Day 9 - Slash Your Energy Bills By 70%

After turning my personal finances around just by spending 60 minutes every day on small projects I decided to share everything I learned to get my self in a better position when it comes to money. I will be serializing all the 60 minute projects so other people can try them to get their finances in better shape. Most of these tasks will take no more than an hour and it's those tasks that we love to put off. So join me from Day 1 to Day 13 to see if you can get yourself in a more prosperous place financially.

Day 9 - Slash Your Energy Bills By 70%

If you put all your expenses on an pie chart you'll see that energy bills make up a large proportion of it. Energy bills are a major leak in our budgets and it's stopping you from reaching your financial goals sooner. I read somewhere that if you wear a sweater during winter and turned your thermostat down you could achieve your financial goals 1 year sooner! During Day 9 we lay the foundation for slashing our energy budget. As always the deeper and quicker we cut the more money we can save.

The first thing we did as a family was to make a commitment to dress correctly for the weather. This meant that we would wear several jumpers during winter and cooling clothes during summer. We also made a commitment to try and avoid using the heating system as much as possible and instead work on our cardiovascular exercises to improve our health and keep our bodies warm. This might sound like a extreme frugal tip but it does lower the energy bills no end. I know people who never use their heating system and have got use to the cold and warm weather by adding and removing layers of clothing.

The next step is also very important. Every time you turn your heating on you want to retain as much heat as possible. If you spend $1 to heat your house for a day then you should strive to heat your house for 50 cents. To reduce your heating expenses you need to insulate your house to the hilt. Everything you need to know about insulation is available on the internet and YouTube practically shows you how to insulate every room in your house. Personally I insulated my loft, all the air drafts, doors, windows and saw a dramatic fall in my energy bills.

Once you've insulated every possible nook and cranny in your house you need to find a energy company which will give the best possible tariff. By not moving your energy tariffs to the cheapest provider you are losing money. Unfortunately loyalty does not pay and you should switch to the cheapest tariff whenever possible. Take a few minutes to visit an energy comparison site to see who has the lowest tariff and then switch to them online or by making a phone call. You could try haggling with your own energy company to see if they will match or beat the cheapest energy tariff available. Duel fuel is not always the cheapest and you should get comparison for gas and electric separately.

If you want to reduce your energy bills all the way to zero you need to embrace renewable energy. You need to stop using your heating system and wear more clothes to keep warm. You need to start taking cold showers which has immense health benefits if your relatively fit and healthy. Cold showers are definitely underrated and helps the blood to circulate every part of the body. Personally after a cold shower I feel like I've run a marathon because of all the blood that's pumping around my body. You should also invest in a wood burner and then use wood that you can find for cooking. Wood is readily available if you keep your eyes peeled.

Energy expenditure needs to be kept at a minimum if you want to get ahead in life with your money. Our ancestors never needed to keep warm or cool and used layers of clothes instead of expensive heating and cooling bills. If you do want to keep warm in Winter by wearing a T-Shirt and turning the heat up to the max then you'll achieve your financial goals much later in life, you have to think whether it's really worth it. Be smart and cut fast and deep and achieve your financial goals.

It took me about 5 cold showers before I got use to it. It's like going into a swimming pool for the first time, trust me your body starts to adjust and you start feeling the benefits almost instantly. If you are going to attempt this make a commitment to take at least 5 cold showers before you decide you want to continue or not.

Renewable energy will always be expensive as long as energy companies hold the key. I wish someone would invent some sort of solar device that anyone could make, I'd love to see what the energy companies do then. I also have a dislike for energy companies. I know a family whose energy was turned off because they could not make payments. How can you justify turning someones gas and electric off when you make billions of pounds in profit. Absolutely disgraceful.