Contactless payments

It's the so-called "next wave of convenience" for shoppers. Visa and the Royal Bank are running trials of mobile or 'contactless' payments in select markets in Canada. It allows you to pay using just your cell phone.

Zack Fuerstenberg, the director of New Channels for Visa Canada says it's the convenience that will appeal to consumers.

"I wave my phone in front of the terminal and I'm able to pay. I avoid the need to use plastic in my wallet. I can just use my handset," he demonstrated.

"It represents possibility of leaving wallet behind and just carrying cell phone with this feature. Your existing Visa might have loyalty points attached to it. Take advantage of those with the device," he continued.

When it's available you would have to download a mobile payment application to your cell phone to access the feature. The trials will last to the end of the year then visa and royal bank will get consumer feedback. No target date has been set for a full launch.

The only drawback with all these wave to pay technologies is the banks know you will spend more. On average about 20 percent more.

It also gets the Visa card into the debit card business -- meaning you'll use it for small purchases.

And they want more on your bill in the hope you can't pay, so they can charge you interest.

The easier they make it, the less thought involved, the more you will spend.

It's why when you have money-problems, credit counselors put you on a 'cash only' system. Because spending then involves several steps: from getting money out of the bank, to remembering to have enough, to physically handing it over. Convenience comes at a cost -- and it's always you the customer who pays.

Ceiling fans

It's hard to believe on these endless cool days --but hot temperatures will eventually return. But here are some tips to help you keep comfortable all summer long.

When the Hulls added this room four years ago, they decided to put in a ceiling fan.

it really helps cut their energy costs.

"We don't turn on the air conditioner," said Ashley Taylor-Hull.

Consumer Reports checked 19 ceiling fans from the leading manufacturers,

Costing from 50 dollars to over 300.

Testers mounted each fan in a special chamber and used meters to measure

The level of air movement other tests checked the number of revolutions per minute.

"High prices don't guarantee better performance. They give you fancier finishes and fancier blades. Whichever fan you use, remember fans don't cool the room, they cool the people," explained Jim Nanni of Consumer Reports.

So you can turn a fan off when you leave the room to save on your electric bill.

In addition to a ceiling a fan, here are some other stay cool tips:

Replace incandescent lightbulbs with compact fluorescents -they use less energy and will keep your home cooler.

Another tip, clear the area around your air conditioner and clean the filter regularly so your A/C runs at top efficiency. And use a fan even when your air conditioner is on.

So you won't have to crank your air conditioner up so high.

If you don't have air conditioning here are some other ways

To cool your house-- when the weather gets warm.

First open all your windows in the early morning

When the air is cool to get some good ventilation going.

Then close them all along with the blinds once it starts to warm up. It keeps your house cool until early evening.

Fans in front of an open window on a cool shady side of a house helps --as does

opening up the attic access for the summer is also good for circulation.

And instead of cooking dinner in the house, make it outside on the barbeque. That keeps the heat outside where it belongs.

With a report by CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen