Cornell Cooperative Extension says a little can go a long way when making your home more energy efficient.

"When you save on your energy bill, that puts more money in the family pocket to buy food, clothing for the children so it is a choice that you make," said Bonnie Collins of Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Bonnie Collins has been teaching classes at Cornell Cooperative extension for four years now, and the most common misconception her students have is that they can save energy and save dollars.

"Money-wise, we are talking probably hundreds of dollars," Collins said. "And if someone handed you a $100 bill, I'm sure you could find something to do with it."

The agency conducted a study on two average homes in Syracuse. One is energy efficient, the other is not.

The savings for doing all the energy saving tips was a savings of over $1100 in a year.

Are you gonna turn that down?

Here are some tips:

We've all heard the plastic on the windows trick.

"You want the barrier as tight as you can from the outside," Collins said. "The curtain will hold the heat in. Again, any kind of insulation, you do doesn't add heat. It just provides a barrier from the heat escaping out."

Caulking is another option. You want to put a strip between the wall and the window.

"If it's a windy day, I would take an ensence, and I would go right around the window so I can see the smoke blowing and I know exactly where the openings are," she said.

Has the light bulb clicked yet? The average home has 50 bulbs. Check this out!

"The regular incandescent bulbs that we normally use is a 60 watt bulb and we're watching energy and our dollars being sent to our utilities company," she said. "CFL uses only 13 watts of power and the same amount light. You'll see that the dollars and energy going now are using a lot less energy.

Weather stripping on your doors and windows; changing the filter in your furnance every three months.

Here's something different - place foam under the faceplates of your outlets and light switches. Again, the dollars saved adds up.