Doesn’t it drive you mad when your kids get gum in their hair!?  Yesterday I was watching a show where they took several “tips” on how to remove gum from hair.  We had the old school ice cubes, nah didn’t work and people werent too peachy about using it.  Then came the peanut butter, which worked wonderfully and I have used that many of times and will use it again if needed.  However, the thing that worked the best and is preferred, was cooking oil!  Of course you have to let it sit for about 20 minutes or so, but that gum just slid right off.  So whatever your preference is, at least you know, you don’t have to freeze your fingers anymore with ice!

All too often we take our cars for granted. I hear stories all the time from my husband who is a Master Technician for Chrysler.  So, I thought it would be a good idea to share some things for both safety and for saving money. A well maintained vehicle will save you money in the long run and keep you on the road.

Do a walk around.  This was taught to a lot of us in drivers education, it’s basically to check that all your tires are properly aired up.   Once a week you should also turn on all the lights and do a walk around to make sure they are all working properly. Get someone to help you make sure your brake lights are working also, if you don’t have anyone you can do this at night by looking in the mirrors.

Monthly check the fluids like oil and antifreeze in your car.  Make sure the engine is cool before checking fluids.  If you have no clue how to do this, search for it on YouTube there are plenty of videos there to help you.

Brake squeal - This is a noise you get when the wear indicator on your brake pads reaches the point of hitting the rotor.  This should be looked at as soon as possible.  Letting it go to the point of “grinding” could me hundreds more dollars for repairs.

Have your tires rotated every 10,000 miles.  This will help the wear and life of the tires and if there is a problem with any of them you’ll know about it.  Many people take their tires for granted not realizing their safety is “riding on them”.

Engine temperature lights or gauges - If it looks as if your car is overheating, DON’T keep driving it!  This can cause a blown head gasket or major engine damage, that will cost thousands of dollars to be repaired.  Pull over and let the car cool down before trying to drive it again.  If you are unsure call someone or a tow truck.

Clicking in the front end -  One of the main causes of a clicking in the front end while turning is a CV joint.  This applies to front wheel drive cars.  This CV joint is part of the axle that makes your wheels go.  Left unattended one of these joints can break leaving you stranded. 

Thumping in the front end while turning - This could be cause by several things, it should be looked at as soon as possible as it can become a safety issue as well.

Basic maintenance - Check your owners manual for basic car maintenance.  It tells what services should be done to your car in certain intervals, such as 30k, 60k, 90k, etc.

Safety isn’t all about how you drive; it’s also about taking care of what you drive.

Please feel free to leave a comment or discuss this further on our message board.

So it’s 4:00 and you’re standing in the middle of your kitchen turning round and round. You have no idea what’s for dinner. The kids are running around screaming because their hungry. You’re hungry, so you scream at the kids. AND you know that your husband will be through the doors within the next hour or two.

Or how about the fact that school has started back along with football and/or cheerleading practice, or dance class or karate class or maybe all of the above. Now you don’t have anything made so you run through the drive through at least 4 nights a week and the other days you’re almost too tired to cook.

Do these things sound familiar? I am a mom of four and both of these scenarios have happened often to me. So I’ve discovered that with a little planning on my part I have less stress and more home cooked meals and my budget doesn’t have to be stretched quite so far.

Step 1: This is actually two fold. If your kids are involved in a lot of activities then write down your schedule for the week. What nights will you be home? What nights will you be out the entire time? Now make a list of dinners that your family likes. You don’t need more than 5 or 6. Plan on having one night for leftovers. (Keep in mind you may just have a little left over from each meal. Put it all out buffet style. Everyone can choose a little of this and that)
Make sure that you have some simple meals for the nights you’ll be gone. Maybe make your own sub sandwiches. Or even regular sandwiches with chips, or chopped veggies and dip or chopped fruit. You can also use your crockpot for these nights. Then use leftovers from the crockpot to create another meal later in the week. Example: make a roast in the crockpot, save the leftover meat and shred it as thin as possible. Later in the week reheat the meat in some enchilada sauce and serve up enchiladas and rice and beans.

Step 2: Check your pantry to determine what ingredients you will need to purchase to make the meals you’ve chosen. If you notice you have all the ingredients for a meal you didn’t list then perhaps substitute that meal for the other instead of buying more food.

Step 3: Make sure to take your list with you to the grocery store and only buy what’s on the list.

Step 4: Put your list of meals on the refrigerator or another place where you will see it. The night before, check your schedule for the next day and choose a meal. Do any prep work needed. If meat needs to be thawed out then put it in the fridge to thaw. If you’re going to put the crockpot on first thing then you could even put everything in the crockpot and put the ceramic part in the fridge, then the next morning you just put it on to cook and go.

Step 5: Spend a few minutes creating a menu for next week. Maybe this time you could check your pantry and your schedule and then you could save on your budget even more.

Try this for one week and you’ll find a peace you didn’t realize existed and perhaps some extra money at the end of the week. No more “Mom, I’m starving. What’s for dinner?” and you without a clue. And no more spending up to $80+ a week in takeout because it’s just easier when you’re on the road.

Please feel free to leave us comments on our message board.

Everyone has a biological and a chronological age. Unfortunately, through lifestyle choices, many people have a biological age that is older than their chronological age. With a few, simple lifestyle changes, anyone can decrease their biological age to the same or younger than their chronological age.

Be Happy

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., found that optimistic people had a 50% decreased risk of early death compared with those who leaned more toward pessimism. The results, published in the August 2002 issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, make sense: Those with a positive outlook on life are probably less stressed, better equipped to deal with adversity and, consequently, healthier. Optimists also tend to have lower blood pressure than pessimists, which, again, is most likely related to how positive thinkers respond to stress.

Exercise

Maintaining aerobic fitness through middle age and beyond can delay biological aging by up to 12 years and prolong independence during old age, concludes an analysis published ahead of print in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Aerobic exercise, such as jogging, improves the body’s oxygen consumption and its use in generating energy (metabolism).

Have More Sex

There’s decent evidence that sex helps keep us healthy, and thus increases longevity. But according to researchers, it’s not necessarily an actual biological response generated by sex that makes us live longer. What’s more likely is that having intimate sex means you are less stressed, happier and better rested–all factors that can lower blood pressure and protect against stroke and heart disease.

Eat Healthy

Five Healthful Tips (according to Dr.Michael Roizen on Oprah.com)

1. Use nine-inch plates: Eating on a smaller plate can add three years to your life.
2. Use paper coffee filters: Caffeine makes you younger. Drinking coffee every morning made with a paper filter—which raises good cholesterol and cuts down on bad—can add six months to your life.
3. Take aspirin every day: Check with your doctor first, but if it’s okay, taking an aspirin every day can make you two years younger. This simple addition decreases the age of your arteries and reduces the risk of breast, colon and prostate cancers.
4. Eat chocolate!: Only chocolate with real cocoa (dark chocolate) will do, but if you eat one ounce every day, you increase the level of healthy fat in your diet.
5. A little fat before dinner: Whether it’s nuts, dark chocolate or olive oil on a piece of bread, a little fat before you eat slows down your stomach and makes you feel full longer.

Please feel free to leave a comment or discuss this on our message board.

You know how we hear about miscommunication all the time?  Well let me tell ya!  It can be mind blowing when ONE single word can change things!  Recently there was some miscommunication between my husband and his father. Not anything argumentive but just mind blowing. 

While my husbands father was visiting about two weeks ago, the dreaded conversation of money comes up.  My father in law starts up with it again, just like every single time.  My husband oh so the wonderful man he is says, if I had $10,000 I would give them to you.  So the conversation changes through out the day and my father in law leaves.

 Days pass and my husband is not so himself and I asked him what was wrong?  He said, that his dad called and that my father in law and sister in law were talking that he was going to call my husband and take him up on that money.  My husband was floored!  I said WHAT! Rewind just a bit.  My father in law heard wrong!  He thought my husband was giving him $10,000 buckaroos! My husband replied, with dad I was saying “IF” I had that I would give it to you, I didn’t say that I “had” it. 

So one single word my friends can blow your socks off!  So lets listen carefully and speak clearly, we don’t want people thinking something else.