posted by maggie on Aug 6
By the end of the day, when you’re exhausted and sore, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to sit on a bench, press a button, and be surrounded by a cloud of scented steam, allowing you to step out of the shower stall feeling relaxed and reinvigorated? If you have doubts about how to conserve in a world where droughts have been all too common, you might like to know that such a luxury (once available only at a health spa or a resort), may be taken at home using up in twenty minutes no more than two gallons of water.
Weigh those two gallons against the fifty gallons of water that even a water-saving shower head spray would use up in the same amount of time, and it quickly becomes clear that a steam shower is an extremely “green” way to clean yourself.
The shower works by filling a steam generator about the size of a breadbox with cold water (about a gallon’s worth), and then heats that water with electrical elements, bringing it to a boil. Pipes then channel the transformed water to the steam head or disperser, which will fill up the shower stall with moisture, the temperature of which may be controlled, whether you measure it in Celsius or Fahrenheit .
Over the last twenty centuries, steam has been used in a variety of ways, from small precursors of steam turbines in toys in Egypt to actual steam engines in the United States to a better way of washing up without wasting water in the 21st century throughout the world.
posted by maggie on Jul 26
Most movers and other professionals in the industry recommend that people moving from one place to another eliminate as many items as possible from their move; the recommended amount should be 1/3 of your possessions.
There are several ways to eliminate possessions, like having a charity donation truck come and take away any items you’ve decided are no longer needed. Disabled American Veterans, The Salvation Army or The Purple Heart organizations all offer curbside pick-ups. You may also consider having a moving sale before you have a charity donation truck come by to pick up your items, and you’ll make some fast cash in the process.
To hold a successful moving sale you should decide to have your moving sale outside, either on your lawn or in the carport. You don’t want have people coming inside to look over all the items you’re planning to sell. Keep items organized in separate areas such as lamps in one sections and clothes in another sections. For pricing, take the original price, divide by 5 and use your personal judgment for further discounting due to wear-n-tear or damage. You might find it easier to create categories for pricing, such as ‘all lamps $5′, or ‘all clothing $2′; this way you won’t have to worry about putting a price tag on each item. Make sure you have plenty of change, $100 in bills and coins will be sufficient. Post your moving sale on Craigs List and other local free notification websites. On the day of the sale, arrange for two or more people to help move your items outside, to help sell or relive you when necessary. Then be prepared to wheel-n-deal and have a great time watching your stuff sell!
posted by maggie on Apr 23
It may seem like an obvious statement when I say that your home should reflect your personal style. Anyone who has ever decorated, or not decorated, their home would probably respond pretty quickly that their home does reflect them and their personality. However, I would be willing to bet that most of us — though there are definitely some exceptions — get a little too caught up in decorating to please others rather than making our homes comfortable for ourselves. I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with wanting your house to look nice when you have guests over, but perhaps we have our priorities a little backwards.
One of the ways that we can really express ourselves is with paint. How often to do we hold off on painting a room a certain because we don’t know how it will look or if it will be too much, even if we really like it? If that is just your personality that’s fine, but don’t be afraid to step outside the box and try new things. Growing up I had a friend whose mother loved color. She loved it so much that she painted the living room bright yellow with black baseboards and the bathroom fire engine red. While it is not a color combination I would put in my house, it was fun and festive and more importantly reflected who she was.
Window treatments are another fun and easy way to express your personality. Whether you are trying to decide between the perfect next day blinds or shades or you simply want to play up the mini blinds you already have, the choices are limitless. Most home decor stores have many styles of curtains and valences to choose from, while those of you who are really creative can make your own unique look.
Whatever your design style, the important thing is that is reflects you. After all you are the one who has to live with it day in and day out and you should be feel comfortable and be able to relax in your home.
posted by maggie on Mar 31
Establishing and maintaining a budget is not an easy task for most people. Many of us seem to have a tendency to start out strong, say for the first month or two, and then slowly get off track until we are right back where we started from. This trouble is also compounded by the fact that no matter how hard we work, our paychecks still seem to be getting smaller. No matter how hard it might be, or how bad we are at, planning ahead for each bill cycle is important for maintaining financial security and avoiding unnecessary stress .
If you take a look at your monthly bills you will see some that are consistently about the same amount while others vary greatly. Most of the time service bills, such as your cable or cell phone bills, will be approximately the same amount, unless you make changes to what services and features you receive. Other bills, like your utilities (water, electricity, gas), will typically vary greatly depending on the season. You can offset this cost by keeping your house warmer in the summer while supplementing with fans and cooler in the winter. Keeping your lights off when your not using them will also help cut down on costs . If you can come up with a solid estimate of how much your bills will be each month, you will have a better idea how much you have to spend on extra things like eating out or going shopping.
Of course there are always those things in life that throw us off even the best-laid plans. A broken water line can end up adding a substantial amount to your water bill. Forgetting to close the flue on your fireplace after the last time you used can send your heating/ cooling unit into overdrive and causing your electric bill to skyrocket. These types of things are hard to plan for, especially when you are on a tight budget. In these situations many people turn to payday loans endorsed by Montel Williams . Payday loans are easily and quickly obtained. Sometimes they are just what people need to get them to the next paycheck .
posted by maggie on Mar 16
It is the season for spring cleaning. Most people will flip their mattress, do some dusting and vacuuming, but this really is the time to take it one more level and get the whole house a little cleaner. Below are three tips for ways to make the house a little cleaner this spring.
Shutters, fan blades and housing should be cleaned with a damp cloth dipped in a mix of mild liquid dish detergent and water, unless the care information says otherwise. This works as a cheapish all purpose cleaner that will send the dust bunnies running. When you are done, wipe blinds dry otherwise more dust will quickly become attracted to the surface.
Cloth curtains and blinds can be made to look more fresh by vacuuming with the soft brush or dusting attachment set the vacuum on a lower sucking setting to keep the drapes from being drawn into the attachment. This will pull out all the dust that has been collecting in them. You may be surprised just how dirty these really are. If they are really dirty you should If you have the time, you may even want to throw these in the wash machine, or do it by hand. Blinds can brighten the whole house. If they aren’t extremely dirty, or are a fabric that can’t be put through the wash, use an upholstery cleaner to get out any spots or dirty areas.
When cleaning a window, treatments should be done out of direct sunlight. When done in the sun, the heat will evaporate the cleaning liquid before it has been wiped away, which is part of the way streaks are left on windows. Make sure to clean the windows on a cloudy day, or when that side of the building is in the shade. The best way to get a streak free shine is to apply window cleaner with a damp sponge. You wipe it across the window and then use a squeegee from top to bottom. After each run, wipe down the squeegee blade to keep it fresh. Make sure you clean both sides of the windows.