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Owning a home can be INSANELY expensive. From the mortgage and the ever-increasing utility bills, to property taxes, repairs, and yearly maintenance, it all adds up. The bills keep coming and you keep working. Tough is an understatement. But there are a few things that you can do to help alleviate some of those bills. You won’t get a break on everything, but when it comes to certain expenses, there are tweaks and changes that YOU can make to lower them a little bit. In this post, I’m talking about utility bills - specifically, the water bill. Because did you know that, according to Move.org’s post here, Americans use an average of 82 gallons of water a day at home?! Yep, that’s A LOT of water. And all of that water costs you money every month. So we HAVE TO find ways to reduce our water usage and lower the bill. You have the power to do this. So over the next couple of sections, we’re going to look at a couple of things: Reasons why you need to save money on your water bill. 27 of the best and easiest ways to save money on your water bill. Ways to save on your utilities and… Other ways to save money. Alright, let’s get to it! Reasons why you need to save money on your water bill 1. it’s always good to conserve and use less: I know that we all need water - to drink, wash with, and use for a ton of different things. But if you use A LOT of water, that can simply be wasteful if you’re not watching what you’re doing. So, using the tips in this post, ry to use less so that you can save more. 2. utility costs keep rising: with ever-increasing costs of water and power, you have to dig deep to find every way possible to save money on your utilities. Saving on water is just one way that you can help cut costs for your household. 3. you have financial goals: if you don’t have any financial goals, it’s time that you get some. This post can help you with that. Then you can find ways to save money on your water bill, so that you can use that money to further your financial goals. The more you save, the quicker you can hit your goals. 27 Ways to save money on your water bill 1. Turn the faucet off while you brush or shave The first tip on this list is simple - whenever you brush your teeth or shave, turn the water off. There’s no need to sit there with the water running while you’re actively doing something else. Whenever you brush or shave, only use enough water to rinse your razor or wet your toothbrush. Once you do that, shut the water off and do what you need to do. For shaving, this might get a little bit annoying - to keep turning the water on and off - but it’s how you save water and money on your water bill. 2. Invest in high-efficiency faucets High-efficiency faucets can be an awesome money-saving investment over a long period of time. Replacing your old faucets with these high-efficiency models can save you over 700 gallons per year according to plumbernw.com’s post here. And the great thing is that these new faucets aren’t really that expensive, so you’ll break even with them within a couple of years. Then it’s nothing but saving money and conserving water. 3. Fix leaky faucets Leaky faucets can cost you some serious dough over a long period of time if left unattended. According to earlsplumbingandheating.com’s post here, each leaky faucet can waste about 29 gallons a month and add an extra dollar or more to your bill as well. So it won’t break the bank, but it’s still wasted money and we want to avoid that at all costs! Get your faucet repaired or get it replaced as soon as possible. 4. Fix all other leaks And it’s not just leaky faucets that can cause problems. Leaky toilets, showers, bathtubs, and other pipes in your home can cost you big time if you don’t fix the problem. That same post above states that, “a shower head that leaks 120 drips per minute wastes 11 gallons per day, or 330 gallons per month. This could cost $6 per month, per faucet!” That’s almost $50 bucks per year! Now we’re starting to talk about more just a few wasted dollars. On top of that, these leaks could cause major water damage in your home. If that happens, we’re not talking about a few dollars or even a few hundred bucks. Water damage can cause thousands of dollars in damage and repairs. That’s costly, wasteful, and aggravating. So if you find leaks, get them repaired quickly. 5. Use just enough water Whenever you’re using the water in your home, I want you to think about conserving. If you fill up your water bottle, only fill up what you know you’ll actually drink. If you have to boil water, only fill up your pot up with enough water to cook your food or do what you need with it. 6. Don’t adjust water temperature at the sink Having to adjust water temperatures when you turn the sink on can waste quit a bit of water while you wait for it to either get cold or get hot. If you need hot water, boil it. If you need cold water to drink, get a water filter pitcher or regular pitcher and let it get cold in the fridge. This won’t save you a whole lot. But every dollar counts, right? 7. Use the garbage disposal less This is another tip that will only save you a few cents here and there - but it’s still worth it. Try to use the garbage disposal less. If you can, simply throw all uneaten food away in the trash can. Think about when you run the garbage disposal. You start running the water, then you turn the disposal on with the water still running, and then you turn the disposal off. The water was running the whole time. You just wasted a lot of water. Instead of your disposal, try to throw most of your food away in the trash. 8. Don’t run the water while doing dishes Speaking of running water…don’t let your water run the entire time that you do your dishes (if you do them by hand). This post here on food52.com states that the average amount of water used to hand wash dishes was over 13 gallons! And that’s the conservative estimate. Most kitchen sinks spew out about 2 gallons or more a minute, and with loads of dishes taking about 20-30 minutes to hand wash, you could be using 40-60 gallons of water or more! That’s a lot of wasted water. If you don’t have a dishwasher, try the two-basin dishwashing method. Simply fill up one side of your sink with warm, soapy water and one side with cool, clean water. Wash your dishes in the soapy side and rinse them off in the clean side. That’s the easiest, most water-efficient method. But there is a better way - just use your dishwasher… 9. Use your dishwasher! If you have a dishwasher, just use it! This is the quickest, easiest, most water-efficient, and most money-smart way of cleaning your dishes. Because dishwashers just simply use LESS water than traditional ways of cleaning dishes. According to this post here from finishdishwashing.com, modern-day dishwashers are efficient enough to use less than 4 gallons of water per load (and use exactly enough to wash all the dishes inside effectively). Then, they went on to add in that “washing up the same number of plates by hand could see as much as 40 gallons of water literally poured down the drain!” So if you have a dishwasher, seriously, USE IT. 10. Run full loads of dishes Next up, maximizing your water-efficiency while running your dishwasher. The great thing is, you’re already using less water by using the dishwasher. But in order to maximize that efficiency, make sure that you’re loading up the dishwasher as full as it can get. It won’t clean the dishes any less. Some people worry that, with a full load, it won’t get the dishes as clean. So they don’t load it fully. Don’t do that. You’re wasting that water when it ALL could have gone toward cleaning as many dishes as the dishwasher could hold. Don’t worry. Your dishwasher can handle it. 11. Run full loads of laundry That exact same logic from tip #10 can be used with the washer in your laundry room. Most newer washers are fairly water-efficient anyways, like the dishwasher we just talked about. But you need to load up your washers as full as they can be, so that you’re not wasting extra money and water to wash extra loads of clothing. So pack your washer full. It’ll handle the load. 12. Wear clothes more than once (if you can) This is an easy one. If you’re the person that wears clothes one time and then washes, try to rethink this. Now I know there is some clothing that needs to be washed after one use - smelly summer clothes, underwear, and anything that just plain stinks. I don’t want you to smell. But there are clothes that can be worn more than once. Jeans, some shorts, and the occasional shirt or pair of socks can often be reworn again. Sometimes gym shorts and other items can be worn again if they don’t smell too bad. But just to be clear: if it smells, wash it. If it doesn’t, try wearing it again or a few times. You can also do this with towels, too! That can save you from washing extra loads of laundry, saving you money over the long run. 13. Say “NO!” to baths Did you know that the average bathtub holds 58 gallons of water?! I surely did not. I also just learned that the average shower only uses about 2.1 gallons of water per minute (gpm). So if you skip the bath and take a 4-5 minute shower instead, you could be saving almost 50 gallons of water every time you need to get clean. Wow. You’ll save water AND money. 14. Low-flow shower heads Take that saving even further with efficient, low-flow shower heads. These shower heads can reduce your water usage even further, taking your gallons per minute rate from 2.1 gallons down to 1.5 gallons. If you take a 5 minute shower every day for 31 days, you’ll be saving about 90-100 gallons over the course of the month. And saving a small amount of water can really add up over time, saving you at least a couple bucks on your bill every month. Hey, why not? 15. Time your showers Here’s something that I do fairly regularly - just about every day - to save on water, time, and money. Timing your showers can save on hundreds of gallons of water per year if you do it right. For this, I try to limit my showers to about 2 minutes each. By doing that, instead of 5 minutes showers, I’ll save over 2,300 gallons of water per year! That could mean over $55 dollars of savings every year or more! That’s a lot of savings. 16. Install high-efficiency toilets High-efficiency toilets are another replacement that can help you save a lot of money over time. If you can’t afford to do them all, just replace one at a time and you can start reaping the benefits! 17. Fix any “running” toilets “Running toilets” are toilets that are making noise and having the water continuously run. While that toilet is “running,” it’s wasting a lot of water and a lot of money. According to that post from earlsplumbingandheating.com here, “Left unnoticed, a running toilet could waste over 6,000 gallons per month. Depending on the rate you pay for water and sewer, this could cost as much as $70 per month!” If you’ve got a running toilet, get that fixed as soon as possible! 18. Invest in more efficient appliances If you have older appliances, and can swing the cost, start upgrading all of them to newer, more efficient replacements. It might cost you a little bit of dough up front, but these more efficient models can help save you money for years. 19. WaterSense Products WaterSense products can help save you money, period. If you’re looking for efficient products to help you conserve and save, look for those with the WaterSense label. According to EPA.gov’s post here, “WaterSense labeled products are backed by independent, third–party certification and meet EPA’s specifications for water efficiency and performance.” So they can help you both conserve water AND save money. Find the WaterSense label on home toilets, shower heads, bathroom faucets, commercial toilets, urinals, sprinklers, and irrigation controllers. Basically, whatever you need when it comes to using water. 20. Energy Star Products Energy Star products are also awesome because they can help you save water AND power. Find products with the Energy Star label and you’ll save on both the water bill and the electric bill starting from day 1. 21. Insulate all the pipes in your home This is a fairly easy way to save just a little bit of water. By insulating your pipes, those pipes don’t need as long to heat up your water. Because they retain heat better, you’re using less water when you turn the faucet or other appliance on to the hot setting. 22. Buy plants that only need a little bit of water Even if you’re a crazy plant lady like my wife is, and you need to use more water to water your plants, you can still conserve and save money by finding plants that only need a little bit of water. Instead of buying a bunch of random plants and wondering how much water they’re going to need, try buying ONLY those houseplants that require less water to stay alive. Here are some common options: Aloe Vera Cacti Snake plant Sago Palm Air plant Dracanea Succulents And there are many more. You just have to check out all the different plants and find which ones you like best. For some more ideas, check out this post here on balconygardenweb.com. 23. Water your lawn at the right time Next up on the list, watering your lawn…which can get VERY expensive. So here’s a quick tip - make sure you’re only watering in the morning or at night. If you water it during the day, you’ll literally be wasting water. In the heat, the ground and grass won’t soak up as much water because a lot of it simply evaporates. That means, during the day is a terrible time to water the lawn. Morning or evening only. 24. Water your lawn once per week Did I mention how expensive watering your lawn is? Here’s my experience: Last year, I went from a $58 dollar water bill to a $150 dollar water bill in just over a month. Because I didn’t realize how expensive it was to water the grass every day. I found out real quick and immediately adjusted my watering schedule. My water bill returned to normal and I had to rethink my idea of having a beautifully green lawn that I watered every day. Instead, I developed a game plan. I told my wife that I was going to cut the yard every Saturday. Then, it was going to get watered heavily on Sunday. And if it rained over the weekend, I did NOT water the grass as the rain would do it for me. Any rain during the week was a plus. Watering it only once per week might not quite be enough, but water costs money, so it was enough for me. 25. Skip the watering If you don’t really care about the grass that much, just skip the watering. You’ll save a lot of money by doing that. The grass won’t look that great, but it doesn’t matter all that much anyways. 26. Collect rainwater (for lawn and gardening) Word of caution: before you even think of trying this, I want you to hit up Google and check to see if collecting rainwater is legal where you live. As crazy as it sounds, in some places, it’s NOT legal to collect rainwater. You can read why it’s illegal in some states here on bestlifeonline.com. But if you find that it’s legal in your state - as it is in my state of North Carolina - go ahead and collect some rainwater! It can be a creative way to save money by using the rainwater in various ways to water your garden, your plants inside, or your lawn. It might not be a huge amount of money saved, but every single saved dollar is worth it. Just purchase a small water collection barrel and get started. What if you could collect enough water to never have to turn on the hose spigot again? Interesting thought, right? 27. Just try to use less water If you put in a solid effort to use less water, over time, the savings can really add up. You could potentially save thousands and thousands of dollars on your water bill. But you have to put in the work and actually try to conserve and save every time you use water. If you don’t, you’re going to waste a lot of water and a lot of money over the years. Finally Saving money on your water bill is completely up to you. It’s not a utility bill that’s usually crazy expensive, but it can double or triple if you’re wasting a ton of water. So if you’re looking to save money on your water, start being more conscious about how much water you’re using. Run your water less, take quicker showers, use the dishwasher, and don’t water your lawn as much. Because you can actually lower your water bill significantly if you do some of the simple things on this list. So how will you save money on your water bill this month? Don’t forget about your other utilities! If you’re looking for more ways to save on utilities, check out this post - “The Complete Guide to Saving Money on Your Utility Bills: 57 Easy Tips.” Other ways to save money Want to save even more money? Check out all of our money-saving posts ⬇️: 101 ways to cut expenses! Save money at the gas pump Save money at the grocery store Save money on coffee Save money this summer Save money on vacation Save money by not eating out Save money for college Save money in college Save money on entertainment Save $1,000 dollars in 30 days! 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