Proven tips and ideas for making your life easier...

You might be interested in knowing...

Just bought a swivel cart at Trader Joe's.  These carts usually retail for $40 or more - but at Trader Joe's, they sell them for $16 plus tax!!!  They are a foldable metal cart with swiveling front wheels.  So, you are trying to be more environmentally friendly, and you are doing more errands on foot these days, hop on over to Trader Joe's and ask Customer Service (they are not on display at all stores) for a swivel cart.  While you are shopping, they'll assemble it and then bring it to you in the store.  It is the best deal for swivel carts I have ever seen!

 The state of Massachusetts will no longer send out reminder notices when your driver's license is about to expire.  Check your license today and make a note on your calendar to remind yourself when you license will expire. 

Helen's Boot Shop in Beacon Hill just brought my cowboy boots back from the dead - it's a miracle!  They look so good!  I needed new soles (we're talking "I could see through the bottom of my shoes), but not anymore!  I am impressed.

The Beacon Hill Holiday Stroll is Thurs., December 11, from 6 pm to 9 pm
Festivities, refreshments and mingling along Charles and Cambridge streets. Everyone welcome. Free.  Sponsored by the Beacon Hill Business Association.

When I am  in NYC, these are a few of the places I like to visit: Fragments, La Maison du Chocolat, FAO Schwarz, Crumbs, Magnolia Bakery, Henri Bendel, Ochre, Dean & Deluca, Apartment 48, Giggle, Fishs Eddy, Auto, Neue Galerie, and Chelsea Market.

 Okay, I was walking through Saks Fifth Avenue the other day and saw, in the Christmas decorations, seriously-the-most-gigantic (it was the size of my head) old-fashioned red and white lollipop! If you are looking for candy the way candy used to be made, then you want Hammonds Candies.  This company has been around since 1920, and the candy they make is so authentically old-fashioned that you will swear you've travelled back in time.  Check out their candy coal (naughty... you know who you are) and candy canes.

Here's a cool product: Wrap-n-mats can be used in place of disposable sandwich and snack baggies. (Click on the link above to see how they work). To top it off, these smart reusable sandwich wrappers unfold into placemats. Beats "cleaning" your zip-locks for re-use (but, don't get me wrong, that's great, too!)

Have you considered using environmentally-friendly and long-lasting "LED" holiday lights for your holiday lighting this year? Greenhome.com claims that normal holiday lights can cost $30 a month in electricity when used six hours a day, while their LED holiday lights will use about 50 cents of electricity!  Target sells a 20-foot string of 60 clear mini-lights for $11.99.  From what I have read, LED lights last a long time, too.

Household tips:

Tired of wasting vegetables?  These "green bags" really work.  The REALLY do work (follow the instructions for best results).

When was the last time you had your chimney cleaned?  Chimneys for working fireplaces should be cleaned once a year to avoid chimney fires.

Change the bulbs in your most frequently used lights and lamps to CFL bulbs.  I am a first-hand witness to the fact that it can save you $5-$15 PER MONTH in electricity charges.  Remember:  Most CFLs are NOT to be used in dimmable or photo-cell light fixtures, and take your spent CFLs to Whole Foods for proper disposal.

And here's one more great benefit of CFL bulbs - because they have more lumens (brightness) for less watts, you can get brighter light out of your low-watt lamps and light fixtures by switching to CFLs.

Whole Foods recycles all types of batteries.  Whole Foods also recycles the ubiquitous plastic bag.

Unplug your microwave, computer, cell phone charger, etc. when not charging/using to save even more electricity/energy.