As you do your taxes in the next few months, imagine for a moment that your tax burden is $1,500 less. Like that feeling?

That scenario could very well happen if you've taken advantage of the federal tax incentives now available for making your home more energy efficient. Haven't gotten around to upgrading your home yet? You should. Not only do you get tax breaks, but your home ends up more comfortable and more durable. Plus, any investments you make now will save you money on utilities for a long, long time.

So, what products qualify? And how do you do the math?

According to ENERGY STAR, there are currently two levels of tax credits.

1. The first one allows you to deduct 30% of what you spent on things like energy-saving windows, doors and insulation -- up to $1,500.

2. The second level includes big-ticket items like solar panels and allows 30% tax credit with no upper limit.

Let's look at a simulated example using the $1,500 limit:

Your federal taxes due for 2010: $2,000
What you spent on energy-efficient windows and doors: $5,000
30% of what you spent: $1,500
Revised taxes due: $500

Here are some of the energy-efficient items that qualify for a federal energy tax credit. Note that installation costs are not included with every item:

If you're like me, you lose an earring down your bathroom sink about once a year. I used to think that if something fell down the drain it was gone forever; now I know it's probably just stuck in the p-trap.

A p-trap is that curved pipe underneath your sink that is strategically designed to catch anything that falls down the drain by mistake. Okay, it's really designed with a curve in order to preventing noxious gases from backflowing into your house while still allowing waste to wash into the sewage system. Either way, it's one useful piece of plumbing.

Here's how to retrieve your p-trapped valuables:

I live in fear of a spill happening near my precious computer. All it takes is a cup of hot coffee, sticky soda, or even water to render my keyboard useless.

But the truth is, if you act fast and you're lucky, your keyboard can be salvaged. Here's how to do it.

1. Shut off or unplug the computer. If the keyboard is a separate device, disconnect it from the computer immediately.

2. Turn the unit upside down so that it can drain. Do this before running off to find paper towels or some other absorbent cleanup aid.

3. Pat dry every accessible surface with paper towels, paper napkins ... heck, use your shirt if you have to. If only plain water was spilled, just leave the keyboard to dry. If you spilled something hot and sticky, however, you'll have more work to do.

(More after the jump)

If you're in the mid-Atlantic or on the East Coast, experiencing one of the area's biggest blizzards of the year, you'll soon be nursing an aching back from all the shoveling that's in store (unless, of course, you learned the right way to shovel your driveway!). You're probably wondering if you should just invest in a snowblower. The answer is, you could. But what if there were a less expensive device that claimed to pick up snow even faster than a snowblower and produced zero pollution?

Enter The Sno Wovel: The World's Safest Snow Shovel -- and one of Time magazine's Best Inventions of 2006. Designed to reduce the physical strain of shoveling (and related risks of back and heart injuries), the Sno Wovel is equal parts handheld plow, wheelbarrow and shovel. I think it's ingenious. Here's how it works:

It's late. It's dark. You trudge through the snow to your car and discover the locks are all iced up. Don't panic! There's a clever way to solve this problem. Just apply a glob of hand sanitizer to the key and wiggle it gently into the lock.

Why does this work? Hand sanitizer's primary ingredient is alcohol, which melts ice clear away in seconds.

I love this tip, especially since I usually keep a travel-size bottle of Purell in my bag anyway. Another plus: hand sanitizer is much easier to come by in a pinch than specialty de-icing products. After all, even if you aren't carrying any Purell yourself, you can probably borrow some from a friend or passerby, right?