Have we succomb to this?

Forget the economist here's a real sign that we're in a recession. Smart Money recently ran this article about people who are burying cash. (You should read this article. It's got terrific example of normal people who are considering moving their money.) We've all heard stories about relatives who buried money during the Depression or crazy uncles who stuff money under their mattresses. But has the economy really sunk that low?

It's not just the Dow that's got people scared it's all the mid-year bank failures that makes people lose trust in financial institutions. No matter how young you are, our country as a whole will never forget the pain of the Great Depression. We are taught about in history classes, it's the backdrop for a multitude of movies and our parents will tell us how their parents suffered through.

But we've forgotten that the FDIC was created in the midst of the Depression. The NCUA was implemented a good while later. Customers of the banks that failed during this time did not have the same protection we have today. In Is Your Money Safe, I explained how the NCUA (federal insurance agency for credit unions) insures your money. A short while ago the limits for both FDIC and NCUA were raised from $100,000 to $250,000. Your money really is still safer with a financial institution.

If your thinking that you hide some cash to use for emergencies like natural disasters be careful. First make sure you remember where it is. I read a blogpost by someone who claimed that they were going to bury their money far from their home and use a GPS to relocate it. Sounds risky to me. I've geocached a bit and while sometimes it's ridiculously easy to find things at other times things can be a little off and very frustrating. And if you do think about burying money have you considered how it will deteriorate? You might dig up you stash to find that it's turned to confetti. There's also the deterioration of inflation. Those thousands that you bury today will be worth much less in a couple of years. Meanwhile, you're friend who leaves their money in a financial institution is earning interest. Even a tiny amount of interest is better than money that's losing value in whole in the ground.

6 No Brainer Ways to Save Energy and Money

And a few dumb ideas to skip


Here are a few things you can do that will save energy and money, but require little thought or effort.


1. Change your light bulbs. Go to the store and buy enough fluorescents to replace every light bulb in your house. I'll warn you this won't be a cheap spend, but it's worth it. Plus they last a long time. I did this last November and haven't had to replace any of those bulbs.


A standard 60 watt light bulb used 4 hours each day for one month uses 7.2 kilowatts/month and costs $10/year. Multiply that by the number of bulbs in your house. A compact fluorescent used in the same way will use 2.2 kilowatts/month and cost $2/year.


2. Set your dishwasher to Energy Saver mode. Many dishwashers have such a setting, even cheap old ones like mine--it's 10 years old. If not set the wash cycle to warm and turn off the heated dry. Mine also has something called "pot scrubber" and I'm sure that there aren't little scrub brushes in there. Turn that setting off too. Your dishes will be just as clean.


As much as 80 percent of the energy your dishwasher uses goes to heat water. A basic dishwasher run costs $.12. Depending on your dishwasher turning off the heated dry could save between 15-50% energy. BTW: On average, a dishwasher will use 5000 litres of water per year to wash dishes. Washing by hand uses approximately 14,400 Litres of water per year.


3. Turn the washing machine to warm or even cold. Even if you don't have the newest energy saver washing machine, most machines made in the last 15 years are designed to work efficiently on cold settings. Detergents have greatly improved over the years and do just fine in cold. If you can set your rinse setting always use cold water since it has no effect on cleaning the laundry.



4. Keep a large fluffy towel in the dryer at all times. This one takes a little effort and training for the whole family, so it's not quite a no-brainer. But the fluffy towel will absorb some of the wetness from the laundry and cut your drying time.


Using your clothes dryer once a day each month could use 132 kilowatts/month and cost $174/year.



5. Change your air filter every month, even in the summer. Mark it on the calendar so you won't forget. If you've got central air and heating this is a must. Not changing the filter might even damage your unit. Changing it monthly will help it run more efficiently. And don't forget to turn that thermostat down now that cool weather is coming.


6. Turn down the setting on your hot water heater--no one will know the difference. Over 10% of your energy bill goes to heating water. Adjust your setting to 120 degrees and you'll still have comfortable showers.



Don't bother:

Installing a low-flow shower head. Don't get me wrong I'm all for low-flow shower heads. But, first check what you've got already. Most houses built after 1994 already have low-flow shower heads.


Same goes for water saving toilets. If your toilet is less than 14 years old don't put a brick in it.


Water saving toilets and low-flow shower heads become mandatory building code in 1994.



Note: My calculations are based on national averages. Of course yours might be different, but this still gives you a good idea of how much you can affect.

Hello My Old Vice

A while back I polled some readers to tell me their spending weak spots. These are things that you know you shouldn't spend money on, but just can't help it. Last year I successfully broke my book habit. I used to go to the bookstore about once a week, it was a ridiculous problem. Some people might not think that is so bad, but I can tell you I spent a lot on books. Why? I mean there is a library near my home. And with the new library systems you can request books from anywhere right at your own keyboard.

But my old habit is back and I couldn't be happier. That's because a friend told me about an Internet site where you can basically trade your books. And since I've decided to take a minimalist approach to my bookshelf this is working out for me. Unless I know that I'll be referencing the book again, it goes on my trade shelf.

I'm also getting caught up with my reading list because I don't have to wait for best sellers to come off the library hold list. Most of the books that I want appear on the paperbackswap in less than a week. Plus, I'm surprised that there are other readers out there who share my sometimes quirky taste.

Now I hope that readers don't think this is a plug. I get nothing from mentioning Paperbackswap.com. It's just a great way to save money on something I already do--read. I pay nothing for books that I request and just a few dollars to send books to other readers. Then once I'm finished reading I can trade again. So it's recycling and saving money.