I wrote about Electrolux a couple weeks ago about how to
save electricity while washing clothes as part of the Electrolux Save & Share Blog Series. It's a campaign vent to have wives and people at home to save money and precious time by making household chores simple and carefree. We also got to interview their advocates Chef Rosebud Benitez and Cheska Garcia Kramer to help us and share their thoughts on saving.
You see, my Sister always had a hard time paying for electricity bills at home. The love we have for her always tells us to help her when she needs it. Our water bill looks a wee bit high too than the usual amount we pay for these past few months. This just means we have to take arrangements in using electricity and water at home. We asked how Chef Rosebud Benitez and Cheska Garcia Kramer about how they do it in their homes and this is what they've got to say.
We often use appliances at home, sometimes we have a choice and sometimes we don't. How do we save on electricity? How do we save on water? How do we make sure that our utility bills won't spike up?
Chef Rosebud says "We've recently changed all our lights to LED to save on electricity and we make sure that we remove the plug of all appliances not in use. We also just had barrels installed that act as a rain saver to cut down on our water bill."
Cheska on the other hand says "I have a baby and my kids and they always use air conditioning. I’m not so strict with that. Although at night, I really do my rounds. I make sure all the lights are off, all the faucets are closed properly, there are no leaks, at the same time I do the washing of the clothes and ironing of the clothes on schedule. With that, we are able to monitor our electricity and water bill. I’m not the type of Mom that save utilities if it's for my kids. If they need air conditioning, I allow them to.Doug is the one who chooses our appliances but he always consults with me. In our family, we really practice him to be the head of the family. Big decision making and stuff like that, Doug is the one who does the research and at the same time, he will consult me. He’ll tell me “Hey honey, this is what we need to buy” then we’ll think about it.
Although he makes the big decisions, he also relies on my opinion. So when it comes to buying appliances, we always try to look for one that has the energy saving factor. So from our aircons to our refrigerator, because the refrigerator consumes more electricity right? - it has to be an energy saver. This goes the same for our washing machine. So we do really save a lot with our appliances because we consider that before purchasing anything."
It can be a challenging task to save when you have so many things to spend for at home. Why do you think is it important to save? Can you share tips on how people can do this?
For Chef Rosebud, it's quite easy. She says "It's very important to start saving for the rainy days. First thing one needs to do is to list down one's income and expenses, the essentials and non-essentials. Once you are clear about all the essential payments to be made, the next step you need to take is to manage all your expenses in an effective manner."
Cheska advises couples and says "Well for one, we cannot tell what the future holds, right. So that’s why my husband and I, we are really a team. We make decisions together and both our opinions matter so when it comes to saving, we are realistic also with our expenses. We are honest enough to say the exact time for us to buy, or it’s not time for us to be spending. So what we do is we make sure that, of course we have our monthly expenses and then we also set aside for our investment. So when we have enough money, we have the business. We put in in that business of ours and make sure that we are also able to save there to make our business grow. So the money for our business is only for our business. So whatever money that business makes, it only goes back to the business so that it will grow. We also invest in insurances for our children, for their education and health and that also goes for Doug and I. We also get our insurances, we also spoke to a financial planner and through our financial planner, they were able to see what we can set aside from our money so that we can be able to invest in our future and in our children’s future. So hand in hand, Doug and I talk about how else can we save, how else can we make sure that our children’s future is secured. We want Kendra, Scarlet, and Gavin’s future to be secured. So we’re very realistic with our spending. We’re very open to telling each other when time to spend and when it’s not. So that’s when our budget comes in. ‘Coz basically when you’re a married couple, you already know what your budget is. Like in one month, let’s say you probably need a sure amount of P20,000. On top of that, you have to know when to divide it, if it goes to our business or to our investment.
Both have to be realistic and both have to be open or honest to each other when it’s time to spend and not."
I think I can relate much more with Cheska because my Sister doesn't have savings or thought about investments. I think she lacks control over spending and doesn't even prioritize an exact amount when the time comes that they'd have to pay for utilities. She also decides with the people she loves and makes it a point to have specific budgets run on a monthly basis and still have more just for financial stability and freedom. Not to undermine Chef Rosebuds way, she gave us really cool ideas especially on itemizing and listing down expenses versus what we earn because that is as important as any other plan if we want to succeed and save on little things like utility. Those little things over time actually can be a big amount. It goes to show that it is achievable and possible to do it in a Philippine setting. I guess the next thing to do is talk to a financial planner and see how my Sister would be able to save and invest her hard earned money.
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