Recession over? Not by a long shot. Part 3

Here's another tip to dramatically cut your cost of living costs.
3) Stop wasting money heating your house! The most efficient way to heat a home is with a gas fired, forced hot air furnace. This is not to be confused with a heat pump. A heat pump is second only to electric baseboard heat for being inefficient for home heating. But because not everyone has a gas furnace heating their home, here is a suggestion on how to lower you cold weather heat bills. Go to your favorite, local big box building supply store and pick up a few small, portable heaters. They generally cost around $15.00 per unit. Look for the non-ceramic type but rather the small fan-forced heating element type. These are 110 volt heaters that draw about as much power as a small hair dryer. How to save $$$ with them is like this: During the night while you are asleep, there really is no logical reason to heat your entire house. You are in your bedroom, tucked snugly under your covers. Realistically, the only rooms you need to heat are your bedrooms so turn your house-heat thermostat down to 55 or 60. The first one up in the morning should then give the house a good shot of heat. These small compact heaters usually come with a thermostat enabling you to set your bedroom temperature to whatever you wish. The heater will cycle on and off during the night saving you hundreds of dollars in fuel costs. How do I know this? I personally have been doing this for years. I own three of them and keep one in my bedroom, one in my den and one in the kitchen. I can keep my heating and electric costs down to under $90.00 per month using this method. If you have kids, put one in their bedrooms too. Also, if your house is empty during the day, lower your house thermostat way down and set your portable heater thermostats down to 65 degrees. This will keep rooms of your choice warm for you when you get home at night. If this works for you, write me with your feedback. Best of luck, Ray

Recession over? Not by a long shot. Part 2

Here are more suggestions on how to weather this recession.
2) Shop wisely. Here's a newsflash: BULK IS BETTER!! If you don't have a Sam's club or B.J'S Wholesale club membership yet, get one! You will save hundreds on certain goods in the course of a year. All of your paper goods are cheaper: toilet paper, napkins, tissues, plastic cups, paper plates, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, garbage bags and paper towels. Bar soap is cheaper in bulk. Most food items are cheaper too. Coffee, creamer, breakfast cereal, oil, eggs and butter. Canned goods, salad dressings, flour, rice, mayonnaise and spices. If you rotate your stock of items so that you are replacing one large item per week, you won't feel the outlay as much. Use your grocery store for last minute items and fresh meats and fish only. The term, "Cheaper by the dozen" really applies to these bulk, chain outlets.