Simple Living

Since I don't have air conditioning in either my home or car, I keep spray bottles of water around for a quick cool off. When it starts getting hot, I just give myself a quick

Often times when I read a book from the library, I have more reading than I have time to finish it. But, I have found a way to extend my time so that I can finish the book.

Into field, pour children and dogs -- allowing to mix well. Pour brook over pebbles til slightly frothy. Cool children and dogs slightly in brook.

Here's how to use an elevator without stopping.

We just bought some new bikes for the kids. We put a picture of each child inside the handle bar grips before putting them on. If a bike is stolen and later recovered, you

We just bought some new bikes for the kids. We put a picture of each child inside the handle bar grips before putting them on. If a bike is stolen and later recovered, you

When under a lot of stress, I take to rearranging my furniture and decorative pieces. It is calming and a distraction from whatever is creating stress in my life at

Try counting your blessings. Just start with the first thing you see or that pops in your mind, you can continue from there.

Use a chip clip as a page holder in a cookbook when you're preparing something from the book.

A lot of people would be adverse to this, but my husband and I have donated our bodies to science. I have always thought if just one medical cure could come from

I installed a quad hook on our bathroom wall above on of our heat vents. On it I hang my robe, PJ's, and towel. When I get out of the shower or tub, it is all toasty

My uncle taught me a good way to hide a key, under the vinyl on the house. He had a spot on his vinyl siding that he put a extra key in case they were locked out,

Go to Sally's Beauty Supply and buy yourself a box of beauticians' rubber gloves. Put them on before mixing meatloaf ingredients and other foods that are best mixed by hand.

If you have a visual impairment and drop anything small and colorless on the floor, place a stocking over the end of your vacuum hose and run it over the area you suspect

When you go to the store and write a check. They want your drivers license, but it's hard to take out of the slot. Put a strip of scotch tape on the end to make a tab.

I can't see very well without my glasses, so I put a large "S" on my shampoo bottle and a large "C" om my conditioner bottle with a waterproof marker, now I can tell one

I seem to get a lot of address labels in the mail and like to put some in my purse. That way if I am somewhere that I need to hand write my address several times, I save my hand

Dropped a small earring or contact lens, etc? Just take a nylon stocking and cover nozzle of vacuum and attach with a rubber band. Turn on your vacuum, and run it

I am not able to get down on my knees to retrieve something I dropped if it has ended up too far to just bend over and pick up. So one day I used my new back

The heat in Europe is fierce these days, and I had been suffering until I remembered a trick I learned in Africa, but is surely well known in the southern USA.

I have a group that gives things to people in financial difficulties and we get quite a few donations of things in plastic bags with the ties tied in a hard knot. While trying

It's been well over 90 degrees F and way too much humidity for some time now. Staying hydrated is very important for all of us.

You can use a large t-shirt to cover a pillow in a pinch. Works great as a pillowcase.

To keep screws from getting lost when putting toys together, it helps to have some kind of magnet. It could be a refrigerator magnet, turned upside down, with the magnetic part

Ever buy the inexpensive generic trash bags that come in a roll then struggle with getting them to initially open? Wet your finger tips and rub the edge of the bag between

To hold your cookbook open and slightly upward to read it easier, you'll need a wire coat hanger. Bend the two arms of the hanger toward each other until they form

In today's world it's rush, rush, rush! People are trying to jam in as much as they can, thinking they will miss out on something if they don't. My advice for the holidays

I discovered that if you put your generic box of Kleenex on top of a favorite scented candle in a jar, after a few weeks your Kleenex will have the same scent as the candle.

A corner cut from an envelope and pierced at the point makes a good funnel for filling salt and pepper shakers.

Use your Lazy Susan for board games, so you can spin the game around for easier viewing for each player's turn.

An old fashioned slip-on clothespin or a giant cotter pin makes an ideal "key" for rolling up a tube of glue, toothpaste, etc. Nothing fancy here, but it sure does help

Hot-water bottles are a British institution and an excellent way to keep your bed warm in winter. It's much healthier to sleep in an unheated bedroom, so do like we do and

We have a great deal of difficulty programming the correct time on our kitchen stove's display. The attempt to simply set the time is often interpreted by the stove's microproce

Dampen string before using to tie packages. The string then will not slip during the work. As it dries, it will shrink itself tighter than you could possibly have pulled

Fit a rubber crutch tip or cap from a chair leg over the end of your broom handle. Then, when you lean the broom against a wall or door, it will not slide, fall down,

If you lose or drop small item or pill you don't want the children or dogs to find first, simply put a knee-high stocking over the end of the vacuum hose and vacuum

If you seal up a envelope then realize you forgot to put something in it, place it in the freezer for about one hour. It will then unseal easily. Just put tape over the envelop

I love the idea of having a dish scrubber patterned after the old ones the women made in frontier days; just laying it around for decoration would be great in and of itself.

If your skin is turning greenish-black from the metal of a watch, you can protect your skin from it by painting the backside of the watch with clear nail polish or cut corn

Use an ironing board as a side table for a sick person or a table to wrap gifts.

Keep painter's tape in the kitchen. It works great for sealing bags and it re-sticks over and over. It is also good in the freezer.

When you're feeling sad or overwhelmed take a breather and sit down with pen and paper, set a timer for four or five minutes, and write down all the things you can

Building our cabin on some land in the country took several years to complete. Once we had a roof and some walls, we would visit and spend nights. We found ways to cope.

One thing I noticed in a movie based in Iceland that I just saw, is that there was a noticeable lack of extra STUFF in their homes and other places. We as Americans have

I use to buy the Sunday paper to get the sale ads. Even after I have recycled, I still would have a lot of paper left. I spend a lot of time on the internet and the computer

Want to feel good over the holiday season without paying a fortune? There are plenty of ways to get the warm and cozy feeling that makes us feel good about ourselves. Sometime

I know most people love their home inside to be perfectly dark whether for better sleep or for being frugal by extending light bulb life and/or electric bill but if you're

Running out of silverware? I even went shopping for another set. Discovered that I like the ones I have at home better, and realized that the new set wouldn't nest with the old sets.

As I was stumbling through the dark looking for the first light switch on my way through the house, I realized that my cell phone was still lit. It was amazing how helpful that little

I use 13 gallon Rubbermaid boxes for all my storage. I stack my Rubbermaids two high, and cover with a pretty sheet and the colorful Mexican serapes. They look like a long covered

My disabled husband watched me trying to open a trash bag. He told me to lick my thumb and finger and try to open the bag. LOL it worked. Be sure your fingers are

A small nail tacked into the top of a broom handle can serve numerous purposes over time. I have used a 1" brad in my broom handle to hang light items from nails up high

Rid yourself of extra, unwanted, and unused VHS movies by donating them to your local library! There are still a lot of people who have not made the change to DVD, who

Want to see if you can live without TV? Taking a break from the habit may give you an idea of how your time could be more profitably spent. Whether you want more leisure to

Sometimes (especially for children), it's easy to use more toilet paper than you really need. Although I don't have kids, I've found I use a lot less toilet paper by keeping a

Reduce chaos in order to save money. Live like a natural disaster is coming. Make life simpler in order to de-clutter the mind and the living environment. Many people enjoy

When you feel like going shopping to buy yourself a treat; give yourself a homemade gift instead. Make a nice cup of tea, cook yourself something yummy...

Hope for the best, expect the worst, and enjoy the in-between...

When addressing envelopes use a wet sponge to moisten the envelope to close instead of licking them. The taste as we know is terrible an also not safe from studies I 

This is a question I hear all the time, and appropriate too as "Simple Living" is one of the top ten trends

Read a big list of useful tips sent in by Mary Kaye.