For our family, saving money goes so far beyond using coupons. Sure those coupons, apps, and rewards programs slash your spending budget, but using them in combination with other everyday frugal household practices can really help your family save. Reducing the amount of energy and water your home uses can add up and help your family #LiveBrighter!
Direct Energy is the energy company that wants you to buy less of what they sell…really! They have been working harder and thinking smarter to provide tools and technology you as consumers can use to understand your energy usage and #LiveBrighter. Direct Energy wants you to be an empowered consumer and has created tools and partnerships to help you do just that by managing your energy usage.
Right now when you sign up with Direct Energy you will receive a $75 pre-paid gift card!
Just use promo code LIVEBRIGHTER75 – valid until August 15th!
Here are a few of my family’s favorite ways to save energy at home and #LiveBrighter…
1. Make homemade laundry detergent. Everyone washes clothes, but are you washing them as frugally as possible? The average family does about 8 loads of laundry per week. At approximately $0.20 per load using the detergent you’ll find in stores that’s $80 per year on detergent alone. Take that $80 laundry detergent cost down to $25 by making your own laundry detergent. As an added bonus the recipe we (you can see it here) is mostly natural so it works good for our family’s sensitive skin.
2. Wash full loads and only use what you need. Add in the cost of water and energy and total cost of laundry adds up pretty fast. To save energy and water, be sure when you are that you are washing full loads. Also, whenever you can, use cold water instead of hot. By doing so you’ll save 50% of the energy you would have used if you washed your clothes in hot water. Don’t forget to save while drying your clothes too…instead of just cranking the timer dial all the way, check and see how long it actually takes your clothes to dry. You might be able to shave 20 – 30 minutes off the drying time and all the electricity or gas that goes along with it.
3. Only wash clothes that are actually dirty. Jeans are usually good for a few wears along with other clothing that might have only been worn for a few hours. Towels can be used a few times too…how dirty can they be if you just got out of the shower?
4. Do you have a programmable thermostat? By lowering your thermostat 10 to 15 degrees for eight hours a day, you can save up to 15 percent on your heating bill this winter. A programmable thermostat is the easiest way to accomplish this since you can have it automatically lower the temperature when you won’t be home or at night in rooms you won’t be sleeping in. Watch home improvement stores or other retailers for a sale to get the best price on a programmable thermostat.
5. Optimize your “throne.” If it’s not functioning properly, did you know that your toilet might be costing you money? Leaky toilets can send extra water (and money) down the drain. You can check for leaks by pouring a pack of grape Kool-Aid or dark food coloring in the tank. Wait about 20 – 30 minutes and then check to see if the coloring has leaked into the toilet bowl. If it is still clear, you have no leak. But if there is color to the toilet bowl water, you have a leak. Usually a new flap or seal can get things working properly again.
6. Save water on each flush. Once you get the functioning of your toilet under control, you might as well do one more thing to save water while you’re there. Placing a 2-liter soda bottle in the tank will displace enough water to save you up to 1 gallon per flush…up to 10 gallons per day in the average household. All you have to do is fill an empty soda bottle with water and place it in the tank away from the toilet’s working parts. Flush away as usual without sending unnecessary money down the drain!
In addition to how awesome Direct Energy is for helping you find the best deal on your energy needs, they are also the only energy provider to be a part of Plenti! Plenti lets you earn points at one place and use them at another, all within a single rewards program so that keeping track of your rewards is simple. Just for joining, new customers will be able to earn 1,000 Plenti points at enrollment when they sign up for Plenti and link their Plenti card number to their Direct Energy account. In addition, existing Direct Energy customers will also earn 1,000 Plenti point when they sign up for Plenti and link their Plenti card number to their Direct Energy account too.
Visit www.directenergy.com/plenti for more information on Direct Energy’s Plenti points program.
So are you ready to save on your energy expenses? Right now when you sign up with Direct Energy you will receive a $75 pre-paid gift card! Just use promo code LIVEBRIGHTER75 – valid until August 15th!
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