Ways to Save Money that You May Not Think Of

The majority of us know the bigger ways to save money. Things such as using coupons when we shop, keeping the thermostat at 68 degrees in the winter, winterizing our homes and cars, turning off the water while brushing our teeth, and turning off the lights when we leave a room. These are things that we have all learned and are relatively common ways to save money. There are more ways to save money that many of us do not know about. These are simple ways to make your dollars stretch farther, and things that not everyone will think of.

We all have to do laundry at one point or another. We can save quite a bit of money each time we wash and dry our clothes. Using the hot water cycle when washing clothes uses quite a bit of energy. It drains the hot water heater, and causes it to work harder to heat up the water as it refills. If you have ever felt the water in your washer when it is set on a hot water cycle, you have noticed that by the time the washer is actually full, the water is no longer hot, it is warm. If you used a warm water cycle to wash clothes rather than the hot water cycle, the water temperature is pretty close, and the water heater does not get drained as much. So, by using a warm water cycle rather than the hot water cycle, your clothes are still getting clean, but you are saving energy because the hot water heater does not have to work as hard to re-heat the water. Second, when using detergent, your clothes will get just as clean using half the recommended amount as they do when you use the full amount. Sometimes, they actually get cleaner and look less worn because the soapy residue that is often left behind is lessened. By doing this, your detergent will go twice as far and your clothes will still be clean. A third way to save money when doing the laundry is to use a homemade dryer sheet rather than store bought ones. A homemade dryer sheet is easy to make. Use an old washcloth, soak it in liquid fabric softener, and hang it to dry. Once it is dry, you can put it in the dryer with your clothes. It works just as well as the store bought dryer sheets, and you can use it for up to 30 loads of laundry. All you have to do is repeat the process when it is needed. Not only will your fabric softener go a lot farther, but you will not have to continually buy dryer sheets.

Money can be saved in the kitchen too. For all of the coffee drinkers in the world, you can easily make your coffee grounds go farther without sacrificing taste. Instead of changing the coffee filter after each pot of coffee, use the same filter and grounds, add a scoop of fresh grounds, and brew as normal. If you use filter packs, simply turn the filter over and brew. The coffee tastes just as good as if you used a new filter pack, or fresh filter with grounds in the coffee pot. When making kool-aid for the kids, use less sugar per pitcher. It tastes just as good, kids cannot tell the difference at all, it is healthier, and your sugar will stretch farther. Rather than buying bottled water, save money by using a filtration system in your kitchen for drinking water, and using re-usable water bottles. Brita water filtration system is a good choice. You can filter the water one pitcher at a time, or you can attach a filter to your sink. Either way, you save money in the long run. Re-use your zip-lock baggies rather than throwing them away. Wash them out, put then upside down to dry out, and re-use them. Rather than buying containers to store left-over food, wash and re-use containers that you get when you buy things like butter or sour cream.

When it comes to heating your house in the winter time, we all know that we should winterize our homes and put plastic over the windows. We rarely think about our home's air filter, except to change it once in a while. You can prolong the life of the air filter by blowing the dust and dirt out of it once a month, and changing it after a few months. This helps the air flow more freely through your vents; reducing the amount of time the furnace must run to heat your home. Remember, if you have a central air-conditioner, the air still goes through the same way it does with the furnace. You can save money in the hot months by practicing the same procedure with your air filter at that time of year.

When cleaning your windows and mirrors, you can save money by using old newspapers to wipe your windows rather than using paper towels. Your windows will actually shine more too. Another way to save money when you are cleaning your house is to use a small amount of dish soap in a bucket of hot water to clean your linoleum or tile floors. It only takes a few drops, and works just as well as more pricey cleaners do. You can also use this combination for cleaning countertops, sinks, and tubs. Instead of buying toilet bowl cleaner, use bleach to clean your toilet. Once again, it only takes a small amount and your toilet bowl will be disinfected, and remain stain-free. These are products that you will probably have on hand anyway, so why spend money on other cleaners when you do not have to.

We all need scratch paper to write on. Instead of buying paper all of the time, try using that old desk calendar. Cut it into note-sized paper, and write on the back of it. This works with any old papers that are blank on one side.

Another way we can save money in the house is to unplug appliances when they are not being used. Simply turning them off saves a little, but the electricity is still running to the appliance. If the appliance is unplugged all together, you save even more because the electricity is not running to the appliance. Good examples of this are the computer, microwave, and television. These are all things many of us use on a daily basis, and we can save quite a bit by simply unplugging them when they are not being used.

There are many ways that we can all save a little bit of money. Re-using things in the home, using less when possible, keeping air filters as clean as possible and changing them often, and unplugging electrical devices when they are not in use, are just a few. These things may not save you millions of dollars, but they will save you money.