5 Tips to Make Your Home Energy Efficient Without Breaking the Bank

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Posted on May 20, 2013 by admin

We all want to do our bit for the planet. Whether that involves leaving the car at home and walking to work, recycling all your paper and cardboard, or making small changes in your home; there is always something we can do.

But ‘going green’ doesn’t always come cheap.

Solar panels and roof insulation for example are great ways to improve the energy efficiency of your home, but they cost a small fortune. Sure, they make the money back eventually; but it’s a long time before you start saving anything.

Here are five tips for making your home more energy efficient, without breaking the bank:

1. Heating and air conditioning

Keeping your house warm in the winter and cool in the summer is often one of the biggest expenses you’ll have. However, it is possible to make your current unit more energy efficient without spending a fortune.

For instance, you should switch out the filters regularly as these can get clogged with dust and dirt. If your unit is blocked, it will have to work harder to do its job which could be costing you money in the long run. You should also make sure you only use the heating or air conditioning when you really need to.

A final tip is to turn the temperature on your thermostat down by 1 or 2 degrees. While you won’t notice any difference to the heating in your home, you will notice a considerably smaller bill. This is one of the best ways to save energy without spending any money at all.

2. Electricity

Saving money on your electricity bill is really simple; but so many people fail to make these changes and just keep over spending. Some top tips for cutting your electricity expenditure include:

  • Turn lights off when you’re not in the room
  • Unplug electrical goods when not in use
  • Switch sockets off when there’s nothing plugged in
  • Invest in power strips with on/off switches to cut costs
  • Switch to energy-saving light bulbs

3. Affordable insulation

As we’ve mentioned, improving the insulation of your home is often very expensive. However, there are a number of budget alternatives that will help you make a property more energy efficient. Simply purchase a tube of caulk and plug up any holes and leaks around your windows, doors, and flooring. You can also add weather stripping to exterior doors as another measure to improve insulation and drive down your bills.

4. Water bills

Cutting your water bills is as simple as cutting your electricity bills. By turning the tap off when you brush your teeth, take shorter showers (and shower instead of bath), run your dishwasher only when it’s full, and wearing clothes more than once before you wash them; you can help drive down the costs of your bills.

5. Appliances

Our final tip for making your home more energy efficient without spending a small fortune is to make sure you only purchase ‘green’ appliances. Everything from freezers to dishwashers are now marked with an energy efficiency rating; helping you make an informed decision.

Replacing all your appliances will obviously cost a great deal. But when you do need to make a new purchase, be sure to buy the ‘greenest’ appliance you can afford. These, in conjunction with all the aforementioned tips, will help you cut your bills and live in a more energy efficient home.

As you can see then, ‘going green’ doesn’t have to cost the Earth. In fact, there are a whole host of affordable – and even free – ways you can cut your bills. By making these small changes habit, you should be able to make your home more energy efficient.

Powertricity is a leading commercial and domestic electricians based in Worcestershire. To find out what services they offer and how they can help you improve the energy efficiency of your home, visit their website today.

Energy Efficient

7 Things You Can Do To Get Out Of Debt

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Posted on May 16, 2013 by admin

In debt? Feel like you are being smothered under the pressure? Need a break? Need to get a life free of the burden of debt?

If your answer to any of the questions above is yes, you have come to the right place to read about possible solutions to your problem. The burden of debt is one of the worst ones possible. Neither are you able to concentrate on work, nor do you have the luxury to shirk work after you are in debt. Coming out of a deep debt is not as easy as getting into one. It always seems like an easy process in theory or when you are planning to take on a debt but it never really is. It takes a huge amount of self-control and hard work to pay off a debt that you took up at the heat of the moment. There are a few easy steps which you can take to reduce your debt burden. While these may seem easy in theory, it may not always the same when it comes to their practical applications.

7 Things You Can Do To Get Out Of Debt

  1. The first step is to face your debts. You must start by figuring out exactly where your debt stands. A very easy way to do this is to calculate what is commonly known as the debt-income ratio. This shows you what percentage of your income should be going in to repay your debts. A high ratio means your debts form a high percentage of your income and you will need to take out more from your income every month to repay your debts. This will help you plan a budget for yourself.
  2. The next step is for you to stop taking on new debts. The more you take on, the more you are burdening yourself. So, obviously, a very important step while trying to reduce your debt burden is to stop increasing it in the first place.
  3. The next important step is to plan out a monthly budget for yourself and your family and try to stick to it as far as possible.  You do not have the luxury to toss your money around or spend lavishly on luxury items like a new car or even a new mobile. A penny saved is a penny earned. Keeping that in mind, work towards repaying your loan.
  4. Start having a lifestyle limited to your means, which is your income after repaying that month’s debt. Do not exceed this.
  5. The next step you need to take it to stop justifying your expenses. For instance, if you want an air conditioner, do not justify it by thinking about how much you need it because it is ultimately a want and not a need. You can do without it.
  6. The next step you could take is Credit Counselling. This is a simple process and may help you repay your debts faster and with less tension and effort on your part.
  7. The last step you could take is to bargain with your creditors about the loans. You can convince them that you will pay a smaller amount each month instead of large amounts and will continue to do so till the debts are paid off.

Marie is a professional blogger, who covers a variety of topics including make money, stock market, loan, debt, bankruptcy,  budgeting, binary options, binary brokers, retirement investment etc and she has been writing for the last 5 years.

Eat Green and Save Money

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Posted on May 11, 2013 by admin

Going green can be a tough one. It isn’t always the easiest way to save money. Buying environmentally sound products or organic foods can be a costly endeavour. I was interested in seeing this article put forth seven ideas on how to eat green and save money at the same time. It’s the best of both worlds.

7 Ways to Eat Green and Save Money

The article linked below will show you seven great ideas on how to eat green and save money. The tips range from storing and freezing your food more effectively to going out and picking your own fresh fruit or vegetables. Going green is a great idea especially when can do it and save money. Read more on Huffington Post

eat green healthy

Saving Money in the Kitchen: Frugal Cooking Tips and Recipes

Posted in Frugal Living | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment
Posted on May 11, 2013 by admin

Saving Money in the Kitchen: Frugal Cooking Tips and Recipes

Saving Money in the Kitchen: Frugal Cooking Tips and Recipes

Louise Hill is a mom to five and grandmother to 8 who has spent years learning how to save money throughout the house. In Frugal in the Kitchen she shares the many tips that she has learned. Despite the economic conditions, whenever you can save money it means that you have more money to save or to spend elsewhere. In difficult economic conditions, finding ways to save money can be crucial. In this book you will learn how to cut costs in the kitchen, not only by reducing your grocery bill, but also by stocking your kitchen wisely and cooking smart. Saving Money in the Kitchen: Frugal Cooking Tips and Recipes is filled with tips on how to save money on food costs, as well as delicious meal ideas and breakfast, lunch, dinner, side dish, soup
Saving Money in the Kitchen: Frugal Cooking Tips and Recipes

Solar Panels Can Save You Money

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Posted on April 22, 2013 by admin

One thing that seems to be making the news in a positive way as of late is solar power. More to the point it is how solar panels can save you money on your electric bill and save you money in general. There are several ways that solar panels can save you money.

How Solar Panels Save You Money

A problem with trying to cut down your electricity bills by installing solar panels in the past was the high cost of buying, installing and setting up the panels themselves. This has changed over the past few years. The cost of the panels and the systems themselves have dropped dramatically. There are more companies installing them and the technology is no longer new. Prices have dropped.

There are also government credits being offered to make the switch to solar. Government grants differ from state to state so you will have to check which credits you could be eligible for. For example there are attractive grants for solar energy panels in Southern California. With the grant money you can cut down on the cost of your solar panel system and start reaping the electricity savings sooner.

Obviously using solar panels will cut down on your electricity costs each month and may even wipe your bill all together. This will all depend on the type and amount of panels you are able to add to your home. Either way you will save money on your electricity bills and those bills are never going down. Electricity costs are one of the biggest expenses you face on a regular basis.

When your solar panels create more electricity than you can use you may have the option of selling it back into the grid. Check with your local energy company to see what they offer to buy back your excess electricity. This is a nice benefit to help pay off your system faster and start making money from your solar setup.

When and if you decide to sell your house you will now have a nice little selling feature. It stands to reason that a house equipped to live off the grid and sell electricity back to the system will fetch more on the market that one that doesn’t.

solar panels

Save Money a Bit at a Time

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Posted on April 13, 2013 by admin

Here is a practical article on how to save money. You don’t have to be rich you just have to make a concentrated effort to put a little bit away each week.  By scrimping a little and cutting down on some of your expenses you can save a little each week. The little bit can add up to bigger and better things over the years. Take a look at the statement below and you will see the impact of saving even a little bit of money.

 Save $ 15 a week for 25 years, for instance, and you’ll have $ 62,183, assuming an 8% annualized return. Save $ 30, and that’s $ 124,365. “When I tell people that, they’re stunned,” says Rausser. “You can have an amount of money you never thought you’d be …Read more on Fox Business

Save Money Tips

The above linked article provides some excellent examples on how to save money each week:

  • create a budget
  • price shop for everyday expenses like insurance and mortgages
  • pay off your biggest debts first
  • drop the credit cards for cash to
  • couponing

Follow up on these great tips and implement them in your life and you too can save money each and every week. That little bit you save can really add up in a hurry.

save money

Conserve Water with a Bottle of Water

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Posted on April 6, 2013 by admin

Saving money on your water bill doesn’t have to be expensive. You can conserve water with a simple bottle of water. If you do not have a low flush toilet or don’t want to mess around with the flapper on the inside you can cut down on the amount of water you flush but adding a bottle of water to the back tank. The old adage was to place a brick in your toilet but that probably isn’t the best idea. You want to use something a little less abrasive.

Conserve Water in You Toilet Tank

  1. Fill a plastic bottle with water and screw the lid back on. The size of the bottle depends on whatever fits in your toilet. You will have to try different sizes.
  2. If the bottle doesn’t sink when put into your toilet tank try adding some sand or small stones to make it sink
  3. Make sure the bottle doesn’t interfere with any of the working toilet parts. It should sit in the corner away from everything else.
  4. Monitor your flushing. If you have to flush twice then you are using more water than you would have without the water bottle. You may have to adjust the size of the bottle

Conserve Water

Image by GregNotCraig

Couponing – How the Wealthy Save

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Posted on April 6, 2013 by admin

Would it surprise you to know that households with income over $100,000 are twice as likely to use coupons than those with incomes less than $35,000? College graduates are also twice a likely use coupons as well. Couponing it seems is something that is something that everyone should take an interest in.

The article linked below has some interesting insights into couponing. There is an interesting insight into whether couponing is worth it or not. Driving around from store to store to cash coupons for single cheaper prices items doesn’t make sense. Coupons for larger priced items does make sense as does joining loyalty programs for stores.

Couponing for the Wealthy

With social media and news coverage changing the way it is, it also makes sense that a new generation of tech-savvy shoppers will rely less on traditional newspaper coupons and more on smartphones, tablets and websites for digital savings opportunities. In fact, that 2012 data from Coupons.org also found that households with an average income of $105,000 are most likely to print digital coupons, and that in 2011, one-fifth of smartphone users used mobile coupons (a 117 percent increase from the previous year).

It’s expected that by 2014, 35 million people will use online coupons…. viaWhy the Wealthy Are Turning to Couponing

couponing