How to Drive down the Costs of your First Home

After plunging a significant percentage or even all of your savings into your first mortgage, the last thing that you will want to do is continue spending. The time after buying a first home is often one of the most financially difficult and restrictive periods in a person’s life and many sacrifices need to be made. There are a number of ways however that the costs of living can be driven down to help free up much needed cash.

Squeeze out every last drop

Sometimes it is baffling that something naturally occurring such as water can be so expensive. In some cases, mineral water can be more expensive per litre than petroleum and other finite resources. Those who live in areas that endure particularly heavy amounts of rainfall are often perplexed as to how these costs can be so high. By implementing a water retention system, these costs can be cut significantly. A drum to store water connected to the collection drains can save water that can be utilised in a number of different ways. Whilst this water may not be fit for human consumption it can be used to water indoor plants or wash the cars, without incurring the costs of running the water.

Understand your home

If you are one of those people who stares at the energy bills every month in disbelief and cannot fathom where all of these costs have come from, then you may need to further your understanding of where your home is using energy. A surveyor will be able to carry out an energy efficiency examination or an Energy Performance Certificate that helps determine where a home is using excessive energy and can serve to suggest ways in which these costs can be curbed. Whilst the initial outlay to implement these cost effective changes may be high, the long-term savings can be significant.

Brighten up your home

One of the simplest and most common ways in which you can cut costs is by installing energy efficient LED bulbs around the home. The average 8 watt LED bulb emits the same amount of light as a 65 watt halogen bulb making it more than 8 times as energy efficient. This increased energy efficiency translates into more energy being used to create light than other by-products commonly created by other bulbs such as heat and carbon emissions. Thusly this means that less energy is required to light the home. Improving LED technologies now mean that the whole home can be lit by LED downlights, spotlights and other forms of bulbs.

Create a Rewards System

If you have children then it can be difficult to influence their energy consumption. Kids are often guilty of leaving lights, computers and televisions running after they finish using them which can waste incredible amounts of electricity. By promising to take the whole family for a treat such as ice cream if the monthly energy bill falls significantly could influence everybody to be a little bit more careful when turning off appliances.

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