With the cost of living crisis and everyone searching for ways to save every penny they can on their energy bills, we thought it would be a good time to suggest some great ways that you could save some money.
Firstly we have some easier quick fixes to cut the cash spend:
- Turning down the heating by 1°C.
- Take shorter showers and avoid baths.
- Fully load your washing machine, wash at lower temperatures and avoid tumble drying.
- Layer up! Wear more layers of clothes, use blankets and hot water bottles to keep yourself cozy.
- Leading off hot drinks and hot water bottles…don’t overfill your kettle!
- Don’t use stand-by mode on devices, turn them off at the wall.
- Don’t overcharge your devices. Unplugging your devices once they are fully charged will not only save energy but also the battery life of your device meaning you won’t have to upgrade your devices as often.
Despite these being helpful, the term: ‘got to spend money to make money’, definitely applies here. Some of these other cash-savers might take a little more work or money than some of the easier fixes suggested but they might make all the difference in helping cut your spending long-term!
Get new lightbulbs!
Traditional light bulbs are extremely inefficient, so change to LED bulbs for a decrease in your energy bill. Depending on the bulbs you had before this small change can save you anywhere from £4 to £15 per bulb per year!
Insulate!
Insulate to keep that heating in however you can! The more heat you can trap in your home, the less you have to put the heating on. Here is a very useful link for Government Grants for Free Insulation.
If you rent, speak to your landlord to make sure it is properly insulated, or you can purchase things to help keep your heat in. You can buy reflective insulation that slots behind radiators to help keep the heat inside rather than disappearing out of the walls, and draft-excluders for doorways, or alternatively make them out of blankets or towels!
Curtains!
Keep your curtains open during the day. It’s important to let in as much natural heat from the sun as possible – and it’s free!
However, when the sun goes down, closing your curtains will help your home retain that heat. It helps to keep the warmth in the room that you gained from the sun, as well as any heating you turn on at any time.
Upgrading your curtains to ones of a thicker material, or thermal insulated can help trap the heat in too.
And if you have radiators underneath your windows, remember not to drape your curtains over radiators or they will work too well trap the heat behind them rather than letting it into the room.
Pay a little extra onto your Mortgage repayments each month!
If you overpay by a small amount each month and you could save thousands in interest. An example on the Barclays website suggested that if you owe “£100,000 at 3%, it’d be roughly £470 a month over 25 years. But pay an extra £50 a month and you could save more than £6,000 interest – and pay it off three years early.”
However, you have to be careful of early-repayment fees so check your exact mortgage details to see.
TV License
We had a member email in to suggest I add TV licenses to this list. With so many online streaming services now for tablets, phones and laptops, you might not even be using your TV or your licence. Cancelling your license can save you up to £159 a year. However, there are quite strict rules about whether you need to pay a license fee or not, so please use the following link to see if you comply: Here!
Hope any or all of these can help you during these tough times.
Have a good day and good luck in future draws 🙂
May