Put your computer to work

Q: I have a lot of important information on my computer. For instance, I have 40 years worth of genealogical research and notes. We do travel frequently and live in the fire area of Southern California. A friend has suggested saving everything to the cloud. What do you think and what sort of fees can I expect to pay. — Nancy Kilbourn

A: For a few years now, the “cloud” have been a buzzword that has come to mean danged anything you want it to mean. The most basic definition of it would be storing and using data and programs from some remote location using the Internet. But, whatever you call it, that kind of online storage is a good idea. In your case, that would mean using one of the online back-up services. All your data is stored on its computers. So if one of those fires did destroy your home and computer system, your data would be safe. I can recommend two of the services (there are other good ones, these are just two that I feel easy recommending): Cabonite at www.cabonite.com and Mozy at mozy.com. Each offers several different plans at different prices. But, for example, you can pay $59 for a year’s service at Carbonite. At Moxy, one of its plans for home users costs about $6 a month.

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

There are common sense 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. I’m sure you’ve run across personal finance columns that hammer the obvious right into the ground. The advice often is to avoid spending too much; to stop running up large balances on credit cards, and to create a budget to track your spending. Duh. If someone needs to tell you those things you probably are beyond help. 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 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 a website called Gas Buddy (gasbuddy.com). No matter where you live or travel in the U.S. it’ll 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 especially valuable in an unfamiliar area.

Regular shopping

There also 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 $30 or $40 and sometimes even a $100 or more.

If you use a site like that and find a bargain price just three times a year the savings can easily amount to more than $100.

While we’re talking about saving money on items you regularly buy remember to check prices and availability when shopping at local stores. Use a store’s website or the old fashioned telephone. If you go through this pre-shopping routine you will eliminate driving to a store just to find out the item is out of stock. You can check to see how prices stack up from local store to local store.

The cost of money

Nowadays interest rates paid on savings accounts and CDs is 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 — http://www.bankrate.com/ — that tracks that sort of a thing. I’ve used it for both a mortgage refinance and for CD rates. I would have never found these banks without the website’s help. And the savings were significant.

Other ways to save

There are literally dozens of ways to save a few cents each month. For instance, we create and print our own greeting cards. They look great and cost much less than the cards at the store. 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 in our case) for most of our movie and television watching. For about $8 a month, we get a huge selection of movies and television shows. Compare that to $10 or more a month for just a single premium movie channel where the choices are much more limited. 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.

I haven’t mentioned using one of the voice over Internet telephone services. One of the most popular VOIP services is furnished by Vonage www.vonage.com/. Since my own family sticks with a traditional provider I can’t offer any recommendations here. I’ve made it a rule — a good one I think but often awkward to follow — not to write about products and services I haven’t used myself. Too often I’ll come across reviews — by smart and reputable people — that seem way off target to me. But a VOIP service is worth considering.

Like I said, none of these savings — when take alone — usually will amount to big bucks. But when you use all these tips over a year the savings can easily mount up to several hundred dollars.

The savings are real. And think of what a great argument you have for your spouse when you are ready to buy a new computer: But honey, we’ll make money using it.