Now you can find our favorite products at our new online Prudent and Practical Store. We will continue to add new inventory. Right now, we have listed some of our favorite household cleaning products. In the near future, we will be adding our favorite kitchen and workshop tools as well as helpful books. Now you don’t have to search everywhere trying to find the products we talk about on the blog!
April 19, 2009
April 17, 2009
What Does it Take to Remove Ink Stains From the Dryer?
- Image via Wikipedia
Background
I have a terrible time leaving things in my pant pockets when they go down the laundry shoot. Money, candy, pens, pencils. Just about anything I can stuff in my pockets at work have been discovered in my pockets in the final inspection before the washing machine. Fortunately, my wife remembers to always check my clothes before she washes them. I am not usually very good at checking – I am more of a scoop and dump person when it comes to laundry; scoop up the clothes and dump them in the washing machine.
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So last week, when my wife called me into the laundry room and pointed to the open dryer hatch with a scowl on her face, I knew something was wrong. I peered inside and this is what I saw.
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I had left an ink pen in my pant pocket and it exploded all over the drying machine. Neither clothes nor machine were spared. After getting over my initial frustrations, I thought it would be a good opportunity to evaluate different stain cleaners and see how each one performed. I ventured onto the internet and looked at different recommendations for removing ink stains and picked 5 different methods to try.
The Test
The following products were tested following the manufactures directions or directions found on other websites:
- Goo-Gone (1 pint)
- Hair Spray (AquaNet and Suave)
- Ink Stain Remover (8 fl oz)
- Baking Soda
- Bleach (96 fl oz)
See the next page for the specific results, or click here for the winner.
April 15, 2009
Track Your Money Online… For Free!
- Image by DavidDMuir via Flickr
I thought I was quite organized with my business finances… until I did self-employment business taxes for the first time this year.
Although I kept everything organized, it wasn’t enough and I had a lot of papers to go through to verify some things. I worked for quite a few companies but didn’t make enough to warrant a 1099 form. So, I went on a search for free money trackers – something that could be just for my business expenses. I could not find a site used only for businesses, but there isn’t any reason why the following sites could not be used.
- Mint is a free service that allows you to track your money without having to download it to a program – it downloads your information automatically every night and it only takes 5 minutes to set up. If you decide to add your credit cards, it will analyze them to see if you could be saving money with another card. The site also picks out the best credit card for you based on your budget and where you shop the most. With Mint, you can set up a budget and apply your savings to your highest interest rate credit card balance. The program allows you to track car payments, retirement funds, investments, and student loans. After looking into it, I may use this for my student loans, which I have a lot of and through more than one company. The good thing about this is that Mint will analyze my student loans to see if I can get a better deal by consolidating through a variety of lenders.
- Quicken Online allows you to track your accounts and also make a budget. You can even track your finances on the go through your cell phone. Although a perk of this service is that you can set up automatic reminders for upcoming payments, that’s something you can do through Google Calender or your own credit card companies. Like Mint, registration is free and takes only 5 minutes.
- Wesabe a free service as well and is supposed to be for for those new to finance tracking, You “tag” your purchases to track where your money is going. A lack of tracking options are a disappointing feature of this free service – you can go to Quicken or Mint for more tracking options. But a unique plus side is that they have a community area – people review financial products and advisers are available for questions.
I’m signing up with Mint, due to the student loan options. It seems like that site will help me get the most out of my finances. I’m wondering if any of you have tried either of these services. Have you tried one that’s not listed? Do you like it or not and why?
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April 13, 2009
Quick and Delicious No-Egg Pancakes
Every Sunday D and I try to make a special breakfast. Since yesterday was Easter, our Sunday “ritual” was even more important. As we gathered the materials needed for pancakes and omelets, we realized that we had used the last two eggs for a cake the other night. Neither of us wanted to go all the way to the store for just one ingredient, so I started researching options.
What I found was “5 Minute Vegan Pancakes” at Recipezaar. I’m pretty good for trying new things, so I had no problem with “vegan” pancakes, but D did. Our only choices were vegan ‘cakes or no ‘cakes at all so I made them anyway.
There are only 6 ingredients in this tasty recipe…
- 1 cup flour – I used whole wheat
- 1 tablespoon sugar – I used organic unrefined sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup soymilk- I’m assuming cow’s milk would be fine if you don’t normally have soy around
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil – I used EVOO and it worked fine; you could also use applesauce
- Optional: Mixed oats, berries, apples, nuts
You simply mix the dry ingredients then add in the wet ingredients and mix well. Cook as you would for “normal” pancakes.
The Verdict:
They look like regular pancakes, are fluffy like regular pancakes, but do they taste like regular pancakes? Even my meat-a-tarian hubby thought they were delicious. You can’t taste the soy in them and it makes for a thick but fluffy pancake. I would suggest adding more milk to thin the mix, because they are very thick – that could have been because I used whole instead of white flour. I also added in a little bit more sugar. You obviously don’t need eggs to make scrumptious pancakes – we’ll definitely be making these again.
To see the original recipe, visit “5 Minute Vegan Pancakes” at Recipezaar.
April 10, 2009
Easy Homemade Spa Treatment: Rice Rinse
I recently grabbed an issue of “Organic Beauty” magazine at the store. I usually don’t purchase magazines unless I think they’re worth keeping as a reference. And this one was! The premier edition was packed full of organic makeups, eco-friendly companies, and even a few recipes for easy at-home spa treatments
One article that caught my eye was an article on Jamu. Jamu is a way of taking care of your body by using specific herbs both inside and outside of your body through the use of special drinks and topical treatments
One of the “recipes” mentioned was rice rinse, which is an easy way to pamper your skin. The vitamins in the rinse promote healthy skin and soften it, creating a cheap and easy at-home spa treatment.
All that you need for this treatment is rice! How much easier could it get? The “rinse” is just rice water, also known as the water used to wash raw rice before it’s cooked. You’ll see on the package of rice a warning that says, “To retain vitamins and minerals, do not rinse rice before or after cooking.” When you wash the rice, the good stuff gets washed off into the water.
Pour the water off into another bowl and let it stand long enough that the water separates from the mineral-type stuff. Pour off some of the water – just enough that there’s a small amount of water in with the minerals in the bowl. Use it after cleansing your face.
You can also clean your hair with the rice rinse. Akiko at the Long Hair Community discussion boards says that:
For oilier hair you’ll need 1 1/4 cup of rice rinse, 2 teaspoons of shikakai powder, and 1 teaspoon of amla powder…
- Add shikakai and amla to rice rinse water
- Bring to a boil. Simmer 5 minutes over low heat. Let it cool.
- Strain with tea strainer.
- Use half of it per hair wash. I pour the liquid in a Rubbermaid dressing bottle with small tip. Pour over my scalp and rub. Put on a shower cap. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
- Rinse.
If you’re interested in learning more about “jamu” check out these resources.
- Jamu: The Ancient Indonesian Art of Herbal Healing by Susan Jane Beers
- The Tropical Spa by Sophie Benge
- The Jamu Shop