Internet (1) Power consumed by your computer adds significantly to your annual electricity bill. You can easily make savings with little effort using power management strategies. Go to Control Panel and click on Power Management – you can use this to set your computer and monitor to turn themselves off after given intervals.
(2) Bundle up Take advantage of bundles offered by many telecoms, mobile, and satellite/cable TV companies to get all your services on one place. Worthwhile savings are possible, but do your sums carefully first!
(3) Change your default printer setting to draft Switching to Draft mode will make cartridges last noticeably longer. In Windows, go Start>Control Panel>Printers. Right click on your printer icon and select Printing Preferences. You can manually override the setting if you wish.
(4) Refill inkjet printer cartridges Most inkjet printers need both black and colour cartridges – even a modest user can easily consume one of each every couple of months. At around £30 per pair even for remanufactured cartridges, your annual bill can push £200. And many of us are spending far more.
For about £6 a refill kit can be used to refill a cartridge five times on average. Some brands are easier to refill than others, but on the above example savings of £150 per year can be made. Just remember to wear plastic gloves! If you find the procedure too messy and fiddly, refilling at a High Street computer shop will save some money and avoid hassle.
(5) Print to PDF Printing gobbles reams of paper as well as all that ink. You can store important documents in a designated folder and spare needless clutter and filing tasks too. Some Word processing programmes allow you to print direct to PDF. If not, you can download free programmes to do the job. Examples include pdf995, PrimoPDF or PDF4free.
(6) Use free software Before buying expensive programmes check for free alternatives. For most home users Open Office at www.openoffice.org will do the job as well as paid-for Office suites – and it's free. Likewise with anti-virus software, using avast! Free Edition, AVG Free Edition or Avira AntiVir. GIMP is meanwhile a good open source graphics programme.
(7) Plug your computer equipment into an Uninterruptible Power Supply – UPS for short. Power surges will shorten the life of your computer and even kill it. From around £40, a UPS could be a good investment.
(8) Upgrade your computer rather than buying new? If your only gripe with your machine is speed you could install more memory to boost it for £50 or less. Ask in online computer forums or consult your local computer shop if unsure.
(9) If buying new, go for the highest spec you can afford If an upgrade alone is not enough and you have decided to buy new, in the long run you will save by buying the most powerful PC you can.
(10) Use Skype for overseas calls to landlines – it’s free. See www.skype.com for details of how to set it up.
Written by Andrew Stucken, this article was first published on August 17, 2010. Andrew's opinions are his own and for general information only. Always seek independent, professional, financial advice.