Gizmodo: save money

How to Find Cheap Gas with your Cellphone

Jason Chen — Fri, 18 May 2007 20:40:28 EDT

Remember GetMobio? That's the mobile phone app that gives you a bunch of stuff like movie listings, maps, RSS readers, and various ways to help you have fun at night. Well, they've just added a Gas app that helps you get the cheapest gas in your surrounding area.

Sure, you could just visit gasbuddy.com on a mobile phone that has a web browser, but if you've already GotMobio then why not add this one as well? That is, if you don't live on a farm, otherwise the whole suite is pretty worthless. And gas is pretty cheap there anyway (it's almost $4 here in the Bay Area). – Jason Chen

Product Page [GetMobio]

Twenty Five Cheap and Easy Gadgets That Save Money

Jason Chen — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 17:30:56 EST

The penny-pinching cheapoids at The Simple dollar came up with twenty five gadgets that actually save you money when you use them.

Some may take longer to reach the break-even point than others—like the Toyota Prius and a residential windmill, for example—but a couple of them should see returns in a few weeks.

Some notable examples are the battery charger, the electricity usage monitor, an espresso machine, a coin sorter, and even a laptop. Laptop? Yes, if you're cheap enough that you take your laptop to the library or the book store to siphon off their electricity, you can indeed save money with a laptop. – Jason Chen

25 Gadgets That Actually Save Money [The Simple Dollar]

Recover Water Heat With the Power-Pipe

Gizloco — Sun, 11 Jun 2006 11:29:28 EDT

With oil prices recently at record highs, people—homeowners especially—have been looking for ways to save money on things such as heating costs. What many of them don't realize is that they're spending an unnecessary amount of money on keeping their warm water warm, lest Jack Frost make taking showers in the winter a frigid affair. By attaching the Power-Pipe to existing pipes, home owners can expect to save between 25 and 40 percent on their energy bills.

What the Power-Pipe does is transfer heat from the warm water traveling inside of pipes, to the cold water flowing on the outer coils. Normally, the heat that the Power-Pipe recycles would be completely lost, costing people money in the process. The inventor of the Power-Pipe, Gerald Van Decker, figures that the typical temperature of water would rise 18 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius) to 45 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius). Best of all, since the Power-Pipe uses no moving parts, maintenance is nigh non-existent, with a projected life span of more than 50 years. – Nicholas Deleon

Engineering alumnus brings energy-efficient technology to a home near you [University of Waterloo]