Cut Your Bills

So, how do you cut your bills? 

Last month my electric bill was sky high.  With all of this cold weather we have been having, my heater has been running overtime.  It doesn't help that I live in an old house with no insulation underneath it and drafty windows.  While it kind of looks ugly, I put up heavy plastic around the windows.  We can't afford to get new windows right now.  So, I guess this is the next best thing right now.  My thermostat is now set on 58 degrees.  While it can get pretty cold, it is easy enough to put on more clothes.

Here are some of the other ways I am trying to cut my electric bill.  I have put up a clothesline.  I try not to dry any of the clothes in the dryer.  However, like most people I hate crunchy towels.  You know that hard, rough cardboard feeling from hanging your towels on the line.  To remedy this problem, I put the towels in the dryer for a few minutes to prevent this.  We will see how much this reduces my bill.

In addition, we would love to have a tankless water heater.  Since we can not afford one at this time, I have started to turn off the water heater when we are not using the hot water.  Of course, my son gets a little aggravated with this at times.  The water heater keeps the water hot for several hours and only takes about 15 minutes to heat back up.  I wash the dishes after we take showers and try to consolidate the time needed for hot water.  This should cut my bill drastically (I hope).  Why should I pay to heat water 24 hours a day when I am not using it?

I've become a stickler for turning off the lights and unplugging items, this includes my washer and dryer.  I would probably unplug my stove too if I could get to the plug easily.  Unfortunately, I don't think the stove is on its own breaker like the water heater.  I guess I should check it out.

So, do you have any other ideas on how to knock down your electric bill?