Reduce Utility Bills

The top reasons people use their vehicles are:

• Shopping
• Work
• School
• Recreation
• Social activities
• Travel

This post is going to focus on shopping. By implementing a few strategies, you can make an impact on reducing your gas costs each month. Planning will need to be done before starting out shopping.

Planning:

• Make a list of all purchases you will need to make in the upcoming week. Separate the list into three columns:
  1. Purchases that can be done on the way to and from work, school, or other location that you travel back and forth from on a regular basis. You should not have to deviate from your regular route by more than a mile or two.
  2. Purchases that can be done on line. Often online prices and online specials will offset the cost of shipping. Some stores like Wal-mart offer free shipping with site to store at Walmart.com. Many online purchases can be delivered to your local store free of shipping charges and often at a better price than what is offered in store. If the shipping costs are more than what you’d spend in gas, skip it unless you want to do it for environmental reasons.
  3. All other purchases that need to be made

• Organize the items that will be purchased by store

• Plan a shopping route that minimizes the miles driven

Sometimes it is worth missing a sale at one store to eliminate it from list because the cost of gas to go to that store may exceed the savings.

A well planned once per week shopping day will reduce the amount of money you put into your gas tank. A fringe benefit of once a week shopping includes spending less. The more often you shop, the more likely you are to exceed you budget and purchase items you could probably do without.

With gas prices so high and growing all the time, I added the category-GASOLINE. This category will have helpful hints on reducing the amount of money going into your gas tank. How does it relate to reducing utility bills? It is a little of a stretch, but you can use the money you save at the gas pump to pay your reduced utility bills!

As much as everyone is concerned about reducing their utility bills for financial and environmental reasons, gasoline prices are at the top of the list for current financial concerns for most people. It is of major concern not only due to the cost of filling up the tank on a vehicle, but the effects of cost of everthing from milk to jewelry since it is transported by trucks that use gasoline.

Keeping plant and a lawn green in the summer can raise water bills. This is especially true in southern states where water costs go up at certain levels of use during summer months. Some communities and cities also restrict water use times. Here are a couple ways to reduce water use and still have green plants:

Keep water around plants

• Reduce run off water by digging a lowered area (well) around trees and individual plants to hold water.
• Build up (dam) outer area around edges of gardens, plants and trees to keep water where it is needed.
• Build up area around edges of lawns to hole water in area

Reduce evapportation

• Heavily mulch area around plants
• Water in evening when the sun is down in dry areas
• Water early morning in humid areas (to avoid mold)

Develop deep roots

• Water heavily 1-2 per day for two days in a row. This allows the water to sink deep in the soil.
• Allow water to stand (wells and dams described above assist in this) so it will sink deep into soil
• Don’t water for 1-3 days (depending on heat and plant tolerance) to discourage surface root development

Shade area

•  Use lawn chairs and tables when not in use to provide shade
• Cover with shade cloth during hottest part of day
• Put up temporary canapy
• Plant in natural shade of house and trees

Plant heat/drought tolerant plants

• Plants that do well during southern summers need minimal water
• Put in pots if winters are long and cold, these plants will want to winter indoors

Harvest water run off from summer rains

• Remove drain pipes to allow water to flow in large trash cans or other container to be used later for watering
• Add collapsible hose or use drainage ditch to direct water to plants
• Connect gardens and plants with shallow drainage ditches so water flows from area to another

A beautiful garden and green grass can be attained while minimizing water use and costs.