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February 7, 2015

February No-Spend Month Challenge: Day 7 Recap #nospendchallenge

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Hello again, savvy savers! So for today’s challenge, I suggested you all look to find ways to lower your utility bills at home. For me, this meant mailing off letters requesting new, updated prorated billing information for all three of my utility companies, for gas, electric, and my city water station. Within a month, I generally receive this information in the mail, and from this letter, I can better plan my consumption and usage at home! A little forethought goes a long way towards living a greener existence! 

So, here is what I did today:

  1. I was able to stop by Winn-Dixie and purchase 40 pounds of produce for under $12.00 (post to come)!
  2. I mailed off letters for today’s challenge, as well as Valentine’s Day Cards for out-of-state family. 

As well today, I was also able to accomplish:

  1. I woke up at 7:25, walked my fur babies, showered, & dressed to my shoes. (Thanks, Flylady!)
  2. Worked on my daily Motivated Moms Planner.
  3. I finished today’s Day 7 No-Spend Challenge!
  4. I enjoyed a Free Chik-fil-a- frozen latte!
  5. Ate free samples for lunch at Sam’s Club!
  6. I cooked from my pantry for dinner.
  7. I finished all of my daily blog posts on time!
  8. Read my daily devotional.
  9. I finished all of my errands and shopping before 1 pm!

So today I saved:

  • I used drying racks for six loads of laundry this afternoon, saving an average of $3.25, the cost of running my dryer for 3.5 hours! 
  • I completed 2 surveys online via Ipsos-iSay, and earned a $1.00 towards my next Amazon gift code.
  • I eat at home this evening for dinner, saving our family $3.95. 
  • I recycled, upcycled, and composted one bins of deluge, and saved $0.25, the cost of 1 trash bag. 
  • My husband and I both enjoyed free Chik-fil-a frozen lattes, a savings of $5.98!
  • I received $7.99 worth of product review items, which can be placed in my home gift closet!
  • My family drank water today, and saved $0.69, the cost of a 2-liter of soda.
  • I also did not watch cable tv, and saved $3.68 by doing so.
  • I created a years worth of DIY Hand Sanitizer from materials I found in my home stockpile, saving my family $30.00; the cost of twelve, twelve ounce bottles.

So, overall today my family saved: $56.79

This months savings goal remaining: $445.48

 A full day, a new way to find to save at home! Be sure to come back tomorrow morning for a new day’s challenge!

Here’s to saving,

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Challenge Links:

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February No-Spend Month Challenge: Day 7 (How To Save On Your Utility Bills) #nospendchallenge

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Hello again, savvy savers! It’s a new day, and time for a new challenge! Did you know that you can request from your utility companies, your gas, water, and power companies, an itemized summary of your peak and non-peak hours and service pricing? Did you also know that you could be saving as much as 1/4 off of your bills monthly? Well, you can! Here’s an example…

Starting last Spring, my water bill went up by 20% in a months time! Not that it was a lot of money, but in a year’s time it would have amounted to $400.00! I set out to figure out how to reduce this amount!

 

 Here’s what I did:

  1. I started by calling my city water department, who did not return my call.
  2. I then called my city managers office, and was informed by a kind gentleman there, that water, like electricity has a variable cost, and there are peak and non-peak times of the month, season, and year when water charges are higher, so countries and cities can offset the cost of public works projects in many areas. He also said, that you can request in writing, that your city water department tell of you of current charges, pending spikes for everyone, etc.
  3. When I found this out last summer, I noticed that charges were higher the last week of the month, so I implemented new water usage strategies in my home; I purchased rain barrel systems to attach to my gutters, which I now use for watering my garden the final week of the month, I also do not wash during that week, making sure all of my wash is prepped before that time, for example.
  4. I also checked all of my toilets, plumbing, and water lines for any leaks or pipes that needed to be replaced; luckily they did not!
  5. Just these two changes saved me $38.10 monthly!

What’s better? I then went on to repeat this process for all of my other services, too! I found out that every county seat in this country must provide customers that opportunity to learn what are peak and non-peak hours for consumption. I requested this from my local power co-op, and was then able to see that later in the week, from 7-12 am nightly power premiums were less in price, so I adjusted my washing, drying, dish-washing, and vacuuming to this time. I also found out the same schedule from my city managers office, in terms of out city water department, and adjusted watering for my garden to Sunday’s and Wednesday’s, as the water was nearly 20% less in premiums on non-peak times.

With just these two changes, I was able to save over $400.00 last year!

 So today, I challenge you to pull out your paper and e-print utility statements, check out your peak and non-peak hours, and then write your companies and request an itemized usage statement so that you too can reduce your overall gas, power, and water consumption rates in your neck of the woods! 

So today I challenge you to start the process of seeing where you can save on your utilities, too! Be sure to come back this evening to see today’s recap!

Here’s to saving,

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Challenge Links:

 

Linked-up to:

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