Critical Ideas For Saving Money In Our Present Economy

April 28th, 2010 by Steve Evans

It’s not as if saving money has ever been “out” of fashion, as such, but it is certainly en vogue these days. We used to be concerned about receiving those energy bills and would mutter under our breath as we tore open the envelope. Often we would make a mental note that we were going to turn off those lights when we went out of the room. Back then, though, it did not seem to be so urgent and we were somewhat poor at following through. If we fast forward to today, we seem to be living in a different world. All of the ways to save electricity are being explored and we now understand how important this is.

There was a time when only environmentalists and those known as “tree huggers” would seem to sense the true urgency of excess energy use and preach to us that we needed to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions or we would cause damage to the world we live in. News reports tell us on a virtual daily basis how global warming is changing everything, threatening to melt polar ice packs and taking away the ability of people who live in remote countries to look after themselves, due to intense alterations in weather patterns and climate change. Closer to home, we hear that companies are going to be penalised for using too much energy and emitting carbon and imagine that these costs will be passed along to us as well.

Quite apart from the holistic considerations and our concern for Mother Nature, energy costs themselves have been going through the roof. The government has tried and seems to be failing to regulate the energy industry and infrastructure seems unable to cope and is constantly under pressure. Those seasonal spikes in energy seem to be causing more issues as we go along and we wonder how long the system will be able to put up with this, as we continue to rely on fossil fuels for our power. We all know the benefits of renewable energy, but we collectively have not moved forward fast enough to try and embrace them. Just think of the extraordinary ways in which we would be helping the environment if we were able to turn to wind, solar and other renewable sources for the majority of our energy.

Focusing close to home, what can we do to help the environment and ourselves at the same time? There are many things. What about buying highly efficient equipment for our heating and air-conditioning and also our kitchens? Look for a refrigerator, for example, that consumes around 100 KwH per year and you will be in possession of an appliance that is four times more efficient than the European Union average. If you have to spend up to 10% more to actually buy a machine like this it would be okay, as you could save a significant amount of money annually, greatly reducing your electricity bill. If you purchase new appliances, they will last for at least five years and the money that you pay upfront to purchase them will certainly be saved over that period of time. New appliances will need less repairing and you will do yourself a favour as well by eliminating the noise coming from that old and worn fan, which seems to circulate annoyingly whenever you sit down in your most comfortable chair to watch a film!