To that end, I came across this article about a solar charging station in Plainville, CT.  And this solar powered parking garage in NJ.  What’s great is that this is space that is not being utilized.  There are no trees to be cut, no shade to be found, and a perfect sun profile for panels.  Even better is that until these facilities are fully used by electric cars, they’re going to pump electricity back onto the grid for the rest of us.

I read an article a while back that suggested that we would need to cover a huge chunk of Arizona or New Mexico with solar panels if we were ever to get enough power to electrify the country.  What many people are missing is that it’s not the huge plants that are going to make the difference, it’s the small ones that are putting out power through existent infrastructure that are going to do it.  We need more small, grassroots projects that take hold and make this technology more of an everyday sight as opposed to a rarity.  The real beauty is that it puts Americans to work in the process.

If only we had the political will to make this happen on every level of government.

If you’d like to avoid the trials and tribulations of the impatient like me, there is a great map that I’ve included below.  If you’re really trying to get things going in a timely manner, I’ve linked to the Farmer’s Almanac as well.  This chart pretty much says it all.  I may just plant a lot more indoors and quell the need to be out fighting mother nature.

Happy planting.

I’m a big fan of the 5 gallon bucket of mayonnaise warehouse club mentality in many cases. Love apples?  At Sam’s Club, I get them for $1.20 a lb and at just about every other grocery store, the varieties that aren’t Macintosh are all almost $2.00 a lb if not more out of season (Yes I know buying out of season apples is horrible.  I love apples.  Leave me alone.  I’m growing my own.  When my trees are big enough, I won’t have this problem).    Teagan’s Lactaid is a dollar a gallon cheaper.  Charlotte’s vanilla yogurt is $1.30 cheaper a quart.  For the most part, if you get things that you will use quickly or be able to freeze, it’s worth while to join and be a member.  What you need to be careful of are the impulse purchases that can get us all in trouble.

Quick rewind.  My friend Julia is sick.  She’s all flu-like symptoms and such, so since Liz and I were in her area already today, we decided to get her some lunch.  Food always cheers people up.  It was at the mall when we were meeting Liz’s friend (the reason we were out in the first place) that I spied the candy store.  Understanding that food makes one happy, and candy makes one ecstatic, I decided to pick up some chocolate for Julia.  Surprisingly, the chocolate was fairly well priced at $9.00 a lb or so.  Munsons charges something close to $13.  I was able to get out with some very yummy chocolate for very little, a serious win win in my book.  Here’s the problem though: I have a massive sweet tooth when it comes to gummy anything.  Here’s the further problem: The gummy bears, worms, and fish all held the same $9.00 lb price tag.  This was not a good deal.  So even though it nearly killed me, I held off on the purchase of some gummy bears for a later date.

Fast forward to this afternoon walking through Sam’s Club.  I spied my favorite impulse purchase and one of my only warehouse weaknesses: the 6 pounder of gummy bears.  Now, I know that my teeth will all fall out of my head and sugar is bad for you and blah blah blah.  Here’s the deal.  I got 6 lbs of candy for $7.00 or so when tax is done.  That’s $54.00 worth of gummy bears according to the scale at the candy store for $7.00.  Here’s the fun math:  I saved 87%.  Granted, I needed to buy 6 lbs, but even if I only eat one pound of gummy bears and throw the rest out, I’m still doing better.

All goofing aside, the point here is that if you know what the real prices of things are at other stores, you can make a killing at the warehouses.  Meat isn’t that much cheaper.  I can still get pork chops and chicken for less.  Cereal is no real deal.  Nuts are not that discounted.   Vitamins sure are cheaper, fresh produce is much less expensive.  Milk, cheese, eggs, and yogurt are insanely less expensive.  Oh, and paper or plastic products are ridiculously less expensive.  We buy sandwich and freezer bags once a year.

So if you’re in the mood for a few gummy bears, go to Sam’s Club and get a 6 lb bag.  It’s the cheapest place around to get enough candy to make your dentist weep.  Happy hunting.

It’s killing the planet.  At least since at my house, we didn’t generate any power from the solar panels from January 11 to February 6.  For those who are really wanting to know, the geek in me checked my spreadsheet that has the daily averages for that time last year and I can reliably tell you we lost about 173.36 kWhs of power.  Take that and multiply it by $.18 a kWh and this snow has cost me an additional $31.20.  Good news though, since the last of the snow fell on off, we’ve generated nearly 50 kWhs in the last week.

In related news, they did help brace me from falling off the roof as I had to shovel the snow off.  Still it’s a bit sketchy when you’re trying to shovel off your roof, you’re a foot from the edge because you can’t stand on the solar panels, you’re shoveling through snow, but can’t dig too deep or you’ll break them, and you have a massive fear of heights that is only eclipsed by that of spiders and flying.  Who knew being environmentally conscious would be a pain in this way?

Just wait till I sit Mother Nature down and explain this to her.  She’ll think twice about these choices next year.

Here’s a math problem for all of you.  See if you’re up to snuff on your fourth grade mathematics.

The cost of the two items I purchased was one-fourth the amount I was paid for the two items I sold.  After purchasing the two jerseys, I had $24 in my pocket.  How much did the jerseys cost and how much did they pay me for my swings?

I was pretty proud of myself. The proof is below:

I know that I’m going to take a lot of flak for suggesting the configuration that I am, but everyone has their opinions, and mine just happen to be right.  So if you are in the market for a system, let me suggest the following way to go.  Remember, the sticker price seems hefty up front, but you have to look at it long term.

Let me first help build your background knowledge (I went to an educational training this week.  Can you tell?) Here is the general deal with the latest round of video games and the paths the competitors basically took:  XBox went with online gaming and a large selection of exclusive titles like Halo and more.  The Wii went with motion control over graphics (Who knew we weren’t all just a bunch of slouches), and Playstation went with high end graphics and a Blu-Ray player.  The Wii was cheap, the XBox was in the middle, and the PS3 was ridiculously high due to the inclusion of the Blu-Ray player.  Here is what has happened as the console wars played out as I see it.  The Wii has stayed with motion control, but the graphics are still sub-par and it doesn’t play DVDs without a bit of effort.  They made a killing.  The XBox expanded its game library and added Kinect, a gaming system based on motion that uses your whole person to move the game characters.  The online gaming expanded and they were able to negotiate an exclusivity contract with Netflix for a while. Playstation stagnated for a while, mired in third place by a heavy price point and expensive technology until about a year ago.  It was then that they slashed prices and were able to include Netflix.  The Blu-Ray player is still a selling point and the game library has expanded.  They’ve also added motion gaming in the form of the Move.

In summary, the Wii stayed where it was initially, cheap and popular.  The Xbox added to its base and improved on an existing platform.  The Playstation lowered prices and became more competitive, giving extra value with the Blu-Ray player instead of pricing itself out of the market.  So here is my choice of hardware and the reasons.  If you’re an Xbox person, or not trusting my faux-expert opinion, then take some real experts opinions here.  I love Prizefights!  Without further ado, here’s my choices and their corresponding prices.

• First you need a PS3 $399

I recommend the “Move” bundle for several reasons.  You get a huge hard drive 320 GB (oh and by the way, it’s replaceable if you want.), and the sports game, plus the Move controller, and the camera.  Without the bundle, this system goes for $349 anyway.  So you get the Move controller and game for $50.  Not bad if you ask me since they normally go for $100.  Now I know that there are a lot of issues that put XBox and PS3 at war, but here is my reason for choosing the Playstation over the XBox.

1.) Online gameplay is free.  For XBox, you have to pay a monthly or yearly fee.  I don’t like add-ons like this.  You don’t need another bill when you drop this kind of cash.

2.) I like the controller better.  This is a big deal for me.  I just like the way that the Playstation controller feels in my hands.  They haven’t changed the basic configuration for nearly 15 years.  There’s a reason for this.

3.) Exclusive titles fit my playing better.  I’m not a huge blood, gore, and shooting player.  I own ten games, all of which are rated E with the exception of the one Boxing game.  Little Big Planet and Gran Turismo 5 are both exclusives to the PS3 and they are exceptional.  They are more kid friendly and make the PS3 an easy choice for me.

4.) Blu-Ray: While it’s not a necessity, and I don’t plan on buying many Blu-Ray movies, with Netflix, I can rent Blu-Ray and the picture is amazing.  The Blu-Ray drive also allows for greater storage on game discs which then, in my opinion, gives the programmers more of an open platform on which to build their console specific titles (Insert Gran Turismo 5).

5.) On Screen Interface: I like the interface.  It’s simple and easy to use.  I didn’t need any instructions out of the box.  Plug and play.  I like that.

6.) Multimedia: This was the big kicker for me.  I have tons of pictures on my system and routinely play videos from my laptop for Teagan.  It’s not hard to set up, and the Photo application is great.  Even Liz was impressed.  She confided a while back that while she was really mad at me for a while, she’s been impressed with the system.   This is a big deal folks.

OK, now the nuts and bolts of what you need.  Here goes:

• A second controller $59.

This is a must have for anyone with a system.  It’s pointless with one controller.  This bundle allows you to get Little Big Planet and a controller.  The controller goes for $54 alone and the game goes for $30.  It’s a no brainer!  By the way, you now own two games with my configuration.

• An HDMI cable. $1.

Don’t buy Sony’s or anything from Best Buy.  I’ve written about this before, but seriously, just get a cheap cable.  There is NO difference.  Don’t believe me?  Go to CNET and look it up.  It’s so obvious that I’m not even going to link it here. You need to take the effort if you’re that much of an unbeliever.

• A charger for the controllers $30

The PS3 only has two USB ports and you don’t want to waste them both with charging cables for your controllers.  Besides, you need to have the console on to charge through the USB ports.  This allows you to charge both while leaving your PS3 off.  I like this.  It’s not the cheapest solution, but it helps keep your system ready to use.

• Games $100 USED!!!

If you really MUST have a game new, and I’m guilty of this with Gran Turismo 5 and I’ll probably get sucked in by Little Big Planet 2, then go for it, but keep in mind, you’re paying a massive premium.  Used is the way to go.  Last year’s Tiger Woods golf game will go for about $30.  Two year’s ago game is $10.  This year’s Tiger Wood golf game is $60.  It’s a bit of a no brainer.  What I do is look for titles that have a second edition out and I get the first one.  I figure you can get 5 good games for $100.  That will last you for a long time playing.  Here are my suggestions:

• Madden ’10 $10 – If you don’t own a Madden game, you should check your pulse.  Madden ’11 is $42 used.
• Gran Tursimo 5 Prologue $20 – It’s not the full game, but it lets you know if you want it.  Best racing game ever.
• Lego Star Wars $20 – I don’t own this, but have been told by countless children that it’s awesome.
• Guitar Hero III $5, Guitar Hero World Tour $10 and Guitar Controller $20 – Yeah, I’ll admit it.  This sucked me in.  I’m 12.
• Tiger Woods ’08 $6 – Yes, he’s a jerk, but the game is amazing.  There is no competition here and the gameplay is surprisingly fun even for golf.

So here’s your total:  6 games and a wireless guitar: $91.  I beat my $100 estimation and I didn’t get you junk either.  Yup, I just got you enough to play for the next three years and it cost you a new game and a half.  Please let me remind you that you already own two games due to the bundles previously mentioned.  That’s 8 games.  The kids should be kept occupied long enough for you to try some out.

OK, now I know that the total here is going to look steep, but I think the value in what you can do and how much fun it can be will be realized.  Here’s our cost:

• Console $400
• Controller with game: $60
• Cable: $1
• Charger: $30
• Games: $91

Our total is $617 with tax.  That’s pretty good if I do say so myself.  I know it’s a lot up front, but you’re getting a lot too.  Now, as you play more, you’re going to want more regular controllers, more guitars, more Move controllers and the like, but this will keep you occupied for quite a while.  It’s not cheap, but if you spread it out over the life of the system, it’s not that expensive either.

If you’re a frugal geek like me, this makes a lot of sense, and it alleviates a lot of cables.  I don’t need another DVD/Blu-Ray player for movies and I don’t need a box to stream Netflix.  I don’t need another cable to hook up my computer if I want to put pictures on my TV.   I have it all in one place.  And even my wife thinks it’s a good idea.  That’s saying something.

Video games are actually cheap.

I know this seems silly when you look at it on the surface.  Let’s take my (complete dorkdom) setup.  I have a PS3 $250 with a deal and they’re out there.  Second controller $50, super cool movement add on $120, and let’s say a catalogue of 10 games for roughly $300 (I can’t be exactly sure).  I have two new games and all the rest are used.  You’d be amazed at how much cheaper last year’s version of Madden is than the new one.  So let’s get the total going here:  $720 for a gaming system and that’s on the cheap side.  I’d expect that most people have about $1000 invested in their system, and some have way more money into them.  But it’s the value of the entertainment that really comes into play.

If you have a Playstation or other system, you don’t need a DVD player.  Granted, with the Wii, you need a little bit of technical expertise, but then again, that’s my reason not to buy a Wii.  But that’s not the goal of this post.  Here’s my point.  My PS3 is our digital media player DVD and BluRay.  It also connects to the internet so I can stream Netflix.  No need for a Roku box at $59.  It also serves as a digital media player in the sense of home videos and pictures.  I currently have thousands of pictures and several videos uploaded and have a setup to connect my laptop to the system as an external hard drive over the Wifi network in our house.  This means I can upload something straight from my laptop to the PS# and thus onto my TV.  It’s actually amazingly cool.  I know it sounds complicated, but really it was very simple.  A few CD burns and a software download are about all I needed to do.  Please note that I haven’t even touched the gaming aspect of the system yet.

Here’s the kicker.  Video games, which to some may seem childish, are to many folks a great source of entertainment.  Many are turned off by video games because of the violence in a title like Grand Theft Auto and such.  I must say though, as a person who has long outgrown his adolescent need to brandish some crazy digital weapon to destroy every foe imaginable, I’ve found a host of titles from sports games, to racing,to music,  to things like Little Big Planet and  more that are far from the homicidal mania that is portrayed.  There are titles for everyone, you just need to look.  Once you can find games that are of interest to you, the money saving opportunities of this form of entertainment are amazing.

Let’s imagine that you own your system for 5 years.  A $1000 system sounds expensive until you split it over 5 years.  That’s $200 a year.  If a couple goes to the movies, it’s roughly $10 a ticket times two, plus (if you have kids) $20-$30 for a sitter.  Make that a $50 night.  That’s four movies a year.  And here’s where it gets interesting.  The movie nights add up to 4 nights a year of entertainment for that $200.  My video game scenario can be countless hours and nights of fun.  Let’s just say I have spent many more than 4 nights on my latest conquest, Gran Turismo 5.  I even got Liz to race some courses for one of our date nights, and she even like it (note: Liz hates video games, but driving real life cars at 100 mph even turned her into a believer if only for a night). Imagine a dinner out for two with a sitter.  That’s an easy $70.  With $100 coming into play if your tastes are higher.  That means two and a half nights or so and you’re up to my system.

And here’s the final kicker: While video games in my childhood were mainly single player zone out titles like Mario Brothers and Zelda where you had to play by yourself and then pass the controller over, the games of today beg for you to play with someone else.  A buddy of mine and I played Wii Golf for something like three hours on New Year’s after the ball dropped.  We played 18 holes and in-between had one of the best conversations of my life.  It was a great way to spend the evening and required no taxi to get us home, no sitter for the kids, no expensive drinks at the bar, just two friends, chatting away, swinging a Wiimote every once in a while. Video games have become more social.  Some even require you to play with partners thus forcing you to invite over some friends.  It’s no longer the loner activity it once was, but can still be enjoyed when the husband or wife is out for the evening and you’ve got the house to yourself.

It may be a big upfront cost, but at the end of the day, today’s video games are surprisingly cheap when you compare them to other forms of entertainment.  They may be scoffed at by those who see them as childish and immature, but really they’re just a way to unload some steam from a tough day at work or more.  Just like any theater performance, dinner with friends, or a movie on a Saturday night.  They’re an outlet, a way to escape reality just for a little bit.  They don’t hold the academic stimulation of a good book, the cultural enlightenment of an excellent play, or the romantic charm of a table for two, but they sure can be fun, and surprisingly cheap!

The first article focuses on a trial program in Houston.  This is the perfect place to get something off the ground.  It’s a high traffic metro area where a lot of people can get a lot of access.  I like that they are focusing on Walgreens as a model so we can see if he stores get a benefit and it also provides a noteworthy landmark for people who need a charge.  ”There’s a Walgreens, we can charge up there.”  I can’t wait to see the results.

The second article is even more promising because it highlights all the problems and the solutions to those problems that folks are working on.  As with any emergent industry, the electric car market is going to need some massive capital support either from the government or private investors to make it work.  We can’t rely on the average store owner to drop $2-5 thousand dollars on something that may never make it.  Still the ideas mentioned in this article make me feel hopeful that by the time our Prius dies we’ll be ready to make the leap into a fully electric car.

One final note though, all of this is pure crap in terms of saving the environment if all the electricity is generated by burning coal.  To really make these vehicles less polluting, we need to make sure that we’re not just deferring our pollution from a car to a power plant, but rather from a fossil fuel to a renewable source.  If I can charge my car off solar panels and then drive it around, it truly has a net zero emissions.  If not, then I’m just polluting someone else’s back yard.

In full disclosure, I must admit that I have a basic cable plan and a lifetime subscription to TiVo which makes my TV plan quite an easy decision for me, but many others are paying quite a hefty price for their TV viewing and take HD content much more seriously than I do.

For instance, I have a buddy who will haggle with every cable/satellite/TV provider known to man just to see his beloved Steelers.  I can’t fault him, but the effort it takes to get his sports packages seems a bit over the top.  The problem: the extreme cost of all these crazy sports packages.  He’s like me and can’t see paying full price for a season of football and all the extras when all he wants is a (hopeful) 18 games.  It’s not worth it to him to be sucked into a $100/month plan just to see his team.  So he plays one off another and so forth.  You see, cable and satellite companies know that you’re not willing to pay for each individual channel, but you will shell out a ton of dough on the sports side or the HD movie side. So the bundle everything together in one of the most ingenious upselling schemes I’ve ever seen.  Want to watch the Golf Channel?  You need all 600 other lousy channels to boot.

Insert my possible plan for some, but not all TV viewers.  I suggest just like those who have dropped the paperback in favor of the iPad or Kindle that we cut the cable line (at least for TV).  There are a lot of options out there and many are quite inexpensive.  Take Netflix streaming for example.  For less than $10 a month, we get all the Hell’s Kitchen episodes mailed to use while we were watching the first two seasons of Dexter.  The content is quite impressive.  For another $8 you can get Hulu+ which gets you hundreds of shows.  Add in a Roku box for $60 and you get access to all the Amazon.com rentals you can handle.

Best of all is that if you have any game system or several different versions of a BluRay player, you have access to many of these features already.  The only thing you’re lacking and it’s a huge only is live sports.  To this you simply need a TV with a digital tuner in it.  Mine gets all the NBC, CBS, FOX, ABC, etc three letter stations in HD even though I’m not an HD customer.   So if your team is local, you get your sports as well.

I figure that if you’re willing to wait a day or two, watch sports un-TiVo’d and can stand to be on the leading edge, you might just save a bundle on TV costs.  I say look it up.  It’s not for me based on the way in which I watch TV, but I’ll admit, that Netflix crew sucked me in.  If I was a big HD fan, I’d drop the $60 plan for a $8 Hulu+ account.

If you’re feeling like I’m crazy, don’t let that cloud you judgement on this post.  They are mutually exclusive issues.  Instead, you might want to check out this CNET blog post on a  guy who has done just this process.  It’s not for everyone, but it might just give you the opportunity to enjoy other things while still getting all your favorite shows, just a day late.

So on Thursday after Christmas, I drove on up and we got to work on what I thought would be a huge project.  You see, a month ago, my local Goodyear guys (I love them by the way) told me that I needed my 60,000 mile tune up.  I needed the front and rear differential fluid changed, the transfer case, and the transmission fluid changed.  Now, I have to tell you that up to this point I was terrified to do this on my own, but Mike and Andy convinced me that we could do it.  The guys at Goodyear wanted $590 to do all the fluids and a filter change.  I figured on getting the oil changed while I was at it, which would have taken my total up to $620.  Seeing as I’ve never actually changed the oil in my car, let along changed out all the vital fluids in the vehicle, I was a bit intimidated.

Fast forward to Thursday and we’ve got the truck up on the lift.  Mike hands me a wrench as he gets working on the front of the truck.  He directs me to the back and shows me the drain.  An hour or two passes and we refill all the fluids, put a new oil filter and a new air filter in.  It literally takes us two hours and we’re done.  I stop out and get Mike some lunch from Taco Bell (his request) and a few beers for his time.  All said and done, I spent $121 on the gear oil, the engine oil, the oil filter and the air filter.  I spent another $30 on lunch for the three of us and few beers.  So all said and done, I got to spend a day with two great friends and it cost me $151.  I saved $469 and I have to tell you that it was pretty easy.

Sometimes you need to just jump in, fear and all to tackle these tough projects.  It just might save you a ton of money and teach you something along the way.  Pictures of proof are below.  I’m pretty happy about this.