“Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.” – Benjamin Franklin
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I originally planned to cover everything in one blog post… then I ended up writing six pages of ways we’re saving money at home…
So, I’ve decided to break this topic into separate, smaller, posts. In this post, we’ll cover:
- Electricity
- Water
- Internet
- Cellphone Plans
- Home Insurance
In future blogs we’ll talk about:
- Groceries/Cooking
- Car
- Health and Beauty
Some of these savings might seem minor, even insignificant, but small savings can add up in a big way over time.
For example, if we saved just $100 a month and invested it in an index fund averaging 10% annual growth, here’s what it could turn into:
- 10 years – $20k ($12,000 in deposits and $8,161 in interest)
- 20 years – $72k ($24k in deposits and $48.5k in interest)
- 30 years – $208k ($36k in deposits and $172k in interest)
Just a heads-up—some links in this post are affiliate links, meaning we earn a small commission if you purchase through them (at no extra cost to you). Thank you for supporting us!
Electricity
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), air conditioning accounts for 19% of energy usage and according to the US Department of Energy, 45% of energy usage goes to heating.
Bedrooms
When we moved in, we could literally see light through our front door and the door leading to the garage. That’s crazy.
To fix this, we installed weather stripping to seal the gaps and added door draft stoppers to further reduce outside air from creeping in.
We also installed reflective window tint on the garage, master bedroom, and master closet windows. It cost less than $200 at our local hardware store, and each window took about 30 minutes to install. Before adding the film, my transition glasses would fully darken when left by the window. Now, they don’t darken at all.
That said, our windows are 13 years old, and the seals are starting to fail, sigh. Our neighbor recently replaced all his windows for $22K, so we’re likely looking at a similar cost in the next few years.
To further control heat and cold, we installed blackout curtains (similar to these) on all the upstairs bedroom windows. They help block heat in the summer, keep warmth in during the winter, and also make the rooms darker for better sleep.
Adjusting Vents for the Seasons
- Summer – We open the upstairs vents to push more AC upstairs while closing the vents on the first floor. We keep the house at 71°F/21.6°C during the day and turn it down at night for sleeping.
- Cooler Months – We open windows or use a window fan to bring in cold air.
- Winter – We reverse the vents, closing the upstairs ones and opening the downstairs vents to push heat where it’s needed. We also add extra blankets to our bed instead of cranking up the heat. We keep the house at 68°F/20°C during the day and turn it down at night for sleeping (66°F/18.8°C).
Downsizing Our Bedroom
About five years ago, we converted our master bedroom into a master office—it now holds both our desks, our spin bikes, and our clothes. We then moved into the smallest bedroom in the house, which has the fewest windows. It fits a queen sized bed and a very small piece of furniture. This means we don’t have to turn the AC down or the heat up as much to make the room comfortable.
An unexpected benefit is in the mornings. If one of us gets up early (Anna wakes up at 3:30 AM to teach cycle classes, and I get up at 4:30 AM for workouts), we can slip out of the tiny bedroom and use the master bathroom and closet without disturbing the other.
Air Filters—A Costly Mistake
Somehow… we forgot to replace our air filter for three years. Big mistake. The month after we finally replaced it, our electric bill dropped by $50~. Now, we have a calendar reminder and an Amazon Subscribe & Save order to make sure we never forget again.
Also, we don’t buy the thick, high-end air filters because they make the blower motor work harder. Instead, we stick to medium-grade “Best” or “Better” filters, which provide good filtration without overloading the system.
Light Bulb Hacks
Yeah… we’re those people—the ones who leave burned-out light bulbs in place and just live with fewer working bulbs.
For example, our master bathroom has eight bulbs—six on one switch and two on another. We only need two to get ready in the morning, so the rest are either burned out or left off. Same for the master closet, where we only use one of two bulbs. Since nobody else sees these spaces, we don’t care, and it saves money.
Using Our Phones Instead of Lights
Another thing, we use the flashlight on our cellphones a lot vs turning on the lights in the house. It is so instinctive to walk into a room and immediately reach for the light switch. In the morning, I just use the flashlight on my phone. The one exception is shaving. I turn on the lights for that. The night before I lay out my clothes, so it is pretty simple. When it is time for breakfast, I walk downstairs to the kitchen with just the light on my phone and then turn on the single kitchen light bulb. I then charge my phone in the car or when I get to the office.
Kitchen Lighting Efficiency
Our kitchen has two lighting options:
- One switch turns on a single overhead light
- Another switch turns on five overhead lights in the same space.
When I make breakfast, one bulb is enough. I can pack my lunch, cook, and wash dishes without needing five extra bulbs blinding me. Or if it during the day, I don’t turn on any of the lights.
Time of Use Electricity and Kitchen
Where we live, we have the option to choose between a fixed rate for electricity usage or a time-of-use (TOU) plan. A fixed rate means the price stays the same regardless of the time of day, while TOU pricing varies based on the hour of the day. We decided to try TOU and shift our energy-heavy appliance usage to the cheaper hours. Our lowest rates are from 7 PM to 1 PM the following day and on the weekends.
Of course, I put together a spreadsheet to compare the two. In 2024, we saved $31.39 so we decided to keep it going forward.
Kitchen
We’re big Crock-Pot users and make sure to use it during off-peak electricity hours. Yesterday, I got up early to start a four-pound pork shoulder for pulled pork, and today, I made sweet potato chili—each providing three to four meals for two people. We usually start it in the morning, and by the afternoon, it’s done, or Anna will start it at lunchtime, and it’s ready by dinner. Sometimes, we start a Crock-Pot before bed and wake up to food ready to store for the week or freeze for later. We don’t recommend this though, as you have to smell it while sleeping… In the next blog we’ll talk more our grocery and food habits.
Speaking of the fridge and freezer, according to the Marion Institute, about a third of the cool air escapes each time the door is opened. To minimize this, we take out multiple items at once and always put them back in the same place so we can grab them quickly. When putting food away, we stack everything on the counter first, then open the fridge once, place everything inside, and close it fast. Not only does this reduce electricity use, but it also lessens wear on the fridge’s motor, which could extend its lifespan.
On another note, we typically eat dinner after 7 PM because of Anna’s fitness coaching schedule. This means our TV and sound system uses electricity during the cheaper TOU period, saving us even more.
Misc
For over 15 years, we’ve had a habit of unplugging things when they’re not in use. It might sound tedious, but it’s second nature now. We did cheat a bit for our TV and got a remote-controlled power strip to make it easier to turn off.
Water
Since we live in an HOA community, we pay a flat rate for water regardless of usage, so most of our savings come from reducing hot water use.
We lowered our water heater thermostat to the lowest setting, just above vacation mode.
I (Adam) take cold showers. That’s a whole other topic, but it saves hot water and shortens my shower time to under three minutes. An unexpected benefit? My skin is less dry, meaning I use way less lotion than before. Anna used to apply lotion to my back multiple times a week—after switching to cold showers, I haven’t needed it in over six years. I also only shower on days I get sweaty (hiking, gym, snowboarding, etc.), which means I take about four to five showers a week, further cutting down on water and product use.
We also wash our clothes in cold water and do laundry on the weekends when electricity rates are lower.
Recently, I’ve been drinking more water from our PUR dispenser instead of using the fridge’s water dispenser. Fridge filters cost $45 each, plus the fridge uses electricity to cool the water—another small way we’re saving.
Internet
For the first nine years in our house, we had two internet service providers (ISPs) to choose from. The speeds and prices were about the same, and reliability was pretty meh at best. One ISP frequently ran promotions, so I called our provider and asked for a discount. After 20 minutes and two agents, I secured a $10/month loyalty discount, saving us $120 per year.
If you are in an area that has two ISPs, there are seasons. They know that people move during the summer time (Moving season). They know their are major shopping holidays through out the year (Black Friday/Cyber Monday, Christmas, back to school, Labor Day, Memorial Day, etc, etc.). Keep an eye out for these promotional periods and then call the competitor. Provide them with the details of the promotion and see if they can match it.
Eventually, a third ISP moved in, offering a promotion that was $26.94/month cheaper than our discounted rate. We switched, saving an additional $323.28 per year.
Cellphone
I know… not specially housing related, but I figured here also made sense.
We used to have Verizon and paid $147/month for two phones with unlimited data. International service and hotspot data were extra, which we didn’t pay for.
Four years ago, we switched to Google Fi. If you are an iPhone user, don’t skip ahead yet.
For two lines with unlimited data, coverage in Canada and Mexico, plus 25 GB of hotspot data, we paid $82/month, not including taxes and fees—a $55/month savings ($660/year). If needed, we could upgrade to Unlimited Plus ($110/month plus taxes and fees) for service in 200 countries, unlimited hotspot data, 100 GB of Google storage, YouTube Premium for six months, and some extra perks. The great thing is, we can switch plans month-to-month. When we take those international trips, we switch plans.
Anna’s mom also switched to our plan after Anna’s dad passed away. She is an iPhone user. The process took less than 30 minutes (finding the Verizon password took most of that time). With three lines on our plan, our cost per phone dropped to $30 ($90/month before taxes and fees for all three of us), and we even got a 50% off promotion on Anna’s mom’s line for the first six months making our monthly payment $89/month with taxes and fees. After the promo ended, we now pay $104.85/month with taxes and fees, which is still cheaper than two lines on Verizon.
Google Fi supports up to six lines per account, with four or more lines costing just $25 each. We’ve had fantastic coverage. A side benefit, calls between Androids are automatically encrypted.
Here’s a referral code to get a $60 credit when you join Google Fi Wireless!
Home Insurance
We purchased our home in 2015 and as a reward, got a mortgage, property tax, homeowners insurance, HOA, and became responsible for all our own maintenance. As a side note, I think there is a really good argument for why renting makes more financial sense for long term financial growth compared to home owning. If you are interested in my thoughts and opinions on the topic, let us know in the comments below.
Since we do own a home, we’re on track to pay off the mortgage early in two years. Three ways we lowered our insurance costs were bundling our home and auto insurance through a single provider, increasing our deductible, and going through all the possible deductions available to us.
Deductible – When we first bought the house, we defaulted to a $1,000 deductible. We had no idea. Raising it to $2,000 saved us $170.37/year ($6,499.31-$6,328.94). We could increase the deductible to $10k, but we didn’t feel the savings was worth the cost ($483.29/year).
Discounts – We logged into our insurance provider’s website and looked at all the possible discounts and verified which ones were applicable to us. This added another $2,665.60/year savings.
In our car insurance blog, we’ll cover all the discounts we found that reduced our auto insurance by $273.64 per month ($3283.68 per year). Some of these discounts were only available by browsing the insurance provider’s website—when we called, they weren’t even mentioned.
I do want to pause in the blog. From the period of time when I initially wrote this post and later published it, we discovered we were over paying on our home insurance by an additional $258.26 per month ($3,099.17 per year)… It was due to the classification of our house. There are different types of dwelling insurances and our house had been incorrectly categorized at the time we bought it. That meant from 2015 until 2025, we were over paying for what we actually needed. I only found it by accident when I was having a long conversation with an insurance provider. So, I would recommend, if you have some kind of home insurance, you understand what coverage you need and how your house is classified.
Wrap up
We hope you found some of these tips helpful and can incorporate them into your own life. As we discover new ways to save, we’ll update this blog.
It is hard to judge exactly how much we saved each month because we don’t know how much electricity we might have alternatively used. But it is safe to say, it was way more than $100/month.
Have any money-saving tips of your own? Drop them in the comments and share this post with others! In our next blog, we’ll break down all the ways we save money on groceries and cooking.
