How efficient are you?

Slumping along in this apparently never-ending economic downturn, you get to a point where you wonder if there's any belt left to tighten.

You've clipped the coupons, put off the vacation and persuaded your kid to squeeze one more school year out of that Dora the Explorer backpack. Maybe you're thinking there's nothing left to cut.

But poverty is the mother of invention, and recently I've run across plenty of cost-cutting strategies that wouldn't have seen the light of day in fatter times.

A few weeks ago, I drove through Hazleton, where once car dealership was selling “easy fixes” straight off the lot.

Soon after, a co-worker told me her family – as frustrated by low interest rates as they are about trying to jump through tightening credit hoops – has been financing their own loans. Mom and dad get an extra percentage point or so on the savings, adult kids get the cash they need for major purchases they would have financed without blinking just a few short years ago. Everybody wins.

There's another way to save money this fall, and that's by having your local energy company or non-profit conduct an energy audit of your home.

Around Cedar Rapids, you can take the Green Iowa AmeriCorps up on their offer of a free home energy assessment and weatherization upgrade.

They'll come to your house and look for ways you can save energy - they'll even help with chores like caulking and weatherstripping. They have a cache of compact fluorescent light bulbs, and information on funding that can help with more costly improvements, like energy-efficient appliances.

Call (319) 297-3581 or e-mail green.americorps@gmail.com for more information.

If you're not in Cedar Rapids, chances are good that your energy company conducts similar audits, especially if you own an older home.

Boosting your home's energy efficiency can save a lot of money in the long run. The folks at Alliant Energy offer these statistics:

The average American home loses $150 worth of energy each year through inefficient appliances, poor insulation or drafty windows and doors.

Replacing only five frequently used light bulbs with energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs will save you more than $65 each year.

The typical home loses more than 25 percent of its heat through windows and that's money out the - well, you get it.

Winter's around the corner, time to batten down the hatches. Might as well have some help.

Jennifer Hemmingsen's column appears on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Contact the writer at (319) 339-3154 or jennifer.hemmingsen@gazcomm.com