Temperatures and Saving Money
At the beginning of January, I publicly declared
that I would keep our house temperature a little cooler
than our usual balmy 71 degrees.
Hey, what can I say, I like it warm!
Anyway, for the month of January we tried keeping the thermostat at 69 degrees. I know, wow…big deal, two degrees. Well two degrees is a big deal for someone like me who is always chilly. I think on a few occasions I even allowed the thermostat to be turned all the way down to 68! Anyway, I have yet to hear the report from my husband on the difference (if any) in the heating bill but I am happy to say, I survived the chilly temperatures! I have noticed I wear socks more than I used to though – so I guess I am saving money right there on not having to get pedicures in the winter to keep my feet looking cute – LOL! I am like a money saving machine!
The funny thing is, I inadvertently started cutting back in other areas as well during the month…
The kids and I had been slipping into a routine of grabbing dinner at Panera every Tuesday evening after tennis. But ever since I have been driving our neighbor’s son with us, we have come straight home afterwards and I make dinner (or leftovers). Cha ching….
I have always clipped coupons. Not in the crazy obsessive way you see on TV…I just cut what I normally use. Well, now instead of cutting them and leaving them home on the kitchen counter and realizing this after I have arrived at the store, I now put them directly in the side pocket of my hand bag so I can actually use them. Cha ching…
Now I can’t take the credit for the next one, but we recently changed our land line phone from the local phone company over to the cable line. We knew about this option awhile ago but at that time, the cable company was not letting you keep your old phone number. Don’t ask me why, but I am quite attached to my phone number for some reason. Then recently, my neighbor switched theirs and was able to keep their old number. Finally we got around to it and changed ours the other day. Now we can make long distance calls and not be charged long distance fees. Overall the switch will definitely save us some money. We just have to be careful because if the cable goes out, then we can’t dial 911 in case of emergency. But we discovered during Hurricane Sandy that our local phone line was down even longer than the cable lines, so I guess it doesn’t matter – plus we always have our cell phones. Cha ching… actually two cha chings because I think this one will add up to some legitimate savings!
Then the other day while packing up clothing for our school clothing drive, I set aside a pile of clothes to bring to consignment AND I made the appointment to bring them in. Usually, I make the pile, forget to make the appointment and by the time I remember, the consignment store is only collecting clothes for the next season! Cha ching!
So this plan to cut back on the house temperature managed to snowball into a few more money saving situations. And speaking of temperatures, my older son has been home from school yesterday and today with a fever, sore throat, headache…Luckily his fever only hovered around 100, which I don’t think is even technically a fever but he really hasn’t felt well. I don’t think it’s the flu though because I think he would actually have a high fever with that. Plus I am hoping the flu shots worked. A few weeks ago when the news was bombarding us with flu statistics, we all went out and got flu shots. My kids got theirs 3 weeks ago and my husband and I got ours 2 weeks ago…so I am keeping my fingers crossed. Flu season technically lasts through April and we have that Caribbean trip coming up, you know.
I hope you all have a nice weekend. Oh, and here is a money saving tip – If you go to Macy’s today, wear RED (to support the American Heart Association) and you will get 20% off! Cha ching again! Or is it ka ching? Anyway – you’re welcome!
What have you done to save money or energy recently?
Iv been keeping the thermostat at 64 at night and 68 during the day. We wear lots of layers and I have a space heater here in my office. Im getting used to it, but our oil heat bill has at least been alot less this winter. I'm really looking to cut corners lately. Good for you to post some tips.. I'm going to review our phone service today and see if I can cut it down. I took out our landline and made it my cell number, cause I was married to that number, and still am! Stay healthy and thanks for the inspiration!xo Nancypowellbrowerhome.com
We keep our thermostat at 66 when the kids are away at college. They're whiners, so we turn it up when they are home. We also use internet phone (Comcast), but I still cringe when I pay that Comcast bill, and don't even get me started on Verizon Wireless. Yikes! Wish I could figure out a way to lower that one.
I would love to turn down my thermostat and save some money, but I am always so cold. I have the thermostat on 72 degrees and I still have to wear layers of clothes. My husband laughs at me when I know it has gone down one degree. Maybe I can save money elsewhere.
Well, I tried dropping our thermostat to 68 degrees as well. That lasted oh about, 1 hour and I was FREEZING! So I decided I'll have to look for something else to cut because I cant stand being so cold.. LOL….We swapped to internet phone last year. My family is all in NJ and Im in SC so that saved us a lot of money. Soon, I am hoping to dump my Sprint contract at 180 a month plus and we are going to go with Smart Talk from Walmart.. Robyn 🙂
These little things do add up!
W.e rarely have to use heat since I live down in the South. However there are nights that we did. In the summer months, I only keep the air conditioning set at one temp and don't touch it.I only have cellphones and no land lines so that saves each month. Great idea on consignment.