HomePosts Tagged "how to save"

Tackling your heating bill this winter is one way to save money and there are some easy ways to do it!  Lowering your heating costs can help you by having a little more disposable income to use for preps or to buy precious metals, or to stash away in a “rainy day fund.”

The truth is, it won’t hurt any of us to learn to live more frugally. Some don’t have a choice depending on their financial situation, but if you haven’t thought of trying to reduce your heating costs, you should! I have come to view it as almost a challenge.  I try to beat last year’s cost (compared by month) this year.  Turning it into a challenge has really helped, but do what works for you!

1. Lower the Thermostat
You can save up to 3% on your heating bill per degree lowered over a 24 hour period (or about 1 percent per 8 hours). During the winter months, we keep our thermostat set at 67 during the day and 60 at night.  Play around with the temperatures to find something that works for your family. Generally, you’ll want it warmer at night if you have little kids. But just turning it down some saves us a lot of money and you can just toss an extra blanket on the bed.

2. Keep vents and radiators clear

Check and make sure your vents are not blocked by rugs or furniture, or that you don’t have any large objects in front of your radiator. This allows the air to circulate freely and you to get the full benefit of the warm air and put less strain on your furnace. This is also safer!

3. Heat Your Home With Wood

Using a woodburning stove is a lot cheaper than using electricity or propane to heat your home.  While this may not be an option for everyone, it is definitely something to consider if you can pull it off.  A woodburning stove can be a sizeable investment depending on how big of a stove you will need, but it’s nice to have when the power goes out and there’s nothing like the instant warmth it provides.  Back up heat will be invaluable in an emergency and worth the upfront costs! Make sure you able to cut your own firewood, because if you have to buy it, costs could be pretty high depending on where you live and it won’t save you any money.

4. Check For Leaks and Seal Them

Your house leaks warm air, but if you find and seal most of these leaks, you can save between 10-20% on your heating bill this winter. To detect leaks, you should wait until it is cold outside. You will probably need at least a 30-degree difference in the indoor/outdoor temperatures to easily notice the difference. Look for leaks in common areas such as around doors, windows, near the attic, where wires and cables enter your house, and around electrical outlets. Seal all the gaps around any pipes, wires, vents or other openings with caulk or weather stripping.

5. Use a Humidifier

Using a humidifier can reduce your heating costs since moist air retains heat better than dry air. There are other benefits to using a humidifier. They help reduce static electricity, dry skin, and make it easier to breathe. A cast iron teapot placed on a wood-burning stove can accomplish this easily! Just fill it with water and let your stove’s heat do the work!

Hopefully, these tips will help you save money this winter on your heating bills!

Other self-sufficiency and preparedness solutions recommended for you:

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Knowledge to survive any medical crisis situation

Liberal’s hidden agenda: more than just your guns

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4 Important Forgotten Skills used by our Ancestors that can help you in any crisis

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Tackling your heating bill this winter is one way to save money and there are some easy ways to do it!  Lowering your heating costs can help you by having


The World’s Greatest Lament

There is one cry in the prepping community that sounds above the rest. In this world of manic convenience, we spend our money, mostly, before it even arrives in our bank account. This leads many people to the strange conclusion that they do not have the money to prep.

In most cases these people are holding onto some paid convenience that could be cut away to free up some funding for preps.

Now, that is not the answer for everyone. There is another way.

It’s a way that you can have the best of both worlds but, you are going to have to work for it. Yes, I am talking about a side hustle. However, this is not so you can go out to eat at nice restaurants. This side hustle is so you can afford to stay on the prepared path.

The beautiful thing about all this is that you only need a little extra money to make a big difference in the world of preparedness.

The Simple Way Of Making Side Money

Most people are already making money. They have some sort of profession and means to take advantage of that profession and make a, somewhat, livable income. In other words, they have a skill that holds some value.

No matter how meager that value, you can use that skill to pick up a side hustle. Even a simple cashier can make extra money by picking up more shifts or part time work as a cashier at another location.

While you are considering your side hustle, I want you to remember that there is no shame in a hard day’s work and the pay that comes with it. In other words, you might sell insurance during the day and make a good living but picking up a couple nights a week washing dishes or waiting tables is no reason to feel bad.

Many people don’t pursue a small, simple side hustle because their ego is too big. They cannot imagine leaving their high paying job for the day and doing menial job 16 hours a week to make extra cash for prepping. Again, no shame in making extra cash, if it’s legal.

Here are some ways of making money that anyone can take on.

  • Retail
  • Food Service Jobs
  • Sales
  • Dog Walking
  • Tradesman Help
  • Personal Assistance
  • Customer Services

All these jobs have tremendous turnover and employers are almost always looking for reliable people who can get the job done. If you are already that kind of worker, you should be able to swoop down into one of these positions part time.

You might even improve the work environment in the location.

Hyper Efficient Prepper Ways To Make An Extra Buck

While having a simple side hustle is good and it will produce money for your preps, there are ways to optimize that. Let’s talk about a simple example. I guess you could call it force multiplication.

You can make a lot of money selling small, handmade, blacksmith metal pieces and decorations. You can even make things like knives from simple railroad spikes. Something as simple as a hook that can be hung on a wall can go for between $5–10. Hand forged and with a high quality design you can get top dollar for these items.

Now blacksmithing is a unique side hustle that allows you to practice a skill that is pertinent to self-reliance and prepping while making money doing it!

Many women take advantage of a similar confluence through knitting and crocheting.

You should investigate your own life and find what types of side hustles you could engage in that would both help you make a little extra money and improve your preparedness skills. Here are some other examples of hyper efficient prepper side hustles.

  • Firewood Cutting
  • Home Repairman
  • Pest Removal
  • Farming
  • Livestock and Meat Production
  • Small Survival Group Instruction
  • Refurbishing Things

How to Spend Your Extra Money

After having earned money from your side hustle you come to the point where you have to decide on how to use it. It might be exciting to use that stowed away money to buy an expensive piece of gear. Maybe you are eying up a Leopold scope for your firearm.

Maybe you think about a new high speed backpack that looks tactiCOOL and has more storage space than your current one.

It might be worth considering the boring basics first.

Food is a universal preparedness item. Naturally, it can be used to feed yourself and your family. It can be used to feed others. It can be used to barter with, and it can be used to negotiate positions of power. If you have the food, you make the rules.

A 50lb bag of rice is going to run you $20 at Sam’s Club. If you can bucket that up with mylar bags and oxygen absorbers, you are going to be creating your own long term food storage and saving money off pre packaged versions.

Another great item to spend that side hustle money on is skill training. You can attend some great classes for a couple hundred dollars and get real, hands on prepping and survival experience. That can go a long way. You will quickly find that hands on survival is much different compared to YouTube survival.

Conclusion

The reality is that most preppers are not as hard up for cash as they might think. Most of the time some simple lifestyle changes can make a huge difference.

Even if that’s not the case, you can add extra money to the coffers if you are willing to go and get it. If you can work hard you will always have money. If you don’t wanna work than you will likely never have money.

Get your ego in check and hop into a side hustle to take your prepping to the next level!


This article is powered by finalprepper.com.

It’s a way that you can have the best of both worlds but, you are going to have to work for it. Yes, I am talking about a side hustle