Conserving the amount of water you use at home isn’t just good for the environment, it can also cut down your water bill.

The Singapore government’s water saving kit consists of a set of thimbles with three and four holes, to allow residents to have greater flexibility in regulating their tap’s and showerhead’s flow rates.

According to PUB, you can cut down on your utility bills by up to five per cent with the water saving kit.

This is absolutely free of charge, and you can request one here.

If you can’t remember the last time you cleaned the filters on your air conditioners, they might be clogged up with dirt. This makes it difficult for the cold air to come out, and your air-conditioners will use more energy (and time!) to cool the room to the temperature you’ve set.

Make a habit of cleaning the filter once every month or two. You don’t have to hire a repairman to help you – in fact, it’s so easy you can do it yourself. Air-con.sg has a handy guide on how you can clean your air conditioner here.

To save more energy, set the timer to switch your air-conditioner off halfway through the night. You’ll be asleep anyway and wouldn’t feel much of a difference. Of course, using a fan instead of the air conditioner can definitely help you to cut cost. If the weather is not too hot, use the fan instead.

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It’s convenient to use an electrical kettle to boil water or a dryer after washing your clothes. But these appliances use up serious amounts of electricity.

Use a kettle over a stove to boil water and opt to hang your clothes out to dry if the weather is good instead. It might be slightly less convenient than simply flipping a switch on electrical appliances, but you’ll see a difference at the end of the month when your bill arrives.

When shopping for appliances, remember to look out for the number of ticks on their Energy Label Ratings so that you choose the most energy-efficient one for you.

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Now that Singapore has an open electricity market, you have the ability to choose the best electricity provider plans for your household usage. The open electricity market site also allows you to compare prices so you can pick the most suitable price plan for your needs.

You can find out more here.

Compared to traditional incandescent light bulbs, compact fluorescent lights and LED bulbs consume less energy. According to the National Environment Agency (NEA), up to 90 per cent of the energy consumed by traditional bulbs is emitted as heat instead of light. For LED bulbs, most of the energy is released as light so they require less energy to emit the same amount of brightness.

Most modern devices will come with “sleep” or “hibernation” mode, which helps to greatly reduce power use without having to switch off the gadget entirely. This is great for items like your work computer. Go to the device’s menu settings and you should be able to find it.

To save even more, consider unplugging appliances and other electronics when you’re not using them. Unless it’s something like your refrigerator, there is no reason to leave devices plugged in when you’re not using them. For instance, unplug the gaming console when your child is finished with it, and switch off the extension cord once your devices are fully charged.

These “energy vampires” can really suck more money than you realise.

Are you using the same broadband, cable or mobile subscription from more than four years ago? You’re most likely ripping yourself off. The subscription plans from a while ago are a lot less worthwhile than the current plans in the market.

Review your current plans for broadband, cable and mobile. And if you do decide to make a switch after your contract is up, do sufficient research and compare prices across different providers before deciding on one.

You could also check if your family is eligible for a subsidised plan for faster internet under the government’s Home Access Scheme.

Singaporeans spend more time watching shows online than on TV, so you might want to rethink your cable subscription. With streaming services like Netflix, Viu, Hayu and more, it might be more practical to switch to these instead.

Now that there are more streaming services available on our shores, you can watch all your movies and TV shows at your own pace, plus extra content that is only available on those platforms. Instead of paying hundreds a month for cable, a streaming service can cost less than $20 a month.

For example, the basic plan for Netflix Singapore is only $10.98 per month. Do some research on which streaming platform suits your watching habits and save on your cable subscription cost.

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We’re no longer in the 1990s where we depend on landlines for calls. People who need to reach you can easily call or text your mobile phone. If you want to save on talk time on your mobile, get connected to Wi-Fi and call your friends on Telegram, WhatsApp, FaceTime or Zoom.

If you use your smartphone as a point of contact almost exclusively, it could be better to cancel your landline and save that extra money.

Some cash rebate credit cards in Singapore reward you with cash rebates when you use them to make payments. You get even more cashback when you create a recurring bill payment option with them.

Some cards to consider are the UOB One Card, HSBC Visa Platinum and OCBC 365 Credit Card.