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How to: Cut back on household costs

By Lisa Schryver, Source: Tribune Media Services

Running a household may cost more than you think. Utilities alone are huge money-suckers. To keep your family in the black, national consumer finance expert and president of bills.com, Ethan Ewing, suggests implementing these money-saving tips.

Stick to a budget. The best and least-discussed money-saving tip happens before you spend any money. Budgeting need not be rocket science, but every person and every family needs a budget that contains monthly amounts for food, household goods, gifts, entertainment, and other fixed and variable expenses.

Understand the difference between “need” and “want,” and know what you need before you ever go shopping or contemplate a purchase.

Learn what your utilities cost. Look at a recent bill to find out the cost per gallon of water, per kilowatt hour of electricity or per therm of natural gas. Focus your energies where you will save the most money.

Turn down the furnace at night. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates the average homeowner can save 10 percent on their heating bill by turning the thermostat down about 10 degrees at night. A programmable thermostat, which can be purchased at home stores for about $35 and are very easy to install yourself, makes the task a snap. Annual savings could be nearly $150 – and you won’t even notice the temperature while you’re asleep.

Insulate your attic. Hiring a reputable insulation company to spray appropriate insulation can be one of, if not the most, efficient ways to reduce heating costs in your home. Annual savings: $420 if you insulate a 1,000-square-foot attic that previously was not insulated.

Wash clothes with care. Modern laundry machines are a huge convenience, but with power to run them and heat water, they can use a copious amount of energy. Washing clothes in cold water can save up to 90 percent of the energy in the washing machine cycle. Annual savings: $63 per year, according to Procter & Gamble.

Turn off the clothes dryer. A new electric dryer can use 4,500 watts per hour – older ones might use even more. This is likely the highest energy use of any appliance besides your furnace. Running the dryer for an hour might cost nearly 30 cents. The average family does 8 loads of wash a week. If each load takes one hour in the dryer, hanging all clothes to dry will knock nearly $10 per month off your utility bill ($115 per year).

Unplug. Appliances like fax machines, printers, copiers, computer monitors, and even those with “standby” modes, such as TVs or DVD players, can suck up energy. Unplug these devices when you aren’t using them, or, for easy shutoff, plug a group of appliances into a power strip and turn the power strip off when you leave the room. Turn off one fax, one computer monitor and one TV, and you could save $6.10 a month, or $73 a year.

Go fluorescent. In many households, 15 to 20 percent of electricity costs go to lighting. Convert incandescent light bulbs to compact fluorescent lights. The savings can be $57 per light bulb per year. Convert six bulbs and you could save more than $300 per year.

Shop warehouse clubs. Even single people and couples can benefit greatly from the savings offered if they do their research and plan carefully. Though there are many bulk offerings, there are many “individual” items, ranging from gift items to books to automobile tires. Better yet, team up with friends or family members to split large purchases.

For more money-saving tips, visit http://www.bills.com, or discover your “financial fitness” at http://www.bills.com/iq.

© 2009, Tribune Media Services