When your gift list is written and you are ready to brave the crowds, decide where the majority of gifts on your list can be found. List those stores in geographical order to make as few trips as possible. Can you buy most of the items at one place? Bunch them up. Don’t make six trips to one store, for example.

Carry your list with you on all shopping trips. Maybe you are on another errand but discover a gift you need. Record each purchase and price beneath the recipient’s name. Don’t forget to keep a running total of the amounts spent in order to stay within your budget.

The internet saves time, money and resources. If you are traveling for the holidays you can have gifts shipped directly to your destination. Not only do you save time by avoiding long lines and packed parking lots, but you can comparison shop and save money too! Additionally, most e-commerce warehouses use 1/16th of the energy used to operate retail stores. And even overnight air shipping uses 40% less fuel than the average car trip to the store.

Related posts:

1. Holiday Lights for Less!
2. Tax free weekend on energy star appliances.

We  use an extraordinary amount of additional electricity during the holidays.  A 2003 study conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy determined that Americans consume about 2220 GWh of electricity each holiday season by using standard incandescent holiday lights -which is equivalent to all the energy used by Angola in one year.  The study concluded that a mere 20% switch by American households to LED Christmas lights would save 440 GWh (or 1/5^th of electricity) during the holiday season.

You can purchase LED lights and recycle your old incandescents here:

www.holidayleds.com

http://www.holidayleds.com/holidayledscom_christmas_light_recycling_program

To help organize your lights and/or extension cords re-use plastic curtain containers.  You can loosely wrap and store them.  Most are see through and easy to label with a sharpie!

Related posts:

1. Organize Your Shopping
2. Tax free weekend on energy star appliances.

Each year the state of North Carolina honors a sales tax holiday for Energy Star qualified products. It starts tomorrow on November 6th through the 8th.

Read more: http://homerenorepair.suite101.com/article.cfm/2009_north_carolina_energy_star_sales_tax_holida#ixzz0VuXSE6SZ

To see if you qualify for rebates, search here by zip:

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=rebate.rebate_locator

There was no update on the federal governments “cash for clunker appliances” program. They state they will give money to the states and let the states decide how they want to run the program. Here is FAQ:

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/home/2009/10/cash-for-clunkers-for-appliances-300-million-state-energy-efficient-appliance-rebate-program-best-ap.html

Related posts:

1. Organize Your Shopping
2. Holiday Lights for Less!