Good morning Loves. It’s been two weeks since we moved into our new apartment and I have to tell you I’m loving it. I love absolutely everything – both inside and out – about our new living space from the neighborhood to the square footage. We live in a quiet neighborhood, but a ton of amenities are within walking distance; downtown is about a 20 minute walk and Chinatown is just a few steps away. For all you vegetarians out there you know that Chinese food never disappoints. There are always several vegetarian meal options on the menu and the food is always fresh. Can you tell I’m really excited about where we live?!?!
Turning over an eco friendly leaf
One of the best things I love about our new apartment is the fact that it’s green. Not literally in color, but in functionality. This new apartment has energy efficient appliances including the washer and dryer as well as the refrigerator and dishwasher. Having an energy efficient home is great for helping the environment but it’s also great for your budget because when you save energy you also save money.
This new energy efficient apartment has me thinking about other ways I can save on my electricity bill. Oh yes did I mention that? In this new apartment we have to pay the hydro bill. That’s a first for us because in all the other (there were only three) apartments we’ve lived in together we only paid rent; everything – and I mean everything – was included. This makes me very nervous and BF is freaking out a little bit too because having a variable expense every month is unsettling.
BF’s paranoia about the cost of our energy consumption has us living in the dark, lighting a lot of candles and using more cold water than hot. It’s not pleasant, but we’ll do anything to save a buck.
Save money on your hydro bill by going green:
Change your light bulbs. BF is obsessed with energy efficient light bulbs. When I say obsessed I mean we have a whole drawer full of light bulbs. He scans flyers to see when and where energy efficient light bulbs are on sale. They can be expensive, but the upfront cost is worth the savings in electricity over time. A 23 watt energy efficient light bulb is equivalent to a regular 100 watt light bulb. That can help save over $300 per year in electricity – or at least that’s what the package says.
Buy bedside lamps. I know this may sound crazy but every time I flick on a light switch I hear the ching-ching sound of a cash register. So I like to use as little as light as possible but enough to be comfortable. The happy middle ground is a set of bedside table lamps. They add decor to a bedroom, provide enough light to function and help save on the energy bill. We even bought a table lamp for our living room – it’s Nate Berkus and we bought it on sale at Target for $232. Did you know Nate Berkus has a home decor collection?
Photo from Flickr
