Ways I'm Saving Money at Home

Eight years ago, my roommate lost her job, and decided to move about forty-five minutes away to be closer to her boyfriend.  Thus, I moved into my first apartment by myself.  At the same time, all of my friends got married.  And, I mean all of them.  In eight months, I attended five weddings, three of which I was a bridesmaid.  Financially, it was a very stressful time.  But, it taught me something.  I learned what was important to me, and what I could live without.  Over the years I have gotten a little bit more lax in some areas, largely due to wage increases, but I still “run a tight ship” as I like to tell people.  I track all my expenses in a spreadsheet, so that I know how much money I have to spend through the end of the month.  And, I always make sure to allocate money to my savings account.  I kind of treat it like a bill.  It’s just that instead of sending the money to someone else, I just move a certain amount into my savings account every month. 

I’ve learned that the answer is not always a higher paying job, or even finding a second or third job to supplement my income.  Instead, I had to be smarter about my spending.  This allowed me more free time, and the ability to have a higher quality of life. 

Below are several ways that I’ve been able to save money at home.  Honestly, I think I can get away with several of these things because I don’t have kids.  

I don’t use the dishwasher.  The only time that I use my dishwasher is when my family comes to visit at Thanksgiving.  That being said, I’m really lazy when it comes to washing dishes, and will let them pile up for days.  But, once I commit to standing at the sink and doing it, it really only takes a few minutes.  And, when I do use the dishwasher, I only run it after 9:00 PM.  Electricity is cheaper during non-peak hours!

I only do laundry after 9pm during the week or on weekends.  It’s rather embarrassing how early I tend to go to bed during the week.  I guess I’m too old to party with the kids anymore.  But, when I am able to stay up a little later, I will throw in a load of laundry once the clock hits 9:00 PM.  Electricity is also cheaper on the weekends!

I don’t use the dryer.  I rarely use my dryer, unless I need something dried at that very moment.  It’s not always convenient, and I do get tired of having my drying rack take up space for a couple days.  But, I’ve also found that my clothes actually seem to last longer.  So, I’m not just saving electricity here. 

I clean with rags.  This is actually a recent development.  I had a family friend give me some wash cloths as a gift for Christmas or Easter one year, and since I don’t use wash cloths, they’ve just been sitting around collecting dust.  So, a couple months ago I decided to see how disgusting it would be to clean with a cloth instead of a paper towel.  What I’ve found is that it’s more efficient to clean with a cloth.  I don’t have to wipe over the same area as many times to get something up, and it in no way requires any extra effort.  I’m just cognizant about cleaning the toilet last.  :) 

I use coupons and buy generic.  There are certain items, like feminine hygiene products, that I refuse to buy generic.  It’s just been my experience that the generic brand is not as reliable.  So, for the name brand items I do purchase, I try to use coupons or only buy things on sale whenever I can.  I’m not loyal to any store, and it’s kind of amusing how many member rewards cards I have in my wallet.  But, hey… I’m saving money!

I don’t have cable.  I haven’t had cable in eight years.  It’s kind of crazy when I think about it.  When I first moved out on my own, I told myself I would only go without cable for one year, maybe two.  I just had to get through the wedding madness, and then I could reallocate my funds.  But, about a year later, I signed up for Netflix, and I haven’t looked back since.  Now, I don’t like watching regular TV.  I can’t stand all the commercials!  I do, however, greatly miss the Food Network. 

I go without heat and air conditioning as long as I possibly can.  This really only works for me because I live in an apartment, and all four walls are not exposed to the elements.  Nor, do I have any pets or kids.  I turn the air conditioning off during the day while I’m at work, and then will turn it back on around 9:00 PM before I go to bed.  My place is small, so it doesn’t take long to cool down.  However, I still keep the thermostat around 82 degrees.  There were years though, where I didn’t use it at all.  It would get pretty miserable in July and August.  The same goes for using my heater.  There were years when I went without it in its entirety.  Now, once I hit a certain threshold, I’ll turn it on for a couple of hours to take the chill off, or make it a point to cook something that requires use of the oven.  If I do turn it on and leave it on, I leave the thermostat around 60 degrees.  Of course, when I have company over, I keep things around 75, regardless of whether it’s the summer or winter.