Getting Green Ideas to Save Money
Be Green and Save
Let’s face it, saving money can sometimes be a chore, it can take a lot of effort and some serious willpower. However, if you make some small adjustments to your general lifestyle and some small alterations around the home, you can save some money by being green. Here are some tips to get you started:
Can you live without a car?It’s said that the average annual cost of owning a car is around $8,000, which includes the cost of insurance, payments, fuel and any maintenance costs. If you can live without a car then you can instantly save a lot of money and it’s a great benefit to the environment. If you must have a car for general use then you could consider buying a car that is more fuel-efficient than your current vehicle, it will help to save you money in fuel and maintenance costs.
Be clever around the home.
Try to be clever and frugal when dealing with things around the home. I read a stat that recently said around 25% of
electricity, heating and hot water is wasted in an average home. Try adjusting your boiler temperature to save some money, and only put the heating on if you think you really need it.
Also make sure your home is energy efficient, make sure your windows and any cracks around the home are properly sealed to keep heat within your home. It has been said that by conducting some simple energy audits around the home can save you 10% on heating costs.
Consider some lifestyle changes.
There are many small lifestyle changes that can make a huge difference. Do you drive to your workplace? Have you considered cycling instead? You can save your weekly fuel costs and help the environment at the same time. Also, do you purchase your meals in work every day? Consider taking a packed lunch with you to save some extra cash.
Keeping on the subject of food, according to a book called “The Cheapskate Next Door“, a typical US family spends around $4,000 on meals outside of the home a year and you can save 75% of this simply by eating more at home by buying fresh produce. Eating at home can also be healthier than eating out as you know exactly what ingredients you’ve used.
Switch to energy efficient lighting – If you haven’t already…
We use our lights so much when we’re at home that they can account for up to 15% of our home energy bills. To save some money and do your bit for the environment switch out the old style light bulb for those that carry the energy efficient label, they can save you a huge 75% on your annual lighting bill.
Remember that when trying to save money you should make your savings work for you. As I’m based in the UK, I use a cash-ISA savings account (
read more here) for my savings as the interest you earn is tax free, see what equivalent accounts you have wherever you’re based and reap the rewards.
Don’t forget about adjusting the thermostat. As well, your province or state may use peak and off-peak pricing for electricity, so to save even more make sure you run the dishwasher and washer/dryer late at night or on weekends.
The thing about “going green” as well – it may cost you some money, especially if you want to eat local foods and the such. Just more things to consider!
Good call on when to run appliances! We run our dishwasher at midnight to save on cost.
Personally, I’m selectively green 🙂
Another way to go green, in a way, is to avoid vampire energy. Unplug things that you aren’t actively using, and set devices to standby mode when possible. Not huge savings, but taken together they can add up.
Good point, it really does add up over the long haul.
I wonder if some of the new electronical devices have improved on their in sleep mode consumption level…
Nice post, I’d consider my life in college to be very green. My roommates and I don’t have a dishwasher, don’t drive cars during the school year, and rarely use light bulbs. We have Christmas lights hanging up to light our living room. Haha, we are green!
I remember being pretty green and frugal during college too. Having 3 roommates in one house was a cheap and frugal way to go.
We had 1 roommate (that I would back up) that would always harp on turning off the lights and TV to keep the bill down. After a little bit of resistance, the other two fell in line.
Green is the cousin of self-sustainability, and I’m all about being self-sustaining! 🙂
Great article. 🙂
My biggest regret is that I don’t grow my own food. If I could do that I would say that I’m 100% green. Currently, I’m a green wattabe.
Why are you not able to grow some of your own food?
Nice article. Some days I wish that we could jettison one of our vehicles (especially when I have to write a check for the insurance), but that would not mesh well with our current lifestyle. We make up for it by not making unnecessary trips, and other self-reliant measures.
All great ideas! Unfortunately, living in Michigan, there is no way to live without a car. Suburban sprawl and Michigan winters!
My husband and I have shared a car for nearly 7 years! On account of using online services for clothes shopping and grocery shopping, it really hasn’t been a problem.
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Great, common sense article. These savings are the low hanging fruit that a simple behavior change, or purchase can bring about. We’ve made a few modifications that have made a difference to our energy costs: tankless hot water heater, LED spot lights. I installed a rain barrel last year, thinking it would save on water costs…turns out, it only saves $7 per year!
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