Finding Ways to Save Money in 2011

Happy 2011, everyone! The year is well underway, and with it, a series of resolutions have been made that will eventually be thrown into oblivion, or wherever else it is that resolutions disappear to after they have been retired. For many people, these self-made promises come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. It could be taking care of that one thing that you've been putting off for years, losing a few pounds or changing your sleeping habits.

Regardless of the kind of resolution you've made, there's one thing that we can always do more of, no matter what time it is: finding new ways to save money. Consumer Reports recently updated a list of 15 top money-saving tips that should hopefully prove useful in 2011. The list covers a wide range of tips, including using your phone to get coupons, grabbing more freebies and changing your font to save on printing costs. On top of that, they also talk about finding local sales, which are really easy around this time of years. For instance, many retailers give huge discounts to make room for new inventory.

Both of those lists should provide some good money-saving instructions for those of you who are trying to find new ways to save this calendar year. What are some other great ways that you know of to save money in 2011?

WhiteFence High-Speed Internet Information

One of the busiest categories on WhiteFence.com is the high-speed Internet category. With more broadband choices and plans than ever, consumers looking to save money while getting the best possible download rates around have a multitude of options available to them.

The problem with all of these choices can be an overload of information at times. I know that trying to decide between certain broadband types can be a bit tricky, especially when you've got Cable and DSL, each with their own benefits and speeds. Below, we've put together a list of WhiteFence's best resources on high-speed Internet. Hopefully, browsing these pages will help you figure out everything you need to know to make your high-speed Internet decision.

High-Speed Internet Comparisons

Broadband vs. Dial-Up
Cable vs. DSL
High-Speed Internet Plan Comparisons

General High-Speed Internet

High-Speed Internet Providers
High-Speed Providers in My Area
How to Choose the Best Internet Speed
How to Get Satellite Internet Access
What Is Broadband?
What Is Cable Internet?
What Is DSL Internet?

Provider Deals

AT&T Internet Deals
Comcast Internet Deals
Verizon Internet Deals

Beating the Black Friday Deals Now

Ah, Black Friday, the titan of shopping and savings that looms the day after Thanksgiving. I can't think of a better way to celebrate a gluttonous feast than to go buy a bunch of stuff. Personally, I avoid the day like plague, because in my head it's probably just a re-creation of several popular zombie horror movies, only with even more bite wounds. That being said, I do see the necessity of it for folks that do a lot of Christmas shopping and don't want to break the bank in the process.

However, if you want to do your Black Friday shopping without all of the hassle, there are actually a number of sellers and vendors this year doing pre-day deals, so that people can capitalize on the savings early. Yahoo has a list up of 7 Black Friday Deals Worth Buying Now, and it outlines all the places that have been in a price dropping war the last week or so, including Target, Wal-Mart and Amazon. Good news for shoppers!

There are a few key items to take note of where the savings are potentially at their highest. For one, toys seem to be getting marked down already, almost across the board. In addition, HDTV's are going to see their best prices in years. In fact, it might even be possible to grab 42" 1080p TV's for as low as $500. It all sounds too good to be true, but you might want to check out the list to see if there's anything you can get a steal on before the craziness of next week.

So, which of you brave readers will go out and confront the masses for Black Friday next week? Do you have another source of great deals? Let us know in the comments!

Video: Watch Out for Energy Vampires

We've posted on this blog before about the danger of energy vampires when it comes to your power bills each and every month. There are a number of ways to save electricity and lower your payments, but one of the easiest and least intrusive ways to do so is to watch out for these vampires.

What is an energy vampire, you ask? While your appliances may have on/off switches, many of them continue to draw power from their outlets while they are off. You would be surprised by just how many appliances in your home join in on the vampire fun. Just think of the prongs of the plug as their little monster fangs, taking your energy away.

To provide a bit of advice about this very subject, Alabama Power Company has provided a new video, the latest in its series of consumer education shorts.

What are your strategies for saving energy around the home? Do you watch out for energy vampires?

Poll: Where Could You Save the Most Money?

Lately, my wife and I have been taking extra care with our spending habits, and really trying to analyze where our money goes each month. It's surprising how your standard of living can just ratchet up over time without you even realizing it. Several years back, we were living on much less and coming through each month just fine in terms of our savings.

There are a few different areas that we're targeting to see if we are spending more than what is sensible: food, transportation, entertainment, utilities. Already, we're finding that we can easily cut down on the amount of gas we use by running errands together over the weekends, and knocking them all out at once, rather than making several trips to different stores over the course of a few days. In addition, our entertainment and food expenses can be dramatically decreased just by making a schedule for when we eat out with friends and what we're going to have for dinner each night.

All in all, it's been an interesting exercise to see where most of our money is going, and we were certainly surprised by the results that we saw. I decided to make a poll to see where the WhiteFence Blog readers fell in this discussion. Where do you guys think you could stand to save the most money? Feel free to tell us more in the comments!

Placing Smoke Alarms Around Your Home

Now that we've been in our house for just a few weeks over a year, it's time for my wife and I to start checking all of our smoke alarms. It's recommended that your home smoke detectors receive a new set of batteries once a year, so setting it around a yearly event such as a holiday (or in our case, the end of Daylight Savings this weekend) helps to keep track of it.

If you're wondering about the best places to put detectors, Charles & Hudson Home Security has a new blog post up about Where to Install Smoke Alarms in Your Home. Considering that each year, nearly two-thirds of all home fire deaths can be traced to improperly working smoke detectors, this is valuable information that could help you protect your family, yourself and your belongings.

Here's a rundown of the list:

• Put a smoke alarm in each bedroom and on each floor of the house. Yes, that includes the basement!

• Connect the alarms so that one alarm will trigger each one. That way you will be alerted if an alarm happens to go off somewhere that you would not have heard it before.

• Smoke rises, so place alarms either on the ceiling or near the top of a wall. Too low and the warning could come too late.

• Test your batteries each month, just in case!

Hopefully this list proves helpful for anybody that needs to re-inspect their smoke alarms in the near future. For more information, be sure to visit Charles & Hudson.

Choosing Secure Passwords Online

If you're anything like me, you get freaked out every time you hear stories of online security failures. Whether it's people getting their e-mail or Facebook accounts hacked, I just can't help but get a little more paranoid, wondering if all of my passwords could be compromised just as easily.

For the most part, I try to keep my passwords fairly complex while still easy to remember. I also don't use the same password for every single site I access. While these are fairly basic online security procedures, I'm sure there is much more that I'm unaware of.

That's why it's a good thing that Mozilla put out a recent video titled How to Choose Strong Passwords. It's got a handy guide to helping you choose passwords that are easy to remember, extremely secure and also different for all the sites you visit. It's definitely worth checking out if you're unsure about how secure your online accounts are.

Feel free to share your own thoughts about Internet security in the comments!

10 Free Ways to Learn More About Home Repair

It is no secret to my friends and my loved ones that I'm the opposite of handy, whatever the name for that happens to be. There are some people that just seem to know how to do everything in the handyman's repertoire, and I'm just not one of them. Give me a hammer, and I'll find a way to put a hole in something. Tell me to hang something on the wall, and I'll stare back at you for a few absentminded moments with a blank look on my face. That's just the way it's always been for me.

However, I'm always up for the opportunity to learn more. I'm sure there are probably classes that do this kind of thing, but I never know where to start. For the handy-challenged like myself out there, MSN has put together a list of 10 Free Sources for Home Repair Know-How. This list is actually full of both practical suggestions such as volunteering with home building organizations or helping a handy neighbor. It also sports a few online resources such as Expert Village's YouTube account. No matter what tips you're looking for, you're sure to find something that meets your needs on the list.

For those of you that happen to be handier than the rest, what resources did you use to learn more about home repair and home improvement? Was it just one of those things where you had to jump in and get your hands dirty? Did you do any of the things on the list? Share in the comments!

To read more of the article, visit MSN. For help with home improvement, visit WhiteFence.

City Highlight: Moving to Cleveland

Every month, we try to highlight a city to show savings-savvy consumers how they can save money. Whether people are moving to a new place or just looking for deals for where they live, we hope these prove to be useful for shoppers that are trying to cut down on their monthly expenses.

This month, we take a look at the great city of Cleveland, Ohio. There are lots of great specials to be had with a Cleveland zip code at the moment, especially if you are trying to lock in a natural gas rate just before the temperatures start plummeting.

Here are some of Cleveland's best deals!

Natural Gas

• If you want to get a low natural gas rate before it gets too cold, check out Vectren Source natural gas service. You can find a low variable rate plan that starts at only 5.828 cents per therm.

Bundles

• AT&T is letting you save money with phone and high-speed Internet bundles that start at $29.20 per month. This deal can help save you up to $180 on your bills!

High-Speed Internet

• Order lightning fast Internet from the folks at Cavalier! You can get up to 8.0 Mbps download speeds for the low price of $39.95 per month!

TV

• DIRECTV is offering their Choice XTRA plan for as low as $34.99, which will also net you 3 free months of Showtime and Starz.
• DISH Network is running a special for the America Top 120 package, which has over 120 channels for only $24.99.

Phone

• Sage Telecom has great deals on home phone, starting at just $19.99. This well priced package will give you unlimited local calling as well as 200 free long distance minutes.

Some of these prices and specials may vary by area, and may change at a future date. To find out what you can save, visit WhiteFence and enter your address to get started!

Take Steps Today to Save Money During Winter

For me, fall is the perfect time of year to take steps to save money during winter. While the weather is still on the warm side, I like to make a few upgrades to the house. I also like to do some comparison shopping to really save money.

Below I've outlined some easy things to do to save you money during winter.

• Make Small Home Improvements - Sealing up drafty doorways and unblocking vents will help keep your home warm and your energy bill low. For a more comprehensive list, read Top Ten Ways to Prepare a Home for Winter.
• Shop and Compare on Natural Gas - If you live in a deregulated natural gas area, then you need to visit WhiteFence to shop and compare natural gas rates to find a low rate to lock in for the cold winter months.
• Buy a Coat Today - Shop around for a coat today. Since you won't be rushing around, you'll be more likely to find a great deal on the coat of your dreams. Also, stores have not started to mark up their winter attire so prices are perfect for budget shoppers.
• Put Holiday Gifts on Layaway - Bargin shop for holiday gifts and put them on layaway today, you'll have them paid off by the time December rolls around. Not to mention you'll miss the holiday shopping rush.