We are pretty careful with our money.
Household purchases are made on a need basis not just a want basis.
My wife and I are pretty disciplined when it comes to sticking to the household budget. We figure the more money we save on everyday life, the more money we’ll have for treats and special occasions. Save some money on the HVAC energy bill and it goes toward a fancy dinner later in the year. So we weigh the need and the value of the stuff we buy. It’s understood that any purchase over a hundred bucks is worth a discussion. The same goes for our tech stuff. Of course we have to have the smart phones and the computers. There is just no getting around technology as it’s so present in our daily lives. However, we don’t jump as soon as a new thing comes out. In fact, we just now decided to purchase a smart thermostat for the HVAC. We are in a region where the main cost of the HVAC is during the summer. It gets really hot here and there is just no surviving this kind of heat without HVAC. However, let loose, the HVAC costs will get completely out of control. That is why we have been so pleased with the new smart thermostat. Basically, we gave it some parameters about raising the setting during the heat of the day and that is about it. The rest of it was on the smart thermostat. And wow, it has done such a great job. We are seeing quite significant energy savings already.