Save on that Electric Bill!

Been out of commission for a little while with summer activities. It seems like everything happens at summer time! And everyone spends more money so even more cautions are needed to keep your budget on track!

I am done with food for a while. Well, food entries that is! LOL I'll never be done with food! ;) I have about a gajillion and one more recipes to share so it will pop up occasionally again, I swear!

For today I want to talk a little about your electric bill. I know, I know, don't remind me! Summer time always equals more electricity! The kids are home, the air is on, they run in and out of the house, open and close the fridge. Jeesh. Our bill can jump by a whole third to a half and we don't even have kids, just the one baby! I can only imagine what will happen when he gets bigger!

Here are just a few things I do to try and keep the bill down.

Hang dry stuff.
Blankets go outside to dry. And I wash them a lot because of our cats and the fur. And the baby can leave messes too. It makes the blankets smell nice to dry in the sunshine and it keeps the dryer from running too much.
I also hang dry all denim (except baby clothes) and most nice and semi-nice shirts. It not only saves on dryer runnage, but it also preserves the integrity of the fabric making the clothes last even longer. And when you cannot afford to go buying new clothes every time something wears out, you need to get the longest life out of each piece as possible.

Use your ceiling fans or standing fans. They use less electricity than the AC and will help keep the air circulation so you can turn the AC down.

If there is a cool day or cool night, open the windows. It lets the home air out for health benefits as well as saving your AC run time.

Turn off your computer at night.
Maybe most people do this but for my family, we work from home and it is all online. Our computers are a central focus of our lives and run all day long. We often would forget to turn them off when we go to bed but when we do it saves a ton of electricity!

If you aren't using it or aren't in the room or aren't watching/listening to it, turn it off.
Do you ever find your TV on in the background and no one watching? Or the radio on and no one listening? Or the light on in the bathroom and no one in there? Go around the house and turn things off.

During the day, open the curtains and let in the natural light and turn off the lamps.

During naps, close all curtains and blinds to keep out the heat and let the whole place come down a few degrees.

If people in your house say they are hot, invite them to remove socks and shoes. Some may think that is strange I guess, but the way I see it, we all live on this planet together. Feet don't bother me. And if you are wearing shoes and socks you will be hotter. So instead of cranking the AC, take them off!

Turn your AC down at night and use fewer (or no) blankets. There is no need to have it running all night long unless you are uncomfortable.

Also, turn it down (or up as it were) when you leave. It may not be a blast of cold air when you come back home, but it will be cooler than it was outside and you can adjust it when you return. But there's no need to keep it running full blast when you aren't at home.

And yeah, our bills will still be higher even with all of these cautions. But maybe it won't be quite as much of a sticker shock each month if we just do a few extra steps to keep our electricity under control. Get your family on board with you. Have them check the house too!

Any other ideas or suggestions of things you and your family do to save on electricity? Share them in the comments!