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Top 3 Money Saving Tips for Summertime

Johns Wu Posted in Budgeting by Johns Wu
September 8, 2007 08:48 PM - 10 Comments

SAVE MONEY TIPSSummer is by far my least favorite season. Staying cool can be expensive, especially if you rely on central air conditioning. I’m trying to save some money, so I’ve been doing some research on how to cut back on my energy bill.

Tip #1 : Buy a portable air conditioner with a SEER (Seasonal energy efficiency ratio) of 10.00 or better.

Portable air conditioners are really popular this season. Compared to a central air cooling system, portable air conditioners save money by allowing you to “spot cool” only 1 room versus your entire house. Plus, they’re pretty affordable! They cost anywhere from $300 to $500, depending on the brand and BTU (British thermal unit). Higher BTU numbers mean that the unit can cool a larger room. For an average sized room, 10,000 BTU should be just about right.

One thing to look for when shopping for a portable air conditioner is the SEER, or Seasonal energy efficiency ratio. It is calculated by dividing the cooling power of the AC by the energy consumption of the unit. Larger SEERs means that the AC produces a lot of cooling power while using less energy. For portable ACs, anything over 10 is very energy conserving. And in addition to saving money, you are helping to save the earth.

Tip #2 : Change out your lightbulbs to energy saving fluorescent bulbs.

I cringe when I walk into someone’s home and see them using old school incandescent light bulbs. A typical old school incandescent light bulb produces 60W of lighting and uses 60W electricity. An energy saving bulb produces 60W of lighting and uses 12W of electricity. That’s 80% less electricity! Think of how many light bulbs you have in your home, and do the math. Trust me, it adds up!

Tip #3 : Chill out at the beach with a big bucket of ice, a cup of salt, and a 6 pack of beer.

The best way to cut back on your energy is to avoid using electricity in the first place. One unbearably hot days, get out of your house and hang out at the beach with a big bucket of beer. Also, I learned on Mythbusters that the fastest and most efficient way to chill a beer is to immerse in a bucket of ice, water, and salt. Salt lowers the freezing point of the water, meaning that the water can go below 0 degrees celsius without turning to ice.

Or if you insist on staying indoors, you can’t go wrong with a USB powered beer chiller!

What money saving tips do you have to share? I would love to hear, please leave a comment!

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  1. KJones said:
    on July 26th at 06:09 pm

    My tip is not very unique, but it is something we really enjoy doing.

    We take advantage of the warm climate by growing as many vegetables that our family can eat and still have enough to share with a few neighbors. It is almost a law in our house that we never buy any vegetables at the store during the warm season.

    Also, we take advantage of home canning for such things as tomato preserves for our toast, whole tomatoes and juice, cabbage, and green beans. So, you see, we don’t have to buy too many of those specific vegetables during the cool months either. We sometimes freeze ears of corn, green peppers, and strawberries for eating in the winter time.

    During the summer, we have a NO TV rule. During certain times of the day, no television is allowed to be on. We think that we should be spending our time doing other things than watching TV because in the winter we get way too much of it.

    I did not know the tip about the salt and ice. The tip on the lightbulb wattage is very interesting as well and I am wondering if the low wattage bulbs are cost effective when it comes down to it. I will do my research and may swap out lightbulbs this weekend thanks to you!

  2. Amadeus said:
    on July 27th at 07:05 pm

    Those eco light bulbs also have some killer warranties I hear, apparently they’ll just keep on going year after year. Beer + salt + bucket of ice + beach sounds pretty darn good right now.

    What I’ve been doing lately is taking my laptop to Borders or Starbucks. I’ll just order something real cheap, maybe a tea for a buck and stay there half the day. Granted, the Starbucks where I live is right next door to some really great free Wi-Fi signals, which likely won’t be the case for everyone :). If you’ve got a Panera Bread where you live, they usually have free Wi-Fi though, and just as comfortable an air-conditioned environment.

    I’m also walking and biking a lot more places over riding the bus or train, which is probably saving me $100 a month.

  3. James said:
    on July 28th at 04:49 am

    I know this isn’t for everyone - but how about walking more? With the rising price of gas, just try to walk when you’re going somewhere in your town. We actually managed to give up our car for about two years and it would be a lie to say that we didn’t notice it but we saved a large amount on the running costs and we felt far fitter.

    So before you get in your car always ask could I walk? Yes, you do need to plan in advance, and sometimes it does save money to go to the supermarket for the weekly shop than pop around to the 7-11 before each meal, but visiting friends, going to church and doing some small errands can all be walked to.

    I also find that we need to take the car to the garage far less and that also builds up.

  4. ciscogrove said:
    on August 1st at 02:09 pm

    Saving money makes sense any time of the year, right? Well, why not continue that summer time practice into fall, winter and spring?

    If it works during the summer, it’ll probably work the rest of the year. I fully realize you don’t use AC in the winter. But, if you using it less or raising the thermostat, you can do the same with heat.

    Regardless of what you decide to do, actually sit down and take an inventory of what you can do now and what you can do for as cheap as possible.

    Then move onto the more expensive fixes and cures.

    In any event, use common sense and you’ll save a ton.

  5. gkr said:
    on August 4th at 11:56 am

    In winter we had a habit of taking bath with hot water. A lot of energy is spent in heating the water during cold winters. But this is not needed for the summer. We can take bath with cold water as early as possible in the morning. This will make your mind fresh and you have a complete day ahead to plan for.

    Take a walk during the evenings so that you will get tired and that will help you as an exercise. There will be no need to do rigorous exercise in the morning. This will save you great deal of time in the morning which you can definitely use to make some money.

    I think that many people nowadays do not use the incandescent lamps except only for the nights’ sleep which consumes very less energy. But you can avoid switching on the lights too early in the evening and in the morning as the summer light will have extended timings. If you have great many windows you can enjoy the morning sunlight and do some yoga or scripture reading.

    In winter we can save money by going to bed early and using thick blankets instead of heating the whole house. Do not open windows in the winter to avoid cold air to come inside and also to avoid mosquitoes which enjoy their winter.

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    on September 7th at 10:23 am

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  1. University Update - Mythbusters - Top 3 Money Saving Tips for Summertime
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