Saving money during difficult financial times can be done with a little planning.  One bill that can get expensive is your electricity bill. However, you can easily save money on electricity.  Here are ten ways to do so!

1. Change your Bulbs
If you use energy-efficient light bulbs, you can save a good amount of money on your electric bill.  Compact Fluorescent Lights are beneficial for the environment, and they will last a lot longer (a LOT) - compounding the rate at which you're saving! 

2. Turn off Electronics
Make sure your computers, video games, television and lights are turned off when you are not using them.  When you leave the room, switch the light off.  Leaving your lights on will only increase your electric bill.  Even if an appliance is not on, it still is using some electricity, so turn them off when you do not need them.

2. Adjust your Thermostat
If you set your air to 78 degrees, you will not be wasting electricity.  If you are hot, put on a tank top and shed some clothing.  When you are not at home, turn your thermostat off.  Just one degree can make a difference in the cost of your electric bill, so turn your thermostat up during the winter and down during the summer.  If you are cold, bundle up with blankets and put on heavy clothing.

3. Use Less Hot Water
When you do your laundry, use cold water, and turn off the heated dry cycle on your dishwasher.  Do not turn the dishwasher on until it is completely full of dishes.  Take quick showers, and make sure showers are slightly cooler than normal.  Wash your face and hands with cold water instead of hot water.

4. Insulation
If you install insulation in your home, you can keep hot or cold air from getting in or out of your home.  You can hang curtains that are insulated, put insulation around the water heater or use insulating paint.  You could also make sure that the attic is insulated (though don't worry about this as much if your attic isn't heated or cooled).

5. Off-Peak Hours
Some electric companies have hours that are cheaper than other parts of the day.  You should contact your electric provider to ask if they have off-peak hours.  If they do, you should run your dishwasher or do your laundry during these hours. In most cases, the cheaper hours are in the middle of the night or early in the morning.

6. Linedry
Before the invention of a clothes dryer, people hung their clothes on a line to dry.  A dryer takes a good amount of electricity, so if you do not use it, you can save money on your electric bill.

7. Maintenance
You should make sure that your filters are cleaned each month.  If they are full, it will drain the energy much quicker than if they are properly taken care of.

8. Compare Companies
You should shop around and compare the rates of different companies in anything you subscribe to.  You need to be careful because some companies will offer a great introductory rate. However, after the introductory period expires, the rate will increase.

9. Level Billing
If your electric bill puts you in a financial bind some months, you can call your electric company to see if they provide the option of level billing.  When this happens, the company will average your bills from the previous year, and you will pay the same amount each month.

10. Out with the Old
Your refrigerator is responsible for a good part of your electric bill, so replace older models with newer ones.  You should also make sure your stove and microwave are energy-efficient models. Like a car, they'll pay for themselves in a matter of months. 

Johnny Feldman likes to write, travel and save money at www.homeownersinsurance.org.

Have you ever heard the saying "penny wise, but pound foolish"? There's a lot of truth to that phrase. Sometimes, trying to cut costs can end up leaving you out of pocket in the long run. Here are five times when people often try to save money, and end up paying out even more in the long run.

Avoiding Maintenance

So, you've been avoiding replacing the rubber seal on your washing machine because you can't believe that a ring of rubber costs so much. That's a bad idea. Buying a new washing machine would cost even more, and that's what you might need to do if the seal leaks. Spending a few pounds could save you a few hundred down the line.

Buying Cheap, Low Quality Items

You may think you're picking up a bargain when you choose the cheapest item in the shop, but there's a big difference between quality oak doors and cheaper veneered wood. High quality, environmentally friendly reclaimed doors will last a lifetime. There's a good chance those veneered doors will start looking shabby almost immediately after you put them on their hinges. If you come to sell your home, you'll be wishing you'd paid an extra few pounds for oak doors that would have impressed prospective buyers, and you could lose out on a quick sale because you failed to make a good first impression.

Dodging Health Care

OK, so nobody wants to go to the dentists, but don't try to fool yourself into thinking you're saving money by not going. Paying a small amount for regular treatment is a much better decision (financially, and health wise), than avoiding treatment until you're in agony and need medication and a nice long session complete with anaesthetic and a drill.

Insufficient Insurance

It's true that insurance is an oversold thing these days. It doesn't make sense to buy an extended warranty on a bargain basement device. It does, however, make sense to keep your home insurance, health insurance, and travel insurance up to date. You may never need it, but the one time you do, you'll want to make sure that you're covered for whatever disaster you encounter.

Buying Lower Spec Products Than You Need

This issue is similar to the one of oak reclaimed doors vs veneered doors, but with a technology twist. While a well made, high quality electronic product might be perfectly serviceable for other people, if it doesn't meet your needs (or just barely meets them), there's no point buying it.  If you're upgrading your computer so that it meets the system requirements for a video game that you want to play, work out your budget and try to get the best possible system you can for the money. Sometimes, even spending a relatively small amount more can make a big difference to the power of the product you're getting. Doesn't it make sense to spend a little more now, if that will mean that you'll get an extra 6 months or a year life out of your graphics card?

This post was written by Crispin Jones on behalf of UK Oak Doors who supply all kinds of doors including reclaimed doors for your home improvement projects.

Running an eBay business is a fantastic way to make a little money in your spare time, however managing it successfully isn’t as simple as uploading some item descriptions and waiting for the bids to come in: if you want to maximise your profits you need to think like a professional retailer.

Use Images: if you don’t, you’ll be deterring a great many buyers. If you can’t see why, put yourself in the buyer’s shoes. Would you buy something you couldn’t see? Considering the ease at which anyone can begin selling on eBay, if you can’t see the item in question, would you even be sure it existed?

However, you need to think about more than just an image: aim for the best quality picture you can and ideally, show the item from a number of different angles.

Don’t Just Use PayPal: Although it is the most used payment method on eBay, not everyone has a PayPal account or wishes to make transactions by this means.

Offering a wider variety of payment options not only makes you look more professional, it also means you’re able to attract bids from a larger spectrum of shoppers.

Think Positive: positive feedback is key. The more of it you can boast, the more confidence buyers will have in you and the more (and higher) bids you will attract.

It’s advisable to begin selling only small items in order to build your feedback rating, before starting to sell large and expensive goods.

Package Properly: if you want to give off the impression of a professional outlet, you need to ensure you pack all your goods properly – nobody’s going to be impressed if their antique figurine arrives in two pieces.

Invest in cardboard boxes of varying sizes and plenty of bubble wrap rolls. If you ever run out of bubble wrap, scrunched up newspaper provides a reasonable alternative but it by no means offers the same professional image.

Be Reliable: choose a method of shipping that not only offers clear and fair pricing but that is also trustworthy and reliable. Remember that if your carrier slips up, it will be you that suffers the repercussions.

It’s also worth overestimating your shipping time. If you overestimate and your goods arrive ahead of schedule, your customers will be impressed. If you underestimate and the items arrive late, they won’t be.

Do Your Research: before putting goods up for sale, ensure to check how much they’re selling for elsewhere. If you put your goods up for sale at too high a price, you won’t receive any bids. Price them too low and you may be selling yourself short. 

Written by Amy Fowler on behalf of UK Packaging, suppliers of cardboard boxes and bubble wrap rolls.

Reputation and popularity are what makes your online business grow and expand. Without those two components, you will simply keep yourself in the bottom of the pyramid. That’s why it is important for you to build reputation and popularity for your online business as soon as possible. They will become your greatest asset for your business. Here are 5 ways to build reputation and popularity for your online business:

1. Strong relationship with your customers and potential customers

How you treat your customers and potential customers will determine what you will achieve in your online business. If you have strong relationship with them, you will be able to build positive image for your business. However, if you treat them unfairly, your reputation will be ruined very quickly. Don’t forget that internet is the media where everything spreads so quickly. If you give them good service and communication, good words will spread around your business. If you give them bad service and communication, bad words will spread around your business. Which one will you choose?

2. Keywords domination

In order to build reputation and popularity for your online business, make sure that your website is appearing often for the keywords around your niche. In this way, people know that you have strong website with your business. If your website never show up on the search engine result page, how can your customer perceive your website as reputable? Ideally, you have to make necessary effort to dominate as much keywords as possible. In this way, when your potential customers try to search for solution to solve their problem, they meet your website often. Finally, they will consider your website as authority in your niche.

3. Content that gives your audience something valuable every time

Content is your way to show your expertise to your readers. Look at most popular blogs and websites. How did they become so popular and reputable? It’s not about how many backlinks you have. It’s not about how many content that you have. It’s about the quality of your content. If you have thousands of content and you’re not giving your audience any value with your content, they will simply regard your website as crap. On the contrary, if you only have 50 pieces of valuable content, your audience will regard yourself as an expert in your field. Reputation and popularity will naturally follow.

4. Product that over-deliver

If you are selling product online, make sure that your audience is thinking about your product as “great” or “worth it”. That’s because product quality is the key for the success of your online business. Suppose that people will pay $37 for your product. When they see your product as low quality, what will they do? They’ll become angry and rant in every forums and blogs that your product sucks and not worth the money. However, if you are giving more value in your product, people will start thinking: “This product shouldn’t be priced at $37. It should be at least $67.” They will spread the word about the goodness of your product, and the result for over-delivering is that your online business will become more reputable and popular.

5. Follow the experts in your niche

If you don’t have a clue about how you can build reputation in your online business, simply take a look at those experts in the same niche as you. How did they build their reputation and popularity? Study their behaviors toward customers, and study how they build their website. Then, you will simply follow their footsteps. This is the simplest way for you to build online reputation and popularity.
When you’ve successfully built your reputation and your popularity is growing fast, you will be able to survive in this ever-changing world of online business.

  Kevin Pritchard work for the marketing department of Click Discounts where you can get some useful Debenhams Discount Code to help you make some savings on your purchases.