This year is all about saving money every day while trying to increase your income potential. If you did one thing each day that could save as little as $5 over the course of a year, you could have an extra $1800 in your pocket at the end of the year. Not all of these tips may apply to you, so to keep it fair, not all of them will apply to me.

I just got our electricity bill for this month. I was honestly dreading it. Last month was $106, and we only live in 480 square feet! In all fairness we had a major cold snap. We had to turn on the heaters a little bit because I have problems keeping my body temperature up, and we have a puppy to think of.

This month our electricity bill dropped to $69, mostly because it warmed up substantially. I just kept thinking how much worse it could have been. My husband, the human radiator, was wearing warmy pajamas and socks to go to sleep. I was wearing leggings and a t-shirt under my feetie pajamas, and even the dog was wearing a sweater! (He doesn’t have an undercoat and gets chilly easily.) When we would wake up each morning, our apartment was averaging 50 degrees, and I’m not even sure that wasn’t just the lowest the thermostat would register.

What if we were unwilling to alter our personal habits to work with the universe? We don’t have an air conditioning unit, we just walk around in swimsuits if it’s too hot (or even less as the case may be). We all bundled up when it got cold, and then turned to the heaters. That’s a savings of almost $40 in one month! I know if we were cavalier about our utilities, we would pay at least another $20 each month. I’m willing to put up with some mild discomfort for $240 each year!

365 Days of Saving Money: $1790 Annually (Running Total)