Cut Your Energy Bill This Winter with 35 Pro Tips

11. Use rechargeable batteries

Think about the batteries you use in your household — such as for your remote controls, video game controllers, toys, flashlights, cordless phones, digital cameras, and wall clocks. There’s a good chance that you go through a lot of batteries and, if so, that you could save some significant dollars by using rechargeable batteries.

Yes, there’s a meaningful upfront cost. But after that, you won’t have to buy new batteries very often. A battery charger that can refresh eight AA batteries at once might cost you $20 to $25 (with a set of batteries included), and you very likely won’t need to buy more for several years. Alternatively, you might pay between about $6 and $8 for an eight-pack of good AA batteries.