According to myfirstapartment.com, the average tenant spends about $200 a month on utilities. And that’s if they live by themselves! Thankfully, there are many simple ways you can reduce your monthly payments due to your utilities.
1. Watch your heating and cooling expenses carefully. If it’s a sunny winter day, open the blinds and let nature warm your home. On the other hand, you can close your blinds on sweltering summer days. If you don’t have one, consider purchasing a programmable thermostat that turns off while you are at work. No sense in cooling or heating an empty home! And be sure not to run your bathroom or kitchen fans too often; they can cause your heating and cooling systems to work harder.
2. Replace the simple things. Switching out your incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs can save you on electricity. Not to mention they last much longer and have recently gone down in price. Replacing your air filter can make your furnace run more efficiently. Purchase new power strips. Replacing your dated power strips with Smart Power Strips is a convenient way to save on electricity. After a certain amount of time, Smart Strips turn off the power to things like TVs and gaming systems which constantly use power even when off.
3. Skip the amenities. These days, cable can be an unnecessary expense. Nearly every show you want to watch you can stream with your smart TV and some streaming service. Purchasing a Roku is around $50 and Netflix is $10 a month in comparison to the average $90 that cable costs. So even if you purchase several different streaming services you are still saving more than if you had cable. Another thing you can do, in an apartment anyway, is make friends with your neighbors. If one of your close neighbors has a Wi-Fi connection, ask if you can use it and pay a small fee per month. If you are just using it for Netflix, you won’t use much bandwidth and they might not mind saving some money on their internet bill. On average your utilities equal about 20% of your monthly rent. But with these simple tips you can make your utilities more affordable!