Meaningful Holiday moments

Happy Holidays,

I like to think that it's not what's under my tree that matters, it's who is around it that matters. I love this little puppy under my tree, but who will be gathering around my tree this year? Our family is so spread apart I wonder if we will ever be able to physically gather together any time soon. Until we can gather, I will count my blessings.

This tree is decorated with ornaments given to us by friends and family. Each has a story of its own creating a feeling of closeness to our loved ones even though they aren't actually close by. Fill you home with meaningful memories by decorating with items from trips away and with gifts from friends and family. Then you too can imagine they are there with you.

Make your holiday meaningful.

Happy Holidays to all.

Blog name change

Hello Friends,

I have decided to change a few things in my blog. First and for most the name. I am now called Suzanne Richards Living Fully. I believe this name is more applicable to my blog and what I try to convey. Secondly, I have changed my layout. I like a clean organized page so I'm experimenting with new layouts as I go. This one, for now, is right for me.

Our lives are always changing therefore we need to change with the times. Go with the flow as they say.  I working on a few new articles to place here in my blog, I hope they will be more fulfilling and help many more people in their lives.

Be well, live well, and love one another.

Suzanne

Immediate ways to save money

1. Reuse the aluminum foil. Wash and dry flat.
2. Save the milk jug for other uses. 
3. Take extra napkins from fast food restaurants to use at home (But not for company. They get the good stuff).
4. Use smaller amounts of paper towels. Try 1 first, then get another.
5. Make your own liquid soap or laundry detergent. Recipe are online or write me for free recipes. 
6. Walk don't drive whenever possible.
7. Free live music is the cheapest way to great entertainment. Check out a local pub for bands and events!
8. Unplug everything. Put it all on power strips and pull one plug for all.
9. Open windows at night, and turn off AC. 
10. Don't keep pets. Use that $$ for vacation or pay off debt.
11. Invite friends over for low budget entertainment. Let them bring their favorites! More to share.
12. Cook in the crock pot. It's a no brainer.
13. If it's yellow (#1) let it mellow, if it's brown(#2) flush it down saving water.
14. Fill your car only when it's near empty to get the full value of your MPG gas consumption.
15. Keep your car clean to use less gas.
16. Camp instead of hotel stays.
17. Don't eat out.
18. Drink water at bars, drink alcohol at home.
19. Don't buy bread. Make bread in a bread machine.
20. Buy in bulk.
21. Decant your bulk dry goods and mark with dates of purchase.
22. Dye your own hair, but pay for hair cuts. You'll look like crap if you cut it yourself.
23. Buy staple clothing. Solid colors bring out your jewelry!  Jeans, button down shirts, blazers, 1 set of pearls, and 1 set of silver or gold jewelry. Classic! Mix n match.
24. Hand wash delicates right after you wear them, and line dry.
25. Line dry most all clothing outside or on hanger in laundry room and hang on racks. Clothes last longer. 
26. Only run the washer when you have a full load.
27. Freeze uneaten food for another meal or make soup from it.
28. Plan your menus and only but the ingredients you need.
29. Try the $6 wine in the liquor store. 
30. Have a side job just in case you loose the main one.
31. Save 10% of your earnings before you pay bills.
32. If you use credit, pay it off in large chunks.
33. Reuse as much as you can before tossing in the trash.
34. Make homemade gifts that are meaningful not just fashionable. 
35. Grow and cut your own flowers.
36. Grow a veggie patch. Try container gardening.
37. Take all metals that you would have thrown out to a recycling center. You may get $$.
38. Paint your own nails.
39. Use baby oil for skin moisture after shower, and makeup removal. Forget expensive creams.
40. Finally!  Visit with family for vacation and get closer to those who are so important to us all. Meaningful relationships are worth so much more than money, or things. If you don't have special people you can visit, volunteer. They'll appreciate you.       (C) suztheadvicelady  Suzanne Richards, 2014 all rights reserved. :)

Self Sufficient

Hello Friends,

I am happy to report my garden is doing well.  I can see changes in the rate of growth. The tomatoes are done, the peppers are there but small, and the sunflowers are almost ready to harvest.  With the cooler weather the plants naturally wain. I have just begun my self sufficient trek so I will allow it all to go for the winter.  Most homesteaders plant a fall and winter garden with row covers and cold frames. I did a cold frame one winter that was mild using old windows from the house. (I love to re purpose things.) However, this year will be different. More thought is going to my my planning, soil, and plants. My research is ongoing so I will take some time and replant next spring.  I freeze most of my foods that I have grown. Its easy for me and I need the freezer full so it runs less thereby saving energy. I have a smaller refrigerator now. Before I had two large refrigerators with freezer attached. Now I'm down to a side by side fridge in the kitchen and full size freezer in the basement. I have a food dehydrator and have used is for tomatoes. They taste like sun-dried tomatoes. I will use it again for beef jerky and dried apples for snacking. Canning is a problem at the moment because my electric stove has a glass cook top and the weight of the canner with all the water will be too much for it to hold. So canning will wait till I have a single burner to rest it on.

I have been enjoying my time here at the house, researching sewing, growing/preserving food and caring for the property. I have a lot to be proud of.  My research in homesteading is paying off by being more prepared to handle whatever the future brings with little waste of money and resources. Getting away from big agriculture, learning the process of raising crops and preserve what I have grown is the best way for me to care for myself and my family.  Its sad to see how animals are treated in food processing plants. and the way vegetables are altered giving us little nutrients for what we consume and the high cost of all of them. I wanted to create a more satisfying way of living and am getting there day by day. So I invest my time and efforts in to being self sufficient. Also, we all are used to a disposable lifestyle, I am too. But for me... I had the desire to learn to use less disposable materials keeping most things in glass containers, using cloth napkins and dish towels instead of paper. I reuse plastic storage bags as many times as I can by washing them out. The exception to this is the bags that held meats. They are tossed after each use.  It's these little things that help the environment and our wallets. It takes some getting used to but is easy once you have the mind set of conservation. We recycle almost all of our plastics, paper and metals. What cannot be picked up by the town will be taken to either the metal recycling plant once a year or repurposed if possible. My good friend Ingrid Justic has helped me see how convenient all these things listed in my blog are to do. It just takes awareness and the willingness to try. She has truly helped me to learn how to go natural with everything. I knew of all this before I met Ingrid, but I never used the knowledge in my everyday living. I thank her here and I will thank her in person the next time I see her.

To continue my path to self sufficiency I will be buying solar panels and learning to use them as soon as finances allow. They are much cheaper now and easier to use than ever before.  I long for a wood stove but fitting it in my house is a problem. Its just too tiny to fit one. The money you save heating with wood is so great your wallet will be closed almost permanently. Wood is hard to cut without a log splitter, but for around $1800 you can get a good gas powered one and split 10 cords over a summer with little effort. Wood is $200 per cord pre-cut, but if you team up with a tree trimming company your can get it for free. Make sure you have a place to cut and store the wood and you are set. Our house is secure for winter heating though. We have saved up and added a large electric hot water heater (Thanks to our good friend Orlando and My husband Tom)  to off set the oil bill which can be upwards of $800 per fill 3-4 times per year. Also on hand is the kerosene heater for power outages, and to supplement heat where ever we need it.  I will never give up my hair dryer or my dishwasher or my washer and dryer for the laundry. So if your are thinking I will live like an Amish person your are completely out of your mind.  However, going "off the grid" never really meant that lifestyle anyway.  Self sufficient means you can live without those things and can care for your self without needing everything prepackaged, and delivered to your door. Breaking free from the high bills of the energy companies, using solar power, keeping more of what you earn, and for the love, the joy and pride of doing it yourself.  That is where its at for most homesteaders.  I am getting there. I enjoy the work.  Do what you can to save the earth for your children.  We all have a responsibility to our future.

Blessing to you all.

Suz

Fabulous fabric

Hello Friends,

I'm sharing a decorating tip with you today that I just LOVE!

.

I use draperies to separate spaces in my small home.  Draperies are space saving, inexpensive, can be changed with the seasons, and easy to use anywhere. I have seen curtained off areas in lots of homes. Like a door a drape can keep a room quiet by muffling sound and giving privacy. Especially if they are lined drapes. I love the warmth fabric brings to a room too. The color and texture makes a room feel cozy or luxurious depending on your fabric choice.  Here are some ways I have used fabric or drapes in my home.

Use them to replace doors under cabinets for a cute homey feel. Use them to replace doors in between rooms and you will save space that a door would have taken while open. Replace a closet door with a drape to save floor space in a small bedroom. Divide open floor plans by adding bookcases and drapes to create a separate room feel that is completely modular. Place a curtain rod between two sturdy book cases, add two panels, and viola! a doorway to a new area. Tension rods allow you to hang the fabric without making wholes in the wall or trim. For heavy weight  drapery use a shower tension rod. For light weight curtains, use a thin tension rod.  Decide the length of the fabric you will need for the area, then consider your existing furniture and decor before buying.  I like to use drapery rings with a clip on them so I can use any fabric I love.

I hope this brings you new ideas about decorating you home in inexpensive ways. Fall is near and you can have a lot of fun decorating with fabric if you think outside the box.

For more information or if you have questions, tweet me  @SuzTheAdviceLady

Happy decorating!

House Proud

Hello Friends,

Happy Autumn!

With fall approaching and children returning to school, it's time to think about a deep cleaning in our homes. I do a deep cleaning in my home twice a year fall and spring. Clean out from underneath beds, dressers, sofa's and large appliances. Start by dusting down furniture with a rag and furniture polish instead of a feather duster.  Take down curtains and dry clean or wash them. Then follow up with vacuuming and washing floors.  I clean in and under everything that I have not touched previously. Hit the refrigerator with a blast of Lysol disinfectant cleaner and ditch the leftover condiments sitting longer than 6 months.  Pay very close attention to all the details. For instance, the kitchen cabinets. You can't see it but it's there, a very slight film of grease that you get from cooking.  Use a mixture of water and ammonia to get the grease off the cabinets, then wipe dry.  Clean inside drawers and cabinets, and add new drawer liners. This can be done once per year if you choose. Wipe down ceiling fans and wash glass globes as well as the blades.  Have carpeted areas steam cleaned by a professional too. It takes away all the allergens that have made home in our rugs. This will also keep our wall to wall carpets looking their best over time. Keeping our homes clean and free of debris is one way we show the love we have for our families and ourselves. Take care of your biggest asset and it will take care of you.

 Try these tips for cleaning other areas in your home:

- Salt and lemon juice gets stuck on stuff off pot bottoms. The acid in the lemon mixed with the salt can give them a new glow. ***Never use this on non-stick pots.

- Use a steam mop to kill germs on hard wood floors. I usually mop my hardwood floors with boiling hot black tea. But in a rush I will go for the steam mop which does the same job with quicker drying time.

- Dont forget closets. Reorganize linen and clothes closets to make every item is easy to find. Then place natural cedar planks in them to keep fabric loving bugs out. In addition to adding cedar planks, I made lavender sachet's and hung them on every third hanger to help keep my closet smelling fresh. Men would prefer tea tree scent or clove over lavender. Clove sachet's can easily be made with whole cloves from the spice rack. *Tip:  I place my top, fitted and one pillow case of sheet set inside one of the matching pillow cases to keep the set together and easy to find in my closet. Each sheet set is then neatly stacked in my closet. :)

- Use a stiff brush to remove dust from lamp shades, and free standing fans. Then place them out on the sun for an hour to kill any dust mites before replacing them on lamps. Same goes for silk flowers.

-  A big must.... vacuum then hang large area rugs outside in the sun for one hour. They will smell better and dust mites are irradiated. Wash smaller area rugs then hang to dry instead of simply shaking the out.   :)  There is nothing better than sunlight and a little time to freshen up items that can't be washed.

Finally, make it a habit to deep clean at least two times per year. Put it on your calendar and stick to it. More frequent deep cleaning is best, but with work and family requiring most of our time twice per year is good enough.  I love doing this in chunks so that it does not so overwhelming. Choose a chunk of time to do a few things and finish them before moving on to the next. You will be happy with the outcome. If you hire a professional to do your cleaning, make certain they use good products and follow your instruction precisely. Cutting corners is not ok. Inspect everything before paying the bill.

One final word before I say goodbye, don't forget the exterior of your home. You can buy siding wash from home improvement stores or hire a professional  to do your windows and siding all at once.

Love and hugs,
Suz

Clearing out the closet and finding $$$

Hello Friends,

I am still going through all my stuff in the house and organizing everything.  I want to be certain of what I have on hand so I don't repurchase items I already own but didn't know.  This is the most frugal way to save space, money and time. Keeping organized will also keep your mind at ease because things are neat and orderly, you aren't visually bombarded by stuff. This will help you feel more comfortable in your surroundings. Having to clean out old stuff from my house made me think about what I was going to do with what I found and so I decided to return items that I bought but never used to put the cash back in my pocket.  Returning past purchases is the best motivation I can conjure up to even start cleaning out the garage. 

Think about the items that you bought in the past year that are still sitting in their original box, still have the tags on or at least appear resell-able. You most likely aren't going to use it if you haven't already. Don't hang on to it for that "someday when I get around to it."  Bring it back to the store where you bought it even if you can't find the receipt. Most stores will give you cash back with a receipt, but if you don't have one then you can at least get a store credit. Some stores, like Wal-Mart, and Home Depot have easy return policies that allow you to return items that cost  $25 or less without a receipt for actual cash. The Home Depot will give you cash for up to $50 if they sell it and if it is not opened.  Or, they can look up your original receipt by swiping your credit card then scanning the item. Money is money so store credit or refund, it's all good! At stricter or smaller stores, the best you can hope for is store credit. But that's ok too if you shop there or can use it right away.  Plan your returns time so you are not waiting on long lines. The best time to go is in the morning any day of the week. Also, plan it around other errands so you are not waiting gas just going to one place.

Well, I'm off to the store. Yes I am returning my findings from the garage. Not sure if it can all go back to the store, but it doesn't hurt to politely ask.

Smiles

Suz

Entitled to a

Hello Friends:

I have had a circumstance happen to make me think about what I am entitled to. When I review what I and other people are truly entitled to I examine and comment from the current value system here in Monmouth County NJ (that is not to say that all New Jerseians are this way either). I would speak of all of America but since I am not fully informed of the opinions all Americans then I will only comment on what I live with here in my local area.

The definition of Human Rights by Amnesty Intl. is:

Human Rights Basics

Human rights are basic rights and freedoms that all people are entitled to regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, race, religion, language, or other status.

Human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life, liberty and freedom of expression; and social, cultural and economic rights including the right to participate in culture, the right to food, and the right to work and receive an education.  Human rights are protected and upheld by international and national laws and treaties.

Nowhere in this statement do I see the right to the following:  FREE FOOD, FREE ROOM AND BOARD, FREE CELL PHONE, FREE MEDICAL COVERAGE, THE RIGHT TO A GOOD OR HIGH PAYING JOB, OR THE RIGHT TO OTHER PEOPLES MONEY OR PROPERTY BECAUSE "ITS NOT FAIR THEY MAKE MORE THAN ME/US".  I wrote this in capital letters because it needs to be said boldly.  I am not shouting as some would have you believe. However, it could be shouted in an attempt to get other's to listen.  We are all individuals who can create our own future. Yes; we all have ups and downs in life, we all disagree with others at times and we all want a great life. You cannot have good without bad.  No one is responsible for giving you anything. You are responsible for getting the things you want for yourself. 

I have seen and heard people close to me (they have no clue who they are btw) complain about how they  "should" get, have, or otherwise be given what they want instead of earning it for themselves. This is a newer concept. I "SHOULD HAVE" is something that slowly became popular in the last 25 to 30 years or so. I so dislike the word should, I tell people "Don't should on yourself."  I have removed the word should from my life because I too was measuring with that word.  "I should be, or should do, or should buy, or should own or should _________ (fill in the blank).  This is nothing more than your expectation. No a RIGHT. I do or don't. I will or won't. I have or have not. But I should nothing...

I remember when I was growing up our parents hold us to get a job and move out. Some parents let you live at home till you got married, or got a good paying job, or graduated college.  Most made you pay rent if you were not going to school full-time or if you were needing some motivation. And College was for you to pay off by yourself, not your parents job. We had to earn or own way. Never did we just stay home playing games, buying random stuff and being lazy. Not after high school.  If we did that, we got physically thrown out. "Shame on you" they'd say.  I agree it was harsh, but if that happened to you, you got up, went to work and got a life. For most of us we would not be lazy because we wanted to get what our parents had. There wasn't one parent who was going to just give it to us either. They gave you a start. They taught you how to act in public so you could be accepted by others (manners). They told you to read and get educated in some way. They told you to save your money for the future. You were told you can do whatever you want but you have to get it for yourself.   So we went to look for a job, or apply to college, or asked a friend or family member for a job. We worked to be productive, to have possessions, and to be proud of who we are. 

Shame on you if you expect your family or community to give you anything. I'm just saying.

God Bless America

Peace to all

Spending time

Dear Friends,


This past month my sisters were in from out of state. We were gathering to place our mothers remains in her final resting place. We created our own ceremony, ( thanks to my middle sister) hired a singer to sing hymns, bought some flowers, and placed our mother next to her husband in their plot here in NJ. It was an exceptional time. We rarely see each other because of the distance between our homes so this gave us reason to gather. I am pleased that it wasn't an expensive visit either. All in all we spent very little money celebrating birthday's, and celebrating life. What I noticed was that we enjoyed our time together more by cooking together at home, watching movies, playing games and talking. We ate one meal out and bought pizza another day. The rest of the time we went sight seeing, and chatted about old times. The food was spectacular and the time, precious. My sister and her family were able to stay at a family members summer condo, saving them $250 per night at a hotel and from squishing themselves into our tiny home. Her children went sight seeing with my children and really got to spend quality time together. Our eldest sister lives in PA so she was just here for the day, but we will see her at the family reunion. :))

Next we travel to see other family members whom we haven't seen in many years. We are staying at my aunt's house because it's so difficult to get a good hotel room that allows pets. Lucky for us to have generous family members. Everyone is contributing something to this reunion in order to share in the joy of giving and spending time with loved ones. My eldest cousin will pay his guitar along with my husband the bass player, I'm sending bouquets of flowers to decorate the tables with, my eldest sister and other members are bringing food. My other cousin is opening up her home for the reunion to take place at, and my aunt and uncle are providing sleeping quarters for as many people as possible. Together we can make it a great gathering without spending ridiculous amounts of money and still spend all our time together. The money we do spend will be spent with great joy in creating this time together.

All we need is each other. Reach out to family and pose the question "can we visit?" Put differences aside, respect opinions as just that, opinions. Create a good gathering, choose love and maintain closeness with family. Our lives are rich. We already have everything we need, but sometimes we just don't see it.




Peace,

Suz

Garden Happenings

Dear Friends,

As the season has progressed, my garden has come along way. I added more fertilizer mid way through the season and can now see the results. I have been harvesting zuccini as have so many other gardeners, along with arugula. Sharing with my friends is one of the best parts to gardening. It brings me much joy to see their delight at my gift. Yesterday, I received in return for my gifts, a larg head of butter lettuce. I truly appreciate the thought, care and love that went in to his garden and the kind gesture on his part. Mutual appreciation all around.

I also have been reseeding some plants for fall harvest.  I have now started carrots, radishes, lettuce, spinach and peas. Hopefully they will grow and I'll reap the rewards of a successful veggie garden.  I bought a soil test kit to see what nutrients my soil lacks if any. I feel I should do this test after my season has ended because I'll not be able to amend the soil now.  Regardless, my garden thrives.  For the first time since living here I have a garden.  I guess it's the time, water and fertilizer that has paid off.  Prior to this year I had little time to contribute, and I did not fertilize enough to grow anything.

No mirical grow here. No roundup here either. I pull weeds or douse them with vinegar, and I feed my plants with manure and 10-10-10.  It has been a little difficult to do all this work since my car accident in March. I sustained back, neck and arm injuries that are healing slowly. However, I do only a little at a time and aquire help for the really heavy stuff.  Proof that a garden can be made with only a little time and effort.

More to follow as I progress. I will add some phots to my sight soon.

Peace, love and happiness

Suz

Cost of Living

Dear Friends:

Over this past few weeks I have been sprucing up my home by painting and cleaning. I have posted all along mentioning my adventures and my discoveries. I have a good life. I have good solid assets. My house for one, a reliable car, good furniture and dependable appliances. I follow the belief that if I "take good care of my assets, my assets will take care of me" so to speak.  Investing in quality has proven that to me over time.  If I buy that needed item and know I will need it for years to come, then cost may not totally be a factor.  There are few really great things that are cheap. Sometimes its better to hire a professional to do the work and other times I can do the work.  Like painting or cleaning.
The things I do are in a certain order and done from start to finish before starting another project.  This saves me from wasting money on items that I think I might need and will never use, save me time and effort because there is a specific start and end, and it keeps me from feeling stressed out by the unfinished mess in my home.  I have great discipline when it comes to projects and time management.  Skills I learned when I owned my own business.  I do not like unfinished things like business with a person, big projects, and so on.  I personally find it appealing to see the completed job so I can then make changes or sit back and reap the rewards.

All the things we do to protect our assets and still the cost of living keeps going up yet somehow we still continue on living life and making our dollars stretch. With rising costs in, well, everything taking care of my home and saving for my future have become more of a challenge than before. Its funny I heard my parents saying this same things in the 70's and 80's.  Still I am surprised at the low wages being paid and rising cost of so many of our everyday necessities.  It seems that everyday I hear of companies eliminating jobs and squeezing the existing workers to do multiple jobs under one job title.
Well, because of constant uncertainty in my earnings level, I have learned how to "play the rules".  Not break the law or get government handouts. Just play the rules. To clarify I will attempt to journal what I buy, what is deductible and what I can make myself.  I can deduct certain things from my taxes like medicines as we all know but did you know it is not limited to medicine?  Medical expenses are not just doctor visits and RX, Its the miles traveled to get such medical attention, (medical milage) and the out of pocket expenses you incur as a result of the diagnosis, like bandages, alcohol and, medication not covered by insurance and so forth.  In the following posts, I will show you just how much you can save if you know how. This is what I am talking about.  I don't presume to know everything, but I have a clue and am I always open to learning more.

Keeping it simple.

Peace,
Suz

Before you hire that painter read this

Good Morning:

I have been working on my home for several weeks now.  We are cleaning and purging what we don't want. This all started when I decided to make our lives more comfortable and relaxed. Along with cleaning I decided we need to paint our moldings in the house. Looking to hire a painter and exploring the cost vs. my time, I decided I could paint the interior trim one room at a time. I bought paint and planned to go over all the trim room by room. While cleaning the bathroom floor today I was thinking while cleaning like I always do (It's kind of like meditation for me) my mind wandered to a line in the film Bruce Almighty where Morgan Freeman (who plays God beautifully) says to Bruce (played by Jim Carey) "life can be messy, but you can always clean it up".  While on my hands and knees cleaning the floor I wiped over the moulding with my sponge revealing fresh white paint. I thought it was chipped paint but turns out dusting I do didn't remove all the dirt. I did all the trim in the bathroom with vinegar and water solution which I mixed with citrus cleaner, and the moulding looks new.  Whoever painted my bathroom used high gloss oil based paint and it really has held up. I'm scrubbing down all the trim now in the house noticing only some areas need painting. This is saving my self a lot of work, and money. I can return some of the paint which I never opened, and I feel content with the job being completed.  Well almost. I still have some trim to paint that is in fact chipped but it's only one or two areas!

Peace and Joy to all
Suz

Watts the matter?

Hello All,

I wanted to tell you of my recent discovery regarding outdoor lighting. After Hurricane Sandy here in NJ, we were left without light for about 10 days. As a result I realized how dark the night is. We have a dark road compared to other areas in our county, but this time it was totally dark. No house lights, no street lights, no light pollution from the highway. Total darkness. I had battery operated lights but really wondered what I would do if I intact had run out of batteries and could not get them. Especially since people were buying them up left and right because we had mass power outages.  That experience taught me to think about a lot of things before the next disaster. Food cooking and light.  No I did not buy a generator. Nor did I  stock up on batteries. I had a crank radio that we cranked up to listen to the radio reports about what was going on. Since there was little to no communication available.  Then I realized the radio was also solar powered. ( that radio in a bit)   Remembering those tacky solar power, very dim, lights people place along their exterior path ways made me think about getting some. But what was the cost? After all they are dim and not bright at all. Well a little looking after the power came back on, and I found solar powered lights that were quite bright. 12 Lumens in fact!  Yes LED (Light emitting diode for those who do not know and call them led lights) stick in the ground path way or spot lights. They are completely solar powered and positionable. I bought a few to see how they worked. They stay on almost all night with total brightness after being fully charged.  I have been up early a few times and see that they have gotten dim by around 4 am. All in all they really are nice. 

I am always trying to reduce or eliminate my energy usage because of the cost, so I found new ways of using these lights to benefit me if I need in the future. First things first. I DID NOT place them along my pathway like some kind of landing strip to guide planes to. I am cheap but have some sort of taste, hopefully good.  I placed three in the front yard:

-One was placed by the mail box to light my walk way. Remember it is movable so I aimed it at the steps and the walk way and it looks great.  

-I positioned the second in the garden aimed down the other path to the rear door.  Fantastic!  

-The third light lights up the full front of the house so none will be able to trip and fall going from front to back. 

They look like professional lights on the house (how Jersey) and do a great job at illuminating my walk ways. I loved them so much I bought 4 more to light the back patio.  I also positioned them in the gardens to aim on the walking area and give the whole place a lit, bright, welcoming feel.  

These light do not necessarily have to be stuck in the ground as utilitarian lights like they are intended.  Get creative and you'll find other uses for them.

1. Buy the fancy ones and place 5 or 7 of them in a bucket or planter pot to make a bouquet table light. 

2. Add flowers or a potted plant and you have a lighted party planter to enjoy year round. 

3. Bring them inside to make a funny cute light bouquet in the house when the power goes out or to illuminate a dark stairwell.  

They need sun or daylight to charge fully so remember to bring it back out they next day to recharge. The cost savings will add up.  Last night we were outside and I felt happy with the way the house looked and was proud of my small investment that saves me big.  To check out my savings, I found a website that estimates our cost per kilowatt hour in cents and for NJ it was 15.93 cents per kWh.  Check it out on line at [http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Kilowatts-Used-by-Light-Bulbs]  for the amount you will use or just look on the back of a light bulb package. In terms of LED light bulbs, 40 watts is 450 lumens, so buying LED bulbs will take a little education.  I figure I save about $40 per year just leaving off two bulbs one in front and one in back.  Not a lot of money but every little bit ads up and these look so cool.  I am investigating other solar powered things on line an have found so many cool toys. But like anything my frugal sense stops me from buy gadgets I really don't need. What I did buy, the other family members are using and loving. And they are of course EATING THEIR WORDS about how ridiculous I was buying "stupid" stuff.  They can also eat their words in the dark if so needed. lol.  

Love to all.

Suz

for information on where I purchase my items, write to suztheadvicelady@gmail.com :)

My Metal Recycling

Good Morning!

I have been busy growing my vegetable garden which is coming along nicely, and clearing out the old in my home to make room for the new. It feels good to dispose of items that, for some reason, we hang on to, but never use. I am not sure why we keep stuff, but, well, I cleaned house. Both mentally and physically.  I got together all the junk I did not want. Over a week of cleaning, and organizing then suddenly the fridge in the music studio dies.  "NO!" No running motor, not getting cold,  but the light is on. DANG! Well now what? Brainstorm.... I said to my Tom, "Let's see if some one will come take it." So we went to Freecycle.org to find a person wanting some old appliances. As we did so Tom says "Call Blewett's." (**a local metal scrap yard)  I replied, "They don't take refrigerators, only clean metal."  So, Tom called a man who advertised that he takes old refrigerators and other appliances. Well just as he was talking on the phone to that person,  it occurred to me that Tom is most likely right and that we should call the scrap metal place to see if they do in fact take refrigerators. Guess what?  They Do! "Any metal" said the lady at the scrap recycling place.
$$ Kaching! $$.  So, here we go!  We are looking around the house and yard to make this trip worth every penny. We stuff the old fridge in the van and our neighbor comes to help. (We love Fred and all our neighbors. Salt of the earth they are.  God blessed us with these neighbors.)  So Fred says "What are you doing with this?" "It's broke" we said. "we are taking it to Blewett's." Fred replies, "So now you will have "beer" money." "I also have aluminum chairs you can take if they can fit."  We laughed at the reference to the amount of money we will likely make from our "scrap metal".  As it turns out, I have lots of scrap. No kidding!  I found old metal pipes, a broken ladder, a lamp, wine rack, disk break pads, chairs from Fred's, and so forth.

We head over to Blewett's metal recycling and pull in.  From the front all you see is a fence with a sign that says "Drive up".  Tom knew what to do so he told me to pull forward onto the scale. We did and were weighed. Then we were directed to the drop off area. It was a very busy place. People from all over the area were there doing the same thing. Driving all around back and forth dropping off metal. I have never had such an experience before. Men with pickup trucks dumping old chairs, car parts, TV's along with every other metal object they could scrounge up. It looked like mayhem but it was infact a well functioning yard. Then, I saw this big backhoe with a car body stuck to the front. The driver is driving all over the place with it. I was confused as to what to do because everyone seemed to be going in every direction.  Trucks are parked dropping off stuff, then driving around you as you pull in, then backing up really fast toward you only to turn around and drive out.  After a few minutes of unloading our "scrap" I realized that the backhoe driver with the car stuck to the front actually had a purpose.  He was using the car body as a broom!  Holy moly!  He backed up then pushed the scrap piles to one bigger pile across the lot. Over and over he did this to create one giant pile of metal for crushing. The other people, who seemingly are driving aimlessly in every direction, are used to this place and know exactly what to do because they have done it a billion times before. It was just my perception that this was mayhem.  But it wasn't.  We then got to the area where you drop off aluminum and brass. You get more if you sort your metal's.  We wait on line, then back in when it's our turn. We get a ticket for those metal's,  then get weighed again. Tom parks the van in the lot and goes in to the office to get paid. Within 4 minutes he comes out with a receipt detailing our metals and weight of the scrap, along with a few dollars. "Well, we got beer money." "$40."

All smiles we headed home with a new experience together and a great understanding of how people make money with scrap metal.  How useful John Blewett's place is in keeping our landfills free of useful waste.  Many others will benefit from this scrap metal yard too.  From the people who collect it, to the people who buy it from Blewett's.  What a great memory we will share and a fabulous experience in recycling.


Need Money? Two words. Scrap Metal.


Peace.
Suzanne


**It is my understanding that the metal from Blewett's is sorted by type, crushed, cubed, and sold to companies who will melt it down and manufacture something useful.

Cleaning: What your Mother never told you

Good Morning Friends:

I have been working on some new ideas for cleaning and have found the information I'm about to write here to be very valuable.

My mother was an excellent housekeeper. In her older years she had some one come do the work for her but to her specifications. Her house always looked organized and clean. The only thing I noticed was amount of different cleaning products. She had ten or twelve different cleaning products to clean every different surface in her home.  It occurred to me that perhaps we could use only four basic ingredients to conquer the same tasks, so I went on a mission. Here's what I have found.

1.  Vinegar is more useful than we estimate

2. Hydrogen Peroxide is great for blood

3.  Soap and water clean most everything

4. Ammonia is the single best grease cutter and crud cutter on the planet

If you use these four basic ingredients you have an arsenal of cleaning power for only a few dollars and they do every job you can imagine.  Here's what I mean.

Vinegar can be used as a disinfectant, grease cutter, drain de-clogger, window cleaner, and laundry aide. I use vinegar for all these things but find it most useful as my fabric softener. I love the way it works. It measures the same as my downy but costs a fraction to use. No my clothes do not smell like vinegar. Next is peroxide. This lil' wonder removes so many stains I can't begin to name them all. I heard from my mom that is cleans out blood. So I got my feminine stained panties from the wash and went to work on the blood with straight peroxide. I let it sit in a wash tub with a little on the stain, then rubbed and viola! Wash as usual and gone! I also use it in place of the oxide cleaner for the laundry and found peroxide to work just as well. I buy it in large bottles at a buying club to save on money. It also will whiten yellowed whites if washed the dried in the sun. I no longer use bleach unless its really tough. It is also good to rinse your mouth with after brushing. Use a little peroxide mixed with water to kill all the germs in your mouth, but DO NOT SWALLOW!  Peroxides could be lethal.

Soap and water obviously clean what we already know, however, rinsing is the most important part. If you do not thoroughly rinse the soap you will see the dirt reappear. Make certain you have rinsed till no bubbles can be seen, and wring out if possible. Never use it on a carpet because the stain will show again where you scrubbed. Instead on carpets use vinegar.

Ammonia is awful smelling but, with a little tolerance you can cut tough grease in the kitchen in no time. Also use it on windows cut with water 10 - 1.  I also use it to clean my gold jewelry and gemstones. I mix half water and half ammonia in a small plastic cup and swish. No more dirt and they gleam too!

I have many more cleaning solutions. Share this information with your friends and email me if you need help getting a spot out. I may have a solution you never thought of.

Peace,
Suzanne Richards
Suztheadvicelady@gmail.com

My responsibility to ME

I have been over this and over this in my thoughts. Many times over the years I have had to make tough choices to maintain my balance in life. To create a happy and joyful life for myself ad my family. I have the ability to conduct my life the way I believe is right for me. No one else but me has this ability. I choose how and with whom I spend my time. The places I have chosen to work are all good or great companies. If the energy there changes and it I am no longer fulfilled I can move on.


On Sunday I went to work at my store in Howell. I am a cashier in Home Depot. As soon as the store opened I had customers. Some had large dollar bills with which to pay. I requested change from our bookkeeping and made change. As the morning progressed, I encountered several customer who made small purchases and paid with a $100 bill or a $50 bill. Not uncommon. One of those customers who made a small purchase and paid with a $100 bill I gave change to in the amount of $80 or so dollars, which was comprised of 1 $50 and 1 $20 and 1 $10, I thank him for shopping and he leaves. After many hours working and near the end of my shift my manager tells me that the customer called the store and stated that I gave him a "phony"(counterfeit) $50 bill. He further states that "he knew it was phony when I gave it to him. I tested it with my money tester and it is certainly phony."  The store policy is Customers First. My manager questioned me about it, checked my register drawer, and then walked away. My shift ended and went home. The store manager assured me that I was not in any trouble at all but that the store policy was to please the customer and side with him. Still feeling very upset and concerned that I had been targeted I went home and tried to get it off my mind. I returned to work on Tuesday of this week and was placed at a register near the one I was at on Sunday. at around 10:30 am a customer comes to my register, I greet him, he has about $28 in items to purchase, hands me a $50 bill and says, "You gave this to me the other day, so now I am giving it back to you."  My beliefs are confirmed. He is targeting me. There had been an arrest of a man in my county near this store who passed a counterfeit $50 to a taxi driver and was arrested for it.

This brings me back to my first statement. While I trust the managers word that I am not being accused of laundering counterfeit money, I am responsible for what happens at my register. I have security measures in place and take care to be accurate in my transactions. However, I no longer feel confident that this will not happen again with this customer. I have been un easy since his return on Tuesday and called out sick yesterday. So I am taking charge of my future. I have the ability to request a to be moved to another area in the store, or I can leave and find a new job, or I can just ignore all that has happened and continue on as usual. I no longer feel confident, I no longer feel secure. I have decided to resign. No one will be happy with my choice but I. Most will be upset that I am taking this stance. Experience within this retail industry has shown me what happens to cashiers who mishandle their money till. I could be fired if the store feels I am a risk. I do not want anyone to mar my outstanding customer service history nor will I allow it to unfold to see if this will happen. For me, I see that my spirit has been hurt not only by this customer but others.


I am the only one who is responsible for my happiness. You are the only one who is responsible for your happiness.

Peace
Suz

Garden Delight

Morning All:

I am still working on my garden. I have learned that too many plants are no good. I have no room for the flats I bought. I gave 24 plants to my neighborhood friends and they loved my generosity. So glad to have such great friends in the neighborhood. A true blessing. I am certain God placed me in this house so I could have good happy life with my family here in Howell.  Now to change one or two more significant things in my life.  Then I will truly be fulfilled.

I have now planted lima and butternut squash seeds in small pots to see if they will flourish. Its been rainy and cloudy so I am hoping that this will aid in their growth. I am going to plant nothing but edibles this year. I have one or two hanging flower baskets and that is it. Alll my window boxes will be filled with edibles like lettuce and strawberries.

It seems my husband has caught the gardening bug as well. He frequently helps me turn the dirt and does the heavier work for me. He stated "Im not a farmer" but still he helps. He also enjoys my babbling on about the things that are edible in our lawn and in the woods behind our house. I love his attentiveness. :)

Soon we will be in full summer mode. I would love to have a yard that was vacation getaway like. But spending the money on such a yard is not something I want to do. I am too frugal to do all that it takes to do the yard right. We are quite happy for now. I cannot wait for the veggie harvest. I am hopeful I can maintain it through the fall to harvest as much as possible.

Time to head off to work.

Blessings to all

New attempts to grow veggies

Good morning all,

I was wanting to let you know that I've started to grow a vegetable garden. This is the second time I've tried. The first time I tried the plants didn't thrive and I got a very small yield if any. So this time I've done things a little differently. I asked a friend who grows of fabulous vegetable garden organically and he gave me advice on what to do to prepare my soil. It was simple. I turned over the dirt, I added 10 -10-10 fertilizer that's easily obtained in any garden center, and planted my plants that I purchased from a local grower. So far I'm waiting to see what happened.  I did have to wait until May because of the frost and cold winter, however I'm very excited to see what will happen . I want to try to grow my own vegetables set I can save money on my food bill. I've tried container gardening, but is too small of a yield and the containers get out of hand taking up all my patio space. This year I will plant only edible plants in my window boxes. I usually plant flowers exclusively, but I thought herbs and some small veggies would be just as pretty.

I'll keep you up dated.

Suz

Return from hibernation

Good morning! I haven't blogged in a very long time. It's been years since I've decided to blog. I went into a kind of hibernation if you will. I decided that I wasn't going to write, work, talk or do anything or say anything because I had been going through my own metamorphosis. The people I advise and the work that I had done in the past is now over. I am now retired from massage therapy. I no longer practice any of it due to the fact that I'm just changing. Very shortly after I married for the second time we had a very large financial downfall. This forced me to change. I love my new husband but the financial downturn was more than I could handle. So I kind of went into hibernation as I said before.

As we embarked on this huge financial downturn I realized that I wasn't going to give up the path that I was on, however, I was going to reroute my path until we were on steady financial ground. This "adversity" if you will, has forced me to realign my thinking. I've always been the typical New Jersey suburban woman who is of average income. I had an average car. I had an average amount of money in my bank account. All the things that you would typically see in a middle-class family with few worries about survival.  I wanted to retire from massage therapy but it didn't know where I was going what would I do next. I knew I had enough income to get me by until I could figure out the next big thing in my life. So I did it. I retired. After I retired from massage therapy my husband revealed to me that his job prospects had fallen away and that there were no jobs in his field that were hiring at that time. I did not believe him when he told me jobs opened and then closed without even an interview for him, but as I look back now I see you was telling the truth. In order to support ourselves we had to remove money from a retirement account. As uncomfortable as it was to remove that money, I can see now that it was probably the best move that we could've made. There are many more details to this story, however, the point is he has another job, we still have that money from the retirement account, and the changes we made in our spending have bolstered us and taught us a lot.

Changing is good. When you learn to go with the flow and change, you become better. I've learned that as long as I go with the flow I'll be just fine. The moment I try to change the flow, whatever that means at that moment, I am then upset. It's not a matter of  "if" adversity will come, it's a matter of when. And when it does arrive how will you handle it? That being said, adversity had arrived. I was scared to death but I put my faith in God, and head first I dove into changing my view of money.

Today, I am a self proclaimed frugalista. I teach what I have learned and love sharing my experiences with everyone who will listen. I have gone from Entrepreneur, to retiree, to retail store clerk. Sounds radical but it's true. I hope to not only share my experiences but to give others hope with the things that I've learned and with the mistakes I've made. I'm very comfortable in my place of change. I no longer worry about money, I no longer worry about my next meal as I did before.

Follow long as I post and feel free to comment (only positive though please) and we'll share our life and it's experiences ups and downs whatever together.

Suz