budgeting,  mom

Lower your bills

September 27, 2019 /

After the unhappy surprise of a high water bill (which seems to have been resolved), I was reminded about the need to pay attention to our monthly bills. There are certain things that you can do to lower your utility bills and other bills associated with owning a house. These tips to not including expensive updates to your house such as new insulation, new windows or new AC units which of course can make your house more energy efficient but are costly on the upfront.

Trash

Depending where you live, you may be able to choose your trash service. That was the case in our old neighborhood: there were 3 companies that serviced the neighborhood so you could choose which one fit your budget or ask for a group rate. By speaking with neighbors on our Facebook group, we realized that not everyone using the same company was paying the same price so we reached out to them and go a special rate for everyone who used them. They were noticeably cheaper than the other companies per quarter and had great service. Now in our new neighborhood, that is not the case. I actually do not know how much we pay for our trash service but I think it is included with another bill.

Water

Be aware of where your water meter is and occasionnally check the meter to make sure there are no weird jumps in usage. This could be caused by a leak, a running toilet or faucet. Remind your children to turn the water off while they brush their teeth, your teenager not to take a 20 minute shower and be aware of how much water you use when washing the dishes. And efficient dishwasher will save you money on water as well as low flow toilets.

Power

What do you set your thermostat at?

We live in the south near Atlanta and summer get really hot. We have a 3 story house and 3 AC units so our power bills go high in the summer. This year, I set the thermostat on each floor at 77 degrees and it kept the house comfortable. I know I should be using the fans more often but we do use them when it feels too warm. We encourage the children to close the doors quickly which we need to work on more! I should do better with unplugging appliances we do not use very often. We do have a couple older tvs and a fridge that probably use a lot more electricity than newer models would. We do have our AC unit serviced once a year before the heat starts to insure it will work properly during the summer.

In the winter we set our thermostat at 68 degrees. We need to check the weather strips on our doors before this winter. While we do not have very cold winters we do get low temperatures in the 20s at times. We let our outside faucets drip when the temperatures get in the 20s. After a broken pipe at our other house, we make sure not to forget! We do miss our wood fireplace! We have gas logs here and while it looks pretty, it is not very efficient.

TV and cell phones

This is an area where we could really save some money but between the different channels certain members of the family want to have, we have a high satellite TV bill. It may not be that high compared to others but I am sure we could use Netflix, a Ruku box or Sling to have a much lower tv bill. As far as our cell phones, we have found that to have good coverage at home and on my husband’s travel we use ATT. They are by no means the cheapest but it works for our family.

A bientôt!

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