Be Green - and Save Green - Keep Your Freezer Full

A full freezer takes less energy to keep cold than a freezer with lots of empty space. A full freezer will also stay cold longer if you have a power outage.

If you have any empty space in your freezer, fill empty plastic containers with water and place in freezer. It's easy to pull them out to make room for food when you grocery shop.

It Pays To Know - Harris Teeter's Coupon Policy

•Harris Teeter accepts 20 double coupons per day per customer/household with VIC card; all others redeemed at face value. No orders may be separated that would allow the 20 coupon limit to be exceeded.

•Harris Teeter doubles manufacturer’s coupons up to face value of $0.99; with total amount not to exceed $1.98 or entire retail of item; whichever is less.

•Harris Teeter doubles up to three identical items with manufacturer coupon; additional coupons for like item will be honored at face value.

•No internet coupons will be doubled or tripled. No competitor coupons will be doubled or tripled.

A Great Little Budget Tip! Little Splurges Add Up

Give up all those little vices like bottle water, vending machine snacks, fancy coffee drinks, etc. for a quick shot in the arm for your budget.

Just $5 a day adds up to a savings of $1,825 a year.

Be Green - and Save Green - with Programmable Thermostats

Save $40 off your utility bill this year just by turning down your thermostat by 2 degrees.

Or, install a programmable thermostat to automatically use less A/C or heat while you're at work and asleep, and expect to save about $180 per year on energy bills.

Home thermostats are easy to install yourself, too! Check out this handy website that walks you through the installation in seven easy steps, as well as how to select a thermostat, how to properly set and use your thermostat,and more.

BONUS: Installing a digital, programmable thermostat in your home will avert about 1,800 pounds of air-polluting CO2 per year. If 10,000 people install programmable thermostats, in a year we'll prevent the CO2 created from the overall energy of 450 Americans during that year.

Beware of Gift Cards

If you haven't already heard, a lot of retail businesses will be closing by the first of the year. Some companies are going completely out of business. A lot of retailers are closing poor performing stores, or stores in more economically depressed areas throughout the country.

I have compiled a list of currently known chains that have announced that they will be going out of business and/or closing stores by the first of the year. This list will probably get bigger by the end of the year because some retailers are waiting to see how they do with holiday sales before making a decision to close.

The good news is that you can probably get some really good deals at the stores and/or chains that are closing.

The bad news is that you should probably reconsider purchasing gift cards for Christmas this year. And, if you currently have gift cards, it would probably be a good idea to use them as soon as possible.

Personally, I plan to use all of the gift cards that I have, regardless of the company that they are with, before the end of the year.

Going Out of Business/Bankruptcy

Circuit City

CompUSA

Friedman’s Jewelers

Goodbye Levitz

KB Toys

Lillian Vernon (catalog retailer)

Linens and Things

Pep Boys

Sharper Image

Value City Discount Department Stores

Whitehall Jewelers

Wickes Furniture

Store Closures

84 Lumber

Ann Taylor

Ann Taylor LOFT

Banana Republic

Bombay Company – (1 physical store & all online sales)

Cache

Catherines

Catherines Plus Sizes

Children’s Place

Dell

Dillard’s

Disney Stores

Eddie Bauer

Ethan Allan

Fashion Bug

Foot Locker

Gap

Gordon’s Jewelers

Hollywood Video

Home Depot

It’s Gotta Go

J. Jill

J.C. Penney

Kirklands

Lane Bryant

LOFT

LOFT Outlet Stores

Lonestar Steakhouse

Lowes

Macy’s

Mappins Jewelers

Movie Gallery

Office Depot

Old Navy

PacSun

People’s Jewelers

Pier 1 Imports

Piercing Pagoda

Rite Aid – (28 stores in Nevada)

Saks – (1 store in Ft. Lauderdale)

Sprint Nextel Corp

Starbucks

Steve and Barry’s

Talbots

The Charming Shoppes

Urban Interiors

Wilson’s Leather

Zales Jewelers

Zales Outlet

If you do get stuck with a gift card that you can’t use because the stores in your area have closed, you may not have a total loss. You may be able to sell or trade your unusable gift cards on eBay, Cardavenue, Gift Card Buy Back, Plastic Jungle or Swapagift.com. Be prepared to get less than the balance available with your sale or trade though. Or you may be able to get the full value of the card by using it for an online purchase with the company that issued it.

Holiday Cash (or How to Make Extra Money)

The holidays are a financial strain for most people anyway; add in the current struggling economic woes, and most of us have even less cash for holiday gifts and festivities than usual. If you find your Christmas list larger than your budget, you can try these last minute cash generators to help ease the crisis. Or, if your Christmas shopping is done, you may want to seize this opportunity to put a little extra something in your bank account to help tide you over the next few months.

1. Have a yard sale.

I know that Christmas isn’t the time that most people think of having yard sales, but this year just may be the exception. Everyone is looking for a good deal this year, so more people are open to alternatives to the big mall prices. Plus, there are the dedicated yard sale shoppers who have limited “shopping opportunities” this time of the year. This may actually be the best time to have a yard sale that you’ll get for a while.

If the weather is just too bad where you are to have a yard sale…

2. Take your stuff to a flea market.

Most area’s have an indoor flea market of some kind, and again, you have the dedicated flea market shoppers who are out in full force this time of the year looking for a bargain. Some people go to flea markets for inexpensive entertainment, and if something catches their eye, they will spend more on a spontaneous purchase than they might otherwise. If you have some bigger ticket items, this may just be the outlet you’re looking for to unload them.

3. Sell on eBay.

eBay is always a great outlet for selling the unwanted and unused items around your home. Granted things are selling as well on this online auction giant’s sight like they did even a year ago, but it’s still possible to make some extra cash if you price it right from the start, and offer shipping at cost. Your best bet here is with new, popular, or collector’s items.

4. Gather your books.

Cash4books.net buys books in good condition at a fair price. I’ve sold some books here myself, and got more money for them than I would have anywhere else. Type in your books’ ISBN numbers and see what they will buy. Complete the transaction online, print out a prepaid mailing label, pack up the books and send them off. In just a few days you will receive your choice of either a check in the mail or a deposit to your PayPal account. It doesn’t cost you a cent – not even for postage. (When I sold my books they gave me a bonus for using PayPal.)

5. Put it on consignment.

This is sometimes the best place to sell larger items, like furniture, and high ticket items such as designer clothes, antiques, and jewelry. Keep in mind that you will only collect if the item sells, and you only get a percentage of the selling price. Make sure you find out what their pricing, discounts, length of time they will keep an item, and unsold items policies are. You don’t want to find out after 90 days that they donated your Wedgewood china to the Salvation Army, and you don’t even get the write-off!

Which brings me to my final suggestion…

6. Forget the cash.

Donate your unwanted items to charity and take a tax write-off. It’s not money in your pocket right now, but it does mean that you will have a larger tax refund at the first of the year. And that may just be worth more than you could get at a yard sale anyway. To get everything you are entitled to for your donations, check the up-to-date lists of fair market values at TurboTax’s itsdeductible.com and use the free online software to track your donations. Don’t forget to take pictures and collect your tax receipt!