Finally, a Replacement for Listmania!

I created tons of Listmania! lists back in the day to spotlight products on Amazon that I thought were great and went along with articles I was writing. However, we have a family joke that says as soon as we like something, it's doomed, and such was the case for Listmania!

However, Amazon has finally seen the light for us poor affiliates, and has introduced the Idea List. Go to your lists, and you'll see a new idea list tab. Add your products to a list, then go to your idea list page, use the site stripe to get your affiliate code, and you're back in business!

Frugality: Your Electric Bill, Part One

Electricity is necessary. But there's no point in having to pay too much, or use electricity you don't need. We can all do our part to reduce demand, and in the process, save money that we were spending on our electricity bills for other things.

LED bulbs:
Yes, this used to be a major investment ($13-14 per bulb). In fact, I had a financial plan for replacing all my bulbs with LEDs. That is, until I went to the dollar store and discovered they had LED bulbs there for, yes, $1.

For some specialty bulbs (3-way, fluorescent tube replacements) the cost will be more. But for your everyday, ordinary light bulbs, you're talking about reducing that part of your electric bill that goes for lighting by 90%. I used to have timers on my Christmas lights and it was a significant part of my December bill. Now, all my Christmas lights combined cost less than the nightlight I used to have.

Light color matters, too. I know many people complain about the bluish tint of LEDs. First off, they also come in yellowish tints, too (look for a low Kelvin temperature, around 2700). However, you may want to consider a cool white or daylight setting. Why? Because you see better with less light.

And when you're replacing, don't forget about your refrigerator bulbs. I had 2 40-watt bulbs in my fridge, which meant that every time I opened the door, I was not only heating up the interior of the fridge with room air, but I was also putting out 72 watts worth of heat to heat up the food I was trying to keep cold. Now I have 2 4-watt bulbs which give me more light (enough to see how badly I needed to clean the refrigerator).

In fact, I'm now down to just seven bulbs needing to be replaced. Four are specialty bulbs, and the others I just haven't quite gotten to yet and I don't use often.

Frugality: Overview

A big part of financial freedom is learning to live with less. The less money you need, the less you need to make, and the bigger difference every additional dollar makes. With that in mind, let's talk about frugality.

That doesn't mean cheap. It means cutting out unnecessary spending, and making what you do spend go farther. So how do you get to frugal from where you are?

Look at what you spend. How much do you spend for groceries? How much goes uneaten? How much is your power bill or water bill? Can you find a way to make them less without sacrificing your quality of life? What about clothing and shoes, or gasoline and car maintenance? Eating out and entertainment?

Many people can't figure out how to spend less, so I'm going to do my best to help you. At this moment, do you have lights on in rooms you're not occupying? Do you have sprinklers that run even if it's just rained? Are you spending money for a service that you could do yourself, or even better, be done by robots? (Yes, domestic robots are a thing!)

Now yes, some things are better outsourced. And some things are a big investment up front, but pay big returns over time. So over the coming weeks I'll highlight different ways to be frugal that won't require huge changes in the way you do things, but will make a big difference in the way you live!