With the economy being so tough, it’s important that we all focus on saving money. I know this is a baseball site, but I thought I would share 5 tips to save some cash: 

1. Cable or Satellite TV: Cancel your cable and tap into your neighbors system. You won’t have any of the fancy features like DVR or PPV, but you will enjoy cable TV at a significantly reduced cost. Since the YES Network is part of local regional cable…you’ll get all the Yankee games. Approximate savings: $1200/year.

2. Home Phone & Internet: Cancel your home phone and internet service. Buy a wireless card for your home PC and a wireless decoder. This will allow you to use your neighbor’s wireless network. Use your mobile phone. Cost of wireless card and decoder software: $200.00. Approximate savings: $1000.00/year.

3. Home Water: Go into your basement where the water line enters your home. There is a gray or white box attached to the water meter. This allows the water company to read how much water you use to generate a bill. Cut the wire that leads to the box at the meter itself. Rip off the box and throw it in the garbage. With so many layoffs, they don’t have staff available to send to your house to figure out what happened! Approximate savings: $1000/year. Use all the water you want for free

4. Home heaing: Stop by your local diner on the way home from work every night. DO NOT ORDER FOOD. Ask them for 4 gallons of their used cooking oil. Make sure it’s cool. Collect the jugs of oil in your basement. Go to Home Depot and buy a 50 gallon drum, a sump pump, a funnel, and a small piece of screen. Put the screen in the funnel and pour the oil into the drum through the screen/funnel. This removes bits of fried chicken wings, mozzerela sticks, french fries, etc. Put the sump pump at the bottom of the drum and insert the pump line into your oil tank. Pump the cooking oil into your tank and enjoy the heat! Startup cost: $300. At 4 gallons collected per workday, at 52 weeks a year…you’ve just saved yourself from buying 1,040 gallons of oil! Approximate savings @ $3.00 per gallon: $3,120/year

5. Home electric: Remember that grey box for the water???? Well, the electric company has one too! It’s outside, and it rests just under the meter. First, rip off that box. Second, plant poision ivy directly in front of the meter. You may want to use one of those trellaces used for growning tomatoes. Use lots of miracle grow! Approximate savings at $200.00/month: $2400.00/year!

Disclaimer: The above is meant to be humorous and in no way am I suggesting a literal intrepretation of the above or suggesting that any reader break any laws. ALTHOUGH, I have a friend who does #4 and it actually works.