I time the use of hot water at home. Then I flip the circuit breaker on the water heater to turn it off. When everybody is out of the house all day, its easy, with planning, to only heat water that you are going to use, and save electricity by running the heater only about half of the time. When the heater is insulated, the water heats back up quickly.

Many years ago a boss of mine gave me this advice:
If you make $1.00 never spend more than 99 cents.
I've lived by that rule and passed it on to our children. With great success!

Never buy stock.

Use your local library! Films, music CDs, audio books, current magazines and newspapers are all available as well as a plethora of books. An added plus is that the library is a great place to go to get away from the noise and distractions. If you don't have a computer, they are available for use, too. Put it all together, there's a lot of $$$$$ saved.

This money savings tip has saved me thousands of dollars on one of my life's necessities:

-- Buy your books from a used bookstore.

Why pay $30 for that latest hardcover novel from Borders when just a few months later, you can find it at a used bookstore for $7?

Local used bookstores also have great entertainment value. Drop in and browse for an hour. You'll feel relaxed and connected with the people you chat with. No keyboards required.

Browsing in a used bookstore is much better than sitting comatose in front of the latest network drivel or dragging that mouse across the screen (don't you get enough of that during work?).

For many years, I have saved money, time, and aggravation by using two consumer information sources to make wise purchasing decisions. I use Consumer Reports to help me choose products based on quality, reliability, safety, and economy. And I use Washington Consumers' Checkbook ratings of local services based on price and quality.