Try rubbing the inside of a banana peel around your teeth for a minute or two.
Then use a toothbrush as usual. (I use a little salt only.) Amazing! In just two weeks you should notice a big difference.
I have also read that ground activated charcoal on a toothbrush works wonders too! Makes your mouth very black though – until you rinse!
I am always amazed when I visit someone’s place in the evening and the lighting in the main room is overhead.
Now, I don’t mean the times when people put on the main room’s overhead lighting just for me.
I mean when there is ONLY overhead lighting and no offset lighting at all.
I know we are all different, but for me, at night, the living room is dark except for a low-light (warm) standard lamp in the corner.
Some people say just the TV is enough these days – since they have become so big and bright – but I think a soft, warm corner light is still essential.
It’s the bright overhead lighting that I don’t understand.
Fluorescent lights? Not for me. But if you really want to save…I suppose so.
You can always get ECO fluorescent tubes but my preference would be for a small aquarium growth light, and not overhead.
PS: I have read that uncovered fluoros may have a negative impact on your health. The wikipedia seems to think so too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_lamps_and_health
Sometimes you just have to make a stand.
I try not to buy processed soy products. Soy bean farming is destroying the Amazon. The rich crooks who stole the land from native farmers have a lot to answer for. Google it and I challenge you not to be at least a little ashamed to be part of the human race.
So what has this to do with saving money?
Well, not saving the Amazon is going to cost us all, but processed soy products are like paying good money for less of something.
These days supermarkets have the word soy written on products all over the place. And you thought you were doing your body a favour? Not so. All the real goodness of the plant has been stripped out. Once again, google it:
http://www.naturalnews.com/027880_soy_products_milk.html (for example)
I get angry with this constant shortchanging and addition of non-foods in our diet. Excess sugar and salt in everything. Don’t you?
Unprocessed soy is a different matter entirely.
Those poor farmers have had their land stolen from them and we lose the Amazon. And I thought the loggers were bad…
A good friend of mine put me onto this.
She absolutely adores her pet dog and cat and always feeds them good meat and the better canned food (occasionally).
But what she does is mix the meat with white, boiled rice. Not all the time, but three or four times a week (mine get fed morning and night).
You see, even your pets can do with a bland meal and it helps their little tummies – especially to prevent, and when they get, diarrhea.
Obviously, it makes the meat go further too.
Ever wondered how much petrol – and money – you waste just by using your car as a storage wagon?
Get rid of all that excess junk in the back immediately!
But what about the spare wheel? It’s pretty heavy. Costs you plenty to take around with you. Could you do without it?
In the country or on long hauls? No. In the city? Well, it’s not advisable really, but my husband has had a deal with a good buddy now for over ten years. Neither carries a spare around town. They both agree to bail the other out by bringing a spare to the other in such an emergency.
Hasn’t happened yet.
I like receiving cards. I really do. As a student I worked for a short time in a Hallmark factory. All those guys working so hard designing cards, writing soppy words, printing, cutting, packing. I don’t want to see them lose their jobs but…
The world has gone digital. And me too. ECards are the way I do it nowadays.
Not those horrible free ones with spam and ads. I pay a small 2 yearly membership to a premium site with great cards. And most of my friends like receiving them. (If they don’t and they haven’t said so and they’re still friends, like, who cares?)
And, no, I get nothing out of recommending this site to you.
OK. You can read anything on the internet and believe it’s true. In the end, it’s up to you.
But just google “vitamins waste of money” and get what is surely the real picture.
Vitamins? Seriously? Do you have a bottle of vitamins pills at home? Must be one of the biggest scams of all time.
Put it this way. You’ve been to a doctor before – how many times has s/he prescribed vitamins? Is your doctor really that bad?
It’s like everyone is eating more but taking out insurance against eating less. Duh!
It’s amazing how quickly your cash can leave your purse or wallet at the pub.
Admittedly this is sometimes hard to do, but when you are with friends at the pub or in a bar…
DON’T TOUCH THE SALTY SNACKS! They are only there to make you drink more.
And, guys especially, if you have a bit of willpower and are about to have a session with the boys…
… go the first round or two on soft drink – straight tonic water or even water is best. Any old excuse will do. That first beer is still waiting for you, but you will have saved a few dollars already. And, because you are…er…less inebriated, you will make better decisions than the others. Like leaving early and just saying no more often – one of the secrets of a successful life by the way!
Incidentally, never feel embarrassed not to drink. Like all habits, the less you do something, the easier it becomes. Drinking is an expensive hobby. Certainly, don’t ever feel sorry for the publican. Remember, he makes more profit out of you drinking his soft drinks than his alcoholic beverages. And salty snacks are his chief wallet emptyers. Even cheap pub meals are there to make sure you down more drinks.
One other thing. Stick to wine and beer. Spirits are for character actors, drunks and cleaning ladies. You can have a much better – and cheaper – time going slow than getting hammered fast. If you have proved over many years that you do have willpower, then a vodka occasionally or a gin and tonic is fine. But a regular night of spirits is for serious drinkers with a healthy bank account and an image problem.
Do you own a microwave? Most of us do these days – and that is a good thing.
There are so many myths associated with them. Heating from the inside out for example. Not true.
A source of radioactivity? There is NONE. Your body is more radioactive than the microwave. What? Well, it depends what we mean by radioactive. Microwave Radiation is not the the same as radioactive radiation.
Are they dangerous?
Some say yes: http://www.relfe.com/microwave.html
Most say no: http://elgringosalsero.hubpages.com/hub/The-Myths-About-The-Dangers-Of-Microwave-Ovens
I think the case for danger is extremely weak. Of course, it’s your choice.
Microwaves are 70% more efficient than an oven. True.
So my tip here is to remember to use the microwave.
Rather than immediately – and unthinkingly – using the gas or electric range and oven in your kitchen, give your microwave more work to do.
Did it come with a manual? Read it. Learn how to cook with it. Or google “microwave recipes” and find sites like this one:
http://allrecipes.com/recipes/everyday-cooking/campus-cooking/microwave/
Just over half of household costs are taken up with heating. Water, of course, for showers and baths, but also winter heating of rooms.
Which are cheapest? Electric heaters, reverse cycle air conditioner heaters, oil heaters, gas heaters, wood fires?
It’s quite a complex question with many kinds of electricity heaters (including air conditioners) to choose from. And not all heaters provide the same efficiency. The initial cost of the heater itself must initially be taken into account.
I believe the cheapest way to heat a room or house (unless you have a ducted or under floor system) is with a gas convection heater.
Those Dimplex oil heaters give off a good clean heat, but are slow to get a room warm and are not cheap to run.
Air conditioners – being run by electricity – are expensive, but the least cost efficient are those electric bar heaters.
Wood heaters – if enclosed – are also quite efficient and give probably the best heat of all, but nothing compares costwise to gas.
But here’s a tip: if you buy a gas convection heater, make sure it has an economy button and USE IT! (It will then not overheat a room.)
And lastly, spend $10 or so at a $2 dollar shop and buy a few draught excluders this winter. Those little snakes of wool placed at the bottom of doors around the house will save heaps! Why heat empty rooms?