I was talking to someone who was considering using the VOIP (Voice Over IP) offered by their cable company. She was concerned about how much the modem would cost her to run. I came to realize that she was on a tight budget and was wondering how much it would add to her electric bill.
I didn’t know off hand how much power a modem draws so I started to think about a 100W bulb, and figured we can scale from there. If a bulb were left on 24/7, it would use about 72KWH of power in a month as there are 720 hours in a 30 day month. At her rate of 15 cent per KWH, this one 100W bulb would cost $10.80 to run full time each month. It turns out a modem is 10W or less, so it’ll take about $1/mo to run.
This exercise got me thinking. I bought a device a few months back to help me add up the current I use in my basement as I was wiring it room by room. It’s called Kill A Watt and available at Home Depot or on line.

The first thing I did was to find a power supply plugged into an outlet in my office with nothing attached. 4 watts! Now, I can afford the 40 cents per month, but how foolish is this, there’s nothing even plugged in, it powered a hard drive that’s now in a closet but I forgot to unplug the supply till now. Next, I checked how much power one of my old Macs was drawing. I was glad I use it remotely, no monitor, saving that power. But I found it uses 180W. About $19 per month. I need to rethink whether it’s worth it to keep this guy running.

Last, I’ve been replacing the incandescent bulbs with CFL (Compact Fluorescent Light bulb). Most rooms in our house have 4-6 in-ceiling cans that hold a 65W spotlight type bulb. The CFL replacement is 15W and puts out the same amount of light. So, anytime we are in a lit room, we’re saving 200W of power. Of course, during the day, it’s good to pull the shades/blinds and use natural light, but when we need to turn them on, it’s less power and less heat generated. How many power bricks do you have plugged in that are just keeping warm and burning your money? Have you gone to CFLs yet?

Joe

written by JOE \\ tags: conservation, energy, Frugal

With the July Fourth Holiday (Independence Day in the US) coming up, my friends at TurboTax asked me to guest post on financial independence, I liked the idea and got moving.

My guest post is titled Twelve Tips Toward Financial Independence, and I invite you take a read and drop a comment. I hope you all have a safe and Happy July 4th.

Joe

written by JOE \\ tags: Finance, Frugal, independence

Earlier this week I discussed the book Predictably Irrational. I suspect the author Dan Ariely would appreciate the approach I took, using my own examples instead of just repeating anecdotes from his book. Today, being Frugal Friday, I’d like to offer one example appropriate for today. Last week, my wife, daughter and I were in the car, and I brought up the concept of anchoring, setting up a price that becomes the price in the consumer’s mind to move up or down from. I asked my daughter what she thought of an item that was $50 on sale from $100. She thought it was a great deal, ready to spend her money on it. But wait, Jane, I never even told you what the item was, do you see how silly this is? What if this was a chain saw or anything else you have no use for? Hmmm…..

Let’s see. It didn’t take long for such an item to come to my attention, not 50% off but 63%! This was one of eBay’s daily deals. I suggest you sign up, but then control yourself. Some of those deals really are great, others, not so much. One better view of what this Professional Hot Dog Griller does. (I guess I’m just an amateur)

I must admit, the machine looks great, and Waring makes products that last. When I mentioned this item to both the ladies in my life their reaction was “You didn’t buy it, did you?” There’s something about the single function items that make it tough to justify. The bread machine? Paid for itself in money saved compared to buying loaves of bread, and in the fun in trying so many different recipes. The Panini press? It was my reaction to my family dropping $20 for sandwiches I can make at home for half that with the press. What do you think? Do you buy some things just because they’re half off and then realize it still wasn’t worth it? Is your kitchen full of one trick appliances? You still use your showtime rotisserie?

Joe

written by JOE \\ tags: Frugal, predictably irrational

Wow, months since my last Frugal Friday. I’ll try to change that.

Today, I’d like to share an online store I’ve used a few times.

Meritline sells a mix of electronic accessories at some crazy low prices. I’d seen my daughter filming videos of herself on a hand held camera. I saw a stand on an email they sent, a little stand just right to hold the camera up on a bendy tripod to be able to angle it right. It was perfect, but. My daughter reprimanded me, you know, I should have given it to her wrapped at the upcoming holiday. Funny, since it only cost a $1 and shipping was free, the thought didn’t cross my mind.

I recently picked up some hard drives and of course they don’t come with cables. Meritline had SATA cable for $1.50 each, again with no shipping. They are all over the web as low as $2, but add $3 shipping and there’s $5 when you just need one cable. Their email specials are addictive, I admit. I saw an ethernet tester (to make sure you wired the outlets right) for $5.95. I happened to have that on my honey-do list so I grabbed this tester and it did the job. Home Depot had a similar item for $24.95. I bought an extra one for a coworker who have helped me on a work project. A happy geek indeed.

There are two kinds of complaints on their site. People who think you should be able to get items shipped free from Hong Kong but still get them quickly. Uh, I don’t mind waiting the two weeks to save 80% on some purchases, or buy a backup cable or charger. And people who buy the wrong item and then are upset it doesn’t work in their computer. Can’t please everyone.

Hey FTC people – I did not receive any compensation for this post. I like this company and would like to save my readers from wasting money on those stupidly expensive HDMI cables that sell for five times what they should.

written by JOE \\ tags: deal, electronics, Frugal, meritline

A couple weeks back, in a roundup, I referenced Jim Wang’s Devil’s advocate: Being frugal is foolish. I pointed out to Jim that one can’t always turn their next hour of labor into money, that for many, this was a quick way to save cash. His reply, “but the risk of focusing too much on frugality, especially after the low hanging fruit, is that you start chasing savings that are mere pennies when you could be earning dollars (or at least trying to improve your skills so you can earn more dollars)” left me thinking. And reconsidering some of my view.

Maybe what struck me most after I re-read his post was the concept that there’s no limit to one’s income, yet frugality not only has a limit, but it can reach a point of diminishing return as you find the easy savings first, and may wind up putting in incrementally more effort to save even less. I think for those with a frugal mindset, it’s tough to break some habits and maybe there’s no need to. When the TP, laundry soap, canned soup is on sale for half price, I’m always going to stuff a closet with it. Yet, if my income isn’t high enough for my lifestyle, there’s a more fundamental change needed, I either need to Stop Acting Rich, or improve my situation by increasing my skills and earning power.

If you are still looking to carve some money out of your budget, read Tom Drake’s 10 Money Saving Tips. A good read to help you find some places to save.

Joe

written by JOE \\ tags: Frugal, frugality, lifestyle, spending

This year, I said that I’d use the last Friday of each month to track savings from coupons or great deals. A bit of a slow month, as I didn’t make as many stock-up purchases as I might in a normal month. The biggest deal was the CVS Pepsi brand deal. Buy $20 worth of Pepsico items, including their soda, Starbucks drinks and Tostidos chips or salsa and get $10 in ExtraCare Bucks (ECBs) back.

From the I Heart CVS site I had gotten printable $5 off $20 coupons before my visit. So, $40 in total purchases over two trips, using two $5 coupons, and getting $20 back, and I’d be out of pocket $10 plus bottle deposits. Turns out the computer missed my ECB printing on the first visit, so the cashier forced a print. But on the second visit I got 2 $10 ECBs. In the end, I scored $40 worth of stuff for free. The soda all went to a school function where soda was our assigned item, the chips, salsa, and Starbucks drinks are in the pantry.

The other score – Jane 2.0′s school was having a food drive. Store had a buy $20 in Progresso soup (among other stuff I didn’t need) and get $10 toward next purchase. Soup was on sale for $1 (usually about $2.49). I also had 6 coupons for $1.10 off 3 cans. So even though it was for charity, I sent in soup shelf tagged for nearly $50 for $3,40 out of pocket.That was it for this month.

Last call for free book!

Two weeks back I read Your Money Ratios, an excellent book, and offered to give away a copy to one lucky reader. To enter, just subscribe to my emailed RSS feed before this Sunday when I will choose a winner. Good luck.

Joe

written by JOE \\ tags: coupons, CVS ECB, Frugal, saving