Save Money, Live Better by Jane Thurnell-Read

Saving money doesn't have to turn you into a misery. Here are some tips to help you save money and live a better life:

Shopping
Reduce the number of trips to the shop/store. That way you reduce the number of impulse purchases you make, saving you money. And eat something before you go food shopping. This way you are likely to spend less and buy more healthy food.

Wasting Food
On average we throw away a fifth of the fresh food we buy. Buy wisely and save money and help the environment.

Check Your Tyre Pressure
Under-inflated tyres mean your engine has to work harder, so you use more petrol/gas. But don't over-inflate your tyres as this is dangerous.

Idling Costs Money
When the engine is idling you're wasting fuel and adding to CO2 emissions. If you're likely to be at a standstill for more than 3 minutes, simply switch off the engine. (UK government advice, ActOn02)

Money & Misery
"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditures twenty pounds ought and six, result misery." Charles Dickens

Spending Money
"Too many people spend money they haven’t earned to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.” Will Rogers

Use Less Gas
At 70mph you could be using up to 9% more fuel than at 60mph and up to 15% more fuel than at 50mph. (UK Government, Acton02)

Switch The Light Off!
If you're going to be out of a room for more than 3 minutes, switch the light off.

Shopping
Shopping locally isn't necessarily more expensive than shopping in a supermarket, if you add in the cost of getting there, and all the additional stuff they tempt you to buy that you don't really need.

Save Money!
When it's cold outside, draw curtains/drapes and blinds in all the rooms of your house, not just the one you're in.

Freezers
A half empty freezer costs more to run than a full one.

Give Some Away!
One of the best ways to enjoy your money is to give some of it away.

Fridge
Friends Of the Earth (UK) say: avoid leaving fridge doors open. Each minute the door is open uses three minutes of energy to cool down again.

Frosty Windscreen?
Friends Of the Earth (UK) say: clear frost from your windscreen without using chemicals, by pouring a jug of cold water over it (hot water can shatter the glass - plus strangely, hot water freezes quicker than cold).

Prosperity
"Prosperity is a way of living and thinking, and not just money or things. Poverty is a way of living and thinking, and not just a lack of money or things." Eric Butterworth

Computer Monitors
Powering a computer monitor accounts for 80 per cent of a computer's energy consumption and contributes to a third of the electricity used in a modern office. Switch them off, when not in use.

Turn Down The Thermostat
According to the UK Energy Saving Trust turning your heating thermostat down by 1 degree centigrade (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) could cut your heating bills by up to 10 per cent.
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Microwave Cookers
A typical microwave oven uses more electricity for its digital clock than it does in heating food. Switch off costly stand-by mechanisms.

Cheap Pleasures
"That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest." Henry David Thoreau. Struggling with money? Find some cheap pleasures.

Standby Is Not Off!
Alan Meier of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the USA did research in Florida and Japan, and found that standby power accounted for as much as 10% of household power-consumption.

Unplug Your Phone Charger
Cell phone chargers use power whether or not they are in use, so unplug your charger when your phone has recharged. Don’t just switch it off.

Doubling Your Money
"The safe way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket." Frank Hubbard

Get More Pleasure!
Sometimes waiting and saving for something can give you more pleasure over a longer period of time than borrowing money and having it straight away.

Copyright 2009 Jane Thurnell-Read.