One way to save money on your electric bill is by not using any electricity at all. However, as you may have already gathered, this is nearly impossible. After all, if it were really as simple as that, electric companies would probably be out of business, and we would all be living in the dark.

In my own apartment, using electricity is impossible not to do. For starters, our stove is electrical versus the gas stove top that I grew up with when I lived with my parents. This is both a good and a bad thing because while we do not have to pay for a gas bill, any time that we use the stove to cook, it contributes towards our electrical bill going up. Last month, we hardly cooked at home, and our electrical bill was significantly lower. However, this is certainly something to keep in mind when you are a homeowner or an apartment dweller. Think about all of the utensils and items that you use when you are in the kitchen. From blenders to dishwashers to stove tops to microwaves, food processors and juicers- it all adds up!

There are exceptions to this of course. For instance, you wouldn't want to keep plugging and unplugging a microwave or a stove or a refrigerator because these are items that are used with some degree of frequency. However, coffee makers, blenders and other smaller items like these should be unplugged when not in use. If not, you run the risk of having a higher electrical bill because even thought these items may not be in use, if they are plugged into the wall, they are still using electrical energy.

Other items that are somewhat sneaky when you are trying to save a little cash are ice makers and computers. Recently, when I saw that our water bill was extremely high due to a running toilet that we didn't know about, I took the time to speak to the maintenance person about other things in an apartment or home that can cause utility bills to flare up. This is when he surprised me by saying that ice makers are a huge culprit in the winter time because of how much energy they use. He advised me to make sure I remember to pull the arm up in the ice maker to stop it from producing too much ice, otherwise, I would be faced with a high bill. Computers should always be plugged into a surge protector and turned off whenever they are not in use. If you are planning to continue your work in a few hours, it is still better to turn your computer to ‘sleep' mode versus leaving it on to use up a lot of electricity.

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