I so hate to clean and find I put it off longer than it actually takes me to clean. Here are a couple of my cleaning tips that help me get through the daily and weekly chores.

Buy a caddy and keep all of your cleaning products together. Just grab the caddy, and you are ready to clean. I spend more time searching for the cleansers than I do actually cleaning.

Set a timer and clean for 5-10 minutes. Then take a break. Some people work best to get all of their cleaning done at once. I can’t do that. It seems after 15 minutes of doing anything I begin to get antsy and have to switch gears.

Do dishes as you cook. While I’m waiting for water to boil or pasta to get done, I start doing dishes. This way as I get finished with them, I can do a few. I’m going to be in the kitchen anyway. Plus it means I have to do less after we eat.

Those are just a few tips I can think of right now. How do you get through the daily chores of cleaning?

If you are looking for a bargain then look no further than an auction. At auctions you can find everything from livestock to cars to cheap land for sale. How do you find auctions in your area?

Check your local newspaper as they will probably be advertised quite a bit. Once you go to an auction, chances are you will be able to sign up to be notified of future auctions either held by the auctioneer or at the auction location. Usually it’s by mail or email. This notices will also list several items that will be auctioned off. You will know ahead of time if anything piques your interest.

Attending an auction can be a lot of fun. Plan to stay for a while because it might last a long time especially if it’s something like an estate auction. There is usually food but you might have to bring your own chair depending on the venue. If it’s a location where auctions are usually held then seating will most likely be provided. If it’s an estate auction, it’s best to come prepared. It’s likely the auctioneer will have some seating but not enough for everyone.

The next time you are in need of a big item or just want to have a different buying experience, try going to an auction.

Some days it’s nice to have an easy, good meal to throw together for the family. I’ve tried several dinner in a box-type meals and haven’t been that impressed. The last trip to the grocery store I noticed one in the refrigerated section.

Just look at the name: cheesy taco mac kit. My mouth was watering in the store, so I had to get it. The next night was one of those times I needed to make a quick and easy meal. I pulled out the taco kit and got ready to cook.

Much to my surprise but makes sense now since it was refrigerated that everything was already cooked. Basically I just needed to microwave the macaroni pack and the sauce/meat pack, then mix. It was a breeze, and dinner was done in 10 minutes.

But how did it taste? Really good. There was plenty of flavor to it. It was a little on the spicy side actually, so it had a bolder flavor than if I had made this myself. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Usually box meals are flat on taste, so I was pleasantly surprised to find one with some kick.

The taco kit was less than $5 and has four servings. The calories for each serving was 370, which is important to us since we are trying to cut back. Of course, it’s not something we will have weekly, but it’s a nice, cheap, good, and easy meal when needed.

Last week I needed to buy a new cleaning product to scrub the toilets. Not really wanting to buy a traditional brush since Rae loves to play with them and since that grosses me out, I wanted to try one of the newer disposable brush cleaning solutions.

I chose the Scrubbing Bubbles Fresh Max starter kit since it came with the wand and two disposable cleaning pads for less than $5. My reasoning was that if I hate it then I’m only out $5.
I don’t like cleaning especially the bathroom so I like products that work and work fast. Also the cleaning products I use take the least amount of effort on my part and hopefully return stellar results.

After using the Scrubbing Bubbles Fresh Brush, I will never go back to using a regular toilet brush again. It’s amazing how well I was able to clean with the pad. I’ve never been able to scrub that way with a brush.
Best of all it was fast and easy to clean the toilets and have them noticeably cleaner. I just wish the pad wasn’t a one-time use deal because it feels wasteful to throw it away after not using it that much. Still it is nice to have a clean toilet and no toilet brush for Raegan to confiscate as a toy.

Since we have been doing a few home improvement projects, I’m always interested in hearing what other people are doing to their homes. A co-worker mentioned how he used kitchen liner on his appliances to give them the stainless steel look. Apparently it looks pretty good because the appraiser thought he had new appliances.

Kitchen liner is more than contact paper. Think of it as the evolution of contact paper. Much like what wood dash kits do for a vehicle’s dashboard, kitchen liner can freshen up appliances and even countertops. Out countertop needs some serious TLC and kitchen liner just might be the solution. Another co-worker used it on his countertops to give them a more modern look. He is pleased with the result.

I might try a small section like the small bar to see how it works out. If it does well, the I will cover the whole counter. It’s always to fun to see what others are doing when it comes to home improvement and what little tricks they are doing to get the most ‘wow’ for the least amount of money.

It’s amazing the interesting facts you can learn at the dentist office. While in the waiting room, I was thumbing through a health book when I ran across this tip for how to tell if eggs are fresh.

Apparently fresh eggs will sink to the bottom of a glass or bowl of water. Older eggs will float in the water. Eggs are slightly porous and as they age, more air enters into the egg, thus causing them to float.

Also, if a boiled egg’s yolk is closer to the edge, it’s an older egg because apparently the yolk drops as the egg ages.

An interesting dental visit indeed.

Today the high was suppose to be around 80 degrees. It was a beautiful weekend, so what do I want to do? That’s right. I’m ready to spring clean.

I keep thinking of all the deep cleaning I want to get done today. I’m ready to throw out all the clutter and have clear surfaces again. Hopefully the nice weather will last long enough for me to at least accomplish some of these tasks.

It’s so hard to remember pet supplies when I go to the grocery store. They are tucked away into a corner that I seldom have a reason to go to. So, I wind up having to make an extra trip just for cat food or flea treatment.

One way I can avoid making these extra trips for items it to make a list of what I need. I usually try to keep a running list going that is located on a white, erasable board near the kitchen. It works sometimes but it only works if I actually take a list with me and don’t leave it at home.

I’m hoping that once I get accustomed to shopping with a list that I will remember to always make my list before I go shopping. I seldom forget to buy us food but usually forget about the cats. The cats would probably appreciate if I shopped with a list more often, too.

Scientists in New Zealand and Japan have created a “tear-free” onion using biotechnology to switch off the gene behind the enzyme that makes us cry, one of the leading researchers said Friday.

Apparently they hope to bring the no tear onion to the marketplace within 10 years, so don’t look for it anytime soon. The gene slicing technology they used to do this can be used to combat viruses and produce more robust crops.

A tear free onion might sound good, but how does it taste? It seems when products are tinkered with they lose that certain something that makes them work. My Mom was telling me about how apple growers had tinkered with their apples to get ones with a lot of color. They wound up burning them because they had no taste.

Shedding a few tears to have a nice, tasty onion in our foods is really not a big deal. Guess we’ll just have to wait a few years until we know the answer.