Dollar Savvy, the Magazine

I found a wonderful new rag, Dollar Savvy, which has a lot of cute, cool, and even useful ideas for saving money. It comes off as having a bit of a conservative spin, but I expect no less from a magazine that presents itself as a money saving tool.

One of their cuter ideas is a written contract between the household cook and the diners, which would give a firmament to any agreements regarding who cleans and who cooks. It really did need a clause for people who whine about the food. As a cook myself, I've had to deal with people whining about the quality, the texture, the smell, and even the taste. (My food tastes glorious. Just ask the cat.)

Fifty lashes is probably punishment enough for complaining about the food.

I don't criticize something unless I love it, so here's what's wrong with the first issue.

Fact Checking!

On page 21, Dollar Savvy advises its readers to leave lights running if you're not going to be gone for long, saying that it takes more electricity to turn them on or off than the bulb will consume if left powered.

But this isn't true; the TV show Mythbusters tested this statement back in 2006 and found that one uses less power by leaving the lights off.

The magazine also claimed that buying gasoline when it is cooler outside will get you more fuel for your dollar - the idea being that gasoline's density changes with temperature.

While this is true, I researched this myself last year, and discovered that most modern gas stations keep their fuel in a huge tank that regulates the temperature of the gasoline. Twenty Below or Sweltering, the gasoline stays at the roughly the same temperature.

There were a couple of other nits I could pick at, but they're of a debatable nature, so I'll let them be.

Utility of Information

There are a few pages that compare the prices of a product at different locations -- this is a fabulous idea. Except that the places they picked were a bit odd.

If you're comparing prices of coke, for instance, why include the free samples Coke gives out at a museum? And why, when comparing hamburgers, do they include such eldritch locales as DB Bistro Moderne and Old Homestead Steak House? Do the majority of hamburger buyers really frequent those places?

Far more useful would be the price-per-ounce comparison of a two liter bottle of coke, a twenty ounce coke, a six pack of coke, a twelve pack, and a twenty-four pack, at different grocery stores. Sure, the whole nation doesn't shop at the places around their office -- but they'd find a good representative sample, and it would show readers how to construct such a table themselves.

Still, on the whole, the magazine is full of great advise. Head over to their website (http://www.getdollarsavvy.com/) and see if you agree.