Saving money on techno gadgets

By Rick Castellini Special to PRIME Today's technology has a tremendous opportunity to be a money pit. Instead of saving money and time with technology, it can easily waste a lot of our time and money. This month, I want to share with you ways to save money on your technology. Concentrating on printing, telecommunications and computer hardware can potentially save you hundreds to thousands of dollars per year! Do you remember reading about the future of paperless offices in the '70s? I do, and wow, we couldn't be further from that utopia. And in the home, paper consumption has skyrocketed in the last 15 years. For some reason, we love to print information...a lot of information. Much of this printed material is for no real reason other than it is easy to do. We may or may not read what we printed, and very rarely refer to it again. The first way to save money is to realize that it's ok to read information on our computer screens. Create your own paperless environment. And when it comes to printing information from the Internet or email, keep in mind that the Internet was not meant to be a print medium. Do you really need to print out every joke that your neighbor Larry sends you? Printing requires use of ink and paper. Both cost money. Another great way to save money with printing is to throw away or recycle your old ink jet printer and purchase a laser printer instead. Laser printers use a powdered toner that never dries up. Think how many newer, expensive ink cartridges you have had to throw away because they sat for too long without being used. Next up is telecommunications. I lump television, cell phone usage, long distance, land based phone lines, and Internet into this category. Take out all your bills and add up how much total monthly costs are devoted to these services. Consolidating and bundling these services often can save you $40-150 per month! Sometimes you need someone knowledgeable to help you evaluate your current bills and compare it with new services, but the result is less monthly cost with increased services. Lastly is the computer and tech hardware itself. Do you really need the newest model digital camera, cell phone or computer? Probably not. In fact, in most cases definitely not. My rule of thumb is to only upgrade your hardware if it either quits functioning or no longer performs the functions you want it to do. Otherwise, don't get caught on the upgrade train. Three easy to follow and understand methods to save money with your technology. No matter your economic situation, saving money always makes sense. The side benefit of saving money with technology is that you also save time. How? Because by staying with products and services that you are comfortable with and have used, you don't have to spend extra time researching, learning, and setting up new technology. Remember to make technology work for you, not against you. Rick Castellini is an author, computer consultant, and hosts a computer radio show from Colorado. Visit his web site at www.HelpMeRick.com for new tips every week and sign up for his free weekly email newsletter. You can also follow Rick on Twitter at twitter.com/helpmerick.