How To Apply For The Virgin Credit Card

The new virgin credit card has yet to be relaunched in Australia, however after a partnership between Virgin Money and Citibank Australia the new Virgin card is set to be released in early 2010. Therefore the first steps you will need to make any application process is to register for relaunched updates so you can be sure you know when the card has become available, and you can be one of the first in Australia to apply. When it comes time to fill in your Virgin credit card application, you will need to:

• Choose your application method. You can apply online or over the phone or you can request Virgin to post a form to you to fill out when you have the time. Applying online or over the phone takes just 10 minutes and you will be contacted by Virgin in 1 to 2 weeks with the progress of your application. You may also need to send in paperwork to verify your identity and that of your additional cardholder if you have chosen to have one.

• Provide your financial details. This means you will need to include your income, your existing credit card limits and balances, and your expenses. This will help Virgin determine whether you can afford a credit card, and help them decide on a limit which best suits your needs.

• Identification details. This is usually your driver’s licence information if you have one. If you don’t you’ll need to provide another form of identification, either a proof of age card passport or other bankcards or bills.

• Additional cardholder details. If you are planning to add an additional cardholder to your Virgin credit card, after all it is free, you will need the personal details and contact information of that person too.

• Balance transfer details. If you are taking advantage of the 0% interest balance transfer offer for six months on the new Virgin credit card you will need to provide the card number and the amount you want to transfer from your existing credit card or cards.

• You will need to agree to the fine print. As with any new credit card application you need to agree to the fine print of the fees and usage relating to your new Virgin credit card. When you apply you are consenting that Virgin can share your credit information with a credit reporting agency, for the full terms and conditions get to know all of the Virgin fine print in anticipation for your application here: http://web.archive.org/web/20070906054142/virginmoney.com.au/credit_card/what_you_get/applying_for_a_new_card/small_print/.

Are You Eligible To Apply For The Virgin Credit Card?

Most credit cards will have minimum income and expense requirements, as well as age limits and other identification parameters which you need to meet to be eligible to apply. If you are interested in applying for the Virgin credit card, make sure you understand the following conditions:

• You may not be eligible if you rent or board.
• You may not be eligible if you own a home and have been living in that property for less than two years you may not be eligible.
• You may not be eligible if you earn less than $40,000 a year after tax.
• You may not be eligible if you can’t prove your income using payslips or an income tax assessment.
• You may not be eligible if you have been in your current job for less than a year.
• Must be over 18 years old.
• Must be a permanent Australian resident.
• Must have a good credit history.

Before you go off to collect all of the information you need for your Virgin credit card application, make sure you register for the Virgin credit card relaunch updates here, so you can be one of the first Australians to enjoy the next generation of Virgin Money services.

Transferring your credit card balance to a low introductory balance transfer card can help you to reduce the amount of interest you’re paying on your outstanding credit card debts. While this sounds like a great idea to most people struggling to reduce debt, there are some things to think about before you leap.

Long Term or Short Term

Most lenders offering balance transfer deals offer cheap interest rates for either short term savings or longer term savings, depending on how much debt you need to repay.

Most short term offers can be as low as 0%, but they might only last for 6 months. When the interest free period ends, the interest rate usually reverts to the higher interest rate, most often the same rate as is charged on purchases made with your credit card.

The long term balance transfer rates tend to offer a slightly higher interest rate, but it’s still far lower than the rate charged on purchases. This can allow you to benefit from a reduced rate for however long it takes you to repay the entire balance amount.

Shop Around

Transferring your credit card balance can save you money, but if you don’t spend some time researching the available offers and checking the various fees that may be charged, you could be spending more than you need to.

Always take a little time to compare balance transfer cards and understand how they may affect your own financial situation properly before you accept any deal.

Double Check the Fees

Transferring your credit card balance to an account that charges a really low interest rate can be helpful, but if you’re not careful you could find your lender charges high annual fees, balance transfer fees or even Reward program fees.

You should also take a little time to check how much interest you’ll be charged once the cheap interest rate offer ends. If you haven’t repaid your entire balance amount by the time the low rate reverts to a standard rate, you could find that you’re paying high interest on the amounts you owe, making it harder to get ahead.

Eight tips to help you avoid credit card fraud

1. Always check your statements

As soon as you get your credit card statement in the mail look for any regular or unusual transactions. You should also make a habit of checking your receipts against your monthly statements to make sure that everything is in order.

2. Watch out for phishing

Telephone calls or e-mails that ask for your credit card information or any of your personal details are referred to as phishing scams. You will be led to fraudulent websites that appear authentic, but they are really set up to steal your information.

3. Make sure your card is signed

As soon as you receive any new credit card you should sign it right away to avoid being a victim of cyber crime.

4. Keep your PIN protected

Never keep a written record of your PIN number close to your credit card. If you absolutely have to write down your PIN number, make sure it is hidden in a safe place away from your card.

5. Use only websites that are secure

Before making a purchase from any site make sure that credit card security measures are in place before entering your card details. Most websites will have an icon or logo to show that they are secure, and you can also check on their security page to find out how they keep your information secure.

6. Destroy your documents properly

If you are sent any detailed information about your credit card application make sure that you shred it before disposing of it. You don’t need a professional shredder if you don’t have one, just make sure you rip it up into pieces before throwing it away.

7. Don’t carry all of your cards at the same time

You should only be carrying around the cards that you use regularly. If you happen to have your wallet stolen then it is nice to know that you have lost only one or two cards instead of all of your cards at the same time.

8. Watch your card closely

Whenever you have to use your card, keep an eye on it. Some credit card fraud thieves will use an electronic skimming device that is hidden underneath the counter. Of course, always make sure that your card is returned to you and that you put it away properly.

Follow these eight helpful tips to make sure that you do not become a victim of credit card fraud. It is quite a hassle to get everything sorted out, and you may end up losing some money in the process.

This article was written by Timothy Ng who is a regular personal finance blogger and part of the team at CreditCardComparison.com.au a 100% free Australian credit card comparison and application service.

1. 1. Instead of paying outrageous phone bills for your landline service, consider switching to VoIP. Voice Over Internet Protocol works just as good as regular telephone service does, yet you pay a lot less. You can still use your landline telephone but instead of your calls being carried over phone lines, your calls will be processed using the Internet. You still get all the calling features that you get with the telephone company yet you pay a fraction of the cost.
2. 2. Almost everyone spends some money on entertainment from time to time. Instead of buying expensive books, CDs, and DVDs new, shop for used versions at online auctions and at other online venues. You’ll still get the same great entertainment, albeit used, but you’ll pay a fraction of the cost.
3. 3. While trolling through your Sunday newspaper for coupons is a good idea, you can also save the cost of the newspaper altogether and print money saving coupons for free from the Internet. Not only are there several coupon sites that will let you print coupons but many manufacturers have websites where they post free coupons as well.
4. 4. Sign up for emails from the restaurants and local stores you patronize. Often, you will get offers for free appetizers, two for one deals, and notification of upcoming sales.
5. 5. When you do purchase new items on the Internet, look for coupon codes that will offer an immediate discount. Also, if you shop at the website of your local store, you can usually use the same coupon online that you can use at the store.
6. 6. Buying insurance online can save you a lot of money, especially if you take the time to compare rates. While no one wants to make twenty phone calls, it is easy to compare insurance rates online.
7. 7. Going on a trip? Book early and book online. Check out package deals, last minute specials, and sign up to receive notifications of sales from the airlines and hotels you patronize.
8. 8. Many individuals have dropped their cable TV service to watch television online. Many of the major networks stream some of their most popular shows online and you can watch them for free. You can also watch TV from several of the cable networks and if you buy an inexpensive cable, you can even hook up your computer to your television set.
9. 9. Track your spending and stay on top of your budget by using free budgeting software, which you can find online. You can either make manual entries or register your debit or credit cards and have your expenditures tracked for you.
10. 10. Forget the gym membership. Watch online exercise videos for free and work out in the privacy of your home without having to buy expensive videos.

As you can see, there are many ways you can save money by using the Internet. Take advantage of as many of them as you can and see how your savings stack up.

This guest post was brought to you by the team at BroadbandCompare.com.au, an Australian site where you can save money by comparing the cheapest broadband plans available across the market.

Start home cooking your meals!

When did America become ‘fast food country’? Many of today’s moms (and dads) don’t even buy whole chickens now because of all the ‘work’ involved in cutting and preparing them. If they even know how to cut a whole chicken!

The point is, when it comes to food, it’s all about ‘instant’ and ‘ready-made’ meals that get served on dinner tables today. As such, start home cooking your meals! Get back to basics and enjoy REALY food. Not only will this be healthier for your family, it will be way more cost-effective too. 

Shop wisely.

First of all, don’t go shopping on an empty stomach. Next, make a grocery list of things you do NEED and intend to use over the week. This will prevent over buying and throwing away spoiled food at the end of the week.

Tone down the cleaning products at home.

Do you really need every type of cleaner under the sun for your home? Actually, a few years ago, I already switched to good old fashioned VINEGAR to clean my kitchen and bathroom because I was getting headaches each time I used those power cleaners. 

Just buy a bottle of cheap vinegar, transfer it to a container with a spray nozzle and add some water to it. Others prefer more water than vinegar in the mix but I prefer a ratio on 3 parts vinegar, 1 part water. 

Other au naturel products I use for cleaning are salt and baking soda! I also use leftover orange peel to freshen up my home, instead of buying expensive deodorizers.

Cut down laundry detergent use.

A couple of weeks ago I read some articles (here and here) about how we use WAY TOO MUCH laundry detergent in our wash cycles. Well, I heeded the advice and for the past month, I’ve cut my laundry detergent use by 50% and yes, I have NOT seen any negative results on my wash!

Live healthier.

It costs a lot to get sick nowadays… so all the more reason to start living healthier.

Stay away from junk food and start cooking and eating real food as mentioned above. Instead of chugging down liters of soda, invest in a juicer and start drinking freshly squeezed orange juice every morning. Start exercising even if long walks are all your time can afford. Start to live healthier and you’ll spend less on ‘maintenance’.

If you’ve never really looked into it, you may assume that a credit union is just another financial institution out to charge you fees and high interest. However a credit union actually differs significantly from a bank because they:

· Do not have shareholders demanding high returns, so their profits go back into maintaining low fees and low interest charges.

· Offer consistently better service, according to the October 2009 Roy Morgan banking survey which found 85.9% of credit union customers were satisfied, compared to just 72% of customers from the Big Four Banks.

· Are regulated by independent government bodies ASIC and APRA in the same way as the banks to ensure the security of your savings and the integrity of your service.

Credit Union Credit Cards

When you are comparing the best credit card for your needs, don’t forget to compare the features and benefits of the cards offered by credit unions, especially since there are more credit unions operating in Australia than there are banks.

Advantages of credit union credit cards:

· You are in control as a member of the credit union. When you apply for a credit union credit card you are applying to be a member, not a customer and as a result you will be able to vote on the governance of your credit union, and enjoy rewards from the profits being returned to the running of the financial institution, rather than to the shareholders.

· Better customer service. A credit union knows it has to offer an important point of difference from the banks and in addition to keeping fees and credit card charges lower, credit unions also excel in customer service. Therefore, instead of dealing with an Australian subsidiary of an American bank, and being put through to an American call centre, you are dealing with a local financial institution, and with staff who are members themselves.

· More chance to negotiate your circumstances. If your credit card application is rejected, you have more opportunity to negotiate with the credit union to find a solution which will allow you to manage a credit card account. Similarly, if you run into financial trouble, you can more easily negotiate a lower interest rate, reduced fees or a payment plan.

Disadvantages of a credit union credit card:

· A smaller product range. Since a credit union focuses on keeping their products affordable, they do not usually offer such an extensive range as you will find with a bank. However, rather than shopping around for the best credit card within one institution, you may have to compare the products of several credit unions to find one which suits you.

· Fewer rewards. You are less likely to find a credit union credit card with a rewards program as their profits go back into more affordable products, rather than rewards schemes.

· Shorter hours of operation. Banks tend to have more flexible hours of operation, open longer during the week and on the weekends.

Bank Credit Cards

Banks have bigger advertising budgets and therefore more money to spend on making sure that you know about their products, so make sure that you know about all the advantages and disadvantages to a bank credit card before you make your decision.

Advantages of a bank credit card:

· You can buy shares in your bank. As such, you can have an investment in the success of your financial institution and protect your interests, while also receiving dividends from the bank, and in turn getting back some of those fees and interest charges you may have paid.

· Your financial products remain independent of each other. A credit union will apply a practice called cross-collateralisation where your products will be tied to each other. Therefore, if you take out a personal car loan, the car becomes collateral if you default on your credit card; this means your car could be repossessed to pay off your credit card debt with a credit union, but banks do not use this practice.

· Your credit card application is based on your financial situation not your financial education. Part of the credit union credit card application process could be that you are forced to take financial lessons to make sure you know how to manage your finances before your application is approved.

Disadvantages of a bank credit card:

· You are more likely to incur a balance transfer fee. When you take advantage of a balance transfer offer of a lower interest rate on a balance from another credit card, a bank is more likely to charge you a fee to make that transfer compared to a credit union. That fee is usually a percentage of the balance you are transferring.

· Higher rates and fees across the board. When you compare the fees and the interest rates charged on bank credit card accounts, they will be higher than those on a credit union credit card, so decide whether you are happy with any extra features which come with a bank credit card.

· Less satisfying customer service. Where 85.9% of credit union customers are satisfied with the service they receive, only 72% of banking customers could say the same. Therefore, before you apply for a bank credit card, take their call centre for a test drive to see how long you wait on hold, how helpful the staff are and how easy the entire experience is.

Choosing a credit card is as much about the provider as it is about the features because you need to be happy with both the service and the products, with the rewards and the fees. Therefore, consider your needs carefully to determine which are the most important aspects of a credit card for your situation, before you decide between a credit union or bank credit card.

Why buy expenisve mossie spray when you can make it yourself very cheaply. I make may own homemade mosquito repellant and it keeps the mossies, sand flies, and flies away.

I am one of those people that always get bitten by insects, when everyone else can’t feel a thing. Here I am scratching and slapping myself while other people are just standing there watching.

I seriously thought that this homemade recipe for mosquito spray would not work…But I am telling you that it really works.

Here is the recipe for the homemade mosquito spray:

1. 1 part Dettol
2. 3 parts Baby oil

Shake the bottle and away you go. I usually put mine in an empty pump spray bottle. Actualy an old aeroguard one. This stuff goes a long way too. It seems to last forever.

I will never go back to paying $5 or more for a chemical ridden can of mossie spray.

1. Buxr.com

Buxr is a site where you can find a variety of information about the latest deals, participate in contests, as well as join in discussions regarding various ways to save. There is a link on the site’s home page to a good video tour that will guide you through using the website as well its various features.

2. LifeTuner.org

Lifetuner could be the perfect spot for you to find motivation to save. To quote their ‘About Us’ section, “Lifetuner is not just a site, but a way to get individuals talking about money, to seek advice and gain confidence in managing your finances.” They offer expert advice about money basics as well as maintaining a community discussion forum and Lifetuner blog.

3. MySavings.com

MySavings is geared toward finding great deals, coupons, free samples and other savings. Take a look at their community forum by entering as a guest (you don’t have to sign up to do so) to get a feel for what topics are being discussing.

4. AARP.org

The AARP might not pop into mind right away when considering websites that offer an online saving community. The site’s community group forums however, have a number of money saving topics that you can read about and discuss.

5. MoneySavingExpert.com

Read web and news releases, watch videos, visit discussion forums, or participate in weekly polls on the MoneySavingExpert and get regular email updates on the latest special offers and coupons. This site is geared toward those who are looking to save in the UK.

6. HotCouponWorld.com

You can chat, visit forums or blogs, or just discover what’s new with coupons in HotCouponWorld’s coupon database. This site proclaims itself, “The Internet’s Largest Grocery Community”. You can sign up for the site’s newsletter to stay up to date on money saving techniques and deal alerts. If you’re looking for a spot devoted to groceries and coupons, then this might be the site for you.

7. SlickDeals.net

As a member of Slickdeals.net, you can take part in the ‘Hot Deals’, ‘Freebies’, ‘Deal Talk’, or ‘Coupons’ forums, amongst others, or just visit the ‘Lounge’ and participate in general discussions with fellow site members. Among the site’s many tools and resources, SlickDeals.net allows you to search for contests and sweepstakes, compare prices, read product reviews, and get store ratings.

8. FatWallet.com

FatWallet offers a number of forum topics ranging from ‘Hot Deals’ and ‘Deal Discussion’ to ‘Technology’ and ‘Travel’. If you are looking for a site that may be able to help you save on a variety of different product and service categories, this could be the site for which you’ve been searching.

9. SavingAdvice.com

Read finance articles, participate in the site’s ‘Personal Finance Forums’ or visit the SavingAdvice blog as a possible way to help motivate yourself to save. There are a number of blog categories offering advice and information on a variety of money saving topics.

Tom writes about managing money at Money Compare where consumers can compare online savings accounts in order to get the highest interest rate and therefore increase their ROI.

1. Make a list, and check it twice

Obvious? Yes. Predictable? Yes. Pointless? No. Making a list of the people you need to buy gifts for, and working out what you are going to get them before you leave the house means you are less likely to overspend on a person. How many times have you gotten carried away collecting the perfect gifts for your sister, only to realise your brother’s present now looks too small and you need to spend even more on him now too?!

2. Make a budget and stick to it

This should be done when you make your gift list because it allows you to see just how much you are spending on the festive season and chances are you’ll be inspired to curb your spending and set a limit. Setting a limit also stops you from over spending because when you reach the budgeted price ceiling, you know you need to stop shopping. If you are struggling for csah and are going to use your credit card, consider applying for a 0% purchases card before you spend. Its going to save you some serious interest.

3. Do not wait the last minute

Shopping earlier than December can save you money on your Christmas gifts. Firstly, there is more demand for all kinds of gifts and their prices increase and their availability decreases leading shop assistants to say things like ‘I can get it in before Christmas but you’ll have to pay the extra rushed shipping costs…’ Secondly, shopping in the Christmas rush is expensive for parking, petrol and incidentals like coffee and lunch breaks in your shopping marathon, but if you pace yourself, you can save on your entire gift buying experience.

4. Shop for Christmas bonuses

If you are shopping in the Christmas rush you can still save on gifts by seeking out those great seasonal bonuses. Around Christmas time many retailers will package up products and gifts to offer gifts with purchase. While you may be tempted to boost the original recipient’s gift, you can instead use this gift with purchase as a gift for someone else on your list.

5. Make and bake

Making gifts is a sure fire way to save money so if you are handy with a sewing machine why not whip up some Christmas stockings for your nieces and nephews, or if you want to give out hampers, bake the cookies and make the jam yourself, there are hundreds and thousands of free festive recipes online.

6. Secret Santa gifts

Instead of buying gifts for all of your friends and family, why not set up a Secret Santa draw within your gift buying groups. This is as simple as putting everyone’s names in a hat, and each person draws out one name, and buys one gift, with a budget set for the gifts by the group.

7. Shop online

This is another way to save on the parking, petrol and snack costs of Christmas gift buying because you don’t have to leave the house. Plus, you can often find the same products from the stores in the mall, in online stores for much cheaper because online stores have lower overheads and staffing costs – savings they can pass onto you.

8. To wrap up…

Skip the expensive wrapping paper. Glossy Christmas patterned paper can add hundreds of dollars to your final gift budget but simple brown or white paper with coloured ribbon can make an equally impressive gift – the paper will just be ripped and recycled anyway. Or you can use non-traditional gift wrapping tools as part of the gift – why not wrap gifts in tea towels or bath towels, or make a ‘Santa Sack’ from a pillow case?

Written by Fred Schebesta. Fred writes at Savings Account Finders. He offers advice on how to compare savings  accounts and make the most of term deposit accounts

If you like to get creative in the kitchen, you probably don’t give much thought to how much power you’re using – not when there are more important things to measure. Well, just take a minute now to think about all the things going on in the kitchen when you’re cooking – the oven is heating, the stove top is probably bubbling away with one or two pots and you may even have the microwave, the kettle or the grill going as well.

When you add up all of that power used, every night of the week just to feed your family you’ll probably start wondering if there’s a better way. You don’t have to resort to takeaway food to tone down the power consumption in your kitchen, all you have to do is cook smarter and below are 24 ways you can save energy when you cook, and most of them won’t even cost you a grain of salt.

1 : Fill Your Oven

The same way you wouldn’t run your dishwasher or washing machine half full because it’s a waste of energy, so too should your oven be full when you use it. With more homes opting for a gourmet style kitchen you may even have a large freestanding stove which you use to cook just one tray of muffins or roast one chicken breast. Instead, think about what else you can fill your oven with – you may take something from the stove and cook it in the microwave instead, or maybe you can double or triple your recipe and freeze some for later.

2:  Close the Oven and Keep it Closed

The more often you open the oven door, the longer it will take for your meal to cook – using more energy. Your oven is likely to have a light inside so turn this on and peer through the door, instead of letting all that cooking warmth out.

3:  Keep an Eye on Preheating

Some dishes will call for the oven to be preheated and it is important to the end result. However, where you can avoid it, don’t leave the oven heating for too long before putting the food in, and if you still want to preheat the oven, make sure you put the food in as soon as the oven has reached its preheated temperature.

4 : Use the Oven as a Warmer

Instead of getting out a warming tray, or leaving your oven on a warming setting to keep your meal until everyone arrives at the table, use the residual heat from the oven’s cooking time to keep food warm. Again, if you keep the door closed, very little heat will escape.

5 : Cooking Marathon

Where you can, cook meals you need for later in the day, when you are already cooking an earlier meal. For example, cooking your dinner meal straight after your lunch meal allows you to use the already warmed oven’s energy for the next meal, rather than letting it cool down, and making it work harder to heat up again from cold.

6 : Weekend Cooking Marathon

As well as giving you more time during the week, cooking your meals for the week on the weekend means you can cut down on the energy your oven uses at dinner time every day. Cooking more than one meal in the oven or on the cook top at once will use less energy than heating up your oven five times a week.

7:  Don’t Over Boil

When you fill the kettle for a cup of tea or coffee, don’t fill the kettle right up unless you need to. Similarly if you’re boiling a pot of water for pasta or vegetables, take care in using just the amount of water you need, rather than filling the pot to the top. The more water you’re boiling, the more energy you’ll be needlessly using.

8:  Unthaw Food Before Cooking

A little preparation in unthawing your meat or stored soups before cooking will help you cut down on the cooking energy needed. To cook something from frozen is going to take a lot longer, and use a lot more energy than cooking something thawed.

9:  Cook Smaller Food

No, you don’t have to go on a diet you just need to cut up your food a little before you cook it. Cutting pieces of meat for the BBQ or cutting vegetables for roasting will mean they take less time to cook and use less energy.

10:  Turn Off the Stove While You’re Cooking

If you are cooking something on the cook top such as an omelette, bacon, pancakes or the like, when your food is almost done, turn off the stove as the residual heat in the hot plate and in the pan will be enough to finish off the cooking process for a perfect meal.

11:  Turn Off the BBQ While You’re Cooking

Outside you can turn off the BBQ just before you’re done too. If you’re cooking sausages or hamburgers for example, when they are about five minutes away from being cooked, turn off the heat and let the stored heat in the grill or plate finish them off. Plus if you have a BBQ with a hood, this will keep in even more heat after you turn off the gas.

12:  Size Up Your Pots

If you are cooking something small on your cook top, use a small pot. This will allow you to use one of the smaller burners on your stove, and in turn you’ll use less energy to cook.

13:  Slow Cooking Saves Energy

Instead of heating up the whole oven to cook a meal, use a slow cooker or crock pot. You can cook a whole roast and vegetables, a stew or a delicious Asian dish in a pot on the stove using much less energy than you would in the oven. Not to mention putting your dinner in a slow cooker and letting it cook away saves you time.

14:  Flat Bottomed Pans

Check just how flat the bottom of the pan or pot you are using is, to conserve energy in your cooking. The flatter the base of the pan, the more surface area there is to be in contact with the hotplate, and therefore your cooking is faster and uses less energy.

15:  Lid On

Everything you cook will cook faster with the lid on, in turn saving you energy. Water will boil faster with the lid on, your veggies will steam faster and the meat in your stew will break down faster with the lid on.

16:  Clean Kitchens Save Energy

Make it a habit to regularly clean your oven , cook top and hotplates – they’ll reward you with efficiency. Just think about how much harder your oven has to work to cook through all the baked on meals of your past, and how much hotter will your pans get when they can be in direct contact with the hot plate, not with the food baked onto the hot plate.

17:  Microwave Boil

Using a microwave to boil your water is more efficient than using a kettle, or boiling water on the stove. Where a microwave can heat and bring water to the boil faster, it is able to use less energy.

18:  Choose the Right Sized Appliance

If you can use a smaller appliance than your oven to cook then you are going to be saving yourself a lot of energy. If you can use a small toaster oven for your grilled cheese or a slow cooker for your roast then go for it.

19:  Use an Electric Kettle

If you like to boil your water traditionally – on the stove top – then this could end up costing you. It can take more energy to boil water in a kettle on the stove, than is used by an electric kettle.

20:  Broil vs Bake

When you bake something in your oven you are essentially surrounding it with hot air, at the temperature your recipe book told you, or that you know is right for the food. Broiling is like upside down barbequing as broiling is cooking with infrared heat, which on a BBQ comes from the coals underneath and in a broiling oven comes from the hot element above the food. To broil a steak for example you would choose the setting on your oven, put your meat in a dish to catch the juices and let the steak cook. Since you are using just one element in the oven, and letting your food cook in its own juices, you are likely to be able to use less energy than baking. Broiling will also cook your food faster, and therefore use less energy.

21:  Double or Triple the Recipe

If you are making something like soup, pasta sauce or even muffins or cookies double or triple the recipe and freeze some for later. Cooking these meals from scratch just once will use less energy than the hours of cooking required to cook each batch individually.

22:  Quality Cookware

Good quality pots and pans will cook more efficiently than the cheap and nasty ones. This is because they are made of stronger materials, and materials better suited to cooking to allow them to conduct the heat better. For example, most good quality cooking pots will have a copper base and copper is excellent at conducting the heat evenly across the base of the pan so your food cooks faster – using less energy. You are likely to have to make an investment to upgrade to quality cookware but the energy savings, plus the better cooking results will be worth the switch.

23:  Wood Stove

Having a camping cook-out is an alternative to using up energy in your kitchen as you are able to use a specially designed camp oven – which is usually a large, strong based pot – over a wood stove to cook your meal.

24: Cooking with Solar

Solar cooking is a culinary method which has been used in developing countries for centuries and is only just emerging into mainstream Western cooking practices. A totally carbon neutral and power-free cooking method, using the sun to cook your meals instead of the stove is sure to save you on energy costs. There are three main types of solar cookers; the Panel Cooker which directs sunlight from reflective panels onto food; the Solar Oven which places food under a glass plate and as the sun travels through the glass it cooks the food, this solar cooker also used reflective panels to direct even more sunlight through the glass; and the Parabolic Cooker uses a series of mirrors designed to concentrate the sun’s rays on a particular spot. Solar cooking can take some time to perfect and will require an investment in equipment but if you’re serious about natural cooking the answer could be right there in the sky.

Using less energy when you cook can be as simple as choosing the right tools for the job. Plus when you cook more efficiently, you can often save yourself time too.

Fred Schebesta writes about saving money at Savings Account Finder, he helps people compare and the right high interest savings account to get more interest.