So you planted a garden, lucked out when your property included fruit trees, stumbled upon a produce sale you just couldn’t pass up, or joined a Community Supported Agriculture group. Good for you! Now what? What will you do with all that bounty? Your choices are 1) quickly consume your harvest before it spoils, 2)…
11 Ways to Use Aluminum Foil Around the House to Make Life Easier
Using aluminum foil to line cookie sheets or to keep a steak hot while you finish getting everything ready to eat are nothing new when it comes to useful household tips. But there are many other ways to use aluminum foil you haven’t heard of — ways that can save you time, money and effort….
My Shopping Addiction Rehab Program
Shopping is my thing. I love the thrill of the hunt, that feeling of discovery and the joy of a bargain. I find it satisfying in ways I cannot fully describe. I want to experience the feeling as often as possible. Shopper’s high is no joke. It’s real; it’s palpable; and it’s addictive. Shopping got…
4 Recipes for Homemade DIY Lawn and Garden Fertilizer
I love a beautiful yard, but I hate spending a lot of money to get it that way, which explains why I am always looking for do-it-yourself, cheap ways to kill weeds, grow flowers and feed lawns. I have come across some very clever tips and tricks, not the least of which is to reclassify…
Drowning in Scraps of Fabric
Longtime readers of this column may remember the reader who wanted to know where she could donate her fabric scraps. I offered details on a small organization in Texas that turns new fabric scraps into quilts for shelters, churches, and other charities. Apparently, reader G.W. was not the only reader with fabric scraps too good…
Help! I Have Issues With Your Tub and Shower Soap Scum Cleaner
If I were keeping track of the number of responses from my readers that are filled with praise and gratitude, there would be thousands of hash marks next to Tub and Shower Soap Scum Cleaner. And the word used most often to describe it? “Magical”! But now and then, a response will report problems having…
3 Free Life-Improving Resources
If you are generally wary of free stuff, I’m right there with you. Most of the time, I’ve found that free stuff is like bait. It’s a tasty morsel, a big tease with the clear intent of getting us to part with money we have no intention of parting with to get whatever it is…
Once You Use This DIY Glass and Mirror Cleaner, You Will Never Look Back
I love simple DIY household cleaners, not only because they’re so much cheaper than their commercial cousins but because they work better. I’m certain that over the years I’ve tried hundreds of recipes and formulas. Let’s just say that some work well; others, not so much. Recently, I’ve been researching and testing the wonders of…
Readers Share Even More Brilliant Uses for Blue Dawn
I’m not certain about when a subject becomes a saga, but I think sure we’ve crossed over into saga territory on the subject of terrific ways to use Blue Dawn dishwashing liquid that have nothing to do with washing dishes. Seriously, these days, I can’t wait to open my inbox to see if there could…
Ask Me Anything: Credit Reports, Storing Potatoes, Deadbeat Relatives
I don’t really have a mailbag, but it would be fun if I did. What I do have is a file named “EC Mailbag.” That’s where I save all of the questions and letters that you, my dear readers, send to me. I just don’t have the time to respond personally, so I love it…
-
Recent Posts
-
Archives
- May 2025
- April 2025
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- September 2013
- July 2013
- March 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- December 1
-
Meta