So welcome back to My Early Retirement Journey. As I'm closing out this month, I've been dabbling in some listicles. One is already posted and one is scheduled. Stay tuned. This is a quick one to wrap up this mini-season of my life. My April 2018 power bill came and it was pretty low. I thought about what I could have done unintentionally to get it this low. Here's what I came up with for you in this here listicle.
7 Cheeky Ways To Save On Your Energy Bill This Month
- Live in a studio. I only have 3 light fixtures. I can see every wall in my apartment from any spot in my home. I don't have central air or heating. Only one window opens so I'm very well insulated from the elements.
- Don't work from home. Use your company's electricity for your laptop, refrigeration for your lunch and heating up snacks. Also for heating and cooling.
- Work a day job and a side hustle so that you're away from home at least 12 hours. Unplug everything or charge it at work. Don't need to use any energy if you're not home.
- Use a $1 lamp. Use a $1 lamp from the dollar store for all lighting needs. Because of the studio, one lamp lights up the whole apartment. Plus it's late when you get home so you just need it to find your way to bed.
- Use a toaster oven for all your baking needs. Use a toaster oven instead of a regular oven because your studio apartment doesn't have an oven. Plan on only needing the space for 2 years so think it doesn't matter. Then wind up living there going on 3 years because you can't afford a nicer place to live or own.
- Wash dishes no sooner than once every 10 days. You weren't home anyway to eat anything.
- Don't shower. It uses hot water which requires energy. I don't think I showered this week at all. Just don't get sweaty and it keeps people from wanting to talk to you at work if you do.
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| Charged about $23.38 this month (48.87-25.49). |
A note on this bill. When I first moved into my apartment, my first power bill said the average monthly usage for my area is $35. So I auto-pay $35/mon. There's a credit because I haven't been using that much energy every month. I haven't logged in recently to check the actual bill because they send a snippet in email, and they changed the log-ins and setting up log-ins is my pet peeve. But I just subtracted the two balances to get what I was charged this month. As you may know, My Working Budget is based on historical spending and I give myself an allowance to cover every day expenses. Most everything is automated. I reconcile balances as needed. That's what works for me this early in My Journey.
Related Content:
- Budget Struggles
- I Finally Got My Hospital Bill: The Cost of A Dual-Port Hysterectomy in 2018 (in pictures)
What are your energy saving tips? Comment below and start the conversation!
Thats a great minimalist life you've got going on there MERJ! Am scratching my head as to where your Aunt is fitting in. No wonder she is looming large in your life whilst staying with you.
ReplyDeleteI save energy by having a cold shower every morning, April - Oct. Fastest way to wake me up and get cracking. I actually hate the showers in public swimming baths now as there is no cold option. I have to grin and bear the hot water to rinse my hair. 1st world problem me thinks!
I have known to take a cool shower or too when it gets hot here. One of the reasons I stopped going to water aerobics was I just got tired of being so cold in the water but they tended to have the class in the winter. Hmm... now that I think about it..maybe I should try it in the summer. So, hey... is there a part of the UK that has sunny weather regularly or is it all grey and gloomy?
ReplyDeleteIn theory we have plenty of sunny weather. Although we are not talking heat in the 80's, more like 70 if we are lucky (mini heatwaves apart). The south coast is supposed to be the warmest and sunniest but currently I beg to differ. Dec - Mar it did nothing but rain. We couldn't get up to the allotment or out in the garden as everything was a quagmire. Now we are having some decent weather but it won't last. The grey and gloomy is usually reserved for winter when it doesn't get cold enough either. This is why the British are obsessed with the weather!
ReplyDeleteSeems pretty grey..pun intended what the weather is really like out there. Hmm, here it's pretty definitive: hot and muggy or not.
ReplyDelete