Americans are spending more time at home and using more energy than ever. This comes at a time when many families are cash-strapped. How can you save some money on your power bill when every dollar counts? We have 10 ideas for you to try.

Do you send a lot of emails with the same basic information? You can easily create a template in Gmail to save yourself valuable time.

Go into Settings (the cog icon) > See all settings > Advanced link. Scroll down to the section marked Templates and click the circle marked Enable.

Now you can create up to 50 unique templates. To create a template, click Compose, then write your email, including the subject line. Click the three dots at the bottom right-hand corner, then Templates. Choose Save draft as template.

To insert a template you’ve created, start a new email draft. Again, click the three-dot menu > Templates > and insert one of your templates.

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Surfing the web often takes you to shark-infested waters. You've got to look out for phishing scams, ransomware attacks, malware, suspicious websites and so much more. That's why you need a five-star antivirus program. Here's Kim's personal recommendation — and a stark reminder about why it's so important you're protecting all your connected devices.

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I don’t trust Big Tech and you shouldn’t, either. You’ve heard me say for years that free email services like Gmail or Yahoo aren’t really free. There’s a big price to pay — your privacy. These free email sites scan, analyze and save details of every email you send and receive, giving Big Tech a very intimate and detailed profile of you so they can easily sell your data to the highest bidder.

That’s why I use StartMail. With StartMail, I can send encrypted emails with one click, even if the recipient doesn’t use encryption. And StartMail never scans or analyzes your emails. Best of all, when you delete an email, it’s gone — forever.

Don’t trust Big Tech with your data and privacy.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that in every corner of the internet, scammers are lurking with the digital equivalent of a knife so they can rob you. From job sites to impersonated calls, delivery scams, travel tricks and more, you need to watch out for money-stealing schemes in every aspect of your digital life.

Is your laptop losing its charge much faster than when it was new? If so, your battery's health could be in serious jeopardy and may need to be replaced. Here are simple ways to check your laptop's battery health.

Over on my Instagram page, I share photos of my life. I keep my profile private, but I'll add you!

This week, News Director Ben tests a gadget that looks like a simple flashlight, but is actually a 10-in-1 tool that also includes USB charging ports, a thermometer, compass and a jump-starter. Find out if it works to jump his son’s 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee — and if it’s worth the price.

A new racket emerged on Instagram: banning and restoring accounts. According to a report from Motherboard, you can pay Instagram scammers $60 to ban your enemies’ accounts. These scammers then turn around and charge the people they banned to restore the accounts.

Basically, scammers will create a new account impersonating your enemies' identity — but they’ll claim the target is impersonating them. They use a ton of different scripts when they spam Instagram's reporting feature. (Apparently, you can send in 40 reports before hitting the app's limits.)

It’s creepy stuff, but it makes for a good reminder: Be kind to people on the internet. You never know if they’ll hire someone to wipe out your account! 😨