Wal-Mart has an electronics trade-in program with free shipping.
You go to the trade-in page on the Wal-Mart site, look up your unwanted (unloved, unused, sniff!) digital camera, cell phone, whatever, answer a few questions and you’ll get a quote.
You’ll get money if your stuff still has “market value.” The trade-in money you get back is [...]

We converted most of our light fixtures to the new CFL light bulbs about a year and a half ago.
The lights that we left on the old-fashioned technology were the applications where the standard CFL bulb just wasn’t going to be the right product: such as ceiling fans, stove fan and bathroom fixtures.
This summer, several [...]

From time to time, I’ll get questions from readers of The Monroe Evening News who like the Monroe on a Budget blog and wonder why I don’t have a regular column in the newspaper.
We’ve talked about the idea, although I admit it hasn’t gone very far.
The main reason is that a lot of the information [...]

When you walk into the store to buy school supplies for the year, you will find a huge array of items aimed at preschool through college years.
This includes a lot of stuff you really don’t need.
If you want to save money during back-to-school shopping time, do not buy the following school supplies unless they are [...]

A new computer is a very popular  – and practical – gift for a student who is heading off to college. That’s why you’ll find lots of computer specials this time of years: extra goodies with this or that computer, clearance pricing that this or that model …
But!
If you are purchasing a computer for a [...]

Are you hearing more of this question these days: “What about the people who don’t have computers?
That conversation has ramped up quite a bit with recent headlines that many newspapers these days are shutting down, publishing less frequently or converting to on-line editions in order to keep operating financially. Several Michigan papers are making that [...]

This notice is for my readers in Monroe County, Mich.:
My co-worker Charles Slat has this post at Consumer Alert! Is your favorite TV channel missing?

I noticed a couple of headlines today about digital conversion and what’s going on in Michigan.
Associated Press story at MLive: Hundreds of TV stations to end analog on Feb. 17.
Associated Press story at Detroit Free Press (slightly different angle here): 4 TV stations in Michigan among hundreds to end analog next week.

Mike Wendland, Detroit Free Press technology columnist, is reporting that the digital TV transition has been officially extended until June.
The House voted today, following up on an earlier Senate vote, to push the transition date to June 12. President Obama is expected to sign the bill.
A key reason: many people who rely on broadcast antennas [...]

Jason at Life Hacker explains at Reduce your bills by just asking how he finally got a less expensive cable package – which is exactly what he wanted, despite the cable company’s attempt to sell him a “better value.”
One of his tips:
Your tone is critical. Most of the people you will talk to spend all [...]