I read in my Mother Earth News magazine that you can take diluted or full strength vinegar and pour on the weeds growing in cracks in your cement driveway or between your bricks or stepping stones. Boy, that has to be cheaper than the weed killers you buy in the store. I haven’t tried it yet since I do not have a sidewalk or concrete driveway out in the country. lol
The new year began and I promised myself I would eat better and exercise but it was now February and no changes in my life. Time for action…instead of talk.
My daughter and I went to a meeting on February 1 and joined Weight Watchers. Bonnie has a girlfriend whose whole family is doing the program and losing weight. There is a special right now where you don’t pay a registration fee and you can pay $39.95 a month and have access to the e-tools on the computer. We have been using the e-tools a lot.
Our second time at Weight Watchers, Bonnie lost 4.4 pounds and I lost 4.2. Wow. We are very impressed with ourselves and the program. It didn’t feel like a diet because we could still eat whatever we wanted. We are using the point system instead of the core system. It is really teaching us portion sizes and making us more aware of our water intake as well as fruits and vegetables. I didn’t realize how few fruits and vegetables I normally eat. No wonder I am overweight. Bread and meat and desserts seem to be my main diet.
The meetings are great, too. The book says people who attend the meetings are likely to lose 3 times more weight. The meetings are very motivational. People sharing cooking ideas and tips they have learned on their own.
A lifestyle change is what I needed and now I see a way to get there. If you want to lose weight and change your eating habits, join Weight Watchers. I know I have gone twice but I feel so good about it….and me. Can’t wait to get on the scale this week.
We own a l997 Eagle and the headlights were yellowed. I looked online and saw different ideas how to clean them. All looked like a lot of work. So, I tried one of my favorite cleaning agents.
I bought some Bar Keepers Friend liquid cleanser today at Wal-Mart. In fact, it was on sale for $1.00 for 26 ounces. Well, you know I have to buy it if it is a bargain. I normally buy it in powder form.
After dinner tonight, I asked my husband if I could try it on the headlights over in a corner (in case it did some damage). I put a little on a washcloth and rubbed. Wow, it did great so I continued to clean the first headlight and then the other. It was easy and instant. In five minutes I had cleaned both headlights and was walking back into the house. It looked 100 % better and my husband is so pleased. I was very careful not to get it on the new paint job we had gotten on his car.
If you decide to try it, remember to try it in a corner and do not get it on your paint job. I will check tomorrow to make sure it still looks as good as it does tonight.
I hope it works for you guys, too.
If you are a young person who hasn’t purchased a new car very often you might not know this. I shared this information with my daughter in Atlanta and she got a really good deal on a car.
The best time to buy a car, or so I have been told, is the end of the year. I suppose the dealerships are trying to get rid of inventory for that year and make their sales/profit look good on paper. If you can’t wait that long, then go shopping for a car at the end of any month.
Also, you can check monthly at the dealership and see what kind of specials they have that month. Sometimes, the car you want to purchase has a special deal on the interest rate or a rebate.
Make sure you do your research though. When I recently looked at a used vehicle at a Toyota dealership, they even had a laptop computer that I could look up the Kelly Bluebook price of the car I was interested in purchasing.
I have also heard it is better to sell your used car yourself. If you do trade your car in, make sure you know what your car is worth. Again, use Kelly Bluebook online. Trading in a vehicle sometimes makes you unsure if you really got a good price on the new car.
My husband bought a car and he had two different dealerships fighting over his business. He went to one and got a price for the car he wanted. Then he went to the other and got a price for the same car. It took a while for him to go back and forth trying to get one to undercut the other but in the end, he got the car for the price he wanted to pay. You may not be able to do this if you live in a small town. We have a lot of dealerships nearby.
Another time Calvin bought a car, he didn’t want leather seats. The dealership ended up throwing in a CD player to seal the deal. If the car you want doesn’t have cruise control, you could use that as a bargaining chip, too. If you decide you are willing to pay the price the dealership is charging, then say…I will buy this car today if you put cruise control on it free.
I bought a used car…Camry…and the dealership wasn’t going to fill the tank up before I purchased the car. I told them I wouldn’t buy the car unless it had a full tank. They said they didn’t do that for used cars. I said I am paying $xx.xxx for a car and you can’t fill the tank up. I can’t remember what I paid for the car because it was in 1999 (it was a 97 car) but I did leave with a full tank.
One more thing, I must put in a plug for Toyotas. I have put 200,000 miles on my Camry. I have NEVER had a problem with my air conditioner, transmission or engine problems. The only problem I ever had was a belt broke a couple years ago. I change my oil every 3000 miles (or close to it). My husband had a Toyota that he drove for 300,000 miles and it was still running when he gave it away to a relative.
I am looking into buying a Toyota Sienna van as my next car. I would love to have a new one but I have heard a car loses a lot of its value the first year so I keep thinking I will end up buying one that is at least two years old.
Are you anticipating a refund this year? I bet you already have the money allocated for something special. This year we are wanting a set of mattresses and maybe one of those thin HDTVs. Last year, the refund went toward my daughter’s wedding.
Gathering all the tax stuff together is always such a pain. I tell myself every year that I will be better about putting everything all in one place so I can just grab the stuff and sit down and get it done. I use Turbo Tax myself. If you haven’t tried it, you should look into it. It is so simple. They ask you questions that you probably wouldn’t have thought to even put on your taxes.
Maybe a shoe box would work good. I could just throw all the receipts in there. The man that I work for just throws everything in a grocery paper bag and then carries it to an accountant. I imagine she loves that. I can picture her dumping the paper bag out on her desk. lol
I guess I should have made a New Year’s resolution about my taxes, too. Get more organized. Keep everything in one place.
I never did get my stuff to Goodwill or Salvation Army so that is one tax deduction I lost. I got it into bags and boxes but I just didn’t get it there. Actually, I kept thinking I would take the clothes to the shelters instead. Our bank does a “sweater drive” every year. I was thinking it should have been a “coat drive” until I realized I live in Florida.
So, I guess my only tip would be get organized early this year.
Preparing for a yard sale is a lot of work.
CHECKLIST:
1. Deciding when to have the yard sale/check weather for rain.
2. Deciding what to sell.
3. Cleaning items, washing clothing, packaging some items together (like sheets and pillow cases).
4. Deciding how to price the items.
5. Finding tables for displaying items.
6. Making posters/signs.
7. Going to the bank for change-coins and bills.
8. Getting up really early to get items displayed before those early bargain hunters arrive.
I am actually having a whole house yard sale for someone else who will not be present. LONG STORY!
I have been to yard sales and flea markets but I am wondering how people decide what to charge. Do you charge a certain percentage of the original price? Say, 10 % of the original price. I am thinking that sounds about right. If a CD cost $15.99, I think $1.50 would be good. A recliner that originally cost $199.00 selling for about 20 bucks. I guess it really depends on the condition of items, too. Then you have to decide whether you want a certain price or whether you should price higher to allow for the haggling of prices.
Well, that is my exciting plans for this coming weekend. I need to have my own yard sale one of these days.
Isn’t amazing how many things we acquire over the years? My family is pretty good about checking first to see if any family member wants anything before we get rid of things. I missed out on some great recliners that my sister, Sandy was getting rid of because we live in Florida and she lives in NC. I didn’t have a way to get them here without renting something to transport the furniture. Too expensive to rent a truck.
Well, time to get going. I am working on step 3 of my checklist which is the most time consuming. Wish me luck.
I went outside the other day to get into my car and poop was all over the mirror and side of my car. Disgusting. I got the hose and cleaned it off and dried it and thought, I better not park over there anymore.
Much to my surprize, I realized later the other mirror and side of the car was also covered with bird poop. Then my husband mentioned he needed to get the hose and clean off his mirror and side of his car. Okay, that’s weird.
So, now I am tying a plastic grocery bag over the mirrors whenever I have the car parked at the house. I tried just parking in a different place–about 40 ft away but that didn’t do the job.
My neighbor said she saw the bird perched on my mirror and attacking my windows. She said it fluttered at the side of the window and kept slamming into it for about an hour. She also said it has been slamming into her French doors and pooping all over her Hot Tub.
I think I have figured out which bird is making mischief in my life. It is a Mockingbird that sits on the lines and nearby poles. I don’t know how long birds live but I am thinking that this bird’s life may be cut short.
When my two daughters shared a bathroom, there never seemed to be enough places to sit their lotions and bottles of bubble bath and stuff like that.
I used a plastic shoe rack that hangs over the door to hold the extra bottles of stuff that normally sat around the sink. It sure made cleaning the bathroom easier, too.
Today, Calvin and I have one hanging in our bathroom, too. We have Listerine, Hydrogen Perioxide, bubble baths, disposable razors, my curling iron, baby powder, nail polish remover, and so on hung behind our bathroom door. No one sees the stuff unless they close our bathroom door from the inside. Fortunately, we have a guest bathroom.
Yes, I do have a cabinet under my sink but I keep my cleaning products there plus extra soap, toothpaste, toilet paper and hair products there.
I was thinking as a young military wife with very little money and normally living in small quarters, I wish I thought of that idea back then.
Actually, at Wal-mart I saw a picture on the front of one these shoe rack type things that hang over the door showing various things stuffed in it instead of shoes. I was glad to see others were doing what I have been doing for a very long time.
I heard on Good Morning America that you can search for lost money thru the Treasury Department of each state. So I typed in “lost money, NC” and sure enough I found some. It had to do with life insurance (Metropolitan).
On Saturday, I received a check for $612.35. Wow
It was kind of a hassle but it was worth it.
I printed out a form and followed the instructions. I sent it to NC with a copy of my drivers license, proof that I lived at the address listed and it had to be notarized. It took 2 months to get it back.
So, check every state you lived in and see if you have any money anywhere. Maybe you forgot to close out a checking account or something like that.
It is so aggravating to make a cake for just my husband and myself and half way thru the cake, it is so dried out.
The solution: Make cupcakes instead. Once you ice the top of them, the freshness seems to be sealed in better. You can also freeze the cupcakes before you add frosting. I put them in a freezer bag.
Another thing, you don’t have dirty dishes everytime you serve a piece of cake.
And….it is great to pack some in your husband’s lunch and maybe a couple extra for his friend(s).
I stopped making cupcakes once my kids got out of elementary school, I think. But, if you are an older couple like us, the cupcakes are quite a treat.