Every month, you face a multitude of bills. These expenses will inevitably take a toll on business owners.

For most of those providers — your grocery store that sells office snacks, your lenders, your phone and internet company — you can shop around. But when it comes to utilities and the cost of keeping your office building or your home office up and running, there are no coupons or sales that can help you.

This is a reason why utilities are one of Americans’ most burdensome expenses, with the average household spending almost $4,000 on utilities in 2015, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

When you’re running a business, or working hard to save money for your next project, saving money is saving money — and most of us can benefit from doing just that.

With that in mind, you have a few options to save some cash on your utilities bill, ranging from smart devices to making a lighting switch. Here’s how you can get started.

Have You Changed Your Bulbs?

This is a great place to start. You’ve likely heard about the energy saving benefits of LED and CFL bulbs before. But have you done anything about it? Now is the time.

Compared with "normal" bulbs, LED might have a higher purchase price, but you’re saving 75 percent more energy and the bulb will last about 25 times longer. You’re going to make your money back, especially when you consider that incandescent bulbs lose up to 90 percent of their energy in radiated heat.

And if you’re a small-business owner, then go ahead and install new bulbs at the office and you’ll start the money saving immediately. And in most cases, these bulbs will be easier on the eyes of you and your employees.

How About the Water Heater?

There are a few opportunities to save some money when it comes to the water heater. If you’re an old-fashioned person, you can just turn down the maximum temperature and you’ll prevent yourself from losing standby heat.

Experts estimate that a change like this can save more than $50 a year in standby and more than $400 in demand costs. That said, be sure that your temperature is still hot enough to sanitize dishes in your dishwasher — you don’t want to sacrifice cleanliness and safety for money.

On the other hand, if you’re a bit more innovative and tech-savvy, you can use a device like Aquanta to connect your water heater to your phone. With the controls in your hand wherever you go, you’ll be able to boost or limit heating, or see how much hot water you have, compare monthly and weekly usage, and receive maintenance alerts.

Perhaps you run an innovative technology company, and maybe it’s time to take the leap into the innovative technology that can save you money while you build your next great web application!

Watch Your Thermostat

Energy.gov states that by pulling back your home, apartment or office temperature for around eight hours each day you can save 10 percent on your utilities bill. That’s a pretty big deal, right?

While you’re at the office running your business, check in with employees and see how they like the temperature. Maybe they like it cooler, and you can save a few bucks by lowering the temperature.

Innovative products like Nest Learning Thermostat can help adjust your temperature to the flow of your day-to-day life in order to reduce unnecessary energy use.

HVAC Leaks?

You can do all you want to make use of smart thermostats, but if your hot air isn’t making way around your home or office due to leakage, you’re in trouble.

EnergyStar says that the average home loses about 25 percent of its heated air to leaks. The same goes for your office. Schedule an inspection to ensure this isn’t an issue at your office. You work hard to make money, so don’t let it slip away because of a few bad leaks!

Time for New Power Strips

How many power strips do you see around your office right now? Many of us have upwards of 10 power strips running throughout our home or office. But how much of a power drain do these classic power strips cause?

Well, traditional strips are a great way to stop constant energy drain, but only if you remember to place them in the "off" mode when you’re not using them.

But it’s 2018 and innovative technology companies have created an awesome solution for this problem. With this new generation of advanced tech, we now have power strips that can monitor your plugged-in devices activity and turn off those electronics when activity ends, or just cut power to the device if they’re in "off" mode themselves. Pretty awesome, right?

Electronics can add 10 percent to your monthly bill, so advanced power strips are a great move to cut some of this cost.

These are just a few of the many ways to save you money every month on your energy bills. It’s never too late to get started!