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Its no secret that the UK, in fact the entire world is in the midst of a tough and unrelenting recession. Despite recent promises that filtered down to us from the powers that be via the media, things still arent looking good! Although were now forecast to be making our way out of recession, growth forecasts are constantly being reduced as markets dont make the headway they were anticipated to by industry experts. For this reason budgets are still being slashed and purse strings tightened; the buttoned-down hatches are still firmly in place for a lot of businesses. Gas, oil and electricity prices havent fallen and instead increased, which has made making savings where possible not only preferable, but also necessary for many families. Heres what you can do

This first suggestion concerning heating is far from ideal considering the distinct lack of spring weather were long overdue. If you work away from home and are out all day though its well worth setting it up on timer, leaving it off both during the night and during the day when youre out. Nowadays there are numerous heating gadgets available that allow you to pre-set your heating in advance, leaving the heating on for longer at weekends for example when people are more likely to be at home.

Next on the list after central heating usage is water usage. Water is again, something that has made its presence known throughout the media over recent months due to rising bills that seem to rise proportionally with profits. It does seem somewhat unfair that in the midst of a recession when common folk are struggling to pay their bills, big companies raise their profit levels from us, not taking a financial hit at all. However, despite these unfair actions we can reduce our water usage significantly without too much effort. Use the dishwasher more sparingly, turn the tap off whilst brushing your teeth and have showers instead of baths.

Continuing on with the theme of appliances our next money saving idea is to switch appliances OFF when youre not using them. Those handy standby buttons are so tempting, but they certainly make their mark when that quarterly electricity bill comes in.

You can also re-design your old clothes if youre handy with a needle and make old items of clothing look not only brand new but on-trend too. Patches, cropped trousers and sleeves plus bringing in old tops and putting them under crochet jumpers can all create new looks with old attire. Get creative! This can save the shopping budget and associated low levels of enthusiasm that can come from looking in the wardrobe and seeing the same collection of clothes youve been greeted with for the past five years.

One very easy and long term way in which to save money on your energy bill is to switch to using energy saving light bulbs. These are competitive in cost and now emit practically the same amount of light that standard light bulbs do.

Running with the theme of long-term solutions, solar panels that attach to the roof of your home and harness the suns energy are now becoming more and more mainstream. Although they come with a hefty initial cost not only does the solar energy you collect come off your own bill, you also get reimbursed for any additional energy used by the board provided by your house, the returns really can be quite generous in Summer.

Finally, combining energy providers or even threatening to leave and move elsewhere can work wonders when it comes to saving money - call them up and have a chat, and while youre at it, ring up your phone and internet providers too!