During a trip to a local hardware store to pick up some nails, we noticed that there were two types of solar yard lamps available - fixed (on a spike or stake), or hanging (from a hook, sometimes connected to a stake). We saw that it was only $20 for a three-pack of solar lamps (I've since seen four packs for the same price, on sale). We bought two packs of them and six of those pretty plant hangers that people sometimes use for their hanging plants (the ones that look like pretty shelf brackets, but with hooks).

SAW THIS ON ANOTHER SITE:

When we got home, we mounted the plant hangers over or next to four windows in our house and put the solar lamps on them. Then, we hung the other two on the house, next to the front and back doors. In the late afternoon or early evening, we would open up the blinds to allow the sunlight to "charge" the indoor lights. The outdoor lights took care of themselves. At night, we had free household lighting that would last until sunrise if we'd charged them long enough! We kept a piece of nice material in rooms that we needed to sleep in, in order to cover the lights when it was time to go to sleep.

The day after we started doing this, we had a neighbor call us to let us know that we'd left both our porch lights on overnight. We asked if it had disturbed her.

"No," she said, "I was just worried about your electric bill. Actually, I felt safer when I came home from work and they were on, because I could see to put my key into the lock!" "Well," said my roommate, "You'll feel safer every night then, because we're leaving them on from now on. In fact, we can't turn them off! They're solar lamps and the power is free!"

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* Money saved in 2006: $10,000.00
* Total Savings in 2007:$13,003.51
*Money saved in 2008:$15,982.06

These lights are on sale at the Family dollar 2 for $12. Not as good as 4 for $20, but......

And the dollar tree has the pretty wall mounts you mentioned, for guess?? Yup, a dollar each! LOL!So I'm going to try this out too.

Thanks Melissa!

With the rising cost of everything these days...I was wondering if anybody on here had actually tired it. I wonder the lights actually illuminated enough to light a "room" and then if you were able to cover them well enough at night to make it appear as though they were off when you didn't need or want light?? I think it's a cool idea, just wondered if anybody had done it and how well it actually worked out for them??

I have also found that unplugging any electrical items in your home, ie: computers, microwave, coffee pots, television, etc. will also decrease your electric bill. I have even convinced my husband to "unplug" even if for a day or when we are gone for a week or two.

Great Tip thanks for posting!

_________________
Thankyou for posting deals! We appreciate your kindness!
"You can print coupons on the main page"**Don't forget to subscribe to the blog on the main page!

* Money saved in 2006: $10,000.00
* Total Savings in 2007:$13,003.51
*Money saved in 2008:$15,982.06

i love this idea. I am new btw to this forum and to the consumer queen website. we are building our home (ourselves, no contractors) even under this economy. its been rough and slow going, over a year now so far. So i am always looking for cheaper or better yet free ways to save money for more building supplies. I love this power saving option.

Welcome!

_________________
Thankyou for posting deals! We appreciate your kindness!
"You can print coupons on the main page"**Don't forget to subscribe to the blog on the main page!

* Money saved in 2006: $10,000.00
* Total Savings in 2007:$13,003.51
*Money saved in 2008:$15,982.06

Wow am off to Family Dollar today to see if I can find any. Electric bill is sky high every month. Anything will help.