CuttingCosts101.com – Learn How to Save Money!

Usually when you see a post like this I was day dreaming and needed to get the ideas in writing before I forgot them….so this could happen a lot!

If you have a bit of a green thumb and like working on your yard and garden you might find this tip useful.  In the area I live there are endless amounts of limestone rock in quarries and shorelines.  My money saving tip for you is to go to your nearest rocky shoreline or quarry and pick up some nice flat rocks to line your gardens instead of paying hundreds or even thousands for engineered landscaping stones.  I helped my parents do the same thing last summer and I think it looks great…a real rustic look.  I’ll take a picture of one of their gardens the next time i’m over there and i’ll post it.  I plan on doing the same thing around my gardens this summer.

Next, instead of buying bottled water all the time purchase a filter that connects directly to your faucet.  I know we’re probably talking about savings in cents here, but hopefully this will make ’sense’ to you (I had to do it….and I am aware that it was corny!).  Just remember that it all adds up over time.  As an added bonus, you will also be reducing your carbon footprint by using less plastic.

This next one is nothing new, but everyone could use a reminder about it….Carpooling.  If a bunch of your fellow collegues live in reletively close proximity why not all go to work toghether?  It makes a whole lot of sense considering you’ll be using less fuel and putting less wear on your vehicle because you won’t be driving as often.  And again you’ll be reducing your carbon footprint by getting a few vehicles off the road.  This is a tip that is definitely under utilized but is simple to do.  Think about it, and talk to some of your co-workers about it tomorrow around the water cooler or lunch room.

Turn the water off while brushing your teeth.  This is one of those that you probably never thought of before, but are guilty of.  You could definitely save 1 gallon or more of usage per day if you follow this tip

Run your dishwasher at night.  A lot of areas have higher water and energy rates at peak times, so take advantage of lower rates at night if your dishwasher is equipped with a time delay function.  I would recommend setting the delay to come on between 12am-3am…but I would check with your local providers first to see when the lower rates kick in.

Instead of the dryer use a clothes line.  The dryer is one of the biggest energy users you have in your home, so it’s nice on your wallet to give it a break now and then.  As long as the weather is co-operating, I would reccomend this approach from April to October for big energy savings.

Lower your thermostat by one degree.  Studies have shown that by lowering your thermostat one single degree could save you 25% on your heating bill.  This will take some getting used to in the winter months, but after a few days (and maybe another layer of clothing!) you’ll get used to it and reap the rewards.

If you’re like me, and you are hearing about this for the first time, you probably have no idea what a drain water heat recovery system is!  Here’s how it works:  cold water that is going to your hot water tank runs through a copper coil that is wrapped around a copper drain pipe.  Hot water goes down the drain pipe and heats the copper coil of cold water going to your hot water tank.  Therefore, what this system does in a nutshell is pre-heat the water that is going into your hot water tank without using any energy to do it.  This means that it will take less heat to bring the water in the hot water tank up to temperature, and thus use less energy in the process.  It has been estimated that you can save around 30% of your water heating costs by installing this system.  The system sells from $500 to $750 and can be purchased at Home Depot.

I know $750 sounds like a lot of money, but there are some great money saving offers if you do want to install one of these systems.  If you are a customer of Union Gas, you can receive a $450 bill credit by installing a drain water heat recovery system (refer to www.uniongas.com/energyefficiency).  Also, regarding the Canadian Government’s Energy Retrofit Program (refer to previous post) you are also eligible for an additional $260 ($130 from both Federal and Provincial) in grant money.  In order to be eligible for the grant money, you must have a pre and post assessment of your home completed