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Hello,
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Today's Tips
Salt For Grass Growing in Pavement Cracks
Grass in sidewalk cracks? Plain old table salt will do it. Just pour a generous amount anywhere you don't want grass. Careful though it will kill most other plants too.
By Tracey
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Plastic Garbage Can Compost Container
For a quick compost container. An old garbage can with the bottom cut out will do the trick. Just toss in fruit peels, vegetable scraps and the like, and pop on the lid. When the compost is ready to put on your garden, just pull the lid off the can and start spreading.
By Tracey
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Label Pipes and Wires in Your Basement
Label the parts of the electrical and plumbing systems that lurk in your basement. Identify each fuse or circuit breaker, hot and cold water shutoffs, heating system controls, gas and water meters, and drain clean-out access covers. Use adhesive stickers or tags on strings. For those items that don't lend themselves to labeling, sketch a rough map and post it on the back of the basement door.
If you can't locate any or all of the above (and if you don't have a male in your household to help you) next time you have an uncle, brother, friend, or father visit ask them to help you. And make sure you thank them. They'll love you for boosting their ego.
By joesgirl
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Credit card user do not need to buy insurance. Most credit card insurance companies have a $50 deductible clause under their coverage, and federal law provides this coverage for free. A cardholder's liability is limited to $50 per card on charges incurred before the credit card company is notified of the loss or theft.
By joesgirl
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Winter Driving - Keep Cat Litter in Your Trunk
Here's a tip for drivers in snow country who have rear wheel drive cars. Next time you go to the supermarket, pick up a box of cat box filler, the larger the better. Keep the bag in the trunk for added weight over the drive wheels; should you get stuck, open the bag and sprinkle a few handfuls of the granules around the rear wheels for better traction.
Hope you don't get stuck but better safe than sorry.
By joesgirl
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Storing Placemats Under Seat Cushions
A neat and easy way to store placemats is to lift up your chair and sofa cushions and put them under the cushions. This will keep them flat and out of the way thus freeing up valuable storage space.
By Carole
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Cleaning Sponges and Dish Cloths
After cleaning the kitchen in the evening, throw your sponge or dish cloth in the top rack of the dishwasher. If you use a dishcloth clip it in the top rack. It will wash, rinse and because the water is so hot, it will sanitize and deodorize the sponge or dishcloth!
By Ellen
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Keeping the Bathroom Sink Clean
After brushing your teeth in the bathroom sink, instead of just rinsing out the sink, take a sponge that you keep on the edge of the sink and scrub out the sink. If you do this once a day your sink will never be dirty!
By Ellen
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Kitchen Organization - Usage Zones
I organize my kitchen by usage zones. Wherever my coffee-maker is on the counter, my mugs, sweetener, coffee, etc are in an overhead cabinet. I also store hot tea supplies there. I store all of my baking supplies, pans etc. and mixing bowls, measuring cups etc together. Since glasses are the major thing that needs to be unloaded from the dishwasher, these are stored above the dishwasher.
By Ellen
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Freezing the Vermin (Pantry Pests)
I hate bugs so I use my freezer to keep away the pantry pests. I mark the date and then freeze all of the cereal, flour, pasta, rice, etc that comes in the house for at least 3 days. I never have problems with vermin in my pantry anymore.
By Ellen
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Washing Flannel Backed Plastic Tablecloths
Did you know that you can wash your flannel backed plastic tablecloth in the washer? Just make sure that you put in some towels and wash on a very gentle cycle. Dry it on a cool cycle for a short time and then take it out and shake. Then replace on your table. It has the added advantage of being wrinkle free!
By Ellen
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If you have folks in the house that walk around in their white socks and you can never get them clean, dissolve a dishwasher cube or two depending how many socks you have in a bucket of water and let them sit overnight. The next day, wash as a small load. You won't any lose socks and your white socks will be bright white from the clorox in the dishwasher soap.
By Annette
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Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients:
Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Mix cheese, salad dressing mix and garlic powder. MOISTEN chicken with water; coat with cheese mixture. Place in shallow baking dish. BAKE 20 to 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Tip:
For a golden appearance, after chicken is cooked through, set oven to broil.. Broil 2 to 4 minutes or until golden brown.
Source: http://www.kraftfoods.com/recipes/PoultryEntrees/Baked/EasyParmesanGarlicChicken.html
By Kathy
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Vinegar For Odors After Cooking Fish
After frying fish or something that leaves a lingering odor in the house. Put out several bowls with about a 1/2 cup white vinegar, particularly in the kitchen, for several hours or overnight. The odor will disappear.
By Pam Rose
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Most eye drop solutions are nothing more than saline solution. Buy an eye dropper and fill it with saline solution (that costs 99 cents a pint on sale) and use that when your eyes are dry. Much better than paying $3-$5 for 1 ounce of eye drops!
By Kathy
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Prep Time: 15 min - Total Time: 5 hr 15 min
Makes: 6 servings
PLACE chicken in slow cooker; top with onion. ADD potatoes, apple, curry powder and broth; cover with lid. Cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours (or on HIGH for 5 hours). STIR in peas and rice. Cover and cook an additional 20 minutes or until rice is tender.
Cooking Know-How
Taking the lid off your slow cooker for even just a minute to give it a quick stir drastically reduces the heat and extends the cooking time. Only lift the lid if instructed to do so in the recipe.
Make-Ahead
Fill the removable stoneware container with the recipe ingredients as directed. Store in the refrigerator until ready to start the slow cooker.
Source: http://www.kraftfoods.com/recipes/PoultryEntrees/Casseroles/SlowCookerCurriedChicken.html By Kathy
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Use vinegar as another all around cleaner. Floors, windows, glass, and believe it or not, oven and microwave oven cleaners!
By Gloria Hussar
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Easy and Good Lemon Honey Drink for Sore Throats
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons pure honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Boiling water
Directions:
In a small cup, mix together the honey and lemon juice until combined. Add boiling water, and stir. Adjust sweetness according to taste. Very soothing when you have a cold or sore throat.
By Kathy
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Use Coca Cola Classic to clean just about anything! It will clean battery terminals, toilets with calcium and hard water deposits, grease stains in your garage, or on your driveway.
By Gloria Hussar
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Like magazines? You purchase a subscription to a magazine, and have a friend purchase a subscription she likes. When each of you are done reading yours, you swap! Two subscriptions for the price of one!
By Gloria Hussar
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A New Holiday Tradition... Homemade Gifts
Start a new holiday tradition in your family... no gifts unless you sew it, grow it, make it, bake it, draw it, saw it, or write it! See how creative everyone can be, while at the same time, trimming everyone's budget! They'll thank you for it, and the gifts will have more meaning.
By Gloria Hussar
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Organizing Your Cleaners Under the Sink
I was sorting out my cupboard under the sink, which is full of assorted cleaning stuff, aerosols etc. and general clutter. I wanted some plastic boxes to tidy things into before putting them back, but the ones with a handle, that are designed for this sort of purpose, are quite expensive, and I needed about five of them.
Instead, I bought some rigid plastic seed trays at the local garden centre, for 99p each (GBP), which do the job fine.
Now that everything is tidied into its own tray (separated into cleaning stuff, laundry items, cloths/dusters etc.) I can easily take the lot out for a quick wipe around the shelves, rather than having to remove and replace each item separately.
This tip saves time as well as money!
By Econ o'miser
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Make your own flavored coffee! Simply add whatever extract you prefer to the pot prior to brewing. You can even add a bit of sugar to the filter with the grounds, or perhaps cocoa. Experiment and see what works for you. If you normally drink your coffee black, you might find that you prefer a bit of creamer and sweetener if you are going to flavor it. I enjoy a bit of vanilla extract in mine.
By Leann D
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When wanting to wash up after gardening outside, I have a knee-hi with a bar of soap slipped inside it and it hangs by the garden hose.
By Tracey
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Labeling Small Appliance Cords
This is more of a time saver, but sometimes saving times saves money. Anyway if you have several small appliances sharing an outlet in the kitchen like I do, just use a permanent marker to label which cord prong goes to what for example: can opener, blender, toaster etc. then no more guessing which one to plug in.
By Melanie
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Take a 6" ginger root and slice it. Put it in a non-aluminum pot with about 3 cups of fresh water. Cover the pot tightly and bring to a simmer. Allow to simmer (not boil) for 20 minutes. Remove from stove and add the juice of half a lemon, a pinch of cayenne pepper and honey to taste. A wonderful remedy for bronchitis and the flu.
By Suzanne S.
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Take several cloves of fresh garlic. Place the garlic in a blender with the juice of half a lemon. Blend until smooth. Add 1 cup raw honey and blend again. Take 1 teaspoon dose for sore throat, or strain through a cheesecloth and bottle for later use.
By Suzanne S.
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Garlic and Honey Wound Dressing
Wash cut carefully and apply chopped or mashed raw garlic. Cover with a slather of honey and bandage. Continue until wound is healed.
By Suzanne S.
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Pour 1 cup boiling water over 1 teaspoon of dried lavender and steep for 10 minutes. Take up to 3 times daily.
By Suzanne S.
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Finding The Best Prescription Drug Prices
Any time my husband or I are started on a new prescription that will have to be repeated over and over I take a few minutes to call via the phone to check prices. I call 6 different places and ask to speak to the pharmacist. Then I give him the name of the medication, the dosage and the amount that I am supposed to have it filled for. On a piece of paper I list each of the 6 pharmacies and next to them I write in the price that was quoted to me. You would be surprised.
My husband was recently put on a blood pressure medication and the price varied from 83 cents per pill to 14 cents per pill. Also if you know that you are going to be on a medication for a certain length of time it may be more economical to purchase in a larger quantity. Just make sure prior to purchasing it you address the issue of the shelf life (which usually is good for months after purchasing). We filled his medication today for $27. for 200 pills. Another pharmacy wanted $165 for the same amount. What a ripoff.
By Joesgirl
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Circle Numbers in the Phone Book
When for the 1st time you look up the phone number of a person and/or a business take a pen and circle the name of the person and/or business. Then the next time you have to look the number up again it will stick out like a sore thumb. Of course if this is a person and/or business that you will be calling frequently then enter it into your address book. Sure saves a lot of time.
By Joesgirl
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Pumpkin Instead of Shortening In Baking
Try substituting canned pumpkin for 1/2 the shortening or butter called for in your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe to make a healthier, higher fiber chocolate chip cookie. They really are yummy for fall!
By Mary J
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This tip was sent in to our paper, The Saturday Star, in their tip section.
Those annoying fruit flies. Where do they come from?
Her suggestion, was to wash bananas immediately when you get them home from the supermarket. As the adults have laid their eggs on the banana skins. You put them in your house, the warmth hatches them. If you wash the bananas right away, you get no fruit flies.
Evelyn Jepson
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In our newest contest we are giving away a $30.00 Gift Card at one of the following stores: Home Depot, Jo-Ann's Crafts or Amazon.com. If you are the winner, you get to choose which gift card! We figured it would be more valuable if you pick out your own prize, that's why we have decided to go the gift card route. This contest will end on November 15th.
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New Requests:
Can you plan bulbs in the fall? (Tulips, Daffodils, Crocus')
Good morning all! It's now early November. :o) Starting to cool off a lot here in New York as well. :o) However is it still a good time for Bulk Planting? I've many flower bulbs I'd like to see bloom during around Easter. Also, will I have to worry about wildlife consuming all my planted bulbs at all? (Like groundhogs, squirrels, or any other critters?) Thank you much. Have a good day.
GroovyGirl
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Hello, anyone have a great recipe for peanut butter fudge please?
Thank you people,
GroovyGirl
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Sometime in the past few months I came in contact with a website with state and county breakdowns of 'free junk from my house to you' .People go there and state what they want to get rid of. You can have it if you come and pick it up. Do you have any idea of the web address I'm speaking of ? I lost the address. Thanx for any help. Shirley Carden
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My 18 month old son put a crayon in the bottom of my dishwasher, and I didn't see it there until after the dishwasher had been run through. The inside of the door and the bottom of my dishwasher is now stained green, and the drain has a lot of goopy wax on it. I ran it though a cycle with bleach, and that seemed to help a little. I am renting the place I am currently living in, and this is a new dishwasher, so I would hate to have to replace it when I move! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Emily D.
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Gasoline Smell on Nylon Jogging Pants
My husband was using his chain saw to cut wood and got gasoline all over his nylon sweat pants. I have tried soaking them in biz, washed them 3 times and they still smell like gasoline.
Got any solutions?
Thanks,
Linda from Illinois
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Is LeeWards Craft Store Still in Business?
Does anyone know if the craft store LeeWards is still in business? They closed their store in San Diego years ago but they had the best crafts. I'm looking for small hand loom type things because I don't know how to knit or crochet but I want to make something.
Thanks!
Joanne from San Diego CA
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More Reading:
How to Dodge the Flu Without a Shot
Here's an interesting article recommended by one of our readers (Kathy):
"First the bad news: This year's news that flu shot shortage has left millions of Americans in the cold looking for ways to dodge the illness.
The good news is that for many of us, there are available alternatives to standing in long lines or paying exorbitant prices to get the flu shot, such as good hygiene or antiviral medications."
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The Gratitude Wreath
By Rondi Hillstrom Davis and Janell Sewall Oakes
Bring a little bit of autumn indoors. Family and friends help create this wreath by sharing what they are thankful for on brightly colored leaves. Every member of the family can contribute to this beautiful wreath. This is a great, concrete, visual way to put meaning back in the holidays for children.
View Article: Click Here
A Child's Thanksgiving Tree
By Amanda Formaro
Just mentioning the word "Thanksgiving" often conjures up memories for many. Traditions are relived and new ones are born on this joyous family holiday. Why not start a new one with your children with this fun and simple activity.
Top 10 List - Ways to eliminate Holiday Financial Stress
By Roger Sorensen
Top 10 Lists have been popularized by Late-Night Television Shows for years. So here is the latest Top 10 List from Brighter Futures. By introducing any of these ideas into your own Holiday thinking, you will be increasing your ability to enjoy the Holiday Season and working to make your family more financially secure.
View Article: Click Here
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