get what you need for much less. And, surely, you will be surprised at the good condition in which you can buy some products. 

Homemade food: You can organize your weekly menu to take your lunch to work and avoid eating in restaurants and cafes. In addition, you can start a healthier diet. 

Teach children to save: Financial education has been displaced for decades from schools. However, it’s never too early to teach children the importance of saving and the value of money. For this reason, it is important to involve the little ones in this domestic savings plan, so that they get used to saving inside and outside the home. 

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *