Put your computer to work saving you money

Put your computer to work and it can earn you hundreds of dollars a year. And I’m not talking about printing $20 bills.

There are commonsense methods of using the computer and your Internet connection to save that much money and more.

I am careful when I write about using your computer to save a few bucks because I’ve seen some really silly money savings tips over the years. That’s why I make sure my tips are realistic and useful.

Let’s get started and we’ll see if you agree.

Gasoline

Gas prices vary greatly — on the same day, in the same area. Moments ago, I used a website to check gas prices in my neighborhood. It was easy to find places charging 20 cents a gallon more than the least expensive gas station. That’s a $2 difference for every 10 gallons you buy (and most of us require much more gas

Bill Husted than that for a fill-up). You may be able to save a couple of hundred dollars a year just by searching for a good gas price.

I use the website gasbuddy.com. No matter where you live or travel in the U.S., Gas Buddy will display the lowest price for that area. There are other sites that offer the same service but that site has proven accurate in my area. If you check often (since the low price leader changes quite often), you’re almost certain to save. Obviously, you shouldn’t drive miles and miles just to save a penny or two. But I’ll bet you can find a station within your normal driving pattern that will save you a few cents on gas. And the utility of using a website like that doesn’t end at home. When heading out on a long driving trip — perhaps a vacation — you can check prices along your route. The savings mount up fast when you are on a long trip. And the price tips are especial- ly valuable in an unfamiliar area.

Regular shopping

There are websites — www.pricegrabber.com/ is an example — that search out the lowest price for almost any item you plan to buy from computers to clothing. I’ve seen prices for high ticket items such as HDTVs that — for the same model — vary by $40 and sometimes even a $100 or more. If you use a site and find a bargain price just three times a year the savings can easily amount to more than $100.

Reducing bank fees

Nowadays interest rates paid on savings accounts and CDs are extremely low. Luckily, that’s balanced by low mortgage and loan rates.

There are considerable differences in how much financial institutions charge for mortgages and the amount of interest they pay for CDs and bank accounts. There’s a fine website — www.bankrate.com/ — that tracks that sort of a thing. I’ve used it for both a mortgage refinance and for CD rates. The savings was significant.

Other ways to save

There are literally doz- ens of ways to save a few cents each month. For instance, we create and print our own greeting cards. We also do almost all our bill paying online — so there’s no expense for stamps and envelopes. We use a video streaming service (Netflix) for most of our movie and television watching. For about $8 a month, we get a huge selection of movies and television shows.. When we travel we use sites such as Orbitz, Travelocity or Expedia and often save a few bucks over what we’d pay if we went directly to the airline or hotel site.

Like I said, none of these savings — when taken alone — will amount to big bucks. But when you use all these tips over a year, the savings can add up.