Economize your winter with a warm heart

As temperatures drop and days become shorter, we face the dilemma of when and how to keep ourselves warm. Rising costs of utility bills, apparels, medication, and winter car provisions will collectively and extensively affect our budget this coming year. With this in mind we should maintain a calculated budget to better manage overheads this winter.

Here are some tips that will help save money, keep warm and stay on track with your finances:

At home:

• A key tip to stay warm is to block the cold from entering your homes. Insolation at home can save big money.
• Embrace the sunlight. Open curtains, shutters and blinds throughout the day allowing the sunlight to naturally warm rooms. Close doors of unused rooms, to avoid heating spaces that are not in use.
• Take advantage of the winter sun to dry your laundry outside, a huge saver on electricity.
• As recommended by the Israeli Electric company set your air conditioner to a temperature of 20*c. Cleaning the filters on a monthly basis will also help save energy and increase efficiency and effectiveness.
• Whether you use gas, solar or electric heaters, ensure your heater is in good working order and fully supervised at all times
• Switch to Led light bulbs – Whilst Led bulbs may appear costly, in the long run they are much cheaper than their counterparts. Not only do they consume significantly less energy, they are also far more efficient and present tremendous savings. When leaving the room, remember to switch the lights and other electric appliances off, and always favor natural sunlight above other lighting options.
• Consider connecting a timer to your water boiler, permitting you to take hot showers on demand and save on boiler usage.
• Assure your solar panels are always clean to ensure maximum efficiency.
• Try boiling water only for the number of drinks required, to save even more on electrical energy. A kettle covered in limescale causes the kettle to use more energy and takes longer to for the water to boil. Therefore, keeping your kettle clean will also save an extra couple of shekels.

You and your car:

• Be sure the air pressure in your tires is correct for your car, an absolute must for personal safety, particularly when driving in the rain. Good tire air pressure ensures that tires wear evenly, increases fuel efficiency and allows a smooth ride. It is recommended to offload unnecessary weight from the car, as this can also have consequences on gas consumption.
• As gas prices are also on the rise look to pay competitive prices by shopping around for cheaper gas stations.
• Use the self-service gas fueling option. Did you know that this can save you as much as 30 agurot per litre?!

For more ideas, consumer tips, and money management tools visit Paamonim’s website. Hopefully we’ll be able to keep warm and healthy and also save on our spending this winter.