Money & Budgeting

Sometimes we may be saving money when we don’t think we are, and other times we may think we are being frugal and it is actually costing us a lot more money. Many appliances especially some of the larger power consuming products like washing machines, and other white goods in our homes have radically changed. Other engineering elements in our home have also improved greatly, and continue to change rapidly, and therefore we need to stay informed to have the correct logic for us to be able to make money saving decisions. Our utilities cover 3 main areas, gas, water and electricity. Here are 5 tips to saving on your utilities around your home…

• Newer appliances. Back in the day it might have been appropriate to keep older appliances for longer periods of time. Do you have friends or family who have the same oven and kettle for the past 20 years? And they believe they are being frugal. The reality is older appliances consume much larger amounts of power than their modern counterparts. You will use enormous amounts of power with an older oven than a modern convection oven for example. The amount of extra power you use in a year might be more than the cost of a new oven. This is a very good example of where people are spending way more while they THINK they are being frugal.

• Solar power. Electricity production still not really that economical in Australia on a house per house basis, although it is practical to reduce gas and electricity consumption with solar water heating. There are also a range of cheap solar powered products to use around the home and many ways to cheaply recharge batteries for later use.

• Energy-star ratings. Read and use the energy-star ratings making that a big part of your purchase choice. In reality a modern day home should not have that high electricity bills if you are using modern appliances and choosing them well. Refrigerators are an excellent example where modern items with energy-star ratings use much less power than older models.

• Turning off at the power-point. This saved me 50 dollars an electricity bill on a 3 person, 2 bedroom house. That is around 200 dollars a year. Not bad for just flicking the switch.

• Water. It is amazing how much money you can save with simple methods. An egg timer in the shower. Turning off taps in the house. No running water when washing the dishes, or even using modern dishwashers can use less than by hand. All houses should have large rain water tanks. We have two with enough water supply for 2 houses and a swimming pool on a large property. We are not even connected to the usual water mains. Our sewerage is managed by a ‘bio-cycle,’ and water is re-used on the gardens although it is technically drinkable. How much more can you save than that? It is quite possible for many houses to do the same in most locations in Australia. We have been living in a drought for 10 years and it has been possible.

These are only a few of the way that you can greatly save and get yourself away completely from the main grid and utility bills.