So here it is.
As part of a Double Challenge this month, I wanted to save some money on our bills, especially electrical bill. Ever since winter started, our bill just sky-rocketed!! I always try to conserve electricity. We keep our thermostat on 68F (can't go any lower 'cause our basement bedrooms are already super-cold), I cook a lot in microwave and slow cooker, we wear extra layer of clothing, I turn off the lights after everyone, wash clothes and do dishes at off-hours etc. My loved ones...not so much. Especially, my 5-year old. He just always leaves the light in his room or bathroom on, and doesn't turn off his humidifier or heater. So I came up with this system:
We separated our house into 3 "zones". My Hubby is in charge of upstairs bedrooms, a bathroom and a hall in between, I'm in charge of a kitchen,a pantry light,a living-room and a half-bathroom and the Kid is in charge of his bedroom and a guest bedroom,a laundry room and an entrance area. Oh, and his heater, of course :) Every time we turn off all the lights in our "zone" we get a point. Whoever has the most points at the end of the month, gets a candy bar of choice. This is what our month looks so far (it's me,Dad and a Boy). And of course, I turn off the most lights after myself and others but I occasionally "forget" to put them on our chart:) .We keep this paper on the Art shelf in between the kitchen and the living room.
And let me tell you, it works!!Now every morning my Kid turns off everything in his room, and he does it through out the day. I can't say he wasn't tempted at first to turn lights on and off just for the points :) But we warned him that we will only count it if it's honest.
And the best thing is our last bill was $17 less than the previous month!! I was absolutely ecstatic about it. It was such a small change! I didn't expect it to make such a significant difference but it did. I know they days are longer right now so we turn the lights on later but even with that I'm very pleased with our results. And it's another $17 for us towards the trampoline.
Great job on getting everyone involved. I wish I could get my Dh to help out with electricity costs, but he doesn't care that our last bill was $325. He cranks up the heat, but won't put on a sweatshirt over his short sleeve shirt. He walks out the front door to go into our garage (separate) and come right back, but leaves the door open and he has our garage heated, but will leave the garage doors or the side door open all the time. Expensive habits, yet he constantly complains if one light is left on by one of us - probably a few dollars a year total for the lights compared to 100x that for heat! Aggravates me to no end.
ReplyDeleteWow that is a HUGE savings, Lena. Good job on recruiting the hubby and the "KID" !
ReplyDeleteThank you :)
DeleteWow, really? I've also been trying to cut back on utility costs. We've been trying to keep it to one light on upstairs at a time, which is hard because I really like everything really bright at night in the winter so it's not depressing. I can't imagine it could cut costs that much. Maybe it's because you have a heater?
ReplyDeleteI was really surprised myself!! The heater actually usually eats tons of electricity but we have an energy efficient one. We just have to use it right now because Kid's room is very cold at nights. But I really could not believe my eyes when I saw our bill! That was definitely a pleasant surprise.
DeleteWhat a cute idea and great savings!!
ReplyDeleteAwesome idea Lena.
ReplyDeleteAre you sure you didn't come up with it as an excuse to get yourself a candy bar?
Oh, no!! I'm trying to stay away from sweets right now! Plus, I want to encourage my boy to do his best. He's way better now than, let's say, two months ago but I still turn off everything after him about 30% of the time:)
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