TWICE-BAKED POTATOES AND THINKING...: Before we leave for the summer, just a few links and things I remember to do...

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Before we leave for the summer, just a few links and things I remember to do...

I remember to put a spare house key in the mail to me - one to where I'm going to travel; another to my own home. I'll be certain to have a house-key one way or the other..........

Now for a couple links I find valuable, and my wish to any reader to have a great summer as we plan on doing!

ANOTHER 'BLOG' THAT'S GOT EXCELLENT HOUSEHOLD TIPS & GREAT IDEAS - THIS IS 'THINKING TWICE'!!
http://opossumsal.homestead.com/household.html

I LOVE THIS BLOG - IT'S GOT GREAT MONEY MANAGEMENT INFORMATION
http://moneyplusthoughts.blogspot.com/

RICHARD ANDREW KING ALWAYS THINKS TWICE; SHARES THIS LINK - FOR OUR SAFETY!
http://www.felonspy.com/

THINK TWICE - TAKE THE TIME TO USE YOUR COMPUTER FOR THIS PROJECT.
Get your household inventory on your computer. Aside from the normal furnishings, list items such as:

Where the LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT IS STORE - COPIES TO YOUR CHILDREN PLEASE!

FINE ART-WORK; RARE LETTERS & BOOKS.

ALL ITEMS IN THE GARAGE TOO.

LIST STORAGE LOCKERS; ADDRESSES - GIVE THE RIGHT TO ENTER UPON YOUR DEATH IN A STATEMENT TO THE MANAGER OF THE STORAGE LOCKER - HAVE THEM KEEP IT IN YOUR FILE.

GIVE AN EXTRA KEY TO ALL YOUR STORED GOODS TO YOUR FRIENDS.

MAIL AN EXTRA COPY OF THE STORAGE LOCKER KEY TO YOURSELF - LET IT SIT IN THAT ENVELOPE IN YOUR POST OFFICE BOX OR MAIL BOX AT HOME - ONLY YOU KNOW WHAT LOCKER NUMBER IT FITS, AND WHERE THE STORAGE LOCKER IS.

FROM MY GRANDMA WILMA'S OLD JOURNAL

Grandma made her own shampoo.

She'd shave up castile soap; mix it with rain water - add a bit of almond extract, and then because her hair was brown, she'd include some ground cloves; some honey - lemon juice, cinnamon and beet juice.

She cooked all this up - brought it up to a light boil; simmered for 2 hours, and then decanted into a bottle.

She loved the smell of a cozy home; she'd put a pot on the back burner; add some cinnamon, nutmeg - clove; a bit of oregano - sage, rosemary & thyme
(just like that song Simon and Garfunkel sang about).

The house smelled great my mother tells me; mom did the same thing - what a great thing to come home from school, and find the kitchen with great odors that filtered throughout the whole house.

Grandma kept her hair soft; she put a cup of mayonnaise on it - worked it in; covered her head with a towel (my mother uses a plastic shower cap); let it sit for 30 minutes - washed it out - 3 times shampooed to make sure it didn't have any excess oil left.

Grandma liked to lighten her hair in the summer.
She'd mix 2 tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide with 1/2 cup of lemon juice; then she'd add 1/3 cup of rain water - she'd put all of this onto her hair and work it through.

To make certain none of the mixture got in her eyes, she'd cut out the top of her straw-hat she used to work in the garden; pull her hair through the top - and treat it that way.

Nowadays we have spray bottles that can do an even better job!

Think twice before you spend a lot of money on 'packaged' hair products!

THINGS I THINK TWICE ABOUT - FIGURE OUT A BETTER WAY, AND SAVE MONEY!

For my various SPRAY BOTTLES:

#1 - Ammonia and Rubbing Alcohol - 2 parts ammonia; 1 part rubbing alcohol - set to a fine mist; clears odors and polishes my windows and mirrors too!

#2 - Keeping my menus and associated foods list/grocery list on my computer to print as I need.

Set up the columns into 3 - print; trim off (I use those clever scissors with the fancy edges) to remove one and that's it!

Remember: Leave blank spaces (make underlines with your computer) for the NON-FOOD ITEMS.

Make notes like: Stop at bank - Get $$ from the ATM; drop of dry-cleaning - get postage stamps, etc. I type these in at the top; get all my errands set out in order of the route I take - SAVES TIME AND MONEY ON GASOLINE.

Keep a spare key to your house in your post office box - if you get locked out, the lobby is usually open 24/7.

If you get your mail at home, get a padded CD mailer; put in a CD case (no CD) - slip the house key; spare car-keys; emergency phone numbers in the case (or packaged with it) - mail it to your home - leave it there. I usually mark: Note to postal carrier: Please leave here - it has emergency numbers for my family.

Pick up free restaurant menus that are lying all over the place. Read what they're serving; this gives you ideas for your own home menus. If they give some of the ingredients they use in making up their salads - pizzas, this is your 'free recipe'!

Make up your own '100 calorie' snacks yourself - usually better, and a lot less costly.

Ideas? 1/2 cup of pineapple chunks from a can - ends that sweet-tooth craving.

1/2 cup of banana chips - buy in large packages; put in tiny zip-lock bags.

Freeze one of those cooler bags; wrap it around 1/2 cup of that left-over ham or chicken - slip in a slice or two of your favorite cheese; add some carrot or celery sticks - much better for you. Put all of this into a zip-bag so when that cooler bag unthaws, the moisture doesn't ruin your purse or brief-case.

Shut down your cellular phone; get all your messages after 7:00 p.m. (if it's like Sprint - there are no charges) - return only the important calls BEFORE 7:00 p.m. - the rest via e-mail or phone - no charge for either.

Think twice before you unload that purse. Get a painter or carpenter's apron with pockets; dye it a pastel color - cut off the strings, and use as a purse divider. You don't forget those items you need; it slips in and out, and you save lots of money on those that are 'fancy' but cost $25 each.

Wear a loose-fitting long t-shirt around the house - save on the cost of laundry and clothes replacement. I love mine because I also can wipe up a spill with the shirt (who cares); make a quick dusting before a visitor is due in 30 minutes - remove the sweat from y brow while I'm cleaning house. Much easier to wash; who cares if they get stained - it's just 'house-dress' art.

Make a printing boo-boo? Save all those one-sided prints; use to print on the back-side - file information that only you will be using.

Pull the plug on the house-phone when you're too busy to answer - I don't think twice about this one; it's my phone - my home, my time - I value it.

Learn to cut your own hair - your family's too. Lots of trimmers and gadgets out there - don't wait in line; time is precious.

For the women: Put your hair up in rollers; remove the lower roller - trim - unroll each and every lower roller; trim much more easily and evenly. Work up to the top - hooray, you just saved money.

Lighten up those 'gray hairs'; rinse with left-over coffee.

Use left-over beer as a hair setting rinse; make it the last rinse - it helps hold the set - saves money big-time!

Wear only 3 sets of clothes a week - organize all the sets in your closet (on one hanger); this means you save on clothing costs and laundry. These are your 'shopping clothes' - your 'errand clothes' - your 'let's take a drive' clothes.

Got more than one cellular phone? Keep on plugged into the cigarette-lighter socket of your car; then if you forget the one you usually carry, you still have a phone.

Think twice before you send your kids to their rooms as punishment - they just get onto their computers and 'chat or surf'.

Make them sit smack-dab in the middle of your living room sofa; grab up all remote controls, and have them write 2 pages of what they did wrong and why they're being punished.

Give them $3 if they also add why they won't do it again.

Think Twice before you pay nearly $10 for that fancy 'room spray'; I buy the $1.00 spray colognes they sell in the Dollar Stores, and use that. Spray not only your potpourri, but lightly on the lamp-shade; any silk flowers you have in the room - on your pillow - ever so nice....

Think Twice before you throw out that $15 candle that is 'so pretty', but it burned down the center, and now all you've got is a hunk of pretty wax.

Put in a votive candle (I get a big bag @ $2.99); slip one of those votives down in the center - it will 'glow' again, at much less the cost.

Think twice before you buy spices and herbs in tiny containers; buy in large sizes - about 333% savings in some cases.

Think twice before you make that expensive meal; that recipe that's long on ingredients - see what you can 'cut out', and save on cost. Many times, some of the seasonings are redundant; most of our 'palattes' aren't discerning enough to notice the difference.

Think twice before you buy those expensive, large blanket bags - a see-through garbage bag does the trick for much much less the cost!

Use those 3 for $1.00 sponge paint brushes as diposable basting brushes in the kitchen - or wash thoroughly, and use several more times before you toss (and you don't get any bristles in the turkey either).

Set up your printer to print a photo @ 4x6 - then fold, and make your own custom note-cards for about 13 cents - more personal too....

Recycle those Priority envelopes by turning inside-out. Use the inside to 'send again' - good for the environment, and saves printing costs when the USPO has to replenish its supply.

Use those same Priority envelopes that you've received, to store monthly receipts - mark in the upper right-hand side what the contents are; put in the file drawer or box, and save on folders/waste not, want not...

"Ever-ready" for me, are those empty jars that I get my red grapefruit in - lovely large canning jars with screw-on tops.

I keep vinegar in one - 1 part vinegar; 1 part water - about 1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol - stuff a nice soft cloth in there, and clean/wipe up everything - rinse, and put it back.

Another jar holds Witch Hazel and a bit of Lavendar oil - I 'blend it' to start with; once it's emulsified, it stays 'suspended' - I put it in the refrigerator; keep another lovely 'lavendar'-colored cloth in it (I buy them 2 for $1 at the dollar store), and 'wipe my brown' - or just refresh myself throughout the day, with one of these 'chilled fragrant' cloths. No one touches it - that cloth reminds them it's for 'foreheads only'.

Store your perfume in the refrigerator; use a small side-shelf; keeps the smell for months longer - refreshing when you spray it 'chilled'.

I keep a large inexpensive plastic bowl for 'soaking my feet' in epsom salts while working on the computer; often, my legs would swell - this stopped it quickly.

When I'm out of hair conditioner, I swipe my fabric softener - works great!

I shake baking soda through my hair when it's dirty; it saves a day or two of washing - you can see how 'lazy' I am.

Mix cornstarch and baking soda together - equal parts; put in a shaker that you use for pepper flakes - then put it through your hair; it gives a 'lift' - some bulk; you 'dry-clean', and fluff your hair without hair-spray.

I only use men's hair-spray; it's lighter - less costly, and brushes out easier.

I only use men's body wash - usually cheaper; more effective in removing body odor.

I pick up my lottery tickets; ask for those plastic envelopes that we use; then I slip in my grocery list facing on one side - easy to read; doesn't tear - when I'm done shopping, the receipt goes in with the list. I staple the list to the receipt - it's easier to see what I've spent; when I spent it, and if I have to return anything, 'both' are handy - and I replace the returned item that's comparable to the one I put on the list to start with.

TWICE-BAKED POTATOES AND THINKING...

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Before we leave for the summer, just a few links and things I remember to do...

THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T HAVE.

FROM MY GRANDMA WILMA'S OLD JOURNAL

THINGS I THINK TWICE ABOUT - FIGURE OUT A BETTER WAY, AND SAVE MONEY!

THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU ARE CRITICAL OF SOMEONE'S LOOKS OR COLOR

THINK TWICE BEFORE YOU KEEP ONLY ONE SET OF PHOTOS IN YOUR HOME - KEEP SETS WITH FAMILY MEMBERS!