It Just Makes Cents - a money-minded column to share tips, helpful Web sites and Internet deals. We'll find ways to stretch your dollars, methods for trimming your spending and my favorite ... free stuff.

Tip

As summer's temperatures skyrocket, we can expect our electric bills to rise in tandem. Although the increase is somewhat inevitable, are there any steps we can take to keep our electricity costs to a minimum?

Follow these tips to lessen the bite of a monster electric bill:

1. Keep your air conditioner filter clean. Visually check the filter once per month, especially in our dusty environment, and replace when necessary. Dirty filters require your unit to work harder and inefficiently. Replacing them with new, clean filters can save 5 to 15 percent in energy costs.

2. Inspect the weather-stripping around doors and windows. It just makes cents not to air condition the desert outside.

3. Consider a programmable thermostat which will allow you to raise the temperature when no one is home.

4. Use fans to lower the "wind chill" in rooms. Fans cool people; they don't actually reduce room temperature, so be sure to turn fans off in unoccupied rooms. Using fans may allow you to bump up the thermostat a degree or two, which will lower your bill.

For every degree you raise the thermostat, you gain a 3 percent savings on your cooling costs.

Web Sites

Do you have any DVDs, video games, books or CDs you no longer use?

Visit Swaptree.com, a Web site where you can make one-for-one trades of used music, movies, books and games. Join and make your wish list of items you'd like to trade. Print a postage label for easy shipping directly from the Web site. You pay shipping on items you send, but items you receive are free.

Be sure to also visit these similar sites: swapacd.com and swapadvd.com. It just makes cents to trade out old entertainment for something new.

Totally Free

in Pahrump

Pahrump has its own non-profit network to facilitate the exchange of goods that might otherwise end up as trash. Join the Yahoo group Freecycle.org to post items you'd like to give away or list items you need.

This is a great community "movement of people interested in keeping good stuff out of our landfill."

It just makes cents to offer others the opportunity to make use of discarded items rather than throwing them away. To join the group, visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pahrumpfreecycle.

Money Quote

"Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish but it will not replace you as the driver" -- Ayn Rand.

Have any ideas you can share with the community? Have you visited somewhere nearby that's fun and frugal? Do you know an activity in Pahrump that will entertain but not break the bank? How about a Web site you've found with cool tips and tricks? Submit your suggestions by e-mailing jbeaudoin@pvtimes.com.

Your ideas and tips can help us all save a buck or two.