There are not many people in the world who do not care about the money they spend. It really doesn’t matter whether you are an internet millionaire or living on minimum wages, you don’t want to waste money. Nobody does, it would be stupid not to care. If you really don’t care then why not take more care with your money and give the money you would have wasted to charity. There are a lot of needy causes out there and you could do a lot of good.

We don’t want to see our money wasted. We aren’t stupid. If you are wealthy then you will perhaps pay whatever you are asked for a cup of coffee. If you are struggling then you might go further down the street where the coffee is a little cheaper and save a bit of cash. That’s just being sensible.

Sometimes we worry too much about trying to save money. If you need fuel for your car and it’s a bit cheaper down the road then it’s worth buying it there. If it is 10 or 20 miles away then the fuel you will use getting there probably means it isn’t worth the drive. It’s a case of being sensible.

You can spend a lot of money trying to save money and it sometimes does not make sense. One example I have recently seen is for a device that will turn off the power to electrical products when you aren’t using them. It makes sense to turn them off if you aren’t using them. Why waste the money on electricity just to keep them on standby? The trouble with the devices is the cost of buying them.  £60 for something that might save you a few of pennies a year? Yes, it cuts our use of energy which is good. Energy resources are running out and we should conserve them but let’s be sensible.

So what is the alternative to these expensive gadgets? How can you save money and save the planet much cheaper than this?

Go to your local hardware store and buy a multi-way power lead. You can get them with 2,4,6 or even 8 sockets or more. Plug all the items you use together into the multi-way sockets and then when you turn off your computer you can with just one click switch everything associated with the computer off all at once. Get another for your tv and then plug in the dvd player the sound system and anything else you have on when you watch tv. When you are finished watching you can turn the mains power off very simply with just one click.

I want to point out that you need to check that you don’t overload these multi-way sockets. Anything that uses a lot of power could be a problem. So no electric heaters, toasters, kettles or irons and it’s sensible and safer to check the power rating of the total of the equipment plugged in and the multi-way power lead. Add up all the power that could be used and make sure you don’t overload it.

It doesn’t take much to get into the habit of clicking off the power when you finish with the tv or computer and it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than the clever automatic gadgets. You can save money and save the planet at the same time. Isn’t it nice to have such an easy win-win situation?

Money Magic: Seven Simple Steps to True Financial Freedom (Quick Reads)