In the summer, our neighborhood has caused a brownout from the amount of electricity being funneled to our block just for our air conditioning units. We make those metal boxes on the side of our house purge the hot air from our house with little care for the money it costs to do so, only caring about staying cool. But that isn’t the summer I grew up with. In my house when I was younger, we never had air conditioning. Of course, we walked uphill to school too and slept on bed of nails. Actually, we relied on wind, electric fans, and popsicles. The weather might have drew beads of sweat onto our foreheads, but we didn’t have the costly expense of an air conditioner.

My wife hails from a tropical island, where temperatures regularly hover around 90 degrees. She’s no stranger to high temperatures and cooling off. Her culture relies on shade, umbrellas, and fans for their cooling needs. It surprised her how much we use air conditioning here, even when it’s only eighty degrees outside. Of course, if the temperature peaks 100 degrees, then we’re both fanning ourselves over the air conditioning vent. But we do stave off the desire later and later into the summer months.

The best way is to move slower, not to overdo it, and to wear breathable clothing. Some of us are conditioned in our offices to enjoy the cold blast of freon induced breezes. At home we might suffer a little more because of this, but we can also learn to enjoy the outdoors. Why stay cooped up in the house, when nature has blossomed, bloomed, and beckons us outdoors. Learn to enjoy twilight outdoors with the newspaper instead of in the air conditioned house.

The biggest savings come when we’re not at home. There’s no need to cool an empty house. Set the thermostat up when you leave for work and down when you return home. The same goes for sleeping hours. We can deal with warmer temperatures at night, so leave the thermostat at a higher temperature. The power you’ll save will make up for minor discomforts at bedtime. Put an electric fan next to the bed if you still feel the heat. Just be sure to turn it off in the morning.

This summer you can save money if you can change some of what we often times take for granted. We can live without the thermostat set to 68 degrees. Try enjoying the heat to see if it works for your household. It might save you a bundle.

With the budding flowers and heavy rains, come ways for many families to become more Green themselves. The green movement has put an emphasis on saving money on everyday utility costs like power, water, and gas. At Save Money.com we value the dollar as much as any family. We have articles written and forums setup to help you save money on these types of services. In this post, we would like to showcase a few ideas for going green and saving money at the same time.

With Spring comes rain, and what better way to save money than to capture that rain. Rain barrels used to be a thing of the past, but they have seen a resurgence in recent years. Do you know what a rain barrel is? It’s a barrel that captures rain water from the downspout of your home’s gutter system. This water can be stored and used later to water plants, the lawn, and trees.

This type of conservation method can save you money on your water bill, but can also make you more aware of the amount of water it takes to do tasks outdoors. We may have children who turn on the spout and let the water run for hours. Having water barrels would mean being able to shutoff the outside spicket so that type of waste wouldn’t occur.

Wikipedia has an excellent article describing water barrels uses throughout history. Aside from outside water, the water stored in the barrels have been used for drinking water, flushing toilets, and washing cars. [source: Wikipedia]

Water barrels can be bought at many home and garden stores in your community. If we conserve water, then we also save money on utilities and create an awareness for our children, neighbors and communities. Why not save some money while being environmentally friendly?

A water barrel is one way to save money this spring. As we discussed in our energy conservation article, you can also save money by changing bulbs to more energy efficient models, installing energy efficient appliances, and insulating a home better.

Do you have more ideas on how to save money on utilities? Feel free to leave a comment or post your idea to our forums.