Forget Your Fabric Softener, you don't need it

Hello HouseHold Tippers!

Today a tip about economizing-

"Skip the fancy fabric softener.
That doesn't mean you have to put up with scratchy clothes! 
Besides being a pain to remember, fabric softener is one of those extra expenses you can cut without sacrificing.
You can still get the soft clothes you love by using those
plastic nubbed balls they sell for your dryer. 
Simply toss the balls in with your clothes
and they'll do the work of that fabric softener for a lot less money."

Thanks to WalletPop, for the great tip!

Get That Expensive Lipstick, it's worth it!

"Ladies, don't feel guilty
about buying that beautiful new lipstick
next time you are at the department store.
Studies show that more expensive lipsticks
actually have color that lasts longer because they have more pigment in them.
To offset the cost, don't buy the fancy (and expensive) brand-name mascara at your department store.
Study after study shows that most mascaras use the same ingredients,
so use a less expensive version from your drugstore or Target.

You'll look great and pocket some savings!"

Thanks to WalletPop for this great tip!

Go Generic on Napkins

Today's Tip!

"Save money by using store brand napkins.
All you're paying for is the brand name and the pretty print on the napkins. Store brands work just as well."

Thanks to WalletPop, for the great tip!

Get Your Deal Of the Day, from Juice in The City

Howdy HouseHold Tippers!
I want to let you in on a new program for you and your 'HouseHold'.
Welcome To Juice in The City Deals!

Every Day you will see the Juice in the City Deal to the right,
simply click on it to like it and to take advantage of the deal!
When enough people like it, it then offers a discount or coupon to that establishment!
I’m a Founding Member of the DC Juice in the City! But wherever you are, you will see a deal for your closest city.
As this online community grows you will see instead of ‘like it’ change to just a coupon under the deal for you and your family, so just click on it now!
Again, DC has just launched so click on ‘Like It’,
but, for example, the San Fran Bay Area has been up and running for a month or so, so if you’re tuning in from the San Fran area, you’re seeing a discount off some activity there! Get it?
Cities are now been added all over the country and will be changing from ‘Like It’ to strictly discounts for you and your family!

So again, whenever you like a deal, please click on it to insure that a discount will next be offered from this establishment, or if you simply see a discount to print out- do it!
It’s that simple 

Enjoy!

Permanent Coffee Filter- Try It!

Do You Use Paper Coffee Filters?

C' Mon, don't be so 2009 :)

I use a permanent coffee filter in my coffee pot!
They are inexpensive (the one pictured is $8.88), you'll be saving money on paper coffee filters, saving trees, saving waste, and they are EASY to use.  Just put it in your coffee maker, and then when you're done, instead of throwing away the paper filter with coffee grinds- you just throw out the coffee grinds from this filter, rinse it, and it's ready for tomorrow morning when you make coffee again!

PooF... That was Easy!

ReUse Plastic Newspaper Bags

Today- a fantastic tip about recycling
and ReUsing those plastic newspaper bags
that your newspaper is delivered in every day.

I take every newspaper bag,
fold it up,
and put it in my son's lunchbox!
He uses this to put any food that he doesn't eat into,
and ties it up, and puts it back into his lunchbox.
(Our school asks that children take home any uneaten lunch so that the school dumpsters will not be filled with food and attract varmints).

What a Great Kinda-Free (you already paid for the paper, I know) Solution to supplying plastic bags for your kids' lunches!

Pay Attention To Lighting

Today, some discussion about lighting.
Your lighting in a room can make
or break a room.
I just re-evaluated our kitchen lighting,
and, getting tired of the lack of light in our kitchen-
I went to work...

First I got a big circular light that provides a lot of light for the front of the kitchen at Home Depot ($100).

Then I tackled this, pictured to the left- the track lighting.  This is in the back-half of our kitchen.
I had been putting this off because of 'what I thought would be' the hassle, and the expense...
Good News- Boy, was I wrong!
At Home Depot, I spoke with the manager of the lighting department, he told me exactly what I needed- the fixture to attach the lighting, the track, and the lights and lightbulbs- I got it all- for under $100.

Next I called our trusty electricians that we know and had them install it.  They brought a saw and sawed off the track to make it fit perfectly.

And get ready for this- they installed the Big Circular ceiling light and the track lighting in

45 minutes!

And charged me only- $155.

So what is the lesson here?

Nowadays, stores like Home Depot and others, have all the fixtures you need to update your kitchen or anywhere else in your house.  You don't need to go to a very upscale lighting store, which I did, and get intimidated by the prices.  

Next, just ask for help at these stores and they will tell you exactly what you need.

Next, find a good electrician, keep his, or her, number handy,

and call them, tell them exactly what you need done,

AND DO IT.

I cannot believe it took me 2 years to replace the previous lights in our kitchen,

THE ROOM we are ALWAYS in.

Lesson Learned!

So Walk Around Your House... Look at the Lighting.

Do You Have Enough Light in a Room?

Lighting is a GREAT WAY to 'update' a room too!

Go, take that walk :)

Keep Your Eyes and Ears Open: Tips Can Come From Anywhere

Today's Tip is:


Keep Your Eyes and Ears Open-


HouseHold Tips Can Come From Anywhere :)


It goes along with one of my favorite 'rules of life'...


BE AWARE.
If something- a chair, basket, etc. is hindering a room flow and is constantly 'in the way'... Move It.
If someone needs help with a door- Help Them.
If you're constantly looking for a broom- Go out, buy one, and have 'A Place For The Broom'.
You get the 'gist'.


So I came across a very funny blogger the other day, Kacy, who writes-


Everyday I Write the Book;


She has written a great post entitled:

Obvious Tips for Not-Very-Good Homemakers

It's not only hilarious... she shares Great Tips!

And in the Comments below it,

people share some really good HouseHold Tips too!

Go check it out-

Best Case Scenario: You Learn a new HouseHold Tip,

Worst Case Scenario: As Kacy says in her post, 

"If they strike you as obvious that's good news for you--

you are probably better than not-very-good..." 

And that's Great News!

So you win either way :)

I love it when that happens!

Replace Your Furnace Filters!

It's Spring!  Time to check your furnace air filter!
If you don't do this on a regular basis,
NOW IS A GREAT TIME TO START :)

I check my furnace filters once a month, and replace them either once a month,
or every 2 months, depending on how 'dirty' they are.

This is a simple, easy (and inexpensive) way to get 'cleaner' air circulating around your home!

To be totally honest, I usually just pick up a few furnace air filters at-a-time at my local grocery store...
for a couple of dollars a-piece;
with that said, a professional (who cleaned my home's Air Duct System) told me, in his opinion (and he wasn't selling me air filters), that you should spend a few more dollars on an air filter.  He told me you can get a great one at a hardware store for under $10.  I generally do this going into the winter months when the filters get more wear-and-tear...

You may want to experiment between the very inexpensive ones and the slightly-higher-priced ones,
and see which works best for your home...
because all homes are different: the AGE and Construction of your home will affect how much 'dirt'
you see in your filters.

Go take a look at them now!

ESPECIALLY if you have allergies!

Great 'Recycling Paper' Tip

I did a post on my mom blog, BananaBlueberry
almost a year ago about recycling printer paper...
and I'm adding it to today!

Firstly, about a decade ago, when I started freelancing, I realized that I could re-use paper… umm, yeah!

So all my paper that had something on just 1 side, 

I put in this light blue box.  I kept using it and using it, recycling and recycling.  I put it in my printer whenever I was printing stuff out just for myself- rough drafts, articles to read, lists, etc.

Do You Know How Long It Took to Go Through That Paper Recycling Box-

And Have it Empty?

IT TOOK 10 YEARS!… What a difference Recycling Makes! 

And now for the 'updated' recycling printer paper tip:

* Many Sheets of Paper get sent home in my son's backpack- about bake sales, or projects, or the school play, etc.

They all just have print on 1 side!  So I put them in my printer, even if they are colored,

if I'm printing something out- just for me- it makes no difference...

It's even a little fun to read an article or instructions on a blue or yellow piece of paper!

This saves trees AND money :)

Happy HouseHolds!

Recycle Your Toothbrushes into Cleaning Supplies!

Hello HouseHold Tippers!  We are talking about cleaning this week-
so let's get right down to it!
Here's a Great Quick HouseHold Tip-
When you change your toothbrush (every 4 to 6 months),
Don't throw your old one away,

Use it as what it is: a very small CLEANSING BRUSH!

Toothbrushes are great for scrubbing a set-in stain,
as well as a great cleaning tool for hard-to-reach corners.

And they are perfect for cleaning everyday build-up between kitchen tiles!

(more on that in a few days).

So, use what you already have on hand: your toothbrush!

This is a good reminder to CHANGE your toothbrush too!

And 1 more thing:  Have your cleaning toothbrushes WHERE YOU WILL USE THEM.

Keep 1 upstairs in your linen closet,

and 1 under your sink in the kitchen;

If you keep them in convenient places- YOU WILL USE THEM!

Happy Households!

Come back tomorrow for a 'secret cleaning tip' about toothbrushes!

Great Tip About Boxes for Moving and Storage

Hello Readers!

I'm excited to share an EXCELLENT tip with all of you today- that I got from a HouseHoldTipsBlog reader and friend.

Are you moving?  Or, do you need good, sturdy boxes for storage?

Use... Banana Boxes!!


This great tip is from Matt O. and he explains better than I ever could-

'-A friend who worked at a boarding school and another who also moved quite a bit turned me on to the virtues of banana boxes for storage:

-  two-part boxes, so there's no folding or taping required

-  standard size boxes which are small enough to be manageable, even when packed with heavy items like books

-  strong enough to be packed to the ceiling without bursting

-  cut-out handles, make it easy to retrieve a single box from a stack

-  they are free (just have to check supermarkets on a regular basis)

They survive multiple moves better than many boxes I've purchased.'

Wow!  When you put it that way-

Why haven't I been using Banana Boxes my whole life?

That's a great tip!  

Thanks again to Matt O. for sharing it with us!

Don't 'Go Discount' on Blenders

You live, You learn.

Case in Point: this blender, pictured on the left.

I have, believe it or not, never bought a blender before last week.  We got one as a wedding present and I've been using it for the last 12 years.

The blender we got was a nice one, but not a 'ridiculously-priced gizmo that that blends, dices and tells you the time of day'.  It was a blender, and it lasted 12 years.  So, since I have no experience with buying blenders, I figured-

'A blender is a blender.'

And that's not quite true.  The blender to the left was on sale at Target for $13.99.  What did I learn?

DO NOT buy a blender that is $13.99.

It is SO LOUD, it deafens the ears.  It even scared my 6-year-old son, and he doesn't really 'get scared' anymore.  I'm not mentioning the brand name (which I'd never heard of- another red flag), (I think you can read it on the front of the blender), because they didn't do anything wrong- they are selling a very, cheap, blender; 

It's just that I found out it is not worth saving a few dollars to go cheap on a blender.

It is worth a few more dollars to get a nice blender, that isn't CRAZY LOUD,

and rattles,

and scares small children.

So, I went back to Target and got an Oster 12-Speed Blender, that even crushes ice for smoothies... 

in seconds... silently,

for $37.99.

You know what?  Just about ALL the blenders at Target were between $30 and $40 dollars.

This is probably a good price range to look in when buying a blender :)

Once again- You Live.  You Learn.

Enough Said.

Use Smaller Paper Towels

Here's an easy HouseHold Tip!

Make a point to buy those perforated,

half-sheet rolls of paper towels.

You usually only need a half a sheet anyway...

You'll save resources- you green, money-saving machine!

Keep A Grocery List... DURING the week

That's right! Keep a grocery list during the week. This may sound simple, it's a great thought; but if you actually do it-

It saves time AND money!

Get a small notepad, better yet- go to your local drugstore or supermarket and get a pack of small notepads.

Take 1 and devote it to grocery shopping.  Yep, this 1 is strictly for grocery lists, period.

Next, do not leave it out on a counter, or even in an out-of-the-way corner.  If you leave it out- it's OFFICIALLY CLUTTER, and we do not allow clutter here at the HouseHold Tips Blog.

It gets it's own place in a drawer or cupboard.  Find a little space that is easy to get to, and place it there, WITH it's own pen.  DONE.

Now, during the week when you're upstairs and you notice that you're low on toilet paper, you won't say to yourself, 'Remember to get toilet paper at the store next time.'  You will just write it down on your 'grocery' pad.  This way, at any given time, you have itemized things you need for your HouseHold.

You won't forget it when you're at the store, or when you're making a list right before going to the store because it is already ON THE LIST.

I have also found that making grocery lists PREVENTS over-buying, and thus, wasting food,

which as you can see by the post below, I do not like to do!

Make your Life a Little Easier.  Make the Effort to Make a Space for a List.

Pretty Soon It Will Become A Habit.

Happy HouseHolds!

Use Up Your Kitchen Pantry!

Let's talk today about economizing, efficiency... as well as, BEING GREEN!  You can do these 3 things quite easily- by simply using up your kitchen pantry!

All that stuff you have in your pantry- take it all out and make some new recipes for dinner!  Gravy packets, crackers, rice... whatever!

This is also a great way to declutter!!  Yey, another bonus!!

And thank you to one of my favorite Eco-Friendly Bloggers for originally giving me this idea over a year ago; I LOVE THIS IDEA and do it every few months!  It's fantastic!

And check out The Green PhoneBooth for more GREEN IDEAS !!