Household budget management: Tips to recruit your children on your quest to slash bills

In an age of increasing gas and electricity prices, there's never been a more important time to take a close look at your household energy usage and look at ways to cut your costs. There are many simple tips to help reduce your carbon footprint and your bills, and it's a great way to introduce your children to the idea of budgeting and saving money. This article describes a number of ways in which you can get your children engaged in helping to reduce energy usage and costs.

 

 

Turn off the lights!
Adults and children alike can be guilty of leaving far too many lights switched on in the house, eating up valuable electricity. As a first step, ask your children to go around your house and count up all the lights. Then see how many are regularly left switched on (for example, is the kitchen light on constantly?) Ask your children to tell you if they find a light switched on and turn it off! It's also worth checking to see if you can replace any of your lights with energy saving bulbs.

Power off computers and gadgets fully

One sure-fire way to waste power is to leave televisions, computers and gadgets on standby or even switched on overnight. Make it a formal part of the kids' bedtime routine to make sure that all their gadgets and devices are fully powered down. Similarly, if there are e-book readers, mobile phones or tablets being charged up, check them regularly and once they are charged, unplug the charger.

Turn off taps while brushing teeth

Great dental hygiene is important at any age - so ensuring that you and your children brush your teeth thoroughly twice a day is recommended; however, how often do you stand at the sink with the cold water tap running the whole time that you're brushing? This is an extremely common waste of water, and one that's so simple to correct: turn off the tap for a few minutes while you brush!

Collect rainwater

Watering the garden or cleaning the car uses a great deal of water. Why not help conserve water or reduce your reliance on your water supply by installing a rainwater butt or similar collection device in the garden? By collecting natural rainwater or water running off your roof, you can easily gather enough to clean the car or fill a few watering cans. Make it fun for the children by keeping them involved - get them to check levels on a daily basis, and if you can get them to help with the chores too (maybe even with an incentive) so much the better.

Make a draught excluder

House heat can often be lost through poorly-fitting windows or under external doors. A good way to conserve your heat and keep your property warm is to fit a draught excluder to any places you think might be leaking heat. However, why buy an excluder when you can get your children involved and make one? Buy some craft materials and turn saving energy into a family project that everyone can help with.

Check the household temperature

A simple way to slash energy costs is by turning down your thermostat by a single degree - this can reduce heating bills significantly. Make sure the children tell you if their rooms feel too hot or cold and adjust their radiators accordingly, wear an extra layer of clothing and you won't notice the difference that turning the heating down makes! Or you could look into purchasing an energy efficient electric radiator from somewhere like Electric Radiators Direct. If you can reduce the temperature by two degrees, you'll make even bigger savings.