Cat Urine and carpet, not a good combination

Cat pee is the absolute worst of the worst smells. I have a lovely male Siamese who has been ill for the last couple of week. During this time my man has been complaining of a strange nasty smell. A couple of days ago I saw my kitty squat down and pee on the carpet right in front of me! This is $2000 worth of brand new carpet so, I got down on my hands and knees and sniffed all around the room. I found he had done his business in three spots on the stairs and of course right by my office chair.

In a panic, I got on the internet to find the answer. Everyone was raving about the enzyme based products, so I went to the pet store. I used an entire spray bottle on these four spots. I must say, it didn't even make a dent in the smell; I still gagged when I sniffed the carpet. I began to search for home remedies and found the mixture of peroxide, soap and baking soda. I tried this on one of the spots; it did work, but, left a white mess. Hey, I would take any day over cat pee!

Next I tried just peroxide and soap on the other spots, and found that it had actually worked just as well! It worked so well that I was able to detect faint traces around the original spot.

Here is exactly what I did:

Mixed a whole bottle of peroxide from the store with about a tablespoon of Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap, then I soaked a sponge with it and pressed it into the carpet over and over until it was well and thoroughly soaked. Then let it dry.

I think the pressing helped work the liquid down through the pad and onto the wood. Because, now I don't smell a thing, just smells like pepperminty clean carpet. I so hope this works for you too, because I soooo feel your pain.

Just to Clarify, you control the world!

Politicians and business people chanting "consumer spending, consumer spending", Facebook banning people for simply talking about Google Plus, governments destroying used cars in order to force us to buy new ones... How long will it take you to realized that you control the world with your pocketbook, the rich only got rich because you bought stuff from them.

The rulers only rule because you consent to it.

Imagine this, if you could get every person in the united states to give you one dollar today, tomorrow you would have $300 million.

Based on watching my mom shop, I would say the average Walmart bill is $100. If say 100 million people spend $100 per week, at the end of the week they have made $10 billion and I am sure the figures are much higher then that! I could be wrong, but it seems to me that if everyone in the US could agree to boycott Walmart for one week we could bring that monster of a company to it knees.

That is how much power we have

Now imagine this, Walmart has left your communities. You and your neighbors are now free to open up that bakery, clothing store, butcher shop, grocery store, sporting goods store, etc. that you always dreamed of. Now imagine in a years time $520 billion doesn't go over seas or into the pockets of the already rich; instead it moves into the pockets of your neighbors, who will in turn put it into your pocket.

You want your community to thrive? Start your own businesses, buy from each other and shop local!

Don't spend your money with at a company unless you can walk in and meet the owner.

Do the right thing... make facebook go the way of myspace!

Facebook is starting to suck, well... really it has for a long time. Not only is it slow and awkward, but they own everything you post and upload... they own your personal information! Now they have implemented a policy of sharing your personal information without your knowledge.

If you haven't already jumped on the bandwagon and gotten yourself a Gmail account, you should do so now and while you are at it activate your Google+ account. It's better then facebook, fast and it comes with video chat. Oh, did I mention that this could replace skype as well? I hope that soon the only thing facebook will be good for is link popularity.

Oh, and while you are at it...

Repeat after me:
"Friends don't let Friends use Internet Explorer"

Onion Juice for Alopecia... It Works!

I am sure if you suffer from alopecia, you have at least heard about this alternative treatment. I have the worst and most rare kind. A year ago I didn't even have hair in my nose. There are many things I have been doing that have impoved my situation, but since I have started using onion juice, now I don't have to look closely to see the new peach fuzz sprouting on my head; I have only been using the onion regularly for a few weeks.

I put an onion, I recently started adding garlic, in my juicer to extract the juice; I use an old crappy one I got at the thrift store. I keep it in the fridge for daily use, it seems to keep for several days; the garlic will turn the mixture blue green after a couple of days, it is still good.

Here is what I try to do every day.

I take a prenatal vitamin with food or juice; I use this kind, because this is what the doctor recommended when I was a teenager for my alopecia.

use a natural bristle nail brush and brush my scalp and eyebrows.

use a cotton ball to rub the onion/garlic juice all over my scalp and a tiny bit on my eyebrows; then I go do something else for at least half an hour.

I wash off what I can of the onion juice, then rinse with a bit of lemon juice; the lemon helps to get rid of most of the onion smell.

I mix in the palm of my hand equal parts sweet almond oil and vitamin E oil with a couple of drops of sage oil. My mom used to put straight E on my head when I was little and it was a goopy mess, the almond oil helps with this and the sage is supposed to be good for hair growth, plus it completely masks any lingering onion smell.

I massage this mixture into my scalp and eyebrows, I try to spend several minutes after just massaging my scalp and imagining myself with a full head of hair.

Who is the most awesome band ever. Pretty Lights!

My favorite group for so many reasons. They are awesome, they are AWESOME, their own record label, free music (you should be kind and donate). They used to just give it away, but I, and I am sure hundreds of others, emailed them begging for a donate button so we could send them something for their awesomeness; within a few days the music was still free, but there appeared a small donate via paypal button.

You can download their amazing music here.

Check them out

What is wrong with artists today

We have the internet and everyone is on it. They don't need stinkin' record companies. I saw in the news yesterday that congress on behalf of these vultures are trying to start prosecuting little kids for lip syncing to their favorite songs on youtube; how sick is that?

I read in the comments some musician whinging about how these kids are stealing his profits. I commented that perhaps if some funny kid did post one of his songs maybe I would have heard of him. Really if you have sold 20 million albums you have plenty of money, and why would you sue and put in jail someone for promoting you? It's just sick.

How to get hot pepper oil off of your hands

Time!

I love the burn in my mouth, but oh god does it hurt on the hands! Normally I freeze them and when I cut them up I have no problem... I guess this time I let it thaw too much. Right now my hands are on fire.

I have scoured the internet and tried every single piece of advice others have offered; vinegar, baking soda, milk, yogurt, sour cream, nail polish remover, bleach, alcohol, beer, soap, stainless steel, lemon, lime, oil. I even got the bright idea that since the burn only lasts for 10 minutes in my mouth, maybe my saliva would work, so I started sucking on my fingers, I couldn't believe how much I could make my mouth burn after washing my hands like 50 times, plus it tasted like bleach so I stopped.

I have decided the best solution is to wrap my hands around a cold beer and get drunk... and try to remember not to touch myself!

Can't pay student loans - Time to get get scared

One of my student loans is defaulted and I know there are millions out there just like me. It is bad enough that student loans can never be discharged, but now they are beginning to get violent.

If anyone out there is thinking of going to school... DON'T TAKE LOANS!
Going to college was the worst mistake I have ever made.

It's time to get scared.

Bad economy? Lets raise prices, that should fix it!

Nothing that is going on makes any sense at all. I just got my latest power bill and about choked on what I saw. Even though we cut our energy usage in half our bill was double what it was last year! It costs $50 to fill up my car, when a few years ago it only cost $10. In the grocery store, generic cheese costs the same as the expensive cheese and I saw bacon for $7! A can of tobacco that a year ago cost me $7 now costs $30!

In my field there are 50 applicants for every job and everyone else is dead broke... yet prices are skyrocketing. Did I mention you have to drive 30 minutes away to get to the jobs? Crap, that will cost my entire paycheck just to get there!

WTF is going on?

in a whiny voice "Folks are forced to buy less, lets raise prices; Oh crap, we are selling even less and might go out of business!" I am no economist, but this makes about as much sense as parents who spank their kids to make them stop crying!

Big business and government say spend or fail, mamma and my dwindling youth say save or fail! I say it makes no sense even though self professed experts say it does. Whatever! If anyone really understood it and actually gave a crap (at the same time), we wouldn't be in this situation.

Oh yeah, Ron Paul understands and he cares... awe crikey, I forget, he is a terrorist. Never mind.

I say it is a conspiracy! It is almost as though we are being set up to fail and "they" are trying to make as much money as "they" can before it all goes down the crapper. Probably because "they" know that the aliens and zombies are about to take over.

What's Wrong With a Little Conspiracy Theory?

I love to read about conspiracy theories and other "deviant" ideas. I am definitely convinced that there is something is wrong with the 9-11 story, that aliens have landed and that fluoride is poison. I don't really believe in hollow earth theory or David Ickes lizard people, but I still love to read about it!

I have avoided writing about this topic for years, mostly for fear that I will end up on a no-fly list; this is not a theory, there is something wrong when a person fears repercussions for exercising freedom of speech and thought. I believe that it is patriotic to question government and healthy to engage in what-if discussions. Based on what I have been reading from big media, this position makes me mentally ill and borderline criminal.

Two quotes to sum up the truth

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” - William Shakespeare

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." - Lord Acton

I get more truth per second from Alex Jones, then I get per hour from Fox News. It is definitely more entertaining.

From the mind of an Australian - the Royal Wedding

My Good friend, the famous Australian internet psychic - Dukeheart, whinging about hats.

The cure for cancer and many other diseases?

I haven't tried this myself since I have never had cancer, but since I have a 50% chance of getting it in my lifetime, there is a very good chance I will eventually live in California.

After watching this video, I searched all over the net for further proof. There are tons of legitimate studies to back up what he and the people he has helped claim. I have lost two people, just this year, to cancer. I begged them to watch this video, but nobody will listen because it is illegal. Personally, I am furious with the leaders of this country for not even looking into it.



Here is a video about a father who decided to give it to his son... and the little guy lived, while the doctors said he would surely die.

I don't care what you think - or maybe I do

My dad once told me, that everything a man does, he does with the expectation that it will attract the kind of woman he wishes to bed. The way he dresses, the car he chooses to drive and the job he chooses to get are all to attract women. I would like to know if this is true, because it seems to make sense. Alternatively, if this is true, isn't it odd that men complain that some women tend to be attracted to these things? Perhaps men are, in some ways, just as crazy as women.

Women are really the opposite. We don't do things simply to attract men, well... we do and we don't. If we buy a nice car, dress sexy, wear makeup or get a great job, it is mostly because it makes us feel empowered.

Pay attention, but keep it to yourself.

Here is where we start to sound nuts!

We want you to think we are attractive, but if we are not already interested in you, we don't really want you to express your appreciation. Too much attention from men ranges from annoying to creepy, even if we like you.

How do you know if we are interested? Well... you don't. One clue is that we will not look at you unless we either have a good reason or we think you are not paying attention; if you catch us, we will pretend to be looking at something else; if we lock eyes we will quickly look away. Another clue is if we touch ourselves, not in a sexual way! It would be more like touching sensitive parts of our bodies, such as the neck, lips or ears; this is especially true when you speak.

Really, if you pay attention to the hunting habits of cats, you will better understand women.

The greatest song ever!

The most catchy song of all time.

Hilarious commercial for learning English

From the mind of a woman - we want you to want to help us

This craziness may only be OCD women, like me! When it comes time to perform any task, especially cleaning and organizing the house, things get weird and conflicted in our minds. We all have our set ways of doing things and like to stick to our routines; it makes things move faster and ensures that nothing is forgotten.

Lets go with the example of cleaning the house. I will get irritated that everyone is doing nothing but watching me do all of the work and not lifting a finger to help. I will grumble to myself about their laziness and wish someone would pick up a broom. If I ask for help and get it, I end up regretting it, because I don't like the way they do it and wish they would stop.

In reality, I want help, but I don't. It is freaking stupid. I complain that I have to do it alone, but I want to do it all myself. I want you to want to help, but I don't actually want your help. The weirdest thing of all is that I don't always do a very good job, but I still want it done my way!

I am aware that this makes no sense. I have long since learned, as long as things are put where they belong, to just appreciate the help I get and praise a good job done. As for my man, I only ask him to do manly things that involve computers, tools or heavy lifting; I makes him feel manly and helpful, and I won't have to fight the urge to go behind him and redo his job.

Do yourself a favor, stop eating wonder bread and start baking

Sliced bread doesn't have a thing on Webjoe07. He is a baker and a wonderful teacher; he makes it easy and if you do exactly what he does, you will never buy another loaf of bread from the store.

Check out his Youtube Channel, I have tried many of his recipes and they are all as easy and he makes them look. I have been making this bread for a couple of months and found that it costs 25 cents per loaf.

How to make baguettes from scratch Part 1

How to make baguettes from scratch Part 2

How to make baguettes from scratch Part 3

I would like to put an end to some of the silly crap that women worry about.

Have you ever noticed that super models look like stick figures while porn stars do not? Do men read Vogue or Playboy? Well, why do we all try to look like super models?

If your man says your butt looks big in those pants, unless he is gay, it isn't an insult. Alternatively, if he says your ass looks nice in those pants, what he means is that it looks big and he likes it.

You are much more beautiful then you think you are.

If it isn't funny, don't laugh at it.

Want to get your man to stick around forever? Don't stoop to having babies, just... mom don't read this... Turn that exit only, into open for business.

If your man doesn't want to hear about your period, simply remind him that it means he is not a daddy.

If you think your best friend might be into your man, tell her about how much you love his stinky feet, the way he picks his nose and nightly dutch ovens.

If your man has been playing video games for 6 hours and you want his attention, don't yell at him or smash his game system, strip down and start cleaning the room he is in... Trust me, he WILL log off.

Don't get mad at your man for watching porn, watch it with him.
I now reference the favorite video of every man I know:



Don't get mad at your man for masturbating, they start doing it as soon as they discover it is there.

Don't ask him if he was thinking of you, because you won't like the answer, he was probably thinking about porn.

Don't try to change your man, because you can't. You need to remember how much you love him and move his socks from the coffee table to the hamper. No amount of nagging will change a thing, but a significant amount of nagging will leave you single. You might as well buy a pretty basket and keep it in the living room!

Journal Art that Makes You Feel Dirty

You can imagine what I was feeling the day I made this.

I have a few silver amalgam fillings, oh crap they leak mercury!

In college I worked in the chemistry lab part time. We decided to take on the task of cleaning and organizing it. Along with countless bottles of chemicals so old the labels had corroded off, we found 3 bottles of mercury with scotch tape for lids.

We had no idea what to do with that mess, so our professor took us to a seminar called "So you spilled a little mercury". There they demonstrated, using the same method used in the video, how much vapor truly comes off of a small amount of mercury; it looked like the steam from a mug of hot coffee. They told us that a drop of mercury the size of a pea is enough to condemn a house; well, how much mercury do you think you have in each tooth? In the video, they say the silver amalgam is 50% mercury!

I come from a long line of Cheap Women

The women in my family are SO cheap and proud of it. We love clearance, thrift stores and garage sales; we love it so much we make "junkin'" an event. We get up a 6 a.m., put on our walkin' shoes, grab our ridiculously large mug of coffee and set out on the days adventure of digging through other people's junk.

Sometimes going with my mom feels like we are in the army and she is the commander. On the way there we each run down the list of what each of us are looking for and how much we want to spend; that way, if one of us finds one of these items, that person can stand guard over it until the others arrive. We drive around to scout out the densest population of the most promising looking sales, so we can plan our route in 10 minute intervals in order to walk and park efficiently. If we think we spot a target, we immediately stop, investigate then recalculate the route. We do this until we run out of sales or until my moms back starts to hurt.

This is the perfect time to give you an example of yet another insight into the crazy minds of women

In each instance I will be discussing the same shirt, new, with the tags still attached.

Handmade by a local artist: We would be happy to pay $25.
The store: We only shop sales, for the shirt we would be willing to pay $10.
The thrift store: $4 would be a good deal.
Garage Sale: no more then $2.

My mother would disown me if I even thought of paying $10 for the shirt at a garage sale and she would pat me on the back if I got it at the store. Even though I know it makes no sense... I would agree with her.

College - I SO wish I could go back in time.

If I ever get the chance to take a time machine for a test drive, I will take a trip to visit my 18 year old self and slap her silly. Then I will guide her to the family computer, tell her to skip college and give her 20 bucks for a book on HTML.

Family Schmamily

I LOVE my family, but they make me crazy; maybe they bring the crazy out in me. I am the only one that doesn't have children and the only one with crazy radical ideas. So when I visit, everything I say is poo-pooed or voted invalid due to lack of stretch marks.

Dead beat parents are scum and the single parents who do the right thing and tough it out are saints; but, you will never convince me that sending a man to jail with a felony conviction for being a loser and a moron is the right thing to do. My father was completely absent, but never in a million years would I think he deserved to have his life ruined for it.

We have more people, per-capita, imprisoned in this country then any other country in the world, including China. The really scarey part, is that those prisons are privately owned and use the prisoners for what amounts to slave labor; I strongly suspect that this has something to do with why so many people are put there; they are publicly traded and therefore have to, by law, turn a profit.

I believe the only reason a person should be imprisoned is to protect society from them, not to convince an idiot to get a job and support his children.

Craziness From the Journal

From the Mind of a Woman - It's No Secret that We are Nuts!

Women are crazy and we will readily admit it; don't dare tell us that we are crazy, because we will spend the next week analyzing what you meant by that. Part of the problem is that men know they don't understand the minds of women and yet women believe they know exactly what men are thinking. We over analyze everything and forget that men don't.

Men think women are catty to all other women, this is and isn't the case; we are nuts, but there is method to our madness. Women love the companionship of other women, but this love turns to hate if we fear our relationships might be challenged.

Oh How Women Struggle to Understand Men!

People always glance at newcomers and tend to look longer if that person is attractive. Women will avoid looking at an attractive man in the presence of their own men, because we know what automatically runs through our minds; we can't help but evaluate the kind of mate that man would be. We assume our men know exactly what we are thinking and we don't want to hurt their feelings. So... when our men look at an attractive woman, we assume they are thinking the same thing and we think it means something that they don't hide it.

Essentially, we get upset because we find her attractive too and fear you might want her more then you want us. In fact we will evaluate her as a mate and then compare her with ourselves and try to figure out who you will like best. This inevitably results in fear and cattiness. It sounds stupid and crazy, but we can't help it; just like men can't help but look at a pretty woman.

I don't know how men think, but I suspect that all men look at women and if they are happy it doesn't mean anything at all. However, if we constantly make an issue of the looking and try to forbid our men from doing it, they will become unhappy and it will start to mean something.

The solution

Women, let it go, they can't help it.

Men, don't stare too long or our ability to let it go will fail.

Predatory Love

As a follow-up to my last post, this is something that I wrote after I had my heart broken for the third time. I was only 19 and by that point I was already starting to get fed up with dating.

Wonderful and illustrious dreams of consuming him dance in my mind, then die at my feet. Quietly I lie awake listening, hearing only the steady rhythm of his heart thundering through my mind. His breath whispers away the dust that coveted my eyes. I open up, only to see him walk away.

His seemingly loving arms embrace one eagerly helpless creature. He grins listlessly as the heart chokes and fades. The love diminished from his eyes, softly he lets her fall; his body warms at the sight of his handiwork.

Nothing subtle in his motives,
nothing feeble in his mannerisms,
no menace in his actions.
It lies within him,
the pain is his.

Wisped away again, the nook in my heart was too big for such a small predator.

From the Mind of a Woman - Broken Hearts SUCK!

I am so heart sick of listening to my male friends go on and on about finding some random girl to sleep with and listening to my female friends talk about getting their hearts broken again and again. Something is very disjointed in our world.

I know that not all people are the same, but I believe that the vast majority are similar. It seems as though most of the time men want someone to play with for a while and women want to find out if he could be her future husband.

Man A sees woman B and thinks he likes her boobs and ass and would like to bed her; if it is good enough, maybe keep going back to her. Woman B sees man A and thinks he's handsome and would make cute babies, she may envision waking up with him in the morning, what it might be like to live with him, laughing with him, evaluate his hygiene, whether or not he is in the closet and even if she can take care of herself and prides herself on that fact, she will still try to figure out if he is capable of taking care of her.

Woman B decides go ahead and sleep with man A and decides he is a very good match indeed. Six days or six months down the road man A starts to get bored and begins looking for woman C while woman B is already in love. Women B, C, D, E, etc. all get their hearts broken and spend the next 5 years wondering what it was they did wrong and why nobody ever loves them.

Men! Even if a woman agrees that there are no strings attached and the two of you are just having fun, she is developing an emotional attachment to you and will be hurt if you leave or if she is not the only one you are having fun with; the movie Vanilla Sky is a perfect example. I have known many women who say to the world "if men can sleep around so can I" and then I listen to them as they cry, in private, about about not being loved.

Women! If it looks like a playboy and talks like a playboy... RUN!

The Secret - Does it really work?

I haven't watched the whole movie "The Secret", only the first 20 minutes; this is all I needed to hear to know it was true. I have tried to talk to friends about it and they think it is totally hokey. I think it's the most enlightening 20 minutes I have spent in a long time; suddenly many "coincidences" made a lot of sense and suddenly I felt more in charge of my life then I ever have.



I started thinking about my childhood, which was not very pleasant, and all of the things I would wish for. I would get up in the middle of the night and sit by my window and dream about what my life could be when I grow up. Once I started my adult life, I abandoned my dreams and tried to do what was expected instead of what was in my heart. This lead to fruitless struggle and bitter disappointment.

These days, I have everything I wanted and it all started with finding the right man. I had always envisioned a specific man and for most of my life I wished for him at every wishing opportunity and searched for him in every man I met; I figured I would recognize him when I saw him.

How right I was, not only is he the mate I longed for, but soon after all of my old dreams started falling into place. Today I was reading an old journal and found the entry for the day I met him, I described him as "more a point of light then a boy" and as soon as he smiled at me I knew it was him! I suppose subconsciously I figured it he could be real, all of my other dreams could be real too! Once I began to believe it, opportunities started to come out of no where. I think if I met my younger self, she would be proud.

Soul Knowledge... what's up with that?

This is a topic I have a hard time discussing, because most people think I am nutty if I do and I do not enjoy being poo-pooed. I hope that someday, someone who can relate will read this post and want to talk to me about it. I strongly believe in the soul and reincarnation. I believe, through my own experience, that the soul carries knowledge, desires and memories from one life to the next.

I wrote this poem at age 10. I entered it into a poetry contest in the 7th grade, but I had written it long before. The winner was never officially announced, so I went up to Mr. Weatherby after class and asked who had won. He said "You did". I never heard it read aloud and I never got a prize; all I ended up with was the strange puzzled look gave to me when he told me I had won.

Good night my love, for now I must rest
and fear not, that when I awake I will be sad and lonely
for I shall look down upon your heavenly face
betrayed by an earthly host
and pray that one day
when the stars sing the last note of their lost song
that we will be together again, singing our first.

I was afraid the look meant he thought I was plagiarizing but couldn't prove it; which hurt because he was my favorite teacher. I was aware even then that the things I wrote had to come from somewhere other then my own adolescent mind. I had no concept of what this poem meant, I just thought it sounded right; now as an adult I can see this poem is one soul telling its mate not to be afraid because love never dies.

I would get this build up of emotion, then let it all out through my pen. I would use words I was sure I had never read and even if by some chance I had, I was sure I wouldn't know how to use them properly. Most of the time I would write then look the words up to see if it made sense.

I always believed that I must have been a poet in a past life. I believed that these must be words my soul was remembering from that life in times of emotional need. I only write when I am sad, and when I am through I always feel much better.

Solutions to annoying computer issues

I would like to start posting solutions to computer related issues, since I seem to have a lot of them and spend hours searching for the answers. Please, if you have anything to add, let me know.

Radeon HD 6xxx series graphics card won't recognize dual monitors.

Only the top port seems to work for either monitor, neither works on the bottom port.
Solution, my brand new monitors only came with analog cables; you need digital cables, or at least one digital cable; I am going out to buy two since it looks better.

Skype for PSP?

Yes, unless you have a PSP Fat then no, it doesn't have enough memory.

Websites look funky in IE8

Turn off compatibility mode.

Simple CSS not working in IE9

Things like margin: auto; to center, it turns out using html5 doctype will fix it.

Netflix Movies are choppy

To the right of the progress bar, turn off allow HD.

Player controls don't show up once you have embedded your swf?

The swf for the player controls have to be in the same folder as your html.

Old Perfect Storm Header

Old Perfect Storm flash header.

Ways to reduce monthly spending and forgotten costs

The lifestyle I have chosen for myself has forced me into a serious evaluation of where my money is going. This is a good thing, I have found many useless drains on my bank account and alternatives to services I once believed to be standard.

Review your Automatic Payments

I looked through my bank statement and found I was paying monthly for services I had either forgotten about or rarely used; they totaled around $50 per month, I immediately canceled them.

Free or Low Cost Alternatives

There are many services we accept as standard, such as our phones and cable; these are things most of us, if we can avoid it, don't want to live without. My solutions were sort of a pain in the beginning, but I have found that I like my lifestyle more and now cannot imagine going back.

Cable

When I had cable, I always complained that they played the same stuff over and over and that there were way too many commercials; this one I will not miss! We were paying for cable, Xbox Live and Netflix. It turns out if you have Xbox Live you can watch Netflix movies on your TV, as you can imagine deleting cable was a no-brainer. With this choice we reduced our expense from $50 to $15 per month.

Books

I absolutely adore audio books, sadly we decided that we could find better uses for the money spent on our Audible account. I was so sad to see it go, that is until I figured out that I can download audio books for free from my local library website. They have an amazing selection and I can have up to ten books at any given time. Another good source, for classic audio books, is Project Gutenberg.

Phones

This was a huge expense for us; if you total up our land line and two cell phones it comes to around $150 per month. We got rid of the home phone and replaced it with skype. Our lives are pretty much centered around the computer, so this wasn't a huge bother. We did get a skype phone, but we find it more convenient to just answer the computer. To replace our cell phones we got a pay as you go card, if you can manage to limit your usage this is a much better option.

Make your own scrubbies and 15 other things to do with a shrunken sweater

We have all done it, made the mistake of washing our favorite wool sweater in hot water... whoops!
You don't want to throw it away and yet you will find it isn't very comfortable to wear any longer; fortunately, there are many ways it can still go to good use. The coolest thing about felted fabric is the fact that is will not fray, this makes any project you choose that much easier.

Make Your Own Scrubbies

If it is nice thick wool, cut it up into 4x6 squares and you can get a years supply of scrubbies for you and your whole family. Since I have learned this trick, these are the only kind I use; they are the perfect balance between a sponge and scrubby. I use these for everything from cleaning my dishes to polishing silver (I use toothpaste, works wonderfully). To make this even cooler, as long as there are no synthetic fibers, once they start to fall apart you can compost them.

Make a scarf

I found a shrunken cashmere sweater at the thrift store for a buck. I took it home, cut it into strips and sewed them together end to end. Now I have the longest, warmest, softest and most comfortable scarf ever.

Matching Hat and Mittens

If the sweater is made of something soft like angora or cashmere, this fabric will make a wonderful, warm, itch free hat and since it is felted the wind can't get through.

Coasters and Hot Pads

Just cut out circles and squares; if you want to make them pretty, sew around the edges with embroidery thread and stitch on cute patches made from the scraps.

Make a Purse

Look for a pattern you like and stitch it together; use the scraps to make embellishments.

Super Warm Wool Blanket

If you have several ruined sweaters, cut them into squares and rectangles to make a blanket. I did this to make a small blanket; my friends saw what I was doing and the next thing I knew I had enough sweaters to make a huge blanket.

Tea Cozy

Keep the water in the tea pot warm while also protecting it from dust and cooking oil.

Java Jackets

Cut off the cuff of the sweater to make an awesome coffee sleeve.

Beer Cozy

Cut out a rectangle and a circle, then sew them together into a cylinder. This will be excellent for absorbing the condensation.

Stuffing

Cut the scraps up into little chunks and use it to stuff toys and pillows.

Pin Cushion

Use it to make and stuff a pin cushion. The tight felted wool is excellent for holding the pins and the wool will help to keep your needles sharp. You can also save your own hair clippings for a stuffing that sharpens.

Bath Rug

There are many ways to do this.

Cut it apart at the seams and then cut the pieces into giant spirals, then sew the ends together to make one long strand that you can crochet or knit. Cutting it into a spiral will give the finished product a really cool texture.

Cut it up into different shapes, then sew them together in any way you find interesting.

Stuffed Animals

Here is an awesome tutorial for making cashmere bunnies.

Boots and Slippers

Here is a page of links to really cool patterns for boots and slippers made from old sweaters.

Ipod or Phone Sleeve

Cut off the cuff of the sweater to use as a cozy sleeve for your ipod or phone. Don't forget to stitch one end closed so it doesn't fall out; while you are at it sew on a cute button as a closure.

Leg Warmers

Cut off the arms to make warm snow proof leg warmers.

5 ways to make cheap coffee taste good

I used to buy good expensive coffee; I would buy it by the cup in the coffee shop and I would take it home by the pound and it was delicious. Now that I have to watch where I spend every dollar, I started buying the big cans of ground coffee from Aldi's for four bucks. This may sound like I have hit rock bottom; but, with some experimenting and some good advice from a friend, I enjoy a super cheap and tasty cup-o-joe in the morning.

What you can do:

• Make it in a french press to make it stronger
• Add a healthy pinch of salt to cut the bitterness and bring out the coffee flavor
• Add a bit of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg or cardamom to the grounds - the cardamom will make it taste like Turkish coffee and it is sooo good. It is best to buy the spice and grind it up yourself.
• Once the coffee is done add your favorite flavor such as chocolate, vanilla or peppermint
• Of course if all else fails add a little cream and sugar to make it taste more like a late

If you absolutely must have good quality whole bean coffee, the best I have found for the price is at World Market; they have 24 ounce bags of surprisingly good whole bean for nine dollars. If you join their Explorer club you get a free bag for every six bags you purchase and sometimes they have a buy one get one free sale!

Clear a clogged drain without nasty drain cleaner

Every time I experience a clogged drain, I usually put it off longer then I should because drain cleaning products freak me out. I start to think about what if: it splashes me in the eyes, my cat steps in it, my gloves have a previously unknown hole or my child doesn't listen and decides to play in the sink! Well now, thanks to all of the wonderful people who post how to videos on the internet, I never have to use it again. It turns out that all I need to clear even the most clogged drain is baking soda, vinegar and hot water; it actually works better than those nasty products and it costs less than a dollar.

Here is how you do it:

Sprinkle a good amount of baking soda down your drain.
Pour some vinegar down your drain and let it fizz.
Keep adding vinegar until the clog breaks and the fizzing has stopped.
Follow up with boiling hot water to wash it all down.
Repeat this process as many times as needed.

If there is any hair or other debris the bubbling action should bring it to the surface so you can use tweezers and a crochet hook to pull it out.

Make your own Tub Scrub bathroom cleaner

I don't miss the days when I would prepare to clean the bathroom. Open all windows, lock up the pets and kids, then letting it air out for an hour before use... yikes! Now when I clean my bathroom, my child helps me, the cats have tasted it and my whole house smells pleasantly like peppermint candy. Since I have started making this I actually enjoy cleaning my bathroom. I use it in the tub, sink and toilet; it works better and costs way less then any other product I have ever used.

Ingredients:

1 cup of  baking soda
1 cup of distilled water
1/2 cup of liquid soap (I use dr. bronners peppermint)
1/4 cup of vinegar
1/4 cup of sea salt (optional)
a couple of drops of tea tree oil (optional)

Home made deodorant

One day around a year ago my grocery bill came to over $120 for only a couple of bags of goodies. I felt shocked and sickened as I looked over my receipt and realized that most of it was toiletries and cleaning products, I was low on a lot of stuff. At the time I was going for natural and organic products and felt it was worth the extra cost, but it wasn't until I had to purchase them all at once that I realized what a tremendous cost burden it was.

I got it into my mind that there had to be a better way, so I started searching. I found out that a really good way to save heaps of money and free yourself from questionable chemicals is to start making as many products at home as you can. It is not only ridiculously cheap, but it takes less time to make then to drive to the store and buy everything.

My first project was deodorant!

For many years I have been concerned about the aluminum content of most deodorants, so I started paying $5 to $7 for various products from the health food store. Not only did they not work very well, but they are way to expensive. The one I have been making from home is so good and so cheap that I am able to make it and give it away to anyone who wants it. Even considering the essential oils I use, a batch costs less then a 25 cents, works better and last longer then a stick of store bought deodorant!

Make it, Try it, LOVE IT!

All you do is mix all ingredients together and rub a little bit under your arms. It will absorb moisture, eliminate odor and it doesn't make your skin feel waxy or leave a white residue.

All you need to make a basic deodorant:

• 1 part baking soda
• 1 part sea salt (always try to stay away from table salt)
• just enough coconut oil to make a stiff paste

optional ingredients:

• a couple of drops of tea tree oil because it is antiseptic, antibacterial, antiviral and anti-fungal
• vitamin E, a couple of drops is good enough
• Whatever essential oil you enjoy for fragrance

Going out is draining you!

One of the first things that I learned is that eating out every day will empty your wallet faster then you can say "didn't I just have a 50"! Here is my old typical routine:

Stop in the morning for coffee: $3
Sometimes a muffin: $2
Lunch: $5-$10
Coke at the corner store: $2
I don't feel like/don't have time to cook dinner: $15-$25
Lets go out this weekend: $50-$100

At the time of the purchases, it didn't seem like much; but when I added it up, I found I was spending around $10,000 per year on stuff I really don't need. If you think this is excessive, save your receipts for one typical week; at the end of the week add it all up and be prepared to be shocked.

The most immediate solution to most of these expenditures is, go to the grocery store, make it at home and take it with you. For entertainment, think of alternatives to going out every weekend. Instead of meeting friends somewhere, try inviting them over to do something fun at your house. At my house we now have a weekly potluck barbecue and it is so much more fun then spending a small fortune in a crowded bar.

Get yourself FREE!

I have always wanted to lead a more free lifestyle. Now, in such a bad economy, I have no choice. I left a dead-end job for the frightening and exciting world of the freelance web designer, if you are curious you can see some of my design work on my website www.higherlink.com. While it is rewarding and I don't ever want to go back, I have had to learn what it really means to pinch pennies. Over the last year I have figured out many ways to save money and resources without really sacrificing anything of worth, oh and did I mention it has been a lot of fun? I have decided to think of and try at least one new idea a day and share it with all of you. If you have any ideas, please let me know what you are doing to free yourself and lighten your footprint.