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Out with the old, in with the new! Every new year brings plenty of time to set ‘resolutions’ to live a happy and healthier life in our great state of Texas. And thanks to the endless lists of suggested resolutions that you can find online, you don’t need to go anywhere else but right here to make your own resolutions for 2023.
Over this past week, we searched the worldwide web for the most popular and achievable new year’s resolutions that are easy to keep throughout the year.
Thanks to Parade.com, Goodhousekeeping.com, and CollegeLifeMadeEasy.com we have compiled 50 easy resolutions that seem to be simple to keep.
So sit back, take a look at the list, and toast to yourself for a healthy and happy year to come:
50 Easy & Achievable New Year’s Resolutions
1. Drink plenty of water
2. Move more, sit less
3. Make plans to take a mini adventure
4. Prioritize eco-friendly choices
5. Volunteer more often
6. Adopt an attitude of gratitude
7. Send handwritten letters
8. Spend five minutes a day cleaning
9. Practice mindfulness
10. Cook something new each week
11. Read more books
12. Try a new restaurant
13. Donate clothes you never wear
14. Avoid people who complain a lot
15. Talk less, listen more
16. Practice remembering names
17. Make your bed each morning, you will have accomplished something
18. Commit to a healthier sleep pattern
19. Join a club
20. Eat more vegetables
21. Schedule an annual health examination
22. Take the stairs
23. Plan a stay-cation in your hometown
24. Do yoga
25. Make time for cuddling
26. Volunteer regularly
27. Join a club
28. Hone or learn a new skill
29. Stop procrastinating a new skill
30. Keep clutter out of the kitchen
31. Bake cookies for a veteran
32. Explore new hobbies
33. Do one thing at a time
34. Put your phone down, go outside
35. Keep current with the news
36. Ease stress with kindness
37. Give one compliment a day
38. Do random acts of kindness
39. Go someplace you have never been
40. Schedule ‘me’ time
41. Write down one thing you are grateful for every night
42. Call a friend and have a conversation, skip the text
43. Don’t by things you don’t need
44. Clean your car once a month
45. Let go of grudges
46. Be more punctual
47. Make a new friend
48. Stop gossiping
49. Learn something new everyday
50. Just do it!
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It’s that time of the year! Whether you are seeking a perfect gift for your Grad or looking for something fun to give Dad for Father’s Day, our great state of Texas has you covered!
To save you time, we have hand-picked some of our favorite ideas to congratulate those who mean the most to you during this festive time of the year. From baskets of snacks to local brews and sauces for the BBQ, the following “Tastes of Texas” gift selection is just the start of the best gifts for Grads and Dads this year.
For pictures and to make a purchase, click into each selection below.
If you are planning on celebrating with the entire clan, “The Grand Tour of Texas” gift basket is a super-sized option. Packaged in a Texas-themed tin bin, this gift overflows with a pile of Texas-made goods.
– 1 lb Milican Pecan Co. Fresh Pecan Halves
– 24 pcs Lammes Texas Chewie Pecan Pralines
– 2 x Cin Chili Mixes
– Whittington's Beef Jerky 4oz
– Lone Star Snack Mix
– Mikey V's Garlic Sprinkles
– Longhorn Snack Mix
– We're Nuts For You In Texas Snack Mix
– Jalapeno Dip Mix
– Fredericksburg Farms Longhorn Dip
– 2 x Thunderbird Bar
– Meyer's Elgin Smokehouse Seasoning
– Hobi's Bites Crackers
– Texas Trail Mix (4oz)
– Bravado Spice Hot Sauce Set (4 flavors)
– Milican Pecan Co. Mini Pecan Pie
– 2 x Texas Shaped Pralines
– Texana Brand Olive Oil
– Stroope's Wildflower Honey Bear
– SuckleBusters Championship BBQ Rub
– Reusable Texas Tin (17" x 11" x 6")
Your Dad or Grad will go nutty over this one! With seasonings for the chef or snacks for the kids, this is win-win for anyone who has an affection for the State Nut of Texas.
– Lammes 6oz Pecan Pralines
– Millican Pecan Caramel Pecan Popcorn
– Millican Pecan Roasted and Salted Pecans
– Millican Pecan Fresh Pecan Halves in Burlap Bag
– Millican Pecan Syrup
– Millican Pecan Mini Texas Pecan Pie
– Golden Gals Texas Shaped Praline
– Millican Pecan Cinnamon Pecans
– Millican Pecan Honey Roasted Pecans
– Texas Olive Ranch Pecan Balsamic Vinegar
– TeGar-den Farms Pecan Jelly
– SuckleBusters Texas Pecan BBQ Rub
Everything’s big in Texas and this is no exception. Any Grad or Dad will appreciate breakfast in bed – and this basket pulls it all together with Texas goods wrapped in a Texas-shaped tin.
– Sow Good Smoothie
– Wildway Hot Cereal (4 Packets)
– 2 Wildway Single Serve Granola
– Austin Jam Co Single Serve Jam
– 2 Vicky Cakes Flavored pancake/waffle Mix
– Vicky Cakes Syrup
– 2 Bella Bars
– 12oz Café Latina Texas Rum Coffee grounds
Completing our list of our favorite gifts for the Dad and Grad is this all-inclusive BBQ & Beer Gift set.
Grill Set – Included in a fully-lined aluminum case is a complete set of BBQ tools, grilling skewers, corn holders, basting brush, and salt & pepper shakers, too!
PLUS
– Hardbite Smokin' BBQ Cips
– East Shore Dipping
– Bruges Classic Chocolate Covered Blueberries Pillow
– Braswell's Great On Anything BBQ sauce with Vidalia Onion
– Campi Verdi di Toscana Balsamic Vinegar of Modena IGP
– Campi Verdi di Toscana Extra Virgin Olive Oil
– Grant & Mein's Fine Spice Company Montreal Steak Spice
From our family at Juniper Springs apartments in Austin, may your celebrations be everything that your Dad and Grad deserves!
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It’s here! A brand-new year to look forward to at your apartment in Austin, Texas. With most of the world focusing on New Year’s resolutions this month, we thought we would save you some time and provide a list of tips to improve your home life at Juniper Springs. We scoured the internet to find the best ideas for spit-shining your home and office in 2022.
Our list comes from a variety of websites that focus on living the good life in apartment settings like ours.
Here is what we found so far. And if you have any other tips, feel free to post them on our Facebook to share with family and friends.
Time to Spit-Shine
• Declutter your cabinets
• Throw out outdated food in the cupboard
• Give the fridge a good scrub
• Organize your spices alphabetically
• Sweep the corners and clean the baseboards
• Wash the dishes you did not use in 2021
• Clean off the countertops
• Give your curtains or blinds a good bath
• Give the tub, sinks, and oven a good scrub
Organize Your Space
• Plan your meals once a week
• Stash the seasonal décor (under the bed works really well!)
• Replace your batteries in clocks, smoke alarms, and other important gadgets
• Donate the clothes you have not worn in a few years
• Sort through your house goods (towels, pillows, sheets, etc.) and donate used items to your local pet shelter
Streamline Your Life
• Unsubscribe to emails you do not read
• Set up autopay to save you time
• Mark of ‘Me Time” on your calendar to do something fun, or nothing at all
• Set realistic deadlines and stick to them
• Make faster decisions
• Learn to delegate
• Find time for quality time
• Try something new every month
• Find a new hobby
• Cut back on-screen time
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Every month we research new ideas to help you enjoy a full life at your apartment in Austin. And every blog that we produce is backed by our mission that is centered around you – living a wholesome living experience at Juniper Springs.
With summer temps rising daily, we thought you might appreciate some top tips on how to stay cool in the summer heat.
Play in the Pool
Our first choice, of course, is to encourage you to enjoy the pool at our apartments in Austin. Whether you swim some laps in the morning, enjoy a full day in its cool waters, or plan a BBQ pool side in the evening, our pool and pool-side amenities are there for you and your family to enjoy.
Need ideas on how to keep the kids entertained while you read your favorite book pool-side, there’s a great article on ActiveKids.com. Read on to read more about pool games for your kids that include: Beach Ball Race, Ping Pong Madness, Sharks and Minnows, What Time Is It Mr. Fox , Coin Hunts, Floatie Races, and we must mention the oh-so-famous: Marco Polo!
Keep it Cool in the Kitchen
As noted above, feel free to use the BBQ to keep the heat out of your kitchen. And instead of the comfy foods that we enjoy during our cooler month, swap those out for fresh fruit salads, scrumptious sandwiches, and of course, ice cream and popsicles for dessert! If you need more ideas on cool things to cook during the steamy summer months, take a look at this site that offers 50 options to keep your kitchen and apartment cool this summer.
Get Spicy
This deserves a paragraph all on its own. As home to the best BBQ and restaurants in the USA (our opinion), order it HOT. Yes, spicy hot! We have learned this lesson from some of our neighbors who noted that some of the spiciest foods come from South America where the temps are tops most of the year. Although spicey foods may feel hot at first bite, and we start to sweat, the air on our damp skin cools down our body’s temperature. So here’s another tip on how to keep your body cool. Click into this story published on EATER Austin re: 10 Places to Light Your Mouth on Fire in Austin!
To get you fired-up to read the story, here’s how it starts:
Texas weather can get hot, but its food can get even hotter. The city’s restaurant scene thrives on peppers and spice and everything else that makes for delicious, flavorful food, but there are certain plates that stand out amongst the rest.
Here is your guide to Austin’s spiciest dishes, the ones that will make you break out in a sweat and light your mouth on fire. There’s an ample number of Thai and Sichuan specialties like Dee Dee and Sichuan River, to hot chicken at Tumble 22, and oh-so-hot Indian dishes at Clay Pit. This update adds Tommy Want Wingy to the mix. Keep those glasses of milk handy.
Keep All Things Cotton
From your sheets at night to your summer wardrobe, cotton is always our top pick to beat the heat in Austin. We found a good article written by Voila ~ Wellness Made Simple that explained why cotton is good for you, and the environment too. Here are some highlights:
- Breathability In hot and sweaty seasons, as the body perspires, cotton fibers absorb the moisture and release it on the fabric, so it evaporates. This makes cotton breathable. It also allows for better air circulation while drawing heat away from the skin and keeping the body cool and dry. Because it is absorbent it removes liquid from the skin, like a towel, according to Cotton Incorporated.
- Comfortable – Cotton fibers (especially organic) are one of the only natural fibers that cause almost no allergic reactions and don’t irritate human skin. Cotton’s hypoallergenic nature and moisture-wicking properties won’t aggravate dry skin or cause allergic reactions, even in people prone to skin problems like rashes or eczema.
- Stylish cotton is not only the best choice for t-shirts, PJs, and jeans! You can find beautifully made and stylish cotton outfits from top designers these days. Great looking garments that will not only make you look good but also make you feel good while wearing them no matter how hot it gets!
But wait, there’s more! Watch our next edition for more ways to keep cool during the summer months in and around your apartment in Austin.
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Throughout our blogs, we always like to bring you only good news to share with your family at our apartments in Austin, TX. And today, we are continuing to this mission and providing you with an educational list of things you can do in your daily life to save you time and money this spring and long into 2021 and beyond.
Below is a start to a list of simple household tips that we have collected over the years. The initial list came from my Mom who gave it to me when I was in college. Since then, similar lists have popped up all over the web. And with good reason!
Watch our blog later this month for more ways to use products that you have in your house for things that you probably have not thought of in the past.
Safe Way to Pick-up Broken Glass d of using a sponge that will retain the small particles pieces of glass, use cotton balls. They do a much better and safer job of getting the job done.
Easy Tip for Removing Dust Under the Fridge – We have talked about spring cleaning in our former blogs and should have added this tip, too. To get the dirt out from under your refrigerator, grab an empty paper towel holder and attach it to your wand on your vacuum. You will be amazed at how much dust and dirt you can remove with this household tip.
Removing Static Cling – Back in the day when most women wore slips under their dresses and skirts, they would place a few safety pins to the inside of the seams. This immediately removes and eliminates ‘static cling.” This works for shirts, too!
Easy Tip to Clean Sticky Measuring Cups – We love peanut butter, yet we don’t like the tacky mess it leaves in our measuring cups and spoons. Thank goodness we were reminded about this simple trick. Just warm up the spoons and cups with hot water, pour it out, yet do not dry them off. You will find that any sticky substance will simple slide out with no mess left behind. This works wonders on Honey in particular!
Simple Way to Rid the Foggy Windshield – Although this may be a rare occasion in Austin, this is still a great tip to share with your friends and family. To easily erase a foggy windshield, buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in your car for the next foggy morning.
Got more ideas? We would love to see them and share them with your neighbors at our apartment community in Austin, TX.
Follow this link to our Facebook page and post away!
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Earlier this month we shared some of our top tips for spring cleaning. The article was so popular we decided to do more research to help you get your apartment in Austin clean and shiny this spring!
Coffee Filter Cleaners
One of the most affordable tools in the house is probably sitting next to your coffee cups in the cupboard. Time to pull them out and put them to a new use! Did you know they worked really well as a dust rag? Just wipe and toss and you will be on your way.
Even better, when placing food into the microwave, top it off with a coffee filter and say good-bye to spaghetti stains and other colorful sauces that used to pop all over inside!
Shoe Storage Savior
The next time you cannot find a match for your left shoe or right, go out to the local liquor store and pick-up a wine box. It is the perfect home for storing your shoes together and saving space at the same time.
Computer Cord Caddy
Just before you toss that toilet paper or paper towel tube, hold on to it! They are the ideal solution for gathering all those computer cords into one tidy bundle. This works for electrical cords as well so save those handy cylinders and repurpose them today.
Another ideal container that works well for this same purpose is pipe insulation. We got some at the hardware store and found that the ½ inch is the ideal size for seizing the mess under our desks.
Pie Plate Dustpan
For quick clean-ups of spilled dirt, sugar, flour and more, keep an aluminum pie plate handy. Cut it in half, clean up your mess, and toss it all away into the trash.
Glove Dust Magnets
Here is a great tip for dusting off the knickknacks around your apartment in Austin. Grab a pair of ‘cotton’ garden gloves, spray them with your favorite natural cleaner, and dust all those small accessories that have collected dust over the winter months. This ‘fingertip’ cleaning tip is one of our favorite ways to keep our keepsakes clean throughout the year.
Designer Drawers
When was the last time you could not find something in your bathroom drawer? Gone are the days of trying to find the lip balm or toe-nail clippers! We have found that a silverware drawer insert is the ideal solution for sorting out all sorts of stuff that deserves its own space.
If you have any more ideas that we should share with your neighbors at our pet friendly apartment community in Austin, send them our way! And in the meantime, the best of success to you in your spring cleaning endeavors!
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With spring officially around the corner, our team at Juniper Springs apartments in Austin, Tx, knows exactly what that means: It is Spring-Cleaning Season.
Luckily for most of us, all the things we need to clean our apartment without the harsh chemicals that are included in most cleaning agents, are right here in our kitchen. Here is your list of items that will help you leave your apartment at Juniper Springs spic and span!
- Vinegar
- Baking Soda
- Lemon Juice
- Salt
- Borax (or similar product)
- Plastic Spray Bottle
- Clean Soft Cloths
By following the tips on how to naturally clean your apartment in Austin, TX, below, you will end up with some simple and affordable ways to clean your carpets, bathrooms, windows, and kitchen, without the intrusion of chemical fumes.
White Vinegar
Place mixture of ¼ part vinegar and ¾ parts water into a spray bottle. Then get to work. I have found this combination to work well to remove hard-water spots throughout by bathroom, and well into the kitchen where it works to remove the spots on my coffee pot and other glassware. It is a good one to take with you when you are washing windows or need to get gooey stickers off products that you recently purchased.
When it comes to cleaning drains, my neighbor told me about the power of White Vinegar or Cider Vinegar. It is much better for your pipes than any of the more toxic products.
It is also great for getting any lime scales or stains on your sink, shower, or tub.
One more plug for the power of vinegar. Mix a cup of vinegar with a few tablespoons of olive oil and a few drops of lemon juice – then go give your furniture a fresh and lemony dusting and polishing.
Lemon Juice
I bet you have never thought about putting lemon juice in your wash machine. Using a half cup of juice for every gallon of water will brighten those light and bright spring whites in no time. For tougher stains on your clothes, or your countertops, just spray the juice (no water) right on the stain, let it sit, then wash or wipe it down.
We have also used lemon juice to clean our toilets. Grab some baking soda and mix it with lemon juice – then use this paste to make your toilets lemony-fresh and clean.
If you are using lemons, and not the purchased lemon juice product, the juice from a fresh lemon works wonders in the fridge. Just cut it in half and leave it on the shelf for a week or so. You will know when it is time to toss it in the trash.
Baking Soda
Make a batch of this non-toxic abrasive cleaning product by mixing the baking soda with equal parts of salt.
Apply the mixture on a wet sponge or cloth and head to the bathroom to spit-shine your sinks and tubs.
This works wonders when cleaning your refrigerator. Got fresh stains on the carpet? Rub a bit on the spot, leave it for about an hour, then vacuum it out. It should remove any unwanted smell as well.
One more note about baking soda – for your teeth. Really! Add a touch to your toothpaste then brush away!
Now that is a shine that you can appreciate for years to come!
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Welcome to 2021! If one of your New Year’s Resolutions is to get your apartment in North Austin, TX, a little more organized and welcoming, our January blogs are for you!
Starting a new year gives us every reason to toss the past behind us and focus forward on the good things in life. With so many of us spending more time at home, this may be the best resolution to put at the top of your list!
We have just walked through our apartment at Juniper Springs and used that tour to develop our own list of how we will start the process, today! On behalf of our entire team, we wish you the best of success in streamlining and organizing your apartment this month!
Happy New Year!
Welcome Home!
We all know about ‘first impressions.’ How’s yours … as friends and family walk in the door. Shoes on the floor, coats hanging off the edge of the closet door? Perhaps your plant has seen better days? To get started on your new resolution, go outside, and then walk in and take a visual inventory. If you are pleased with what you see, fabulous! You are on your way.
If not, time to tidy up the entry. And that does not mean just throw everything in the closet. It will be there when you need to repeat that habit the next time. Maybe it’s time to donate a few jackets to the local thrift shop. Perhaps you need a small bench for the variety of shoes and boots? Whatever you can do to make that closet purposeful and not a holding tank will be a super first step to getting your entry welcoming and clutter-free.
A Kitchen is for Cooking
Are your countertops cluttered with unread mail or perhaps missing bills? Has your kitchen table become a mailbox holding ground? One of the fastest habits to break that will bring the purpose of your kitchen back to work is tossing your mail or various stacks of paper where they belong -before you land in the kitchen.
We have added a new and colorful basket right by the entry of our apartment. When we come home, we stop and assess the mail at the entrance to our home. Bills go in one pile, the useful paper goods (like our favorite magazines) go to into the basket for further review, and all other unwanted materials go directly into the trash which is conveniently located under our sink in the kitchen!
Our neighbors did it differently – yet their system works. They bought several rectangle baskets, labeled them, and placed them on a shelf. Bills into one bin, cards and other personal items in another, and junk mail in the final basket for review or removal when time allows. They also finally convinced us to go to online billing and contact the publisher of unwanted magazines to remove our name from their list.
Bedrooms are for Sleeping
There’s a favorite chair in our bedroom that brings back endless memories of family time gone by. Prior to our reorganizing spree, you could not see it as it turned into a “clothing catcher” of all sorts. Today, it proudly sits awaiting our return to enjoy some quiet time with a good book. The piles of clothing now have their own designated space. They are either placed on hangers (we bought quite a few for a great value) or live in a hamper to await laundry day.
Stay tuned to our next blog later this month for more top tips on how to organize your apartment in 2021!
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“A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues.” – Cicero
With Thanksgiving in our focus at our apartment community in North Austin, TX, it brings back great memories of gathering together with friends and family during this time of the year.
It is also time to reflect-back to all the good in life that we may have forgotten to appreciate through our most recent challenging times. In that light, we thought we would share some ideas to help children, and adults as well, get together to share their ideas and memories about the more positive things in life.
Below you will find an easy list of ideas that we have gathered from our favorite family-focused websites. We encourage you to take some time to share these ideas before Thanksgiving and perhaps during the upcoming holiday as well.
Make Time to Say Thanks
During this busy time of the year, it is often challenging to get a family to sit down for dinner when it is usually the best time for a family conversation. Perhaps you can start the inspiration at breakfast and ask everyone to spend a moment to share what they are thankful for each morning. This will jump-start everyone’s day in positive note which they can carry with them throughout each day.
Post Your Gratitude
If you have some post-it notes, pull them out and put them to good use this Thanksgiving! This simple idea can last a long time when it comes to reminding your family how grateful you are for their love and kindness. Just write a quick note – and perhaps post it in the bathroom on the mirror. You can rest assured they will see it at some point during the day!
And then leave the post-it pad with a pen close by … to encourage their own inspirational thoughts.
Give Thanks Across the Street and Beyond
With all the delicious recipes overflowing on the internet, maybe this will inspire you and your children to make something yummy to share with the next-door neighbors?
Or help out at the local Food Bank or Soup Kitchen volunteering, safely, to help those who need it most.
Play the Alphabet Game
This is an easy one that everyone can play – be it indoors or out! Start with the letter “A” and ask everyone to name something that they are grateful for that begins with “A”. Think: adoration for my family, art, apple pie!
Try A Game of Gratitude
All you need are a few pieces of paper and pen, and a timer, for this easy and interactive game. Tell the players that they will have one minute to write down everything that they are grateful for this past year. Whoever has the biggest list can then oversee starting a similar game with a ball in hand. The idea here is to hold the ball, say what you are thankful for, then toss the ball to another friend or family member. This can be a timed event as well. Set it for a minute and see how many times the ball can be passed.
Start a Piggy Bank Filled with Love
We love this one. Give everyone seven pieces of paper on which they will write their thoughts. No name is required – just the thought. Every morning, have them place their paper in a jar through the week. On Thanksgiving, or during the holiday weekend, find time to pass the Piggy Bank around the table and ask everyone to pull out one thought and share it with all involved.
Create a Family Thank You Journal
All you need for this idea is a blank book (or large notepad) that will be a treasured keepsake. We like to start this on Thanksgiving and encourage our family to write their thoughts of gratitude within the Journal until Christmas Day. It is not necessary to write every day, yet at least once a week. We use Sundays as our days to stop and reflect on what we are thankful for during that past week.
On Christmas, we close the book and share it on New Year’s Eve. You may be surprised how all the entries can set a healthy and happy tone for the new year ahead.
Bring Back the Hand-Written Thank You Note!
If there is one act of kindness that our staff at Juniper Springs apartments in Austin appreciates most – it’s a good-old-fashioned Thank You note. These are certainly appropriate after one receives a gift yet are just as powerful as an impromptu act of kindness. No need to wait to just to tell someone you are thinking about them or appreciate their guidance and advice.
We hope you have enjoyed this bit of inspiration to kick-start the holiday season. From all of us at the Juniper Springs apartment community, we thank you for your friendship and wish you a warm and memorable Thanksgiving.
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]]>Coronavirus has made major changes to how we live our daily lives.
While before, most of us left every day to go to work, school or social gatherings, now, we're spending all that time at home. This means more use for everything in your home, which can translate to larger bills.
Lights are on in rooms more often. There's more need to regulate the temperature of your home. You're also probably running the dishwasher and doing more loads of laundry than ever before.
These activities all ramp up your utility use which can lead to higher water and electricity bills. To avoid spending more at a time where you potentially have less coming in, here are some handy tips for keeping utility bills at bay.
Ways to cut back on your utility bills
In 2018, the U.S. used 3.95 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity according to Statista. This is a huge number when you consider that the average refrigerator only uses 161 kilowatt-hours per month. Saving on utility bills in your home means making small changes to limit electricity and water use.
1. Swap light bulbs
When in doubt about how to save on utility bills, inspect your light bulbs. If you're not using compact fluorescents (CFLs), it's time to make the switch. These energy-efficient bulbs use significantly less electricity and can save you close to $50 per year on your electric bill. They also last longer, so you're buying less bulbs and saving some money there, as well.
Don't forget to make these bulbs work even harder to save you money by switching off the lights whenever you leave a room.
2. Avoid peak hours
Using large appliances like your dishwasher or dryer during the hottest time of the day means your home is working harder. The extra heat taxes your air conditioning, already trying to cool down your home. To give your AC a break, and save a little on your electric bill, try running these types of appliances early in the morning or after the sun goes down at night.
3. Unplug electronics when not in use
Energy vampires are those appliances that steal a lot of electricity even when they're not in use. Avoid these power suckers by unplugging appliances when you're done with them. The top offenders include:
- Cell phone chargers
- TVs
- Microwaves
- Coffeemakers
- Printers
- Video game consoles
4. Adjust your thermostat
Keeping your thermostat running efficiently helps save electricity. “The closer the temperature is on the thermostat to the temperature outside, the less your air conditioner has to work and the lower your energy bill will be," says Jeffrey Orloff from The Spruce. On average, this means 78 degrees Fahrenheit in the warmer months, and 68 in the winter.
5. Clean and close vents
Keeping your air vents dust-free helps them run more efficiently, saving you money. Twice a month, use a duster to wipe away any buildup. You should also make sure there isn't anything blocking them.
Additionally, you can close vents in rooms you don't frequent, like a guest room, in order to direct airflow to where it needs to be most. Sending air conditioning into an empty room just wastes electricity.
6. Load up your dishwasher
Treat your dishwasher like a game of Tetris. How much can you fit before it's actually full? Doing this means fewer loads, which translates to less water.
7. Do big loads of laundry
The same rule applied to dishwashers works for your washing machine. Waiting until you have a full load of laundry to wash clothes saves water. If you wash everything in cold, it's OK to combine lights and darks, making it easier to fill the machine before you run out of clothing.
This also helps save electricity since you'll run your dryer less, as well. Just remember to leave a little bit of space for the clothes to slosh around and actually get clean.
This is also a good idea if you need to go to a public laundry facility right now, because fewer loads of laundry mean less time spent in common areas.
8. Take shorter showers
Cutting four minutes off your shower each time adds up. It can save almost 4,000 gallons of water per year, which is close to $100. It also helps decrease other utility bills since you're using less energy to heat up all that water.
9. Check for leaks
Small plumbing issues may not feel like an extra expense, but you're paying for every drop of water. If you notice a leaky faucet, now is the time to address it. It's also a good idea to inspect your pipes and make sure there aren't any hidden leaks. You'll also avoid water damage.
Average utility bill costs
While it's possible to estimate what your utility bills will cost in a regular month, it's hard to know how much your usage has increased while at home as a result of the coronavirus. It's best to assume your utility bills will go up.
“If you save your bill stubs, you can get an idea how much you spend in a typical month," says Mint. From there, estimate your average spending and then work a little more into your monthly budget to avoid sticker shock when your first coronavirus utility bill comes.
How much more you need will depend on a few factors like how energy efficient your home is and whether or not you're taking steps to conserve energy whenever possible.
Keep those utility bills low during coronavirus isolation
While it's impossible to say you can maintain your average utility bills when you're spending more time at home, you can keep the increase to a minimum. Taking small steps, doing small things to cut back on your electricity and water consumption can help keep these pricey bills within your budget, even in this uncertain time.
Lesly Gregory
April 22, 2020
The post How to Save on Utility Bills During Coronavirus appeared first on Juniper Springs A Concierge Community Blog.
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