Finding Ways to Save Money in 2011

Happy 2011, everyone! The year is well underway, and with it, a series of resolutions have been made that will eventually be thrown into oblivion, or wherever else it is that resolutions disappear to after they have been retired. For many people, these self-made promises come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. It could be taking care of that one thing that you've been putting off for years, losing a few pounds or changing your sleeping habits.

Regardless of the kind of resolution you've made, there's one thing that we can always do more of, no matter what time it is: finding new ways to save money. Consumer Reports recently updated a list of 15 top money-saving tips that should hopefully prove useful in 2011. The list covers a wide range of tips, including using your phone to get coupons, grabbing more freebies and changing your font to save on printing costs. On top of that, they also talk about finding local sales, which are really easy around this time of years. For instance, many retailers give huge discounts to make room for new inventory.

Both of those lists should provide some good money-saving instructions for those of you who are trying to find new ways to save this calendar year. What are some other great ways that you know of to save money in 2011?

WhiteFence High-Speed Internet Information

One of the busiest categories on WhiteFence.com is the high-speed Internet category. With more broadband choices and plans than ever, consumers looking to save money while getting the best possible download rates around have a multitude of options available to them.

The problem with all of these choices can be an overload of information at times. I know that trying to decide between certain broadband types can be a bit tricky, especially when you've got Cable and DSL, each with their own benefits and speeds. Below, we've put together a list of WhiteFence's best resources on high-speed Internet. Hopefully, browsing these pages will help you figure out everything you need to know to make your high-speed Internet decision.

High-Speed Internet Comparisons

Broadband vs. Dial-Up
Cable vs. DSL
High-Speed Internet Plan Comparisons

General High-Speed Internet

High-Speed Internet Providers
High-Speed Providers in My Area
How to Choose the Best Internet Speed
How to Get Satellite Internet Access
What Is Broadband?
What Is Cable Internet?
What Is DSL Internet?

Provider Deals

AT&T Internet Deals
Comcast Internet Deals
Verizon Internet Deals

Poll: Where Could You Save the Most Money?

Lately, my wife and I have been taking extra care with our spending habits, and really trying to analyze where our money goes each month. It's surprising how your standard of living can just ratchet up over time without you even realizing it. Several years back, we were living on much less and coming through each month just fine in terms of our savings.

There are a few different areas that we're targeting to see if we are spending more than what is sensible: food, transportation, entertainment, utilities. Already, we're finding that we can easily cut down on the amount of gas we use by running errands together over the weekends, and knocking them all out at once, rather than making several trips to different stores over the course of a few days. In addition, our entertainment and food expenses can be dramatically decreased just by making a schedule for when we eat out with friends and what we're going to have for dinner each night.

All in all, it's been an interesting exercise to see where most of our money is going, and we were certainly surprised by the results that we saw. I decided to make a poll to see where the WhiteFence Blog readers fell in this discussion. Where do you guys think you could stand to save the most money? Feel free to tell us more in the comments!

Find the Best Offer for Your Old Cell Phone in Seconds

I don't know about you, but when I get a new cell phone, I just throw the old one in a box and forget about it. I'm not sure if it's that I want to keep it as a backup or if I'm slowly turning into one of those hoarders you see on TV, but that's just what I've always done.

The other day I was cleaning out some boxes in the garage and came across the mother lode of old cell phones. Between my wife and I, we'd amassed a collection of about 15 phones! Some were broken, some had been replaced when they became obsolete and some neither of us could remember owning (cell phone fairy?). It was a sorry pile of forlorn electronics and it got me thinking.

I knew the old phones could (and should) be recycled, but I was wondering if there was a way of getting a little cash in the process. I took to the Internet to research the topic, and came across EcoSquid. Just like how WhiteFence lets you compare offers on home services from multiple providers at once, EcoSquid lets you compare offers for your old cell phones from multiple buyers and recyclers at once.

Just head to EcoSquid, enter the details about your phone(s) and you'll get offers in just seconds. Depending on the age and condition, you may find that there are companies out there willing to pay you for your old phone. If not, the site will show you a variety of ways to easily recycle your cell phone locally or by mail. Either way, you can get a little clutter out of your house and feel good in the process.

As for my stack of old cell phones, about half are actually worth something, with a total value of around $50. The other half are too old or damaged to have any value and are due to be shipped off to various recyclers. While it may not be a fortune, I'm certainly happy to find $50. Maybe I can use it to upgrade my cell phone...

Control Any Device's Power Consumption With the Belkin Socket

Over the last year, I've told you about Belkin's cool Conserve series of green products with articles on the Valet charging station and the Insight energy monitor. They're back again with another cool new product that can slay even more energy vampires.

The Conserve Socket is a simple gadget that plug in between your wall socket and a device you want to control. You set a timer and once that timer is up, it will cut off all electricity to whatever you have plugged in. It has three different settings: 30 minutes, three hours and six hours.

The applications are pretty diverse. For traditional energy vampires like a cell phone charger, it functions the same way as the Valet charging station by cutting off the small trickle of power that flows through a charger when it's not charging. But you also can use the Socket with things like lights and fans, leaving them on for a little while without having to leave them on indefinitely.  You can even use it with curling irons and hair straighteners to prevent fires.

The Conserve Socket is available now for $9.99 from the Belkin store.

Image via Belkin.

City Highlight: Moving to Cleveland

Every month, we try to highlight a city to show savings-savvy consumers how they can save money. Whether people are moving to a new place or just looking for deals for where they live, we hope these prove to be useful for shoppers that are trying to cut down on their monthly expenses.

This month, we take a look at the great city of Cleveland, Ohio. There are lots of great specials to be had with a Cleveland zip code at the moment, especially if you are trying to lock in a natural gas rate just before the temperatures start plummeting.

Here are some of Cleveland's best deals!

Natural Gas

• If you want to get a low natural gas rate before it gets too cold, check out Vectren Source natural gas service. You can find a low variable rate plan that starts at only 5.828 cents per therm.

Bundles

• AT&T; is letting you save money with phone and high-speed Internet bundles that start at $29.20 per month. This deal can help save you up to $180 on your bills!

High-Speed Internet

• Order lightning fast Internet from the folks at Cavalier! You can get up to 8.0 Mbps download speeds for the low price of $39.95 per month!

TV

• DIRECTV is offering their Choice XTRA plan for as low as $34.99, which will also net you 3 free months of Showtime and Starz.
• DISH Network is running a special for the America Top 120 package, which has over 120 channels for only $24.99.

Phone

• Sage Telecom has great deals on home phone, starting at just $19.99. This well priced package will give you unlimited local calling as well as 200 free long distance minutes.

Some of these prices and specials may vary by area, and may change at a future date. To find out what you can save, visit WhiteFence and enter your address to get started!

Take Steps Today to Save Money During Winter

For me, fall is the perfect time of year to take steps to save money during winter. While the weather is still on the warm side, I like to make a few upgrades to the house. I also like to do some comparison shopping to really save money.

Below I've outlined some easy things to do to save you money during winter.

• Make Small Home Improvements - Sealing up drafty doorways and unblocking vents will help keep your home warm and your energy bill low. For a more comprehensive list, read Top Ten Ways to Prepare a Home for Winter.
• Shop and Compare on Natural Gas - If you live in a deregulated natural gas area, then you need to visit WhiteFence to shop and compare natural gas rates to find a low rate to lock in for the cold winter months.
• Buy a Coat Today - Shop around for a coat today. Since you won't be rushing around, you'll be more likely to find a great deal on the coat of your dreams. Also, stores have not started to mark up their winter attire so prices are perfect for budget shoppers.
• Put Holiday Gifts on Layaway - Bargin shop for holiday gifts and put them on layaway today, you'll have them paid off by the time December rolls around. Not to mention you'll miss the holiday shopping rush.

HDTV Prices Dropping This Holiday Season

As any technology rolls out, each successive year tends to bring lower and lower prices. HDTVs have certainly followed this trend, going from incredibly expensive to commonplace in just a decade. With this in mind, you'd expect HDTV prices to be a little lower this holiday season than they were last year.

However, due to a large oversupply of HDTV panels, prices are foretasted to plummet by the end of the year. According to CNN Money, prices are already roughly five percent lower than they were this time last year. With the glut of panels on the market beginning to take effect, they predict prices may get as low as 12 percent lower than they were just a year ago.

If you've been biding your time waiting to make a TV purchase, it looks like your time is coming. There are already some great buys to be found on the market, but I'd recommend watching the big box store ads and deal sites (like SlickDeals) in late November and December to find the absolute best possible deals.

Looking for more information about HDTVs and TV service? Check out these articles:

• Which HDTV is Right for You?
• What to Watch for When Choosing a TV Plan
• Everything You Wanted to Know About Satellite and Cable TV

WhiteFence's October Deals

Here in Houston, the change to the fall season doesn't always mean immediately cooler weather. Last year, the mid 90s heat stayed the same all throughout the month of October, giving us no real reprieve from the sun's hateful beams. However, this year, it actually feels legimitately like fall, seeing as how we are experiencing some of the best weather we've had in all of 2010. It's a nice reminder that summer is officially over.

While our focus on the blog might have been the summer of savings, the chances for you to find great deals are still all over WhiteFence. Here are some of the best deals for October:

• Get three FREE months of Starz and Showtime with select DIRECTV plans.

• Receive a $50 gift card with select Green Mountain Energy plans.

• Reward yourself with $40 in bill credits with select Georgia Natural Gas plans.

• Get $240 back plus $5 off per month for 24 months with select Verizon bundles.

• Get AT&T high-speed Internet for as low as $14.95 per month.

• Save $45 per month or get a $200 reward card with certain AT&T U-verse bundles.

As always, these promotions are subject to change and are true as of the date posted. Really, the best way to ensure you catch one of these deals while they last is to enter your address and see just what's available where you live. Don't miss these fall savings!

How to Save Money on High-Speed Internet with WhiteFence

It's hard to imagine life these days without high-speed Internet service. You'd have to wait hours to download large files, suffer through endless buffering when watching videos and you wouldn't be able to play games online. While you may need broadband, you certainly don't need to be paying to much for it.

With all of the different Internet providers and types of Internet service available today, chances are you probably have the opportunity to save on your broadband bill. That's where we come in.

WhiteFence is the nation's leading site to compare, connect and save on broadband service. Here's how it works:

• Head to our Internet center and enter your address. We'll search a database of the top brands in the country and return a list of providers and plans available at your location, including cable, DSL, satellite and fiber-optic options.

• Compare the available plans on price and features such as download and upload speeds, included e-mail accounts and web storage to find the right plan at the right price.

• Take advantage of special promotions our providers offer such as gift cards, cash back and monthly savings.

• Bundle your Internet service with home phone and TV service for even more savings.

• Order your new service directly on the site and lock in your new low price.

Looking for more information on choosing an Internet provider? Check out these helpful links:

• Choosing the Right Internet Speed (Video)
• The High-Speed Internet Features That Really Matter
• High-Speed Internet Showdown: DSL vs Cable vs Satellite vs Fiber Optic