Free Suze Orman book

We could all use some advice from an expert financial counselor and who better that Suze Orman to tell you how best to manage your money in these recession times? I've always been a fan of Orman's since reading 9 Steps To Financial Freedom way back when. I could barely pay my then-Astoria, Queen's rent, which is why I picked up her book in the first place. Now, Oprah has Suze's new book on her website which you can download for free for one week which started January 8th. So, get crackin' and get to feeling better about our economy -- or at least your place in it.

Fill Your Fridge To Save Money

Save energy -- and thereby money on your utility bill -- by filling up your fridge and freezer as much as possible. They are more efficient when they are filled (keep things loose in the fridge so air can circulate, pack 'em tight in the freezer). [via Ideal Bite]

If you don't have that much food, you can fill up old bottles or covered pitchers with water (I use a 1 liter tonic water bottle leftover from a party).

Once you fill it up, set the fridge to 40 degrees and the freezer to zero. Vacuuming the coils also helps efficiency which saves money.

It's a little thing, but along with other energy-saving habits, you may be surprised at the savings on your energy bill!

(PS: In a power outage, a full fridge will stay cold twice as long as an empty one, so you don't have to spend money replacing your food)
Photo by Noel Clark