We've been making the switch to CFL lightbulbs for the past year. We've had a few problems - don't buy the Western Family lightbulbs! And we've gotten the wrong color as well but I think we're getting use to them. I'd like to say I've noticed a difference in my electric bill but we started to make the change as we moved into a new house. So I can't really tell.

This article that had some great information of CFL's and I thought I would share it for those that are interested. Yahoo! Personal Finance

A couple of interesting facts regarding the lightbulbs are Austrailia is banning the old style light bulbs by 2010 (the first country to do so) while the U.S. is phasing them out by 2014. So like them or not it looks like they're coming! It also talks about getting rid of CFL's and the fears of toxic cleanup that comes from breaking one.

Has anyone else made the switch?

My husband switched them all out. We haven't had any problems.

WE have been making the switch, couple things i had trouble with is i bought some cheap ones for the bathroom and they ended up being yellow not a good look! Also i have dimmers on my living room and my baby room so not sure what to do with those yet

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I read on thee yahoo personal finance post from the link above... and it said
"Also, if you have dimmable light fixtures, make sure to buy CFLs labeled "dimmable." "
So, look for those at your local stores. Let us know if they were easy or hard to find and once installed, how well they work. Thanks and hope that helps!

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We love ours. But like someone else said, if you want them to be on dimmer switches, you have to buy the right ones. And the only thing that I'm worried about is the disposal of them. I need to read more on that.

We have been using these bulbs for a couple years and rarely have to change a bulb. I'm not sure how we dispose of them, because that's hubby's department.

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"It's time to move from what we can do, to what we must do, to what we will do." ~Hillary Clinton

We're slowly switching.

I switch as old ones burn out. Hopefully by the time these burn out we'll have a good way to dispose of them safely. I haven't heard of anything locally so far. (I've heard about some cities' Wal-marts taking them back or Ikeas, but I've not seen anyting like that here yet)

I love the CFL bulbs!! I have noticed since I bought those I have not had to change them!!
the other ones well in our kitchen we had to change almost weeklly and some of the new bulbs have been in at lest afew months!! (I just realised this now since you posted!!)
soo even tho they cost more they are saving us in the long run!!

I get mine at Ikea!!! the only thing is there is 1 lamp that will not work with the CFL bulbs cause of the lamp shade!! but I can replace the shade!!

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Kelly mom to 3 great girls A Peanut, a monkey and a little burrito.

Interesting website!

We've replaced all that we can for right now. We do have a couple of dimmable light fixtures, so we do need to pick up the "dimmable" CFLs. I didn't know they made them or we would have replaced them before now! So, thanks for that info!

Also, we haven't really noticed any difference in our electric bill. That may be because we phased in the usage of our bulbs starting a few years ago and have been using them for quite some time.

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SAHM of 4

August food budget (groceries/take-out): $500.00/$75.00
Total spent: $238.97/$14.12

July budget/spent: $500.00/$650.00