Save taxes on Energy Star registered appliances

Before you purchase a refrigerator, dishwasher, freezer, clothes washer, or room air conditioner, check that it has the Energy Star logo on it, which signifies that it is exempt from Provincial Sales Tax in several Canadian provinces. Ontario exempts these appliances from the Retail Sales Tax. Buyers in the U.S. are able to use the link below to determine which appliances have sales tax exemptions, credits or rebates in their area.
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=rebate.rebate_locator

Beware of computer repair rip-offs

I am extremely fortunate to be acquainted with an honest computer repair person. A few days ago I detected an odor of what appeared to be burning electrical wires coming from my computer. I called Ken and he suggested that perhaps the power supply had burned out, and that it would be a minor repair, roughly $50. I left the machine with him for a day.
Ken called back and reported that he had checked over my computer and it had been running for several hours with no problem. When I picked up the machine, I was overjoyed to learn that there would be no charge. He advised me to monitor the other components I had plugged in, such as the monitor, modem, and power bar to determine the source of the odor.

Before you call someone to repair your computer, ask around for the names of reliable, trustworthy repair people. Don’t take your computer to a stranger as the people did in the CBC TV Marketplace video at the link below:

http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/getting_gouged_by_geeks/

This meter locates the power thieves in your home

With the rising cost of electricity, it has become more important than ever to save energy. Today just about every wall socket in the home has something plugged into it. The trick is determining which appliances and electronic devices should be unplugged or possibly replaced. Now you can do this easily with a gadget called Kill- A -Watt.
Simply plug the Kill -A -Watt meter into the AC receptacle, plug the appliance into the meter and wait. The red button on the right side of the meter toggles back and forth between KWH and Hours and displays results on the LCD screen. The KWH number represents the kilowatt hours of power consumed by your appliance. For example, if you have a lamp with a 100-watt bulb in it and you run it for 10 hours, the meter will register 1.0 KWH, or 1000 watt-hours. The "hours" reading, of course, will register 10:00.
Take a look at one of your electricity bills. If your utility company charged 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, it would cost you 10 cents to operate your lamp for 10 hours. I tested the power transformer, which powers my cordless phone. I left the transformer plugged into the unit for 30 hours. The meter registered .09 kilowatt- hours. Over that period of 30 hours it cost .09 x 10 cents = .9 cents. So it uses roughly 1 cent per day worth of electricity. That doesn’t seem like much, but multiply 1 cent by all the little transformers a typical house contains and it can add up quickly.
Now you’re ready to calculate how much it costs to run that beer fridge out in the garage, or that old freezer in the basement. When you test a fridge, freezer or dehumidifier, appliances which cycle on and off during the day, be sure to leave the appliance plugged into the Kill -A -Watt unit for at least 24 hours, in order to get an accurate cost assessment. Some calculations will surprise you. You might be able to run your TV set for five hours for 5 cents. But that old freezer could cost you more than the value of the food you’re keeping in it, especially if it’s only half full.
The device has other functions, which are fully explained in the instruction sheet. One button will allow you to detect surges in power or brownout conditions, enabling you to unplug an electronic device in time to prevent damage to sensitive circuits.

Here is a link to the website of the manufacturer:

http://www.p3international.com/products/special/P4400/P4400-CE.html

Speeding in New York State will cost you plenty

Here in Ontario, Canada, many drivers blissfully sail down Highway 401 at speeds in excess of 100 km/h. A few of us blast along doing 140 km/h and more. It doesn’t appear that there is much fear of being caught. Perhaps that’s because we don’t expect a huge police presence on the 401. Many drivers are willing to take the risk. However, Canadian drivers speeding in New York State are in for a surprise. Ontario has a reciprocal agreement with The State of New York with regard to traffic offences. Speeding and other motor vehicle offences occurring in New York State will be treated as if they were committed in Ontario. In Ontario, speeding 50 km/h above the speed limit will get you six demerit points plus a fine. When you speed in New York State, you also get a speeding fine, but that is not the end of it. On November 18, 2004, New York State initiated a “Driver Responsibility Program”. One provision of this program stipulates that a driver who accumulates six demerit points within an 18-month period must pay $250 USD annually for three years on top of the speeding fine. How do you get six demerit points? They catch you going 31 mph above the speed limit. Unless you have a speedometer that displays your speed in miles per hour, you might have a problem keeping below that threshold. Maybe you're convinced you only went 25 mph above the limit. Are you going to argue with a New York State trooper at the side of the highway? No, you’ll probably just take the ticket and chalk it up to experience. About two weeks later, you will receive a letter in the mail advising you that your driving offence triggered your inclusion in the “Driver Responsibility Program”. They will want the $250.00 within thirty days. If you don’t pay, you could lose your Ontario Driver’s Licence. In addition, you will be getting two more annual bills for $250.00. The best thing to do is avoid the problem in the first place. Watch your speedometer. If it does not display speed in mph, just multiply by six and drop the last number. For example, at 100 km/h, you are going a bit over 60 mph. At 40 km/h, you are travelling at about 24 mph. Don’t be afraid—be prepared.

Free greeting and business card printing projects

Hewlett-Packard, the people who make HP printers, have an impressive creative printing section on their website, http://www.hp.com/united-states/ideahouse/?jumpid=ex_R602_go/ideahouse. Here are some examples of the projects you’ll be able to print: greeting cards for all occasions, business cards, envelope forms, invoice and letterhead templates; calendars; album, quilting and scrapbook templates; iron-on templates; labels and covers; invitations, stationery; CD and DVD labels; flyers; pet-sitting forms; a disaster preparedness kit, and a child safety identity kit. Another section of the site with more projects is located at http://www.hp.ca/portal/hho/. Click on the Creative Projects tab when you reach that page. It’s free and you don’t have to sign up. Happy printing!

Patio doors are cold in the winter

The patio door in the kitchen gets extremely cold in the winter. Turning up the heat has no noticeable effect. Curtains are not enough. The thin plastic film that people shrink into place using heat from a hairdryer gives little insulation value. I purchased two 2x8’ sheets of 5/8” plastic foam insulation and duct-taped them into place against the patio glass panes, on the outside surface. Using them on the inside surface of the glass would have created a toxic smoke and fire hazard, according to the label on the board. During cold snaps, the change in the temperature of the kitchen has been dramatic. It is now quite comfortable near the patio door. The furnace runs less frequently. The plastic foam boards don’t look pretty, but they’ll come off in the spring.

Your old dimmer switch may be wasting electricity

Older dimmer switches lowered the intensity of lighting, but were inefficient, throwing off excessive energy in the form of heat. Feel the panel on your dimmer switch. If it’s warm, replace it with a cool-running solid state dimmer switch.

Are you paying too much for auto insurance?

Insurance Hotline is a website that searches for the best rate for your car, based on your location and driving profile. Rates are available for Canada, the United States, and United Kingdom. Insurance companies are regulated by law and are obligated to sell policies with standard wording. Paying a higher rate will not get you a better policy. The leading insurance companies report their claims satisfaction at between 75-85 per cent. Paying a higher rate doesn’t get you better claims service. What surprised me was that rates can vary by up to $4000 among different companies.

The site also searches for quotes on other types of insurance, e.g. house, condo or tenant, ATV, motorcycle, boat, and pet.

Click here to learn more: http://www.insurancehotline.com/

It pays to be firm when you’re dealing with service providers

In November of 2004, I purchased a new furnace from a local heating company. The deal included three free cleaning/tune-ups. When I called in November of 2005, they told me that the new furnace would not need the first tune-up until January 2006, which made sense since the unit was brand new. The second tune-up occurred in February of 2007. Through an error in their scheduling, they did another tune-up in October of 2007. I did not notice the scheduling error until after the work had been completed and I had filed the technician’s report.

When I contacted the company, the scheduler informed me that, even though they had made an error, the work had been done and would count as the third free tune-up. I insisted that I had not realized the error until I had filed the technician’s report and should not be penalized for their error. The scheduler told me that she would have to speak with the manager and would get back to me. I calmly told her that if the manager did not make a decision fair to me, I would be canceling the new three-year service contract which the technician had arranged with me, and looking elsewhere for service. An hour later, I received a call from the scheduler informing me that they would be doing the third free tune-up in October of 2008 and extending the service contract until November of 2011. Polite insistence when you’ve been treated unfairly will usually get a positive resolution to your complaint.

Save money on buying books

Here are some ideas for saving money on books:

1. Buy books at Costco. People I know who buy several books a month claim to save many times the price of their store membership.

2. Submit titles of books you require to your local librarian. One avid reader I know has had almost all of her suggestions for titles purchased by the library.

3. Look for books at garage sales. I bought two books with a $9.95 cover price for 50¢ each, and they were in excellent shape.

4. Stores like Zellers and Sears often have “bargain bins”. I have seen beautifully-illustrated books with a cover price of $25.99 go for $7.95.

5. Online books stores, like Amazon.com, often sell used books for considerably less than new books.

6. Sometimes you see a non-fiction book that you’re interested in, but know that there are only two or three chapters out of thirty that you want to read. Find a Chapters or Indigo book store, sit in a comfortable chair and do your reading on the spot. But don’t do this too often—writers need to eat, too.

Sensible gift-giving hints

1. Often gifts that people give on occasions like birthdays and Christmas end up in rummage sales, stored for years in closets, or re-gifted to someone else. Avoid this situation by asking for a ten-item wish list from the person concerned. Suggest a dollar limit where possible.

2. At Christmas time, rather than each person in the family having to buy gifts for everyone else, draw names, set a cost ceiling and buy for one person. This will reduce financial pressure on everyone.

New street-racing law in Ontario, Canada proving costly for violators

Ontario has a new street-racing law which gives police more power to deal with speeding and other unsafe driving practices. The law will likely apply to drivers from other provinces and U.S. states where reciprocity agreements exist.

If you drive 50 kilometres over the speed limit, police have the power to impound your car for seven days (at your expense, roughly $1000), issue a minimum $2000 fine, and suspend your driver’s licence for seven days, with no right of appeal. The law covers other driving offences, such as unsafe lane changes, tailgating and not driving to suit the conditions, such as going over the speed limit in a snowstorm. Infractions also include any kind of "stunt" driving, such as popping wheelies or doing "doughnuts" by spinning your vehicles. Drivers who cut off other cars will fall under this law.

Judging by the number of drivers already caught by the new law, the upcoming Thanksgiving Day weekend could lead to an estimated 300 vehicles being impounded.
Police will have special “ghost” cars and aircraft to help spot violators. They will be watching for obvious street-racing and even “unintentional” speeding by drivers who fail to slow down through small towns and cities after leaving a 400 series highway.

http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/english/elaws_regs_070455_e.htm is a link to the new legislation.

Credit card security tips

1. Take a good look at the credit card receipt you receive from a merchant. Many now show only the last four digits of your card number. Others will show your entire card number as well as your expiry date. Be careful not to lose these on the street or discard them in your garbage or paper recycling box. Fraud artists would love to find them.

2. When you pay with your credit card in a restaurant, do the transaction at the register to avoid problems. If you hand your card to the server, be sure that you get your own card back. Once the card is out of your sight, someone could swipe it twice or run it through a copying device. This is especially important when you’re on vacation far from home.

Auto insurance money-saving tips

An article titled Top 5 auto insurance money-saving tips, supplied by News Canada, suggests the following ways to save:

1. Insure all your cars on the same policy in order to qualify for a “multi-car discount” which could be up to 10 per cent.
2. Insure your home and car with the same insurer to get a “multi-line” discount up to 10 per cent.
3. Increase the deductible from $500 to $1000, for example, to save from 5-10 percent on premiums. If you rarely make a claim, this would be a reasonable strategy.
4. When you’re shopping for a new car, choose a car that costs less to insure. Cars that are more likely to be stolen, involved in an accident, or more expensive to repair will cost more to insure. Get quotes from various insurance companies for the car that you prefer.
5. Shop around. Auto insurance premiums can differ by hundreds of dollars for the same car.

What to do with all those empty plastic produce bags

You can recycle them, of course, but why not put them to good use? Hang them in the car to collect trash. Secure them to your hands with a rubber band when you’re doing messy jobs around the house, like sealing the driveway, painting, and picking up dog dirt.
This allows you to cut down on the expense of vinyl gloves.

Canadians save money with the federal ecoENERGY program

Canadians who have an energy audit before they start renovating are eligible for federal government grants offered through Natural Resources Canada. For example, they could get up to $600 for installing an HRV (heat recovery ventilation) system, or up to $1000 for upgrading basement insulation. Complete details of the program and a downloadable brochure are available at this link: http://oee.nrcan.gc.ca/residential/personal/retrofit-homes/retrofit-qualify-grant.cfm?attr=4

Contact local heating and cooling specialists or home renovation contractors to participate in the program. They will arrange for a Certified Energy Advisor to perform specialized tests and procedures on your home in order to assess your current energy loss factors. Based on this information, they will draw up a proposal for energy-efficient renovations or “retrofits” to improve your home’s energy profile and derive the highest benefit from the government grant program for your specific application.

Canadians could save money by importing cars from the U.S.

Now that the loonie is reaching parity with the U.S. dollar, a number of websites have sprung up claiming that Canadians can save thousands of dollars on the purchase of a car by importing it from the U.S. One of these websites offers a step-by-step guide to the importing process for $19.99: http://www.ucanimport.com/products.aspx .

Before you buy that guide, you might want to download the free brochure from the Registrar of Imported Vehicles: http://www.riv.ca/english/html/how_to_import.html .

It appears to be a complicated process, fraught with the possibility of making costly errors. Your local Canadian automobile dealer may not be enthusiastic about servicing your vehicle while it’s under warranty. Warranties may be invalid in Canada. But if you can save $5000-$15,000, it might be worth the trouble. I’ll settle for shopping trips for clothes, small electronic appliances, and tools, or just wait for prices to drop here to match the U.S. border city prices.