Pick up a newspaper, turn on the radio or television, browse the internet, chat with friends, it doesn’t really matter what we are doing the cost of living crisis in the UK is a hot topic and being discussed all the time. And it affects everybody. There has been and always will be a cost to living, after all we can’t live for free, but world circumstances at the moment are raising prices of food, fuel and energy to extortionate prices (although inflation has now dropped and prices are starting to slowly fall). That means that for the majority of people, we are cutting down on the luxuries and we are all trying to save money where we can and be that bit more savvy with our spending. And with it coming up to April, we will soon see the price of our council tax, phones, broadband and other services increase with companies adding their annual increase (although the cost of energy will come down slightly).
There is no magic bullet to dealing with these increased costs and the general cost of living. It is very easy to say you need a pay increase or better paid job or the government need to do more, but in reality that is easier said than done. But there are things that you can do at home around the house to save quite a bit of money each month and I have assembled a small but not exhaustive list, and hopefully a helpful one, to try and save a bit of money around the house and reduce that dent in the wallet.
KITCHEN
KEEP A SHOPPING LIST AND STICK TO IT: One on the biggest expenditures in the home (other than your mortgage or rent) can be the weekly or monthly shopping bill. How often do you go shopping and come home with things you didn’t go out for? And how much of what you buy do you actually want or need? If you have ever popped into Home Bargains for a packet of batteries you probably have a very good idea of what I mean – that easy £2 spend suddenly becomes £20 (try using a basket instead of a trolley, for some people this really works as with less room the idea is that you are not filling the space with unnecessary items).
Save money and reduce your cost of living expenses by cutting down on these unnecessary impulse purchases. Have an active shopping list – a magnetic board on the fridge, a whiteboard in the kitchen or even a good old fashioned pad and pencil handy and write down things you need when you run out/are running out. Stick to the list when you go shopping and try not to buy those extra treats.
TRY SUPERMARKET OWN BRANDS/GENERIC BRANDS: Some are just as good – or better! Try them and see. I have just started to eat more cereal in the mornings and have tried several of the supermarket own brands (after years of sticking with probably the world’s most well-known brand) and actually prefer the taste of the cheaper brands. They are still fortified with the same vitamins but cost a third or less of the price as their more expensive brand counterparts.
BECOME BEST FRIENDS WITH WATER: Staying hydrated is something that we all need to do and if you are anything like me a good cup of tea (or coffee if you prefer) is a must. Cutting down on tea/coffee intake and switching to water will not only reduce the cost of buying teabags and coffee and associated items such as milk and sugar, but it will also decrease your energy costs as you won’t be boiling the kettle as much (although when boiling the kettle, put in only the amount of water that you need – it will boil quicker and be cheaper). And staying hydrated with water is much better for your health as well.
BOILING WATER: When boiling water for cooking use, boil what you need in the kettle first and then pour that into a pan – it is cheaper to use the kettle than to bring cold water to the boil on the hob. When boiling water for hot drinks, only fill the kettle with the amount of water that you need, there is no need to boil a full kettle of water (if you have a smart meter you can easily see how much energy boiling a kettle takes and see it jumping in to the red).
COOK IN BULK: Plan and prepare meals for the week and cook in bulk. Meals such as casseroles and other simple recipes freeze well and can be reheated in the microwave saving you having to use the oven as much every day (if at all) – the microwave is much more cost effective that heating the oven.
USE ENERGY EFFICIENT APPLIANCES FOR COOKING: The oven and hob aren’t the only ways to cook. The microwave is smaller and is far much quicker to heat/reheat food. Slow cookers cook food over the course of the day (and the food tastes great) and use little more energy than a domestic light bulb. And then there are the air fryers that we hear so much about, I use mine a lot as it is quicker and a lot cheaper to use than an electric oven and for most things the food is crispier and better tasting.
INVEST IN A VACUUM SEALER: If you cook in bulk or want to save leftover portions of unused food then a kitchen vacuum sealer is the way to go. Using a vacuum sealer keeps the food fresher, the sealed bags use up less space in your freezer and it is excellent for managing portion control and reduces food wastage.
UTILITY ROOM
USE THE WASHING MACHINE ON LOWER TEMPERATURES: Where possible, use a 30°C cycle or even a cold water cycle. Most laundry items are not dirty enough for hotter temperatures and will wash perfectly fine at these temperatures. You will be saving money on your energy bills by reducing the amount of hot water needed to wash your clothes.
TRY TO ALWAYS WASH FULL LOADS: Try to make full use of the washing machine and always try to wash full loads to avoid wasting water and reducing the cost by having to do less washing (although make sure not to overfill the machine). If you don’t have a full load, take advantage of your washing machine’s quick wash function.
AIR DRY LAUNDRY: Despite our very changeable British weather, we do have enough good days to dry laundry out on the washing line. If you are lucky enough to have a yard or a garden, once the washing machine has done its job don’t put the clothes in the tumble dryer, hang them outside on a washing line instead. Tumble dryers consume lots of energy and cutting down on dryer usage as much as you can save you up to a couple of hundred pounds per year and clothes that are dried on the line always smell fresher. If you can’t use a line and instead use a drying rack indoors, make sure that the room is keep well-ventilated. If you do have to use the tumble dryer, shake each item of clothing before it goes in the dryer so that everything is separated and dries quicker.
RUN THE DISHWASHER ONLY WHEN FULL: If you are lucky enough to have a dishwasher (an electric one, not the person that stands at the sink with their hands in the water), when possible only turn it on when it has a full load. It consumes the same amount of power and water when full as it does on a half load so take full advantage of the space. It means fewer washes, saving you money in the process. One less wash per week could save you £14+ per year.
LIVING ROOM / BEDROOM
SWITCH OFF PROPERLY: I used to laugh at my mum when I was growing up (and beyond) as before going to bed or going out the television was unplugged from the wall, as was the kettle and radio, and other non-essential electrical items were either switched off at the plug socket or unplugged (she pretty much only left the fridge freezer plugged in and running). Now, I am doing it myself (although not to the same extent as she did). Devices left on standby or even just plugged in, the so-called “vampire devices”, are actually draining your electric even when not being used. Televisions, ovens with clocks, games consoles connected to the internet, smart speakers / assistants, even phone chargers and other such devices can be using quite a bit of power even though you have switched them off. To save money, do as my mum does and switch them off at the socket or unplug them when not in use – you will be surprised at how much over a year this could save you.
USE SCREEN BLANKING ON YOUR TELEVISION: Many people like to listen to the radio and use their television to do so. If that’s you and your television has a screen blanking feature, USE IT! It will save you money (and can prolong the life of your television set). You will still be able to listen to your favourite radio station but without the need for the television screen lit up displaying very little and eating up more valuable electricity.
USE TELEVISION TIMERS: If you like to watch television in bed (or in my case start watching television and have the television watching me) and generally fall asleep whilst watching it, use the television timer function so that after a set period of time the television will automatically turn off. There is no point paying the extra cost of electricity if you are not actually watching it.
CANCEL UNUSED SUBSCRIPTIONS: A good majority of us have at least one streaming subscription, whether its music, gaming, TV box sets or movies. If they aren’t being used to their full potential, then cancel them. Chances are you probably won’t even notice you no longer have them (except for the increase in your bank balance).
BATHROOM
SHOWER NOT BATH: Whilst laying down in a bath full of hot water can be very relaxing, it is also quite costly and not the best use of water. Showering instead of bathing will save a fortune on water and fuel bills – less water is used therefore less water has to be heated. Better for your bank balance and the environment.
USE A WATER-EFFICIENT SHOWER HEAD: This is to cut down on the amount of water that you use whilst in the shower and you shouldn’t need to compromise on the power of the shower.
SPEND LESS TIME IN THE SHOWER: Investing in a shower timer might be a worthwhile expense, especially if you have family members that spend forever in the shower (probably badly singing whilst they are there as well). A four minute shower could save the average family £70+ over the course of a year.
TURN OFF WATER WHILST BRUSHING TEETH: We have all done it and left the water running whilst brushing our teeth. Turn off the tap whilst brushing your teeth as otherwise you are wasting as much as six litres of water per minute while it’s running.
INSULATE HOT WATER PIPES: Insulating your hot water pipes will help water heat up faster, decreasing water wastage and giving you hot water much quicker. Less wastage and less heating time will save money. Pipe lagging is cheap, easy to fit and will pay for itself in savings very quickly.
FIT WATER SAVING DEVICES: Lots of water companies offer their customers free water saving devices, check your water company website to see if they offer this service. Mine is United Utilities and they offer free water saving devices depending on your needs as well as offering water saving tips.
OTHER WAYS TO SAVE ENERGY AROUND THE HOUSE
SWITCH OFF LIGHTS: A small niggle of mine has always been lights left on for no reason. If you are not using a room, why do you need to have it lit up? Turn off the lights when you are no longer using that room, the house doesn’t need to be lit up like an airport runway. Switching lights off when leaving a room could reduce your electricity bill by a few pounds per month. Invest in motion detecting puck lights or bulbs in hallways for example so that they turn on when motion is detected and turn off after 30 seconds of inactivity – it means that you have light when you need it and automatically turns off when you don’t.
CHANGE LIGHTBULBS TO SMART LED BULBS: Smart light bulbs can help save money over traditional lightbulbs and have the ability to be controlled via your phone. You can dim them, set schedules and timers and even use them as part of your home security setup. And switching from incandescent and halogen light bulbs to LED bulbs can save you around £7 per year per bulb on your lighting costs (and if you remember to switch them off when not in use, you can save even more).
UNPLUG OR SWITCH OFF AT THE WALL: Unplug unused devices or switch them off at the plug socket on the wall. Even an unused kettle can draw power, albeit a small amount. Switching off at the wall all those unused devices that can draw small amounts of power can actually save a fair amount of money on your annual energy bills. If you don’t have switches on your plug sockets think about changing them and when using extension gang strips buy ones where each individual socket can be switched off. You might also want to think about investing in some remote controlled plugs so that things such as television can be switched off properly and not left on standby (these plugs are extremely useful for when you can not reach the sockets easily).
SWITCH OFF COMPUTERS/LAPTOPS WHEN NOT IN USE: Lots of us have a desktop computer or laptop and tend to leave them on or shut the lid for them to go to sleep (I am guilty of this). This is wasting energy and adding to your electric bill. Turn them off when not in use. Most don’t take long to boot up again. And in the case of laptops, when turned off or you have removed the AC adapter from the laptop, unplug it from the wall (or switch off the plug switch) as the AC adapter will still be drawing power.
TURN DOWN THE HEAT: Turning down the thermostat in your home by just ONE DEGREE may not seem like much and you probably won’t even notice the difference but it will save you a fair bit of money on your fuel bills over the year.
BLEED RADIATORS REGULARLY: Removing any trapped air in your radiators will make them work more efficiently and heat rooms better, having to work less.
ADD REFLECTOR PANELS BEHIND RADIATORS: This stops heat being lost through the wall by reflecting the heat back into the room. It means you will need your heating on less.
DON’T BLOCK RADIATORS WITH FURNITURE: If possible, don’t push furniture up against the radiators (especially big bulky sofas) as it stops the heat coming out into the room, making it much costlier to heat a room.
TURN OFF RADIATORS IN UNUSED ROOMS: If you are not using rooms in your home (spare bedroom for example) turn off the radiator in that room (or turn it down to a lower temperature). This will reduce energy costs by not heating unused spaces.
GET A SMART METER: All UK households will soon have smart meters, but if you can get one sooner I would recommend it. You will be able to see where you are spending most on gas and electric and will help you find ways to reduce it as you can see a glance the costs involved. For example, take a note on a day’s average usage and the next day unplug the televisions where not in use and see how much difference it makes.
SUBMIT REGULAR METER READINGS: Always submit regular gas and electric meter readings to your suppler(s). Estimated bills can be quite far off the mark, so submitting your readings online will help you have much more accurate bills. Paying by Direct Debit can also save a little bit as well (this will soon be the same if you are on a pre-payment meter), paying by cash or cheque might see you pay that little bit extra.
BLOCK OFF CHIMNEYS: If you have an unused chimney, use a chimney balloon (effectively a draught excluder for your chimney) to stop the heat escaping from your rooms.
STOP OVERCHARGING DEVICES: Repeatedly charging your phone to 100% whether it needs it or not actually depletes the battery life over time (and with more and more phones not having a removable battery this could become expensive). When charging devices such as phones and tablets, as soon as they are charged, try to get into the habit of unplugging them straight away.
EDUCATE YOUR HOUSEHOLD: There is no point in trying to implement any of these rules if the rest of the household don’t know about them. Educate the rest of the household in the importance of saving energy and reducing costs – explain why any measures being used are necessary rather than just telling them to do or not to do something. Lead by example and REMEMBER TO SWITCH THINGS OFF.
Whilst some of these suggestions may not seem like big savings, combined with other small measures and savings you can really make a dent in those annual cost of living expenses. Some people may take a longer view on energy savings/wastage, if they can afford it, and replace windows to more energy efficient ones, adding solar panels to the roof, changing their cars to electric etc. There will be plenty of ways to save money around the home and help deal with your own individual and family cost of living expenses. If you have any other home money saving suggestions, please do leave a comment below.