Cutting utility bills

1. Do you know what a camp shower is? A camp shower is when you have a limited volume of water (or warm water) so you turn the water off when you don't actually need it. Why not take camp showers at home. Consider getting into the shower, wetting yourself down and then turning off the water while you soap up, turning it on again to rinse and be done. Shutting off the water when not in use can cut your water budget.
2. Turn off the lights. This sounds really simple, but we still don't do it.
3. Unplug appliances when not in use. Some appliances continue to drain small amounts of electricity even when turned off. If you have several in a room, consider using a power strip with one master "off" switch.
4. Close vents off to unused rooms. Why heat and cool rooms you are not using. If you close off the vent, you need to also consider putting a magnet over the intake vent as well, these are available in most hardware stores or by mail order. The exception to this rule is if you have a room that is not well insulated that also has pipes in it that could freeze.
5. Cook in the oven in the winter, and use the crock pot or grill in the summer. Using cooking methods that don't fight your thermostat will help keep your furnace/AC from working extra hard.
6. Seal off drafts. Drafts are like throwing money away. Even if you are not handy, you can at least use the shrink film over leaking windows, put a draft dodger in front of a door and buy some spray foam to fill in foundation cracks.
7. Get a programmable thermostat. Program you thermostat down by 5-10 degrees when you are not home or while you sleep.
8. Keep you filters clean. Dirty filers make appliances work harder, the biggest culprit is your furnace/AC unit.
9. Replace you light bulbs with a more energy efficient one. These can be fairly expensive, so clip those coupons, grab them on sale and replace them as the old ones burn out. If you can afford to by several at a time, replace your most frequently used lights first.
10. Catch rainwater and use to water plants. This of course only works when the temperatures are above freezing.