Wise Bread (Nora Dunn)

Paint a Room and Wash Your Face: More Uses For Powdered Milk Than You Ever Imagined

Nora Dunn — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 02:26:33 -0400

“Yick. Why on earth would you drink powdered milk?” I used to think. “It must taste horrid,” I surmised. I never drank that much milk anyway, so the cost savings of having powdered milk on hand didn’t come into the picture either.

However, when I inherited a bread maker and started making my own loaves, I came across powdered milk as a common ingredient.

And so began the wonderful day that powdered milk became a staple in my kitchen.

Although the price of powdered milk has crept up over the years, it is still a frugal way to drink the white stuff. And in addition to the wonderful uses Myscha outlined in her article here, there are so many other interesting things you can do with powdered milk that warrant its place in your cupboard too:

Recipes

Cream (Or Something Like It)

Whisk equal parts of powdered milk to cold water, and you’ll end up with something creamier than milk. Let’s call it cream. Add a touch of fresh whole milk and you’re closer.

Instant Hot Chocolate

Combine equal parts of powdered milk, cocoa powder, and sugar, and whamo – you have instant hot chocolate on hand, just requiring hot water to serve. Play around with the exact quantities to suit your taste. This is especially handy if you make a batch in advance. Then get creative – add cinnamon, or chili, or nutmeg, and believe it or not a dash of salt brings out the chocolate flavour quite nicely.

Whipped Topping

Nothing beats real whipped cream, I know. But here’s a close second that is relatively guilt-free and made with stuff you already have on hand:

Combine equal parts of ice water and powdered milk, and whip with electric beater for a few minutes, until fluffy. Add a little sugar, a touch of lemon juice, and some vanilla for good measure. Beat until it is thick like whipped topping and spoon onto your dessert. Yum!

Homemade Yoghurt

Although you have to use commercial yoghurt to get this recipe going, it will go a long way.

In a very clean jar, put a quart of prepared milk. Add another ½ a cup of milk powder to thicken up the mixture a bit. Mix in a ¼ cup of commercial yoghurt, ensuring it has active bacterial culture in it. Stir well.

Let the mixture sit in a warm place for about 8 hours, until it is thick and creamy. Once it is the consistency you like, chill it and you’re good to go. Add fresh fruit or jam or vanilla and a touch of sugar or honey for flavour if you wish.

Curds, or Cottage Cheese, or Ricotta

First you make curds. Bring 1 part powdered milk and 2 parts water to a boil. Remove from heat and drizzle in some vinegar (ie: for every cup of water, put a tablespoon of vinegar). Stir lightly and let stand. You will see the milk separate, and you should have a clear liquid and white curds. If the liquid is still milky, add more vinegar, stir, and let sit again. Pour the mixture through a cloth to retain the curds and rinse them in cool water.

For ricotta, simply blend the curds until smooth.

For cottage cheese, add some yoghurt or evaporated milk and stir.

In The Kitchen

Thawing Frozen Fish

If you leave your frozen fish in a dish of milk to thaw, it will absorb the nutrients in the milk and taste as plump and fresh as the day it came out of the sea. Or at least close to it.

Make Sweet Corn Sweeter

Add some powdered milk (a quarter cup) to the water when boiling corn on the cob. You’ll be amazed how sweet and plump the corn will be.

Beautification and Bodily Uses

Shaving

If you’re in a pinch and have no shaving cream or gel, you can (apparently) use milk as a substitute. Sounds pretty rough to me, but beggars can’t be choosers I guess. Combine powdered milk with enough water to make a thick creamy texture and apply as you would to shave.

Insect Bite Treatment

Make a paste with powdered milk and water (try equal parts powdered milk and water) and a dash of salt. It will take care of the irritants in the bites and bring relief of the itchiness.

Sunburn Relief

A little milk applied to sunburns will soothe your skin and make you feel less toasty for a while. For ease of application, you can use the paste recipe shown above for insect bites.

Skin Moisturizers

For a really dry skin remedy, rub some cold milk on your skin and allow it to absorb the nutrients. Be sure to rinse off afterwards though or you may smell a little sour by the following morning!

Makeup Remover

Shake up some powdered milk and warm water until it has a creamy consistency. Apply with a facecloth or cotton ball, then wipe it off and rinse well with water.

Face Mask

For a home spa facial, use water and powdered milk to make a thick paste and spread it on your face. Relax for 20 minutes until it dries, then rinse thoroughly. It will both clean and moisturize your face wonderfully. Not to mention the fact that you just sat and did nothing for 20 minutes…the relaxation aspect of facials is not to be underestimated.

Milk Bath

Add some powdered milk to your bath and have a nice soak. An ancient technique that is still used in some parts of the world, it is wonderful for moisturizing the skin, and quite a luxurious treat.

Household Uses

Clean dirty hands

Combine some (prepared) milk with a little lemon juice to wash your hands. The lemon will cut through the grease, and the milk will make your hands...well..milky soft.

For extra grimy hands, mix in some rolled oats to make a paste and scrub away.

Silver Polish

Sour your milk by adding some lemon or vinegar. Then, soak your silver in the mixture for about half an hour, wash the silver with soapy water, buff it up, and watch it shine.

Spiff up your Patent Leather

The last pair of patent leather shoes I owned goes a while back now (yikes), but if you’ve got ‘em, now you can clean ‘em. Rub a thin layer of milk on them, let it dry, then polish your duds until they gleam again.

Clean the Plants

Only a very particular (read: anal) clean-freak or maybe a greenhouse gardener might want to test this technique. Clean your plant leaves with a weak mixture of powdered milk and water and a soft cloth. Then again just plain wiping the plants down period will get the dust and dirt off, but if you want to try milk, be my guest. I’m sure your plants will thank you in their quiet subtle way.

Cure Your Cracks

This may be an old wives tale, but if you have a piece of cracked china that you are heartbroken about, it may be worth a shot. Boil it in milk (by simmering on low heat for 45 minutes), and you just may find that the crack goes away (the milk reacting with the kaolin in the china to repair the crack from the inside out).

If anybody has done this successfully, please let us know here. It may save a lot of heartbreak-age with the good china.

Removing Ink Stains From Clothes

Soak the offending garment in milk overnight, then wash it as usual the next day. Damn those leaky pocket protectors.

Paint a Room

No really.

Mix 1 part water to 3 parts powdered milk until you get something around the consistency of paint. Blend in a water-based colour if you don’t want neutral white, and paint your heart out. As with normal paint, let it dry thoroughly between coats (ie: 24 hours).

Of course, given the amount of powdered milk required to actually paint a room, I question the cost effectiveness and practicality of this idea, but if you just need to do a touch-up on a neutral surface, or need to stretch what’s left in your can of paint a little further and aren’t fussed about lightening the tone with the dilution, this could come in handy.

Oh yeah, and you can use powdered milk as just plain milk too!

For those who are worried about their powdered milk turning out watery and lumpy, here are a few techniques for successful milk-making:

Only mix the powdered milk with cold water. It tends not to dissolve with warm or hot water.
Stir it well, and when you think you’ve stirred it enough, stir it some more. Let it sit for a while, then stir it even more. This helps the protein to mix in properly.
For a creamier fuller taste and consistency, make your milk the night before and keep it in the refrigerator. It will come into its own after a night of chilling.
If you still can’t stand the taste, try adding a drop or two of vanilla, or a touch of sugar.

And if you are trying to make the full leap from fresh milk to powdered milk, you may want to ease the transition by cutting it with fresh milk. You’ll know you did it right if nobody notices after a process of weaning yourself off the fresh milk.

Disclaimer: As with toothpaste applications , these tips and tricks have not all been tested and should be attempted at the user's risk. Heck - if you plan to paint a room with milk, it's all you!

Permalink | 7 comments | Nora Dunn's blog | Channel: Life Hacks, Food and Drink

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The Easiest Way to Save Money on Vacation

Nora Dunn — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 02:46:39 -0400

By Nora Dunn

You are enjoying a sunny vacation on the beaches of Mexico. Some of the locals are wearing native garb, or at least peddling it. Vendors walk up and down the beaches selling their wares, from coconut shell jewelry, to crocheted sundresses, to key chains.

You want something to remember this moment with. The smells of pina coladas and sun tan lotion, the feeling of the soft white sand, and the sound of gentle ocean waves splashing on the beach. Those crocheted sundresses are beautiful, and you’d look stunning in one. You could use it as a cover up at the beach, and you could also accessorize it up nicely for dressy-casual dinners. It’s perfect.

You swear up and down that you’ll wear it at home too. That’s the reason you’re getting it of course – there are people everywhere down here wearing these beautiful garments – why wouldn’t you wow people at home with it too?

So after shelling out your precious pennies for the beautiful (read: tacky) sundress, getting gitchy key chains as souvenirs for people at home, wacky t-shirts, and coconut shell necklaces, you have just blown your vacation budget.

What’s worse: you get the beautiful (read: tacky) sundress home, and it in turn finds a home in the back corner of your closet, only to be rediscovered months or even years later. You try it on, hopeful that it won’t look as bad as you think it will. It really does look that bad. So it gets disposed of or given away to a poor unsuspecting victim.

The key chains are accepted by friends with a genuinely appreciative smile, only to be tossed into their overflowing bowl of key chains that they’ll never use.

The t-shirts were cool and reflected a uniquely cultural flair when you saw them in Mexico, but they seem a little too out of place at home. They become very expensive cleaning rags.

And the coconut shell necklace went nicely with the sundress, but it is horribly tacky up close, not to mention falling apart; it is a marginal step above macaroni and white glue. The necklace your kid made in grade two beats this one you paid money for.

What’s the best way to save money on vacation, and not sacrifice the experience?

Leave the souvenirs in the store.

The best intentions of stimulating the local economy by purchasing souvenirs are more often than not misguided. Many “authentic” crafts and souvenirs are mass-produced in another country entirely. The local girl selling them isn’t seeing nearly the profit margins you may think – in fact she could even be getting a meager hourly wage from a foreigner who is the actual “boss”.

The items you think you’ll use at home rarely get used. They collect dust, either in your cupboards, or in the cupboards of the poor folks you bestow these gifts upon. The local fashion looked great while you were visiting, but just doesn’t seem to work when you try to wear it at home.

Impulse shopping, especially while on vacation, is an easy trap to fall into; that’s why heavily touristy areas are littered with concession stands. But rarely will it produce the overall satisfaction that you expect when you shell out your sheckles for that "must-have" souvenir. You won’t use that purse. Wallet. T-shirt. Key chain. 150th mug. Lampshade. Chances are you really won’t.

But having a souvenir to remember your trip with is a legitimate desire, and can be satisfied without breaking the budget.

As suggested in another recent article, instead of leaving yourself to impulse, try to select an item that you want to remember the trip by – just one. One that you can either use regularly (like a hand-carved kitchen tool), or that has a spot on a blank wall that will compliment your current décor and bring fond memories every time you look at it.

If you can, select this item before you even leave home. Then instead of being sidetracked in souvenir shops and concession stands, you can instead be on a mission to find the perfect kind of item you are specifically looking for. It actually becomes part of the adventure of your trip, and depending on the availability of your chosen souvenir, you may meet some interesting folks searching for it.

You will start to see the difference between the mass-produced souvenir shop fakes, and the real deal. And yes – in some cases you may spend a little extra money on it; but since you’re only buying one thing, you can afford it. It’s in the budget.

Trust me – this is the voice of experience here, with a drawer full of “who can I possibly give this to” items – both your wallet and your wardrobe will appreciate it.

Permalink | 24 comments | Nora Dunn's blog | Channel: Frugal Living

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Soy Milk, Tofu, and Veggie Burgers for pennies, anyone?

Nora Dunn — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:50:37 -0400

By Nora Dunn

Those who are vegetarians, lactose intolerant, or just plain omnivores who like soy products know how much it can hurt the pocketbook. Staying stocked in soy milk, cooking with tofu, and grilling up veggie burgers can be downright financially painful, especially if you have a larger family to feed. But making your own soy products isn’t as difficult as you may think, and you can do it all for literally pennies on the dollar.

The last batch of soy beans I processed cost $1.50 and produced 24 meals. Want to know how? Read on...

Buy dried soy beans in bulk.

These days you can find them pretty much anywhere; bulk food stores, health food stores, and even pre-packaged in many grocery stores. You’ll need a fair amount, and will probably want to prepare this recipe in larger quantities, so don’t be afraid to stock up.

Soak your beans overnight.

Exact amounts aren’t relevant for these recipes. However for your first batch, try soaking three cups of soy beans in water. Be prepared for them to swell in size dramatically…a large container with lots of water is in order.

Grind up those beans.

Put the beans and water in a blender and go to town. You’ll probably find that you have to do this and the next few steps in batches, depending on the amount of beans you soaked.

You want your blender mix to be pretty watery, so don’t be afraid to add more water to the bean mixture. Once blended, it should be the consistency of a thin milkshake.

Squeeze those beans.

Line a large pot with a pillowcase (or cheese cloth if you have an abundance of cheese cloths lying around) and pour your blender mix into the pillowcase. Then, squeeze the pillowcase for all it’s worth! This is best accomplished with two people: one holding the pillowcase over the pot, and the other squeezing the soy – you’ll definitely need two hands and some elbow grease for this one.

You’ll notice a white milky substance coming from the ground up mixture (soy mash)…this is the first step to making soy milk. If you think that after squeezing you could get some more milk from your soy mash, then add more water to the soy mash in the pillowcase and keep squeezing. You’ll know you got everything out of the mash when the liquid coming from the squeezing starts to pale in colour.

Repeat this step until all your beans are ground and squeezed.

I did this the other day, and three cups of beans yielded three blenders full, and hence three squeezing sessions. It’s messy work, but fun too! (Another reason why it is best done with a friend. Kids will dig this too).

This is the basic work for all three recipes: soy milk, veggie burgers, and tofu. And now for the individual recipes:

VEGGIE BURGERS

The leftover soy mash is your base for veggie burgers. Season it to your heart’s content, add an egg and/or bread crumbs if you like, form patties, and grill them up. The consistency won’t exactly be like beef, but then again what veggie burger is?!

If you want to have some fun, add some finely grated carrots or other veggies to your patties for extra colour and flavour.

Or if you have lots of soy mash and a large family to feed, try making a veggie loaf! Add some canned diced tomatoes, bread crumbs, an egg or two, worstershire, seasonings, and bake it up! I actually prefer this to the veggie burger option; the consistency of the soy mash is more conducive to baking a loaf in my mind.

SOY MILK

Now for the milk you laboriously squeezed into your large pot. Put that sucker on the stove, and boil it gently, stirring frequently for 10-15 minutes. This is not an exact science. You will notice the frothy bubbles on top will dissipate, which is a sign that the milk is coming along nicely. Remove from heat.

And whamo – you have soy milk! Feel free to add flavouring (eg: vanilla and sugar if you like the flavoured stuff), or leave it au natural for your enjoyment. Be sure to store it in the fridge once cooled.

TOFU

Whatever milk you don’t wish to keep as soy milk will become your tofu. The entire batch (3 cups of dry soy beans) will yield about 500grams (18 ounces) of firm tofu, so it’s up to you how to divide your soy-squeezing efforts between soy milk and tofu.

Add flavour (optional).

If you like flavoured tofu, now is the time to add it. Simply mix your flavour in with the hot soy milk. I tend to skip this step (and add flavour when I’m cooking up the tofu instead), so I can’t be of much help here. But feel free to get creative; curry power, teriyaki sauce, or some fresh herbs would all make interesting additions.

Add something sour to the hot milk.

The choice it up to you: for the best results, use either Epsom salts or white vinegar. You can also use tamarind juice (which I like to use), or other types of vinegar, but be aware that the tofu will take on the flavour of what you use, so choose carefully. White vinegar is the most conventional and least expensive option.

Stir, then let sit.

The amount of sour to add to your milk is also not an exact science. Stir it for a minute, then let the mixture sit for a few minutes. As it sits, you will see the milk will separate and curdle. Once you see that the milk is fully curdled and the remaining liquid is clear, you have added enough. If not, then add some more vinegar, stir, and let sit again.

Drain and press.

Pour the curdled milk mixture back through your pillowcase, retaining the curdles and discarding the liquid. Squeeze the pillowcase gently to get the remaining liquid out (watch out: it’s hot!). Then set the pillowcase with your tofu-to-be on a flat surface where liquid can continue to seep out without ruining anything (a cutting board in the sink works well), and put something heavy on top to press the tofu into its firm and final form.

Allow to sit.

Let your tofu sit under the weight for 20 minutes or so. You will know it is done when you open up the pillowcase and discover a block of firm tofu inside!

Enjoy!

Your tofu will keep best if stored in a tight container in the fridge. Cut it into pieces and add to stir frys, salads, or fry it up on its own with some seasonings. The consistency is firm, and it will absorb flavour nicely when you cook with it. You may even catch yourself eating it on its own…it is that good!

Permalink | 21 comments | Nora Dunn's blog | Channel: Life Hacks, DIY, Food and Drink, Green Living, Lifestyle

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Do You Love Money or Hate It? Either Way, You're Sick.

Nora Dunn — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:34:09 -0400

By Nora Dunn

Do you love money?

Do you love to earn it? Dream of what it can buy? Visit your bank accounts often and watch them grow? Review your investments with eager anticipation, and fancy yourself an amateur trader in your spare time? Do you read countless articles on money making strategies, from businesses to investment and tax-saving tips? Discuss detailed money matters with your family and friends over dinner?

Well, you’re sick.

Do you hate money?

Do you ignore your investments? (Or not have any to begin with)? Bury your head in the sand when the monthly bills roll in? Politely excuse yourself when family or friends start talking about money or careers or taxes? Put off filing your taxes each year? Cringe when you have to go to the ATM, and quickly discard the transaction receipt without looking at the balance?

Well, you’re sick too.

Or maybe not.

Maybe it’s not bad to love money.

Maybe keeping track of your accounts and investments helps to provide peace of mind for the future, and empowers you to spend within your means now.

Maybe knowing what your money can buy and working towards goals helps you stay motivated, and even tolerate a job you can’t stand, by keeping your eye on the ball.

Maybe an awareness of your investment portfolio and trading activity is good in this ever-changing world of economics.

And reading articles on business, taxes and money matters just might save you a few bucks or help make a few more, getting you even closer to your financial goals (both short term and long term).

And with a family and circle of friends who share the same ideals and attitudes towards money, maybe talking with them about it creates an open and healthy relationship with finances, and gives you a forum for keeping your own finances in check.

Then again, maybe it’s not bad to hate money.

Maybe talking about finances with other people is unsavoury, socially awkward, and unacceptable in your circles.

Maybe ignoring an investment portfolio is the best way for it to grow in the long run, since you’re not supposed to actively trade and get sidetracked by short-term fluctuations. They do say “slow and steady wins the race”, after all.

Nobody likes bills. So is it really so bad to hate them? They still get paid in the end after all, right?

And for heaven’s sake, taxes are highway robbery. Procrastinating on filing in an effort to enjoy the little things in life is not a crime. (Then again, maybe it is)!

Within both scenarios, most people would agree that there are some legitimate points. Loving money to the point of obsession is unhealthy, as is hating money to the point of ignoring all financial matters to your own detriment.

Luckily, if you are reading this article you probably already chose to be aware of your finances and take control of money matters, either to repair blunders of days gone by, or to take your financial plans to the next level.

But do you love money? Really love it? Or is it a necessary evil that rots your socks?

Ultimately, is it possible to love some aspects of money and what it can do for you without letting it control your life and turn you into a money-hungry pig? Can you become the Millionaire Next Door and quietly harness your money to work for you and still maintain friendships with people from all walks of life?

Does living in a mansion and driving a fancy car make you unattractive, or attractive? And to whom? Is being the object of envy a good thing? Does it inspire people to create achievable goals for themselves and have something to work towards, or does it further create a rift between the haves and have-nots of the world?

I honestly don’t know the answer to most of these questions. Is it good to love money? Or hate it? Is there an easy middle ground to stand on? It seems that to have an attitude towards money at either end of the love/hate spectrum is considered sick in one way or another. So what are we supposed to do? Love it or hate it?

Permalink | 14 comments | Nora Dunn's blog | Channel: Personal Finance, Career and Income

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Two Dozen Uses For Toothpaste (Aside From Cleaning Your Teeth)

Nora Dunn — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:23:29 -0400

By Nora Dunn

Didn’t you know that toothpaste (despite its name) is for so much more than your teeth? It’s truly handy to have on hand (I pity the household - and their teeth - that has no toothpaste at all), because it is quite multi-functional. Here are a few ways you can get your toothpaste working extra hard for you:

Stain Removal and Cleaning

Crayon on Painted Walls

So the kiddies decided to express their artistic side all over the walls, huh? No worries. Rub a damp cloth and some toothpaste on your marked-up wall and rinse with a clean wet cloth.

Carpet Cleaning/Stain removal

Scrub away with an abrasive brush and toothpaste, rinse, and you’ll scrub the stain right out. You may even realize how dirty the rest of your carpet is in the process.

Cleaning Running Shoes

Similar to above, scrub away (especially on those scuffed up white rubber soles), wipe with a damp cloth, and watch your tootsies gleam.

Scuffed Leather Shoes

Put a dab on the scuff, rub in with a soft cloth, and rinse with a damp cloth.

Stained Clothes

It stands to reason that if toothpaste works on your carpets, it will work on clothes too. Apply the toothpaste directly to the stained fabric and rub the fabric together with all you’ve got. Rinse with water. You may have to do this a few times to fully remove the stain. This may not work on all fabrics or stains.

Cleaning Piano Keys

A well-used piano usually means some darker piano keys after a while. Scrub with toothpaste and a toothbrush, then wipe dry with a damp cloth, and you’ll be tickling some ivory ivories again.

Baby Bottles

If your baby bottles are getting a sour-milk smell, clean them out with some toothpaste using a bottle-scrubber, and rinse really well with water.

Cleaning The Iron

I guess I don’t use an iron enough for it to get gunky (wait a minute – I don’t even own an iron), but apparently crap can accumulate along the plate and bottom edge. Toothpaste has just enough abrasive in it to do the job nicely.

Make Chrome Gleam

Ran out of your bathroom or kitchen cleaner? Use some toothpaste in a pinch, and watch your taps shine.

Scrub Those Nails

Fingernails and toenails are made of similar stuff as teeth are. So scrub away using toothpaste and a nail brush for some shiny extremities.

Wash your Watch Band

I tried this on a plastic watch band I have that is embarrassingly dirty with only minimal results. Then again maybe this watch band was beyond repair.

Obviously if the watch itself is not water-resistant, be careful to keep it dry in the cleaning and rinsing process.

Take water rings off coffee table

Simply rub some toothpaste into the offending mark with a soft cloth and wipe dry with a clean damp cloth. Finish off with some furniture polish to help protect grandma’s antique table from staining again. Better yet – use coasters.

Jewelry Cleaner

I tried this on some seriously dull-looking jewelry the other day, and was very impressed with the results. Use a soft toothbrush to scrub lightly with a dab of toothpaste, rinse it, and polish it dry with a soft towel. You’ll discover a whole new shine to your precious accessories.

If you are dealing with a lot of grunge, dab some toothpaste on and let it sit overnight. Or better yet, dissolve some toothpaste in a small amount of water, and drop the jewelry in it for an overnight soak. Then follow up with the steps above.

Note: Do not use this technique on pearls, as you may damage the finish.

Skin Remedies

Overnight zit cream

Inevitably it happens right before a big job interview, or while you’re on the road without having brought along your trusty zit cream: the pimple of the century emerges. Never fear though: your toothpaste will do in a pinch to reduce the redness and dry out your greasy disaster. Just don’t forget to wash it off in the morning, or else they’ll be giving you some strange looks at that job interview.

Bee Sting ointment

I try not to get too close to these useful but annoying insects, but occasionally they like to get close to me. A touch of toothpaste can take the edge off the pain, and soothe the wound. Be sure to take the stinger out first of course.

Bug Bite Relief

Aaahh. Instead of scratching those pesky bites until they swell up and become unbearable, dab a little toothpaste on it and forget about your itchy worries.

Cold Sore Ointment

I know people who swear by this. It uses the same principle of relieving the itchiness and swelling of bug bites and acne. Again, best used as an overnight treatment.

Defogger

Goggle Defogger

Anybody who scuba dives knows that toothpaste is a great alternative to pricey defogger gel, and is particularly handy in taking the manufacture film off of a brand new mask or pair of goggles. Simply squirt a dab in each lens and rub in thoroughly with your fingers. Rinse well.

Bathroom Mirror Defogger

Using the same principle as above, it stands to reason that toothpaste can help keep your bathroom mirror clear as a bell while somebody is in the shower. This is great for a couple or household who shares a bathroom on a tight timeline, or for somebody who needs the mirror right after getting out of their hot shower.

More Wacky Uses

Fill in Nail Holes

If you are moving out of your digs quickly, have white walls, and don’t have any spackle to fill in the holes in the wall, you can use toothpaste to fill in the holes.

For painted walls, you can let the toothpaste dry and it’s good to paint over in a jiff.

Hanging Posters

Some people claim that toothpaste can be used to hang posters on the wall. If it works, then at least it saves having to fill gaping nail holes with the stuff when you move out!

Fix Scratched DVDs

Yes, toothpaste even fixes scratched DVDs, folks. Paul wrote about it a while back here. Admittedly, he didn't have much success with it, nor did I when I tried. Then again, the DVD I was using was pretty banged up.

Deodorizer

It makes your mouth smell pretty, so why wouldn’t it work for other things? It deodorizes your sink drain pipes pretty nicely, and if you got your hands into something stinky it will help make your hands smell pretty again with a good scrub. Heck – it cleans your nails too in the process.

Car Freshener

This one is really out there, but it might be worth a try. Put a dab on a paper towel, crumple it up, and stick it under your car seat. Park somewhere in the sunshine, and the heat of the car will warm up the toothpaste and make your car smell minty-fresh.

What Kind of Toothpaste to Use

These days, you can get toothpaste in all sorts of flavours, colours, and consistencies. For the applications in this article, stay away from the fancy stuff though and go with the original tried and true; make sure you have good ol’ white non-gel toothpaste.

Getting the Most of your Toothpaste Tube

Before you dismiss that tube as being empty, soak it in warm water for a few minutes. Use something flat like a knife handle or toothbrush handle to push the remaining warm toothpaste out of the tube. Get more for your money!

Disclaimer

I haven’t tried all of these strategies, and certainly advise you to be cautious before squirting toothpaste all over that precious heirloom (be it a watch, piano, dress, or table). If possible test a small inconspicuous patch first.

Permalink | 15 comments | Nora Dunn's blog | Channel: Life Hacks

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Seven Tips For Buying a Second Hand Car and Walking Away Happy

Nora Dunn — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:30:23 -0400

By Nora Dunn

I got burned recently buying a second hand car. It doesn’t help that I was in a foreign country (and was struggling to grasp the local policies), and in a hurry to boot. But even if you are buying a car on your own turf, there are generally a few good rules of practice:

Visit your local Vehicle Registration Office before you sign on any dotted lines

Yup. You may have to stand in line and deal with what seems to be a worldwide inefficiency that comprises government offices. But you can also arm yourself with information as to your rights, the requirements of the seller, and various obscure laws.

In Australia for example, I discovered a Vehicle Information Package that the seller can (but is not required to) provide the buyer with. It contains information about all the previous owners of the car, as well as possible liens and accident/stolen vehicle reports filed.

In some places this is mandatory, which is also something good to know. A seller trying to save a few bucks by not getting the report may end up sticking you with not only the cost of getting the report when you try to register your new wheels, but the nasty surprise of what’s in it.

Get under the car

Even if you will get your shirt dirty, and don’t really know what you’re looking for, get under the car. Anybody can see if there is a gaping rusted out hole in something, or if there are leaks that should be addressed.

Besides which, it makes you look like you know what you’re doing, which will put a shady seller on guard.

Take it on the highway

While test driving your potential wheels-to-be (we don’t have to tell you to test drive it, do we?), take it on the highway if at all possible. Cruising residential streets will only give you a partial picture of how the car drives. Get it to highway speeds and you may discover a terrible rattle or shake, or misalignment that could be dangerous but that would be missed in a general mechanic’s safety check.

Test everything

And I mean everything. All windows. All doors. Trunk latches. Key holes. Seat adjustments. Seat belts. Lights. Wipers. Turn signals. Radios. Dash functions. Odometers and speedometers (a pitiful lesson learned from personal experience). There’s nothing worse than buying a car, and then experiencing the slow and agonizing discoveries that your new wheels really aren’t all that new, nor are they fully operational.

Take it to a mechanic

I’ll admit, I’m the first person to want to skip this step. It’s costly, it takes time, and I don’t have a mechanic I trust. And if you are buying the car in a place where a safety or road-worthy certificate is required, you don’t need to also run it by a mechanic, do you?

Yes. Yes, you do. Personal experience: The mechanic who checked off the car I bought as being road-worthy (a certificate obtained by the seller more often than not, read: they work for the seller, not you) managed to miss the simple fact that the odometer doesn’t work. So much for the low mileage on the car I purchased.

Negotiate

Most sellers price their car expecting to be talked down at least a little bit. So try to talk them down. The worst they can say is no, at which point you can decide if you still like the car enough to accept their asking price. There’s no harm in asking for a discount.

Trust your instincts

When I was buying my little piece-o-junk, there were some small warning bells going off in my head. Although the couple seemed very nice, there were a few times when their stories didn’t match, or they contradicted themselves during our negotiation period lapsing a few days.

I managed to find excuses for every contradiction though, without addressing them. Maybe I was afraid of confrontation, or maybe I just wanted this deal to work. Either way, I’m stuck cleaning up the mess. And if I had heeded my instincts, I might have walked away and saved myself a bunch of heartache.

It bears noting that if you are purchasing a second hand car from a dealership, there are often rules in place to protect you if the car is a lemon. But with a private sale, much of the liability (or at least the pain of eliciting justice) rests in your hands. Do the right thing, and you’ll end up having a car you love, not one you can’t stand.

What tips or personal experiences do you have for our readers on buying a second hand car?

Permalink | 5 comments | Nora Dunn's blog | Channel: Cars and Transportation, Shopping

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How to Have a Frugal Vacation and Still Treat Yourself

Nora Dunn — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 18:29:06 -0400

By Nora Dunn

I recently found myself in Melbourne Australia killing some time between a sponsored trip and my next caretaking gig. Suddenly, I was on an official “vacation”! But as a Professional Hobo, I travel full-time, work in trade for accommodation, and earn money through the internet to cover off incidental expenses. So I had to keep my “vacation” expenses down since I don’t exactly have a fruitful income to live lavishly on.

So this experience brought up an interesting quandary: how do you vacation frugally, yet not allow your budget to compromise your traveling experience?

On one hand, you’re on vacation, so you don’t exactly want to squeeze every penny until it screams. The very idea of going on vacation means treating yourself to a special experience, seeing new things, and meeting new people. If you refuse yourself that museum admission, or that meal at a restaurant you’ve been dying to try, or the tour you’ve dreamed of taking, then what is the point of even leaving home in the first place?

Then again, if you go to town and spare no expense while on vacation, you may compromise your finances, and come home to a mess that may not only take a long time to clean up, but may also cause you to think twice about going away again.

Here are a few tips to help you balance out that vacation to enjoy the things you want to do, while keeping your chequebook balanced.

Eating

Meals will make up one of the most expense parts of your trip. If you are unable to cook for yourself in a hostel, you are relegated to eating largely at restaurants, which will in turn eat up your cash pretty quickly.

Go to that special restaurant, but for lunch, not dinner. Oftentimes, the menu items and portions are similar, but the price can be as little as half as what you would pay for dinner.
Scrimp on breakfast. At home, you probably have a fairly plain breakfast: toast, or cereal. But when you go to a restaurant for breakfast, you’ll likely end up ordering the full meal deal, and not only roll away having eaten more than you are used to, but also having spent way more money than you needed to. Instead, pick up some groceries at the local store (ideally a grocery store, not a convenience store!). Most hotel rooms have a mini bar fridge where you can store anything that requires refrigeration. Not only will you save time by eating something quick on your way out for the day, but you’ll also save money.
Never eat breakfast at a hotel! Unless it is included with accommodation (and we’ll get to that pitfall in a minute), hotels usually charge exorbitantly for breakfast, knowing that it is easiest for you to start your day with a meal right on your doorstep. If you insist on eating a full breakfast at a restaurant, then take the time to find an inexpensive diner where the locals eat. You’ll likely pay half the price.
Buy prepared foods at a grocery store. Many grocery stores have sandwiches (some of which are made to order), soups, salads, hot meals, and even sushi. Pick something up to go, and have a picnic while you are out and about. Or if it’s dinnertime, take your meal back to the room and serve up your inexpensive meal by candlelight. Create your own ambience, and you won’t have to worry about tipping the server or being pushed out the door if you want to linger over the meal.
Beware of snack foods and concession stands. It seems that hot chocolate, roasted peanuts, or ice cream stands are strategically planted in front of every major tourist destination around the world. If you wouldn’t get that snack or beverage at home, then don’t do it on vacation. You’ll probably pay too much for that ice cream cone anyway. (And if the kids won’t let the ice cream idea go, then go to a local convenience or grocery store and buy a box of pre-packaged ice cream cones or popsicles and pay less than half as much money).

Accommodation

This is the number one expense you will incur while on vacation (unless you are flying). The range of prices depend not only on the establishment and amenities, but also the location and time of year. Choose carefully.

Beware of the free breakfast. Although it may be enticing and convenient to have a free breakfast, you are paying for it one way or another. And if the breakfast turns out to be stale muffins, weak coffee, and some fruit, you may be losing money hand over fist. Even if the breakfast is glorious, compare how much you are paying for accommodation with breakfast versus without. Would you eat a full breakfast like that either way? If so, how much are you willing pay for it? If not, then why bother?
Location, location, location. It stands to reason that the hotels located in the middle of it all will charge a pretty penny for the convenience. By staying somewhere a little further out, you may get a better sense of the city and its people by taking public transportation, and/or by walking more (which never hurts when you’re eating all those rich vacation meals).
Choose your amenities. Although a pool, spa, exercise room, wireless internet, rooftop patio, and bathrobes may sound luxurious, will you use them? As much as I love seeing a bathrobe in my suite, I almost never use it. Why would I lollygag about in my room wearing a robe, when I can go out explore the place I came to visit? And as much as I’d like to sit in the sauna, I probably won’t. Look for the more basic accommodation, you’ll save lots of money.

Renting a Car

If you are visiting a city, don’t bother renting a car. Lots of city-dwellers don’t have cars, so try living like they do. Take public transportation, and walk lots.
If you must, go with a compact option. With the cost of fuel skyrocketing, the luxury sedans we like to get upgraded to will end up costing dearly. Do your pocket book and the environment a favour: keep it small, and don’t drive it unless you need to.

Tours

Sure, you need to be frugal, but don’t sacrifice the things you really want to see for the expense of seeing them. If you want to see the Great Barrier Reef, but balk at the price of the scuba diving trip, then consider a snorkeling trip instead. Or, book the boat trip from a further-out and lesser-known port. If you come and go without seeing it because of the cost, you’ll be kicking yourself all the way home.

Make a list. Each person in the family should choose one thing they really want to do on the vacation. Put it all on a list, and discuss the options and costs. This is a great way for the whole family to participate in the trip-planning process, and for children to become aware of the financial balance and compromise required not only on vacation but throughout life. If everybody gets a chance to pick one special thing to do, then they will assume ownership of the trip and enjoy it all the more.

Souvenirs

Here’s another way to break the budget, to be sure. The best way to avoid going overboard with souvenirs (or to disappoint the kids by insisting they can’t have anything they see) is to avoid the souvenir shops altogether. Many of the goods in such shops are mass produced, overpriced, and not authentic.

Instead, try choosing one or two things you want to take home with you that will remind you of your trip and be a special memento. Or, like your tour choices above, get everybody in the family to pick one thing they want as their own personal souvenir from the trip. Everybody can research the destination prior to going to find the trip memento that characterizes the trip best for them, and will be all the more pleased with the end result.

For example, my souvenirs from Australia are a black opal and personally hand-crafted digeridoo. From South Africa, I have a mask and piece of blue tanzanite. From Thailand: a silk shirt and photograph of a monk praying. These are all things I can enjoy in my home, or use practically and have fond memories of every time I use it.

Budget

The best way to avoid sticker shock when you return is to budget the trip to begin with. There are a number of ways you can stick to your guns while on the road:

Leave credit cards at home. By bringing travelers checks and spending only those, you know exactly what you’ll have left over when you get home. No nasty surprises. When the checks are running low mid-trip, then you’ll figure out where to scrimp if you need to.
Set daily meal cost limits. Accommodation, flights, and tours are often fixed prices and you know before you even leave home how much you’ll be spending. But meals can throw the budget out the window if you’re not careful. By setting a daily limit for how much you can spend on food, you can keep this variable expense under control too. If one day you go out for that special (and more expensive) lunch, then you’ll have to make due with a smaller breakfast and budget dinner to make the day’s budget balance.

Like so many things in life, your vacation is about balance. You’re on vacation: so treat yourself to the simple pleasures in life you have worked hard and saved up for. You want to return home energized, refreshed, and with lots of happy memories. Don’t waste time scrimping and saving on every little thing. But don’t throw caution to the wind and return home to a series of surprising bills, statement shock, and uncontrollable debt. Make sure your vacation is pleasurable, from the initial planning stages to the lifetime of memories afterwards.

Permalink | 12 comments | Nora Dunn's blog | Channel: Frugal Living

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Quality of Life

Nora Dunn — Fri, 30 May 2008 03:41:53 -0400

By Nora Dunn

Travel is amazing for helping you realize even more about your own country, culture, and home life. And despite cultural differences, language barriers, and economical disparities, we all seem to be fighting the same demons and striving for the same goals.

I’d like to share a story about a man named Joe (a western nickname derived from his longer Thai name) who I met in Thailand. It doesn’t matter that Joe grew up in a place barely imaginable to westerners, and lives a very different life on the outside as us; when he shared his life story with me, I realized that the battle for quality of life exists absolutely everywhere.

Joe grew up in remote northern Thailand. In the sleepy town where he was raised, the small number of inhabitants live off the land. They work two months of the year; one month planting, and the second month harvesting. The entire rest of the year is spent living a “quality life”. Everything is hand-crafted, and beautifully at that. A simple soup ladle has an intricate and ornate wooden handle. Why? Because they have time, and having beautiful things improves their quality of life.

Although Joe says they only work two months of the year, there is still work to be done. They tend their personal gardens for an hour each day. Since everything is handcrafted, time is spent making and repairing their wares. And of course there must always be home repair and maintenance projects on an ongoing basis. But then again, we in the western world also are laden down with many of these tasks, in addition to a 40, 60, 80, or even 100 hour workweek.

But as Joe grew up, like so many adolescents and young adults, he wanted what was on the other side of the fence. He longed to partake in the business of city life, smell the aroma of success, and interact with movers and shakers. And off to Bangkok we went.

Once in Bangkok, Joe led a successful career as a marketing manager. But as successful as he was, and as successful as others saw him to be, he worked long hard hours, and barely made enough money to pay for rent, much less live the life he thought a “successful” person should live.

Joe would wake up at 5am, and would return home from work at 10pm. Only to wake up and repeat the same process, six days a week.

A pair of jeans would cost one quarter of his monthly income. Rent: more than half. Food: another quarter. And after many years of this life, Joe realized that not only was no money left at the end of the month, but also no energy. No life. No love. And no happiness. In short – no quality of life.

Joe’s mind began to wander back to the life of his family, still in his home town. How on earth could he have thought that this life of “success” in the big city was better? Now the years of wisdom in the lines on his parents’ and grandparents’ faces made sense, as did their expressions of astonishment when Joe originally said he wanted to move away. They knew. But they also knew that Joe had to learn this lesson on his own.

Ten years later, Joe returned to his home town. His family and old friends accepted him with the unconditional love and acceptance that comes with the territory.

Now, Joe teaches westerners looking for their own quality of life the value of what may be right in front of them. He is a pioneer in sustainable living techniques, and adobe hut construction. He is now adopting a seed-saving program and other inspirational initiatives so that more and more people can preserve the beautiful world we live in as well as our quality of life (in the food we eat, places we live, and company we keep).

But first and foremost – he doesn’t work 17 hours a day any more. He enjoys the little things that most of us don’t even understand, much less know how to enjoy. And he has defined for himself what “quality of life” really means.

Does his struggle in Bangkok sound familiar to our own daily struggles? Never having enough time or money? Never being able to just “be”?

I wonder if there is a way for us to achieve that life – or at least that state of mind – in our part of the world. If everybody, despite background, culture, language, or family, wants the same thing, then maybe it’s easier to achieve than we may think.

Permalink | 9 comments | Nora Dunn's blog | Channel: Art and Leisure, Lifestyle

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Outsourcing Your Life, and Creating New Businesses

Nora Dunn — Tue, 27 May 2008 07:56:24 -0400

By Nora Dunn

How much is your time worth? If you get paid $25/hour for example, you work long hard hours on a salary (read: no overtime pay), and you have a family that is starting to forget what you look like, then how much is your time worth?

In order to gain an hour or two of family time, get out of the office at a decent hour, and save your health, is it worth $12/hour to hire landscapers? $15/hour to organize a terrific birthday party for your child? Or $10/hour to have somebody apply for visas for your next big vacation?

If you own a business and are doing nothing but running around putting out fires, how much more money could that business make if there were no fires to put out? Or rather, if somebody else could put them out for you and free you up to start averaging $50, $75, or $200/hour?

Welcome to the wonderful world of outsourcing.

Tim Ferris describes this concept beautifully in The 4-Hour Workweek.

In fact, you can read a clip from the book here; a humorous and compelling case study for outsourcing your life.

I have read about this concept before. This is not news. I have hired cleaners, delegated taxes to experts (who can complete them in a fraction of the time it takes me and still manage to save me more money), and hired help whenever I could find a way to do so.

But when I read the book, and more specifically the passage above, I began to realize that it doesn’t matter what you do for a living; there is always a way to outsource, make a profit in the end, and have more time to live life.

You can outsource your life to enjoy a fuller existence and more profitable career. But you can also create new businesses using outsourcing as the platform. Let’s explore both.

Outsourcing Your Life

When I sold my business to travel full-time and write for a living, I figured I was in it on my own. Shy of sending my taxes to an accountant, what can I possibly outsource? And why on earth should I need to? For goodness sake, I travel full-time; how taxing can that be?!

Shortly thereafter, I learned that it doesn’t matter what you do, or where you do it. There is always a way to find yourself too busy if you aren’t careful. Time that was previously filled with client meetings, drafting financial plans, and driving all over the city became filled with visa applications, press work, destination research for articles, actually writing and editing, working part-time in trade for accommodation, internet research and posting…you get the point.

I am traveling, yet I seem to spend more time at WiFi hotspots than I do actually seeing the world.

So I started to look at how I could outsource my life. Here are just a few ways:

Article Research: Some articles I wish to write require a lot of research. Since it costs me (in both time and money) to do internet research on the road, I tend to shy away from these projects. If I can get a stack of research done for a small fee, and turn that research into one or many paying articles, I will have a healthy profit and somebody else to have done the grunt work which normally slows me down – or rather, stops me from starting.
Website design: I don’t have the patience or time to learn how to design and maintain a website, but if I get somebody else on the task…
Blog postings: I regularly contribute to a number of blogs. And sometimes, it takes me almost as long to post the articles (especially if I’m in a place with a pitiful connection) as it does to write them. My virtual assistant can post it, take care of the html code, and attach reasonable tags. In fact, they can probably do it considerably more efficiently and effectively than I.
Travel Research: Instead of buying a travel guide and sifting through information I don’t need, or searching on the internet for what I do need, I can have a tidy little report sent to me by my assistant on exactly the things I want to know about my next destination. And there’s a potential cost savings in not having to purchase the guidebook too.
Travel Visas: If you have ever applied for a visa in certain countries with rigorous visa processes, you’ll understand why this may be worth outsourcing. It saves both time and headaches.
Income Optimization: My virtual assistant can consolidate all my online income sources and report some of the specific activities I monitor on a regular basis through avenues like Feedburner, Analytics, and even other avenues I have a desire but no time to monitor.
Increase Traffic: Anybody who makes money online knows there is but one golden rule to making money – thou shalt increase traffic. If my assistant can spend the time required to drive traffic to certain portals, my income can increase exponentially.
Personal Tasks: It’s a bit of a stretch past my comfort zone, but I could even outsource the monthly payment of my bills (online), and accounting. I do, however, draw the line at having them correspond with my family and friends for me!

There are a number of dos and don’ts to outsourcing your life and working with virtual assistants, so I will leave it to The 4-Hour Workweek to explain them, as the author does a bang-up job.

Let’s start to think even bigger.

Creating New Businesses

I just managed to find ways outsource most of the things that hold me down and keep me from traveling with a clear mind and lighter pack.

But what about outsourcing as a business?

It’s pure art in the making.

Artists by nature are rarely business-minded people. Entrepreneurial talent and artistic talent utilize different parts of the brain. I wonder if it is one of the reasons you see talented artists (be they visual artists, musicians, or –ahem – writers) who aren’t “making it big” like you believe they should.

What if you could pave the way for these artists? To develop a team of virtual assistants, versed in everything it takes to market that mural, or book that gig? And what if you could connect those artists with your talented virtual assistants? The artists become your clients. You then manage their marketing activity via your virtual assistants.

What’s in it for the artist? A well-organized marketing plan, and possibly the big career break they could otherwise spend a life searching for.

What’s in it for you? A cut of the profits for finding the artist, taking them on as a client, and outsourcing the marketing management. It’s not cheating; there’s still work involved in bringing a team of virtual assistants up to speed (an initial research task which you would be out of pocket for up front), and in soliciting and managing your artistic clients. But once you get even a few clients on board, what a wonderful form of relatively passive income this could be. Heck – you could even outsource the research on how to find potential clients, and get your virtual assistant to make the prospecting calls and book meetings for you. This leaves you free to work on another outsourcing business. Or drink pina coladas. Your choice.

This is just one business idea on how to maximize the power of outsourcing. If you take a look at your own profession with fresh eyes, you may find a few ways to do something similar yourself. Heck – you may even want to outsource your own job.

So…how much is your time worth?

Here are some outsourcing resources to get you started:

International Virtual Assistants Association – use them to find virtual assistants all over the world.

Your Man In India – a tool mentioned in The 4-Hour Workweek. Poking around there will lead you to Get Friday, where you can hire a virtual assistant to take care of any number of tasks.

Elance – another portal for outsourcing and locating virtual assistants who can help you simplify your life. You can search for appropriate companies by the task you wish them to complete.

Permalink | 12 comments | Nora Dunn's blog | Channel: Art and Leisure, Entrepreneurship, Lifestyle, Making Extra Cash

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