We are delighted to share this guest post from Tara West, giving some sensible, practical and easily achievable ways to save money on energy consumption.

It can be hard to maintain a household in a tough economy, especially if you have children. However, there’s no need to become frustrated with your energy costs when there are so many ways to be proactive. 

Simple ideas can go a long way to reducing your electricity and gas bill. Compare energy prices, remind your family to practice energy conservation and use services like http://www.uswitch.com/gas-electricity/compare-energy-prices// to become more informed about energy tariffs. To get the details on these and more money-saving tips, keep reading.

1. Turn off the lights.

You’ve probably told your kids to do this at least once already today, and for good a reason. Energy spent on lighting your home can make up as much as seven per cent of your total energy bill. Especially during holiday when the kids don’t have to go to school, you could really reduce your electricity usage by making sure they do this consistently.

2. Keep warm air inside.

Whether it is summer holiday or Christmas break, your kids are bound to be in and out of the front door all day long. Make sure they don’t linger when entering or leaving so that money spent heating or cooling the house doesn’t go out the door with them. Also, make sure you have sufficient weather-stripping on the door to prevent cracks in the frame that could make your home more difficult to keep at a comfortable temperature.

3. Switch energy providers.

You might think of it as a complicated process, but online resources can make researching and switching energy providers a lot easier than before. To make sure you are not overpaying for your electricity and natural gas, go to a site like www.uSwitch.com  and find out how you can change your tariff with little to no effort.

4. Turn off electronics.

If you or your family members are not using the television, stereo, video game consoles or DVD player, make sure you turn them completely off. It can be easy to ignore an idle television that no one is watching, but an extra few pounds on your monthly electricity bill will get your attention. To save even more energy, plug all of these appliances into a power strip so that you can break the circuit when they are not in use.

5. Close the refrigerator.

You’re probably as guilty of this as your children are. You go to the refrigerator, open it and take what seems like forever to decide what you want to eat. Your indecisive eating habits could be driving up your electricity bill, as well. It has been reported that your refrigerator and kitchen appliances make up one fifth of your total energy bill. Don’t make it more expensive by keeping the refrigerator open for long periods of time; this requires more energy to keep the food you have stored inside chilled.

So do you have some ideas to go away with? We hope so!