Shopping Tip

If there's one thing that is sheer drudgery, it is grocery shopping. You pick the food off the shelf and put it in your cart. Then you have to take it all out and put it on the check-out belt.  Then you have to pack it up and put it back in the cart. Then you have to put it in your car. Then when you get home, you have to drag it into the house, unpack it and put it all away. You have now touch each item at least four times.

I go to Stop n Shop and as soon as I enter the store, there are scanners by the entrance. You just swipe your Stop n Shop card and a scanner lights up. Take that scanner and now you're ready to shop. I open up my reusable bags in my cart, and as I select each food item, I scan it and pack it right into the bag. It's so easy. When you're done shopping, everything is already packed just the way you like it. You can go to a checkout person or to a self-checkout register and all you do is to scan in the final barcode at the register, use your cash or credit card to pay, and you are out of there! I love it.

Hint for buying fruit/vegetables -- there are little scales throughout the produce department where you can put your loose fruit, like bananas. Just select what kind of produce it is and a sticker pops out with a barcode for your scanner. Very simple.

Candy Crush

If you play this game, you know how incredibly fun it is. It's hard to stop playing and get anything done!

In most levels, the key is to work from the bottom clearing the jelly or to bring down the cherries or acorns. Always try to match at least four candies so that you can clear more squares at a time on a turn. And definitely try to bring the striped candies further down on the board before you match them -- that way you'll clear more jelly at the bottom, which is harder.

I've only finished level 35, and now I have to complete three quests to move on. Fun!

Selling on eBay

It is very easy to sell things on eBay, but the one part that I see people lose money on their sales is with the shipping costs. It is VERY important to package the item you're selling BEFORE you list it on eBay. Prepare the item as if it's already sold, but don't seal the box yet, because after it sells, you'll want to put your packing slip in it.

Now you have your dimensions and weight, so when you list the item, you can add this info. Very important tip -- eBay has an amazing deal with the USPS and UPS for shipping costs, so use it to your advantage and let eBay calculate how much you will charge for shipping when you list your item.

I have seen people time and time again lose money on their shipping costs and I don't want that to happen to you!

Lawn Mowing

Here is a great way to save money, time and to protect the environment. There is no need to put fertilizer or pesticides on your lawn if you mow with a mulching blade/attachment on your mower. Its purpose is to cut the grass into smaller pieces so that it falls between the standing blades of grass and protects the soil/roots from the sun and naturally decomposes to fertilize the grass all over again.

In this day and age, when people see a lawn without dandelions, they know you've been using pesticides, and they will look down on you because it poisons the environment (this is true where I live). So embrace your dandelions during these early weeks of spring (they are so pretty), and just keep mowing them down once a week. The blossoms and seeds will go away soon.

Change the mower's direction each week -- go horizontally one week, vertically the next week, and if you can, diagonally the following week. And cut your grass at the highest level on your mower (at least 3 inches high) to protect the soil/roots from burning in the sun.

The less you water your lawn, the more the roots will grow deeper into the soil and will create a stronger grass root. If your climate/property does not grow good grass, then consider a non-grass "lawn." I will post on that another time. There are so many great alternatives to traditional grass.

Storage Unit Rentals

If you choose to store your belongings in a self storage unit, be sure to do the following things:

1. Store your items in plastic containers -- not cardboard. If your storage unit is not climate controlled, the environment is affected by the weather and will get hot, cold, damp, freezing, moist, humid, and cardboard boxes will not prevent against dampness or mold, which will affect the contents of the box. Plastic containers also protect against rodents and insects, so this is a very important precaution.
2. If you do have items stored in cardboard boxes, at least be sure the boxes are not on the ground, but place them on top of the plastic containers.
3. It is also a good idea to buy a plastic tarp -- a cheap painter's tarp is fine -- and cover your items with plastic in case there is a leak from the roof.

The industry standard for renting a self storage unit is that the customer is liable for any damage that happens to their items while in storage -- your homeowner's insurance covers your belongings. You are just renting a space with no other perks. So read the fine print carefully before signing the storage contract and there should be no surprises down the road.

Spring Cleaning

To really organize your closet the right way, take everything out -- empty it out completely -- and sort the items into piles. Then only put back the items that belong in that closet. Whatever is left either belongs somewhere else in the house or should be given away, donated, or thrown out.

Photo Tip

This time of year the flowers are blooming and look so pretty, and you want to take photos of them. But if you just take a photo of a bunch of flowers, it doesn't have enough impact -- there's no focal point. Try this:

Get fairly close to one flower and take a photo so that in the background you can see the other blooming flowers, but they're blurry because you're focused on the flower in the foreground -- the one you're closer to.

This is very effective in the fall when taking photos of colorful foliage. Rather than photographing the entire tree, get up close to a few colorful leaves and photograph them with the rest of the tree in the background.

How to Break the Tension

If you are meeting with someone or a group of people, and you feel tense with them, there are two things you can do that will help you get a fresh outlook on things in order to continue the meeting without any animosity.

First, the act of excusing yourself to go to the restroom is a good idea -- it stops everything in its tracks and forces you and others to take a breather for a few minutes. When you come back into the room, you have the chance to start over fresh.

Second, if you cannot leave the room, then the act of pouring water from a pitcher or bottle into a cup does the very same thing. Pouring water cleanses the air, like a waterfall. It is a small movement, and no one may notice that you're doing it, but try it next time and you'll see.  Don't just bring a water bottle into a meeting where you may get tense. Bring a glass also, and when the tension rises, pour the water nice and easy into the glass. Take your time and enjoy the movement, the sound, and then the taste of the water. It works!

Gardening

When you have to trim back hedges or brambles or weeding in general, bring an old flat sheet with you (not a fitted sheet) and lay it out near where you are working. As you prune and cut off branches, boughs, or pull out weeds, just throw them all onto the sheet. When the pile on the sheet is big enough, just collect all four corners of the sheet up and around the clippings and drag it into the woods to dump it. It is so easy and you don't have to pick up lots of piles of clippings. And you don't get tire marks on the lawn from a wheelbarrow, which doesn't hold much anyway.

Moving Out of Dorm Tips

One of the most helpful gadgets I bought for moving my son's stuff out of his dorm is the oversized zip lock bags (found them in Stop n Shop). They are huge, and you can stuff a very large quantity of clothing and belongings into these bags, and they zip shut and fit nicely into my hatchback car. Much better than boxes or suitcases, because they're soft and fit better. They're easy to carry because they have built in "handles." I also use them for storing blankets, pillows, linens, etc.

Tick Check

Wherever you live, it is very important to check yourself for ticks every night before going to bed. Stand in front of a mirror and look around your neck and ears, lift up your arms and check your armpits, check every part of your body for a small dot that wasn't there yesterday. A regular check like this makes you familiar with the spots, freckles and moles on your body, so when there is a new one, it will be more noticeable to you. Deer ticks in the springtime can be as small as the head of a pin, so they're hard to find sometimes.

Here's the best tip ever:  If you do find a tick on yourself, pull it off with tweezers, grabbing it firmly as close to the head of the tick as possible. Now -- put it on a piece of clear tape and fold the tape over it so it can never get away, and you can bring it to your doctor where they can test it to see if it is disease borne.

Be safe!

Wrapping Breakables for Shipping

If you have to wrap and ship something that is breakable -- china, glass vase, figurine, etc. -- take this one tip and never forget it:  Bubble wrap is your best friend. You cannot use enough bubble wrap to protect your breakables. It's worth the investment and time.

If your shipment contains multiple items, such as china dishes, it is important to remember that one plate should not touch another plate -- that's how you get chips and cracks. Place a piece of bubble or foam wrap or layers of newspaper between each plate (no more than 4 or 5 plates in a bunch), and then wrap that bunch in bubble wrap, at least 3 times around. It is worth it.