Unique Home Articles

Summer is just around the corner and summer reading programs are gearing up for kids who are out of school and for summer school students.  Summer reading programs have been developed to encourage children to read over the three months of summer so that they will not fall behind when they go back to school. A study is being formulated to test out a variation of summer reading programs in low income schools.  Educators ...Summer Reading versus Summer School

If you have been considering upgrading and renovating your home in a way that will make it more energy efficient, then you may find your lucky break soon!  The Home Star Energy Retrofit Act, better known as Cash for Caulkers, is making its way to the Senate floor for approval. This program is geared to offering rebates to homeowners for refitting out their home to save energy.  It is a way for the government to create ...Cash for Caulkers - Could be coming soon!

Would you like to save hundreds of dollars, maybe even more, when you sell your house?  Of course, who wouldn’t?  There is a simple solution:  hire a home inspector before you list. Why, you ask?  Your buyers are going to do a home inspection anyway, right? Yes, they should.  However, the home inspector will find things wrong with the house, no doubt.  And the buyers may well ask for repairs to be completed prior ...$ave Hundred$ When Selling Your Home

Now that we’re getting ready to move out of this house, we’re looking at what we need to do to around here to fix things and make it prettier.  I’ve done this before and you’d think I’d have learned then. Fix the stuff and make it pretty before you move! Really.  If you’re going to spend the money on fresh paint and flowers out front and a little other landscaping to make the house more presentable and attractive ...Fix It Up Now... Enjoy It For A Long Time

One of my favorite memories from the Honduras mission trip was the way they did laundry.  Remember, this is a teeny tiny island, about 1 mile long by .5 miles wide, if that.  But even part of that is heavily wooded and not inhabited. It’s very tiny.  You can’t even find it on many maps. Being tiny and without roads or even electricity in many homes, they naturally do not have washing machines.  They use washboards ...Homemade Soap Smells ... Great!

So this trip to Honduras I took a few years ago was incredibly life changing.  Recommended for all! This was a mission trip with our church, but you don’t have to go as part of a mission trip necessarily.  There are several humanitarian groups that offer such trips to help fellow people in need.  You can go to another country, or you can even work right in our own country, helping people fix their houses or perhaps ...Helping Others Through Missions

Arrested for kissing in public?  Yup.  It happened to a British couple who are living in Dubai.  Apparently expatriates (people who are citizens of one country, but living and working temporarily in another) make up a whopping 85% of the population of Dubai.  Wow! Imagine the culture issues there, which is exactly how the kissing arrest happened.  Locals wear full-length clothing that covers their bodies.  Expats, ...When In Rome... Don't Kiss

Have you read much about these RFID chips?  It stands for Radio Frequency Identification.  They are tiny tags used to track people, animals, and things.  You may have used this technology to have an implant put into your pet with your personal information incase they get out of the yard and picked up by Animal Control. They’re also being used for toll road payments and asset tracking, such as library books, jewelry, ...RFID Chips

In addition to making homemade refried beans, I recently started making homemade tortillas.  Store bought tortillas are pretty nasty, unless you get those made by local tortilla companies, which we have here. They’re also a lot more expensive than homemade.  Granted they’re not wallet breakers, but I try to find cheaper alternatives for most everything because I’d rather have a dollar in my pocket than give it ...Home Made Refritos

Making home made refried beans is simple and a money saver as well.  I’m no chef.  I’ve even been known to eat out of a tin can without heating – at least in the summer when it’s hot and hot food is a turn off.  But homemade beans are so good and so easy! First, get a crock pot and put in some pinto beans.  You should rinse the beans first incase there are odd things in them.  Cover the beans with water and ...Home Made Refried Beans

Who doesn’t need to find new sources of income these days?  Gas prices are still high, food prices are still high, and much worse, layoffs are still happening, which means foreclosures are still happening. If you need to cut your expenses, take a look at your food bill. If you eat out, this is one big place to save money instantly.  Eating out is incredibly expensive for the food you’re getting.  Even purchasing ...Cheap Eats at Home

Especially now that the economy is rougher than it was several years ago, saving money is more important than ever.  There are literally hundreds of ways to save, some of which we’ll cover here day by day. Do you go out to eat for lunch while at work, school, or even hanging out at home?  That can cost you easily $160 a month if a typical lunch costs you $8 (consider meal, drink, and tip).  Even if your meal costs ...Eating for Less

In light of all the natural disasters happening lately (it does seem like they’re happening with more frequency the past couple years) and with the ever present threat of terrorism or illness pandemics, it’s not any surprise why we’re hearing myriad agencies suggest we get at least a 72-hour emergency kit ready, complete with at least a 3 day supply of food. Well, when you get right down to it, I imagine most people ...72-Hour Kits. Do You Really Need One?

ATM skimmers are still at it.  Actually, they’re more like ATM thieves, but the technical term is ‘skimming’, apparently.  If you’re like me, you probably think it won’t happen to you, not at your ATM, not at your bank.  And you may be right. ATM skimmer thieves typically – but not always! – target the independent ATM machines most often.  These are the freestanding machines you find in convenience stores ...ATM Skimmers at Large Still

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!