Oh dear here is another article on how to save money. This one is about electricity but the principle is the same no matter what. The best way to save money on anything is not to spend it in the first place.
It doesn’t take Einstein to work out that if you switch off five television sets in the household assuming that there are five people in the household say, and each has their own set on at the same time, you are going to save electricity. Large screen sets chew up heaps of power. However if you can get a family of five to all watch the same program at the same time on one set only you are not only a genius in saving money on power you are also likely to be disinherited by your family.
Alright you have had your family discussion and compromised.Everybody can watch their set but if two or more sets are tuned into the program the new rule is that only one set can be on with two or more people watching it. If the rule works then you are well on you way to saving money on electricity.
Another big user of electricity is water heating. Those long showers with steaming heat cost a fortune. Be brave. Next family discussion tell your teenage children to limit their shower tine to five minutes or you will turn off the hot water. If you want to be the subject of scorn for the rest of your life install a timer switch on the hot water line but don’t expect too much of a present on father’s day.
Assuming that you are able to enforce the first two rules and your family is still with you ,examine all the lighting in the house . Replace all light fittings with the modern energy bulbs and turn off all lights when not in use. Yell at your family if they leave a room with the light still on . See if you can get them watching one television set in the same room with all lights off after they have each had a four minute shower . Never mind about the lack of conversation and the hostility . Think of the savings in electricity.
As soon as you get your family used to the so called hardships see if you can do something about air conditioning in Summer and central heating in the Winter. Use your family to see how hot the house can get before switching on air conditioning. Similarly see how cold the house can get before turning on the central heating. Don’t worry about the grumblings of your family .You are the one who pays the bills and they won’t move out while you continue to do so.
Now let’s see. We have your family all sitting around the one television set, all unnecessary lighting turned off ,windows wide open in summer with maybe a small fan turned on or everybody rugged up in warm clothes with maybe a small heater turned on. Showers are kept to a minimum since you installed the timer on the hot water line and put an alarm clock in the bathroom to give a two minute warning . Actually the alarm clock was one of the few intelligent suggestion s from your family in response to the announcement of the installation of the hot water timer in the first place. The rest of the family’s suggestions you ruled out as being impossible to perform.
With all that in place you can sit back and wait for the next electricity bill and revel in the savings you have made. It is just possible that the savings have covered the cost of replacing the light bulbs with the energy efficient ones, the cost of one or two small fans and heater and let’s not forget the alarm clock. However it may take a few years to cover the plumbers costs and the electrician’s costs for installing the timer on the hot water line. It might also take a while to cover the costs of new winter clothing the family insisted on buying when the central heating was turned off .
If all else fails the following suggestion is guaranteed to halve your electricity bill. When the bill comes fold it in half then get a pair of scissors and cut the bill along the crease until you have two halves. Simple. Your family will love you.