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?

Beating the Black Friday Deals Now

Ah, Black Friday, the titan of shopping and savings that looms the day after Thanksgiving. I can't think of a better way to celebrate a gluttonous feast than to go buy a bunch of stuff. Personally, I avoid the day like plague, because in my head it's probably just a re-creation of several popular zombie horror movies, only with even more bite wounds. That being said, I do see the necessity of it for folks that do a lot of Christmas shopping and don't want to break the bank in the process.

However, if you want to do your Black Friday shopping without all of the hassle, there are actually a number of sellers and vendors this year doing pre-day deals, so that people can capitalize on the savings early. Yahoo has a list up of 7 Black Friday Deals Worth Buying Now, and it outlines all the places that have been in a price dropping war the last week or so, including Target, Wal-Mart and Amazon. Good news for shoppers!

There are a few key items to take note of where the savings are potentially at their highest. For one, toys seem to be getting marked down already, almost across the board. In addition, HDTV's are going to see their best prices in years. In fact, it might even be possible to grab 42" 1080p TV's for as low as $500. It all sounds too good to be true, but you might want to check out the list to see if there's anything you can get a steal on before the craziness of next week.

So, which of you brave readers will go out and confront the masses for Black Friday next week? Do you have another source of great deals? Let us know in the comments!

Placing Smoke Alarms Around Your Home

Now that we've been in our house for just a few weeks over a year, it's time for my wife and I to start checking all of our smoke alarms. It's recommended that your home smoke detectors receive a new set of batteries once a year, so setting it around a yearly event such as a holiday (or in our case, the end of Daylight Savings this weekend) helps to keep track of it.

If you're wondering about the best places to put detectors, Charles & Hudson Home Security has a new blog post up about Where to Install Smoke Alarms in Your Home. Considering that each year, nearly two-thirds of all home fire deaths can be traced to improperly working smoke detectors, this is valuable information that could help you protect your family, yourself and your belongings.

Here's a rundown of the list:

• Put a smoke alarm in each bedroom and on each floor of the house. Yes, that includes the basement!

• Connect the alarms so that one alarm will trigger each one. That way you will be alerted if an alarm happens to go off somewhere that you would not have heard it before.

• Smoke rises, so place alarms either on the ceiling or near the top of a wall. Too low and the warning could come too late.

• Test your batteries each month, just in case!

Hopefully this list proves helpful for anybody that needs to re-inspect their smoke alarms in the near future. For more information, be sure to visit Charles & Hudson.

Choosing Secure Passwords Online

If you're anything like me, you get freaked out every time you hear stories of online security failures. Whether it's people getting their e-mail or Facebook accounts hacked, I just can't help but get a little more paranoid, wondering if all of my passwords could be compromised just as easily.

For the most part, I try to keep my passwords fairly complex while still easy to remember. I also don't use the same password for every single site I access. While these are fairly basic online security procedures, I'm sure there is much more that I'm unaware of.

That's why it's a good thing that Mozilla put out a recent video titled How to Choose Strong Passwords. It's got a handy guide to helping you choose passwords that are easy to remember, extremely secure and also different for all the sites you visit. It's definitely worth checking out if you're unsure about how secure your online accounts are.

Feel free to share your own thoughts about Internet security in the comments!

10 Free Ways to Learn More About Home Repair

It is no secret to my friends and my loved ones that I'm the opposite of handy, whatever the name for that happens to be. There are some people that just seem to know how to do everything in the handyman's repertoire, and I'm just not one of them. Give me a hammer, and I'll find a way to put a hole in something. Tell me to hang something on the wall, and I'll stare back at you for a few absentminded moments with a blank look on my face. That's just the way it's always been for me.

However, I'm always up for the opportunity to learn more. I'm sure there are probably classes that do this kind of thing, but I never know where to start. For the handy-challenged like myself out there, MSN has put together a list of 10 Free Sources for Home Repair Know-How. This list is actually full of both practical suggestions such as volunteering with home building organizations or helping a handy neighbor. It also sports a few online resources such as Expert Village's YouTube account. No matter what tips you're looking for, you're sure to find something that meets your needs on the list.

For those of you that happen to be handier than the rest, what resources did you use to learn more about home repair and home improvement? Was it just one of those things where you had to jump in and get your hands dirty? Did you do any of the things on the list? Share in the comments!

To read more of the article, visit MSN. For help with home improvement, visit WhiteFence.

Turn it Off - Saving Energy When You Leave Work

Over the last couple of years, I've tried to become more energy conscious, both at home and at the office. One of the things that I've made a habit of doing is to turn off my computer and my monitor when I leave work, and hibernate my computer constantly at home.

If you've ever wondered how much energy a little process like this saves, amateur filmmaker Nigel Upchurch has created a video to demonstrate. Turn if Off takes a look at the habits of workers in different countries, and the kind of energy consumption these habits entail. It's actually astounding to consider the effects that all of these computers and their monitors have on the environment.

To see more about how these statistics were put together, or just to see more of his work, visit the video page for Turn it Off. What about you guys? Do you turn your monitor and computer off at home/work when it's not in use?

Tips for Better Wi-Fi Connectivity

In our new wireless age, it seems that we still somehow manage to get a few wires crossed from time to time. Have you ever been in a situation where you've followed all of the instructions for your wireless router, and still can't seem to get the thing to work? I know that I've had those moments where I want to pull my hair out because for some reason, whether I'm not getting a great signal or can't even find the signal at all, things just don't seem to be acting the way they're supposed to.

Well apparently this is a common problem. Which is why super tips site Lifehacker polled their users and came up with this great list of home Wi-Fi troubleshooting solutions. It actually runs down a handy list of user-submitted ideas, and some of them are things I had never considered before. While it's mostly common knowledge to stay away from channel, phone and microwave interference, the idea of using a router in your attic for one story homes is a great one, and would certainly help cut down on obstructions to your connection.

To read this list in full, be sure to head on over to Lifehacker. Does anyone else have any Wi-Fi troubleshooting tips? Any frustrations? Feel free to share!

The Pros and Cons of CFL Lighting

Over the last few weeks, we've been trying to find new ways to save money around the household. For some reason, the spending has gradually gotten out of hand, so now we want to take a step back and make a better budget.

One of the areas that we want to cut back on in particular is our home energy bill, and perhaps one of the easiest starting steps is to switch over to using compact fluorescent lights, or CFLs. However, as much as I want to save money, I do have some concerns about the process of switching over.

While doing some research about the pros and cons of CFL lighting, I actually came across this video by the guys over at Microsoft Hohm, which talks about this very subject. It's got some great information, and will probably teach you a new thing or two about traditional lightbulbs versus CFLs.

So, who else out there has made this switch or is thinking about making the switch? Tell us in the comments!

Getting by with a Little Moving Help from Your Friends

If you're like me, then you dread the phone ringing during moving season. Honestly, I will go to all kinds of lengths to keep the moving bug at bay. We've all been in that situation where you know that a buddy of yours is moving, and there's nothing that you want to do less this Saturday than helping him or her carry his or her junk up and down several flights of stairs. In the Texas sun, it's even worse.

However, if you are eventually tackled by a guilty conscience and roped into doing the moving deed with a friend, you know that at least you have a return favor to call in. Apartment Therapy has a recent article with moving tips for friends that gives great suggestions on how to make sure your move goes smoothly if you get some pals to chip in, in order to keep it from becoming a complete mess.

The list includes some very practical and informative tidbits, perfect for anybody that's not always the most organized. It covers everything from providing food and drinks at the end of the moving day, as well as keeping everyone hydrated and fed throughout the whole process. Additionally, it speaks to the importance of delegating tasks to different people, so there's not as much standing around and wondering what to do next.

I'm not sure how many of you have been on the receiving end of awful moves with friends, but I know I have. Once, a friend of mine didn't pack a single thing before all of us showed up, and handed out trash bags for us to pack his entire apartment in. I'm kind of wishing he had read this list for himself. Do any of you have any funny moving stories from times you've helped friends?

Source - Apartment Therapy

Transitioning to a Digital Age

We speak quite a bit on this blog about the rapidly changing technology of the day, and how the world of communications is moving forward at a blinding pace. It is interesting to consider that just ten years ago, there was no such thing as iTunes or even YouTube, two of the things that people spend a great deal of their time doing online. In this digital age, things are almost transforming faster than people can keep a handle on.

If you're curious about the numbers associated with this digital revolution, Newsweek has put together a nice article with an infographic depicting these changes. Titled How the Digital Revolution Changed Our World, it's a fascinating look at some cold hard facts. It demonstrates just how far things have come in the last 10 years, some of which are in ways that surprised me.

For instance, did you know that the numbers of books published has quadrupled? I wonder how much of that has to do with e-readers. Likewise, time spent online has increased by almost 1000 percent. That's just the tip of the iceberg, so if you're curious about what the other numbers are, I would definitely recommend checking out the article. What are some things that surprise you about the list?

Source - Newsweek