Hello Everyone!
I’m back with another easy way to save you money – Turn off your Lights & Electronics when you’re not using them!
No I’m not talking about walking around in the dark – I’m just referring to when you’re not in the room – you don’t need to light it up. Or if you’re not using your computer – shut it down. I know my mom used to tell me this all the time and it makes complete sense. Why would you bother paying to light up a room you are no longer in? Or to power up a device you’re not currently using? It literally benefits no one and will only cost you money.
Obviously the amount of money you save by turning off the lights and powering down electronics varies by state, what kind of wattage your devices use, and how long you actually let them just sit there unused.
We can start with Incandescent Bulbs – I used the Electricity Use Calculator to get these numbers and I used an assumed wattage of 60 watts and average of $0.12 per kwh. There are very few lights switches in my home that only have ONE light bulb attached to them – I average about 3 bulbs per switch/light fixture when it is actually turned on. Working with those assumptions – If I leave just one switch (3 bulbs) on for just 1 hour a day when I am not in the room – it costs me about $7.89 a year.
Yes I know – that isn’t much – but think about it – how often do you just forget for only 1 hour. I know if I forget to turn my lights off it’s for a much longer trip. If you’re gone 9 hours (8 hour work day + 1 hour round-trip commute) and you forget to turn your lights off this means it costs you more. So those three bulbs were then costing you $0.20 (ish) per day. Lets Say you forget to turn off the lights once a week that means it would cost you $10.40 a year to light up a house when no one is home.
Now lets look at something I myself am guilty of – leaving my computer on. Since I’ve been running Come Save Away I end up on my computer a ton more than I did pre-blog. Which is expected – obviously nothing gets posted onto this site unless I do it through my computer. Here is what I am guilty of though. I will plan out my posts – get them all written and scheduled to post on the blog – and by the end of it I’m tired, hungry and my back hurts (thank you Pregnancy!). So I will get up and often times forget to hit ‘hibernate’ or ‘shut down’. This leaves my computer running – plugged into the wall – sucking up power.
Again using the Electricity Use Calculator and working under a couple assumptions (my laptop uses 60 watts an hour and it cost .12 per kwh) if I leave my computer on and unused for just 1 hour a day (which sometimes isn’t too hard to do at my household) It would cost me $2.63 a year. Again I know this doesn’t sound like a lot on it’s own – but that is literally money that is pretty much burned – because no one was using it and it would have only took a couple seconds to shut it down (just like turning off a light).
I could go on and on with other examples – but you can look up the different devices you have here and calculate it out yourself. I know I sometimes would fall asleep with the TV on at night when I was in law school- to the point where I had to make sure that I put a timer on my TV to shut down automatically turn off after a certain number of idle hours. Otherwise I would wake up with my TV still on. However the long and short of it is that if your not using it you might as well not pay money to have it on. This can be light bulbs, computers, TV’s, game counsels, fans and the like. If you start turning these off you will save money – it wont be a ton of it but it will still be money saved!
I know when my Husband and I were first married literally every penny saved was a big deal to us (I would ALWAYS pick up a penny if I found it – that’s how tight our budget was!). Turning off items when we weren’t using them helped us save money from a budget we didn’t think had anything left to cut. It was honestly like getting water from a stone for us the first couple years. SO if your in a similar situation – this will help – because you don’t want to spend money you don’t have to – especially if you have no wiggle room in your budget!
Saved with this methods $50
Total Saved: $1,134
If you Missed any part of the Series be sure to Catch up:
1. Over 50 Ways to Save Over $50: #1 Use Coupons
2. Over 50 ways to save Over $50: #2 wash clothes in cold water
3. Over 50 ways to save Over $50: #3 Buy Meat in Bulk When It’s On Sale or Marked Down
4. Over 50 ways to save Over $50: #4 Have A Garage Sale
5. Over 50 ways to save Over $50: #5 Shop at a Farmer’s Market
6. Over 50 ways to save Over $50: #6 Canning
7. Over 50 Ways to Save Over $50: #7 Make Your Own Baby Food
8. Over 50 Ways to Save Over $50: #8 Make Coffee at Home
9. Over 50 Ways to Save Over $50: #9 Movie Night At Your House
10. Over 50 Ways to Save Over $50: #10 Use Gas Rewards
11. Over 50 Ways to Save Over $50: #11 Shop With a Credit Card
12. Over 50 Ways to Save Over $50: #12 Swagbucks
13. Over 50 Ways to Save Over $50: #13 Shop Holiday Clearance
14. Over 50 Ways to Save Over $50: #14 Use an App That Pays You
15. Over 50 Ways to Save Over $50: #15 Put $1.00 Away Each Week