I went over to my friend’s house and his apartment was covered with plastic films around the windows. I asked him what they were and he said the films block out cold air seeping in through little cracks around the edges of the windows. I thought that was a great idea and asked him if he could really feel the difference. Without hesitation, he said he noticed a huge difference. I was sold after that.

A couple of weeks later, I finally went over to Home Depot and bought myself one pack of 3M Window Insulator Kit and proceeded to install them throughout my home. The installation process is pretty simple. Just tape the edges around the window frame with the provided double sided tape. Then take the plastic film and attach it onto the tape. The final step is to use a blower dryer and run it all over the film. As heat is applied, the film actually shrinks and makes it air tight.

I’m not quite sure how much savings I will actually have during this winter season, but if you go to 3M website, they actually have an energy savings calculator. Just input your location, type of window, and thermostat settings, and you’ll know in a split second how much you’ll save.

After inputting my information, it says I will save just over $200 during this winter. I bought a pack of 9 films at Home Depot for about $14.  I have 3 windows equipped with the film and I plan on finishing the project over by this weekend. If it only costs me $30 or so and I can save $200, then that’s a good investment. Since it’s already January and in the middle of heating season, I probably won’t save $200. Even at $100, it could still be worth it. The only problem is that I have no way of knowing whether the films are actually saving me money since I have no baseline to compare to. However, as an engineer, I know that the air gap between the window and the film does prove to be a good insulator by increasing the R-value of the windows.

Do you have experience using these films to reduce energy costs?

There are two super easy ways to save money on a date.  First, make your date pay for the date.  That’s an easy one.  Second, don’t tip the waiter.  Now, if you do this, the universe will pay you back and your car will most likely get towed at work for a week straight!  But in all seriousness, it is possible to save money on a date without being cheap.

The Homecooked Meal
This is probably one of the most underrated dates.  If you have children, make sure they are sent off to the sitter.  Now, this date can roll a few ways.  First, you can create an incredibly romantic atmosphere and do the cooking yourself.  Even if you are not a chef, your mate will most likely love the effort and it will be fun.  The other option is to create the meal together.  This can be lots of fun.  If you decide to create the meal together, make sure to make it interesting and consider a dish you’ve never attempted before. If weather conditions are favorable and you have a decent backyard, a candlelit dinner under the stars, even if it’s in your boring backyard, can actually be quite incredible.  And, of course, don’t forget the bottle of wine.

The Dollar Theater
Movie tickets are expensive.  But the Dollar Theater isn’t!  Nearly every decent sized city in America has some type of discount movie theater.  This is an easy way to save $20.  If you have been applying for a small business loan for bad credit, and need to boost your savings, this is a great way to do it.

Nature Anything
There are two fantastic characteristics of nature—it’s beautiful beyond description and its free!  That is great combination for an excellent date.  All you need is a little creative thought and you can come up with scores of nature dates.  Hiking, swimming, mountain biking, jogging, rock climbing, sight-seeing, etc.  It’s fun, beautiful, romantic, and free.

Kid Swap
If you are married and the budget is tight, date nights can be neglected and left in the corner like a red-headed step-child.  But they shouldn’t!  You just need to adopt a frugal, but not cheap, attitude toward dates.  One of the most expensive aspects of dating once you have children in the picture is the babysitter.  Babysitters today seem to make what engineers and accountant made per hour just a few decades ago!  A decent babysitting can easily run you $12 per hour.  If you go out from 6-12pm, that is $72.  That’s not exactly chump change.  A great workaround is to set up a neighborhood co-op, where you swap kids a few times a month.  This takes your babysitting costs from $72 to $0!

A small business loan for bad credit can be expensive and you should always conduct due diligence before making your decisions.  All it takes to create a great date night is a little creative thought and energy and you can significantly cut down your dating costs but still keep the romance.

Note: This post was submitted by smallbusinessloansdirect.com representative.

Let’s face it, saving money isn’t rocket science; it’s a pretty straight forward process. Why then do so many of us have trouble seeing our savings account grow? Maybe, it’s because we’re not going about saving in the right way. First off, it’s nearly impossible to save without motivation. Ask yourself why you want to save? What are your financial goals? Write down your main goal and be mindful of it whenever you are tempted to spend money you may otherwise be saving. Do you want to save for retirement? A new car? Education? Do you need money for a down payment on a house? If it helps, keep a visual reminder of your end goal in your wallet, checkbook, or as your computer’s background image.

Now that you have the end goal in mind, create financial mini goals and a budget. Ask yourself how much money you need to save by a certain date to be on track. Meeting a monthly savings quota is probably easier than only having a goal every six months, but decide what works best for you. Separate short-term goals from long-term ones. If you plan to transfer 10% of your paycheck every two weeks into savings, you will feel much better seeing your savings grow twice a month. This is highly motivating. Figure out how much money your monthly goal would translate to in a year. Consider this sum as your long-term goal. If you aren’t meeting your long-term goals, you need to reevaluate your short-term goals and dedication.

Overall, be realistic in setting your goals. Don’t decide to save a certain percentage from every paycheck if you can’t afford to do so. Plan on only saving from your mid-month paycheck if bills are all due at the beginning of the month. Don’t get discouraged due to setbacks. They inevitably happen. Just because a setback threw off your savings for one month or two doesn’t mean your long-term goal has to be compromised.

Reevaluate your situation as needed to make that long-term goal date. Before deciding to save with your bank, compare its savings accounts with other financial institutions. Just because you’ve been a valued customer at your bank for years doesn’t mean they offer the highest interest rate on savings. You also should avoid banks that charge a monthly fee. If you are losing $5 a month in maintenance fees, that’s $60 a year. Keep track of your spending.

With debit cards more popular than checks these days, many people forego balancing their checkbook. If you don’t like using your checkbook register to keep track of expenses, use a spreadsheet or other financial software to keep it all straight. Cut expenses whenever and however you can. Cook at home instead of going out to eat and bring your lunches to work. Vacation in the off-season during mid-week, be mindful of the amounts of electricity you are using to cut back on utility bills and scale back on unnecessary insurance, television and cell phone extras. Cutting back on the little things may not seem like much, but they can add up to hundreds of dollars a year. When making cuts, relay all that extra change into your savings account and watch the money add up.

Note: This post was submitted by MoneySuperMarket.com representative

With the current economic climate in its current state, I’m sure you all know how hard it has become to build up your savings. However, trying to save and living green are a marriage made in heaven, and just by following a few green living tips can see you financially better off at the end of a month. To get you in the green living spirit here are some simple green money saving tips:

Cut down your motoring costs
If you drive then I’m sure you know the cost of monitoring is currently extremely high. The cost of vehicle maintenance and fuel means that maintaining a vehicle can be really costly, but there are ways that you can cut these costs. Have you considered cycling to work? It’s great for the environment and great for your fitness, plus you can save tens of dollars each week as a bonus. Have you checked if there’s a car sharing scheme at your workplace? See if anyone who works with you lives near by and take it in turns to drive in to work, you can save 50% on fuel costs.

Eating in is the new eating out
Making food at home is seen as an automatic money saver and so it should be. You just can’t beat buying fresh produce from market stalls and supermarkets and then going home to cook and it’s so much cheaper than going out to eat. Shopping at Costco is not my cup of tea, but for some who like to buy in bulk, it can save you some additional money. Also, if you pay for food during work hours even if its simply $5 a day, then consider taking a packed lunch with you, you can save $25 a week just by making a sandwich and not buying one during a busy day at the office.

Get your home ready for energy savings
I read a stat recently that set the average U.S. household spends around the $1,900 on energy bills, and an energy efficient home is said to be able to save you around 30%, or $570. Heating and cooling costs can easily be reduced by doing some simple maintenance to your home. Sealing cracks in your walls and making sure windows and ducts are properly sealed can save you a lot of money over the course of a year.

Use energy efficient lighting at home
Waste less energy in your home by using energy efficient lighting. We use our lights probably more than any other electrical instrument at home and they typically make up between 10-15% of home energy bills. To try and save money, don’t use the old light bulbs without the energy efficient label; use the new compact fluorescent bulbs or light emitting diode bulbs that can save you a massive 75% on your lighting bill annually. Also, make sure that the right watt bulb is used in the right room, there’s no point using a high watt bulb in a small room if you don’t need it, you will simply waste energy and money.

I hope you find these simple green money saving tips useful.

Guest Post:  Written by moneysupermarket.com

What do you suppose the number one way Americans saved money this past year? How did you save money this year? Did you save money by cutting back on dry cleaning? How about by cutting back on coffee? Or did you save money by buying more generic store brands? These are all very viable methods of cutting back on expenses and saving a little money. Buying a generic brand over name brand products here and there may not seem much, but still can add up to a nice sum of money if done on a regular basis over the course of the entire year. Same goes for cutting back on dry cleaning and choosing to do your own laundry instead. Also, choosing to drink your own home brewed coffee in the morning instead of making a pit stop at Starbucks can add up to a nice chunk of change saved as well. So, of the three ways, which do you think was the number one way Americans saved money in 2010?

This question was posed in a TV game show I was watching the other day. It’s a brand new show, “Million Dollar Money Drop” where contestants pile a million dollars onto the answers to a series of 8 questions. They start out with $1 million dollars and for each question, there are 3 answer choices. The contestants then allocate the money to the answer they think is correct. They can choose to divide the money equally to all three choices if they’re not sure what the correct answer is. But if they put all of their eggs in one basket and choose the wrong answer, then the game is over and they win nothing. At the end of the 8th question, whatever money they have remaining is the money they win.

Without any hesitation, I was able to guess the answer correctly. According to the TV show and Harris Poll of 2010, more Americans saved money by purchasing generic store brands instead of the name brand products in 2010 than any other ways. I’m not quite sure how accurate the poll is, but it makes sense to me. You can definitely save at the supermarket by purchasing generic brand products as they are often 10-15% cheaper, and sometimes up to 50% cheaper than name brand products. They’re often identical and taste 99% same. So, it naturally makes sense to buy the less expensive product for virtually the same item.

So, how do you compare with the poll? How well did you save money this past year?

When I first started my blog Money Green Life, the direction of the blog I was hoping was to write articles about saving energy and saving money at the same time. Since I have extensive knowledge about saving energy, I figured it was a good match. I still have visions of carrying out such hope as I will continue writing about the topic. However, I also have been having visions of expanding and writing about other topics that I am passionate about. I love the topic of energy, I’m always in the lookout for money saving/making opportunities, and I love playing poker. If these topics were to be combined together, you get a single common denominator in personal finance.

In this new direction of the blog, I plan to write about tips, advice, and reviews of products that help save energy thus saving money as I have been doing currently. In addition, I will also write about poker strategies that I have learned over the course of a few years I have been playing. With the money saved and money earned from saving energy and playing poker respectively, personal finance will come into play and I will write about tips and strategies that help to optimize money savings.

I am very excited with this new direction of this blog. I hope that you will find it useful.