Inviting parents into the classroom over the web

A fantastic way for parents to see their children's presentations in the classroom, provide encouragement and be a part of it all. How many have I missed in my working life? A great many. How many have I even been invited too? Not many considering the logisitics of hosting 60 parents in a classroom for 30 students. Bring it on!

Using Adobe Connect to connect to a real audience

Mike Matas: A next-generation digital book | Video on TED.com

Check this out, showing a truly interactive e-book for iPad/iPhone. Tapping the potential of personal electronic devices in our kids learning.

As shown at a recent ACT Schools' ICT Network Meeting

Mike Matas: A next-generation digital book | Video on TED.com

We live in a filter bubble

How did you find me? Are you a follower, a friend, or appeared in your Google search results? Why am I relevant to you right now? Am I more important to you now than whatever is headlining the latest new bulletin? Apparently we are being presented information on the Internet based on what your previous online behaviour has been, where you are, what browser you use, and without you even knowing about it, the information you may want to access is being filtered.

You may have experienced this phenomena in person, and wondered why...

Eli Pariser: Beware online "filter bubbles" | Video on TED.com

Save on petrol costs

I'll start off my saying that I own a Hybrid, a Honda Civic that is 2 years old now. My average fuel consumption over that time is 6.3litres/100kms. A tank normally takes me 630kms and I fill up before I'm bone dry. The Civic has stop/start technology so the engine stops when I'm at a full stop at lights and intersections. I chose the Civic because my route to work takes me over 2 good size hills and a mountain (by Australian standards anyway) and the petrol engine with electric assist really helps going up the hills, and the downhill runs recharge the battery. The hybrid has an excellent display about my l/kms that tells what is happening based on my driving habits, and when I'm using the electric motor or charging it.

The hybrid aside, the things that have a noticeable impact on the l/kms reading include:

• speed of take off from traffic lights, the slower/smoother the better
• coasting down hills rather than using the accelerator to meet the speed limit
• increasing the tyre pressure to the standard printed on tyres, and keeping them there
• limiting the number of people/objects in the car - weight in the car plays a big part in efficiency
• 100-110km/hr on freeways, going up to 120 increases fuel consumption
• watching the traffic signals ahead and slowing down by taking your foot off the accelerator well prior to slow down naturally rather than needing to brake closer to the lights (but don't annoy other motorists around you) 
• matching the speed of cars around you when practical, weaving in and out of traffic and accelerating to overtake are real fuel wasters. Leave earlier so you aren't in a hurry if it really bothers you
• playing calming music on the radio/iPod, relaxed driving makes a difference
• short trips around town are killers for fuel efficiency, the longer the trip, the better
• if you have a fuel efficiency gauge that shows what happens as you are driving, set it so you can see it as you are driving as default and watch it closely.

Saving of fuel costs at the pump:

• I use E10 unleaded petrol/ethanol mix, its even recommended by Honda for my car. $0.04 per litre off normal price (I think)
• I have an Everyday Rewards card from Woolworths, and even though most of my shopping is at Aldi, I do buy pet food, coffee for work and some of my preferred name brand groceries/specials from there once or twice a month. I make sure I stock up and pay just over $30 per shop to get the fuel discount. 
• Fill up in the mornings when the car and service stations are still cold and vapours haven't expanded in the tanks
• Fill up on slowest setting to stop vapours you are paying for drawing back into the hose
• Fill up when half full so there is less air in the car fuel tank

Free petrol:

• Link the Everyday Rewards to QANTAS Frequent Flyer membership (for free QFF membership when done this way)
• My main credit card used for bill paying is also linked to QFF membership (ANZ)
  (NB. I keep the money for bills in my home loan as redraw so it isn't really credit, but using the interest fee period and rewards points accumulation to my advantage saving interest on home loan, paying no interest on credit card by paying it off in full each month, and having a credit card limit that matches what you can afford as a monthly budget)
• Redeem points in QFF store for a Woolworths Petrol fuel card. The Woolworths discounts will no longer apply, but its free petrol.
• 14,500 points gets you a $100 fuel voucher - it takes me about 5 months to earn that, and $100 fuel lasts about a month in my car.

Happy motoring!

How I cut my power bill consumption by over 35% a quarter

Energy companies are getting a lot better at educating consumers on more efficient energy use on their websites, and along with Green Living Tips and Australian and state government websites, I took it to heart and from Oct 2010-Jan 2011 I reduced my electricity consumption by 36% from the same period the previous year, and from Jan-April 2011, 38% from the same period the previous year. I thought I was already conscious enough by only charging phones and netbook when they needed to, using Compact Fluorescent lights, ad-hoc turning off of equipment/lights, solar water heating (with a manual booster so it is my choice when to heat up the water), purchased Green power, but there was so much more to be done...

How did I do it:

• turned an appliance off at the wall everytime it is not in use, and unpluged where possible (particularly kettles and toasters). What am I doing this for now?
• TV
• Foxtel
• DVD Player (now stays off most of the time)
• Wii
• Xbox (those power transformers have lights, little power vampires)
• Foxtel wireless phone connection (only need it when ordering an 'on demand' movie, little lights too)
• Kettle
• Toaster
• Computer, screen, ADSL Router, printer (hardly use it anyway),
• Desk lamps
• Automatic sprinkler system (I hadn't used it for three years, and there it was using power)
• Room lights
• Inserted weather strips on external doors
• Bought new, more solid snakes for door drafts
• Reduced pool filter to run for only 2 hours a day when not using the pool
• Used cold water for washing machine
• Kids have more showers and less baths
• Reduced freezer temperature to -17 degrees from -22 degrees in summer, now it is -15 in winter and I completely refresh the meat at least once every three weeks - no long term meat hoarding. 
• Used gas grill/cooktop and microwave more and less of the energy hungry oven with its 15 minute cool down cycle.
• Turned the dishwasher off at the start of the dry cycle, with help of oven timer as a reminder.
• Limited the use of air conditioner (reverse cycle) and setting temp in summer to 26 degrees, and 18 degrees in winter.
• Turned off the automatic front porch light when practical.
• Used smaller LCD TV for watching news in kitchen in morning and dinner time rather than larger CRT TV (still don't have a large flat screen, it ain't broke yet - some things were built to last, especially German TVs!).
• Used the netbook for quick internet searching, email checking rather than using the big desktop computer everytime.
• Turned down the waterbed thermostat/heater a bit.
• Boiled only one cup of water when it was just me after a cuppa.
• Turned off garden lights.
• Planned better and used a camp clothesline inside rather than using the dryer for 'emergencies'.
  
• And most importantly, trained the kids to do the same! It only took 2 weeks of constant reminding, and after they saw the first bill, are happily on-board. 

Now it is winter, kid are rugging up on the couch, thanks, Nanna for the crocheted rug too. 

The little things do add up. There are four of us in a 5 bedroom house, and we used 1547 KWH Oct 2010-Jan 2011, and 1361 KWH Jan-Apr 2011. Even with rising electricity prices, the saving in the last period meant it was my cheapest power bill since January 2006, and my lowest ever consumption since moving into the house in 2004. Happy with that for the money in my pocket and the environment!

Great Aussie advice on saving money, its Koshie!

We all know Koshie from Channel 7's Sunrise, and his blog on Saving Money and other personal finance advice is spot on and targetted just for us. A new find for me, and I've signed up for more.

25 top tips for saving on your home loan

Yellow Brick Road's fantastic top 25 list of to-dos. How many times have I read, "Put your pay into your loan and redraw/offset until you need the funds to pay of a credit card etc"?? Soooo many, this list actually made the idea stick, and now in action. Thanks Mark Bouris!

Being enviro-normal

It isn't just about doing our bit for global warming, but also looking after your own backyard and saving some money as well. The best source of information, also relevant to Aussies is Michael Bloch's Green Living Tips, full of great advice and supplemented by follower comments that is a real common sense approach to living greener. His opinion is really helpful in wading through marketing and green-washing speak to make the changes that really matter. I have been following him for 9 months and he hasn't let me down yet.

Learn from others who are doing it tough too

There is so much, but so little, out there in web land - that is free anyway - to help out in living a life within your means. There is lots of generalist advice with an element of sameness once you visit a few news sites. A shining light though are the communities of real life families pitching in to create their own stores of information that really make a difference, at a small cost, but a cost regardless. The best ones out there are Cheapskates and Simple Savings. Signing up to the free newsletter gives you a flavour of their paid content and built up over time and kept in your email archive, a searchable cavern of home-grown Aussie nuggets of wisdom. 

The squeeze on family budgets

Never before is a family budget so important as now, the pressure points of threatened interest rises, energy costs escalating, carbon tax, and rates increases has scared the bewillikers out of me, and since becoming a single parent/single income household it really is my responsibility to keep it together, and educate the chilluns at the same time.

I developed a budget, well version 10 at least, two years ago, and it has really helped me lift out of credit debt, travel around the world for a 5 week trip of a lifetime, made it possible to apply for and sustain a mortgage on my own income and put some away for the kids as well. I used ANZ's MoneyManager to build up a future picture of my expenditure, trawled through credit cards, bills and bank statements and looked at my income sources, regular monthly bills, ad-hoc bills and what could be spent on food/incidentals each week. I then kept a fortnightly running sheet of previous balance, income, expenditure and end of fortnight balance to give my cash flow 9 months into the future, wow did that tell a story - May was not a month to look forward to with utilities, car rego, house insurance and rates all due at once, but I could plan for it. I look at it weekly and update it, and live by it.

You've heard the advice of others to have a budget, but heed it, seriously, it gives you complete focus and piece of mind at the same time.