There I am having ice tea and dodging the heat wave at one of my branch offices, I mean, local coffee shops. I’m working hard... ruminating on how to live a more sustainable and, therefore, more affordable lifestyle at home.

In walks my old friend Tim Smith, who lives nearby. As Executive Director of Community Greenhouse Partners in Cleveland, he’s leading an effort to build an urban greenhouse that will create good jobs with benefits for people in the community, educate and train students in how to grow food, and provide a year-round source of fresh food for city residents.

If anyone’s “green,” Tim is. Can he give me some tips? You bet.

So if you want to increase your personal sustainability quotient as I do, here are four fairly simple steps I gleaned from our conversation that you can take to spare the earth and your checking account:

• Put in a composting bin. There’s a pretty broad selection of these composters available, ranging from roughly $70 to $400. Use the compost to feed your indoor plants or garden, and you can stop buying those $30 bags of 20 20 20 garden fertilizer. Combine it with recycling bins, and you can make a serious assault on zero waste.

• Change all of your light bulbs to CFLs or LEDs. Hot wired incandescent lights expend 90% of their energy creating heat. Doesn’t make Thomas Edison any less of a genius, but it does make compact fluorescent light (CFL) more attractive, since they are “wireless” and rely on a cooler chemical reaction to make light more efficiently. According to the US DOE, over a period of 4.1 years, at 5 cents per kWh, the price of electricity accounts for 37 percent of the life-cycle cost of a CFL, but for 78 percent of the life-cycle cost of an incandescent light. You save on housework, too, since incandescent bulbs need to be changed roughly 13 times more frequently.

• Plug every appliance into a power strip, and turn that power off when you’re not using it. Not to capitalize on the recent Twilight trend, but you may have vampires in your home. Electricity vampires. Even if it’s turned off, a plugged-in appliance or device still draws power, aka, phantom power. Instead of trying to unplug them every time they’re off, invest in a good surge protector that you can easily switch off. Remember, appliances alone account for 17% of annual household energy expenses.

• Use drying racks to dry your clothes instead of the electric dryer. If a typical home uses 360-1,400 kilowatt-hours per year just to operate the clothes dryer, there’s a laundry list of reasons to reduce that use. One way is to use clothes drying racks or hang your clothes up outside, weather permitting.

Now, in addition to implementing these steps, I’ll further ruminate on turning Tim into a microchip that could be implanted into everyone’s brain: Instant green conscience. I could earn some money and make the world a better place. And that, my friends, would be sustainable.

My heart starts beating, it pulsates in my chest like a tribal drum. I get a little twitch in my eye that lets me know I'm getting closer. Picking up my pace from a brisk walk to an all-out sprint, I make a beeline to the end-cap on the aisle and as I near it, I see the words “Clearance.” I dig frantically through the red stickers, looking for the savings we all crave. I scoff at 20% off, and dig further to get to the real treasure: the 75% and even the 90% off items. It’s bargain-hunting in its finest form and, frankly, it never gets old.

Saving money is awesome. That statement is not profound, it's straight and simple. The thrill of the hunt and the discovery of something you actually want for a fraction of what you thought you had to pay for it is an excitement all its own. If this strikes you as overzealous and odd, maybe you haven't found the bargains that cause such a reaction. That's why I'm here.

Watch this space for success stories and simple tips to get you the best bang for your buck. I’ll share past “wins” I've had in saving money and landing the ultimate deals, like getting a DJ Hero party set for my Playstation 3 (a $120 value) for absolutely free, as well as free concert tickets, movie tickets, hotel rooms, music, and more.  I’ll walk you through the steps and show you how easy it is to strike a great deal.

In the meantime, here are some general tips to start thinking like me:

• Review the best deals online. If you plan to make a purchase, do some price comparisons to avoid buyer’s remorse.

• “Like” your favorite Credit Experts, restaurants, stores, etc. on Facebook. You’ll be notified of special promotions that way.

• Free trials are your best friend.

Today, the Federal Trade Commission came down hard on for-profit debt relief firms. The FTC’s new amendments to the Telemarketing Sales Rule will prohibit debt relief companies from collecting advance fees, among other things. Here is some basic information about the new Rule.

Who: The Federal Trade Commission, which enforces the Telemarketing Sales Rule, has developed the new rules.

The rule applies to all for-profit debt relief agencies that sell debt relief services over the telephone, including those that discuss settlement over the phone with prospective clients. In other words, they don’t have to be cold-calling consumers to be covered by the rule.

When: These final amendments are effective on September 27, 2010, except for the upfront fee ban, which is effective on October 27, 2010.

What: The Rule will:

(1) prohibit debt relief service providers from collecting a fee for services until a debt has been settled, altered, or reduced;

(2) require certain disclosures in calls marketing debt relief services; and

(3) prohibit specific misrepresentations about material aspects of the services. 

I will write more as I sift through the details.

Gerri Detweiler – Personal finance author and Credit Advisor for Credit.com, Gerri contributes budgeting, debt recovery and savings information online. She is also the co-author of Reduce Debt, Reduce Stress: Real Life Solutions for Your Credit Crisis.

Yesterday I was a guest on Allan Handelman’s radio show and took a call from a listener who faithfully paid a debt relief company $450 a month for two years. But that firm never paid a penny to his creditors, and then abruptly closed shop.

Today at 1:30 pm ET, FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz and Vice President Joe Biden will announce a new debt relief rule designed to help protect consumers against debt relief abuses. It’s expected that the rule will restrict the marketing of debt settlement services and place limitations on the upfront fees that settlement companies can charge.

At Credit.com we’ve warned consumers to be very careful when considering debt settlement, and have suggested questions to ask a settlement company before you do choose one to help you with your debt. We understand that debt settlement can be a legitimate option for consumers who have too much debt to qualify for a debt management plan administered by a credit counseling agency, and either can’t – or won’t – file for bankruptcy. And in my ebook Reduce Debt, Reduce Stress, I profiled several consumers who successfully used debt settlement to get out from under crushing credit card debt.

I will be watching the announcement today, and will be back with a summary of the new rules, and more advice for consumers who are considering using a debt relief company to get out from under overwhelming  debt.

Gerri Detweiler – Personal finance author and Credit Advisor for Credit.com, Gerri contributes budgeting, debt recovery and savings information online. She is also the co-author of Reduce Debt, Reduce Stress: Real Life Solutions for Your Credit Crisis.

Recently FICO revealed that 35% of consumers have FICO scores of 650 or below. Those scores will make it difficult for many of them to qualify for traditional unsecured credit cards. That may mean more consumers will be turning to secured cards, which are much easier to qualify for if you have less than perfect credit.

Here is an interview I did recently With Fox Orlando in which I explain how secured cards work:

Tips for choosing a secured credit card:

• Choose a card that reports to all three major credit reporting agencies.

• Use your secured card like any other major credit card. Charge things you would buy anyway, and pay the bill in full to avoid interest. You do not have to revolve debt on your secured card to rebuild your credit rating.

• Pay your bills on time. While this may seem obvious, some people think that if they miss a payment it will be taken out of their deposit. That’s not the case with a secured card.

• Understand that prepaid debit cards, which are different animals than secured cards, are not reported to the major credit reporting agencies. Though you may want one for convenience, they do not help you rebuild your credit.

• Use Credit.com’s free Credit Report Card to monitor your progress with your credit over time. It’s truly free (we won’t ask you for a credit card number) and because it’s a soft inquiry it won’t hurt your credit.

Gerri Detweiler – Personal finance author and Credit Advisor for Credit.com, Gerri contributes budgeting, debt recovery and savings information online. She is also the co-author of Debt Collection Answers: How to Use Debt Collection Laws to Protect Your Rights.