Record Keeping

There should be a place for your permanent file where you keep your copies of birth, marriage, divorce and death certificates. You could also keep your important papers like life, fire insurances, et al. You should have these things handy and copies should be kept within your home just in case you would need them. If you do not have copies of those certificates, apply for one from the appropriate office or local government sector where the certificates are handled.

You should keep in mind to protect these items from fire and flood. If possible, keep it in a safe or a metal or a footlocker box.

Odds and Ends

To keep clutter under control, assign a temporary place or box where all the odds and ends are placed. Assign this place than have those bits and pieces end up on the table top or worse lose it. A hook where you place keys. We all know that keys are the most common things that we misplace every so often. A small dish where we put some loose change, earrings, those little things. A mug to hold pens and pencils.

If you have the misfortune of having messy housemates, then feel free to have their things tossed their out-of-place belongings in that temporary box where you can easily point out to if they begin looking for their stuff.

An Ounce Over a Pound

This post will emphasize on the popular saying, "An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure."

It is way better to lean towards the preventive mode, rather than burn yourself out in figuring out out a way to remedy a problem.

Better keep out of children's reach those felt tip markers, crayons, pens, which are great potential trouble makers and some parents get often surprised with writings on the walls. This is better than having to scrub for hours on end those nasty wall markings. I would have to say that nothing beats the discipline we can right from the beginning instill on our children. I prefer this more than having to clear away all those markers. It works better that way for me and gives me a sense of fulfillment especially when I see my son knowing where he should only use the markers. But honestly, if we just have those little pieces lying around, even the most disciplined child will get tempted to claim the liberty to write on the walls.

Let's go to the kitchen. To prevent splatters and the frequency of having to wipe your stove top every after cooking, you can choose to use a bigger wok, pot or pan to prevent slop overs.

Never fill glasses and cups to the rim. Spillage is inevitable when you test the limits. Supply coasters for those glasses to protect your furniture, especially those which are made of wood. Confine eating, munching of foods in areas around the house. I personally prefer that people around the house do not eat inside the bedrooms, especially on the bed. And if you can at all help it, avoid serving crumbly and drippy finger foods during parties, so as to minimize clean ups.

Remember that these are not rules to follow, only mere suggestions. Life should be fun. Weigh the odds and if you think the benefit outweighs the others and you really think people around the house could adapt to it, then go and make life easier for all of you and apply these things!

Pointers to A Successful Garage Sale

I know I have not posted in a while. If you will check out our other blogs here, here and here, you'll understand why. I have been sick lately. I just could not pass up this opportunity to share with you some pointers even as mother has planned to hold her very own garage sale very soon.

Here are quick tips to remember:

1. First and foremost, check with your local officials or your village if you would be needing a permit to hold your garage sale. The last thing you would need is the hassle that could be caused by officials asking you for permits that you never knew you have to get a hold of.

2. Arrange the items to be sold per category. If you think you do not have enough items to be sold, ask friends and neighbors to participate.

3. Post advertisements with time, place date of your garage sale event on shops, supermarkets, bus stops, street corners provided you will not get in trouble for doing this.

4. Properly price your items with tags or tapes (keep in mind: when in doubt, lower your price)

5. Group items by category.

6. Be prepared to bargain. You are after all doing this to get rid of extra stuff. Reduce your prices a tad during the last two hours of your sale date.

7. Give all the leftover items to your church or charity.

Written in association with wooden garage door suppliers.

Trade Off System

This is something rather unpopular. When we buy things, this is especially true for shopaholics, there is a tendency to hoard without our knowing it. I have been especially made conscious about this when I watched on Oprah how some people develop to be "hoarders" over time.

A trade off system is what I figured would make sense and can be a very effective tool to combat this disorder called "hoarding." This is how it works, when you decide to buy anything for the house, make sure to give something away or discard those that you no longer use. Of course, first thing to consider is, that the things you discard or give away should belong to you.

We make sure to practice this right inside our home. When we are given the blessing to be able to buy new things, we put aside a thing or two to give away to bless others too. This is a practice that would help our souls not to attach ourselves to material things that we do not make use of to begin with. :d

Mailbox Tips

One of the neatest things you could decorate your lawn or garden with that could be very useful is a mailbox. But how do we choose the best one from all the mailboxes available in the market?

There are a few tips that we should keep in mind, regardless of your preference, which may be conservative or novelty, fancy or powder coat - prioritize two things by asking these questions: Does it complement the theme of the house? The second question to ask is, How important is the safety of your mail to you? Being able to answer both questions will narrow down your choices to these options. There are regular mailboxes and there those with locking features. It's really all up to you. You could check out this site for mailbox galore.

Fashion Tip

New York Fashion Schools have the reputation of legitimate education of the ins and outs of fashion industry. Being one of the fashion capitals of the world, the city of New York has earned its right and has proven through the generations its reputation when it comes to fashion. There is really more than just what we see on the catwalk. You should seriously consider going to one of the fashion schools in New York if your dream is to rise to be one of the best merchandiser or model of fashion. One top notch fashion school in New York that would surely meet no less than excellent standards is Katharine Gibbs School.

This is a tip that would really come in handy for those people who want to learn more about fashion and do good at it. The evolution of fashion through the number of reality television shows catering to it has attracted a lot of people to the spotlight of the fashion industry. We see from those television shows it is a tough career to take. One has to learn the ropes and excel to make it to the top. There is more than just meets the eye to say the least. To know fashion and excel at it are two different things.