Energy Savings

There are some simple ways to save energy, without too much extra effort.

Powering off power strips, seldom used appliances, and turning off computers when not in use are all easy savings. When I was a teenager, I liked to leave my computer on at night while it was downloading stuff. I justified this by turning off the monitor, which was a CRT (old big one) and used a bunch of power! I no longer leave my computer on at night, and I have gotten in the habit of using the shut down function that entirely powers down the computer. I did a little research, and the sleep function (the one that lets your computer boot up quickly from where you left off) continues to drain power the entire time it is in that mode.

I have our entertainment center stuff wired into power strips. This makes it very easy to take an extra second when we are done using it to flip the power button to off. This prevents the constant drain that many electronic devices exert on your electricity. This was a painless change to make, and now is very easy to remember to do. It saves money, and is good for the environment too!

The wife and I picked up two packs of CFLs (compact flourescent lightbulbs) for two dollars and replaced some of the bulbs with those. They really do draw quite a bit less power than regular light bulbs.

We try to limit the use of air conditioning on those days when you could just open windows and be comfortable. We don't hesitate to use it when we want either. In San Diego's mild winter, we try to refrain from using the heater when we could put on more clothes and be just as comfortable, which is easy in this climate compared to others.

We have some gadgets around the house that use batteries, and decided to purchase rechargables. We now have a small collection of Eneloop batteries by Sanyo and we have had great success with them so far. The start up cost is definitely more than buying non rechargeables, but we no longer buy batteries. We bought our initial package at Costco, which comes with a charger, and have added to the collection as we see the need. I no longer pile my way through a pack of batteries when playing Xbox, and our remotes no longer eat batteries for three meals a day!

The wife enjoys candles around the house, and she mentioned she we save energy from using candles instead of Febreze/Renuzit/Etc. plug ins that would constantly drain power.

Through the use of these power saving/money saving ideas, we have reduced our monthly energy bill by almost thirty three percent! Try some of these, and see how much you save.

A simple plan.

Today we will look at two investing companies and two nearly identical investment plans that only involve four funds. Yes, that's right, four funds. Investing does not have to be complicated! Let's sample each companies low cost funds.

Fidelity is a company you may have heard of. They are a privately held investment firm. They have an excellent website for the new investor that allows you to try many options and retirement type calculators.

Here is a sample portfolio using four of their low cost mutual funds.

Spartan Total Market Index (STM)
Fidelity Total Bond Fund (TBF)
International Enhanced Index (TINT)
Inflation-Protected Bond Fund (INFL)

The first row is the weighting, or the percentage of the fund in this sample portfolio.
The second row is the abbreviation for the fund.
The third row is the expense ratio, or cost as a percentage, for the fund.

40% 25% 20% 15%
STM TBF TINT INFL
0.10% 0.45% 0.63% 0.45


I really like looking at Vanguard's site. If you are not familiar with Vanguard, they have been around for a long time, and are famous for forcing mutual fund and investing costs down overall.

Let's take a look at a sample portfolio using Vanguard's low cost funds.

Total Stock Market Index (TSM)
Total Bond Market Index (TBM)
Total International Stock Index (TINT)
Inflation-Protected Fund (VIPSX) -- actual "ticker" symbol (for the NASDAQ)

The first row is the weighting, or the percentage of the fund in this sample portfolio.
The second row is the abbreviation for the fund.
The third row is the expense ratio, or cost as a percentage, for the fund.

40% 25% 20% 15%
TSM TBM TINT VIPSX
0.18% 0.22% 0.34% 0.25%

Now with these two examples, you can see some differences in costs. The Spartan fund family from Fidelity has a high minimum investment amount compared to Vanguard's funds. The minimum for the Spartan funds is $10,000 while the Vanguard funds require $3,000. That is a lot of money. But up next time, we will look at short term solutions for saving enough money to put into a fund, and other options that will allow you to "chunk" your money into investments.

Disclosure: The author does not own any of the funds listed, but someday hopes to.