On the first warm Saturday of the spring, the local neighborhood mower shop is overrun with homeowners whose neglected lawnmowers won't start. Giving some love to yours now will help you avoid this frustration and get your money's worth from your machine -- Every extra year you can get from a mower is money in your pocket.

With your manual handy for reference, start by draining the gas tank. Gasoline goes stale when it sits for months, making it hard to burn. If you have any gas left over in your gas can, pour it into your car and start with fresh gas in the spring.

This is also a good time to change the oil, so drain off the old, gunky stuff. Before you refill with fresh oil, however, take this opportunity to clean out the cutting chamber.

Put on heavy gloves, then turn the mower over. The blade of most mowers is secured by a single bolt. Take a reference photo with your camera phone, then remove this bolt (but don't hold onto the sharp edge of the blade!) the mounting bracket, and the blade. A local hardware or mower shop can put a fresh edge on the blade for you in a few minutes, and your mower will cut easier and cleaner as a result.

If you're in a quandary because you're short on gift money for Christmas this year, I have a suggestion for you. Why don't you pick up those tools of yours which are gathering dust, and build something with your own hands? There are tons of ideas out there for things you can make for gifts. If you have more time than money, consider what fine things your own hands might build.

You could create a fine doll house for your little girl, utilizing free doll house plans and recovered scrap materials. Shop the thrift stores for old book cases or cabinets which can be converted into cheap building materials. Then, simply apply your own imagination. There are tons of free building plans available for toys and games which would thrill either boys or girls. You could even try building a small storage cabinet for that PS3 or Xbox 360.

There's a great website called Instructables, which is loaded with an expansive variety of do-it-yourself projects which you can build as gifts. The Instructables user community will show you how to build a clock from an Altoids tin, or from a bicycle chain and gears. You can make really cool clocks from all kinds of stuff, including old vinyl records or junk car hubcaps!

All you need to do is decide how involved you want to get, and make a realistic assessment of your talents. You can build something small with free wood working plans, or you could build a greenhouse from scrap materials. When money is in short supply, all we need to do is become more ingenious and inventive. Come to think of it, that's pretty much how this country was built!

The top three sites for those looking to sell their homes themselves are FSBO.com, Owners.com and ForSaleByOwner.com, all of which provide sellers with different tools and services at different prices. All offer to list your home in the local Multiple Listing Service for a fee but, remember: to attract buyers and their Realtors, you will need to offer a commission to the agent on the other end of the deal.

There are definitely other sites out there which you can use to sell your home, and I'll cover a few of those after looking closer at these three. When evaluating these options for ambitious home owners I looked at the price, selling aids such as video tours and yard signs as well as the reputation and customer service of the companies. Be sure to check out WalletPop's look at what you need to know about selling your home from a Realtor's standpoint.

Let's take a look at three of the top sites for selling your own house.

Lists of reusable items seem to be a dime a dozen online, ranging from the top 10 alternate uses for old peach pits to the slightly more practical ways to reuse tennis balls but for the most part I have found these lists to lack any applicability in ,my life. The main reason I found them useless was that the suggested uses were way too specific or convoluted to be put into action.

Thankfully that has finally changed, I found the best list of ways to reuse everyday items at The Good Human! Not only does the list include many items which are practical, but it also includes many fun and creative uses that even the most timid re-user can find something that fits their life.

While the list covers 25 different items I found these to be the most useful to me personally.

• Beer bottle cap magnets.
• Baby food jars as candle holders.
• Wine rack made from shipping tubes.
• Using an old garden hose to irrigate an entire garden.
• Use your old shower curtain as a tarp or as a dropcloth.

While I don't plan to use an old bath mat as a mop or begin to use my old shoe boxes to file anything other than the cards my wife has given me, this list provides concrete examples for reuse. As an added bonus, to make use of many of these ideas you won't need to do much if any additional work. In the few cases you do need to modify something you have the added bonus of pounding a nail through a hose or tearing t shirts in half in an attempt to mimic The Hulk or if you prefer Hulk Hogan. Thankfully the list even provided a worthwhile use for my toilet paper collection which failed to sell last month.

What is your favorite item to reuse around the house?

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, run by the University of California provides a great resource for finding ways to reduce your energy consumption through its Home Energy Saver website.

The energy calculator takes climate data as well as local information and combines it with your current residence to find projects you can do to increase your energy efficiency. While the questions are geared toward someone living in a house, my results provided useful tips for apartment living,

I think my favorite part about this energy savings project is that it lets you choose the number of years between installation and the time the upgrade pays for itself. For example when I ran the survey I choose items which would pay for themselves in the first year, since i hope to be moving into a home by that time. I ended up with three actions to take on the actual building which I will pass on for now and two interior activities to reduce energy consumption all of which should pay for themselves in year one. If I purchased a programmable thermostat and finished my conversion to CFL lighting as the survey recommends I would save $120 in energy costs in just one year.

This is a really easy way to get a snapshot of your home energy uses and look for ways to lower your monthly bills. I can't emphasize how great it is to choose actions and upgrades based on the time it takes to pay for itself in savings. Finally the use of local information and the ability to enter my own utility prices pushes this tool over the top. The options I went with are just the tip of the iceberg, homeowners looking for items that pay for themselves over longer periods of time will find even more ideas. I am definitely bookmarking this so that I can run it on any home I am ready to purchase, in case I want to ask for any upgrades before I purchase.