Ten Ways to Protect Yourself from High Energy Prices

In the spirit of my saving on gas posts, here are ten ways to protect yourself from high energy prices from David Bach.

Here are tips to saving on your car energy expenses:

1. Know Your Car Costs

2. Drive Less

3. Drive More Efficiently

4. Rent and Save

5. Trade in the Guzzler

I think I've covered all of these at least once except for #4. It's an interesting idea, but do the math. You still have to fill the car up with gas and pay the rental fees too -- so what you save in gas and operating costs on your vehicle needs to be more than these.

Here are his ideas for home energy savings:

1. Evaluate Your Energy Use

2. Seal and Insulate

3. Install Energy-Efficient Products

4. Build and Remodel for Efficiency

5. Rethink Your Living Arrangements

Ideas #4 and #5 are interesting. I don't think I've ever seen it suggested that you build and remodel to save money on energy. I'm sure people think about this as a consideration, but it seems like there are so many other (more expensive) issues to consider when building and remodeling.

As far as buying a smaller house goes, many people need to think about this simply to save themselves the headache of buying a house they can't really afford. The energy savings would just be icing on the cake.