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. :)

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

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 :)

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

Suzanne wants...deal me a slice...

When I decided to be a wife and mom, I never thought I would be single and still struggling.

I lost my Father to Diabetes when I was just 18 and still in High School, and my stepmother kicked me out as soon as I graduated. Having nothing but the clothes on my back, I found myself in an apartment she found for me that I could not afford. Soon I met my husband and (a boyfriend at the time), he took pitty on me, and allowed me to move in with him 50 miles from my home. I greatfully went, vowing to "pay my own way". I paied what I could for food and expences as I said, selling my only assets of stock (MCI, PSEG) and my car (Dodge Colt) to pay my way in life. I worked here there and every where. My Mother's husband laughingly called it "the job of the month club". I later in life told him (ED) to go Fuck hinself. As I adapeted, I grew closer to my aformentioned boyfriend. We married and were in love, very deeply in love. I soon came to find out that we were expecting our first child (a boy) as we planned in the fall of 1990. We were elated and fell deeper in love with each other and our litttle family. We moved from his parents bungolow on the Jersey shore to our own home and then the trouble began. (I'm keeping this breif) After moving in to a home that he (my husband) decided on, we unexpectedly became pregnant with our second child ( a girl). I never really liked the house but thought he knew best and focused on my new child due in the summer. He squeezed our budget tighter and tighter. Each week we were fighting over pennies. I needed to work, or so I thought. So what would I do while raising kids? I worked Part time and I had around this time enrolled in Massage School against my husbands wishes so I could work a job that I enjoyed while still raising children. (Massage allows you to work odd hours and therefor gave me freedom to work when my husband was home with the kids at night and on weekends.) But he never really wanted that. The home was bought in an area where I would not be able to post a sign bearing my name and title or form a company, and work from home, but in a neighborhood that was completely the opposite. A dead end street filled with conservitives who believed that massage was a front for prostatution. (hope I spelled that right) I came to finally open my own business in another town and against all odds and all by myself while raising kids I grew a small business that at one time had a 30% growth rate. Paid my own way for my stuff so I did not have to ask for money from my husband (who by the way got mad every time I asked "Yelling we have no money save for it") I was on an allowance for the food and daily expences and was told there was no more, that the rest went to the "Bills" I should have know that the 80,000 per year he earned and the $1400 per month I was allotted did not add up. But I believed in him.

So I put my plans on hold and worked here there and every where to make additional money for our family. All the while believing that we had no money. (cause he took care of all the money) After 18 years of marriage and "No Money" even though our bills were minimal and the house was almost paid off (in only 8 years on a 30 year mortgage), I stopped believing him started asking questions and found out that he is really spending on himself and leaving us out in the cold. He hated the fact that I was making it without his help and that was when I asked for marriage counceling. We went but he just spewed the same hollow promises he always lipped as I fought to keep our love alive. I love him more than any amount of money. ANY amount. After a short time of this bullshit......................... (deep breath) I left. I got an attorney (Shit Head I call him) and got the divorce. My ex hates me to this day. We are divorced 3 years now and he still can' t look at me. Guess its the ALIMONY that makes him look the other way. However, long story short, I am not doing so well now. I thought I would be able to keep my company and grow it but the economy has had different plans. So I desolved the business and focused more on my children who needed me more than ever now. Their dad all messed up on having to pay me after, hmmm lets see, 1985, married in 1988 to 2006, hmm that's um, 18 + years of "paying my own way"

Suzanne wants a break. That's just what Suzanne needs, a break.

I am smart, funny, kind, giving, loving, creative, imaginative, not a good speller, but hard working, and not doing well at the massage job I got working for a local holistic center to take care of my kids, cause no one is spending money, cause no one has much these days, cause we're all hangin on for the future not knowing what it will bring. More wine please. (AAHHhh) So........What's next?