Money Savers Part 9: Utilities and Up-Front Purchases

The two money-savers I’m talking about today seem kind of randomly paired. But I promise if you stick with me, you’ll see how this makes sense!

Utilities

How many of you grew up with your parents telling you to turn off the lights when you left a room? Annnnd how many of you realized when you got your own home that they knew what they were talking about??? It was such an eye-opener when I started paying my own bills and saw the effects of not being intentional with the “little” things. These “little” things can be the easiest and hardest things to save on at the same time. It definitely takes a little extra thought, but is very worth it! I (try to) save on things like…

– turning off lights when you leave a room

– keeping the thermostat set to a manageable temperature

– keeping the TV, computers, radios, etc. turned off when not in use

Up-Front Purchases

Now, I promised that these two money-savers would make sense. The biggest way that we have seen “up-front purchases” affect our utility bills is by purchasing items that help conserve or that work very efficiently. The first item we purchased when we moved into our house was a new HVAC system. We moved in at the beginning of May, and by July our system was out. It. Was. Miserable. But it ended up working out for the best! The system we bought was definitely a bigger expense, but it has saved us so much on our monthly bills that it was beyond worth it! We have easily offset that cost in monthly savings.

Money Savers - Part 9

My favorite way to save with “up-front” purchases is by taking something that we enjoy going out to do and making our own “homemade” version. The most fun example – our coffee bar! Anyone who knows me knows that I love me some coffee! (It’s a family trait. Ha!) I love to go out for coffee with friends and family, but that really adds up. So this summer my wonderful husband put this coffee bar together for us! He found the table online for super cheap and made the shelf with leftover wood and paint we had from another home DIY project. (How handy is he?!) The up-front investment for us here was our espresso machine. All summer and on weekends he makes us special coffee treats that easily beat going out for. Plus, we get to drink them in our jammies!

Sometimes it’s hard to pull the trigger on an expensive purchase. But when you think about how much you can save over time with that item, it’s really helpful when you’re trying to save! What are some up-front purchases you’ve found helpful?

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