Freebie Website #2 – MyEnergy.com

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I first heard about www.myenergy.com  from my gas company.  They wrote a short blurb about them on either their website or newsletter (I don’t remember which).  Anyway, I decided to check the website out.

The gist of the website is that you sign up for a free account, link your online utility accounts (electric, gas, & water), and they keep a running tally on how your doing in regards to conservation.  I hear you proclaim, “wait a second, I already know how much I’m spending on utilities!”  Good point, but do you know how much your friends are spending or how much other citizens of your city or town are consuming?

myenergy dashboardThe second reason to consider using the website are rewards.  Taken verbatim from the website:

How it works
MyEnergy analyzes your past patterns of energy use and makes a prediction of how much energy you’re likely to use in each subsequent month, accounting for variations in weather from the past to the present. When you use less than the prediction, you’ve saved! Here’s how many points you get for your savings:

  • Gas 10 points per therm
  • Electric 1 point per kWh

  • Water 1 point per hundred gallons (or 10 points per 1,000 gallons)

So far we’ve earned 106 points for doing nothing except the initial sign up and living our daily lives.  What can you exchange your points for?  That’s hard to say, I think it depends on what state you are in as it seems to be a mix of local and national products & services.  For example, one of the rewards is a free one month supply of Popchips for 100 points.  I googled around to try and find some details about how much you get and the best I could find in about 30 seconds of searching was that it was a $30 value.  That doesn’t sound half bad.

“It all sounds too good to be true, what’s the catch?”

The catch so far as I can tell is that MyEnergy is owned by Nest.  Nest is probably best known for its iOS-esque thermostat.

Naturally, there are ads on the website encouraging you to buy Nest products.  Also, I would be shocked if Nest isn’t collecting all of this utility data (anonymized hopefully)  for their own commercial benefit.  If you’re a company specializing in home automation devices that save consumers money then what better way than to offer a website that aims to do just that.  “Hey, you spent a lot on your electric bill last month, try getting a new thermostat to help out with that.”

The social nature of the website just ties into the marketing.    Does Big Brother knowing how much energy I use every month bother me?  Mmmm, let me think that over with a chip…  nope.  It does not.  The only problem that I’ve had with the website so far is that I cannot link my water bill to it.  While that is likely the fault of the municipality that I live in, it still bugs me that I cannot link all of my utility accounts (and thus lose out on rewards and being able to peep at others usage).

If you’d like to join the website and friend me click on the button below.

[button link=”http://email.myenergy.com/wf/click?upn=rFj-2Fn6VLqMWXmfDU5VKABT2DuhRcEWX6AkyUnvA2UOP2C-2BCUc7GmPALEjMRt3M-2BJp0mFZLbZkJ5KkaDoaZJthu8NWCzujznpsQrKdMeFWIMEv-2Fo26QNXztoDOt-2FHzGWWpEi-2Bofi1nBayFq7Re6A3kTDsEel6VYqbBwXoOKO7QMdrFXSXXIT604dMVai912jS9QqitoVdsCjvHuLFxjzzkw-3D-3D_O7ROD4svS-2BWtZVG4Rcp0QhBUjocZnvHx8LpqrpdCOiVd0SUvfaSL5I6MsytMUEKb-2BTN45VWg1UglzAArp-2Bg76oaWHUywv18YqBzzmuEHgFTmW36SyXR1UfSFPcZQtMhrwEf1-2F8QUPCrTYcn1-2BOLxNJxm0J9A-2Fl68SXgTOV6nQMLDO3i3BanpU8Jwqyp64TmFUhGxLU-2FbESZfbrNsZmcjQ3RoKYEnXz-2B6JqzFli5VMxFHchtJxT2NSStDQJzNnTnUEDgb9L8TRr19w7UrfsIjNfZsfHA9wOIVXsVNEFVhEbtlUTG12JHaq4SubwI-2BCBcQ ” target=””]Join MyEnergy[/button]

Ask for a Discount

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Readers of this blog know that we’ve been doing a lot of home improvement since we bought our house.  Homeowners everywhere know that sprucing up the old homestead costs money.  That is why whenever I work with a contractor or handyman I always ask for a discount.  Sometimes companies publish coupons or run promotions.  We were able to save 10% + $50 off our mattress because the store we bought from offered a discount to employees where Shae works.  We saved the other $50 by delivering the mattress ourselves instead of having them deliver it.  That worked out great because we already rented a truck to handle other deliveries.

Mattress Delivery

Sometimes the deals aren’t published and you specifically have to ask for them.  That was the case when we replaced our gutters today.

Old Gutters

I couldn’t find any published deals so I flat out asked them if they had any discounts.  To my surprise and benefit they were willing to offer a 10% discount for cash payments.  I know that Visa, MasterCard, Discover and other credit card companies typically take anywhere from 1-5% of a transaction so it makes sense that companies are willing to offer a discounted price if you pay in cash.  In fact, it isn’t too uncommon to see truck stops and small mom & pop restaurants offer one price for cash and one for credit (or just refuse credit altogether).  In this case, the old saying is definitely true, “Cash is King.”

Cash Is King Sometimes my own customers ask for a discount and they almost always receive one, provided that they ask nicely.  Asking for a discount takes almost zero effort, usually the worst that can happen is that you are told no, and you potentially have quite a bit to gain.

What’s For Dinner? 10/6/2013

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Every week I will share our meal plan for the coming week.  Making your own food is a great way to save money, explore new cuisine, and eat healthy (if you choose to make healthy foods).  A good meal helps bring people together and as you improve your cooking skills you will impress more and more people!   I generally use recipes as a starting off point and then experiment with different proportions or ingredients.  Leftovers make great lunches for the 9-5 crowd who might otherwise have to decide between a sandwich or a pricey cafeteria.

This Week For Dinner…

This week we will be eating out a lot.  I know that isn’t very frugal, but sometimes you just have to travel.  Today we got back from celebrating a birthday and ate at a restaurant for lunch.  Since it was a heavier more filling lunch, dinner tonight was more of a snack.  Don’t worry, I still have a great casserole recipe to share that I learned from my mother.

Sausage, Potatoes, Carrots, & Cheese Casserole

This recipe really hits the spot for me.  Get out a 13×9 pan, 4-5 big potatoes, a handful of carrots, a pound of your favorite sausage, and about 6 oz of block cheese.  Using a crinkle cutter, slice up your potatoes and carrots.  Straight cut the sausage into small cylinders and proceed to layer your casserole between the 3 main ingredients.  When you’ve filled up the pan, top it all off with cheese and bake until the potatoes are tender.

Chili & Bratwurst

We are going to the last employee picnic dinners of the summer  :-(.  This month one of the local restaurants will be catering chili and bratwurst.  Yum!  We are starting to get into prime chili season now that some of the fall colors are showing through.  My in-laws swear by chili with noodles in it.  I grew up with the more mainstream chili without noodles.  Both are good though!  What is your favorite type of chili?  Do you like it spicy or mild, loaded with onions or without, are saltines a necessity or do they detract from the flavor?

Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo

If this sounds familiar, it is because we had it less than two weeks ago.  I still have some sauce and chicken and just need to make up some more noodles and vegetables to go along with it.

Snack Food…

Apples!

Apples are in season and there are sooo many varieties to choose from.  We both agree that the Honey Crisp variety is pretty darn tasty.  They are also really big apples that you can almost make an entire meal out of.  You can spruce up your average snack apple into a breakfast or lunch just by adding some peanut butter and raisins.  An apple a day keeps the doctor away!  What is your favorite type of apple?

What’s For Dinner? 9/29/2013

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Every week I will share our meal plan for the coming week.  Making your own food is a great way to save money, explore new cuisine, and eat healthy (if you choose to make healthy foods).  A good meal helps bring people together and as you improve your cooking skills you will impress more and more people!   I generally use recipes as a starting off point and then experiment with different proportions or ingredients.  Leftovers make great lunches for the 9-5 crowd who might otherwise have to decide between a sandwich or a pricey cafeteria.

This Week For Dinner…

This week will be a bit different than our normal weeks because we are throwing a party!  I am only including two meal plans this week because we will most likely have a ton of leftovers.

Vegetable Lasagna

This will be our dinner tonight.  The leftovers from the lasagna should last us until the big party.

Party Food

BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches w/ Potato Salad, Macaroni Salad, Chips, Apple Salad, & Cookies

BBQ Pulled Pork is such an easy to make, great tasting, and cheap meal that you can use to feed a bunch of people.  This recipe uses pork tenderloin, but do what the reviewers suggest and use a shoulder roast.  Roasts are much cheaper and the end result is the same!  Also, because it is a slow cooker recipe, just set your crockpot to keep warm when the party starts and guests will always have hot food.

The Apple Salad recipe pulls together apples, cool whip, snickers, and vanilla pudding.  I’ve never made it before but Shae’s grandmother would make it for the Holidays.  Who am I to argue with a salad that has snickers and pudding in it.  Yummy!

How Much Is It Worth? [Updated]

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Do you keep a change jar?  I am about to take ours in to the bank and have them sort/count it (for free of course).  How much change fits into a 1 gallon paint bucket?  Shae thinks 51.69.  I am optimistic and think 73.29.  What do you think?

Change Bucket

[Update]

After taking it to the bank and having it counted the total amount for a full gallon bucket of change was <drum roll…………..> $375.19!  I had been reading online about how some people fill up the 5 gallon water jugs and take those in.  They usually get somewhere between $1-2k.  What I really want to know, is how do they lift the jugs up?