Save Money in the Shower

If you're looking to save money and conserve our natural resources, look no further than your bathroom shower.

Consider everything you use in the shower that can be conserved:  water, gas/electric (water heater), shampoo, conditioner, soap...

You can save all of these by following a few simple tricks.

Save Water, Save Money

While showering uses less water than bathing, and is much cleaner as well, you may still be using more water than you need to cleanse your body.  How can you save more water in the shower?

1.  Don't shave in the shower.  Lots of women like to shave their legs in the shower, but you're wasting water when you do this.  Instead, after you're finished cleaning yourself, turn off the shower, sit on the edge of the tub and shave.  When you're finished, rinse your legs in the shower and then turn the water off again.

2.  Turn off the water regularly.  When you turn the water on, hop in and get wet all over.  As soon as you're damp, turn the water off, shampoo and soap yourself up.  Then turn the water back on to rinse.  If you use conditioner, you can repeat this step or you can opt to use leave in conditioner that you don't have to rinse out.

3.  Don't leave the water running.  Lots of people turn on the shower to get it nice and hot before they get in, but then leave it running while they brush their teeth, use the toilet, or hop on their computers to check a few e-mail messages.  Don't do this. Once your water has reached the desired temperature, get in.

Save Gas / Electricity and Save Money

What do gas and electricity have to do with the shower?  It all has to do with what kind of water heater you use.  So if you're spending more than you can afford on your gas or electric bills, consider a few changes to your daily shower.

1.  Turn down the water heater.  This is very simple.  Every water heater has a function where you can manually change how hot the water gets.  If you find yourself mixing a lot of cold and hot water together to keep from being scalded, then your water heater is heating your water too much.  Turn it down.  This will keep you from being burned and will conserve energy.

2.  Don't make the shower so hot.  Of course, you want to be comfortable and enjoy your shower, but if you keep the hot water to a minimum, you'll save it for another time.

3.  Rinse with cold water.  I know this sounds scary, but if you do your final rinse with cold water, it will save energy and make your hair shinier.

Save your Products, Save Money

Is it possible that you're using too much shampoo, conditioner, or body wash?  Use less and keep adding more if it's needed instead of washing three showers worth of product down the drain all in one go.

Shower Less and Save Money

I know it sounds a little gross, but Americans shower much more than is necessary.  Your hair doesn't have to be washed everyday, and neither does your entire body.  Instead of showering everyday, just cleanse specific parts of your body with soap and a warm washcloth, like your arm pits and other smelly areas... please don't make me get specific.  Not only will you save water, energy and products, but you'll also do your hair and skin a wonderful service by not constantly washing away oils designed to keep them healthy and moisturized.

What do you do to save money in the shower, besides obsessing over your budget?




Save Money in the Shower