You spend the most time there, so it makes sense that your house represents your largest expense. Whether it is the day to day upkeep, and operating expenses, repair projects, or the rent or mortgage payment, you allocate a big portion of your income to your home. Because you spend so much money on it, take advantage of the following tips to start trimming your budget.

If you want to possibly save hundreds of dollars a year on your electric bill, make sure that any new appliances you buy are energy efficient. You can find this information on the Energy Guide Labels that federal law requires of all major appliances.

Call your utility program and ask them if they have any cost saving programs such as load management programs or off hour rate programs. Enrolling in these could save you a substantial amount of money.

Ask your electric and/or gas company if they do a free or low cost home audit. They can identify ways for you to save hundreds of dollars a year on heating and air conditioning and often they will help you implement their suggestions for free.

Go over your phone bill and see if there are charges on it for services you don't use, like three way calling or call waiting. You can save about $50 a year if you eliminate unused services.

When the fireplace is not in use, keep the flue damper tightly closed. A chimney is designed specifically for smoke to escape, so until you close it, warm air escapes—24 hours a day!

If you use electricity to heat your home, consider installing an energy-efficient heat pump system. Heat pumps are the most efficient form of electric heating in moderate climates, providing three times more heating than the equivalent amount of energy they consume in electricity. A heat pump can trim the amount of electricity you use for heating as much as 30% to 40%.

You can cut the amount of water you use showering in one year in half, by installing low flow shower heads.

Insulate your water heater and turn the thermostat on it down a few degrees, to save quite a bit on your bill.

Carefully placed trees can help to heat a cool your house. Studies show that just 3 trees strategically planted to give shelter and shade can save you up to $250 a year on heating and cooling.

Provide high efficiency lighting to your home by using linear fluorescent and energy efficient fluorescent compact lamps in your fixtures. They last 6-10 times longer and use less energy.

Use solar pathway lights in your yard to provide nighttime light. It costs less than using electricity to run security lamps.

Refrigerators with freezers on the top are more efficient and therefore more cost effective than those with freezers on the side.

Switching your washing machines temperature from hot to warm or cold cuts a loads energy use in half.

Gas dryers are less expensive to operate than electric dryers. The cost of drying a typical load of laundry in an electric dryer is 30 to 40 cents compared to 15 to 25 cents in a gas dryer. That savings adds up over the course of a year.

When you are drying jeans in the dryer, throw a towel or two in with them. The towel will draw moister from the jeans, cutting down on dry time.

With a little thought and minimal effort you can save hundreds of dollars a year around your house. Start saving today, and imagine how much more money you will have in your bank account in the future.