With high energy costs driving up electricity bills and an ever-widening array of lighting choices available at the local hardware store, it can be hard to pick the best -- and cheapest -- lighting option. In today's Savings Experiment, we'll explore the available lighting choices and pick the one that's best for you.

The first light bulbs -- and the ones that are used in most homes -- are incandescents. Basically, these bulbs follow Thomas Edison's original design: an electrical current runs through a filament in a glass bulb. The filament then heats up, emitting light, as well as a lot of heat.

In terms of base price, incandescent bulbs seem like the cheapest option: a four-pack costs somewhere between$2 and $3. But the cost goes up once you screw them into a lamp: incandescents use between 20 and 100 watts per hour, which translates into 2-12 kilowatts per month. Also, they don't last too long: most bulbs work for between 750 and 1,000 hours, or 6-8 months, which means that they need to be replaced fairly often.

They are also the most convenient lighting option. Incandescent bulbs can be used with dimmer switches and are available in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, making them a perfect fit for almost any lighting design. They are easy to dispose of and, after more than 100 years of use, most of the bugs have been worked out.

The current lightbulb leaders are compact fluorescent lamps or CFLs. First developed in the early 1980's, CFLs didn't become really popular until the last few years. Part of the reason for this is cost: although their price has dropped in recent years, CFLs still run $2 and up per bulb, about four times as much as incandescent bulbs. On the other hand, CFLs also last a lot longer: most will run for between 6,000 and 10,000 hours, or 4-7 years of normal use. In fact, given that they will run for 6-10 times longer than incandescents, their basic price is up to 50% less than incandescent bulbs. And CFLs also use a lot less electricity: a 26-watt compact fluorescent puts out as much light as a 100-watt incandescent, but only uses about a quarter of the electricity.

When L.L. Bean first announced its plan to launch a hip new clothing line targeting 20- and 30-somethings last August, I quickly joined the chorus of voices crying foul. After all, Bean isn't just a brand; it's an institution, a torchbearer, a monument to a bygone lifestyle. Along with Brooks Brothers, Sperry and a few other labels, it represents one of the last survivors of the great age of prep, when vast herds of preppy clothiers thundered across the American retail plain, dispensing tweed and bespoke throughout the land. While brand names like Abercrombie and Fitch still survive, the company's offerings would be completely unrecognizable to its earlier adherents. Yet, somehow, L.L. Bean managed to stay true to its core mission and survive, a tribute to classic clothing and New England perseverance.

As Chris Vickers, the VP of L.L. Bean's new Signature Line, notes, "LL Bean has been around for 100 years, and any good company tries to innovate and evolve." Last week, L.L. Bean launched the new line and -- to be honest -- it looks a lot like the old Bean apparel line, albeit with a heftier price tag and a sleeker profile.

Walter Frederick Morrison, the inventor of the plastic flying discs that eventually became known as the Frisbee, died at his Utah home on Tuesday. He was 90 and is survived by three children.

For decades, Morrison's creation has been an integral part of American life. Sure, there have been other flying toys, like the Aerobie or the Flip N Flyer, but even these seem less like competitors and more like slightly-modified versions of the original toy, sort of like weird second cousins. Frisbees, whose sales have passed 200 million units, are as American as baseball, apple pie, or fireworks on the Fourth of July.

Get ready for an even newer Gatorade. Following a tough year marked by plummeting sales and a highly public scandal surrounding one of its biggest celebrity endorsers (a certain golfer with a feline first name), the company is understandably eager to put 2009 behind it.

But, as one might expect from a beverage maker that has long asked "is it in you?," the incredibly popular brand isn't facing its adversity sitting down: coming on the heels of its 2009 renaming effort, Gatorade -- or "G" -- is introducing new types of drinks and giving its old ones an overhaul -- again.

When it comes to holidays, Veterans' Day really gets the short end of the stick. Wedged between the sugar shock of Halloween and the tryptophan coma of Thanksgiving, celebration of the eleventh day of the eleventh month usually involves department store sales and the occasional wreath at the local soldiers' monument. Needless to say, this is poor recompense for the men who, in the words of Allan Massie, "[make] it possible for civilized folk to despise war."

This year, however, Maid Brigade, an Atlanta-based cleaning company, decided to show its appreciation for America's fighting men with the Veterans Franchise Giveaway, a contest that is designed to help soldiers make the transition from military life to the civilian world. The program, which I reported on in August, rewards its grand prize winner with a full Maid Brigade cleaning franchise, valued at $45,000. Second and third prize winners get similar packages, worth $27,500 and $17,000. Additionally, Maid Brigade waived its franchise fee for any qualified veterans who were interested in going into business with the company.

When David Spade's tasteless DirecTV ad went out in late October, it was immediately hit with a hail of criticism.

Writers, including our own Jami Bernard, were quick to point out that the commercial, which used footage from 1995's Tommy Boy, essentially came off as a cruel and shameless exploitation of deceased actor Chris Farley.

Although Spade has repeatedly stated that he considered the commercial a tribute to Farley, he recently told People magazine that "The movie is important to me, and I would hate to offend [anyone] because that's one of my favorite things I've ever done. So I would apologize to someone who took it that way." He went on to state that "I wouldn't want anyone to get a whiff that I'm trying to get something off Chris."

As Bernard pointed out on WalletPop, the Farley estate was complicit in the ad. Farley's brothers have already received $25,000 for a billboard bearing his likeness; presumably, they accepted a lot more cash for this ad.

According to a story by Reuters Friday, a recent study determined that moustache-wearers earn 4.3 percent more than their clean-shaven compatriots. The survey -- which claimed to have randomly sampled 2,000 moustachioed men, 2,000 bearded men and 2,000 fully-shaved men -- went on to assert that those with hairy lips also tended to spend 11 percent more and saved 3 percent less than their bearded and barefaced brethren.

As the proud owner of a handlebar moustache, I would love it if this story were true. Unfortunately, the study appears to be a joke. It was commissioned by the American Mustache Institute, a tongue-in-cheek advocacy group tasked with "protecting the rights of, and fighting discrimination against, moustached Americans by promoting the growth, care, and culture of the moustache." Even ignoring the study's occasionally bizarre assertions, there doesn't seem to be any evidence to corroborate the existence of principle researcher Hans Menjou-Bärtchen, or his company, "Menjou-Bärtchen Research Consultants."

It's hard to imagine a pleasant foreclosure. Like root canals or appendicitis, they don't really come with a silver lining; after all, it's hard to find a way to put a smiley face on being turned out of one's home. However, while there are few things that can make a foreclosure enjoyable, there are many factors that can make it considerably worse. Perhaps the worst of these is the notion that the bank, an entity that is ethically charged with making the foreclosure process as impersonal as possible, would allow its employees to reap a personal benefit from a customer's pain.

For Lawrence and Linda Elins, their forced relocation from their Malibu beach house was traumatic, as it came on the heels of a massive financial crisis. The Elins, who had invested much of their money with Bernard Madoff, were devastated by the December 2008 revelation that he was a fraud. In the ensuing months, they attempted to piece together the broken parts of their financial life, finally deciding in May 2009 to surrender the house that they had owned for 13 years.

Poor Subway. The sandwich chain was already smarting from bad press for its mistreatment of Leon Batie, a franchise owner stationed in Afghanistan. Now it finds itself fighting another battle -- a strip club owner has used Subway-branded wrappers and menus in his combination sandwich shop and "all-nude private club."

When Anthony "Cousin Vinny" Agnello opened a Subway franchise in a Bronx, N.Y., neighborhood last year, he hoped it would be his "golden parachute," a reliable, profitable business that would help him branch out from the strip club business that had previously been his bread and butter. However, the larger-than-life Agnello quickly found himself at loggerheads with the popular sandwich company.

With preppy clothing going through yet another resurgence and camping coming into vogue as a vacation option, L.L. Bean has embarked on a business decision that could be incredibly lucrative ... or completely devastating: it is changing its design.

According to a recent article in The New York Times, the company has hired Alex Carleton, a popular, edgy designer, to be the creative director of its new "L.L. Bean Signature" line. Coming out in March, the new products promise to be more tailored and contemporary, with buffalo plaid shirts and tailored linen blazers.

While this may seem to be a minor change, it cuts to the heart of what, exactly, "preppy" means. For many, the prep look seems to consist of adding a few key elements into one's wardrobe. The idea is that one can take a ribbon belt here, a pair of cranberry pants there, add in some Sperry topsiders, stir with a fresh gin and tonic and -- presto! -- prep is attained.