Many housing communities (including mine) encourage us to leave our porch light on all night to discourage thieves.  I am happy to oblige, but the problem is since I work second shift, I am often not home to turn on the lights, and my spouse is not good at remembering things like that.  If I turned them on before I left, they would run for an additional 4 or so hours a day - not a lot but they do add up.  And remembering to turn them off in the morning is not foolproof either.

Our solution is to put the lights on solar timers.  This has the lights only come on when it is dark, so I don’t waste any unneeded electricity running the light in the daylight.  But even regular non-solar timers are useful to control your outdoor lights, as long as you update the program once in a while to account for the changing seasons.

Stop wasting electricity but keep your house well lit outside - install a timer on those outdoor lamps and porch lights.

This frugal tip provided by paidtwice of I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…

Festival of Frugality #127 is up at Funny About Money, a first time host. She did a great job with a simple yet eye-catching theme that really makes the posts themselves stand out. Her editor’s picks, interspersed among her entries and labeled with a splashy red icon, were:

Sound Money Matters: 9 Nearly Free Ways to Entertain at Home

Not the Jet Set: Everyday Frugal: In the Garden

Broke Grad Student: How an Extra Alarm Clock Could Have Saved Me $100

My Retirement Blog: Strata of Mutual Fund Expense Ratios

Northern Cheapskate: Why a Recession Is Good for Us

Saving Advice: The Benefits of Saving Habits That Make You Look Poor

Can I Get Rich on a Salary?: Generous Return Policies and “Risk-Free” Trials Can Fool Your Frugality

Erica.biz: Save Thousands of Dollars in Five Minutes or Less with My “Secret” Coupon Hacks

Money Blue Book: Make Money with Paid Online Surveys

Harvesting Dollars: Save Money Using a Foamer

Life Lessons of a Military Wife: Disney’s Magic Kingdom on Less Than $200 for a Family of Five

Thanks for hosting! Next week the festival travels to No Debt Plan so get your entries in!

Love the convenience of individual water bottles? Don’t buy them, buy a reusable water bottle instead and refill it yourself with good old tap water. The water in those bottles you buy at the store, by and large, is tap water anyway! If your tap water tastes funky (as ours does) you can buy a water filter in pitcher form or that attaches to your faucet. This is still much less expensive than buying bottled water.

The investment in a reusable water bottle will save you many many dollars over time, and as a bonus, you’re not filling landfills with single use plastic bottles.

This frugal tip provided by paidtwice of I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…

The Financial Blogger has spread his posts in and among many frugal and not so frugal cars.  Zoom on over and check out all the entries!  Here is a taste with the editor’s picks:

• A Simple Way to Save Money on Food by Brip Blap.
• What Not to Do When A Bill Collector Calls by Destroy Debt.
• Reason Why You Spend Money by Saving Advice.
• Real Estate Short Sale by Tallahassee Real Estate Blog.
• The Best Home Renovation by Michael Emilio.
• Survive a Recession by Gather Little by Little.
• Freecycle Rocks! Guess what I got For Free by Clever Dude.
• Save Money By Not Renewing Immediately by Free Money Finance.

Thanks for hosting! The festival travels next week to Funny About Money so get your entries in!

This seems like common sense to those that are frugal, but for many, the need to *possess* books vs just borrowing them can sometimes be overwhelming. But, truly, very few books will one refer to again and again and reread so many times that it is worth it to own. A library is a frugal person’s best friend. You get to read it, free of charge, and the library has to store it and take care of it for the long term.

Because books are stuff, and stuff creates clutter. Streamline your life - use the library. Only if you find yourself borrowing the same book over and over again should you consider actually purchasing it.

And even then… remember. Clutter.

This frugal tip provided by paidtwice of I’ve Paid For This Twice Already...

Festival of Frugality #125 is up at Quest For Four Pillars, and you have to see the french maid.  That is all.

These are Mike’s editor’s picks, quoted verbatim:

• Brip Blap says that American kids maybe aren’t so stupid about personal finance. Best line of the post “some people can’t wrap their minds around simple facts”.
• Pinyo came up with a great frugal or cheap test.
• Saving To Invest has come up with frugal ways to keep your home safe.
• SquawkFox has some frugal dessert recipes.
• Mr. Cheap has some very practical ways to decrease your costs.
• Free From Broke uncovers deceptive gas pricing.
• Rather Be Shopping has a good post on brand names. Kyle, I’m with you on the beer! Nothing but the best for ol’ Four Pillars.
• Prime Time Money has frugal ideas for a wedding.
• Paid Twice compares Craig’s list to Ebay.
• Remodel This Life discusses why she likes being frugal.
• Mrs. Micah had a very good post where she looks at what are your real savings.
• Being Frugal lists some things to do for a frugal wedding.
• Cash Money Life has 15 frugal ideas for Mother’s Day.

Thanks for hosting!  Next week the festival travels to The Financial Blogger so get your entries in!

Frugality is not just about saving money in the short term, it is about making choices that conserve and save for the long term. One of the ways frugality can be put into action with a short term expense that reaps long term benefits is upgrading old appliances to Energy Star or energy-efficient models that save money over time.

This came into play for us recently. We bought a house a little more than a year ago that had a 20 year old furnace. A few weeks ago, the furnace began to behave erratically, and we looked into replacing it. What we found was that for a slightly larger investment now in a Energy Star appliance, we could improve performance over our current furnace by more than 40%. For us, that means a $600-$800 savings in natural gas bills per year. We could have repaired the current furnace for a short term fix, but considering all the variables, that would have been the cheap choice, not the frugal one.

What appliances in your home could stand to be upgraded to save you money and conserve energy? You might be surprised the difference an Energy Star rated appliance can make.

This frugal tip supplied by paidtwice of I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…

The Festival of Frugality will be scheduling hosts for the next few months soon, so if you’ve wanted to host (or hosted before and want to again) - now’s your chance! If you are a blogger with a blog that’s been publishing for at least a few months, and you’d like to host the Festival, drop a line to Jim through his contact form and apply. It only takes a minute and fun lasts forever.

Don’t delay, apply today! You’ll be happy you did.

Dawn at Frugal for Life hosts the Festival of Frugality for the 206956497th time (or maybe the 12th time, who’s counting?) and as always does an excellent job showcasing the best of frugality from around the web this week.   Her entries are in alphabetical order by name, and I’ve selfishly chosen to showcase the letter that includes the homepage’s frugal tip:  F. :)  F is for frugal, after all!

• Festival of Frugality - Frugal Tip: High Deductibles With A Plan
• Finally Frugal - Frugal envy
• Financial Tips - High Gas Prices Affecting Families
• FIRE Finance - Top 10 Dollar Store Buys
• FiveCentNickel.com - Frugal is as Frugal Does?
• Frugal Pursuit - Minimizing gardening costs
• Funny about Money - w00t! Frugal Works BETTER!

Thanks Dawn for another stellar festival!  Next week the festival travels to Quest For Four Pillars so get your entries in!

Generally, if you choose to have a higher deductible on your auto, home, or health insurance policy, you will pay less per month or year on your premiums. This can save you a significant amount of money in the long run.

However, many people choose to have lower deductibles because they can’t afford the high deductible if, for some reason, they have to pay it. If I have learned nothing else in this past year of tracking my spending, I have learned that things happen when you least expect them. So for high deductible policies, I have a plan.

Create a specific savings account, separate from your general emergency fund, that is your deductible savings account. Add up the deductibles on your policies, and save an appropriate amount in this account that will cover those deductibles if needed. The last thing you want to worry about if you’ve been in an accident, are in the hospital, or your house was damaged, is how you are going to pay the deductible. Be proactive, and have a plan. Being frugal is about more than saving money, it’s about living life to the fullest while making smart money choices. Be smart by being prepared for the worst while you hope for the best.

This frugal tip provided by paidtwice of I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…