by Dawn Hawkins

Created on: October 13, 2009

Everyone looks for ways to cut back on the monthly bills. There are some easy things that you can do to help you cut back on yours. The best place to start is with your water and electricity usage. If you find ways to cut down on the usage of these two things, you can save hundreds of dollars a year. It's worth doing when you see the results you get from it.

Here are some ways to cut back on your water and electricity usage:

Brushing your teeth- Turn off the water while you are brushing your teeth. There is no need to have the water running while you are actually brushing your teeth. This can save you a lot of money when your water bill comes in.

Washing dishes- Wash dishes by hand where possible. Running a dishwasher takes a lot of electricity and water. If you cut down on the number of times you run the dishwasher each week, you will definitely see a difference in both your water and electricity bill.

Bathing/showering- It takes less water to take a bath than it does to shower. Try cutting back on the number of showers you take by replacing them with baths. If you must take a shower, cut back on the time you spend in the shower. Turn off the water while you are shaving as well. This will help you save more money than you can imagine.

Laundry- Make sure that you have full loads when you do your laundry. This will save water and electricity as well. The less loads you have to wash, the less loads you have to dry. If possible, hang your clothes out on the line so that you don't waste even more electricity. Your clothes will smell better too.

Turning off the lights- If you aren't in the room, turn off the lights as you leave the room. This will save a great deal of money along the way. The same thing goes for turning off your television and computer. If you leave things on even when you aren't using them, they will run your electricity for no reason at all.

Heat- If you leave your blinds open during the daylight hours and closed in the evening, it will keep the house much warmer in the winter. That means you won't have to keep the heat as high as you usually would have to. You don't even have to sacrifice anything for it. It only takes a minute to open the blinds and let the sun shine in.

Cooling- In the summertime, you can keep the blinds closed during the day and open in the evenings. Don't turn on the air conditioning until absolutely necessary. Open the windows and get fresh air into the house. It will get the stale air out and you will feel much better.

There are many ways to cut back on water and electricity usage in order to save money in your home. You have to keep on top of it and be a little more alert about what you are doing and how you do it. Before you know it, you will have saved hundreds of dollars a year. It is well worth the effort.

Learn more about this author, Dawn Hawkins.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.