To many people credit cards are a necessary evil. Using credit cards unwisely can lead to significant debt, exorbitant monthly payments and eventual financial trouble.

On the other hand, credit in general and credit cards specifically provide access to many of the material things we count on to provide us with a better life, and unless you have an ample supply of cash on hand, credit will play a significant role in your life. Credit allows access to large purchases and good credit affords the same buying power at better rates of interest.

When used correctly, credit cards can make some of these large purchases or improve credit by demonstrating a positive credit history over an extended period of time.

At different points in your life, you may find yourself looking for a credit card. There are countless types of cards with varied benefits, so when you apply for a credit card, consider your circumstances and the kind of card that best fits your situation. The Low Interest Credit Cardsare reserved for those with good credit. These cards typically offer low rates, low fees, and potential rewards for making purchases.

Some cards provide a combination of these benefits so it is important to determine what fits your needs the best and make your choice accordingly. Good personal credit will ensure you plenty of appropriate options so you can afford to be selective.

If your credit is already damaged, your priorities may be slightly different. Instead of choosing the best card, the challenge may be to find and be approved for a Low Interest Credit Card—a credit card for someone with bad credit. Despite the bad credit, there are still options. A traditional card may work, but if not, you can still rely on applying for a secured credit card. This card secured by a cash deposit allows you to rebuild bad credit and work your way towards better deals and a borrowing position of strength.

Finally, if you own a business and need available credit for operating funds or business purchases, there are plenty of good Low Interest Credit Cards. Many of the benefits available for consumer cards are also offered to commercial clients as well. Many businesses just need the convenience credit provides so they make purchases and then pay balances monthly. This is the ideal way to use credit because balances don’t carry over into the next month. If purchases are paid for within the card’s stated grace period, interest is not charged and so these purchases are essentially interest free.

A business card becomes even more beneficial if it is a rewards card because every dollar spent accumulates points or credit that can be used for other purchases like airline tickets, free fuel, gift cards, or cash back.

The best case scenario is to use credit cards for convenience, pay the balance monthly to avoid interest, accumulate rewards that can be used for bonus purchases, and ultimately build good credit that makes future borrowing a better and cheaper proposition.

Sites like treesfullofmoney.com can be a useful resource to educate you on the positives and negatives of credit and can also give personal perspective on the pitfalls of credit if used unwisely.

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Last week I received an email from a reader sharing her success removing late payments from her credit reports using my sample “Goodwill Letter”.  Today I am republishing her message with the hopes it will inspire other readers.

I wanted to send you a note thanking you for your help and your information posted on your blog.

I am trying to repair my credit in anticipation of qualifying for a home loan purchase and had gone thru a rough patch when I had some late pays (30, 60, 90’s) on a few credit cards.

My husband had just finished grad school and was unemployed, I was out on maternity leave and then we moved 700 miles to be back home after my husbands graduation to be closer to family and for a prospective job for him.

Anyway, these late payments had really hurt my credit – and I could see now way around them. One day (luckily for me)I came across your blog and the sample letter you provided to request “a goodwill credit repair.”

I copied it, rewrote some of it & then sent it off – really without much hope, but thinking “why not?” in requesting to get these late payments removed from my credit reports. And guess what?! The letters WORKED!

It didn’t get all of my late pays removed, some credit card companies denied my request right away, but in other cases, primarily Capital One – I’d say 50% of the requests were approved!

Your sample letter got them removed and cleared off my credit bureaus! THANK YOU so much for providing that letter – it helped me take back some control of my credit and made me feel so much confident in being an active participant in how my creditors VIEW and TREAT ME. Thanks again & keep up the good work!

Stop cold drafts in your fireplace with a fireplace ballon plug!

Sixty-five percent, or over 100 million homes, in North America are constructed with wood or gas burning fireplaces. Unfortunately there are negative side effects that the fireplace brings to a home, especially during the winter heating season. Fireplaces are energy losers.

Researchers have studied this to determine the amount of heat loss through a fireplace, and the results are amazing. One research study showed that an open damper on an unused fireplace in a well-insulated house can raise overall heating-energy consumption by 30 percent.

A recent study showed that for many consumers, their heating bills may be more than $500 higher per winter due to the drafts and wasted energy caused by fireplaces.

Why does a home with a fireplace have higher energy bills? Your chimney is an opening that leads directly outdoors — just like an open window. Even if the damper is shut, it is not air-tight. Glass doors don’t stop the drafts either. The fireplace is like a giant straw sucking your expensive heated or air-conditioned air right out of your house!

An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a Fireplace Plug to your fireplace. A Fireplace Plug is an inflatable pillow that seals the fireplace damper, eliminating drafts, odors, and noise. The pillow is removed whenever the fireplace is used, then reinserted after.

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The following article has been prepared as a step by step guide on how to conduct a do it yourself home energy audit. It is not my intention to replace the services offered by a professional energy evaluator; instead this article shall serve as a DIY guide for families that (for what ever reason) choose not to hire a professional at this time.

Identify Air Leaks (Drafts) In Your Home
Stopping cold air drafts in your home is essential to maximizing the efficiency of your home’s heating and cooling system. According to the US Department of Energy, the potential energy savings from reducing drafts in your home can range from 5% to 30% per year. It has been estimated that the average home has 10 square feet of cracks and gaps it’s exterior wall construction (the equivalent of having a large window or door open all day long throughout the winter months).

One advantage a professional energy auditor has in determining air leaks in your home is the use of a “blower door”. A blower door is an air tight liner that seals off inside an exterior door frame. Built into this liner is a powerful fan that blows air from inside your home outward. This creates a vacuum on the inside of your home magnifying the ingress of cold air from the outside making it easier for the auditor to identify and draft sources in your home.

You may not have the luxury of a blower door, but you can create a similar condition in your home by simply closing all windows, doors, and hatches in your home and turning on your bathroom and kitchen exhaust fans (if you have them). If your home does not have exhaust fans, another technique is to position a box fan in a window and seal the gaps around the window frame and fan housing with cardboard, blankets, or other material.

Once you have created a “vacuum” in your home be sure to check these areas of your home where air leaks (drafts) are most common:

Electrical Outlets:
Electrical outlets along exterior walls are notorious for allowing cold drafts from the outside in. The reason is there is typically inadequate insulation between the electrical box and the exterior of the building. A quick solution is installing child safety guards over the plugs to eliminate any drafts, and spraying some foaming sealant around the outside of the gain box to improve its insulating properties.

Light Switch Plates:
Switch plates along exterior walls can be just as problematic as the electrical outlets described above and can be dealt with the same way.

Laundry Dryer Vent:
Dryer vents use a sheet-metal flapper to reduce drafts. On windy days, you may hear these flappers banging off its frame. This is very primitive technology and does not provide a positive seal to stop air from leak back into the house. Compounding the problem is that over time, lint clogs the flapper valve causing it to stay open.

Most likely you will feel cold air around your dryer; you can remedy this problem by installing an Energy Saving Clothes Dryer Vent Seal. The vent will remain closed unless the dryer is in use saving energy. When the dryer is in use, a floating shuttle rises to allow warm air, lint and moisture to escape.

Window and Window Frames:
If you have older windows in your home and can’t afford to replace them (or you rent), a great alternative is to seal the windows with plastic film and tape. You can buy kits from most home improvement stores for under $10 that will cover an averaged sized house and reduce heat loss through your windows by 15% or more.

In addition to the plastic film, you may want to caulk around the window trim boards if you feel any drafts around the window frame itself.

Weather Stripping Around Doors:
Check for any air leaks around the edges of your exterior doors. There is a good chance that your doors weather stripping is either out of place or damaged and in need of replacement. Installing new weather stripping on your doors is a simple project that can be complete in a few minutes for less than $10.

Another good test to determine if there are gaps in your door’s weather stripping is to get a flash light and shine it along the cracks from the outside once it gets dark. Have a person on the inside of the door with the inside house lights off as well. Follow along the edge of the door while the person on the inside looks for any light penetration. If any light gets though the edges of the door, you can bet that cold air will find its way in too.

Fireplace Dampers:
Your chimney is an opening that leads directly outdoors. Even if the damper is shut, it is not air-tight. Glass doors don’t stop the drafts either. The fireplace is like a giant straw sucking your expensive heated or air-conditioned air right out of your house!

An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to install a Fireplace Plug . A Fireplace Plug is an inflatable pillow that seals the fireplace damper, eliminating drafts, odors, and noise. The pillow is removed whenever the fireplace is used, then reinserted after.

Attic Hatches:
When attic stairs are installed, a large hole (approximately 10 square feet) is created in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be removed, leaving only a thin, unsealed, sheet of plywood.

An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add an insulated Attic Stair Cover which are available in various sizes to fit your attic hatch’s dimensions. An attic stair cover seals the stairs, stopping drafts and energy loss. A more cost effective method would be to simply g
lue or stable a rigid piece of insulation to the back side of the hatch and put some weather stripping around the edges.

Wall or Window Mounted Air Conditioners:
Make sure you remove your window mounted air conditions before the cold winter months get into full swing! If you have wall mounted air conditions make sure you block off the ventilation duct and seal it with a Fan Shutter Seal or similar material to keep the cold air drafts out!

Insulation
When your home was built, the builder most likely installed the minimum amount of insulation recommended at the time. If your home is more than 5 years old, there is a good chance that the insulation levels are not ideal especially given today’s high energy prices.

Before you seal your attic hatch as recommended above, there are a couple of things you can do in your attic to imrove your home’s insulation factor. Peak into your attic and check to see whether openings for items such as pipes, duct work, and chimneys are sealed off. Seal any gaps with an expanding foam caulk or some other permanent sealant. If your attic has no floor and exposed trusses, be very careful if you need to move around to get a view of any hard to see areas.

While you are inspecting the attic, check to see if there is a vapor barrier under the attic insulation. Most insulation “batts” have at least one side that is coated with moisture resistant paper. If there does not appear to be a vapor barrier, you might consider painting the interior ceilings with vapor barrier paint. This reduces the amount of water vapor that can pass through the ceiling. Large amounts of moisture can reduce the effectiveness of insulation and promote structural damage.

You should also check that the your attic’s vents are not blocked by insulation, and seal any ceiling fan or light boxes with expandable foam sealant similar to the electrical outlet and light switch project mentioned in the previous section. Finally, cover the entire attic floor with at least the current recommended amount of insulation.

Now it’s time to check the exterior walls of your home for proper insulation. Select an exterior wall and turn off the circuit breaker or unscrew the fuse for any outlets in the wall. Be sure to test the outlets to make certain that they are not “hot” (you may want to get someone to help you if you are not comfortable with this task). Check the outlet by plugging in a functioning lamp or portable radio.

Once you are sure your outlets are not getting any electricity, remove the cover plate from one of the outlets and gently probe into the wall with a thin, long stick or screwdriver. If you encounter a slight resistance, you have some insulation there.

Many professional auditors will make a small hole in a closet, behind a couch, or in some other unobtrusive place to see what, if anything, the wall cavity is filled with. Ideally, the wall cavity should be totally filled with some form of insulation material. Unfortunately, this method cannot tell you if the entire wall is insulated, or if the insulation has settled. A professional may use an infrared camera to determine energy deficiencies in your home’s exterior wall insulation.

If your basement is unheated, determine whether there is insulation under the living area flooring. In most areas of the country, an R-value of 25 is the recommended minimum level of insulation. The insulation at the top of the foundation wall and first floor perimeter should have an R-value of 19 or greater. If the basement is heated, the foundation walls should be insulated to at least R-19. Your water heater, hot water pipes, and furnace ducts should all be insulated. Be sure to check out my guide to maximizing the efficiency of your hot water system.

Heating/Cooling Equipment
Ensure that your home’s heating and cooling systems are maintained as recommended by the manufacturer. It is also a good idea to have a HVAC professional inspect your homes equipment on an annual basis.

If your home is heated or cooled by forced air, check your filters and replace them as needed. As a general rule of thumb, air filters should be checked at least once a month and replaced about every three.

If your homes furnace or air conditioning unit is more than 15 years old, you may consider replacing it with a more efficient model. There have been tremendous advancements in HVAC equipment over the last decade and the expense of adding a new system can be recouped in only a few short years in the form of less expensive energy bills.

If fitted, you should inspect your home’s duct work for signs of leaks, especially near seams. A tell tale sign is streaks of dust or lint along the duct work. Any signs of air leakage should be remedied with a good quality duct tape.

It is also important to insulate any ducts or pipes that travel through unheated spaces. An insulation R-Value of 6 is the recommended minimum.

Your Home’s Lighting:
According to the US Department of Energy, lighting accounts for 10% of the average home’s electric bill. The best way to reduce the energy use of your home’s lighting, take a look at the wattage size of the light bulbs in your house. You may have 100-watt (or larger) bulbs where a 15 watt compact fluorescent light bulb will suffice. Get into the habit of turning lights off in rooms that are not in use. I need to do a better job of this myself and set an example for my kids!

Good luck, and don’t forget to leave a comment below with any additional suggestions or techniques!

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If you work for a publicly traded company, you may be eligible to participate in an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP). For some employees this might be a very lucrative opportunity, but you must ensure that you understand all of the risks (and benefits) of your particular plan before you “opt in”.

The IRS allows publicly traded companies to offer Employee Stock Purchase Plans (also known as 423 plans) to employees. Generally, employees are allowed to purchased a certain amount of shares per year at a discount off current market prices.

The assumption behind such plans is that employees who have a financial stake in their place of employment will have a “vested” interest in the performance of the company and perform their jobs with more passion!

To an inexperienced investor, the prospect of investing a large portion of your salary in your company’s stock may be a little intimidating. Just ask a former Enron employee about the risk of having too much of your portfolio in one company.

If you are undecided on whether or not to participate in your company’s stock purchase program, you may be interested in reading my personal experience participating in the plan that my employer offers.

The highlights of my company’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan are as follows.

1) Before the beginning of a new year, I elect a certain percentage of my paycheck to be applied into my ESPP account. During the course of the year this percentage is deducted from my paycheck on an after tax basis and deposited in an interest bearing account established through my company’s ESPP administrator.

2) At the end of the year the proceeds that have accumulated in my account are then used to purchase stock at a 15% discount off of either the companies opening stock price at the beginning of the year or closing stock price on the last day of the year (which ever is lower).

Let’s say I signed up for my company’s plan at the end of 2009 for 2010.

On the first trading day of 2010 the company’s stock was trading at $40, and on the last trading day of 2010 the company’s stock was trading at $80.

My payroll deductions will be used to purchase my company’s stock at a 15% discount off the $40 share price (because it is lower than the year’s closing price).

I am able to pay $34 a share and immediately turn around and sell it(sometimes called “flipping”) for $80 a share.

On the other hand, if the company stock started at $80 in the beginning of 2010 and ended the year at $40 I would still have the advantage of paying $34 for the stock that I can then quickly sell for $40.

It is virtually a no lose situation and the potential benefits are huge.

What Are The Risks:
There is always that possibility that the day you take “ownership” of your shares the company stock takes a plunge. Theoretically the share price could plummet more that 15% over the few short days that it takes for you to sell your shares. For me this risk was worth taking even though I am otherwise against investing in individual shares.

Some financial advisers are critical of people like myself who immediately “flip” their ESPP shares. They argue that it defeats the purpose of giving ownership of the company to the employees so that they will perform better. I disagree, even though I did not directly own the shares over the course of the year (2010) my bottom line was directly reflected by how well the company stock price performed over this period, thus giving me the incentive to “work harder”.

Remember, you are buying the stock with money that you have already paid taxes on but you will be responsible for either short term capital gains or long term capital gains on any profit you make out of the transaction. Be sure to consult with your own tax professional regarding any financial consequences of participating in your company’s Employee Stock Purchase Plan.

In order to see the fruition of most financial strategies, you have to be patient. Paying down debt and building wealth do not happen over night. However, there are a few things that you can do today to help accelerate your progress. The following is a list of actions that will have an immediate positive impact on your financial situation and free up cash.

Sell Unused Items: Look around your house (or storage unit) for items that you rarely use. There is a good chance that you have a few items that might be of value to other individuals that you can sell on EBay, Craigslist, or in your local classified paper. Old bicycles, musical instuments, sports equipment, clothing, tools, and furniture are always in demand.

Reduce Your Utility Bills: Contact your cable, internet, and phone providers and tell them that you are considering an alternate service provider who is offering a better price. I recently got my cable company to honor a 6 month $29.99 service special that was “only” for new customers. You man also consider downgrading your service plan, or canceling it all together if you are desperate to free up cash now.

Get a Second Job: Depending on your location, there are usually a variety of part time job opportunities available to anyone willing to work. From delivering pizza to cleaning houses, the possibilities are endless. Who knows, you might even be able to turn your hobby into a part time job.

Downgrade Your Vehicle: If you’re driving around in an expensive car and your priorities have shifted to becoming more financially stable, you may consider selling it. Even if you are significantly “upside down” in your current automobile, selling it may be a wise thing to do.

Sell Your Recreational Toys: One of the first things that we did when we began eliminating our debt was my sell my motorcycle. You may have a boat, RV, 4wheeler, or other recreational motor craft that is holding you back from reaching your financial goals. Don’t worry, when you are debt free you can pay cash for a nicer “toy”.

Maximize Your Vehicles Fuel Efficiency: With the price of gas climbing, even a marginal increase in fuel efficiency can free up extra cash in your budget. No matter how fuel efficient your vehicle may be, you can always benefit from my popular tips on improving your vehicles fuel efficiency.

Reduce Impulsive Purchases: Maintain a shopping list of the items that you need. Going unprepared to the local Wal-Mart or grocery store can cost you a fortune in impulsive spending.

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With energy prices creeping back up, and the sustainability of our environment in question, I thought that it would be beneficial to share some of the energy saving tips that I have picked up over the years.

Depending on your location (hot or cold climate), some of the energy saving tips below may have little affect on your homes energy consumption, while providing significant energy savings for others. If you find the following tips and advice helpful, please forward a link to this article to your family and friends!

Appliances

Insulate Hot Water Lines/Air Ducting:
Insulating air ducting, exposed copper and PVC hot water lines in your home (especially in a basement) will save energy and money. Most local home improvement stores will sell specially formed insulation that fits snuggly over the existing hot water lines or air ducting in your home.

Insulate Your Hot Water Heater:
If you have an older hot water heater in your home, you may benefit from purchasing a hot water heater jacket or “blanket”. This device will further insulate your hot water unit and prevent heat from the water from escaping out into the surrounding air. Over time your heater will run less frequently saving energy and money. According to the Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings, installing a water heater jacket can save 4-9% on your hot water heating bills.

Turn Down Your Hot Water Heater:
Many homes have their hot water heaters adjusted to 140 degrees or more when 120 degrees is more than adequate for most applications. Every 10 degrees you turn down your hot water heater’s thermostat will result in a 3-5% decrease in energy costs.

Clean Air Filters and Lint Traps:
Ensuring that your homes ventilation system has clean air filters (if applicable) maximizes your furnaces energy efficiency. New filters typically cost a couple of bucks and should be checked every month or so during the heating season.

Install Low Flow Faucets and Showerheads:
The less hot water you use, the less hot water you have to heat. Installing low-flow faucets and showerheads will have an immediate impact on your hot water heaters energy consumption.

Take Shorter Showers:
Need I say any more on this topic?

Keep Your Refrigerator and Freezer Full:
Your refrigerator and freezer will run less often and more efficiently when it is packed full of food. Freezing gallon jugs of water in your freezer will not only keep your freezer running less often, it will also help to keep your food frozen should you lose power for an extended period of time.

Do Full Loads of Laundry:
As obvious as this may sound, many households continue to do partial loads of laundry which significantly increases the operating costs of their washing machines. Even the latest energy efficient washing machines that self adjust based on the volume of the load will run more efficiently at full loads, saving water, energy, and money.

Reuse Your Towels:
Some of the bulkiest items in our laundry are towels. Generally speaking, there is no reason that a towel cannot be reused several times before it needs to be washed. Unless of course you are not thoroughly cleaning yourself in the shower!

Hang Your Clothes to Dry:
Buying a portable clothes rack to be used inside your home is one of the most effective ways to save energy in your home. It usually takes 24 hours (depending on your climate) for your clothes to dry on a rack, and as an additional benefit, your clothes will look nice and last longer since they are not subjected to the added wear from “tumbling” in a hot dryer.

One of my co-workers actually rerouted the dryer vent back into his home so that he wouldn’t lose any heat outside the house. I cannot recommend this but it stands as a testament to the lengths some people will go to fight the ever increasing cost of energy.

Clean Out Your Dryer’s Lint Trap:
Your clothes dryer will not run efficiently if the lint trap is full of lint. Cleaning out the trap after every load maximizes the air flow through the unit reducing the amount of time (and energy) that it takes to dry your clothes.

Set Your Washing Machine to Use “Cold” or “Cool” Water:
With very few exceptions, I’ve found that using the cold water setting on our washing machine is just as effective as using warm or hot water. Additionally, the cold water prevents your clothing’s colors from running and helps prevent shrinking as well.

Wash Your Dishes By Hand:
Today’s households are significantly lacking when it comes to having extra time, however washing your dishes by hand (though time consuming) is at least 50% more efficient than using a dish washing machine, unless of course you fill up your sink with hot water only to wash a couple of dishes.

Pay Attention to Your Dishwasher’s Settings:
Many dish washers (including mine) have several settings that waste a significant amount of energy.

Heat Dry: Instead of circulating your homes air throughout the machine to dry the dishes, the heat dry feature uses an energy consuming heating element to bake your dishes dry. Not only does this feature use more energy, but it can also have an adverse affect on some of your more delicate plastic bowls and cups.

Hot Water Booster or “Sanitation Mode”: Although it uses more energy, heat boosters on dishwashers actually save energy and money by allowing you to turn the thermostat down on your hot water heater. As mentioned above, every 10 degrees you lower your hot water heater results in a 3-5% decrease in the units energy consumption.

Purchase Energy Star Rated Appliances:
The federal government has set minimal efficiency standards for various household appliances. Appliances with an Energy Star rating typically exceed these federal standards by a substantial amount. Energy Star appliances cost more money but will invariably pay for themselves in operating costs, and lower environmental impact, over their projected life spans.

Unplug Unused Chargers and Power Strips:
Unused power strips and chargers still consume small amount of energy even when they are not charging anything. Many people have had success using a single power strip and connecting all of their cell phone, Ipods, and other electronic device chargers to the strip. When the chargers are not being used they simply turn off the power on the power strip.

Turn Off Unused Appliances:
It has been well documented that setting your computer to sleep, can save a surprising amount of energy. Your computer’s printer, speakers, monitor, router, and other peripherals all use energy even when your computer is turned off. Additionally, your home’s audio and video equipment, coffee maker, and other appliances all consume a small (but noticeable) amount of electricity even when not in use.

Install a Programmable Thermostat:
Usually, there is no need to maintain your homes temperature at 70 degrees 24 hours a day. A programmable thermostat allows homeowners to program their furnaces or air conditioners to come on only when the home (or specific rooms in the home) is like
ly to be occupied. Programmable thermostats are relatively inexpensive and easy to install.

Home Heating and Cooling

Turn Your Thermostat Down:
Dropping your thermostat’s setting down 2 degrees saves a noticeable amount of money in your home heating and cooling bills. Every degree that you lower your thermostat results in 2% decrease in your home’s heating bill.

Get Your HVAC Unit Serviced:
An annual inspection of your homes furnace or air conditioning system will ensure that the unit is running as efficiently as possible. A licensed technician may also be able to repair minor problems before they escalate into major problems in the future.

Clean Baseboard Heaters and Radiators:
If your home uses baseboard water heaters or radiators, make sure that you vacuum any excess dirt and grime off of them. Also, be careful not to let furniture, drapes, or other obstructions block your homes baseboard heaters and radiators.

Add More Heating Zones to Home:
Many homes only have one or two “zones”. If you have a larger home with many unoccupied rooms, you may want to consider adding additional “zones” to your heating system. This will allow you to control which rooms you want to focus your heat in. There is no need to heat bedrooms that you don’t use. Depending on your home’s furnace arraignment, this upgrade may cost anywhere from a $100-500.

Replace Old Windows With Energy Efficient Models:
According to the Consumer’s Guide to Home Energy Savings about 1/3 of a homes heat loss is through its windows and doors. Although replacing windows in your home can get expensive ($400 or more installed for each one) they will typically pay for themselves in only a few short years. Generally speaking, the older your current windows, the more you will save by replacing them.

Add More Insulation:
Check for proper insulation in your attic, and basement. According to the US Department of Energy, only 20% of homes built before 1980 are properly insulated. Crawling up into your attic and rolling out more insulation is a fairly simple task and can save you a bundle in home heating bills. You can also lose a significant amount of heat through your home’s basement foundation walls. To learn more about exactly how much insulation you should have in your home check out the Department of Energy’s Insulation Calculator Program.

Install Door Sweeps:
In homes with unfinished basements, there is a great likelihood that you are letting cold air in from underneath the door leading down into your basement. This can easily be remedied with the installation of a door sweep. Door sweeps can be purchased for a few dollars at most home improvement stores or can be made yourself by cutting up some old weather stripping, or other rubber material you may have lying around your house.

“Winterize” Your Older Windows
If you have older windows in your home and can’t afford to replace them (or you rent), a great alternative is to seal the windows with plastic film and tape. You can buy kits from most home improvement stores for under $10 that will do an average sized house. They don’t look attractive but older draft windows properly winterized can reduce your energy loss by 15% or more.

Learn How to Use Your Window Shades Properly

During the Cooler Months: Leave the window shades on the south facing side of your house open (north facing side in southern hemisphere) to let the warm sun light in. At night keep your window shades closed to help keep the warmth from being reabsorbed outside.

During the Warmer Months: Leave the window shades on the south facing side of your house closed to keep the sun’s warmth from radiating into your home. Apply reflective sun-control or solar shade material to your windows to help keep the sun’s solar energy out of your home.

Get a Portable Space Heater:
If you heat your home with heating oil or other petroleum based products, you undoubtedly noticed a significant increase in your home’s heating costs. One effective way to combat this is to purchase small portable 1500 watt heaters and use them to heat the areas of your home that you spend the most time in. Set your furnace’s thermostat to 60 degrees and plug one of these heaters in an outlet in the room that you spend most of your time in.

Ceiling Fans Can Save Huge Amounts of Money:
I can’t say enough about the benefits of installing ceiling fans in your home. They are energy efficient and significantly improve the comfort level of any room they are in. Even if your home has air conditioning, a properly utilized ceiling fan can save you a significant amount energy costs.

Install a Geothermal Heating and Cooling System:
If you have a fairly large budget, perhaps the greatest thing that you can do around your home to save energy is to install a geothermal heating and cooling system (ground source heat pump) to regulate the temperature of your home. These unit are expensive to install ($15000 and up) but can pay for themselves in only a few short years. Your state may also have various incentives for the installation of geothermal heating and cooling systems.

You may also be interested in my do it yourself geothermal cooling system, all you need is a basement, a fan, and a dehumidifier.

Install a Solar Water Heater:
For a relatively modest investment (typically $2500-3500 installed) a solar powered hot water heater can generate 2/3 or more of your homes yearly water heating needs saving the average homeowner over $240 a year in home energy costs. A solar powered water heater will typically pay for itself in 10 years but the environmental savings start as soon as the unit is put online.

Install Child Safe Outlet Protectors:
Not only do these devices prevent your children from sticking metal objects in the receptacles (YIKES), they also help keep out cold winter drafts, especially along exterior walls in your home. There is less insulation behind these receptacles because of the hollow plastic (or metal) outlet box that is housing the electrical wires. I first realized this in an apartment I was renting in Quincy, MA. My wife and I kept feeling a draft running through our newly constructed apartment. After some hunting around I discovered a chilling breeze billowing in through two of the power outlets on the wall. At the time I just used duct tape to seal them off, but outlet protectors work just as well.

Home Lighting

Install Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL):
Replacing a singe 75 watt incandescent light bulb with an equally bright 20 watt CFL will save you over $50 in energy and replacement costs over the life of the bulb. Read more on compact fluorescent light bulbs.

Turn Off Lights When Not in Use:
This is another master of the obvious tip however, my wife still reminds me constantly to turn off the lights when I am done working in the basement, garage, or some other area in the house. I am willing to bet that I am not the only one in the world that forgets to turn off the lights when leaving a room.

Pu
rchase Solar Powered Landscape Lighting:
Many people like the security of having outside lighting during the darkness of night. Unfortunately, these outside lights can be expensive to run and in many cases (myself included) the homeowner will forget to turn these lights off during the daylight hours. One simple way to combat this problem is with inexpensive solar battery powered landscape lights. These lights can be purchased from most home improvement stores for less than $30 a set and not only will they save you money, they will enhance the ambience of your home!

Install Motion Sensors on Your Outside Lights:
If solar powered battery landscaping lights are not an option for you and you want the security that powerful outside lighting provides, consider fitting your current outside lights with motion sensors. These are especially beneficial mounted above your garage door, or driveway when coming home at night. One word of caution on these, it can be freaky in the middle of the night when an “animal” trips the lights on.

Related Articles:
An Explanation of how Geothermal Heat Pump Systems Work
Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF): Green Building Technology
Do It Yourself (DIY) Geothermal Cooling System
Should You Pre-Buy Your Home Heating Oil This Year?
Do It Yourself Home Energy Audits
36 Ways to Reduce Your Home’s Energy Use

If you’ve been reading Trees Full of Money for a while, you may already know that I work on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.  In 2003, my company gave me the opportunity to write and record a song based on my experiences and I was more than happy to oblige. 

The song is about no one in particular (especially not me), but since releasing it 5 years ago I have received dozens of compliments from individuals thanking me for capturing their ”life story” in a song!  I have included the lyrics at the bottom of the page, and if anyone is interested in the chord progression, just leave me a note in the comments section!

Today I am releasing it on Trees Full of Money for you to download and enjoy!  If you know of someone who works in the oil and gas industry, I invite you to forward this song on to them!  I hope you enjoy it!

And for Toby Keith, send me an email if you want to record this song on your next album!  (Hey, a guy can dream can’t he?)

The Oilfield Song

I started in the oilfield, when I turned 18.
Was fresh out of high school, there wasn’t much else for me.
I kissed my momma goodbye, and started on my way…
And drove down to Fourchon, in my old Chevrolet

There were so many things, that I had yet to see…
I just knew I had to get myself out of Covington County
The skies were always blue, but good work was hard to fine
So I tool a job that shaped my life, on the 709

30 years out in the oilfield, this is all I’ve ever done…
I’ve had to fight to make a living, and I’ve never won…I’ve never one…

I remember that first day, back in 1973
I couldn’t stand to break a sweat the hands all left at me.
My family supported my, but they all had their doubts…
Momma’s little baby boy, was an oilfield roustabout

I spent three years as a roughneck, working on the floor.
Soon I was pumping mud, like my daddy had done before.
Then I was aderrick man, and soon became AD
Moving up the ranks was I, there was just no stopping me.

30 years out in the oilfield, this is all I’ve ever done…
I’ve had to fight to make a living, and I’ve never won…I’ve never one…

10 years as a pusher, working those long nights
Making fun of every Yankee boy, that came into sight
Then I got that magic call, I still remember when
I had been promoted to the rig OIM

My sweet wife she left me, not to long ago
She couldn’t stand to live the life of an oilfield wife no more
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my dog
I’ve been out in the oilfield, for just a little too long

30 years out in the oilfield, this is all I’ve ever done…
I’ve had to fight to make a living, and I’ve never won…I’ve never one…

30 years out in the oilfield, this is all I’ve ever done…
I’ve had to fight to make a living, and I’ve never won…I’ve never one…I’ve never one………..

Here is a simple step-by-step guide to remove inaccuracies,  late payments, settle charge offs, and improve your credit scores.

Step 1: How to Get Your Credit Reports for Free
If you haven’t already, obtain your credit reports from the three major credit bureaus.   I wrote a simple guide on how to get your free credit reports last year.  Make a note of all the negative factors affecting your reports; these may include late payments, charge offs, repossessions, and inaccuracies.  If you have already pulled your free credit reports for the year, you can purchase them HERE, or directly from the 3 credit bureaus Experian, Equifax, and Transunion.

Step 2: Review Your Credit Reports
Look for any accounts you didn’t open. If you find that you have been the victim of identity theft, contact the fraud victim division of each credit bureau and demand the fraudulent activity be removed. Most likely they will require you to file a police report and sign an affidavit stating that you did not open the bogus account. Upon receiving this information, each bureau will initiate an investigation with the lender to determine whether or not you are responsible for the account. By law the Bureaus have 30 days to settle your dispute. If no response is received within this time frame the disputed data must be removed or updated. No mater what, do not pay a dime for any account on your report you didn’t sign for.

Step 3:  Correct Any Inaccuracies on Your Credit Report
This could be anything like your name being misspelled, or a wrong current address. You will need to contact each of the 3 bureaus individually and ask what information they will need from you to correct your report.

Step 4: Remove Late Payments with a Goodwill Letter
On your credit reports, find any accounts that are showing late payments. Each account will show the name and address of the lender you have the late payment with. You must now compose a friendly letter to the lender stating that you appreciate their service and kindly ask if they will remove the late payment from your account. This is called a Goodwill Letter; you are accepting responsibility for your actions and asking the lender to remove the derogatory information as a courtesy of doing business. Feel free to use this “goodwill letter” as an example, just make sure you change all of the names and accounts for your particular situations!

There is no guarantee of success with this step but persistence has been shown to work surprisingly well. Here’s how you do it.

Step 5(a): Debt Validation
Request “Validation” of your charged off accounts. Most people don’t know that under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, consumers may request validation of an account that shows up on their credit report. Write each collection agency a letter demanding that the account be “validated as per the FDCPA”.

The beauty of Validation is that if you send a letter Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested and the collection ageny doesn’t respond, or fails to provide adequate evidence that you are responsible for a debt, that debt must (under the law) be removed from your credit reports. If you are found liable for any account that is in collections proceed to Step 5(b).

Step 5(b) Settle Any Charge Offs
Settle charge offs. Typically, credit card companies and other credit lenders will “charge off” accounts that have gone unpaid for a certain number of months. This doesn’t mean that you no longer owe the money; it just means that they have given up hope that you will repay the balance as per your original agreement. Instead, the lender will sell the debt to a debt collection agency (CA) for a fraction of the original balance, and let the CA use their AGGRESSIVE collection tactics to pressure you into paying. These tactics often include multiple harassing phone calls at all times of the day (and sometimes night), threats of lawsuits, and withdrawing unauthorized funds from your bank accounts.

Remember, every dollar that the CA gets for an charged off account over what they paid for it is profit. Unless the charged off account is fraudulent (see Step 2) it is in your absolute best interest to settle it. A paid collection account is much better than an active account in “collection status”. Here is what you can do:

Establish contact with the CA that holds the charged off account. Let them know that you only have x amount of dollars to give them. If the balance on the account is $2000 offer them $1000 with the exception that they note on the account that it has been paid in full. They may not accept this offer, or they might counter with a higher settlement amount. Let them know AGAIN, that you only have x amount of dollars and if they don’t accept YOUR offer, you are going to move on to the next collector and see if they will accept an offer for your money.

Because collection agencies only pay a fraction of the original balance for the default account, there is a good chance that they will accept your offer eventually. Most importantly with this settlement technique, always get the settlement terms in writing before you send them a dime. Also, NEVER give a collection agency access to your checking account. They will CLEAN YOU OUT. The can do this because you owe them the money and most courts will favor on their behalf.

Know your rights as a borrower under the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, if a CA breaks any of these rules call your states attorney generals office and Better Business Bureau.

Step 6: Protect Yourself
Make a promise to yourself and your family to stay on top of your credit file going forward. Always pay your bills on time. Though it is not perfect, your credit score is a reflection of your potential credit worthiness, the better you stay on top of your payments, the higher your score will be.