To begin, you can get some great advice about front yard landscape design at Landscape Design Ideas.  You will find that although you may use your front yard less often than your backyard, it is important to design the landscape well so that your home has nice curb appeal.  This will help enhance the resale value when it is time to sell.  Simplicity is the key to effective design for front yards to keep things looking clean and easily accessible and you don’t need to spend a fortune to keep your front yard looking good.

Turning to the backyard, most people would love to have a pool of their own but many can’t afford one.  One solution is to choose from a variety of inflatable swimming pools that provide the luxury of having a pool in your own backyard without the hefty price tag.  Blue Ice Pool discusses the benefits of these types of pools and the enjoyment they can offer.

While we’re enjoying our backyards, let’s consider an affordable and unique way of lighting the outdoor space when the sun goes down.  Patio Lights Guide details some exciting and affordable options for patio umbrella lights that can keep the fun going even after dark.  There are numerous styles of lighting options to choose from and most are relatively inexpensive.

If you are looking to keep things organized inside your home, and specifically in your closet, then you may want to find out more about buying shoe storage boxes online at Bedroom Décor Tips.  This article provides information about the best types of storage to use and where the best places to buy them are.  Shoe storage boxes can be used for more than just storing shoes and are a great way to stay organized!

Keeping with the home organization theme (one of my favorite topics!), one of the best ways to stay organized is with large plastic storage boxes if you have a lot of items to store or have larger items that take up a good deal of space.  You can find many uses for these versatile boxes at Plastic Storage Boxes Info and will find that there are a number of different types of storage boxes to choose from. 

Whether you are looking to improve the exterior or interior of your home, are interested in keeping things organized, or are looking to save money, I hope that these tips have given you some good ideas!

Here are 10 more quick cleaning tips to keep you working efficiently and effortlessly…

1. Put a new box of baking soda in the fridge or freezer. With just a few seconds of effort you’ll have everything smelling better in no time! Have a few extra seconds while you’re looking in the fridge? Toss out any food that looks like it has seen better days!
2. Toss junk mail and catalogs. Better yet, keep a shredder in a convenient location and run anything with personal info right through the shredder. It only takes a minute to reduce your pile of mail – and avoid identity theft, too!
3. Test your smoke alarms. This is often a neglected task and is important to make sure that your smoke detectors are in good working order.
4. Fluff pillows on a couch, chair or 2 seater sofa. It’s a 60 second way to give a room a just freshened up look.
5. Treat a laundry stain. Pre-treating stains when you know they occur makes it a lot easier to remove them when it’s laundry time.
6. Sprinkle baking soda in the bottom of a garbage can. Again, a few seconds of effort keeps your house smelling fresh!
7. Clean one drawer. Or at least get rid of obvious junk so it will make the drawer easier to rearrange when you have a few more minutes to spare.
8. Go through today’s mail so it doesn’t pile up and become a larger task a few days from now.
9. Focus on just one small space and throw something out or put something away where it belongs.
10. Have an extra minute while you’re in the car? Clean out cupholders! They seem to collect lots of junk and take just a minute to clean out to keep your car looking as clean and organized as your house.

I hope that these additional quick cleaning tips help you make good use of the spare minutes you find throughout your day and make keeping your house and life in order a little bit of an easier task!

Here are 7 ways you can save money when eating out:

1. Order an appetizer for dinner.  Portions have gotten so big lately that this is usually enough anyway. Or share an entrée with your dining partner, if you both feel like eating the same thing and the portions are substantial.   You can even ask the server to pack up half of your meal before you begin eating, so you’ll have two meals for the price of one.  You’ll save yourself some calories in the process, too!   
2. If you’re headed to a pricey restaurant, consider enjoying a late lunch instead of dinner.  Very often these restaurants have separate lunch menus with portions that are a little smaller and are substantially less expensive.
3. If you’re dining with the kids, sign them up for the birthday club so they’ll get a free meal or dessert on their birthday.  Ask if there are certain days that kids eat free with a paying adult, because sometimes this benefit is not widely advertised.  Some restaurants may also offer a birthday club for adults, too.  
4. For restaurants that you frequent often, inquire about whether they offer a frequent diner program that offers discounts or free meals after you’ve eaten there a certain number of times or spent a specific amount of money.
5. Try to limit beverages when you dine out.  The cost of soft drinks at restaurants has become astronomical!  Most restaurants charge between $2 and $3 just for a soda!  You can get a 2 liter bottle at home for about half that amount.  So stick to drinking water when you’re out and you’ll keep your bill in check.  A slice or two of lemon is a nice added touch.  If you’re enjoying a special celebration and would like a cocktail, don’t get too carried away because the cost of alcoholic drinks can add up very quickly.  Better yet, see if there are any BYOB (bring-your-own-bottle) restaurants in the area and you’ll save a huge chunk of change. 
6. Watch out for desserts – sometimes they cost as much as a meal!  If you must end the meal on a sweet note, consider sharing a dessert among friends.  Not only will your wallet thank you, but your waist will, too!
7. Some chain restaurants also offer coupons, promotions and specials if you sign up directly at their website.  It’s worth checking them out to see if you can save a few bucks!  There are many other places to find restaurant coupons, too.

By following some of these simple ways to save money when eating out, you can still enjoy an occasional indulgence, night off from kitchen-duty, or celebration without breaking the bank.  We hate to penny-pinch all the time, but these money saving tips will help you keep more money in your wallet while still enjoying a night out at your favorite restaurant without much sacrifice.

Here are 5 eco-friendly green living tips that will also save you some green…

1. Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs (cfls). If you change just five of the most used light bulbs in your home, you can save about $80 in energy costs in a year. Although the cfls are more expensive to purchase up front, the added cost is more than offset by the energy savings and they also last much longer than standard bulbs. And if everyone changed just one bulb to a cfl, it would be like taking 1.2 mil cars off road for a year!
2. Bring your own bag to the grocery store. Some stores will give you between 5 and 25 cents off per bag. Most plastic bags are not recycled.
3. Bring your own cup. Some coffee houses will give you credit if you bring your own cup (like Starbucks).
4. Switch from bottled water to water out of the faucet. It will save you a load of money over the long term and will save tons of plastic bottles from winding up in landfills. Even if the bottles are recycled, a great deal of energy is used in transporting and recycling, so better not to use them in the first place. And nothing tastes better than icy cold water out of a real glass!
5. Consider organizing a book swap with friends or others in the community. Rather than purchasing new books, you can give old books new life by exchanging them with others. And you can save a bundle by not having to run out to purchase new books! Another option, of course, is to use the public library. But, for those who dislike reading books that have been handled by so many people, a book swap is a great alternative, because you can set the rules about the condition that books must be in before they can be considered for exchange.

By adopting even just a few eco-friendly green living tips into your everyday life, you will begin to notice that you can keep some extra money in your pocket, while feeling good that you are doing your small part to help the planet.

Below are 10 laundry stain removal tips to keep your clothes looking their best.  Always spot test fabric before using chemicals to make sure that fabric is not damaged or color is not ruined.  Also be sure to check washing instructions on label.  Only try these suggestions on washable fabrics.  These laundry stain removal tips are not guaranteed to remove all stains, but should be a helpful step in the right direction.

• Grease stains – Sprinkle baby powder or corn starch over grease stain and let sit.  The powder or corn starch should absorb most of the grease.  Then launder as usual.
• Ink stains – Put rubbing alcohol on ink stain and blot before laundering.
• Blood stains – Pour hydrogen peroxide on blood stain, blot and then wash in cold water.
• Lipstick stains – Use petroleum jelly to help remove lipstick stains on clothes.
• Deodorant stains – Soak in white vinegar for about 30 minutes and then wash in hottest water possible for fabric.  Use color safe bleach, if okay for fabric.
• Perspiration stains – Soak fabric in equal parts of ammonia and water, mixed with a few drops of dishwashing soap, and let sit overnight.  Then launder as usual.
• Ring around the collar stains – Use shampoo and rub gently to remove ring around the collar stains, then launder as usual.
• Coffee stains – Soak in cold water and then dab with liquid detergent.
• Grass stains – Grass stains can be removed with white vinegar or rubbing alcohol.  Another method is to use a few drops of ammonia mixed with approx. 1 teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide.  Then launder as usual.
• Red wine stains – Pour club soda or white wine over stain and then wash in cold water.  Sprinkling salt on stain first also helps to soak up some of the wine.

One of the most important laundry stain removal tips is to remember not to dry any garment that still has a stain on it!  Once you put a stained article of clothing in the dryer, it is extremely hard to remove the stain, because the stain sets in the fabric.  In some cases, these laundry stain removal tips need to be repeated multiple times in order to successfully remove the stain and in some cases another method may need to be tried.  Please use common sense in treating certain types of fabrics and follow washing instructions on labels.

Here are some easy walking tips that will have you adding more steps to your day in no time:

• Wear a pedometer. Your goal should be to try to walk 10,000 steps a day, which is equivalent to approximately five miles. Start out by trying to increase your current steps by 2,000 a day (2,000 steps is about 1 mile) and as you start feeling comfortable with that, then add more steps. By wearing a pedometer you are more aware of how many steps you take throughout the day. You don’t need to walk a mile at a time, just add additional steps throughout the day whenever you can and those steps will add up before you even realize what’s happening.
• Park further away from your destination. This is an easy and effortless way to add more steps to your day.
• When waiting for something, pace or walk in circles rather than standing in one place. Make wasted time work for your waist!
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator or escalator. A little bit of exercise in small chunks adds up throughout the day to help you meet your goals.
• Drop something off at a co-workers desk or walk there to talk to them instead of sending an email. Not only will you get a little exercise, but a break from sitting at your desk as well.
• While on the phone, pace around the office or around the house. You won’t even notice how many extra steps you are adding to your day when you’re busy talking on the phone.
• While kids are at sports practice, walk around the field. You’ve got time to kill anyway, so you might as well make it productive!
• Keep an exercise log (and food log if you’re looking to lose weight). By keeping track of what you’re doing and how often you do it, you’ll find yourself more likely to stick with your commitment.
• Track your progress on a chart or map. Set a goal for yourself as to how many miles you hope to walk by a specific date and track your progress on a chart or map. Visually seeing how far you have come is very motivating to keep you working towards a goal. It’s fun to determine on a map how long it will take you to walk from point A to point B, depending on the distance and then track your journey. When you reach your destination, be sure to reward yourself – or if your goals are lofty and your journey long, then be sure to pick up a few souvenirs at the “rest stops” along the way. And don’t forget to enjoy the scenery!

By incorporating some or all of these easy walking tips into your routine you’ll be adding additional steps to your day in no time. Just be sure to check with your doctor before starting any exercise program.

There are a number of fairly easy ways we can adapt our daily lives in order to save electricity. None of these electricity saving tips involve a big up-front outlay of money or a drastic change to our lifestyles. Just a few small modifications to the way we approach our use of electricity, and we’ll be saving kilowatt hours in no time! Now I do believe that it’s so ingrained in our way of life to use electricity without thinking about how much we use or the ramifications of our usage, but if we are to do something about helping our planet then we need to be more cognizant of the outcome of our actions and what we can do to lessen the carbon footprint we leave on this earth.

The best way to make the biggest impact on our household electricity consumption is to focus on the items in our house that consume the most energy. I’m talking about the big items, like air conditioners, electric heat and hot water heaters (if you use electric ones), electric clothes dryers, large household appliances, like refrigerators and dishwashers (especially if they’re older models and are less efficient), and lighting.

So with those energy hogs in mind, here are 12 tips to save electricity:

1. Turn up the thermostat on your air conditioning, or better yet turn it off all together, and use ceiling fans and portable fans to circulate the air in your house.

2. Turn down the thermostat when the heat is on and dress warmly, sleep with an extra blanket, or use space heaters in rooms that you frequent.

3. Close heating and air conditioning vents in rooms that you do not utilize often and close the doors. This will send the cool or warm air into the rooms that you use and will be more efficient.

4. Install a programmable thermostat and set the temperatures when you are out of the house and at night so that less air conditioning and heat are needed. Have the thermostat programmed to kick on the air or heat first thing in the morning before you get out of bed or shortly before you arrive home at the end of the day so you are comfortable.

5. Wash laundry in cold water instead of hot or at least warm water instead of hot. There are a number of laundry detergents on the market now that are formulated to get your clothes clean even in cold water. By doing this, you will use less energy because the water doesn’t have to be heated.

6. When possible, use a clothes drying rack or a clothesline instead of your electric dryer. This tip requires more of a dedicated commitment to change than some of the others, but can be done and will result in lower usage of electricity and ultimately lower electric bills. Even if you can’t do it all the time, try to do it some of the time and you’ll reap some benefits.

7. Keep your fridge and freezer stocked with food to maintain the cold air, but don’t overload it or the cold air won’t have a chance to circulate and the appliance will have to work harder. Also make sure that you regularly clean off the air filters on the back or bottom of the appliance to increase the efficiency of the unit. Older models are less efficient than newer models, but unless your appliance is nearing the end of its life, it’s a rather pricey investment to replace.

8. If you have an extra freezer or refrigerator in your garage or basement, consider whether you really need it. You may have kept it when you replaced your old appliance just to store extras, but if you don’t really need it, you’ll be saving quite a bit of electricity and money by unplugging it.

9. Many dishwasher models have an option to turn off the heated dry cycle, and by doing it you will save electricity. Also by not selecting the ‘temp boost’ option and selecting the ‘energy saver’ option (if your model offers them), you will be decreasing the amount of energy used per wash cycle. Washing only full loads of dishes will also reduce energy consumption as well.

10. Replace incandescent lightbulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs in table lamps and other lighting fixtures. They reduce energy consumption and last a lot longer, so the extra price paid for the bulbs is more than offset in additional savings.

11. Plug your small appliances and electronics into a power strip and turn the power strip off when they’re not in use. Appliances and electronics still draw electricity when not in use, especially if they have clocks.

12. Turn off lights, televisions and any other electronic appliances when you leave a room or they’re not in use. This may sound like a very logical piece of advice, but you’d be amazed by how often we forget to do it! Wireless electricity reduces the number of cords laying around and makes it easier to charge items when you need them without leaving them plugged in all the time.

By following some or all of these tips to save electricity, you will be lowering the amount of pollution you are responsible for contributing to the planet, lessening your carbon footprint, and ultimately saving yourself a bit of money in the process!

Below are a handful of snowy or rainy day activities for tweens and teens. They can be enjoyed as a family or can be used to pass the time indoors with friends or siblings. These activities are geared to older kids and can be a great source of amusement for both parents and teens alike.

10 Snowy or Rainy Day Activities for Tweens and Teens:

1. Do a jigsaw puzzle. Chances are it’s been awhile since you’ve all sat down and worked on a jigsaw puzzle together, but this can be a great diversion for the whole family, and provides opportunities for meaningful conversation.

2. Play a card game. Gone may be the days of playing “Go Fish” with your kids, but there are many other challenging card games to play with older kids. Engage them in a game of texas hold ‘em, gin rummy, or another card game of choice and the time will fly by.

3. Sing karaoke. This may be a completely embarrassing activity for your teen or tween to enjoy when their friends are around (and if you ever sang in front of their friends, they’d surely cringe!), but when hanging out together at home on a rainy day, this can be a great source of fun and laughs.

4. Make a scrapbook. Take the opportunity to go through old pictures and put them into a scrapbook. If you don’t have all the materials needed to make and decorate the book, then spend the day organizing and selecting photos to put in the book and enjoy reminiscing about old memories. If you have digital photos, there are some great online digital scrapbooking sites, like Shutterfly, where you can make a beautiful scrapbook, complete with custom pages and journaling, in no time.

5. Make a video together. Plan it out together and record away. Kids are so into videos today that it could be fun to make a family video. You can recreate a talk show and conduct interviews, try your hand at a game show or act out a comedy. Either way, you’ll have a chance to get creative and have a memento of your day spent together.

6. Make a house of cards. Remember the days when your kids could be entertained for hours with blocks or legos? Well, they may not be willing to break out the blocks these days, but the challenge of trying to build a house of cards could certainly bring out the architect in any teen.

7. Devise a mystery sound game. See how keen everyone’s sense of hearing is by having one person or group go around the house and record various sounds heard around the house. This can easily be done even with a cell phone if you don’t have a tape recorder. Then try to guess what the sounds are.

8. Have a dance party. Let loose and get some exercise, too! Take turns choosing music to dance to so you can both enjoy each other’s selections and maybe teach each other a few moves in the process.  Or have an indoor beach or pool party - grab some swimming pool toys, a beach ball, and a few colorful blankets and make believe you’re hanging out at the beach or by the pool.

9. Play challenging word, number, or trivia games. Games like Rummikub, Scrabble, Upwords, Trivial Pursuit and more are always fun to revisit, so if you have a few games lying around the house, dust them off and challenge each other to a game or two.

10. Plan a meal with items from the pantry. Get creative together and put everyone’s cooking skills to the test. Older kids love to eat and can have a great time trying to concoct a new recipe based on what’s available in the pantry or fridge. And you’ll get out of having to figure out what’s for dinner!

These snowy or rainy day activities can be a great way to spend a memorable day indoors with your tween or teen. Hopefully you’ll have so much fun that you’ll all be looking forward to the next time you’re stuck in the house due to a rainy or snowy day!

One of the very best kitchen decorating ideas to consider before even getting started is this – decide what you want to change the most or what you absolutely cannot live with any more and also determine a budget within which you can work. Good planning is the absolute most important step in moving forward with updating your kitchen. You must determine your priorities and be realistic about your budget and plan, plan, plan!

If you’re not ready to take the plunge for a huge kitchen renovation (and most of us are not!), below are a few decorating ideas and home remodeling tips to make the most of what you already have, without having to spend much money or invest much effort in order to reap some solid rewards.

Here are 7 quick and inexpensive kitchen decorating ideas to freshen up the most used room in your house:

1. Paint. Like in any other room in your house, you can achieve the most dramatic changes with minimal financial expenditure with some new paint. Change the color scheme on the walls to something new and fresh and your kitchen will take on a whole new life.

2. Lighting. Lighting is one of the most underestimated of all decorating objects but makes a huge impact on a space. This is especially apparent in the kitchen. Add a few contemporary pendant lights or some track lighting in place of old fluorescent lighting and your kitchen will instantly take on a more updated look. Of course, the cost of lighting can vary dramatically, but you can get some fairly inexpensive pendant lights that make just as big a statement as some of their more expensive counterparts. Track lighting is inexpensive and has the added benefit of allowing you to focus lighting where you need it most. Under cabinet lighting can also change the look and mood of the kitchen, doesn’t cost a bundle and is easy to install.

3. Hardware. Change the knobs and drawer pulls on your cabinets for a quick and easy way to give your cabinets an updated, fresh look.

4. Declutter. Simple and streamlined is the new updated look for kitchens so get rid of some of the clutter, on countertops and elsewhere, and you’ll give your kitchen a boost. If you can’t part with some of the items that are currently housed on your countertop, find innovative ways to store the items (see #7 below).

5. Plants. Live plants add color, texture and well, life, to an otherwise dull looking space. Just make sure you can keep them alive, because nothing looks worse than a bunch of dried up, shriveled up leaves in a pot that has obviously been uncared for. Fresh herbs in the kitchen add not only visual appeal, but a culinary bonus as well.

6. Place mats & centerpieces. A quick and easy way to freshen up the look of a kitchen is with some new bold and interesting place mats left on the kitchen table, or an attractive centerpiece. Make it something that stands out but that isn’t a huge dust collector, and make sure that it can easily be removed multiple times a day when your family sits down to eat.

7. Storage. Are you storage challenged or do you just like the idea of having some items out in plain view because they are used often? Then invest a few dollars in some interesting storage items or containers and have them work with the new décor in your kitchen, rather than simply adding to the clutter. A pot rack can be an interesting addition to a kitchen space. Spices can be organized in an attractive spice rack. Canisters, boxes, bowls and baskets can house often-used accessories, while adding visual interest to the room. Make them work with the color scheme and group together for an interesting look on your countertop.

As you can see, it is not impossible to freshen up the look of your kitchen on a very limited budget. Sure, you don’t wind up with sparkling new appliances and gorgeous granite countertops, but by following these quick and inexpensive kitchen decorating ideas, you can breathe new life into the favorite room in your home. Another option not mentioned but that can also make a big impact is adding new window treatments, such as window curtains or roman blinds.  Even pre-made window treatments for sliding glass doors or bay windows can be purchased relatively inexpensively and can add visual interest to the space.

Changing the color scheme and lighting will make the biggest impact on the space and some of these other kitchen decorating ideas will add to the new look you strive to create.

For some, being organized is simply not something that comes naturally.  We want to be organized, and we know that if we could get more organized, it would actually make our lives easier in the long run, but alas, we still find it hard to figure out how to get organized or how to find time to fit organization into our already busy lives or how to make it a part of daily home life.  So, if that organization gene has passed you by and there seems to be clutter all around and you know you just have to deal with the clutter and get more organized before the clutter takes over your life, then here are a few home organization tips to take some of the torture out of organizing so that you can actually manage to get it done.  Hopefully, if the process of getting organized becomes a more pleasant experience, you might be more inclined to do it more often so that your ‘stuff’ doesn’t get too out of hand in the future!

The secret to organization without torture is in keeping it fun, distracting and as easy as possible.  So with that in mind, here are 7 home organization tips that will hopefully make the task a bit more pleasant and easier to tackle.  Good luck!

7 Home Organization Tips:

1. Tackle only one area at a time.  You can’t decide that Saturday is the day to organize your whole house, or next week you’ll take care of everything that’s been piling up for years.  Just take it one area or one type of clutter at a time to keep the task more manageable and to keep you from getting too overwhelmed and giving up before you’ve made any real progress.

2. Get rid of the obvious trash first so that there’s less to deal with.  It’s a great feeling to see progress being made and progress motivates you to keep going, so get rid of the items that are obviously on the way out the door anyway.  You’ll see trash bags filling up and your pile dwindling before you’ve even had to make any difficult decisions!

3. Designate three areas before you begin to sort through items.  Make one pile for trash, one to keep, and one to donate.  Depending on what type of items you are organizing, you may also want to designate one pile for items to be recycled.  And if there are items that are really giving you a hard time in deciding what to do with them, you can designate one pile to revisit later, but try not to make this pile too large and make a deadline to deal with it.

4. If you are storing items in storage containers, it makes it easier to sort if you label storage containers before you begin sorting through the clutter so you’ll know exactly where you are putting everything.

5. Need to organize piles of papers that have been building up?  File papers while watching your favorite show on TV.  Keep a trash or recycling bin nearby and try to only read papers once and put in appropriate piles.  Shred any sensitive documents.  This makes good use of time while enjoying a guilty pleasure.

6. Turn on some music!  A few good tunes make any task seem easier and more enjoyable.  The music may even energize you to keep on going long after you might otherwise quit.

7. Enlist a friend or family member or two.  Sorting through clutter is not a fun job – who’s kidding who?  But if you have some help and another person to talk with and laugh with, the time goes by much more quickly and the more hands, the easier.  This advice only works though if the person helping you doesn’t insist on keeping everything you designate for the trash, so choose your organizing companions carefully!

By following some of these home organization tips, you should be able to take control of the clutter in your life.  And the best piece of advice I think I can give you to help you to organize without torture – make a vow to keep everything as organized as possible once it’s done so you don’t have to do it again anytime soon!