25 Ways to Save Money

Here's a list of 25 simple ways to save money from Consumer Reports. We've all seen many of these before, but here were a few that stood out to me, grouped by what they save on. We'll start with water-saving tips:

2 - Skip prerinsing dishes. Our tests have found that it¹s unnecessary, and you'll save up to 6,500 gallons of water per year.

3 - Opt for the cold-water wash cycle and save about $60 a year.

18 - Install a high-efficiency showerhead. It will reduce hot water use by up to 50 percent.

19 - Upgrade to a low-flow toilet and save 4,000 gallons per year.

Wow. In four simple steps you've saved a ton of water. That probably won't be a huge savings in money, but if you're looking for some ways to have less of an impact on the environment, here they are.

Next, we have energy-related savings ideas:

4 - Put your PC to sleep. Save $75 or more by using the system standby or hibernating feature.

13 - String LED lights this holiday season. They last longer. Our tests have shown that they can save up to $11 per season.

14 - Insulate and seal cracks and gaps in your ducts. That can help reduce energy costs by 30 percent.

16 - Weather-strip old windows and doors. It's the surest way to close the gaps around openings, reducing heating and cooling costs by 15 to 30 percent.

22 - Add insulation. An estimated 80 percent of older homes are underinsulated. Properly insulating and sealing your home can cut your heating and cooling bills by 10 percent.

Ok, so if you do all these, then you can save up to 70% on your heating bills plus almost another $100? I don't think so -- I think some of these are over-stated. That said, these tips will certainly save you some money and they're rather easy to complete. And since many of them don't cost that much to do, why not? You'll end up saving money as well as burning less energy (another positive for the environment.)

Comments

[Bill]

I guess I have a pretty crappy dishwasher since if I don't rinse or use hot water, then I have to scrape after.
Also, we bought a house where we pay a flat fee for the first 10,000 gallons used. Our max has been 5,000 so far. With no kids and irrigation water to use on the lawn, I don't see any financial savings by conserving. I guess I have to settle for the warm fuzzy feelings inside.

[SAHM]

We moved into an older home that didn't have any of the now standard energy saving features. We installed energy saving dishwasher and bought a front loading washing machine. Our bill was still about $10 higher than at our old house (which was newer and had the low flow shower head, low flow toilets, but a top loading washer & regular dishwasher). We were in the same county with the same rates. After a few months, we switched our toilets (2 of the 3 were the old 3.5gpf models) to the low flow and saved $20 per month (40%) ($120 per year) on our water bill. We waited until our county offered a rebate for upgrading the toilets due to the drought. I never thought replacing two toilets would make such a large difference on our bill. Now it is about 20% lower than we were paying at our old house.

[Jim]

I'm doubtful on some of those numbers too. They seem to be quoting worst case. Like its hard to see how people could be using 6500 gallons a water a year to prerinse dishes. Thats around 20 gallons a day. I really doubt most people run their sinks that much every day just to rinse a few dishes.

Bill, additional cold water may be free for you but if you heat it you'll spend money on the heating cost. Roughly speaking it can cost about 1¢ to heat a gallon of water.

Jim

[theCase]

"Wow. In four simple steps you've saved a ton of water"

Well, actually about 40 tons! (Water weighs about 8 lbs/gallon * 10,000 gallons) / 2000).

Fun post anyway!

[Matt]

Another thing to do is to check with your local government programs. I know where I live we can get cash back for replacing our dated furnace. There are also incentives for replacing windows and adding insulation. This can not only cut your heating costs but increase the resale value of your home.