8 Quick Ways to Save $290 This Month

Many of us are on pretty tight budgets these days. So, you cut back on eating out, ditch the trips to the movie theater and refrain from buying those shiny new shoes. But the best way to save money and cut back on waste is right in your own home. This month, try using these eight simple steps to cut back on household water and energy use – and save $290 in the process!

1. Take shorter showers

Savings: $103.25 for a family of four

Depending on your showerhead, you use 10 to 25 gallons of water for every five minutes you spend in the shower, meaning you could save up to 5 gallons for every minute you shave off, according to the EPA.

While water itself is pretty inexpensive (averages range between $1.50 and $5 for every 1,000 gallons), heating water can get pretty pricey. Assuming you aren’t taking a cold shower in the morning, every 10 minutes can cost as much as 50 cents for electric water heaters.

So, if everyone in your family cut three minutes off their shower time every day for a month, you’d save $10.25 on water costs and $93 on your electric bill. Live by yourself? Just divide the total by four to calculate your savings.

READ: Save 27,412 Gallons of Water This Year

2. Fix that leak

Savings: $4.58

Leaky faucets can be pretty annoying, but they can also cost you big bucks on your water bill. Fixing a leak can save 833 gallons of water each month, according to the EPA. So, if you leave that leaky faucet for a year, a whopping 10,000 gallons of water will go right down the drain.

If you pay $5 for 1,000 gallons of water, that 833 gallons of water your leak didn’t waste will save you more than $4 a month. Water costs can vary greatly from state to state. Check the summary on your water bill to see how much you’re paying.

READ: Help Conserve Water During Fix-a-Leak Week

3. Let the dishwasher do the work

Savings: $34.41

Many of us pre-rinse our dishes in the sink with the idea that the dishwasher won’t have to work as hard, but this added step can waste loads of hot water. If you scrape your dishes instead of rinsing them, you’ll save an average of 20 gallons of heated water per day, according to a study conducted by Consumer Reports.

Scraping your dishes and only running full loads will save you more than $30 every month on water heating and about $3.50 in water costs. Doing less work and saving more money? Sounds like a win, win to us!

READ: 7 Surprising Ways to Save Energy

4. Install a toilet dam

Savings: $5 for a family of four

On average, toilets use about 5 gallons of water per flush, and a family of four flushes the toilet about 16 times each day, according to the EPA. Installing a WaterSense-labeled toilet dramatically cuts back on water use. But if you don’t have the cash for an upgrade, a simple modification can save just as much.

A toilet dam is a container filled with water that is placed inside the toilet tank to take up space, and it can save you about 1,000 gallons of water every month, according to the EPA. Just rinse out a jar, fill it with water and place a rock or other weighted item at the bottom. For a family of four, repurposing something you’d otherwise throw away will save five bucks each month.

READ: 10 Reuse Ideas for Food Packaging

5. Rethink the wash cycle

Savings: $10.50

If you haven’t upgraded to an energy efficient washer and dryer set, you’re probably spending $15 to $20 per month on washing and drying clothes. A family that does three loads of laundry each week will use a whopping 500 gallons water and 5 kilowatts of energy just for the wash cycle.

Start by only washing full loads and use cold water whenever possible. This will save you about $7 each month, and you’ll save a few bucks more if you give that dryer a break. Too cold to hang wet clothes outside? Put shirts and pants on hangers and dry them on your shower rod instead. But be warned: uncoated metal hangers can leave stains on your clothes. Go for coated or plastic ones instead.

READ: Help Solve the Water Crisis

6. Switch to CFLs

Savings: $46

Sure, compact fluorescent light bulbs (aka CFLs) cost more than those old incandescents. But the energy savings is well worth it, and they last longer, too! CFLs use about two-thirds less energy than their incandescent predecessors, and making the switch will dramatically shrink your footprint and your energy bill.

If you have 15 light bulbs in your home and leave the lights on for 12 hours a day, you’ll save more than 40 bucks every month by switching. Turning off the lights in unoccupied rooms will mean even more savings.

READ: The Phase-Out of Incandescents: What You Need To Know

7. Use power strips

Savings: $31.80

If you’re wondering why your monthly energy bill is so pricey, vampire power may be to blame. No, we’re not talking about Halloween here. Vampire power is the energy your appliances and electronics use when they are plugged in but not running, and it can cost you a fortune.

Just to give you some perspective, the cost of running the average television for two hours per day for a month is about $1.50. If you factor in the energy your TV uses when it’s off, it can cost you up to $18 on your energy bill, according to the Nebraska Public Power District.

To keep vampire power from sucking you dry, put your electronics on a power strip and flip it to “off” when they aren’t in use. If you do this with your television, computer and stereo, you’ll save more than $30 every month. Save even more cash by keeping rarely-used appliances unplugged until you need them.

READ: Vampire Power Sucks

8. Don’t run the water

Savings: $55 for a family of four

About 75 percent of the water used in the average home is used in the bathroom, according to the California Energy Commission. Leaving the water running while we brush our teeth or wash our faces only increases that number. It can be a tough habit to break, but putting a price-tag on it may ease the transition.

Turning off the tap while brushing your teeth in the morning and at night saves a whopping 8 gallons of water each day, according to the EPA. If each member of a family of four nixed the water-running habit, you’d save about $13.75 per person or $55 each month.

READ: How Much Your Green Habits Really Save

Total: $290.54

That was easy! A few simple energy and water-saving adjustments will put almost $300 in your pocket for holiday shopping and significantly reduce the footprint of your household. In addition to saving money, you’ll also be saving more than 4,000 gallons of water and massive amounts of energy this month.

Between water and energy savings, you’ll be cutting at least 50 pounds of carbon emissions in your home each month, according to CutCO2.org. So, save on, earth-lover! And use some of that extra cash to treat yourself to a movie date.