Free money comes in many forms: rebates, freebies, lottery winnings, or a bonus. Aside from the obvious, you can find free money stashed at home. If you wonder how this can be, it’s simple: a lot of money is flushed down your drain, escapes through the windows, and goes into the garbage every month. If you think this observation doesn’t apply to you, because you are already living frugally, think again!
There is free money you can find without ever leaving home. Here’s how:

1. Save energy for free money: turn off lights when you are not using them, and lower your thermostat at night or when no one is home. You can easily, and effortlessly, save 10% on your heating and cooling bills by lowering the temperature in winter, and slightly increasing the temperature in the summer. You can save even more if you replace incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFLs) bulbs to reduce your energy usage by 75%.

2. Invest in money saving appliances: Sometimes you need to spend a little money first to save money in the long run. If you have old appliances, not replacing them is actually costing you more in the long run than buying new ones. If you buy an Energy Star qualified appliance, you can start saving hundreds a year. Each penny you save after recouping your investment is a free penny earned, effortlessly. Chances are, your laundry will look better too.

3. Wash in cold water: When washing your clothes or dishes, do it is cold water. Stick to full loads only for turbo-charged savings. Air dry clothes whenever possible to shave hundreds off your bills every year.

4. Bundle your services: with one phone call you could save 10-15% off your cable and phone bills. Combine your services (cable, Internet, phone) with one provider, on one bill, and bank the savings.

5. Party at home: instead of going out and spending a lot on drinks and dinner, stay in and invite friends over. Make it a “bring your own drinks” party or potluck dinner and enjoy great times while saving a bundle. Forget the cost of drinks at the pub, taxi fare, and food.

6. Stretch your costs: instead of doing groceries every week, try and make it every ten days. If you use a laundromat or dry cleaner, do the same. By going every 5 or 6 weeks, instead of every month, you save a ton over the course of the year.

7. Use your phone, ask for discounts: Sit down for a few phone calls. Instead of calling your friends, call your credit card company, your cable company, or whichever service provider you use. If there are additional fees you are paying (interest, late fees, etc), ask for a discount. It’s a good practice to call in once in a while and ask if the company is offering any promotions for customers. Don’t sign up for services you don’t need though! The idea is to get a discount on the services you are already using.

8. Do stuff yourself: From baby food to foaming soap, you can make it yourself relatively easily and at an astonishing savings. By making your own foaming soap, expect to save $50 a year easily, while making your own cat litter saves you $120 a year. The key point is: most things can be made at home, just do an Internet search for how-to advice or recipes and you’ll start finding free cash in every corner of the house. Sure, it takes time to make things yourself, but it also takes time to go to the store, look for the items and stand in line to checkout. The savings can make it worth it, especially for ‘easy to make’ things like baby food.

9. Capitalize on your space: Have a parking spot, and no car? Rent it out! Do you have a spare room? Take in a boarder. Renting out space to others can translate in thousands of extra cash every year. It can pay your mortgage costs, or at the very least cover all your utilities.

10. Look for junk to sell: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. If you have an attic full of boxes of things you haven’t used in more than 5 years, turn them into cash. Toys, tools, old electronics, you name it. They can be turned into easy cash by just posting them for sale online.

11. Frequent Your Local Library: Stop buying books, and instead get them from your local library. It’s very hard to beat the price tag when it comes to borrowing from the library, as long as you don’t return them too late. Similarly, you can get DVDs from the library as well as audio books and music.

12. Buy subscriptions: Instead of resisting the cover of your favorite magazine every month, buy a subscription if it is a ‘must read.’ By buying the magazine off the rack three times a year, you are already paying the same as the subscription price for all issues. If you really want to supercharge your savings, share the subscription with a friend or neighbor.

13. Only pay for what you really need: Do you have the most expensive Internet package, but mostly use it just for browsing? Chances are, you won’t even feel a slowdown if you downgrade to a slightly slower (cheaper) connection. Similarly, assess whether you really need all 500+ channels you are receiving with your cable package. If you are paying extra just to get that one special channel with your favorite show, you might just as well downgrade to basic cable and get the latest episodes on iTunes.

14. Reduce your mortgage cost: Make an appointment with your bank and talk about your refinancing options. If you have the ability to contribute $100 more per month to your mortgage payment, you can shave ten years off your mortgage, and over $80.000 in interest payments. Even an extra $20 can save you $15.000 in interest payments by the time you own your home outright.

15. Install low-flow shower heads and faucets: Considered showering less to be more frugal? Before altering your personal hygiene practices, try investing a little in your kitchen en bathroom. Install low-flow shower heads and faucets, and you will be using less water on a daily basis, without reducing the number of showers you take.

16. Seal up the fireplace: If you have a wood-burning fireplace, make sure the damper closes and fits your chimney properly. This is one place where warm air, and therefore money, escapes in winter.

17. Disconnect your home phone: People who have a cell phone usually don’t need a home phone as well. You could save a few hundred a year by disconnecting the service, and you won’t even miss it. For long distance calling, why not try a service like Skype.

18. Be strategic with your drapes: close your window coverings at night, and make a point of keeping all south-facing windows uncovered during the day to let the sun in (in winter). Sun equals free heating in the winter, and takes some money off of your heating bill. In the summer, reverse this and keep your south-facing windows closed so your air conditioning doesn’t need to work as hard (and costs you less).

19. Apply weather-stripping: check for drafts on windows, exterior doors, garage doors, and doors that lead to an attic. Warm air will take any chance it gets to escape, leaving you with an inflated heating bill. Apply from weather-stripping here and there, and strip your monthly bill.

20.  Get Organized: When you are organized, you avoid missing payments. If you are constantly late on your bills, not only are you charged late fees and other penalties, it also affects your credit rating. People who have a poor, or not so good, credit history always pay more interest and have fewer options when shopping around for a mortgage or other type of loan.

What are you doing to save around the house? Which ones do you believe are really adding up?

This week’s new discount codes: