This Blog on frugality is pretty funny and maybe not for the Joe Sixpack crowd. Things like Retiring In Panama may miss them. But the post about living on food stamps was pretty informative and funny.

http://www.debtfreebythirty.net/2012/02/festival-of-frugality-superheroes-are.html

Festival of Frugality: Superheroes Are Frugal Too Edition

I am a sucker for a theme for my festivals or carnivals and while I was tempted to do a leap year facts edition it just wasn’t exciting enough for my blood. So superheroes it is. Because what’s more exciting than superheroes? It also occurred to me that superheroes are quite frugal and who hasn’t sometimes thought that superpowers are needed to stay on the path of frugality.

Editor’s Super Picks

Smart Family Finance has pretty convincing financial reasons to get rid of your junk. There are so may reasons to get rid of your “junk”. It’s nice to have one that will put cash in your wallet too.

Annabelle from Shopping Detox gives her city a frugal audit. This really has me thinking about my own town.

A. Blinkin from Funancials entertains us as usual with how do you judge value?

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Go there and read about Wolverine and Batman at least. More next week.

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I say frugality is not giving up, it is getting back to what you want. Here the poster asks what is most important too you not what do you want now.

http://almostfrugal.com/

What Do You Want Most?

by Kelly

I found this quote on a fitness website (MyFitnessPal): “The reason most people fail instead of succeed is that they trade what they want the MOST for what they want at the MOMENT.”*

I’ve often fallen into that trap. I’m hungry, so even though I want to stay on my diet, I go through the drive through. I’m feeling down, so I go shopping for a new shirt, even though I want to stay on a budget. I’m tired, so instead of doing my consulting work, I read a book on my Kindle (or maybe even buy a new book instead of reading one of the many I already have).

In fact, figuring out what I want most, I think is one of the hardest things about goal setting. I know, intellectually, that I want to do/act/be a certain way, but I often feel like I have a hard time owning that feeling in a way that will help me commit to following through on the commitment over a long period of time.

My life is in transition here, both at Almost Frugal-land and abroad. I’ve been going through some growing and moving and changing for the past few months, and it’s been a bit of a bumpy ride. Things are good- no need to worry- but finding this quote today has helped me to sum things up.

I’m working on discovering what I want to happen most, not just what I want to happen in the moment.

What do you want to happen most?

*I don’t know to whom I should credit the quote- if you know, please leave the information in the comments.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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That is right. I know this is an energy conservation blog. It is an environmental blog and an energy industry blog as well. But for awhile this is going to be a frugality blog. Think about it. At one level frugality and sustainable living start by “doing for yourself”. What is more easier and immediate than cutting your own hair. This site is much more than that but it is the first article.

http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2012/02/26/reader-story-home-haircuts/

Reader Story: Home Haircuts Can Save Time and Money

Sunday, 26th February 2012 (by J.D. Roth)

This guest post from Shannon D is part of the “reader stories” feature at Get Rich Slowly. Some stories contain general advice; others are examples of how a GRS reader achieved financial success or failure. These stories feature folks from all levels of financial maturity and with all sorts of incomes.

My wonderful husband likes to keep his hair short and precise. He works outdoors but dislikes hats, so keeping his hair looking proper is important to him. We live in a rural area without a major chain hair cut shop. While we do have a small barber shop, their hours are very limited. This usually meant that for a monthly haircut we would drive 25 miles to the nearest mall to get his hair cut in the evenings or on weekends at a chain store.

While we usually tried to combine his trip for a haircut with other errands in town, we typically just made it into a dinner evening. So on top of the other costs, we often had an extra dinner out that we not have otherwise enjoyed.

We estimate our costs to have been the following:

• $25 per trip in mileage
• $18 haircut – including the tip
• A solid two hours spent getting a haircut

With this happening once monthly, we were spending $516 per year — not including dinners — and 24 hours of time getting his hair cut.

We decided to try something different, not because of the money so much as the time and convenience lost making the commute just for a haircut. After my husband asking me several times, I finally got the confidence to try cutting his hair. I am no cosmetologist. My haircutting experience includes buzzing my brother’s hair — at his request — in high school and shaving my long-haired dog during the summer. And I should mention that my husband’s haircut is not a simple buzz. It made me nervous.

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Go there and read as much as you can take. More tomorrow.

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I know this and the following posts may seem off topic. What does simplicity or frugality have to do with home energy conservation. Well to use an extreme example, what if you simplified your life by using no generated electricity. So much in your life would change. No computer, no telephone, and no lights at night. While that would be thought of as extreme by some and it would only save my household a couple of thousand dollars a year, it is still an interesting concept. This blog here makes a good place to start.

http://www.word-works.com/simple/

Choose Simplicity
Thoughts on Voluntary Simplicity

Welcome to Clay and Judy
Woods’ homepage.

Many simplicity gurus urge us to become “tightwads” as the true path to a simple life. But voluntary simplicity and frugality are not really the same thing. To be sure, frugality is a vehicle for achieving simplicity, but the driving force is a vision, a philosophy, a world view.

If life were a poem, simplicity would be the poet, frugality the line and meter.

If life were a painting, simplicity would be the artist, frugality the paint and brushes.

If life were a building, simplicity would be the architect, frugality the hammer and boards.

Voluntary simplicity is about freedom. It’s about owning your own life. Frugality is living with less of what money can buy. Voluntary simplicity is wanting less.

Soon after beginning our partnership more than 35 years ago, we made a revolutionary discovery. It changed our lives then and it continues to make us “different” now. You’ve heard it before: “time is money.” What we discovered is that’s not true – time is better than money!

This revelation has allowed us to be content in our work or to change that work when it no longer satisfies. It has permitted us to spend less time acquiring things and more time acquiring experiences, insights, and relationships. It has encouraged us to lend a helping hand in our community, whenever the need arises, because we can make the time to do it. It has given us freedom and control of our lives.

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Go there and read in much larger print. More tomorrow.

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I am not as funny as Ray Lytle but the Springfield City Council was on a roll with CWLP last night when they tried to ask for a WHOPPING 9.3% increase in the rates they charge their electric customers. First they blamed the spot market, then they blamed the EPA’s new regulations, then they blamed the increase in the price of coal and finally they blamed the bond markets. They never explained why they borrowed 6,000,000 $$$ from the water fund.

http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x715338997/Council-rebuffs-CWLP-rate-hike-seeks-alternatives?zc_p=0

Springfield aldermen Tuesday rejected the idea of a 9.5 percent electric rate increase and directed City Water, Light and Power officials to come up with alternative plans.

Eric Hobbie, the utility’s chief engineer, told reporters after the meeting that the possibilities are limited and might mean “substantial changes to the way we do business.” He declined to elaborate on what those changes could be.

CWLP officials and Mayor Mike Houston have said a rate increase is needed to give CWLP a sufficient revenue cushion to repay its bonds and maintain the utility’s bond rating.

The immediate rate hike would raise $19.1 million annually, Additional, smaller rate hikes also are being sought in future years.

However, no city council member even moved Tuesday to put the matter on next week’s city council debate agenda.

Several aldermen said they are concerned about hiking electric rates.

“We can’t do that to the citizens today,” Ward 1 Ald. Frank Edwards said. “We need to find some different means, some different alternative. … There’s a lot of people really hurting out there.”

Ward 3 Ald. Doris Turner agreed.

“I just cannot in clear conscience vote for a 10 percent increase,” she said. “I just think that is just too much to put on the ratepayers.”

“There’s got to be a better way,” Ward 4 Ald. Frank Lesko said.

Utility officials say CWLP’s revenue problems began in the fall of 2008, when the economy collapsed and energy prices dropped. Prices for power CWLP sells on the wholesale market have continued to decline ever since, and the utility’s wholesale revenues are $20.5 million below budget, officials say.

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Really funny guys. Go there and read the rest. More tomorrow.

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I know, this is my alma mater. I also know that it may be a teensy weensy bit expensive. But this looks like a real good educational opportunity and today I had to write about roofs anyway so:

http://epdweb.engr.wisc.edu/Courses/Course.lasso?myCourseChoice=M987

Course Summary:

Latest Roofing Technologies and Their Applications

Course #M987 April 30-May 1, 2012 Pyle Center*,  702 Langdon Street, Madison, Wisconsin Course Fee: $995

Benefits Attend and benefit as you: Learn how “green” roof systems work Find out how much they cost Understand the intricacies associated with their design, installation, and maintenance Evaluate the benefits, but also the potential for failure Determine when these systems are right for your facilities This course has been approved by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) for 13 GBCI CE hours for LEED® AP maintenance. See additional EPD courses approved for GBCI CE hours. Topics Advantages and disadvantages of “green” roofing technologies Special design requirements—new construction and existing buildings Codes governing design and installation Special installation requirements How to resolve potential conflict between different trades involved in the project Dealing with warranty issues Maintenance you will need to provide to ensure continuous, effective operations Steps you should take to estimate your project’s first and life-cycle costs LEED, Green Globe, other recognition programs Audience Owners Architects Engineers Designers Contractors Earn PDH, LU, CEU By participating in this course, you will earn 13 Professional Development Hours (PDH), 13 AIA Learning Units (LU) and 1.3 Continuing Education Units (CEU). Learn more about PDH, LU, CEU and state licensing boards. General Information Fee Covers Notebook and other course materials, break refreshments, and certificate. Cancellation Policy If you cannot attend, please notify us by April 23, and we will refund your fee. Cancellations received after this date and no-shows are subject to a $150 administrative fee. You may enroll a substitute at any time before the course starts. Accommodations We have reserved a block of guest rooms (rates starting at $89, including continental breakfast, parking and private airport taxi (a $30 value)) at Campus Inn, 601 Langdon Street, Madison, WI. Reserve a room online at Campus Inn or call 800-589-6285 or 608-257-4391. Room requests after April 9 will be subject to availability. Other fees and restrictions may apply. Course Location This course will be held at Pyle Center, 702 Langdon Street, Madison, WI. 608-262-1122 More Lodging in Madison Parking Transportation Weather Visitors’ Bureau* Course information is subject to change.

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Go there and read. More next week.

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You can read either article below. The facts stay pretty much the same but  each has one of my favorite pictures of the horrible damage. The overhead shot is the most compelling:

http://www.global-adventures.us/2010/04/05/aral-sea-shocking-disaster/

Then there is the “boats and camels” shot:

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/07/16/the_world_s_worst_ongoing_disasters?page=0,3

BY JOSHUA E. KEATING | JULY 16, 2010

UZBEKISTAN/KAZAKHSTAN

Disaster: The shrinking of the Aral Sea

Going since: The 1960s

Damage done: Straddling the border of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the Aral Sea was once the world’s fourth-largest inland water body and home to at least 20 species of fish and a thriving coastal economy in the surrounding towns. In the early 1960s, the Soviet government built more than 45 dams and 20,000 miles of canals in an effort to create a cotton industry on the desert plains of Uzbekistan, depriving the sea of its main sources.

Over the next three decades, the sea shrank to two-fifths its original size, turning fishing villages into barren desert outposts. Thanks to the high salt content in the remaining water, all 20 fish species are now extinct. Drinking water supplies in the area are dangerously low and the ground contains dangerous pesticides from the cotton farms. When the wind sweeps across the now-dry sea bed, it spreads up to 75 million tons of toxic dust and salt across Central Asia every year.

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Go there and read. More tomorrow.

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I subscribe to New Energy Times and I have talked to people about fusion before. I even met a gentleman on a train whose dad is working on the joint Spanish-French very hot plasma fusion project and we talked quite a bit about it. I have always had huge doubts about either cold or hot fusion because the cold versions have been obvious frauds and the hot versions are extremely expensive and dangerous. Still this is interesting and time will tell.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/markgibbs/2011/10/30/believing-in-cold-fusion-and-the-e-cat/

Mark Gibbs, Contributor

Tech|

10/30/2011 @ 3:18PM |55,722 views

Believing in Cold Fusion and the E-Cat

As I discussed in that posting, an inventor by the name of Andrea Rossi has developed what he claims to be a simple system for generating what would be, essentially, endless and incredibly cheap energy.

On October 28th the biggest test of Rossi’s system, which is called the E-Cat, was conducted in Italy and some results were made public which I’ll discuss in a moment.

Before that I do, let me give you a quick refresh: The E-Cat, which is short for “Energy Catalyzer”, is claimed to produce a “Low Energy Nuclear Reaction” or LENR. LENR is another name for “cold fusion” or CF (LENR is considered a more acceptable term than CF which was discredited after two world-class researchers, Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons, announced that they had a working cold fusion system but which, alas, no one could duplicate).

Allow me to digress for a moment to ask all of you who sent me messages in tones ranging from polite through to downright rude asserting that cold fusion has actually been successfully duplicated: If an experiment that demonstrates cold fusion has really been replicated in the real world by real scientists then why would the scientific community ignore something so profound? Everyone agrees that cold fusion would be a game changer and in itself would be a hugely important scientific discovery so why would anyone in the scientific community ignore an important,  successful, and replicable experiment?

Rossi’s E-Cat is claimed to use a secret catalyst to react hydrogen with nickel and, in the process, transmute the nickel into copper producing considerable heat. Whether this reaction works or not and if it does, exactly how it works, has been enormously contentious and the subject of numerous learned and amateur debates

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I skipped his humorous lead and you can go to the site to read the rest. Point is no one knows right now but remember Ponzi was from Italy too. More tomorrow.

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Look  just buy good caulk. That is it. Nothing lasts for 25 years so do not believe that. Usually caulk lasts for six or seven years. That’s it. So do not pay 6 $$$ per tube. But, if you pay 3 or 4 $$$ you are in the right range. If you can get that exact same type of caulk on sale all the better.

http://alsnetbiz.com/homeimprovement/info10.html

WEATHERPROOFING BASICS

• In all the discussion of insulation and R-values, don’t forget that poor weatherproofing is often a more important source of discomfort, as well as high heating and cooling bills. 

• Some air leakage can be prevented during construction by using housewrap or getting a tight fit between framing members, for example. Once the house is built, however, the remaining gaps must be sealed. Gaps around doors and window sashes should be weatherstripped, and gaps between permanent building materials sealed with caulking.

FIG. 1 – Where caulking should be applied, from the Sunset book, Insulation and Weatherstripping, © Sunset Publishing Corp.

TYPES OF WEATHERSTRIPPING

• The greatest source of air leakage in most homes occurs around doors, windows, and access hatches, such as the ceiling opening from the living area into an unheated attic (Fig. 4). Weatherstripping can be a delicate job because those openings need to be fitted loosely enough that the door or window operates freely, yet tightly enough that air leakage is stopped. 

• The type of weatherstripping you’ll use depends on the location and the type of opening. Three types of weatherstripping are common: 

• Compression–Compression weatherstripping (Fig. 5) is used to seal swinging doors and window sashes. It consists of a molded strip (it may be wood, aluminum or rigid vinyl) with a flexible vinyl bulb along one side. As a rule, compression weatherstripping is the most durable type available. 

• V-Type Strips–V-shaped weatherstripping (Figs. 6 & 7) is fitted against the side of the door or window jamb so it presses against the edge of the door or sash and forms a seal. V-stripping may be vinyl or bronze. 

• Foam–Foam weatherstripping (Fig. 8) is used to seal either swinging or sliding doors or windows. It comes in various sizes with an adhesive backing on one side. It is fastened to the edge of a door or window stop, or to the bottom of a sliding window sash. 

• Thresholds and Door Bottoms–A threshold fills the gap between the floor and the bottom of a door. It may have a built-in vinyl bulb. If not, it must be used in combination with a door bottom (Fig. 9), mounted on the lower edge of the door.

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So if you want to read about all that caulk or look at the pretty pictures about how to install weather stripping. Please go to the sight and look. More tomorrow.

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OK her work’s connection to this blog might seem tenuous at first glance. When not talking about the residential housing market, I am usually attacking the hydrocarbons industry or rapers of the environment. (By the way the Maconda well is leaking again) But she is a really nice lady who actually talks to me on the phone every once in awhile. If you think about it, if your municipality could get you cheap renewable energy wouldn’t you take it.

http://www.EnergyForefront.com/infowebinar

• Multiple Methods that Cities/Towns Could Use to Finance Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Projects including federal tax benefits, aggregation, securitization of smaller projects, 501c3 non-profit corporations & more presented by Baird Brown, Attorney at Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
• How Various Cities & Towns Structured their Energy Financing presemted by Vincent DeVito, Attorney at Bowditch & Dewey LLP
• Financing Municipal Renewable Energy Projects with No Upfront Costs: Wayne Snider describes how he procured financing for wind solar, biomass and several other Fowler Colorado projects . . . without any upfront costs for Fowler.

NO COST TO ATTEND

Thanks to Our Sponsors-
CleaResult, American Energy Assets, Bob Parkins Renewable Energy Consulting, Arbogast Energy Auditing, Distributed Energy Financial Group, Steffes Corporation – SkyBuilt Power – Bella Energy – Solar Tracking Tree

Who we are
Energy Forefront is a connecting point where cities, towns, counties, universities, facilities, consultants and industry professionals can meet via online events and find the latest resources on energy efficiency, renewable energy and green economic development.

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Go there and read. More next week.

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