If you want to make a minimal investment to save money on your utilities, look no further than your showerhead. New low-flow showerheads use about 2.5 gallons per minute. By replacing less-efficient showerheads, you can save about $145 a year on electricity costs alone, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. This doesn't even count the amount of money you can save on your water bill. And while we're speaking of water: Always wash full loads of laundry. That one tip can save you 3,400 gallons of water per year.

We've all seen the advertisements where you can donate your old car -- even if it's not running -- to a charity to help support its good works. The charities make it easy: They come to you, pick up the car and do all the work. But the reality is that many of these third-party programs give very little money of the value of the car to real nonprofits. The for-profit towing companies either resell the car to a new owner or sell it for scrap metal. Then a small percentage goes to a benefiting nonprofit. If you do want to donate a car, go directly to the charity you want to support. Better yet, sell it yourself and donate the proceeds.

Do you have knitting needles, skeins of yarn or other knitting materials that you no longer need? If you took up knitting but gave up, there's no need to let your supplies go to waste. The nonprofit the Knitting Connection wants them so its volunteers can knit new hats, mittens, sweaters and scarves for children in need. As with any donation, be sure to donate only new, quality materials. Learn more at theknittingconnection.org.