Have a Fun Summer While Saving Money
When we think of summer it usually involves higher electricity bills, sweaty stinky days outside, no motivation to do much more than sit in the air conditioning and watch re-runs of I Love Lucy. But there are some money saving ideas that you may want to incorporate into your summer days as much as you can. While saving money all year round is ideal, the fact that it is warm outside opens up a few other possibilities that we don’t have available during the colder months.
Fire up that grill! There is nothing like cooking a steak and grilled potatoes and corn on the cob while the sun is setting. Using the inside stove and oven creates a lot of heat right where you don’t want it… inside. It’s already warm outside, so why not cook out there. Keep that oven and stove turned off so the air conditioner isn’t trying to work so hard. Make a family even out of it every couple of weekends. Have friends and family come over and all bring something for the meal. This makes a little less work on you, and gives you some quality time outside with the people you love. Chances are, they will appreciate not heating up their kitchen tonight as well!
Remember that old clothesline? Put it to use! No only does the dryer heat up the house, dryers pull a lot of electricity as well. Some people avoid using clothes lines because they like to use softer in the dryer. The best resolution to this is to use washing machine softer. Hanging your clothing outside to dry takes advantage of the natural sun and heat.
Cut off the AC. Don’t be miserable by any means, but be aware of what weather is ahead. For example if you know its going to a nice night cut the air conditioning off right before bed and open some windows. If it’s a nice, cool, rainy day crack the windows. You can also reverse the spin on your fans to pull in cool air from outside.
Lastly, near the end of summer prepare for next years landscaping and summer supplies. These items will be going on sale, and now will be the best time to buy them. Make a list of the things that you purchased this year that you will probably need for next and be sure and get them when they go on sale this Fall.