Saving up on home expenses is never an easy task. Especially if you have kids to take care of or if members of an extended family are living together with you. However, it is not impossible to stretch the power of a few pesos in order to save money for the rainy days. It all matters on what you’re spending your money on and how much you’re spending on it.
For those who want to be more frugal with home expenses from this day forward, here are five effective money hacks on home expenses.
1. Lower your Power Bills: The trick to saving money on power bills is to be mindful of how much energy you’re using for the entire house. When we usually buy appliances, we rarely care about how much electricity it consumes. Nowadays, that is a good skill to have. Knowing how much your appliances consume energy is key to lowering down your electricity bills. The appliances that consume a lot of power are the air-conditioner, the refrigerator, the washing machine, and the television.
Always remind your kids and the other members of the house the importance of turning off the TV or aircon when not using it. If a room is too hot and you don’t want to use the aircon, then open the windows and doors of your home to let the natural air in. Using a ceiling fan is another good option too.
Avoid open the refrigerator door all the time when you don’t know what to eat. You know what is inside and this simply gesture can make you spend more money in electricity bills. Also, don’t forget to turn off the lights when you’re not using them. Try using LED light bulbs instead; these are more resilient and economical compared to the traditional light bulbs sold at a store.
2. Be a Smart Grocery Shopper: When you need to get groceries, keep in mind the things that are essential from the things that you want. For this, one good way to save money is by creating a shopping list. List down the things that you need for the week. Any item that is currently not urgently needed can be brought next time.
Not too much into coupons? Now is the perfect time to take advantage of those little stubs of paper. Sure, you might not feel the extra savings you’ll get from using those coupons, but if you have a lot of things to buy for the week, then you’ll start feeling the advantages when most of the stuff you brought are discounted because of the coupons.
Lastly, schedule your grocery shopping whenever your favorite shopping store or shopping mall has a big sale on groceries.
3. Stop carrying your credit cards: Christmas shopping is the Kryptonite for every credit card holders, especially since shopping malls are always tempting you to spend more. Therefore, stop carrying your credit cards when you’re going to buy something in the mall.
The same also goes for going out to eat with the family. Just bring the right amount of cash for whatever you are going to spend. Or limit the number of times you have to go out with your family and eat a home prepared meal with the family instead!
Don’t use your credit cards on grocery shopping; there’s a tendency for anyone to overspend whenever you use plastic money. Start practicing on the idea of using paper bills and coins every time you do groceries, eating out with your friends and family, or shopping. Believe me, your bank account will thank you for it.
4. Save Water: For those who live in the highly urbanized areas, like Cebu or Manila, water bills can be fairly expensive. Thus, it’s only fair to save up on water to lower down your water bills. Try to be more conscious about it, don’t let the faucet run when you are not using the water, don’t use the washing machine with just a few items, take showers and not baths.
5. Buy second-hand furniture instead: Moving to a new home or apartment but it’s not fully furnished? Then you might want to try looking at second hand furniture from local furniture and Japanese stores instead. There are various stores that sell second-hand furniture from Japan, China or Korea and they are extremely cheap and durable. Certain furniture like computer tables and chairs, sofa beds, and couches are very expensive when you buy them brand new, so why not invest in second-hand furniture instead?
