Household Tips, Tips and Hacks

 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Fri. Jul. 05, 2019 9:10 pm

Post your tips and tricks, easy things to make life more easy.

Candle wax in a carpet. Boil some water, ladle onto wax and suck it up with shop vac. Repeat a few times, use some cleaner near the end to remove residue.

That impossible nut or bolt in confined space? Use a long thin screwdriver, attach the bolt or but to screwdriver with a glue gun at desired angle. It's easy to break off once you get it started and easy to reset.

Tight Door? Suppose the top part of the vertical side is hitting which is common thing after many years, most people might try and shim the bottom out in the hopes it straightens the top out enough. This may or may not work... Instead you shim the top hinge but only part of it. The shim needs to go behind the top hinge plate on the casing but only the side towards the middle of the casing. The shim would be about 3 inches by 3/4 width. When you tighten the screws this forces the hinge pivot in the proper direction. Vice versa if you have gap you can shim the outside part of the hinge plate.


 
CapeCoaler
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Post by CapeCoaler » Tue. Jul. 09, 2019 11:57 pm

Tile Grout Cleaner...
Unscrew the lid of a small squeeze-top container. Pour 1/2 cup of baking soda into the bottle, then mix in 1/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide. The baking soda will help remove tough stains and hard water buildup, while the hydrogen peroxide will clean and brighten, cutting through residue on the grout to remove discolorations.
Add 1 teaspoon of liquid dish soap, then replace the lid and shake the mixture to make sure the ingredients in your homemade grout cleaner are well combined.

Use the squeeze-top bottle to apply the homemade grout cleaner in a fine line to any areas in need of a good scrub. Let the mixture sit on the grout for about five minutes so it can really work its way into the stain, then wipe the mixture off with a sponge or paper towel. Rinse with water to remove any residue. If stains remain, repeat as needed until the grout is clean.

As wonderful as it is to see your grout clean again, wouldn’t it have been better if there had been no stains to deal with in the first place? In the future, make housework even easier by regularly cleaning and maintaining your grout before it gets out of control.

• Prevent discoloration by sealing your grout once a year. Sealant creates a barrier that protects against unsightly stains and dirt buildup, so you won’t have to break out your homemade grout cleaner. (Here’s a handy how-to.)
• Regularly vacuum grouted tile floors. Your machine can pick up excess dirt before you break out the mop and specialized cleaners so that you’re not just pushing it around.
• Mop tile floors once a week with water and suds, but go easy on the detergent! Use too much and the residue left behind will attract more dirt after the floor dries.
https://www.bobvila.com/articles/homemade-grout-cleaner/

 
NoSmoke
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Post by NoSmoke » Mon. Feb. 10, 2020 4:45 pm

I am pretty frugal so...

I seldom buy vacuum cleaner bags. I use my shop vac to suck out the regular vacuum cleaner bags so I can reuse them over and over.

Do not bother cleaning the house. If someone shows up who you like, dump some bleach into the sink, stir and say, "I was just getting ready to clean the house." If you do not like them, ask them to help you clean, they will quickly leave.

If you need to make a set of stairs, go to Home Depot, place the precut stairs over straight planks, draw out the cut lines, and put the cut stringer back. You have not stole anything, yet saved some money by not buying precut stair stringers.

Stores make a ton of money by having "impulse purchases". Always use the shop ahead features of stores so that you only buy what is on your shopping list and nothing else.

Almost everything can be "stretched". Figuring out how is the key. After awhile you get used to watered down milk, orange juice, etc, even wood pellets can be stretched by using corn, but really everything. Even saving just a little bit, will add up to huge savings over a long time.

Look at you money as being a little pile of cash that EVERYONE wants. Picture yourself huddled over it protecting it at all costs. EVERYONE wants part of it, even that nice girl scout selling cookies, make your own cookies and save a ton of money. Just skipping a breakfast burger at the shipyard saved me $625 over the course of a year. Buying stuff might save you money, but not buying something will save you more.

LED Lights are the best thing ever. Everything has them and they are super bright for very little money. Shut the lights off in the house after dark and use them instead, and your light bill will go down more than you think.

Have your family practice "frugal months" where you try and see just how little you can spend in a month. It is great fun, but be sure to add up the savings so everyone can get some buy-in on the month of fun!'

Track every penny you spend on a spreadsheet. If you see how much money you are spending, you are more likely to eliminate wasteful spending...you know, on foolish stuff like having the lights on in the house after dark when LED headlamps work just as good!

Self-insure, in life the greater the risk, the greater the reward. I have saved enough money on my (3) houses by not having insurance on them that I have saved enough in insurance premiums over the years to build a replacement house with the money I did not give to extortionists...I mean insurance agencies.

Learn to think differently. For instance I win the lottery every year...exactly $104 per year because I save my $2 per week. Since I have never played, I have "made" almost $3000 on the lottery by not playing. For slots, I put a dollar in the change machine. I put $1 of paper money in, and get (4) quarters back, yet I get to hear the same tingling, jingling sound as they drop down into the catch area.

Adult Education classes are the best thing ever! Learning skills will save massive dividends instead of paying a skilled person to do it for you. Can't weld? learn! Can't plumb? Learn! Investing in yourself is always a wise investment.

Point out junky cars a long ways off, then tell your kids that they smoke. When they drive by with a cigarettes' in their hand, and your kids ask how you knew without seeing them smoking, tell them they could be paying $150 more per month on their car payment if they did not spend it on cigarettes. Kids learn by examples like that.

 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Mon. Feb. 10, 2020 5:44 pm

NoSmoke wrote:
Mon. Feb. 10, 2020 4:45 pm
Almost everything can be "stretched". Figuring out how is the key. After awhile you get used to watered down milk, orange juice, etc,
I've watered down Cranberry juice but that's only because that's the way I like it....
Self-insure, in life the greater the risk, the greater the reward. I have saved enough money on my (3) houses by not having insurance on them that I have saved enough in insurance premiums over the years to build a replacement house with the money I did not give to extortionists...I mean insurance agencies.
The contents of the house can be as much or even exceed the cost of the house. I've had a house fire, it's hard to understand how much stuff you have and what it cost to replace until you see it itemized on giant inventory sheet. Go to your spice rack and add it up, that's $50 to $200 by itself.
Can't weld? learn!


Nothing wrong with learning to do basic things but that isn't really basic and can get expensive for little return.

 
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Post by scalabro » Mon. Feb. 10, 2020 6:09 pm

Work OT and side jobs, then you can relax with a beer while the expert you hire gets dirty.

 
scalabro
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Post by scalabro » Mon. Feb. 10, 2020 6:22 pm

“Self-insure, in life the greater the risk, the greater the reward. I have saved enough money on my (3) houses by not having insurance on them that I have saved enough in insurance premiums over the years to build a replacement house with the money I did not give to extortionists...I mean insurance agencies.”

You must have bought the first three houses with cash. I don’t think a bank will close on a mortgage loan without proof of insurance?

(Edit)

I guess you consider your house/s a liability NoSmoke? Generally speaking assets are insured, liabilities are not, simply because losing a liability is viewed as a good thing!

 
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Post by franco b » Mon. Feb. 10, 2020 6:48 pm

scalabro wrote:
Mon. Feb. 10, 2020 6:09 pm
Work OT and side jobs, then you can relax with a beer while the expert you hire gets dirty.
This is funny, but with a great deal of truth to it.
You are always better off doing that which you have some expertise in, and which pays commensurately, than struggling with a new skill and taking twice as long to do the job.


 
NoSmoke
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Post by NoSmoke » Wed. Feb. 12, 2020 4:47 pm

scalabro wrote:
Mon. Feb. 10, 2020 6:22 pm
“Self-insure, in life the greater the risk, the greater the reward. I have saved enough money on my (3) houses by not having insurance on them that I have saved enough in insurance premiums over the years to build a replacement house with the money I did not give to extortionists...I mean insurance agencies.”

You must have bought the first three houses with cash. I don’t think a bank will close on a mortgage loan without proof of insurance?

(Edit)

I guess you consider your house/s a liability NoSmoke? Generally speaking assets are insured, liabilities are not, simply because losing a liability is viewed as a good thing!
Kind of...I built the first house myself; I acquired the second house via marriage, and bought the third.

I have never heard of the theory of insuring assets, and not insuring liabilities. I am not arguing for or against it; I just have not heard of that.

I have always heard it said, that a person puts insurance on what they cannot afford to lose. With houses, it becomes circular, because if this house burned, I would just move my family to one of my other ones. But because I have others, I have the option to self-insure, so I have saved money by not having insurance.

 
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Post by NoSmoke » Wed. Feb. 12, 2020 4:58 pm

I love Dave Ramsey, have taken his classes, and Katie and I are almost debt free (7% debt).

But the one thing I disagree with him on, is insurance, and I noticed what he said was not making sense in his classes. And then I found out he is an insurance salesman! Well that explained it.

My gripe with insurance is, you get screwed twice over.

The first time is with the odds. All they do is take averages, and set a rate that matches the probability that something will happen. Well a person can not only do the same thing with their own money, they can also beat the averages. I have a much safer home than most people because I do self-insure. I can invest in the things that make this house much safer because I have no insurance. Again it becomes circular. You can reinvest what you do not spend on insurance premiums, and put it back into the house.

But the second part is what really irks me.

The insurance agents are banking on the fact that people think they will pay. That is not always the case. They have teams of attorneys that is going to do everything they can to either not pay at all, or pay the absolute least amount. People often say, "Oh I have insurance for that." Well yes, they might, but there is no guarantee the insurance company will pay for a loss or claim. They will do everything in their power to convince you they will.

If I have a loss, oh I am going to pay for it! BUT if I do not...then I haven't had to pay an insurance premium either all those years. As I said, the greater the risk, the greater the reward.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Wed. Feb. 12, 2020 8:03 pm

Having 3 homes and not owing any money on them is a fairly uncommon situation. Most people have one house, and if it burns down - they are homeless.

I choose to have a fairly broad insurance package (covers drain backup, earthquake, extra liability, etc) with a high deductible. We self-insure for the type of damage that would cost less than our deductible, and enjoy considerably lower premiums as a result. As for the insurance companies trying to get out of paying a claim, I am sure that happens - but my one and only experience with a claim was positive, and I was glad we had coverage.

I also have a landlord policy on our rental house. Last thing I need is to get sued & cleaned out because someone slipped on the ice.

 
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Post by Rob R. » Wed. Feb. 12, 2020 8:16 pm

Richard S. wrote:
Fri. Jul. 05, 2019 9:10 pm
Post your tips and tricks, easy things to make life more easy.
Here are a few tips that come to mind:

If you have hard water, get a water softener. If you are lucky enough to have soft water, or already have a water softener, cut your laundry soap and dishwasher soap in half. If everything still comes out clean, cut it in half again. Soft water requires very little soap.

Don't have the latest and greatest cell phone. Buy one that is one or two generations old, and buy it outright. Use a prepaid plan that uses a carrier with good coverage in your area. Don't pay for unlimited data unless you actually exceed the cap on the next cheapest plan. e.g. I have Motorola Moto G7 (great phone) that cost $150, and I have a Verizon plan that is $35 per month with unlimited minutes, text, and 6 GB of data).

If you have a landline or a second phone you are keeping just because everyone has that number, consider porting it to a number parking service like www.numberbarn.com

Generally speaking, cable or satellite TV is a ripoff. Avoid it, or get rid of it.

 
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Richard S.
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Post by Richard S. » Thu. Feb. 13, 2020 7:37 am

NoSmoke wrote:
Wed. Feb. 12, 2020 4:58 pm


The insurance agents are banking on the fact that people think they will pay. That is not always the case. They have teams of attorneys that is going to do everything they can to either not pay at all, or pay the absolute least amount. People often say, "Oh I have insurance for that." Well yes, they might, but there is no guarantee the insurance company will pay for a loss or claim. They will do everything in their power to convince you they will.
I can't speak for other insurance companies and I know there is lot of problems but my Father had Erie, there isn't a single bad thing he or anyone else in my family will say about them and with my Father that's saying something. The house was still smoldering with firefighters still on the scene and he had a check in his hand for few thousand dollars. They were outstanding through the entire process.

 
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Post by gaw » Thu. Feb. 13, 2020 8:00 am

We had an auto claim with Erie and no complaints from me either. The only thing I hear about Erie that some people don't like is that they are quick to drop you if you are a poor driver. (too many accidents, tickets, DUI)

 
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Post by Sunny Boy » Thu. Feb. 13, 2020 8:07 am

Back in the 1990's, during a spring rain, the packed 11 feet of snow we had soaked up so much weight that a neighbors garage collapsed, as did many other out buildings around CNY. The neighbor had Farmers Insurance. When he called Farmers they told him the garage wasn't covered.

Another neighbor was an insurance agent. He looked over the policy and found where it said it did provide coverage. He got on the phone to Framers and they did pay. Had the garage owner taken the word of whoever he spoke with he'd have been out thousands of dollars.

Paul

 
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Post by Hoytman » Wed. May. 27, 2020 12:10 am

Erie is quick to drop home owners as well...if the policy holder is the type to turn any little thing in. Major issues, Erie pays it and it’s over with and replaced. Great company!!!


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