Not too many people consider their electric bill whenever they purchase appliances. However, for the money-conscious individual, being able control the electric bills is a great way to save money. Here are a few tips to help you purchase appliances that will make your life more convenient without necessarily bleeding your pockets dry.
1. Consider the appliance’s energy efficiency rate. Most appliance stores post their wares’ energy efficiency rates along with the wares themselves. These rates tell the consumer how much electricity they would expect to use with these appliances.
Make sure that you consider how much electricity the appliances will consume before you purchase them. This should be one of the factors to consider when shopping around for appliances. Although you may not feel it directly, an appliance that hemorrhages electricity will make a serious dent in your bill every month.
2. Consider your needs. While it isn't a guess at all to buy what you want, think hard and deep if the appliance in front of you is something you truly need. If it isn't something you truly need, then you might want to back off from it. Far too often, people purchase things that they don't really need. Aside from being a nuisance in the home-and something that eventually gets relegated to the garage-these things only waste electricity.
3. Go for gas if possible. If you are trying to save on electricity, you'll want to stay away from appliances that produce heat using electricity. These appliances are among the most energy consuming ones around because they produce that heat by a process that is both wasteful and inefficient.
For example, electric irons, curling irons, electric stoves and other such appliances waste electricity more than most other appliances. Instead of using electric stoves, why not stick to a gas stove. Gas stoves are more energy-efficient and won't make your electric meter spin like a top.
If you must use such appliances, make sure to schedule their use so that they are efficient. Avoid having to heat them up only to let them cool down again and using them again. If the appliance has to start from a cold start it will use up a tremendous amount of energy.
4. Go for florescent bulbs. Incandescent bulbs are one of the most wasteful types of appliances in the home. The incandescent bulb is wasteful because it not only produces light, it also produces heat. This means that the energy it uses doesn't all go to light. In fact, the light bulb only uses about 10% of its energy for light. The rest is wasted on heat.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Appliance Purchase Guide For Penny Pinchers
A Rough Guide To Saving Money On Clothes
In your effort to save money in everything that you do, it is important that you learn how to shop for clothes properly. Furthermore, by shopping for clothes properly, you could decrease your overall expenditures from as little as 10% to as much as 30%.
Saving money on clothing is simple, all you need to his follow a few tips and live them out in your experience. Here are some of these tips which will help you reduce your expenditures on clothes shopping.
1. What you want and what you need. There is a big difference between what you want and what you need. When it comes to clothes, you will need to balance both to keep yourself happy. If you look beneath the labels, you will find that many clothes are basically of the same make, quality, and style. The only difference is the inexplicable price bump due to its label.
If you are one that shops for labels you may consider slashing the number of branded clothes in your wardrobe by half. This way you still get to enjoy those branded clothes while getting equal quality clothes from generic brands. These brands could be just as good or even better then ones with expensive labels. So do consider them.
2. Look out for sales. Mark your calendars and find out when the season sales hit. The sales can save you as much as 70% off retail prices. This is a great way to get chic clothes at lower prices. You could schedule your shopping sprees on these periods. And knowing in advance when the sales are held will help you prepare enough money for these seasons.
You could contact your local department store to find out when they have sales schedule. They would be more than happy to let you know when they have events scheduled. You can also ask from store to store so that you have a complete list of shopping options during sales season.
3. Buy out of season. One of the best ways to get cheap clothes is to buy out of season. This means you should buy your summer wear during the winter when prices for summer wears are rock-bottom. Conversely, you could choose to buy winter wear during summer sales when these clothes are also rock-bottom in price.
By buying out the season he could stand to save as much as 60% from normal prices. This way you can get great clothes at a lower price without having to sacrifice quality or even brand name. It is a great way to indulge in good clothes without having to break the bank.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
A Quick Primer On How To Save Money
So next time you see that sparkling jewel that costs a few thousand dollars, think hard and deep if you really need that thing. You will need a whole deal of self-control; but in the end, it's all worth it when you're trying to save up
2. Buy generic. Branded items cost twice as much as generic items. However, this doesn't mean that they are necessarily better in quality. Your goal now is to reduce the number of branded items you purchase and increase the number of generic brands on your list.
3. Spend within your means. Building wealth is equivalent to being able to spend less than you earn. No one builds wealth by spending more than they are capable of earning. It doesn’t matter if you earn $10,000 or if you earn $5,000, if you spent more than you earn you are still a poor person.
4. Try it before you buy it. Before taking something home for good, make sure you try it and understand the implications of owning such a thing. Don't forget to factor in maintenance costs, insurance, and operating costs before making your decision. This way you are able consider all the implications of your purchase before you regret your decision.
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