How to Save $700-800 Every Year: 5 Easy Tips

Is there money escaping from your house?

It could be flying out the doors and windows! You can fix that pretty easily. Plug those money leaks with these simple energy saving tricks. With today’s expenses, who couldn’t use an extra $700-800 each year?! Put these on your to-do list to improve your finances and the comfort of your living space!

1.   Save $260 with an Energy Star shower head. These cost as little as $35, take just two minutes to install, and you’ll save about $260 a year, year after year! That’s a terrific return on investment! Put one in the shower that gets used the most or in all your showers.

2.  Use insulated drapes.

Put them in your coldest rooms or the rooms you use the most. They will pay for themselves over 3-4 years. They block out sun and noise quite a bit, so you might sleep better too! 

3.  Make your freezer more efficient.

This is totally free to do and super easy! Put containers of water in the empty spaces of your freezer. You can use rinsed out milk jugs, orange juice containers, pop bottles, etc. Don’t fill them all the way because water takes up more space when frozen. Put these containers wherever they will fit. They help your freezer run more efficiently and if you get an interruption in power your frozen foods will last longer.

4.  Save as much as $325 by using a pressure cooker.

The modern pressure cooker is so efficient that it uses just one cent in energy to make a meal! Just toss food in the pressure cooker when you get home from work. In minutes you have a fresh home-cooked meal. Use less spices in a pressure cooker because it gets more flavor from spices. It’s a great item to put on your holiday wish list!

5. Save $160 with new weatherstripping for your front door.

This is a quick DIY fix for a drafty front door. Buy a self-adhesive foam strip made for this at the hardware store for about $4. Simple to put up and it will keep your house cozy all winter. While you’re at the hardware store, pick up some draft stopping foam gaskets for all your electrical outlets. They are about $4 for 10 gaskets. Just remove the outlet cover, insert the gasket, and put the cover back on. You could save about $160 or more a year by doing these two easy installs.

If you have a fireplace, be sure to close the damper when not using it. That way you keep the warm air in and the cold air out!

Of course, when it’s time to replace any appliances, get the most efficient Energy Star appliance you can afford.

All the energy savings really add up! An extra cold winter is forecast this year, so you might save even more with these projects.

Are there more ways to save? Of course! Do we think of all of them? Not often. It’s a process of building new habits that pay off big time. Click here to take the Money Quiz and find out your Smart Saver Score! It’s also a great place to get more ways to save that we often forget.

What ways do you already save? Please share in the comments! You can also find more ideas if you click on the tags below this post.