Dual Benefits of Green Choices: They Help the Earth and Your Wallet

By switching to electronic bills, statements and payments, the study found, the average U.S. household would save 6.6 pounds of paper and 171 pounds of greenhouse gases per year.

If just 2 percent of U.S. households (about 2.2 million people) switched to electronic bills, statements and payments, it would save more than 15 million pounds of paper and 181,000 trees annually, avoid creating nearly 144 million gallons of wastewater, and avoid using 10 million gallons of gasoline.

We'd avoid pumping 196,000 tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere every year, the same as taking 32,572 cars off the road.

How much money would you put into your pocket? According to the PayItGreen Alliance, you could save up to $100 on postage, $50 on checks and whatever you would have spent on late fees.

Plus, with electronic statements and direct deposit, you would never have to worry that your credit card statement or payment has been stolen out of your mailbox.

Q: My husband and I just had twins, and the house we bought two years ago is way too small now. We tried selling it privately, but with the market today, the offers were very low, about $35,000 less than is owed on our mortgage.

I know that walking away from our home would be irresponsible, but we are not able to sell for what the house is worth. What are the legal and monetary consequences of walking away? We have done a lot of research on this, and we are confused. We do not want to walk away and then get hit with a $25,000 judgment against us two years down the line. We have also looked into selling our home through private investors, and they wouldn't even offer us $200,000 for our house. We have $235,000 left on our mortgage.

A: Congratulations on growing your family. It's unfortunate that you feel your house is too small for your family, but like many Americans, you're stuck in a position with no easy way out.

If you can't sell your home for the amount on your mortgage, you have to be willing to come to the table with the missing money. In your case, that would be $35,000, plus the expenses of selling your home, including the broker's commission, transfer stamps, moving costs and other fees.

You'll be in the hole maybe $40,000 to $45,000. Your loan agreements require you to make the lender whole, which means reaching into your pocket for those costs. If you can't do that, you'd have to ask the lender to do a short sale, in which the lender accepts whatever amount you get in the sale as full payment of the loan. The missing money could be forgiven if the lender doesn't believe you have cash available or can raise it somehow, such as by liquidating your 401(k) accounts or IRAs.

In times past, you'd also have to pay tax on that missing money, which the IRS saw as income, and which would push you into a higher tax bracket. A recent change in the tax code means the forgiven amount is no longer taxed.

I don't know how small your house is, but even if it is just two bedrooms, it's foolish to try to leave now. You're just going to dig yourself into a serious financial hole from which you might never emerge. If you sold your home in a short sale, you'd be broke and your credit would have taken a big hit. You wouldn't be able to afford a bigger home because you wouldn't have any cash for a down payment and your credit might still be tarnished.