How to Trim Your Electric Bill in 5 Minutes a Month

1Simple Ways to Cut Your Electric Bill This Month

Small changes to when and how you use power make the biggest dent in your bill, with no new contract needed.

Running laundry and dishes after 8pm often avoids the highest peak rate hours many utilities charge for daytime use. Setting a thermostat back a few degrees while you're out cuts the hours your AC or heater actually runs.

1. Check your utility's peak and off peak hours online
2. Shift laundry and dishes to off peak hours
3. Set your thermostat back a few degrees when you're out

2Switching Electricity Provider vs Joining a Savings Club

Switching providers only helps if your state allows it and you find a clearly better rate. A savings club can lower your bill without any provider change at all.

Only a minority of states let homeowners choose their electric supplier. Everywhere else there's one utility serving the area, so switching isn't even on the table. A savings club works differently: in eligible states it can get members a lower rate through their existing utility, plus a gift card.

3Cutting Cable, Internet and Phone Bills the Same Way

The same kind of review that lowers an electric bill can trim cable, internet and phone bills, often just by catching fees already being paid.

A phone bill that still lists an old equipment or insurance add on from a device that's long paid off is one of the most common finds. A savings club membership usually reviews these bills alongside electric, so it's one review instead of four separate calls.

1. Pull your last cable, internet and phone bills
2. Circle any fee or line item you don't recognize
3. Have a savings club review them alongside your electric bill

4What a Savings Club Membership Actually Checks For

A savings club membership checks whether you already qualify for a lower electric rate, and in eligible states that can come with a gift card too.

A renter and a homeowner on the same street can get different answers, since eligibility runs by utility account, not just by state. Where the rate option isn't available, members still get the review of their cable, internet and phone bills.