More Common Sense Cheap Home Living Heating Tips
It has already been a rough winter this year with record low temperatures in a number of states and regions. For those homeowner who have not already done so, now is the time to winterize your home. Cheap and simple home heating tips can save big money by the time these low temperatures move on and the flowers of spring arrive.
Often, it is just the straightforward, low cost steps that have the greatest impact when it comes to saving money with lower heating bills. Simple and cheap home heating savings tips includes changing the furnace filter. Changing the furnace filter is not one of these tasks to ignore; clean air flowing into the furnace prevents particle buildup which decreases the efficiency of the furnace as the furnace will have to work harder to pull air through the intake. Poor filter quality reduces the furnace’s efficiency and cause it burn more fuel and can potentially cause damage to the unit. Filters are relatively inexpensive, starting at about $10.00 and easy to change, so there is little reason to wait.
Use a programmable thermostat and work with nature to maximize resources. The beauty of a programmable thermostat is that is can turn the heat down when is needed the least and turn the heat on when you need it the most. Sounds simple. A number of homeowners skip the new programmable thermostats because they think they change the thermostat manually. While this is certainly true, forgetting to change the temperature just a few times will cost real money.
A simple $25.00 programmable thermostat can be purchased that allows separate weekday and weekend programming with up to four different periods per during the day. Have the heat set significantly lower shortly after you go to bed and then warm the house up in the morning and lower it once again as the sun rises, all without having to remember to run to the thermostat. By using the thermostat to alter the home temperatures by 10 degrees before bed and going to work, you will see the costs savings add up quickly.
Use the sun’s heat and light to warm the home at no cost at all. Open curtains on south facing windows during the day and close all curtains at night. The goal is to maximize free solar energy. In the daytime, incoming solar energy can assist substantially in the heating of the house as well as increase natural light making it easier to reduce the use of electric lighting. At night, as there is no incoming solar energy and the home will dissipate heat faster to the cooler temperatures outside, cover any sources that speed the flow of warm air out. Keeping the areas of the home that are most likely to dissipate the heat, windows, helps seal in the warm air trapped during the day.
Turn down the temperature on water heaters. Water heaters are frequently set at 140 degrees, but they will generally work just as well with hot water temperature set at 115 to 120 degrees. With the bigger homes in the U.S, more and more homes have two water heaters set at the higher temperature which simply means the gas or oil is burning just to maintain the temperature even if the water tank is hardly drawn down during the day. ENERGY STAR, which is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy, recommends setting water temperature only as hot as needed (110-120 degrees) to prevent scalds and save energy (check local codes for specific temperatures).
If your water pipes are easily accessible, they can be insulated to maintain the temperature in that sits the hot water pipe longer. If the water heater is several years old, an insulated wrap for the heater may also be considered to hold the temperature in the tank longer.
Sealing the duct work that moves the hot air through your home can be a key energy saver. The duct work in a home that moves air to and from the furnace or central air conditioner can be big energy wasters when there is any kind of leaks. According to ENERGY STAR, sealing and insulating ducts can improve the efficiency of your heating and cooling system by as much as 20 percent. Sealing the ducts is relatively easy, finding any leaks can entail a little bit of work. Start by sealing ducts in attics, garages, unheated basements and crawlspaces that lose the greatest amount of heat and, hopefully, are the easiest to get access to.
Making good choices regarding your home’s energy use and the efficiency of the heating and ventilating in your home can save big money on your utility bills and can improve the comfort level in your home.
Save Money and Be Nice to your Clothes so they Last Longer
Some aspects of cheap home living require just a little attention and common sense to save time and money. Taking care of your clothes is one of those common sense actions that can save consumers money over time by making clothes last longer.
Constantly washing and drying clothes over time puts a tremendous amount of wear and tear on the garments and shortens their useful life. There are several clothes care techniques that can help extend the life of your clothing and in turn save money and save resources.
A big contributor to clothing damage is the dryer. One easy trick to avoid the damage caused by the dryer is to either limit the use of the dryer or not dry clothes completely through the use of the dryer. Using a clothes line or drying racks to dry clothes can reduce the damage done by the hot dryer. For those consumers that have limited space for drying racks or a clothes line, spreading the clothes out to do the last 10% of the drying will not only help reduce the wear and tear but also reduces static clean. Less dryer use also means less electricity or gas use which saves even more money.
When damage on a garment is spotted, it should be repaired as soon as possible. The longer the clothes are used, the bigger the tear is likely to become and the harder it will be to repair. Patching up the damaged clothes is certainly cheaper than buying new ones. Mending torn or ripped clothes can also turn into a fun process by altering the look or material in the damaged garment. Try repairing ripped jeans with a different fabric, such as fleece or leather, where the tear was.
Turning clothing inside out and washing them in cold water is a good way to avoid fading colors. This process may be especially important with jeans. Hot water is tougher on both the clothes and their colors. Cold water for washing has many benefits including, lengthening the life of garments and lower electric bills. There is some debate that warmer water helps release dirt particles better but the cost appears to make hot water washing unwarranted. The clothes washer consumes over 75% of its energy for heating the water.
Be careful about using fabric softeners. Fabric softeners, contain petrochemicals that can damage clothing. Fabric softeners add a film to the fabric which can spoil the colors as well as leave spots on the clothes. Fabric softeners are also not terribly environmentally friendly.
Be careful when hanging and separating your clothes in the closet or in a drawer. Poor handling causes wrinkles and wrinkles leads to having to iron the garments. Sweaters and delicates should be folded on a shelf to avoid using hangers, which can damage delicate knits. Wire hangers should also be avoided since they can harm shirts and blouses.
Careful clothing care can preserve the clothing longer while saving money and energy use.
Cheap Home Living with a Home Energy Audit
A home energy audit is a process that assesses how much energy a home consumes and evaluates what measures can be implemented to make the home more energy efficient. In an ideal situation, the home energy audit will find ways to improve energy efficiency, lower utility bills, and increase the comfort within the home. A home energy audit is one resource to help save money and reduce waste over a long period of time.
Some utility companies and local municipalities offer free or discounted home energy audits to help determine how much energy your home uses and how that energy can be better deployed. A professional energy auditor may also be hired to evaluate home energy use and they may use a variety of techniques and equipment to determine the energy efficiency of the home. Of course, the goal is to determine the appropriate cause of action to improve energy conservation.
A homeowner can also easily conduct their own do-it-yourself home energy assessment or home energy audit. With a good survey of your own home combined with information on what to look for, a homeowner can spot many of the areas in a home that need attention to maximize efficiency.
A professional energy auditor will generally use equipment that is not readily available to consumers to determine the energy efficiency of a home. Some professional energy audit services will employ tools such as infrared cameras, blowers and gas and electric meters to assist in the audit. Most of the tools are used to reveal hard to detect areas of air access and inadequate insulation to obtain a more precise assessment.
Professional energy audits will also generally go into detail about energy use and potential means to reduce consumption. The energy auditor should do a thorough examination of the home and current utility costs. The auditor should measure and evaluate the factors that affect energy use in the home including factors such as the size of the home, efficiency of appliances, insulation, air flow, and efficiency of heating and cooling systems.
Though a professional energy audit is more detailed and precise, a homeowner can easily conduct a home energy audit by their self. Ultimately, an energy audit will measure the efficiency of the home’s heating and cooling systems and show ways to conserve hot water, heating and electricity.
By reducing energy usage, consumers not only save money but help save the environment by contributing fewer energy creating byproducts and waste. By making your home more energy efficient, you are not only living on the cheap but you are making a contribution to reduce greenhouse emissions. Saving money and saving the environment.
Cheap Living and Saving Money Relies on Knowledge
Saving money is not a hard task that requires hours of work per week. But saving money does require knowledge. Knowledge on how to find the best savings for groceries, household products and services as well as how to manage your resources and time. Almost anyone can engage in cheap home living but with a little knowledge or a lot of knowledge, the savings can really pile up. And the more information the easier the process of savings becomes. Information that can be found right at your fingertips.
Not having timely information on the right products, services and actions can leave a consumer open to paying higher prices unnecessarily as well as purchasing inferior products and wasting resources. Saving money requires only a small investment in time but an investment that should not be ignored. All the resources to save money, time and natural resources will not be found on this site but this is the starting point and the information obtained can guide consumers to many other easy to find resources that are available.
The resources needed to save money include information on where the discounts are, which stores are offering the steepest discounts. This information should be segregated on the savings by merchant or retailer to see who is selling the cheapest goods by product category. There is abundance of coupons available now, coupons for groceries to coupons for household products as well as the standard promotions and discounts that are promoted. Obtaining this information on your own would be a daunting task. Finding all the best coupons and discounts to use with the right resources can be done quickly and easily.
Knowledge about savings will also include identifying what not to buy. Finding the right product for the job which may entail spending more money initially to save more money or environmental resources down the road is a key element to savings. Unnecessary expenditures account for a great deal of waste in resources and waste of money. Knowledge teaches us not just where and how to save but how not to be penny wise and pound foolish.
Knowledge on optimal resource utilization may also include DIY projects. Identifying what projects and items can be made at home for less cost than store bought and often works better. Do it yourself projects that can also be accomplished to spend more time together. Savings involves not just money but time and natural resources.
We all need to know how and where to stretch our dollars. Learning more can never be done enough but does not require hours of reading, clipping, sorting and shopping. The more time that is dedicate to learning how live a more frugal and rewarding lifestyle the more money and resources that can be saved.
The great thing about learning how to save and where to save is that most of the resources are free including all the information on cheaphomeliving.com.
Saving Money on Groceries by Comparing Unit Prices
To make sure you save money at the grocery store, comparing unit costs is a fundamental practice that needs to be adhered to. Whether you are buying brand name products or generic grocery items or whether you are buying in bulk or not, the unit price of the goods being purchased is a key measure to ensure you are saving money.
By comparing and saving based on the unit price you can save money even if you don’t have a coupon for select products. While in many instances, buying the larger size may be better or using a manufacturer’s coupon or store coupon appears like a good deal, this is certainly not the case every time.
When products are sold in different quantities or in different packages of the same size but actually holding different quantities it can be difficult to evaluate the best deal. A coupon can actually make the decision more difficult if the larger quantity is measurably cheaper per unit. Don’t be bamboozled by the creative packaging of food manufacturers and distributors either, just because two products appear to be the same size, does not mean that they are.
The unit price is a measure of the product cost f the item per ounce, quart, gallon, pound, or any other unit of measure. The unit price displays the cost of one unit, such as an ounce of that product. The unit price can be found on the product labels or on the shelf under the package display.
Of course it is best to compare the unit cost of products that are the same but if the products are similar substitutes or generic versus a brand name or even one product after a coupon reduction and one without, the unit cost should still be the primary decision making tool. Unit prices can also be used to compare different types of a food product such as dried and canned foods or fresh foods. Preference will clearly play a big role when comparisons like this are made.
Some brands cost less than others but will change their pricing frequently so check brand prices and coupons weekly because prices may change. Choosing the food that has the lowest price per unit costs will save money. By shopping and comparing the unit prices, you can make your purchase decision for the grocery item that offers the greatest value.
Natural Home Cleaners, Safe and Less Expensive
Becoming a green consumer has been a growing trend over the past few years. Fortunately for those who also enjoy cheap home living, going green and saving money can go hand in hand. One such aspect of home life that can be green and inexpensive is household cleaning products.
Many consumers are trying to help the environment by buying eco-friendly cleaners at the local home improvement store or super market. These household cleaners are generally made with a greater concentration of natural, nontoxic, and biodegradable ingredients. Sales of these natural cleaning products have rapidly rising sales year to year. Unfortunately, these products are unregulated which means their true environmentally friendly value is hard to assess and they are costly.
The best solution to go green with cleaning supplies and save money is to revert back the natural ingredients and make your own cleaning supplies. You will find that even the dirtiest of cleaning tasks can be handled effectively with just baking soda, vinegar, borax, lemon juice and more. The ingredients are far cheaper than premixed or manufactured compounds and they save money and help the environment with a far greater impact.
For many home cleaning tasks, natural cleaners can be made right at home with these easy to find natural ingredients. You can make your own cleaning products right at home on the cheap. And while you will spend a lot less money to make these cleaning supplies you also reduce the waste that is an inherent part of prepackaged goods.
Non toxic and environmentally friendly cleaning compounds are good for the overall health of the environment and are also safer to use in the home. But be somewhat cautious about these ingredients, just because they are natural that does not mean it is automatically safe to use everywhere and on any item or service.
The following is a list of common basic ingredients for making cleaning supplies at home.
Baking Soda – Baking soda has been using as cleaning agent for years. It cleans, absorbs odors and deodorizes, softens water which helps cleaning and is good for scouring. Baking soda is a naturally occurring material but is also produced artificially. It has a slightly alkaline and resembles washing soda. It is inexpensive, environmentally friendly and safe for nearly all surfaces, making it ideal for household use.
Borax – Borax is used for general cleaning, deodorizing, disinfecting and can be used to soften water. Borax is also known as sodium borate or sodium tetraborate and is a naturally occurring alkaline mineral. Borax is gentler than most chemical cleaning compounds and is not particularly toxic but it can cause skin reactions
White Vinegar – Common white vinegar is a versatile cleaner. It is especially useful for dissolving dirt cutting through grease, removing stains, mildew and odors. White vinegar is a mild acid, which makes it gentle enough to use in common household cleaning for most surfaces. Do not use vinegar on marble surfaces.
Washing Soda – Washing soda is good for cutting through grease, removing stains, cleaning wall, tiles, sinks and tubs it can also neutralizes odors in the same way that baking soda does. Washing soda is a crystalline form of sodium carbonate. Washing soda is chemically similar to baking soda but is more strongly alkaline. Do not use it on fiberglass or aluminum.
Lemon – Lemons and lemon juice work as a mild but effective cleaner and deodorizer. Lemons are very acidic. Lemon juice can be used to remove dirt and grime, used as degreaser, dissolve soap scum and hard water deposits as well as fight bacteria.
These basic natural cleaning compounds can be used for a variety of home cleaning tasks and can be used in combinations for more thorough cleaning. The following formulas are combinations of these ingredients to make different, inexpensive and eco-friendly home cleaning products:
General Purpose Cleaner: Start with two quarts of water and mix in 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup baking soda and a touch of lemon juice. This cleaner can be used for removal of dirt and grease, water deposit stains, cleaning bathroom fixtures, windows, mirrors and similar uses.
General Disinfectant: Start with one quart of water and mix in ¼ cup of borax and approximately 2 tablespoons of vinegar.
Drain Cleaner: Start with 2 cups of water and mix 1/4 cup baking soda and heat the mixture until warm but not boiling and pour down the drain. For added strength a 1/4 cup of vinegar can be added to the mix. After about 20 minutes, pour a quart of boiling water to clear the pipes.
Window Cleaner: Start with one quart of water and mix in 2 teaspoons of white vinegar.
Toilet Bowl Cleaner: Pour 1/4 cup baking soda and a ¼ cup vinegar directly into the toilet bowl and let it set for a few minutes. Clean the bowl with a standard brush or sponge and rinse.
Mold and Mildew Cleaner: Mix white vinegar or lemon juice with very little water and pour into a spray bottle to spray directly on moldy area, let it sit without rinsing. After 30 minutes it can be gently wiped to remove any residue.
These simple combinations of products from your kitchen or grocery store make effective household cleaning solutions. These natural products will not only do a great job but are more environmentally friendly than chemical alternatives. In most all of these combinations, the cleaning product is also far less expensive than the commercial products designed for the same tasks.
Saving Money Grocery Shopping
Most consumers want to save money to live a better a life whether it is to reduce debt or reallocate the resource they have. One key budgetary item that can almost always be reduced is the monthly food bill. Making a few changes to how the average consumer handles shopping for food can make a big difference in how much they spend per month. When it comes to budgeting and cheap home living, food items is the one area where most individuals can realize significant savings.
Saving money at the grocery store doesn’t have to be hard work. It simply requires some small changes in preparation and shopping habits on a regular basis. Some planning is required to make it out of the grocery store without being drawn into buying items we just don’t need. These changes to purchasing grocery items and planning can lead to big savings on the amount you’re spending on groceries.
There are several steps consumers can take to spend smarter, reduce the number of trips to the stores and overall spend less money on household and grocery items. Here are some tips on how to cut down on some of your food and grocery bills. Remember, saving money will require some self discipline.
Create a Food Budget. When it comes to saving money planning and creating a budget is always the first step. To help cut grocery costs we need to create a food budget. It is hard to plan on saving money on without knowing how much we are currently spending. To build the food budget it is necessary to know how much you are spending. Determine how much you have averaged spending per month on groceries over the past three months and use that as a starting point to analyze the average amount spent and use this opportunity to view any potential waste in resources, either financial resources or time resources.
Plan Meals. Planning meals reduces waste and saves time at the store. When planning meals in advance individuals and families will tend to buy fewer things they don’t need, waste less food and free up time shopping and at home. Planning meals also leads to more home cooking, which is the number one food saving practice as well as a process to healthier eating. Planning your meals should involve some standard meals that can always be prepared with frozen goods and pantry items but should also work around what is on sale at the grocery store. If you plan your menus a week or a month in advance, you will be able to take advantage of sales and bulk buying opportunities. You may find that you can cook similar main dishes all on one day, and then freeze the others for later. Planning meals will help you take full advantage of the stores sale prices for future meals.
Organize Your Recipes. Not a common tip for saving at the grocery store, but organizing and building a recipe database prepares you for coupon clipping, reviewing your food needs and cooking at home more. Cooking at home more is a central element in saving on grocery bills and living a healthier lifestyle. Cooking from scratch no matter how simple or complicated, avoids processed foods which are some of the most expensive items in the grocery store. Get out the knives and pans and save on all those over priced chopped and prepared convenience food products. Reducing your food bill can be facilitated tremendously by planning meals and knowing what you can make before going into the grocery store.
Always Use a Grocery List. Using a grocery list will help plan for your needs in advance, so you can take advantage of sale prices and avoid those costly impulse purchases. The key element is to stick to the items on the grocery list. Buy only what’s on your grocery list, don’t buy anything that isn’t on it. And be sure to check to see what you have on hand so you don’t buy an abundance of duplicates or similar products. A grocery list is one of the first lines of planning and will prevent consumers from making impulse purchases as well as avoid the waste of time incurred from return trips to the store because of forgotten items.
Use Grocery Store Coupons. Coupons can save money plain and simple. Clipping coupons doesn’t take more than a few minutes a week and they work. Remember to only use coupons for those items that you need on your grocery list. Grocery coupons can be found in many places, including the Sunday newspaper, magazines, weekly mailers and online. Don’t forget to check the store’s website for printable coupons as well. Not using coupons in a crime and punishable by an extended stay in debtors prison. Don’t waste the opportunity.
Buy Food in Bulk. Buying in bulk almost always saves money on the unit cost of a grocery product. Buying bulk should be done on pantry items and non perishable as well as on items like packs of meat, chicken and fish. These food items can be divided into smaller portions and frozen. Each portion can now be used to help with meal planning and home cooking. Not only can you save money on the unit costs but you can cut down on the number of trips to the grocery store and save time again.
Buy Generic When Possible. Generic food items foods are almost always less expensive. Most generic and brand name products contain the exact same ingredients and generally have the same quality as name-brand products. It may help to try various generic items and keep notes on what’s good and what’s not so good. You can save a lot of money by switching to store brand goods or by buying the brand that is on sale.
Buy Nutrition, Not Snacks. Avoid the temptation of spending money on snack foods like potato chips, ice cream and soda. These grocery items are expensive often very expensive and unhealthy. Snacks also tend to be disposable and you are not paying very much for the food but rather the packaging. If you need to have some snacks buy large sizes and re-package in small baggies. Also, consider eliminating soda from your diet and drink more water. Buy concentrated juice containers as a substitute. Make sure to stay away from cartons, extra water adds extra cost. This also means stay away from bottled water. Bottled water is costly for both your budget and the environment. Buy healthy and eat healthy while saving money.
Think Cheap for Cleaning Supplies. Be cautious about adding non-food items to the grocery list. Stay away from the expensive brand name cleaning supplies. Old wash cloths and towels make great cleaning utensils and can be reused. Save money by avoiding all those disposable cleaning supplies not to mention freeing up more space at the land-fill. For many cleaning supplies and toiletries it is generally worth a quick trip into WalMart or other discount store to stock up on these products. Toiletries should only be purchased in bulk and when they are on sale not because they are available at the grocery store.
Be Organized. Use a notebook to make notes on stores, sales, coupons, prices and more. The notebook will make it easier to track the sources and prices of the foods purchased most often. The notebook will also help to identify where to shop for certain items. You may even try shopping at different supermarkets to compare pricing. Be organized and keep notes to help keep informed on what’s on sale and whether it’s a good deal.
When it comes to saving money at the grocery store, every little bit counts and over time the financial savings can be significant. And once you start to use these tips regularly the savings will compound and saving money will become even easier.