Hi there!

As visitors of the JFS Blog you now have access to a great deal on textbooks.

Have you heard of Chegg.com? It’s this site where you rent textbooks instead of buy them. And you save a ton of cash – between 65% and 85%.

It’s easy. Just go to Chegg.com, search for the books you need and place your order. Chegg ships them to you super fast, and when your term ends you just ship them back for free. And for every book that’s rented, they plant a tree.

Make sure you use this promo code especially for our website CC102940 and get an extra 5% off your order.

-Oscar

I just wanted to give a quick Happy Birthday to Oscar who helps out on the Blog.

Congrats on turning 21!

-James

I am worth 2.2 million. w00t!
How about you?

This one comes from a subscriber. Thanks again!

Do you have a nasty odor you can’t get rid of? Sprinkle some unbrewed coffee grounds on the source of the smell and it will absorb the odor, depending on how bad it is, in minutes. It works on pet odors, around the toilet odors, fridge odors…just about anything. I have even used it in a freezer that was given to me with nasty rotting meat in it. That took a bit longer, but it was actually usable after about a week. After the odor is gone, just sweep the coffee up.

Oscar

Have a household tip? Let us know!

You can save money and conserve energy by simply turning down your hot water heater to 120 degrees. This temperature is hot enough for most household tasks. That drop in temperature can save money and conserve energy, because the tank won’t be on as often or need to reach as high a temperature.

A hot water tank insulation blanket is also advisable. If your hot water tank is warm to the touch, or if your tank resides in an unheated garage, an insulation blanket can save both energy and money.

Washing your clothes with cold water has great savings potential. It doesn’t require heating hot water, and this conserves energy and saves money. With the detergents designed for washing clothing in cold water, you can still get your clothing clean and smelling fresh. In addition, washing and drying full loads, rather than partial loads, adds to the savings.

Oscar

Have a household tip? Let us know!

A simple landscape tip that can save money and energy inside the home is to plant trees around your home that can shade your home from the heat of the sun and create a wind block. Summer or winter, evergreen trees can offer savings to the home owner, and deciduous trees can offer summer shade.

If you can set timers on your lights, lights won’t be on at times when they’re not necessary. Motion detectors that shut off and compact florescent bulbs are also big energy savers. Another way to save on lighting in the home is to open the curtains and lift the shades. Natural light is free.

Just as you can open curtains for light, you can close them to cut out heat. In hot months, keeping the heat of the sun’s rays out of your home saves power with your air conditioner or with fans. This saves energy and saves money.

Consider the use of weather stripping around doors and windows to get rid of drafts. Also consider insulating attics, walls, basements, and floors. The energy savings will be big and in the end, it saves money.

Oscar

Have a household tip? Let us know!

In your bathroom, consider a low-flow shower head to reduce the amount of water it takes for showers. In addition, if you switch to taking more showers and fewer baths, you can also save water and save money.

Remember when folks used to put a brick in the toilet tank to conserve water with each flush? Well here’s a different take on that. Instead, fill a water bottle full of water and place it in the toilet tank. This simple trick can save gallons of water over the course of a year, saving you money and conserving a natural resource.

Here’s a practical suggestion. Fix those drippy faucets. Those little water drips may not seem like much water, but added up over a week, a month, or a year, those little drips can amount to major gallons of water wasted. Fixing drippy faucets saves money and energy.

Oscar

Have a household tip? Let us know!

Even if you don’t have an infant in the house anymore, keep a small package of cheap disposable diapers handy. If you have a spill on your upholstered furniture or the carpet, take a disposable diaper and place over the liquid. Apply firm pressure and you will be amazed how the diaper will suck up nearly all of the liquid and trap it in short order. Also, the filling from a disposable diaper can be taken out and mixed with potting soil when growing plants. The absorbent cotton and granules of the diaper will retain water and release it as the plant requires.

Oscar

Have a household tip? Let us know!

Do you have oily skin and like using the little oil absorbing papers you can buy at the drugstore? If so, you know the price of those little packages can be pretty expensive. The next time you are in a public restroom, stick a couple of the paper toilet covers in your purse. When you get home, cut them up in small squares and you will have free oil absorbing papers. They work just as effectively as the high priced ones at the cosmetics counter and can be made in whatever sizes you need.

Oscar

Have a household tip? Let us know!

Use hydrogen peroxide instead of bleach in your laundry. It is safe for colored items and works like magic. It is not damaging to septic systems like bleach, either.

The first one is short so here’s another:

Want to lower the fat content of your ground beef? After browning it in the skillet, wad up about four paper towels and place them in the skillet. Use your spatula to dab up all of the grease from the ground beef and then discard the greasy paper towels. You won’t loose any ground beef
this way while attempting to strain it and won’t be left with grease to dispose of.

Oscar

Have a household tip? Let us know!