Author: Admin

Ways to Save on Electricity

As winter settles in, I find that my little family of two uses much more electricity. In fact, our electricity bill is usually around 50% more in the winter than it is in the spring and fall months (and in the summer months, it’s at an all-time low).

Part of the reason why we experience a huge hike in the amount of electricity we use is because we are home a lot more often in the winter. Instead of going out for a bike ride after work, or outside barbecuing, we are inside making meals in our kitchen and cuddled up under blankets watching movies.

It also gets darker much earlier during the cooler months, so we have the lights on when we are home unless we’re sleeping.

We also have electric heaters upstairs that we use when we are sleeping. This probably uses the most electricity of all, so we do limit our usage of these heaters.

There are a few ways to ensure that you aren’t overspending on electricity.

Turn Off the Lights, TV, and Radio

I can’t believe I even have to remind anyone of this, but I find that even my friends and some family members are always keeping their homes completely lit, all the time. Even the rooms that they aren’t in are lit up like a Christmas tree!

If you aren’t in a room, why are you lighting it? It’s a simple flick of a switch and you’re saving money.

Also, leaving your TV on for the dog is ridiculous and unnecessary. The poor dog doesn’t want to have to hear it all day!

Unplug

I have heard that keeping your toaster, coffee maker, and other small appliances plugged in all the time is a big waste of electricity as the electricity is still released into the appliance even if it’s not being used.

Just by unplugging your small appliances apparently you can save quite a bit of cash.

I do this year round, and we have noticed a small change in our bill, but that may also be because we are using the other methods as well.

Comparison of Providers

If you are in a region that has more than one provider, a good way to save money is to compare electricity suppliers. You never know what type of savings you may find if you just do a little comparison shopping.

(This is also a good tip when it comes to looking at pretty much any bill you have to pay for).

Solar Panels?

This is something that is a newer technology for residential buildings, but solar panels, being that they have been around for a little while by now, are getting cheaper. If you can get the panel on a part of your home that gets a lot of sunlight, you can get free – and environmentally friendly – electricity.

Of course it’s not 100% free as you’ve paid for the panel, but depending on what the prices are on the panels in your area it could be an investment worth looking into.

 

All of these are worthwhile to explore, as they are not only helpful for the environment but good for your wallet.

How do you save on electricity?

Real or Fake?

Now, now, that’s not what we’re talking about today!

christmas tree

Photo via https://www.flickr.com/photos/shedboy

Today we’re talking about Christmas trees! My very favorite part of the Christmas season is the tree. I love the smell, lights, decorating and mostly, how it makes a room feel. The Christmas tree glow is like nothing else. They’re all unique and beautiful.

Growing up, we always had a real tree. To this day, my husband and I still get a real tree. There was never any other option in my mind. Part of Christmas was going to get the Christmas tree, not drag it up from the basement; to me a fake tree was never an option.

It would kill my 10 year old self for even considering this, but the frugality in me is pushing more and more for a fake tree. I feel like it will take a lot of convincing on my husband’s behalf, but I’m so tempted to buy a really nice pre-lit Christmas tree and save thousands of dollars.

Real Tree?

Like I said, going and picking the tree has always been a part of my Christmas tradition. I can’t imagine my daughter not having the same experience. If we buy a fake all she will know is mom and dad bringing the tree up, never learning her mother’s mad skills at picking the perfect tree. She will never know the smells of the tree lot, the annoyance of having sap all over your mittens, coat and shoes, or need to have the responsibility of daily tree watering and vacuuming fir needles from your house, year round. These thoughts make me genuinely sad. I loved these memories and want her to have them too but let’s be honest, at an average cost of $40/tree/year we’re looking at a cost analysis situation.

Fake Tree?

Fake trees are easier. You pop them up, some already pre-lit, and plug it in. No messy needles to clean up and minimal maintenance.

The big downsides for me, are room for storage and upfront cost. If I’m buying a fake tree, we’re buying a really nice one. It has to wow me! I also worry about the lack of storage we have. We’re very limited in storage and I wouldn’t feel comfortable putting this investment in a potentially damp area, ruining it. I honestly don’t know where we would be able to store such a large box in this house. We won’t be here forever though.

Who wins?

For us, this year at least, we’ll buy the real tree. I’m not ruling out getting a fake tree later but since we don’t have the extra money in our Christmas budget we won’t be able to but a fake tree this year anyway. I have 12 months to save up and consider buying one next year but for this family, I have a feeling that even with the $40 annual price tag, real will win the battle.

Do you buy a real tree or have a fake one? Why?

 

Financial Roundup: It’s Almost Christmas!

In case you aren’t counting down, it’s 17 days until Christmas and I am starting to get into the holiday spirit. We’re going to get our Christmas tree today, and my work Christmas party is this weekend. My fiance, friends and I are decorating gingerbread houses this upcoming week and next weekend are are visiting the Vancouver Christmas Market.

Needless to say, my life is jam packed with Christmas activities and I’m so looking forward to having some time off at the end of the month to hang out with family and friends and do a little wedding planning.

To spread the Christmas cheer, I thought I’d do some shout outs to the bloggers behind some of these great posts:

Link Love

Mr CBB questions whether online reviews of companies and products are telling the customer the truth. I think lots of the reviews are spam reviews from the companies themselves.

I found Daniel’s article on Prize Linked Savings Accounts interesting, as I’m not a lottery player so I have never heard of them.

Mario from Debt Blag posted about ugly produce and how much of it goes to waste because it’s not visually appealing. Isn’t that nuts? I would and do happily eat it.

I found this piece interesting at Mom and Dad money: Should Young Investors Fear a Market Downturn?

I’m late to the party for this one and I’m not even a parent, but I really liked the article on the Heavy Purse about developing a gratitude mindset in children. 

Color Me Frugal listed some financial tips she’s learned from bloggers. She even lists Swagbucks, of which I am a huge fan and also learned about from bloggers.

Again, I am late to the party on this one, but CF from Outlier Model is a mentor and she tells us why. I have had mentors before and I find them so valuable.

On the Broke and Beautiful Life, there was a guest post about wedding costs in large cities, and since I’m wedding planning (though for a wedding in a small city) I found it interesting.

At Six Figures Under, there is a discussion about minimum debt payments. Apparently there are a lot of myths surrounding the issue, so Stephanie takes it to the blog.
Check out these posts!