Category: Life Hacks

Are you trying to find ways to save money? Looking at your utility bill is a great option!

The average household spends about $2,000 a year on utilities. So, knowing how to save on utility bills can make a significant difference in your monthly budget.

Check out these unique ways to lower these bills and save money without much sacrifice.

Make Your Appliances Smarter

If you are in the market for new appliances, always opt for the higher energy rating because they can save you money in the long run. If you can’t afford to buy more energy-efficient appliances, or you’re a renter, there are things you can do to your major appliances to make them work smarter, saving you money. 

When you use the dishwasher, skip the pre-rinse. This helps conserve water and reduce energy. Most dishwashers can easily handle food residue.

You could also skip the drying portion of the cycle. Let your dishes air dry or wipe them with towels.

With the washer, try using cool or warm water instead of hot. Around 90 percent of a washer’s energy is spent heating water. You should also wait until you have a full load if possible. 

Also double-check the lint trap in your dryer. Removing this extra lint ensures proper airflow, which ultimately saves electricity. You could also skip using the dryer on nice days and let your clothes air dry or use a drying rack.

Save money on your water heater by adjusting the thermostat a few degrees. You can live comfortably with it set to 120 degrees Fahrenheit instead of keeping it at full heat.

If you want a more efficient water heater or want to make sure yours is working properly, check these guys out.

Adjust Your Thermostat 

If you haven’t already, you should invest in a programmable thermostat. This allows you to change the temperature of your house automatically. If you leave the house for the day, you should adjust a few degrees either up or down depending on the time of year.

Do not set the temperature too high or low from your comfortable temperature. This causes your unit to work too hard to cool or warm up your place when you are home.

You could see an annual savings of about 1 percent for an 8-hour period per each degree of change.

Unplug Everything

This may sound like a lot of work, but it could really add up. If you don’t want to physically unplug everything, invest in smart power strips and extension cords. 

Leaving electronics plugged in uses energy even when you are not using them when going into standby mode. Your electrical outlets could also be letting cool air escape and pulling in warm air (and the opposite in the winter), so consider socket seals to conserve and save on energy. 

How to Save on Utility Bills and Other Expenses

As you look for different ways to save money, you can decrease utility bills. Now you know how to save on utility bills with these tips. Taking these extra steps can add up and become second nature without much effort.

Want to know how to save money on other bills? Keep checking out our site for great tips to help you save money and live more frugally.

Up to 31 percent of Americans say that they struggle to pay electric bills. It’s not only in the wintry months that you could be paying more for your electricity. 

Throughout the year, there are numerous ways you can save money on your monthly energy bills. Keeping the lights can create a hole in your budget.

But, if you follow our hacks to help you lower your bills, you can save money without sacrificing much. Let’s get started!

1. Replace Your Lightbulbs With LEDs

Surprisingly, people are still using lightbulbs that are inefficient. This can cost you a lot more on your monthly energy bills.

You need to replace every lightbulb in your home with LEDs and energy-efficient bulbs. This affordable hack is a great way to reduce your bills.

While conventional lightbulbs simply give off a lot of the energy generated in heat, LEDs brighten up your home and save up to 90% less energy.

2. Keep the Humidity Down in Your Home

As you the colder weather arrives, you’ll need to turn on your heating much more frequently. Yet, you don’t have to simply waste cash on paying over the odds.

Instead, you could invest in a humidifier to keep the air from getting either too humid or dry. Remember, humidifiers use a lot less energy than your heating or AC.

You can check out more at Air & Energy of NWFL. 

3. Better Insulate Your Home

According to one survey, up to 90% of homes are poorly insulated.

If you haven’t invested in the insulation of your home, you could find that you’re spending more than you need to on your electric bills.

Replace your windows with double glazing to trap heat inside your home. You should also consider putting extra insulation in your roof and walls.

4. Switch Energy Provider

Many Americans don’t know enough about how to switch energy companies. But, unless you get savvy about your electric bills, you could be spending a lot more than you need to.

Just do your homework to discover where you could get a better rate for your electricity. You’ll be shocked by the kind of savings you can make. You could even switch to a green supplier.

5. Turn Appliances Off When Not Using

Up to 50 appliances and devices are turned on at any one time inside the average US household. If you want to reduce your electric bills, then you need to cut this out.

You might be throwing away hundreds of dollars every month because you forget to turn the lights off when you leave a room. 

How to Save on Your Electric Bills?

Are you wondering how to cut your electric bills? There are tons of ways to quickly make savings on your energy.

From turning off appliances to switching providers, the number of hacks to save energy go on and on.

Do you want to know more about cutting back on your energy bills? Check out our blog to discover much more!

As of 2020, there are about 7,111 known languages that are spoken around the world.

A lot of people speak at least two languages fluently. Some speak many more. The fact is the more languages you can understand, the better for you.

Why?

Well, the world is becoming increasingly globalized, and mobility is now a lot easier than it ever was. Learning a new language can prove significantly helpful when you’re traveling abroad or seeking new career prospects. It can also help you develop mental abilities, besides other benefits.

In this guide, we give you several top language learning tips that will help you speak fluently within no time. These tips are applicable to any language you’re interested in learning.

Read on to learn more.

Easy Language Learning Tips that Will Help You Speak Like a Native

Learning to speak, read, and write a new language can seem like an impossible affair for some people. This, however, doesn’t have to be the case, as this article proves. Check out the following guidelines that can help make everything easier for you.

Start with The Most Common Words 

In every language, different vocabulary is made differently. You want to focus on vocabulary that gives you the best return on investment. If you hire a tutor, ask them to start with words that help you follow basic conversations.

Many people make the mistake of studying vocabulary for family members, kitchen equipment, and the home. When it comes to something as simple as asking directions, they have no idea what to say.

Make a list of the 100 commonest words in the target language and practice making sentences with them as many times as you can. Within days, you’ll find that you feel comfortable with these words.

Read What You Write out Aloud

One of the most effective ways to get a good grasp of a new language is by learning to write it. Chances are you’ll be using a book that teaches you the grammar of that language. Take the time to complete the exercises provided in the book at the end of each lesson.

Besides solving the provided questions, practice reading what you write out aloud. As you do so, your confidence gets a boost, and this is an important aspect of progress. When you finally get in actual conversations, you’ll find that things are easier for you.

Find a Good Language Learning Tool

You already have a smartphone, so why not download one of the top language software available today to aid your language learning efforts? There are plenty of language learning tools that make it easy for people to learn a new language whenever and wherever they are. This way, you can accelerate your progress and become proficient quickly.

Many of these tools have a visualization feature, which makes it easier for you to remember important vocabulary and essential phrases. Some tools come with lots of speaking tasks that help you master the language faster.

Find Movies That Have Subtitles

Video subtitles may seem distracting for you. But when you’re attempting to learn a new language, such subtitles can be helpful. Remember, you’re looking to hear and learn the native speech.

Below are three steps that will help you benefit the most from foreign movies with subtitles:

1. Watch the movie while reading the subtitles. Write down any words you don’t understand in your personal dictionary and find its definition.
2. Practice pronouncing any new words and get the accent right. Try fitting these new words in your own sentences.
3. Watch the movie again without reading the subtitles. See if you can understand as much of the speech as possible.

Continually Practice the New Language in Your Head

Everyone has monologues that keep running in their head. Typically, these monologues run in the language they’re most familiar with. Challenge yourself to start thinking in the language you’re trying to learn.

Construct sentences and hold conversations in your head in the new tongue. Think about questions you’re likely to encounter, and how you can answer them in the new language. This kind of visualization makes it easier for you when you finally hold actual conversations.

Imitate Native Speakers

Watch that foreign movie again. By now, you’re probably already familiar with the scenes, but you’re not going to get bored since you’re watching the movie with the purpose of learning. Listen to how the actors pronounce certain words and imitate them.

You’ll certainly need to pause the movie many times to imitate speech, but that’s okay. After you’re able to move your tongue and say words more easily, you can stop pausing the movie and try to mimic what characters are saying at the same time. 

Learn the Lyrics of Local Songs 

The words of a new language tend to flow naturally when you’re singing. It’s also easier to pronounce words right when you sing.

Music brings you a lot closer to the language you’re trying to learn. Find a song whose tune you enjoy and research its lyrics online, along with their translation. Then try to sing along, following the flow of words and learning as much as you can.

Find a Companion Who’s Also Learning the Language

Making friends with someone else who is also trying to learn the new language can prove highly beneficial. You may not notice that your pronunciation is slightly off, but when you’re working with someone else, it’s easy for them to do so. 

Practice talking to each other in the new language and correct each other if need be. Often, the corrections will result in heated discussions regarding the right pronunciations of specific words. These confrontations can be very productive as you and your friend analyze the new language together.

You Can Learn a New Language Fast

Mastering a foreign language may seem challenging at first, but the rewards are well worth the effort. For those aspiring to learn the new language within the shortest time possible, the language learning tips we shared in this guide can help.

Would you like to read more great content like this? Please keep visiting our blog.

There’s undoubtedly a lot of good in the world. Unfortunately, there’s quite a bit of bad as well. This is particularly true for women, who are vulnerable to danger both in and outside of their homes. 

For this reason, as women, we must take extra measures to ensure our safety throughout the course of our lives. Curious as to what these measures are? Here are the top 10 safety tips for women to utilize. 

The Top Safety Tips for Women

Fortunately, whether you’re sitting at home alone or walking the streets at night, there are plenty of ways to keep yourself safe. The best methods include the following. 

1. Maintain Awareness

First and foremost, you must maintain awareness at all times, particularly when you’re out in public. Your eyes and your ears must both be attuned to what is happening around you. When you fail to take in your surroundings, you leave yourself vulnerable. 

For instance, when walking to your car late at night, you would be best served by leaving your phone in your pocket. Looking at your phone impairs your awareness of your surroundings, giving you little time to react in the event that you’re met with trouble. 

Get to your car and get back home. Then you’ll have plenty of time to look at your phone and to do whatever else you need to do. 

2. Answer the Doorbell 

Old wisdom goes that, if the doorbell is rung past dark, you should ignore it. While the logic behind this makes sense, it’s not quite rooted in reality.

See, many intruders ring doorbells to ensure that homeowners aren’t home. If no one answers, they assume the house is empty, prompting them to break into it later in the night. 

So, if you want to keep intruders out of your house, you should answer the doorbell. If it’s rung past dark, you might even want to think about calling the police. 

3. Listen to Your Heart

Everyone has instincts. Everyone gets that feeling in their gut when they think that something’s amiss. You’re advised to trust this feeling and to listen to your heart in every situation you encounter. 

For example, let’s say a strange man asks you for help with something. You feel uneasy about it, but also don’t want to come across as rude. For this reason, you decide to help him.

This is a mistake!

You’re under no obligation to help anyone with anything, particularly if that person makes you feel uncomfortable. The reason that you feel uneasy is that your brain is triggering a stress response. In other words, your body is telling you that something’s not right. 

Don’t worry about being polite. Say, “Sorry, I can’t,” and walk toward the closest group of people you can find. 

4. Keep Your Doors Locked at All Times 

Home alone? Whether it’s the middle of the day or the middle of the night, you’re advised to keep your doors locked. 

While most home intrusions occur at night, it’s not unheard of for an intruder to make his or her way into a home by the light of the day. Some unseemly individuals will even break into a home early in the day so that they can accost the homeowners later that night. 

5. Plan Strategically 

It’s a sad reality, but the truth of the matter is that, when you’re out in public, you need to have everything planned out. By planning your actions throughout the day, you reduce the risk of something going awry. 

For instance, when making your way to your car, you should have a direct route in your mind. In addition, you should also have scheduled phone calls with a friend or family member. This way, someone knows that you’re safe and that there’s no cause for alarm. 

Generally, it’s when someone deviates from their plan that they encounter danger. Stick to the plan and stay safe.  

6. Take Self-Defense Training Courses 

While your first line of defense against a dangerous situation should be to run, running isn’t always an option. For situations such as these, you need to know some self-defense tactics. While men are generally stronger than women, certain self-defense moves will give women a fighting chance. 

Regardless of where you live, there are sure to be self-defense training courses nearby. You’re advised to sign up for them so that you can be prepared in times of trouble. 

7. Scream!

The last thing an unscrupulous individual wants is for someone to draw attention to his or her unscrupulous activity. That’s why, if you’re accosted by someone in public, you’re advised to scream as loud as you can. 

By screaming, you not only prompt the unscrupulous individual to fear repercussions and flee the scene, but you also alert others of your distress, causing them to come to your defense. 

8. Carry Pepper Spray 

Pepper spray is not an end-all-be-all defense against bad guys. However, it can help to stop an individual in his or her tracks, giving you time to flee a dangerous situation. As such, you should always keep pepper spray on your person. 

9. Stay in the Public Eye 

It’s fairly rare that a seedy individual would try to assault someone in a crowded area. After all, if an assault happens in the public eye, the assaulter will have to face consequences. 

This is why you should stay in the public eye as much as possible. Don’t walk dark streets alone at night. Always be in the proximity of other human beings. 

10. Run, Don’t Fight 

As was noted above, when accosted in the streets, your first instinct shouldn’t be to fight. It should be to run. 

Unless you’re a bodybuilder, there’s very little chance that you’ll be able to overpower a man. In other words, if you try to fight, you’ll probably lose. Run as fast as you can until you find another group of people. 

Learn Other Important Life Tips 

And there they are, the top safety tips for women. If you want to remain safe and sound, you would be wise to put these tips to use. 

Looking for other important life tips? Thrifty Momma Ramblings can help. Our site is loaded with life tips, covering everything from safety to finances to travel and more.

Take a look at our other articles now! 

You can’t wait to walk down the aisle and marry the love of your life in a few months.

But that doesn’t mean you necessarily want it to be a church aisle. And that’s okay.

In fact, research shows that just 26% of people had their weddings in religious institutions in 2016.

If you’re not fussed about a church wedding, there are plenty of other options. Here’s a rundown on five great inexpensive wedding venues that you could go for.

Let’s get started!

1. Inexpensive Wedding Venues Include Your City Courthouse

If you’re serious about saving on wedding costs, you can’t go wrong with meeting your bride or groom at the courthouse.

A civil ceremony held at a county clerk’s office or a city hall costs a relatively small fee — typically under $100. In fact, in some areas, they are even free.

Keep in mind that courthouses usually limit attendance to between five and 10 guests, though.

2. A City Block

Have you ever thought about hosting a block party as a way to celebrate your big day?

This isn’t exactly a conventional approach to getting married. But if you and your spouse are known for being outside-of-the-box thinkers, your guests will absolutely love it.

With a special event permit costing a few hundred dollars, you could close off one of a city’s streets and then get married. At your marriage ceremony, you could throw a barbecue or even hire some food trucks.

Note that you might need some extra licenses or permits if you plan to serve alcohol and food.

3. At Your Own Home

If you want your wedding to be as close to free as possible, throwing a low-cost ceremony at your house is a smart idea.

In this situation, the only things you’d have to worry about paying for are decorations — such as floral arrangements — as well as dinnerware, chairs, tables and other items you might not have and can’t borrow from family and friends.

4. At the Beach

One of the most romantic yet inexpensive places to have a wedding is on the beach.

An example of this type of low-cost, scenic venue is the secluded Fisherman’s Cove available through the Long Reef Golf Club in Australia. This is one of the most talked-about wedding venues Sydney residents can enjoy due to its wonderful photo opportunities along beaches, at a lush golf course and in front of rock outcrops.

5. Museums and Libraries

Let’s say that you and your significant other are both book lovers. Or maybe you had your first date at a museum.

Why not have your wedding in a library or a museum? This would allow you to enter your marriage surrounded by artifacts, books, and art.

Both museums and libraries — especially ones that are tinier or are not sought after as much — tend to have relatively smaller price tags.

How We Can Help

In addition to highlighting inexpensive wedding venues, we offer tips and advice about how to be more frugal in a number of other ways.

Take a peek here to find out more about how you can save money and thus enjoy a better quality of life for the long-term.