Switch, Unplug, or Turn It Off

There are several ways to cut the electricity bill; insulating pipes and attic, weatherizing windows, solar panels, and energy efficient appliances are just a few. All of these will pay for themselves in time but the upfront cost can be hard to swallow and may need time to have a budgeted amount set aside. Here are some ways that are cheaper to free.

Switch

• Switch out the old light bulbs- Energy saving bulbs may cost a little more than your average bulb, but they use 75. We have 980 watts worth of light bulbs in our home and replaced 837 of those watts with energy saving bulbs. That's only 143 watts being used if all of our lights are on. It will also minimize the effect on your bill from accidentally leaving a light on for too long. Yes, they do take a second to turn on and a short time to get bright, but I think that is nicer on the eyes, especially for a midnight bathroom visit.
• Take out surplus bulbs- Our bathroom is just as well lit with 2 energy bulbs as it was with 4 vanity bulbs (30 watts compared to 240). We also removed our porch light, to avoid accidentally leaving it on, because our landlord has a shared watch light.
• Switch the thermostat to a higher/lower degree- Higher in the summer and lower in the winter just a a degree or two will save you money.

Unplug

• Unplug the TV, radio, microwave, computer, and other electronics that keep time or have memory-  75% of the electricity used to power them is consumed while they are turned off because they still draw power while plugged in.
• Try using a power strip- Power strips are much easier to turn off then unplugging multiple electronics.

Turn It Off

• If it doesn't need to be on, turn it off.
• Turn off the Lights- We have all heard it before but turning the lights off will save you in more than one way. First you will not be using unnecessary energy to light a room that is not in use. And second, you will not forget to turn the light off later. Ever leave a closet light on over night by accident? That jumps your bill especially if the light is not an energy saver.
• Turn off the power strip- Most commonly used for computers, printers, scanners, and TVs and  DVD players, Power strips are easy to turn off and keep the secret sappers from using energy.
• Turn off the computer.. or at least the monitor. Sleep mode is another good alternative. 
• Freeze Out- Turn off the AC. During the cold night and hot day combination, open your windows at night and close them before dawn. 'Freeze Out' to put off turning on the AC during the day. Use an extra blanket at night and bundle up in the morning. It is always easier to get warm than to get cool cheaply.
• Turn off water heater- or turn it to vacation or low while away for more than 3 days.

TIPS- For more ways to save energy visit http://www.rockymountainpower.net/res/sem/het.html. Find energy saving programs with incentives.

Eating Out

Eating out can be the biggest pocket book breaker. The convenience of having a quick meal, or the splurge on a dish that includes ingredients that are to highly priced to be a staple can lure anyone.

Brown Bag It

Pack a lunch. Whether for work, school, or car trips, brown bagging it will save you BIG. Don't have time to pack a lunch? There are several ways to make packing easy on the fly.

• Premake Meals- Instead of buying the premade meals, burritos, and pizzas in the freezer section make them yourself and freeze them for future use. (These can be used for lazy days as well.)
• Leftovers- Always make extra when preparing a meal. Store the leftovers in single size containers in the fridge for a quick grab on the go, or in the freezer for long term storage.
• Premake Snacks- Small 6-8 oz containers are perfect in a hurry. Fill them with your favorite snacks, in advance, to add variety to your sack lunches. Fruit, veggies, yogurt, pudding, and jello are just a few ways to add variety to your sack lunch.

Substitute Splurges

Instead of eating out splurge on those ingredients you wouldn't normally buy. When my husband and I feel like going out for a nice juicy steak we head for the grocery store. While steak is one of those items usually to highly priced for our budget it is cheaper than eating out.

Split It

Share a dish when eating out. You get a taste for a meal you may not be capable of making yourself without breaking your budget. It's okay to leave a restaurant without being full.

TIP- Budget for eating out. You are more likely to follow some allowance than none at all.

Juice

Often times juice is given to small children watered down (half water/half juice). Why stop when they get older? Adding water in this manner doubles your juice while saving you money. This can also help with getting your water intake for the day. Some juices taste better than others watered down; some will only have a slight change while others will taste more like a Capri sun.  The amount of water you will want to add depends on the juice.

Experiment

Start by adding just half a can, extra, of water and taste it. If only one can extra is all you can handle than stick with that for awhile than try adding more later. After awhile, you will become so accustomed to the taste that regular juices will taste too sweet. Younger kids will probably not notice a difference. Try adding water to bottle juices as well.

TIPS- Add a pinch of salt to help magnify the flavor of juice. Add club soda to juice concentrate instead of water for a healthy carbonated beverage.

Shaving

My husband's shadow is thick and grows fast. If he used a blade every day he would burn through them faster than our pocket book would allow. However, we both prefer the shave a blade gives. How do we compensate while saving money at the same time? He has an electric for daily use, and a blade for Sundays and special occasions.

Ditch the Chick Blade

Use the man of your life's old blade. Guy razorblades are much sharper than chick ones. When his razor is no longer sharp enough for his use its perfect for yours.

Prolonging the Life of Your Blade

*Dip the blade in rubbing alcohol after each shave. Rubbing alcohol dries fast, doesn't leave residue, and will not rust the blade. (Also useful when cleaning washable electric razors.)

*Clean the blade by brushing it against your jeans. Rub the opposite direction you would shave so as not to cut your jeans. (This does not sharpen the blade, but it will feel sharper because it is clean.)

TIP-Use soap or conditioner instead of shaving cream. Conditioner will leave your skin feeling soft. All natural aloe vera can work as a substitute as well. However, my husband found that aloe clogged the blade faster and worked better as an after shave.

Diapering

You will spend roughly $1,000 per year, per child in disposable diapers.

Cloth diapers- What comes to mind? Prefolds, that have to be pinned with the plastic panties that go over top, that your grandmother or even mother had to use? Although those are still available (made from much nicer materials), there is a growing industry for cloth diapers that make it easy and fun, with different styles, functions, and fashions.

Diapering 101

Prefolds- An absorbent piece of material that is folded to fit and wrapped around the infant (usually secured in place). These diapers require a cover. They also can be used as an insert as well.


Contour- A prefold with no folding needed.

Fitted- Contains elastic around the legs and sometimes waist. Snaps or velcro are used to keep them closed. Can come in fun colors but they are not seen as they require a cover as well.

Cover- Meant to have a prefold, contour, or fitted diaper inside (depending on the cover an insert could take the place of the diaper. The cover repels moisture from the diaper inside, keeping you dry, and contains messes that may slip past the diapers.

Insert- Material added to a diaper for added absorption.





Pocket diapers- Contains a waterproof/resistant outside, that act as a cover, with a material that wicks away moisture away from your baby and to the inside. These two layers are sewn together to create a pocket where an insert is stuffed inside.

AIO (all-in-one)- Contains everything- waterproof/resistant outside and innards for absorption. They can come as a diaper with no assembly required, a pocket diaper with an insert sewn inside (contains the pocket for extra stuffing) or as separate pieces that fit together perfectly when put together.

Onesize- Grows with your baby, therefore, no need to buy multiple sizes. The elastic will stretch with your baby; if you plan to use them on more than one child you may need to replace the elastic.

Diapers can come in fun colors, patterns, and styles. They can have ruffles, snaps, velcro, and can be made from a variety of materials such as bamboo, fleece, wool, flannel, ect. Some even have disposable inserts that can be flushed.

Not all diapers will fit every baby the same; like shoes some brands or styles may fit better than others. Do your research. You can find tutorials on youtube. Moms all over have recorded their likes and dislikes of each diaper.

What You Will Need

• Diapers- Depending on how often you want to wash or how frequently your little one wets, you will need around 16 diapers for a newborn in a 24 hour period. If you are using diapers that require a cover you will need 3-5 covers. They can be rotated to air out and washed when soiled or smelly. Wash your stinkiest covers every time you wash the diapers.
• Wet Bags- Store soiled diapers in a wet bag until washed. They have waterproofing on the inside that contains the mess and the smell. You should have 2 large wet bags for at home use, one to be used while the other is being washed, and 2 small for travel.
• Cloth Wipes- Depending on the size 20-30 wipes. Used with a solution you buy or just a very small amount of babywash to a bottle of water. Wipes can sit in a container with solution (may mildew over time). The solution can be sprayed onto wipe before use or baby's bottom.
• Optional Accessories- Sprayers that hook up to the water line on your toilet rinse off messes. Solutions for wipes and washing.

Depending on what you decide to buy it can add up, but you save money in the long run. The average price of getting started is $300. Compared savings is thousands.
Not only are cloth diapers nice on your budget, they are also nice on your baby. Cloth diapers are natural without the harsh chemicals and don't end up in land fields.

Washing/Drying

Some diapers will be become more absorbent with washing. Diapers should not be washed/dried with fabric softeners, brighteners, enzymes, or perfumes/fragrances. If your diapers stink after washing them use more soap (unless suds appear during a rinse). If they stink after soiled (more so than normal) use less soap; soap can enhance the stink. Cloth diapers will last longer when hang dryed, and considering that you will be washing them about every day this will save energy.

TIPS-Try buying a few different ones to see which one you prefer. Be careful buying on ebay and amazon... their prices can exceed buying from outlets. diaperware.com is just one of many sites to order from. Know how to sew- make inserts, wipes, and wet bags yourself to save even more.

Laundry

Hang dry your laundry. This saves in more than one way.

1-Save electricity/money (for coin operated)
*By not turning on the machine you have already saved money.

2-Save electricity on cooling the house
*Having wet laundry hung in various parts of your house in door frames creates a swamp cooler effect. I don't know how well this will work in high humidity places.

3-Save on fabric softener
*If you are not using it you don't need to replace it. Your clothes won't be statically charged either.

4-Save money on not having to replace clothes as frequently (Plus they look nicer longer).
*Drying fray fabrics that are worn. I was able to slow down the fraying of my husbands jeans; holes in the pocket areas take forever longer to appear.
*Drying wears off decals. Prevent the cracking and disappearing of your favorite T-shirts decals.
*If you miss a stain you can catch it the next time you wash. Heat sets in stains; wash in cold water. This works really well for baby clothes.

You don't have to hang everything. I still dry towels and underclothing. But every load you don't dry will save you and it adds up.


Save when using a dryer-

1-Throw a dry towel in with the load; clothes will dry faster.
2-Never dry jeans with other articles of clothing. Jeans are a much rougher material and will wear your clothes faster.
3-Inside out T-shirts. This will help preserve the decals.
4-Use the dryer at night in the summer when it is cooler. (This could also be said about the dishwasher).
Have no place to hang your clothes?.. Use sturdy shower curtain rods, door frames, drying racks; we installed a drying rod in our laundry room for about $12. At a dollar per load at the laundry mat, our bar saved us money after 12 loads.

TIPS: To get out wrinkles just spray lightly with a spray bottle and brush the wrinkles out with your hand. This also works great for getting out creases from clothes left folded in your drawer.

bountifulbaskets.org

$50 worth of Produce for $15

You can save BIG on produce and no trip to the grocery store. Save time and money. Produce is purchased from the same vendors as restaurants and grocery stores and then organized into baskets for easy pickup at a fraction the cost. Simply go to bountifulbaskets.org . Ordering is Monday-Tuesday online. There are several pickup sites throughout Utah. Pickup is the following Saturday at the designated time listed with each site. Some pickup sites are available weekly and others bi-weekly. The produce in your basket will change according to season, area, and availability. The first time we ordered our basket contained:

3 Bundles Asparagus

2 Broccoli

1 Lettuce

1 Swiss Chard

1 Bundle Bananas (8)

2 Bags Baby Carrots

1 Bag potatoes (5 lbs)

8 Red Apples

7 Oranges

2 Lemons

1 lb Strawberry

10 Baby Cucumbers

In other orderings we have received: mangoes, green onions, cauliflower, zucchini, ect. It seems the basics like lettuce and apples are always included.

Other products can be purchased at the same time with your basket (must buy a basket for extras) such as: 9 Grain bread, 5 loafs for $10 (way Yummy); 2 lbs granola for $10; 10 lbs strawberries for $8; specials for holidays. These extra items also rotate.

The co-op is completely volunteer based, thus there are no refunds and the pickup window is only 20 minutes. If you don't show up your basket is donated to the local fire department.

Can't imagine eating all of it or concerned that you will get something you don't like? Go in on a basket with someone and split it. Don't like something, share.. you save so much being charitable is easy. We order with our neighbors or give what we don't use to my cousins.

TIPS: Order as soon as possible; there are only so many spaces available per site and they go quick. Show up early; the lines get long fast. Bring a sturdy basket to pickup your produce in.

Budgeting

“If you spend one more dollar than you earn, you WILL eventually go bankrupt.” ~ Rick Anderson, CEO of Citizens Credit Bureau~

How does one prevent spending more than they earn?.. by tracking were your money is going and how much is left to spend. People tend to be scared of the ‘B’ word when it comes to financing. ‘Budgeting’ is not about restrictions or spending money on only necessary things. It’s about dividing up your income, tracking your spending, and making room for those extra expenditures.

How can budgeting help you? Ever had those moments were you wonder were it all went? My sister began tracking her spending and realized that she was spending hundreds of dollars on her hair every month. When I was lifeguarding for a pool one summer I would buy a root beer freezy almost every shift. Sure it was only about $2.50, spare change, but assuming I worked only 25 times that month I spent $62.50! A gallon of ice-cream and a liter of soda cost around $6.

There are several different types of budgeting techniques. I will expound upon the “Rich off of any income” method. This method takes budgeting a little further so that you are constantly tucking money away for future expenses, such as changing tires on your car. That is a large expense that should happen only once a year; Instead of shelling out $600 on the spot saving a little bit every month will makes it easier to tackle.

The first step to budgeting is listing all of your monthly bills and their cost (rent, utilities, car payment, credit card payments, ect.).

• Add things necessary to live (food, clothing, medical, ect.).
• Add your categories that are not necessary but wanted (vacations, eating out, ect ).
• Add your financial goals (paying off debt, retirement).
• Personalize your categories. They can be broad (utilities) or specific (heating, electric, water). Some will have a category titled ‘extra’, for what little money is left, for anything that is not required to live.
• To apply the “Rich off of any income” method, you would then want to make sure that you had categories for those every-once-in-a-while expenses that money was being put into monthly.

Different ways to keep track of your budget include:

• Budget sheet- Keep track of your categories and amount of money allotted on paper. You can find an example of simple budget sheet on the LDS church website at http://www.providentliving.org/pfw/multimedia/files/pfw/pdf/72727_FamilyBudgetWorksheet_pdf.pdf
• Envelopes- Write the name of each category on an envelope; put the selected amount of money into each envelope. Spend no more on that category than what is in that envelope.
• Checkbook Registry- Keep a registry that includes all of your categories in your checkbook. When a purchase is made subtract the total from its appropriate category like you would when balancing your accounts. This allows you to rollover leftover balances into the next month. Add the new balance for the new month just as you would a deposit into an account.
• Microsoft Excel- This is my preferred method of tracking as you can program the cells to do the math of budgeting for you.

I enjoy budgeting and penny pinch where ever I can, therefore my budget is more complex including categories such as food storage, furniture, books, movies, ect. My sister, however, likes to go even further to budget how much will be spent on milk.

TIPS: Don’t make your budget so complex that it becomes a chore for you to keep up with. Track EVERYTHING including vending machines. You can track everything even if your budget is simple. Make realistic goals. Don’t just say “I am not eating out anymore”; give yourself a little leeway. Even if it is small amount, you are more likely to follow a little allowance than none at all. If your curious why you have spent so much in one category, try dividing it to see were the expense is coming from.

Don't think budgeting is worth your time? Try just tracking. Write down were you spend your money on a month to month basis. I did this for one year before I started budgeting and was suprised at how much mony we could have saved if we where just aware of were it was going.