I really get a kick out of doing little things that will pay big dividends. So each of these 6 items offer a little bit of that promise. Put a few bucks in now and save more! What I love about it is that, you can run out and buy everything mentioned here and actually be richer in a year! Yes you are welcome! 
1. “SmartStrip” Surge Protector
If your computer setup is anything like mine you have an overflowing surge protector behind your computer desk that is powering all kinds of peripheral computer devices. This is where the Smart strip starts to shine. Whenever you power down your computer, it automatically shuts off everything else – printer, speakers, etc. For avid computer users, and at about $35 this one should easily pay for itself in a year.
2. Water Heater Blanket
Depending on the temperature setting you use and the location of your hot water heater, a water heater blanket can save you 10% or more on your energy bill – which for some would be almost $10 a month. A quick test to see if you would benefit from having one is to just touch you water heater. If the tank is warm to the touch, you would save money by having a blanket. If you don’t get one, you can also cut your energy bill by lowering the heating temperature on the tank.
3. Battery Charger
I remember a battery charger I had about 15 years ago and how miserable the batteries were. I had to recharge them just about everyday. Thankfully, the technology has advanced quite a bit and if you use a lot of batteries, they can be a very cost-effective investment. Energizer has a charger that charges AA/AAAs for under $20.
4. Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) Bulbs
I have to admit – I don’t like fluorescent light. I just enjoy the full spectrum a bit better, but if “a lightbulb is a lightbulb” to you, then you might be able to save a few bucks with some CFLs. From the numbers I have heard about CFLs, the average family can easily save over $100 a year by making the switch.
5. Programmable Thermostat
Having a programmable thermostat is the easiest way to lower your heating and cooling costs. And having the house temperature right where you want it every hour of the day isn’t bad either. You can find programmable thermostats as cheap as $20 – at that price, it would probably pay for itself many times over in a year.
6. Water-Saving Shower Head
Regular shower heads can release as much as 6 gallons per minute (GPM) and some of the showerhead manufacturers have figured out how to let much less water through, but still feel like a lot. This particular one flows at 1.82 GPMs. By making the switch, “you’ll skip heating 15,000 gallons of extra water each year, reducing your energy cost of heating water and water consumption by a whopping 50 percent.”
Need more? Check out these 25 money saving gadgets, 8 gadgets to save money and go green
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t own a house but hear you can save a few dollars per month from a programmable thermostat. Keep the house cool during the day, time it to heat for when you will be home. Easy way to cut utility costs a bit.
These are all awesome suggestions!
I really enjoy simple and easy to implement lists like this. I recently bought water heater blankets for a family-members rentals and we’ve already noticed a difference this past winter.
Great read!
I’m going to get some CFLs…they are worth it long term.
The shower head sounds like it has a huge payoff…not sure if I can sacrifice a good shower though. I’ve have many fears of the low-flow shower.
Eden, I am with you on that one… From the reviews of that particular shower it – they say it feels just as full… I am going to get one myself, so I will find out…
Another money saver is a product called the Green Cloth. It cleans with only water. Completely replaces paper towels and windex, and doesn’t leave streaks. Runs about $6.50 for one, with a discount for more. Pays for itself many times over in one year. I’m not affiliated with it, just love it. Check it out at http://www.greenclothllc.com
You never cease to amaze me with your great lists/tips. I am dilligently working on my personal finance website and to be sure your link will be on my favorite sites page!
Just had two CFL bulbs burn out on me (manufactured by GE). Both were less than one year old and not in high use areas of my home. Far less usage than the 5-year life claimed for these bulbs. I have several other CFL bulbs in use, and I hope they perform much better or this whole CFL push will have been an expensive joke. Not to mention how do I dispose of these mercury-filled things?
Totally agree. We’ve had massive push for CFL’s by local authorities, to the extent they bought them in bulk and onsold them to the people in the community at about half the price of normal retail. Downside is they keep blowing. I have a 5 bulb chandelier, put 3 CFL bulbs and 2 incandescent in. 2 of the CFL’s blew in under a year. Incandescents still going strong. And no, not an on/off/on/off lighting situation. Light goes on and stays on for hours on end.
Complete and utter con. I’ve saved money by having incandescents which while not lasting 5 years (some have up to 3 years) and the energy cost for them is higher, but lifetime cost is lower then CFL’s coz they DON’T last 5 years.
Even though compact florescent lights are promoted, they are still toxic (mercury), and should not be thrown in the trash.
Lowe’s will take burnt out cfls, and dispose of them properly. Please make the effort to drop them off for everyone’s health’s sake!
such practical tips – never heard of the hot water heater cover
Hi, just wanted to caution you and your readers that the CFL bulbs are not environmentally friendly. They contain mercury and cannot just be tossed in the trash due to contamination to landfills. They must be deposited in a special type of trash container that goes to a hazardous waste facility. It is far better and cheaper to use LED lights. Not nearly as pretty but better for our earth and, no, I am not a “greenie”. lol
I was half expecting to see “NetFlix” listed.
I took my 10 yr old and a friend to a movie last weekend. Tickets, $26, popcorn and soda, $12. $40 with gas. Two of these outings a year can pay for NetFlix for the entire year.
Joe, that IS a great idea and there are other more “family-friendly” services like NetFlix that offer similar bargains. We rarely, if ever, go to the movie theater but I do take my grandchildren from time to time. We go during the ‘bargain matinee’ time, plus between my senior discount and the student price, we save at least $7 than if I go with my adult daughter. Brenden Theaters is offering a Tuesday special: all seats are $4 and the refreshments are 50% off. Check to see if there is a Brenden Theater near you!
I already have the programmable thermostat, compact fluorescent bulbs, and low-flow shower heads, and I have seen my electric bill drop as a result. I think the nest item on the list will be the water heater insulation blanket.
You will definitely see savings by taking these few steps.
3 years ago our hot water cylinder died. Not surprising, date of manufacture was Dec 1972!! Got new cylinder and asked the electrician for a water cylinder insulation blanket and he said not to bother because they are so well insulated these days. Was dubious but 1) you can’t feel the warmth on the outside of the cylinder and 2) my wife complains she can’t raise bread dough in the hot water cupboard anymore. Don’t need any more evidence than that.
Another “pay for itself” item: Electric Hair Clippers.
My wife picked up a good quality set (w/attachments) for about $12 (it was some time ago). It paid for itself with a single haircut (we had been paying about $12 for my haircuts).
What a deal!!
Note: This works because I have a basic HAIRCUT vs. having hair “styled.”
Be careful with CFLs!
They do contain mercury and if you break one, proper cleanup can cost significantly more than the savings attributed from a full house conversion.
Here is a link for proper clean up from a CFL bulb breakage:
http://www.energystar.gov/ia/products/lighting/cfls/downloads/CFL_Cleanup_and_Disposal.pdf
Snoops article:
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/cfl.asp
Basically, don’t break them on clothes and whatnot
You better know that to dispose of these CFLs in the local landfill will pollute the earth with mercury. Consult the Coast Guard with Google on the issue of this being a hazardous waste and should not be just thrown away. You should not just throw them away when they die but must pay for their disposal or pay the ultimate price of a polluted world not fit for living in.
I am so surprised that REDBOX movie vending hasn’t been mentioned yet! Perhaps they aren’t as wide-spread as I thought. But to piggy-back on Joe and Steph, REDBOX is great because they only cost $1 per day for all their movies – including new releases. If you are like me, I only watch them once then I am done. On top of that, every Monday you can get a code sent to your mobile phone that will get you 1 free movie. Every Week!
P.S. Good to know about the CFL bulbs and their effect on the enviroment. Anyone know of cheap disposal methods?
Hey guys,
This one won me a $100 on a radio station last year. To save money on movies, go to your local library and check some out. I usually get two but you can get up to five at one time near the libraries in my area. They really have alot on DVD now and they have alot of current ones. I rent movies rarely now. The cool thing is that if it turned out to be a bad movie that your not out anything. Trust me on that one, I just checked out Semi Pro and that was a waste of my time.
Thanks for the reminder. There are a few things on that list I’ve been meaning to get.
I’ve had 3 of those CFL bulbs burn out on me this year alone. They don’t last anywhere near 5 years, much less one year. Then, they have to be treated as hazardous waste once they are done. There are no savings to be had in buying CFL bulbs.
Patrick, I totally agree with you about the hazards of CFL and we have had the same thing happen with our “5-year bulbs”. Once again, our nanny state government has completely blown it by pushing these hazardous bulbs on us. I agree that incandescent bulbs use more energy but LED lights are better and no hazards! Folks who make these laws should actually KNOW what they are doing.
The graf on battery chargers is virtually content-free. Too much trouble to do something that actually resembles making an effort? I did a lot of research when I got interested in rechargeables; here are some data that may be of interest.
The picture that accompanies this article shows a cheap, "dumb" battery charger that runs for a set time, usually 8 hours. If you’re traveling light and need something to re-power your batteries once or twice while on the road, they’re okay for that. But regular use of them will shorten the lives of your rechargeables.
There are some really super chargers that are very inexpensive (about $25) considering how sophisticated they are. Two that seemed good when I was looking (which was a couple years ago; current shoppers should do their own research) were the La Crosse BC-900 and the Rayovac Universal Battery Charger PS3. These are ‘smart chargers’ — for example, the PS3 is smart enough to recognize the difference between various rechargeable batteries, and can automatically initiate the correct charging method. When a battery is inserted into the PS3, the charger begins with a small “trickle current” to determine which type it is. The charger will then use feedback from this procedure to utilize the appropriate charging current and charging time until the battery is ready. The charger has four independent charging channels, so you can charge different batteries in any channel. Each channel comes with a status indicator LED, which turns off once each battery is fully charged. These chargers also have diodes that prevent reverse current flow.
It’s important to read the instructions on rechargeable batteries and battery chargers. I’ve seen people leave batteries in a "dumb charger", plugged into a wall socket, for over a month…. possibly no harm was done, but all it takes is for a battery to be that single “lemon” out of thousands and something really bad could happen. I’ve also witnessed someone mixing AA and AAA batteries in one of the little “dumb chargers” and plugging it in overnight. Those little pocket chargers are not designed for mixing different size batteries and this could cause overheating and a possible fire.
Older rechargeable NiCad (Nickel-cadmium) batteries contain cadmium, a toxic heavy metal that leeches into the environment when discarded. They also tend to have ‘memory’ which means that if you recharge a battery when it’s lost only half its power, it will thenceforth only recharge halfway. The newer rechargeable NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries don’t have the ‘memory’ issue, but they self-discharge (lose power) at a high rate — around 30pc to 60pc per month, even when not used. Fortunately, there are better rechargeables now available!
Sanyo makes the Eneloop and Rayovac makes the Hybrid; they are supposed to be similar in properties. I haven’t used the Eneloop, but I’ve used plenty of the Hybrid batteries and love them. Eneloop and Hybrid batteries do not have the rapid self-discharge that plague regular NiMH batteries. They hold their power for about as long as regular alkalines, and you can rapidly save big money on battery purchases — hundreds of dollars, no exaggeration. Rayovac Hybrids are available at Target for about $10 for a package of four batteries. Currently made only in AA and AAA but I called Rayovac and they tell me that more sizes are in the works.
————————–
As for the CFL lamps, I am still using some that I bought in 1992 and have used continually ever since. I also have other, newer spiral style CFL lamps (‘lamp’ is the technically correct term for a "light bulb" type device) that have been used daily since being purchased about six or eight years ago. In the past 18 years, I’ve had exactly THREE of my CFLs burn out; my entire house is outfitted with them (except for a couple incandescent lamps that are on dimmer switches) and the rest keep working year in and year out. Rather than just bleating "they burn out fast, they must be junk" maybe you folks should try to figure out WHY they’re burning out. It’s possible that some CFLs may indeed be inferior products from corner-cutting Asian factories; so, try several different brands of CFLs and see if they all exhibit the same problems. If your CFLs burn out all the time, my guess is that you may be getting current fluctuations. Electric current is not uniform, as most people assume. CFLs are sophisticated electronic devices, not just a wire inside a glass bulb like the old incandescants. Spikes will severely shorten the life of sensitive devices. You should regard your CFLs as ‘canaries in the coal mine’ and investigate the source of the problem. Current spikes will kill ALL of your expensive electronics, including your computer, television, stereo, etc. — all of which should be connected to power manager devices that control spiking. You can pick these up for about $25 each — cheap insurance. In addition, if your CFLs all burn out quickly, it may well be indicitave of frequent, severe power fluctuations. You may want to consult an electrician about putting a similar device inline on the main power line to correct the problem throughout your house.
@Karl….you still have not addressed the problem of disposal of CFL Lamps. We must come up with something that will not kill us in the long run. Yes, I too have had CFL Lamps that have lasted a long time but once they are done, what then? It is illegal here in our town to put them in the garbage or recycle bins. They are considered hazardous waste everywhere. So what is your answer to this whiner?
@Steph That’s a bit over the top calling him a whiner. Exactly where do you see him whining? All I see is him saying they work for him, and possibly other people have issues with their wiring or power fluctuations. If that’s whining, well I guess the whole US of A is whining. Methinks you owe @Karl an apology.
{ 5 trackbacks }