Watt Meters

According to the UNH Cooperative Extension, you can learn the amount of electricity various household items use everyday even when some are turned off! You may be surprised to find that items like your coffepot, even when it is turned off, still uses electricity. When you learn about the amount of energy houshold items use and mulitply the cost over a month it realy adds up to significant dollars!

A watt meter is an electronic instrument that measures the energy used by many of our household appliances and electronics. Some local libraries and the some town energy committees now loan out these household energy meters which plug-in, are simple to use, and can really help you figure out how to save money. (Plug in type of Watt Meters can be purchased on line for about $30.00 such as “The Energy Detective” and the “Kill A Watt”) They can actually calculate how much energy is used by an appliance, and translate this into a dollar figure.

If you know the wattage of an appliance, you can estimate how much electricity it uses and what it costs you. Then decide if it is an item that needs to stay plugged in all the time, can be unplugged, or put on a power strip. Some of the items you’ll want to measure include:

Coffee maker
Cell phone and other chargers
Hair dryer
Table lamps
TV, video game player, stereo, and other electronic equipment
Computer and other office equipment
Portable space heater
Room air conditioner
Refrigerator
Microwave
Humidifier
Vacuum cleaner

For more Energy Answers

Plan your weekly menu

Here's another easy way to cut your grocery bill. According to the founder of thesimpledollar.com Start off with a plan for what you'll eat in the coming week. The cheapest way to get started is to pull out the store flyer and see which items are being sold very cheaply to get you in the door. Identify a handful of these, then use them to plan your meals for the week by using those items as the core ingredients in most if not all of your dishes. For example, if you notice that chicken is discounted highly, as is broccoli, look for dishes that utilize both and plan one or two of them for the week. Not only does this reduce your cost, but it also encourages diverse meals when you base your meals on what's on sale instead of eating the same old tired thing you buy on every grocery trip.

The Great Piggy Bank Adventure

How often do you go to the store with your kids and you here, Mom can I have that? Can we go thru the drive-thru? How do you get your children or grandchildren to understand the value of a dollar? One thing I try to stick to, is any money the kids get, they must deposit half in their bank account. Apparently I'm not the only one concerned about how to teach my kids about financial responsibillities. Investment firm T.Rowe Price has partnered with Walt Disney to offer lessons on setting goals, the importance of savings, spending smartly and inflation. It's FREE and it's on line. It's called the Great Piggy Bank Adventure. I played the game and I do recommend it, but you probably want to sit with your child as they play it. You may actually learn some financial responsibility in a family fun way, yourself... thegreatpiggybankadventure.com

Credit or Debit

In early October, Bank of America notified some of its credit-card customers that it would be introducing experimental annual fees of anywhere between $29 and $99. That came on the heels of Citigroup's August announcement that "a small number" of customers would see changes to their account, including a new annual fee.
Already credit cards are getting more expensive for everyone: Between December 2008 and July 2009, the lowest advertised annual percentage rates (APRs) for purchases on credit cards increased from 9.99% to 12.24%: a 23% jump.
Be very careful however, if you are tempted to cancel the credit card and just use Debit cards...
If you close a credit card, it will hurt your credit score because of your debt to credit ratio. Also many hotels, car rentals and even gas station hold your funds if you use a debit. And, debit cards offer fewer consumer protections. So if your thinking of switching from credit or debit, research first.... smartmoney.com

Lower the phone bill

Much like dial-up Internet service or the recently defunct web hosting service GeoCities, telephone landlines could be turning into 20th century relics.

In the second half of 2008, 20.2% of American homes had at least one cellphone but no landline. The report also said that 14.5% of households with cellphones and landlines received all or nearly all their calls on a cellphone.

Although data suggest that wireless-only households are slowly becoming the norm, some consumers are reluctant to ditch their home phones altogether. Here's two idea for you, that will allow you to keep your landline, but cut some of your monthly costs.

1. Use your cellphone for non-local calls
The simplest way to save on long-distance calls is to strip out long-distance service from a landline and make those calls on a cellphone instead. Most cell plans include long-distance (national) calls in their minute usage limits, so making those calls is effectively free provided the user doesn't exceed his or her limit.
2. Get invited to Google Voice
Google launched its phone service, Google Voice, earlier this year. The service allows users to funnel all of their calls through a single phone number that forwards to an office, home or cellphone. Last week, Google announced the service could be used with existing cellphone numbers instead of having to obtain a new number from Google.

Best Gas Prices

Drivers, buckle your seat belts. Gas prices are rising again. While unemployment and credit news have been grim during the recession, there's been one source of relief for consumers: low gas prices. But now, with the economy showing signs of improvement, fuel prices are climbing, and drivers are starting to budget their intake at the pump.

To find the cheapest gas prices, compare prices at stations near your home or along your commute. Price-comparison web sites like gasbuddy.com and billshrink.com let you plug in your daily destinations to find the most affordable gas stations on those roads.

Consumerist.com

While browsing one of my favorite websites, thesimpledollar.com, I found another great consumer related site that I think is worth passing on to you. It's consumerist.com . The Consumerist is a blog run by Consumers Union, the folks behind Consumer Reports. It focuses directly on consumer issues, which means that it often calls out poor customer service from companies, faulty products, and so forth, mixed in with some great advice on saving money and making good buying choices. This is a blog site, so you will find some days, it could be flooded with posts. If you have some time though, it may be worth skimming over and looking for useful tools that will have you spending less and buying quality items.

Portion Control

Let's talk about portion control and how it can save your waistline and your wallet. Most American parents serve themselves and their children huge portions of food. Their families eat only part of it, and then they discard the rest. Next time you scrape those half eaten plates of food into the trash, think about this: 30% to 50% of the food and drinks we buy gets thrown away. That's at the dinner table as well as in a restaurant. If you don't believe it's true, observe your own family this week. Take note of how much is wasted. That's money out of your wallet. If you feel like you HAVE to clean your plate, put less on to begin with and you may just shed a pound and a gain a dollar.

Energy in the Kitchen

October 28

We're always looking for ways to cut back on our energy use. Here's two ideas for the kitchen. First, the microwave oven is much more energy efficient than the stove, often using 75 percent less energy for the same task. Use your microwave for tasks such as boing water, steaming and browning vegetables, cooking rice and other water-intensive applications. AND - whenever you open the door on your oven, as much as 25 percent of the heat inside is lost and a significant amount of energy is used building that heat again. Instead, use a meat thermometer and turn on the oven light. That way, you can look through the glass on your oven and inspect your food without opening the door.

Ramen Noodles

One quick way to start saving serious money in the kitchen is by learning how to cook inexpensive staple foods. Ramen noodles are by far one of the cheapest food items in the grocery store (around 15 cents per package), and extremely versatile. You can use this budget stretcher in almost any dish to cut down on cost, and stretch the other ingredients further. Other inexpensive staple foods: fresh vegetables and fruit in season, eggs, pasta, tuna, and oatmeal are all inexpensive places to start.

Speaking of Ramen noodles, I found Ramen noodle recipes :

Beef flavored 4 bean ramen salad
Ingredients
1 package Beef flavor ramen noodles
1/2 cup green beans
1/2 cup kidney beans
1/2 cup white beans
1/2 cup lima beans
1/4-1/2 cup Italian dressing
Directions

Cook the ramen according to package directions. Set flavor packet aside.
Add prepared bean mix. Add flavor packet and dressing. Let chill in
refrigerator 1-2 hours before serving.

Ramen'n' Broccoli stir-fry

Ingredients

1 package ramen
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 regular sized package egg noodles
1 head broccoli, or 1 package frozen broccoli (cooked)
1 medium onion
1 cup shredded cheese
1 cup french fried onions (optional)
Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare ramen as package directions advise,
but drain and do not add flavor packet. Cook egg noodles. Dice broccoli
and onions. Mix soup mix with prepared ramen and add flavor packet and set
aside. In an oven-safe casserole dish layer in the following order:
vegetable mix, shredded cheese, egg noodles, cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, add the ramen/soup mixture (and french-fried onions) and
bake an additional 5 minutes.

Let cool before serving.

Book Swaps

I've told you in the past about website you can use to swap out DVDs and CDs. I recently realized there's a lot of peope who trade books too. If you love to read, you can always save money at the library. But if you have a large selection of your own books, you may want to go to the world wide web. I found three book swap web sites for you:
paperbackswap.com , TitleTrader.com , and Bookins.com
... basically, readers trade in titles on their bookshelves for others they'd like to read. After listing a few titles, users will get credit for each one another member requests. (They'll also typically get a few credits for joining.) Credits can be redeemed for other books on the site. Depending on the site, users will pay shipping to send or receive a book, but not both.

Ceiling Fans

The seasons are changing, the weather is getting colder. It's time to change the direction of your ceiling fan. Ceiling fans are great tools for reducing energy use in every season, but you have to be a bit clever to maiximize their value.

Air circulation can make the room feel as much as 8 degrees warmer or cooler, and combined with a temperature adjustment strategy can save you a bundle on your heating (or cooling) bill.

As I'm sure you know, heat rises...so all the warmth is close to the ceiling .. In the colder months, set the fan to run in a clockwise direction, which pulls the warm air from the ceiling and pushes it down toward the floor.

September 11

Here is some food for thought: According to a recent Yahoo!Finance article, "in the United States, 43% of families are spending more than they earn each year." This is slowly starting to change as more Americans begin to modify their spending habits. Here's a couple of things to keep in mind, which could save you some money :

-U.S. banks are set to earn $38.5 billion this year from overdraft fees alone...." which means it is critical that you stay on top of your finances to avoid the overdraft fees and finance charges that are making the banks more money.
Set email alerts that notify you when your balance is low or send reminders when your bill is due.

-Watch your fees.. This applies to bank accounts and credit card accounts. Make sure to read the fine print regarding your "free" bank account, which may require a minimum balance or monthly direct deposits.

September 8

Consumers have more than 100 shopping days left until Christmas, but retailers are already angling to secure a chunk of your holiday budget. There's no question that the economy has forced retailers of all sizes to get more creative than they have before.

Several retailers are experimenting with programs that offer rewards tied to your fall spending. The idea is to get you spending in stores now and committed to more spending closer to the holidays.

Macy's: Members of Macy's Star Rewards program can enroll in the Thanks for Sharing program for $25, of which $10 goes to charities, including Make-A-Wish Foundation and March of Dimes. In exchange, shoppers receive a 10% rebate on purchases made Sept. 19 through Dec. 31.

Sears: Sign up for the Christmas Club program before Oct. 31, and then add cash to your card. The retailers will award a 3% rebate (up to $100) based on the value of your account on Nov. 14. The card can be used at Sears, Kmart, Lands End, The Great Indoors and MyGofer.com.

For more information, log on to smartmoney.com

September 4

Everybody knows that store brand foods, pasta, canned veggies, cookies, condiments, whateverare cheaper than the national brands. The assumption is that the national brands taste better. Consumer Reports says they don't. the October issue of the magazine puts store brands in head-to-head competitions with national brands, using trained taste-testers to decide when --if ever-- it's worthwhile to pay more. The conclusion: Switching to store brands can be a painless way to cut your grocery bill.

In blind tests, trained testers compared 29 food categories. Stores and national brands tasted about equally good 19 times. The national brands won six times, while the store brands won four times.

The store brand foods Consumer Reports tested cost an average of 27 percent less than their name brand counterparts.

September 2

Early September means back to school. We've talked about the price of school clothes and supplies, but what about the cost of books for college students? Why buy? Did you know college students can easily pay over $700 for their text books? Often times, the college book store doesn't have what you need, either. I have a solution. Buy used books on line. Better yet, how about renting the book from chegg.com There is also cengage.com, not only do they rent books, they also provide electronic files. Whether you buy used, rent or share, it'll save you hundreds of dollars.