The household's biggest utility is probably electricity. This is especially true for rural areas that have an electric co-op as they have higher rates than electric companies in city limits. Let's look at some ways to slow that meter down!
The biggest thing you can do in either summer or winter to cut your electricity consumption is to take a look at your thermostat setting. For energy savings in the summer, set your thermostat to 74 or 75 when you are home and turn it OFF before going to work. You can also install a thermostat with a timer to turn it on an hour before you get home so you don't come in to a hot house. In the winter, Set your thermostat to 67 or 68 degrees and lower it to 60 or so before leaving for work. You'll be surprised how much this small action can save you on your bill. Besides, if no one is home, why keep the house warm? Also, if you have an old round dial type thermostat, it might be worth your while and $20 to get a new, more accurate digital thermostat. An innacurate thermostat can actually cost you more if it is off by 2 or 3 degrees!
Another thing you can do to save electricity is change your light bulbs. After changing all my light bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs, I noticed a dramatic decrease in my next bill. It was almost $20 less than usual with no other change. For even more savings, use LED bulbs in lamps and other "focused" lighting. I say this because LED's will disappoint you if you try to light a room with them. They are bright, but they are very directional lights. Think beam of light as opposed to glow of light. Nonetheless, if you have a lamp to use them in that aims down, they can save you even more as they use less than 1 watt of electricity.
A basic practice that everyone needs to do is lower the temperature settings on their refrigerators to a cold enough setting(do we really need slushy milk?) and lower water heaters to 110 to 115 degrees. While we're on appliances: use cold water in the washing machine and only dry clothes until they are dry then take them out.
Also, you can trade your porch light for a motion sensing unit that will only come on when you need it, or if someone is in your yard, LOL.
Keep windows closed and blinds drawn when cooling your house. Sunlight does in fact heat the air inside your house through your windows!
Turn off the lights EVERY time you leave a room.
Set your computer(s) to sleep after 30 mins. idle time and turn them off at night. Same goes for televisions.
Unplug, computers, TV's, DVD players, etc. when not in use. Electronics draw a "phantom" load even when turned off. Unplugging them remedies this problem.
I could go on, but basically, anything that makes heat is going to run up your electricity bill. Use it conservatively and it will show on your bill. You don't even have to apply all of these tips at once. Just try some of them and see what happens!
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