Author: Nathan Steffenson

A lot of times I talk about the energy savings of what I do but rarely talk about the money I save (at least on this blog).  Doing these requires a change in attitude and behavior.

• I save thousands of dollars every year by giving up my car ( I still have my drivers license).
  • Saving on repairs, oil changes, car washes, parking, insurance, and gasoline.
  • It also improves my health greatly and reduces my impact on the environment.
  •  I do this through several means including biking more, using web based services, and walking.
  • more about this in my ebook Datacommuting available on iBooks, Amazon (Kindle) and Nook
• I save by not having a printer.
  • This not only directly saves money on toner or ink, paper and electricity but also saves a lot of space.
  • This is both the space the printer itself takes up and the space it takes to retain paper documents.
  • Documents are digitally stored.
  • When I need something printed I go to library, or print shop, or photo processor.
  • I still use scanners to scan in photos and documents that are not already available in digital form.
• I save hundreds of dollars a year by having a prepaid phone instead of a contract phone.
  • My smart phone is over 3 years old so I’m saving money by not buying a new phone.
  • Unfortunately the plan I have isn’t available any more for new customers but my carrier is allowing me to stay on that plan.
• I avoid using devices with disposable batteries.
  •  My bike lights use a dynamo in the wheel hub.
  • My keyboard is solar powered.
  • I use dynamo (crank powered) flashlights and radio
  • other devices use rechargeable batteries
  • some devices I eliminate altogether (like devices that a smart phone app can replace)
• Using LED lights not only saves electricity, but they rarely need to be replaced.
• There are other simple ways I save by not having bad habits such as drinking pop or coffee or worse.
• I save money by not eating meat sometimes
• I avoid using plastic grocery bags (by using reusable bags and my bike packs) and the bags I do get such as those that have bread or vegetables I reuse as waste basket liner.