Managing Home Maintenance Costs

This web site has an objective of identifying ways to save money and helping consumers to make the hard-earned dollars stretch further. But sometimes we lose sight of the fact that we are actually spending money to save money. We develop money-saving habits that cost you more than you save. It is important to really look at how much you will save before you spend money on something or take an action. For example, driving halfway across town to save a few dollars with a coupon you have just does not make sense.

Money Saving Habits that Cost You

One of our favorites is buying something just because it is on sale when we really do not need the item. It is clearly nice to have, but we would save a lot more if we just did not make the purchase in the first place.

Opening a store credit card to save 10 or 20% sounds great at the time, particularly if it is a large expense. If you cannot pay for the item when the credit card comes in and pay 19% or even up to 29% on some cards, you are going to lose your savings and then some very soon.

Buying extended warranties is another item we think you should avoid. Instead, use a credit card that doubles the warranty on your items purchased with it. You will save a great deal this way.

Buy in bulk when you can use all of the merchandise or groceries before they spoil, otherwise, you are just wasting money and losing any savings you might have received initially.

Savings accounts are a great way to set aside money for emergencies, however, you are losing money if you’re not collecting interest on your savings. Look for other opportunities that pay more and still protect your money.

Buying cheap often saves money initially. Cheap items wear out more quickly and replacing them just adds to your cost.

Free shipping is great and convenient. Compare the final price on everything before you make the purchase decision. Shipping is always built into the price one way or another.

If you have other ideas about Money Saving Habits that Cost You, please leave your comments and we will add them to this post.

With windmills and solar panels becoming increasingly popular, many investors as well as company managers are wondering what the solar power impact on the grid will be. We see solar panels appearing all over the country. Windmills are popping up in a variety of locations.  To the uninformed, it looks like there could be a significant impact on the grid. However, stop for a minute. Consider all of the homes and businesses that are powered by the nation’s electrical generation plants. These are massive sites, generating millions of kilowatts of power. What is the impact today on the grid? Almost nil!

Solar Power Impact on the Grid

We were able to find several charts that put this in perspective. For the year 2014, wind turbines generated 3% of the world’s power needs. By comparison, solar and tidal wave generation amounted to 1%. Coal is by far the largest at 39% and of course, produces the most pollution. Will these numbers shift over time? Of course, but it is going to take time. Perhaps as many as 20 years before there is a sizable change.

In the United States, coal is still at 39%, with natural gas at 27% and nuclear at 19% of the total generation requirements. Solar is down at .4% and wind at 4.4%. Other countries are making advances and attempting to begin the shift from greenhouse gas-causing power generation to renewables such as wind and solar.

The real driver for many energy companies facing historic demands for electrical power will be growth in the wind and solar areas. Whether these are large corporate-driven power plants or individuals installing their own windmills and solar systems and attaching them to the grid, much of the growth needs will be taken up by these new forms of energy generation.

The real impact on the grid is not how much power is generated. Instead, it will be making sure that the power coming from these small localized systems is clean energy without interference that can cause damage to sensitive computers and monitoring systems. Strict guidelines and standards will be required to ensure that this phenomenon is successful over the long term.