Electricity: More Recession Savings Tips

A few days ago, I read an article in the newspaper (that I can't find anymore) about being careful how we use electricity. It talked about not plugging in a power bar into another bar and being careful not to overload your circuits. It also said many things keep using energy even when they're not in use, particularly those things that have a transformer on them.

That's when that little light bulb over our heads went on!

Electricity is terribly expensive here in Hawaii. That's TERRIBLE as in Tons of Money! A friend of mine had a $400.00 bill last year for one month of electricity.

We almost made our son-in-law sleep outside rather than use our air conditioner when they were here in Hawaii last year and we hadn't installed doors to the bedrooms yet. OK, I'm exaggerating but not by much.

Anyway, this is a long introduction as to why we had to evaluate how we were using electricity. In just my office, here's a list of the things that need electricity:
Computer CPU, computer monitor, Hawaiiantel DSL, wireless router, color printer, black and white laser printer, scanner, computer speakers, external drive, desk lamp, pencil sharpener, cellphone charger, Palm charger, paper shredder, sewing machine, mirror.


We organized our needs and put all the things that should be on a surge protector together. We stuck the things (plugs with transformers) that should be turned off together onto a power bar with a turn off switch. We spread out our plugs onto the different outlets so we could evenly distribute their use. And yes, we unplugged the power bar that was plugged into another power bar. Who did that anyway?

Voila! My plugs are organized!

Even more savings: My Eddie Bauer jeans are only a year old and have developed holes where the back pockets are attached at the top. Well, I have used my trusty Bernina and darned them! You can hardly tell where I mended them. I've also used the stretch stitching to fix two of my knit blouses! Woohoo!