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Work at Home Truths
Click the eBook Cover to Order Work at Home Truths, by Tiffany Dow



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Easy-to-Follow Home Recycling Tips for the Family

The incessant talk about global warming, pollution, the use of fossil fuels, and the destruction of our forests has spurred more and more people to come up with innovative ideas on how they can help clean up the planet, and prevent further damage to it.

If each individual on the planet did his or her own small thing, such as recycle, it all should add up to one significant change, as well as help make a  big difference in the long term. Reusing, reducing and recycling waste needs to start at home. Here are a few recycling tips that you can easily follow at home.   

Reuse Scrap Paper, and Don’t Throw Your Old Newspapers

Your old newspapers can still do a lot of helpful stuff. They can be reused for packing your valuables into your storage boxes, and can be used in your kitty litter box. Scrap paper can also reused. Use up both sides to print documents, unless you’re printing a very important office or business document. You can also send your old newspapers to a collection facility for proper recycling.   

Plastic Bottles can be Recycled

Set aside an area in your garage or storage room for storing plastic bottles. If your town or city has a collection facility or pick-up point, bring your plastic bottles there, and trade them for cash.  Ice cream and yoghurt plastic containers can be reused to store candies, biscuits and other items, and may also be used for storing your kids’ crayons, pens and small toys.

How to Recycle Old Electronic Items

Ensure that all the batteries you use for your flashlights, cell phones and toys are sent to recycling centers, because throwing these in the garbage bin may harm the environment. Any broken electronic appliances or items may also be repaired and reused at home too. However, irreparable electronic items can be sold as junk, or sent to a collection facility for proper recycling and disposal.  

Recycling Kitchen Waste

Kitchen waste, especially the organic ones, can be used as manure or fertilizer, once these have been placed in a compost pit. The productive use of kitchen wastes helps reduce a  town or city’s sewage and garbage problems. The tin cans which often accumulate in your kitchen can also be collected and crushed, and sent to a recycling facility.

Be Earth Friendly When Going Shopping

When shopping or going to the grocery, always bring a cloth bag, and avoid using plastic shopping bags, because these are very hard to recycle. In addition, buy goods or products that are made from recycled materials, or use recycled materials for packaging.

These are but a few of the many things that you can do to help make our world a cleaner and safer place to live in. With a lot of research and simple innovation, you can actually make a difference for the planet.

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Tightwad Group, Come Join!

I’ve recently been granted to take over the Tightwad group, a long time Yahoo tightwad living group.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tightwad

The group’s owner had disappeared long ago, leaving the group to spammers posting yucky stuff. I have deleted a lot of messages and hopefully got rid of all the nasty ones.

We are wanting to jump start the group again, bring it back to life, to what it was intended for… tightwad tips, frugal living, budgeting, freebies, and coupons. So I am asking my readers here to join up and share their freebies, tightwad tips, frugal recipes, coupons, etc. Basically any and everything that pertains to tightwad living.

The group posts are moderated to keep the icky spam out.

So come on and join and spread the word to your friends!

Tightwad
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tightwad

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Christmas is the time of traditions and crafts. From pipe cleaner candy canes to making and decorating gingerbread houses, there is no time like Christmas for crafting. Whether you have yearly holiday traditions already in place at your house or are looking for ways to start a new tradition, you’ve come to the right place.

One tradition that many households celebrate during the holidays is decorating the Christmas tree. Usually putting up decorations and adorning the tree with lights, garland and ornaments that hold special memories is an affair the entire family participates in. So, if you love to craft and your family is one that makes an entire day out of decking the halls, read on for a way to combine the two loves this year.

Crafting your Christmas tree can be done a few different ways.

1. Use crafts from years past
2. Make new crafts for the tree
3. Creating themes with crafts every year

Using Crafts from Years Gone By

One way you can craft your tree this year is to gather all the goodies your family has made in previous years. A few such times might include those made from by the kids when they were in elementary school, during rainy days that meant crafting the afternoon away or any other times when crafts were made within the family.

Make New Crafts Just for the Christmas Tree

If you don’t have crafts from year’s past, make some new ones. Take an afternoon and spend it making crafts especially for this year’s tree. You can find craft kits with Christmas themed items at your local craft or dollar store or you can make your own from every day items around the house. It doesn’t even have to be Christmas type crafts. Whatever your family wants to make, let them go for it, then decorate your tree with pride – even if it is with finger paints and paper airplanes. Let the kids choose crafts that show their interests. If your daughter likes Hannah Montana and your son likes aliens, it’s ok; this tree is all about combining the differences in family into one loving and unique tree.

Create a Yearly Theme for Your Christmas Craft Tree

Want to make crafting your tree an annual tradition that changes a bit every year so no one gets bored with the same decorations year after year? Pick a theme for your tree and make crafts that fit the theme. Here are a few examples of themes you could use:

Snowmen – Create snowmen from all kinds of things like foam, cotton balls, construction paper, etc. Make a big snowman dressed to the hilt with his broom and top hat to place on the top.

Tree of Garland – You can create garland out of almost anything. Popcorn, construction paper chains, beads, ribbons, string are all great ideas. You can even create a charm garland by taking a piece of string and attaching various crafts or trinkets from the year past.

Color Schemes – Pink & Purple, Red & Green, Blue & Silver, or Gold & Silver, whatever colors your heart desires. Choose two or three colors at most to keep from going over board. You can add bows, ribbons, or any other decoration you’d like as long as it keeps the color scheme.

Baby – Got a baby celebrating their first Christmas this year or expecting your first child? Decorate your tree with craft items that resemble baby bottles, teething rings, rattles, etc.

These are just a few of the many ways you can craft your Christmas tree this year. Get creative and think of some of your own too. Make a day out of decorating your tree this year and for years to come by making some cookies the day before and sipping on some hot chocolate throughout the day. Don’t forget the Christmas carols playing in the background. No holiday decorating is complete without your favorite songs to sing along with.

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The last thing any holiday cooks want to do is walk around the kitchen and find out that they are missing a vital item they need to finish a meal in fantastic fashion. Undoubtedly it has happened to you at least once. Be sure it doesn’t happen again with this pantry staple list for the holidays.

Each holiday, most of us prepare the same things. There are favorite family dishes that must be prepared or Aunt Minnie will have a fit. That goes for desserts as well. Since you know this in advance, let’s make sure that the kitchen cupboards are stocked with the items you use the most.

The pantry list includes items for the fridge, cupboard and the freezer. Let’s begin with the cupboard:

• Flour (all purpose, cake)
• Baking soda
• Dry yeast (for breads)
• Sugar (white, brown, confectioners’)
• Chocolate (bricks, squares, morsels, cocoa powder)
• Nuts (pecans, English walnuts, almonds)
• Spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, pepper)
• Baking powder
• Honey, oil, vinegar
• Broth
• Dried fruits
• Vegetables (sweet potatoes, white potatoes, onions, garlic)
• Rice
• Dried pasta

This is just a short list. Depending on your tastes, you’ll add or detract from it depending on your tastes. Now we move on to the fridge. Some items just need to stay in there to stay fresh. To know your refrigerated pantry staples, think of things that you are always sending someone to the store for.

• Milk
• Butter (not margarine)
• Sour cream
• Eggs
• Lemon juice
• Half and half

This list is shorter because you use these items more when you cook and bake around the holidays than any other time. The broth from the other list will end up in the fridge after you open it.

Don’t forget the freezer. Most of the freezer staples come into play with baking but they can pertain to cooking the meal if you make fruit relishes, cranberry sauce from scratch and other condiment additions to your holiday table.

• Frozen fruit (berry mix, peaches)
• Frozen vegetables (to make up for any shortfall with fresh veggie side dishes)
• Fruit juices from concentrate

As you can see, there are a lot of staples that you’ll need when cooking and baking for the holidays. You don’t necessarily have to account for every family member who darkens your door. If your list includes at least these items you are well on your way to a well-stocked holiday pantry.

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