Sell Electricity With Grid Tied Solar or Wind Power
Learn About Grid-Tied Renewable Energy
Did you know that you can actually produce your own electricity with some fairly affordable products? Not only can you cut your own electric bills, you can even earn credit towards high energy use months, and best of all, you can even sell your excess energy back to the electric company!
These products are call grid-tied because they are tied into the public utility grid. They usually rely on solar or wind power, and your choice of a product would probably depend upon where you live. A sunny southern suburban home may do better with a small, lightweight solar system. A midwestern farmer may choose to rely on high tech wind power.
Learn More About Grid-Tied Power Systems, and How You Can Benefit.
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SPAM LUNCH MEAT SALES ARE UP
Well, in this distressed economy, it is probably no surprise that sales of SPAM, at least, are surging. People are trying to trim their budget any way they can, and if they have to resort to including a few cans of the classic canned meat in the pantry, then that’s what they do.
SPAM is produced by Hormel Foods Corp., and they have reported increased sales of the pork product, even though the cost of a can has risen too. Right now, a 12 oz can, is about $2.62, up about 7 percent from last year.
Well, personally, I’d rather eat beans or tuna for about the same price or less when I need a cheap source of protein. And a dozen eggs would feed more people for less money too. But some people like SPAM. I even found a page with SPAM HAIKUS.
And yes, some people have taken a break from canned meat poetry to come up with some innovative ways to use the traditional canned meat product. If you are interesting on making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear (LITERALLY!), then check out these SPAM RECIPES.
Otherwise, if you have to get your protein from a can, try tuna or beans or chile.
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Save A Dollar A Day
Multiple $1 Into 70,000!
Can you save a buck a day? This is a great exercise to do with older kids, but I know many frugal adults who do it too. Get a jar, and then scoop out your change every day. This includes any change you find on the floor or in the laundry or in your couch. Try to make sure you put at least $1 in the jar every day.
At the end of the month you should have about $30. Now it is time to find a bank that has a coin machine, so you can take that jar down to the bank and deposit it into a savings account. If you use a coin sorter at the grocery star, like a Coin Star Machine, they usually charge a very high amount for their service. The one by me takes 8%, which is quite a lot. But I have a nearby bank which lets me do it for free.
Even without interest, that $1 a day or $30 a month, is $360 a year. With interest, even at 3 percent interest, you should have over $4,000 at the end of 10 years. If you can get your kids to do this for 30 years, they will have over $15K. And this is at an online savings account interest of 3%. Hopefully you can find some savings vehicles that do a little better over time. And this took into account a tax rate of 28%, which is certainly too high for a 30 year span. Your kids probably aren’t being taxed, and you may retire at some point so your tax rate should not be that high!
Now turn that $1 a day into $5, or $150 a month. I am still taking taxes into account, as well as interest. In only 15 years, you should have over $30,000!
Now I am paying a home mortgage with 15 years to go. I plan to have that savings account meet the amount left on my loan at some point so I can own my home outright. This will get my home paid off well before the retirement age of 65.
Look at this handy Savings Calculator.
How To Save $1 a Day (Or $5 a Day)
My big problems are impulse stops at the corner drug store, and impulse buys at the grocery store. I know I grab stuff I don’t need. I need to get my pantry organized so I can see that I have purchased 3 jars of pickles and 6 containers of applesauce. Though my family loves applesauce and pickles, we would appear to be well stocked this month.
I am, pretty much, cutting out movies at the theatre. We would go once a month, and with dinner, it would end up costing my family almost $100. We are replacing it with movie rental night at home, which I can pull off for $20 max. So that $80 is going into the jar. I figure we can wait a month or two until first run movies come out on DVD.
And when I am out and about on errands and business, I really do not need a $5 cup of coffee. A $1 cup of convenience store coffee will serve. That should get me a lot more small bills to scrape out of my wallet every week.
Can you save $1 a Day or $5 a Day. Post your Comments!
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Real Ways To Save Energy At Home
Real Ways To Lower Your Electric and Gas Bill
We have already discussed rising gasoline prices, and we’ve discussed the associated increase in groceries. However, your home utility bills are certain to spike just like gasoline prices do. In my part of the world we are just starting a long, hot summer, and that’s red alarm electricity bill time for us. Other parts of the world worry more about home heating. And of course, lighting and appliances, use energy all year long!
Of course, you can find hundreds of ways to save energy. I am listing the ways that cost very little to do.
Solar Lighting and Heating Has Arrived
OK, it is still very expensive to outfit your whole home for solar power, but many inexpensive solar powered devices are on the market. I saw very affordable solar powered outdoor lighting at my local target store, and then checked it out on EBay. Since I needed some outdoor lights for the evening, I made an order, and I’m very excited about it. The lights charge all day, and then automatically turn themselves on at dusk. They are simple to install since they do not need to be hooked up to the house’s electric system, and were a great buy.
Check out Solar Energy Products On EBay.
You can also find solar pool heaters and solar pool covers, rechargable solar flashlights, and solar battery chargers for pretty low prices now. If you aren’t quite ready to invest in a whole house solar energy system, you can start small.
Ceiling Fans for Summer and Winter
The US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is a great fan of ceiling fans, and I am working on getting them installed in every room of my house. In my own experience, they let me raise my thermostat by about 5 degrees in the summer, and still remain comfortable. They should turn counter-clockwise in the summer to pull hot air up, and they should turn clockwise in the winter to push hot air down.
Replace Your Light Bulbs as They Burn Out
Go ahead and buy a pack of the new energy efficent light bulbs and then use them to replace your burned out jurassic era bulbs. They last a lot longer, and they use up a lot less energy. Yes, they cost a bit more to start, but if you just start replacing the old glass bulbs as they go, you won’t feel it that much.
Change Filters!
Change or clean your air conditioner/furnace filters periodically. When you buy the fliter, it will usually tell you on the package how long they are expected to last. However, if you have pets, or kick up more then average dust because of construction, etc., then go ahead and change them more often. Clean filters will make your furnace and cooling system last longer, work more efficiently, and save energy!
Start Small and Save Big
Of course, remember your mom’s advice. She told you to shut off lights when you leave a room, refrain from leaving the fridge door open, and to, for goodness sake, shut the front door when you leave! Mom’s advice was still pretty good.
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Breakfast For Dinner Saves On Groceries
Serve Breakfast For Dinner To Eat Healthy For Pennies
Your grocery bill will look more like 1999 if you switch to breakfast for dinner a few times a week. Plus, everybody likes breakfast food, and these meals are usually very quick to prepare. I actually got this idea from my brother who adopted this practice while he was putting himself through graduate school. I wanted to mention this to be fair. Not all frugal grocery shopping tips come from women!
In my house, the kids tend to grab a very quick real breakfast, or else purchase breakfast at school so they can eat with their friends. Personally, I applaud their decision to purchase breakfast at school because it conforms to health standards, and there is no way that I can even make them a warm meal for the price the school charges. Besides, I am just not a morning person, and neither are my kdis. They never feel like eating much when they wake up, but they seem to get their appetite back by the time they get to school. Public school meals are subsidized by federal government programs, and I have no problem with having my taxes help pay for something useful lke feeding school kids!
But my family does enjoy having traditional breakfast foods at suppertime when they have more leisure to enjoy them. Plus, I can provide really healthy breakfast meals in a jiffy, and for a fraction of traditional suppertime foods.
Ideas: Two eggs, whole grain toast, a glass of milk, and a home made fruit salad is a pretty good meal, and I can feed all 4 of us for about $5~You can’t beat that. For variety, turn the eggs and bread into French Toast and top with fruit and syrup.. A box of Bisquick (I buy the low fat variety) can be the basis for waffles, pancakes, or of course, biscuits!
- Eggs - These are a great value, and can be turned into any style eggs, omelettes, or as an ingredient for french toast.
- Potatoes - Always a cheap staple, and they are great sliced thin and fried in PAM or oven baked.
- Biscuit Mix - You can make almost anything that people have for breakfast with biscuit mix like biscuits, pancakes, waffles, and even desserts!
- Fruit - I always want some fresh produce, and fruit goes with breakfast. Shop sales. We like to cut up a variety of fruit and put a dollop of whipped cream (or imitation) on top for a healthy treat. Sliced bananas or berries turn a pancake mix into a gourmet meal!
- Bread - I usually spend a little more to get healthier bread with more fiber and less sugar.
- Peanut Butter - Add in extra protein and fiber on the cheap.
- Spreadable Fruit - I try to replace jelly and syrup with the no sugar added spreadable fruit. My kids do not really know the difference, though of course, sometimes they ask for syrup. The store brands are pretty inexpensive for the flavor they provide.
Anyway, I think breakfast for dinner is a great way to stretch a grocery budget, even if you only do it once or twice a week. However, if you are ever really strapped for cash, you can declare it Breakfast For Dinner Week and eat very well, and very cheap!
Please feel free to comment with your own cheap eats ideas!
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Cheap Movie Nights
Fun Ideas to Entertain on the Cheap!
I need to watch my budget. But last night, impulsively, my family and I decided to step out to dinner and a movie. After I got home, I realized that I’d spent almost $100, which really knocks out my entertainment budget for the month. When I do go out, I don’t like to limit what everybody can order, so these nights out need to be saved for special times. But I wanted to look into ways to experience good times for less money.
Rent Movies The Smart Way!
If you guys are movie lovers, then a rental membership like Blockbuster may be a good investment. You can order movies online, and then return them in the mail or the video store. You do not have to worry about late fees or due dates either. When you consider the price of seeing a movie out, or even renting movies the traditional way, movie rental memberships really pay off over the long term. We do have a cheap online movie rental offer.
Home Movie Nights Are Great! Break out the popcorn popper, soft drinks, and maybe even some other healthy snacks. Your family can have a great time at home, and you can catch up on all the blockbusters you may have missed on their first run. Movie rentals are also a great way to catch up on highly acclaimed movies that may not have made the big theatre houses. Add hot dogs or nachos, and you can combine dinner and a movie too!
Movie Nights With Friends and Family
We like to find a family friendly movie, and then invite another family or two over for movie night. We provide the movie, hot dogs and popcorn, and then ask the other families to kick in with fruit or veggie trays, a bag of candy, and soft drinks. Our friends also appreciate the opportunity to get out of the house for cheap entertainment.
If the husbands and/or wives would like to have a mellow time with a more adult movie, try chipping in on a baby sitter for younger children at one house. Then hold movie night at the Rated R home. Or one family can provide the baby sitter, while the other families foot the bill for the movie and food. It makes for great times with friends, and costs a fraction of going out on the town for the very same experience.
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Tested Gasoline Economy Tips
Gasoline Savings Ideas That Work
You can barely turn around without seeing a product or idea to help you save money on gasoline consumption. Of course the best tips is to try to limit your driving. You can limit your driving by planning the trips that you need. In other words, if you need to go to the grocery store and drop your kids off at their scouts meeting, it would be best to plan these two errands at the same time. If you work an hour away, this may be time to consider the bus or carpool.
But what can you do to limit gasoline consumption for the trips you need to make? Well Edmunds.com tested the tips, and here is what they say.
- Stop Driving Like A Maniac! Moderate driving habits can reduce fuel consumption by 37%. So if you like to put the pedal to the metal and screech to a halt, cut it out. It is not safe anyway, so c’mon!
- Slow Down. You can save 14% of your gas by driving slower, especially on long trips at highway speeds.
- Use Cruise Control when you can. Keeping a standard speed as much as possible will average a 7% gas savings.
- Avoid Excessive Idling. If you are waiting for little Jimmy in the carpool line, shut your car off. Of course, in the warm summer season it can get hot without the air. Maybe it’s time to park and get out of your car to wait.
- Tire Pressure and And A/C. Edmunds said that while these two tips are common wisdom, they did not see a lot of difference. Now you should properly inflate your tires anyway for safety, and to keep your tires longer, but you do not need to obsess about it. The great debate about A/C with windows up to reduce drag, or to shut off A/C and roll windows down has not been resolved. If you live down here in the sun belt, and are not ready to live without car air conditioning, that’s good news!
The Edmunds article is here.
Does anybody else have any fuel saving tips they want to share?
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What You Need For Frugal Grocery Shopping!
Forget the Shopping List
Oh it is a good idea to jot down staples that you have run out of. You need to remember to pick up ketchup and milk and toilet paper if you have run out. But I am not a big fan of detailed shopping lists. For one thing, I find it tedious to have to plan out an entire week of meals, and with the way my life runs, that list seldom works out for my family anyway. For another thing, when I shop sales, I need to plan meals on the fly.
Take a Calculator and Sticky Notes
No, I think the one thing you should take to the grocery store is a small sticky note pad and a calculator. You can use the top sticky note to jot down your very short shopping list of things you absolutely need!
Shop the sales as we mentioned in a previous post. Since price tags seem to belong to another era, use the sticky notes to put the price on the items you purchased. Then keep a tally in your calculator. C’mon, you know you are surprised every time you get to the checkout lane!
Then, if you start to go over your budget, you can rethink your shopping as you go. Replace a few more expensive items with cheaper ones, and keep your running total up. You will be surprised how much less your bill will be at the end.
And I am not saying you should do without. But if peaches are on sale, do you really need apples? I always want to keep fresh fruit in the house as a healthy snack, and buying it gets more and more challenging, but my family can be flexible on the type of fruit. And sometimes when I bring home a type of fruit that is less common, it is a great incentive to get the kids to eat them instead of less healthy snacks!
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Cheap Recipe For Tuna Croquettes
Cheap Fish Recipe with Tuna
We are all told to eat more fish, but sometimes that seafood counter has some pretty expensive prices. In order to be healthy, and get our share of fish, we need to turn to good old canned tuna and salmon. But tuna with mayo gets old after awhile. So let’s dress it up with a great recipe for tuna cakes. These are very similar to crab cakes, but cheap and easy to make!
By the way, a good way to handle your grocery budget in a frugal way, is to look for tuna and salmon on sale.
We found this recipe on CheapSkateLiving.org — Tuna Croquettes Recipe So just visit that page, because we don’t see the need to waste time and repost it here.
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Cheap and Easy Tacos and Tortilla Recipe
Make Cheap and Easy Tacos and Tortillas
Most taco recipes do not include the tortillas. But I learned this from one of the most frugal cooks I ever met, and in my humble opinion, nothing tastes better then fresh tortilla right out of the pan. Compare fresh tortillas to packaged tortillas. Its like the difference between fresh bread and day old bread! And of course, it is much cheaper to make tortillas then it is to purchase them. On the other hand, time is money, and if you are pressed for time, don’t feel guilty about buying a package of tortillas either. Note: I added another cheap recipe for bisquick tortillas to the end of this post.
The recipe here is for 12 tacos, so this may be two meals. If that is too much for your family, you can freeze the rest in a a freezer bag or use them for lunches the next day.
Wheat Tortillas
You Need: 4 Cups Flour, 2 tsp. salt, 4 tsp baking powder, 2 tbl oil, approx. 1 1/2 cup warm water.
Stir all the dry ingredients together. Then knead in the oil and add the water until you have a soft, but not sticky, dough. Form about 1/4 cup of the dough and make a ball. Then flatten it out so it is about 1/8 inch thick. You can buy an inexpensive tortilla press, and I like mine. But a flat plate works too!
Heat a heavy skillet or griddle to a medium-high heat. Cook your tortillas until they are brown on each time. Trust me, it will be hard to keep your family from eating the warm and delicious fresh tortillas before you get the tacos done.
The Cheap and Easy Tacos
You Need: 2 LB ground beef or ground turkey. Salsa (Mild to Medium as You Prefer).
Brown the ground meat. Drain the oil, and then stir in the salsa to taste and cook until the flavors are blended and the meat is well done.
Extras
Serve with lettuce, tomatos, quacamole, etc. as you desire. The addition of the veggies makes this a pretty healthy one dish meal that everybody loves.
Bisquick Tortillas! You can also use bisquick to make tortillas. Use 1 cup of Bisquick, 1 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of water, and 1 tsp. of salt. Mix up the ingredients, and then roll the dough up in box and brown them in a pan or griddle.
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