5 Summer Savings Tips

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Nationwide Biweekly Administration Savings Tips.

Saving money is possible year round by being conscious of your energy usage and paying attention to the thermostat. In summer, as temperatures soar and air conditioners work overtime, energy bills spiral out of control and break many people’s budgets.  Here are a few tips by Nationwide Biweekly Administration for saving money during the warmer months

·         Turn off the dryer. Take your freshly laundered clothes and let the sun and summer breeze do the drying for you.   The resulting difference in your power bill will be significant.

·         Cook outside.  Especially in the summer, using the oven creates a lot of excess heat that has nowhere to go except your house, taxing your air conditioning and driving the bills higher and higher to maintain a comfortable temperature.  Fire up the barbeque grill for delicious summer meals that won’t heat up the house’s interior.

·         Turn off the air conditioning.   Okay, this is not realistic if you live in Florida, Southern Nevada, Arizona and a handful of other all hot all the time locations.  In other areas though, where the weather does fluctuate, you can save money by simply paying attention to the weather. In coastal California for instance, you rarely need air conditioning at night as the marine layer cools off the air considerably. Turn off the air conditioning before heading to bed, open some windows, turn on the ceiling fans and enjoy a lower power bill.

·         Check and/or replace your air conditioning filters.  A dirty filter can increase your cooling costs unnecessarily.  Dirty air filters restrict airflow and the efficiency of the air conditioner causing more run time and higher cooling bills.  When you factor in how cheap filters are and how expensive air conditioning bills are, you’re not likely to forget to check your filters again!

·         Plan ahead  At the end of summer you’ll notice season ending sales. If you give some thought to next year’s landscaping and garden projects you can pick up the supplies at up to half off.

By following these five easy tips you can reduce your power bills and the strain on your air conditioner greatly this summer.

 Posted By Nationwide Biweekly Administration

 

Clearing The Clutter From Your Life! | Nationwide Biweekly Administration

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Nationwide Biweekly Administration savings tips.

Look around your house. Chances are there are areas of clutter than you can reduce. But before you head off to the Salvation Army to donate it, consider selling it instead. From Garage Sales to Craigslist to EBay, Etsy and beyond, there are ways to make a few bucks off the stuff you simply don’t want anymore.

Garage sales are pretty easy and can encompass everything from that ratty couch you’ve had since college to art, music, clothing and beyond. You might want to check out neighborhood Garage sales before having one of your own. After all, it would stink to find out you charged $5 for something but a garage sale down the street had no problems unloading the same item for $15.  It comes down to knowing your neighborhood’s demographic. Lots of recent college grads or artistic types? Keep the prices low. Young-ish urban professionals as neighbors, raise the price just a bit. Be sure to advertise by putting flyers on light poles and near intersections. If you live in a neighborhood of apartment buildings, see if you can post a flyer in their lobbies.

Not sure those early morning all day sitting on the sidewalk with all the stuff you don’t want garage sales are for you? Well thanks to a rather ingenious guy named Craig, you have options. Craigslist is ubiquitous with garage sales these days, only this garage sale is completely virtual.  Chances are if you’re searching for something – say, 6 foot fake Christmas tree – you will find in on craigslist. I knew someone who purchased big rubber bins for moving at Target. Once they were unpacked, they were listed on craigslist (for slightly more than she’d paid for them even!) and within 90 minutes, they had been picked up and cool hard cash lined the wallet of the seller.  Craigslist is free to post.

Sitting on something you don’t want that is vintage, unique, or collectible? Take it to EBay and list it in the appropriate categories. Designer clothing, shoes, handbags, jewelry, sports memorabilia, watches, vintage lunchboxes. If you can think of a product, someone is selling it on EBay.  And in the best case scenario, a bidding war might break out over your Partridge Family Thermos from your old lunchbox and you might find yourself reaping a bit of a windfall!  Nationwide Biweekly Administration. 

If you’re a crafty type or have a bunch of vintage clothing, jewelry, handbags and shoes, Etsy is a good resource. This online craft-market allows users to create their own stores and set the price for their goods.

By using one, all or some combination of these tips, you’ll soon find yourself free of clutter and flush with cash.  Nationwide Biweekly Administration