E-Monsters In The Home

January 29, 2010 by EnnisP
Filed under: Christian Living, Making Money

How much money are you willing to throw away during the course of a day?

Not give away or spend or share or lose to a bad investment? I’m talking about money you pull out of your pocket, throw on the ground and walk away from. Maybe we should call that “money left on the ground” or better yet “leaked.” It isn’t misspent or frivolously used, like when you make a bad financial decision. It’s just not there, as if you never had it to begin with.

So, how much of your hard earned money are you willing to treat as if you never had it in the first place? Four or five dollars a day? Maybe just one? Most people, I’m sure, are thinking none but are you aware…

Let’s change directions for a moment.

Convenience, not quality, is the biggest selling point in modern society. “Fast Food” is convenient and very popular even though nutritionally suspect in most cases. Even DIY folks buy food that is conveniently prepared by others and conveniently made available in one location, the grocer.

We don’t bake bread we buy it already made, sliced and wrapped. In some cases it comes buttered and seasoned. Just heat and eat. Easy-peasy. We like it that way.

In fact, convenience is synonymous with life. The more you have of one, the more you have of the other. A big home – car – entertainment system, when fitted with the latest and most convenient on-board controls are symbols of status. Having them gives the appearance of credibility and makes one more enviable.

Now, don’t misunderstand. I don’t have anything against conveniences. The truth is, my idea of camping out is a Holiday Inn so, no, I’m not going to give up my AC, TV, PC, LPG (gas), Microwave, desk top printing, telephone, internet, etc., etc.

Horse drawn carriages can serve a romantic purpose on the odd occasion – as long as the horse doesn’t have a gastro problem – but otherwise automation is here to stay and smart people try to make good use of it. There is no real point in fighting it.

But here’s the problem. Automation has more than one price tag: one to purchase it and the other to operate it. One is negotiated and the other is rarely considered. One can be relatively inexpensive (purchase) and the other has no end.

The one thing that drives most automation is electricity and the trinkets of convenience have an insatiable appetite for it. They never stop eating and we never think to turn off the supply. Most people don’t realize how much money one convenience can devour.

We are sensitized in some ways to the dilemma and oblivious in others. The supply of electricity is becoming shorter and shorter and we are incensed by the ecological damage required to produce it. We search diligently for better, more green ways to provide it but give little thought to ways we can use it less.

Of course, I don’t think we will see the end of electricity for a long time to come. It is pretty entrenched and we love it. I doubt the public would be willing to let it go before something comparable is offered in its place.

But, the point is, we do with electricity daily what we would never dream of doing with money, throw it on the ground.

The truth is, the electricity that drives our conveniences not only costs money, the amount is never fixed and we think little about it. We diligently search for the best price on a particular convenience but then give little attention to how much it costs to operate, especially when not in use.

Did you know that a desktop printer left on over night uses enough electricity to print 1,000 pages of text? That is huge. Using Michaelv’s figures it costs as much as $15 to leave a printer on over night, every night for a month. When you add that to all the other “conveniences” we leave on when not in use, we are actually leaving a lot of money on the ground. Every digital item in your home is constantly munching away at your net worth every second they are plugged in and switched on. The best way to save money with low energy light bulbs is turn them off.

I haven’t done the calculations for every device in our house but I did experiment with this information. Several months ago we began turning everything off when not in use. Obviously the fridge and freezer were not included but every light, every computer, the printer, the copier, the TV, DVD player and satellite receiver were all turned off and in some cases unplugged when not in use. If digital lights are on while plugged in, it’s grazing.

Our AC’s are run only sparingly. I haven’t started turning the water heater off and on but I will start that soon. Outside night-lights are left on for security – breaking and entering is a serious problem where we live.

And the result? We have cut our utility bill by a third, a savings of approximately $100.00 each month, which means we left a lot of money on the ground over the years. We would love to have it back but rather than cry about it, the wife and I have made some adjustments and we love the results.

So, here’s the plan:

Turn printers, copiers, TV’s, DVD players, entertainment systems, water heaters, pool filters, security lights on and off as needed.
If devices have lights glowing when not in use – unplug them: microwaves, ovens, etc.
Do a half flush on your toilet for liquids.
Use cold water to wash your hands instead of hot.
Do your own gardening or as much as you can stand if you, like me, feel choked when working in the garden.

Each of these items individually will not save you a lot but the variety of conveniences and our tendency to lean on them is epidemic. Together they can run up a large bill wasting a large amount of your cash.

A word of caution. If you are getting interested in the possibility of spending significantly less each month, great but remember this, timers are not your best friends. When they work, they are fine but unless you spend a lot of money on high quality timers – defeating the purpose – they will stop working and need to be replaced repeatedly – also defeating the purpose.

The manual approach is best. Turn things on in the morning, or when you first need them during the day – like the TV – and turn them off at night. Some items, like printers and copiers can be turned on and off several times a day, as you need them. Good luck as you make adjustments.

There was a time in the not too distant past when people were very frugal. They had to be. There were very few pennies to go around. Conveniences weren’t available and weren’t affordable if they had been. Now, however, is a time when people could accumulate lots of money but don’t. Why? They allow conveniences to run up the monthly cost of living and drain them dry.

We have more ways to make money than ever before and more ways to loose it too. We are very focused on finding ways to increase our income but not so interested in finding ways to spend less. Change the way you think and you can save a great deal. Even if it isn’t your nature to save or invest money, wouldn’t you like the option to spend it differently? Stop leaving money on the ground.

If you have ideas for saving on monthly household costs share them. Tell us what you THINK!AboutIt.

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