46 - Don’t Let Money Go Down the Drain: Smart Ways to Save on Water Heating

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We all love a long, hot shower, but did you know that water heating accounts for nearly 20% of your home’s total energy use? It’s the second-largest energy expense in most households, right behind heating and cooling. That means every time you turn on the tap, wash a load of laundry, or run the dishwasher, you’re paying not just for the water itself, but for the energy it takes to heat it. The good news is that you don’t have to take cold showers to save money. With a few simple adjustments—most of which cost nothing—you can significantly cut your water heating bill while maintaining comfort. From simple habit changes to smart upgrades, here’s how to keep your water hot and your bills low. 1. Lower Your Water Heater Temperature Most water heaters come from the factory set to 140°F. Not only is this temperature unnecessarily high for most household tasks, but it also poses a scalding risk. By lowering your water heater’s temperature to 120°F, you can reduce standby heat losses and save ...
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23 - Throwback Thursday #1: Amazing Tips from our Frugal Ancestors!

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As I brainstorm topics for this blog, I am constantly reminded of the money saving tips and tricks my parents used while growing up. They learned a lot of them from their parents, who learned a lot from their parents, and so on an so forth! I also cooked at a soup kitchen for ten years and learned even more money saving tricks from the elderly British couple who was in charge. Although many of these may seem obvious, I really wanted to share them with you anyway, because "What's common knowledge for one, may be a brilliant idea to another."

So today's money saving tips will take place in the kitchen. I know these tips, yet I still mess up all the time, so learn them and then make sure you follow them to accumulate maximum savings!

TIP #1: Don't buy perishable groceries for longer than a week at a time. 
It takes up space in the refrigerator, will go bad before you get to it, and it's hard to plan meals that far in advance. I used to buy groceries for 6 or 7 meals at a time and then realize after cooking 3 or 4 of them that the ingredients for the other meals were starting to mold or look old. Dinners got pushed back as I met friends for dinners, grabbed fast food, didn't have time to cook, or just wanted something simple.

TIP #2: Water is free, so save money by not buying beverages.
Think about how much money you spend on soda, juice, expensive coffees, alcohol, etc. These are all truly optional purchases! If you're willing to cut down in all of these other areas, realize how easy it would be to save some cash simply by replacing all or most of your beverages with water (or homemade coffee and tea)! If you're like me and really don't love love love water, think about inexpensive ways to turn water into something more enjoyable at an inexpensive cost.

TIP #3: When you do buy beverages, buy smartly and find ways to stretch them!
  • Generic soda is much cheaper than name brands, so give them a try! If they taste similarly or better, switch to the generic to save some cash. I recently discovered that Walmart's Zero Sugar Mountain Lightning tastes the same (maybe better) than Zero Sugar Mountain Dew! A 2-liter bottle is $1.00 (1.5 cents per ounce), which is more than half off the name brand!
  • Look at the price per ounce to see just how much more you're spending by buying cans or individual bottles, compared to 2-liter bottles. Here are the prices for Zero Sugar Pepsi at my Walmart today:
    • Single 2-liter bottle (67.6 oz) (On sale for $2.00, normally $2.64):
      • 3.0 cents per ounce (Sale Price)
      • 3.9 cents per ounce (Normal Price)
    • 12-pack of 12 oz cans ($5.67):
      • 3.9 cents per ounce
    • 24-pack of 12 oz cans ($11.97):
      • 4.2 cents per ounce
    • 12-pack of 16.9 oz bottles ($8.62):
      • 4.3 cents per ounce
    • 6-pack of 16.9 oz bottles ($4.98):
      • 4.9 cents per ounce
    • 6-pack of 7.5 oz mini cans ($4.28):
      • 9.5 cents per ounce
    • 10-pack of 20 oz bottles ($29.40):
      • 14.7 cents per ounce
    • Note: There was no price provided for the 8.5 oz mini bottles, so those are omitted.
    • So, buying a generic 2-liter bottle is 1.5 cents per ounce, the sale price for the name brand 2-liter bottle is twice that (3.0 cents per ounce), and cans & bottles are around three times the price of the generic. Is it worth paying three times as much for the individual servings?
Next Thursday, we'll continue looking at Throwback Saving Tips! Hope you'll check out the blog then!

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