Hello Readers!
How are you all? With the modernizing world and people adopting a modern lifestyle, their basic utilities have also been updated. People nowadays, need a phone to communicate, the internet to browse, electricity to live, and gas to cook.
Nowadays humans have become a social animal, where they can’t stay without a phone with an internet plan in it, and if we talk about electricity, in cities we can’t imagine even a single hour without electricity. If simply said, then these needs have become an individual’s lifeline that eases the living style of an individual, but at the time, these utilities are not free rather it does need an expenditure from your pocket.
You cannot avoid the expenses of these utilities, and we are all aware that these utilities demand a high expenditure from your pocket, however by spending smartly, we can avoid the excess expense, rather say we can save money on our utility bills, through simple and smart tactics. Let us have a look at how we can do this.
Electricity Bill
This is one of the biggest expenses and much necessary to carry out. Electricity is like oxygen to city life, till electricity is supplied it runs inflow, at the time the supply of electricity is stopped, the city life stops. When you use electricity, you are liable to pay the electricity bill. Well, you can save money on your electricity bill, for that you must start using energy-efficient household appliances, that is air-conditioners, TV or washing machine that come with an energy-efficiency rating.
You can also save, by switching to low energy consumption, CFL (Chlorofluorocarbons Lights) or LED (Light Emitting Diodes) light, instead of incandescent or electric bulbs, that consume more energy to glow.
Cell Phone Bill
Unlimited calls, texting, and data are nice to have, but do you use your data to its full? Do examine your bill and your usage, do they go in a synchronized way? It's good to have an unlimited plan and data, it gives you instant access any time, but might unnecessarily add to your costs. If you are not a regular and passionate user of data or phone, then downgrade your plan. Use your home wi-fi, to download videos, stream movies, podcasts, or music. Explore and search for the best offers at reasonable prices, look more towards family plans, if you get one, switch your service operator or plans.
Cooking Gas
There are several means to cook food, like LPG cylinders, PNG pipelines, electric cooktop, and solar cookers, but the question is which is more efficient.
A survey shows that cooking in the induction cooktop is more efficient and cheaper than an electric coil cooktop and LPG stoves (non-subsidized) but not more than the subsidized LPG stoves. Have a look at the chart below, to understand in a more convenient way.
In past some years, many people have switched to LPG subsidized cylinders, while people with LPG subsidized cylinders have switched to PNG pipelines and are saving a good amount on their cooking bills. Out of all cooking methods, the solar cooker is the most efficient and cheap way, but it has some of its own challenges, that make it unfit from becoming a prior option to cook. Thus, here I would suggest, do your calculation, and find out which is best suitable for you and your pocket.
Cable Bill
You must have a DTH cable at your home, that offers a number of channels on your television, under your plan, but do you watch all the channels that your cable offers you under your plan, obviously not, that means you are also paying for the channels that you don’t watch!
Well, you can lower your DTH or cable costs by choosing a bunch of channels that you are interested in and watch, from a single broadcaster who offers the best-discounted pricing. And most importantly unsubscribe from channels you hardly watch.
If you are much passionate about reality shows or movies, then I suggest switching to players like Netflix or Hotstar that offer on-demand content over the internet. These are currently available at lower prices (as compared to DTH) and just need a high-speed Wi-fi connection at home or mobile data.
Go Green
Well, you must be aware that, a bit of change in your lifestyle can save your money, like during summer, increasing your AC temperature by 2-3 degrees, can save money on your electricity bill, and don’t forget it will also help your environment. Use solar chargers for charging your phones, power banks, your smartwatch, it’s free of cost and pollution-free at the same time.
Tech-savvy
Many utility companies often offer discounts when you make online payments, added to that, there are much cashback offers given by e-wallets and banks (for internet banking). So basically, use your e-wallets or make online payments, to avail the benefits of these offers. If you are also habituated of forgetting the due dates of payments, automate the payment process to save on penalty.
The above-mentioned strategies can be followed to save money on your different utility bills, in fact, the saved money can be used to invest in Mutual fund through SIP (Systematic Plan Investment), in which you can start investing in mutual with a very small amount, either monthly, yearly or annually.
Most importantly, always consult a financial planner or advisor, before starting your investments. They will help you select the best fund, for your investments as per your requirement.
You can also contact us at Shri Ashutosh Securities Pvt Ltd., we are here to help you in any way possible.
Happy Investing!
(Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risk Illustrations are for example only, there is no guarantee of returns. Past performance is not an indicator/guarantee to future returns).