10 Surprising Uses for Vodka

More helpful ideas from Tiphero. Got Vodka? Then you've got more than just something to mix with tonic water: You've got a Swiss Army knife of home remedies. Check out the list below that we gathered from theDailyGreen.com's "10 Weird Uses for Vodka": 1. Treat Poison Ivy - "To avoid the uncomfortable reaction, immediately pour vodka on skin that has come into contact with poison ivy, and the alcohol will wash away the itchy culprit, urushiol oil." 2. Kill Odor-Causing Bacteria - "You can keep your clothes smelling fresher with vodka....Simply spritz your duds with the stuff, then hang to dry." Apparently, Vodka doesn't leave a scent of its own. 3. Shine Your Chrome, Glass and Porcelain Fixtures - "Moisten a soft, clean cloth with vodka, then apply a little elbow grease." 4. Keep Flowers Fresh Longer - "Add a few drops of vodka and a teaspoon of sugar to the water in your flower vase." 5. Insect Repellent - "Pour a little of the saucy spirit in a spray bottle and squirt on the little buggers, or yourself as a repellent." 6. Disinfect and Alleviate Jellyfish Stings - "For vegetarians and others who don't travel with meat tenderizer." 7. For Shinier, Healthier Hair - "Add a jigger of vodka to a 12-ounce bottle of shampoo." 8. Get Rid of Mold - "Try filling a recycled spray bottle with some bottom-shelf vodka....Spritz on, then let sit for 15 minutes. Scrub away with an old toothbrush." 9. Natural Aches & Pains Remedy - This one's a bit more complicated to describe (and involves Lavender), so we suggest clicking through to read the recipe for this concoction (slide # 10). 10. Relieve a Toothache - "try swishing a shot of vodka over the affected area. It can help disinfect, and should numb some of the pain in your gums."

How Much Green Can Growing a Vegetable Garden Save You?

from the Wall Street Journal:

Can we garden our way out of this hole?

Just a few years ago, the road to riches was clear. We could all sit on our porches drinking mint juleps while our houses appreciated 30% a year.

Now, our houses are falling in value by 30% a year. Forget about them. The real money maker, it turns out, was always our backyard. By planting a vegetable garden, we can slash our food bill while eating healthier.

Lettuce is seen growing as first lady Michelle Obama, not pictured, plants herbs in the White House Kitchen Garden.

Michelle Obama has put a vegetable garden on the grounds of the White House. Sales of seeds and plants are soaring. And pro-garden groups are churning out studies that show huge paybacks on investing in a home garden. The nonprofit National Gardening Association just produced a study -- sponsored by ScottsMiracle-Gro Co. -- that found the average family with a vegetable garden spends just $70 a year on it and grows an estimated $600 worth of vegetables.

George Ball, chairman and CEO of seed giant Burpee, can rattle off the savings for dozens of homegrown crops. Green beans will generate $75 worth of crops for each $1 you spend on seeds, Mr. Ball calculates. Even the lowly potato will generate $5 of spuds for each $1 you invest in seeds.

Does it all sound too good to be true? Depending on your situation, it may be. Neither Mr. Ball nor the National Garden Association study focus on how much you may have to sink into your garden before you can grow anything.

If you're starting out, you'll need tools to till the soil. You may have to terrace your land or build raised beds. You may need a fence to keep animals out. Many of these are onetime expenditures, but they can cost a lot more than seeds.

Mr. Ball replies that most people will still save money by growing their own vegetables. He says that items like fences and tools last for years, and their costs should properly be amortized over the life of the garden. In fact, he believes his seed-payback ratios understate the true benefits for growing your own "because of the vastly superior produce you'll get" in a home garden, compared to what you get from a supermarket.

I know about the steep upfront costs firsthand. My wife, Clarissa, has become quite the gardener, growing mainly flowers but some vegetables. In each of three previous houses we owned during the past 14 years, she invested thousands of dollars in exotic plants, containers, irrigation systems, fertilizers, soil amendments and growing lights for the winter.

So when she announced recently that she was going to plant a vegetable garden at our current house in New Jersey, my first thought was: "How much is this going to cost me?"

To which Clarissa replies: "Forget about the cost. It tastes good." This year, she's planning to plant rare heirloom vegetables that you can't get in the store.

At least our soil is good. Let's say you live in Chicago. The city has a heavy clay soil, so many residents opt for raised vegetable beds, says Ron Wolford, who works at the University of Illinois Extension.

Building an 8-by-4-foot raised bed and filling it with compost and soil will run about $80, Mr. Wolford figures. Buying a couple of tomato plants and six pepper plants to put in the raised bed will cost you another $15 or $20, he calculates, putting your total cost near $100.

A lot of people start gardens and give up when the going gets tough. "I get a lot of calls in the spring from people who want to start gardens and can't wait to get started," says Mr. Wolford, who grew up on a farm in Peoria, Ill., where his family grew its own produce. "But when it comes to July and August, and it's 95 degrees, and there's insect problems, it just goes to pot."

Gardening is hard work. I saw this when I lived for a month with a French family in 1976. Roger Martin, a retired stone mason, had a huge garden in the back of his house in a far northern suburb of Paris. He kept a little notebook where he logged the hundreds of kilos of strawberries, stringbeans, lettuce and other produce he grew every year.

Mr. Martin spent his mornings toiling in the garden. All the vegetables on the family's dinner table came from the garden. What we didn't eat or preserve was fed to the rabbits along with leftover bread. The rabbits were eventually slaughtered and eaten, too.

Will most Americans take their home gardens that seriously? I doubt it. Can you still save money with a garden? Absolutely.

The trick is keeping your capital costs down. Lori Bushway of Cornell University's Department of Horticulture says a garden can be as simple as digging up a few square feet of your lawn and sprinkling lettuce seeds in the dirt.

Most anywhere grass can grow, lettuce will grow, she says. What about fertilizer? Not needed. What about weeds? Plant the lettuce tight enough, and there won't be room for any. This simple garden will fill salad bowls for about six weeks. Ms. Bushway advises planting four square feet of lettuce per person in your household.

"You can easily triple your investment," she says. That's better than any of my mutual funds have done lately. Break out the olive oil.

-NEAL TEMPLIN

Radical new changes coming on student loan front

from Clark Howard:

There's a radical change coming on the student loan front that Clark wants you to know about.

Effective July 1, 2009, an income-based repayment plan (IBR) will become available to borrowers with federally guaranteed student loans such as Stafford loans and Grad PLUS loans.

Under the new program, your payment will be based on your current income and family size. Your monthly payment could be an unprecedented zero dollars, according to Kathleen Pender of The San Francisco Chronicle.

You must apply for the IBR. Contact the lender or lenders who hold your student loan(s) for more details.

In addition to the IBR, other new provisions going into effect include loan forgiveness options for certain workers.

Employees of non-profits and certain levels of government can have loan forgiveness after making on-time monthly payments for 10 years. If you work in the traditional for-profit sector, it will take 25 years of on-time payments before you're eligible for loan forgiveness.

More checking account fees coming from the giant banks

from Clark Howard:

Years ago, a listener who happened to be a disgruntled bank employee shared a trade publication called Fee Income Report with Clark. In the pages of Fee Income Report, bankers would share tips about ways to take advantage of customers via fees.

Clark also learned from the publication that banks typically raise fees and change terms and conditions twice a year: Once during the summer (usually in August) and then again around Christmas.

Those are the 2 times of year when most people are out of their routine and focusing on family and vacation. Perfect times to stick you with a gotcha, right?

In that spirit, USA TODAY reports that the giant monster mega-banks are getting ready to pile on checking account fees.

Wachovia, for example, is doubling its fee to transfer money from one account to another to cover insufficient funds to $10. The actual real cost to the bank for such a transfer? Zero dollars.

Bank of America, meanwhile, is increasing the monthly fee on MyAccess accounts by 50%.

So what can you do about it? Take your business to a credit union (where customers are owners) or to a smaller community bank (where they build relationships with customers).

Cash for Clunkers

from Tiphero.com:

Congress just passed the "Cash for Clunkers" program which offers government incentives to trade-in older gas guzzlers for new more energy efficient vehicles. For your car or truck to qualify for the cash for clunkers government program it must meet the following criteria:

- Must have a combined MPG of 18 or less.*
- It must be in drivable condition.
- Manufactured in model year 1984 or later.
- Has been continuously insured consistent with State laws and registered to you for at least one year immediately prior to trade-in.

* Combined MPG is a blend of highway and city MPG. To determine your cars combined MPG you can look it up at: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/


How Much Does My Clunker Qualify For:

Under the program owners could get vouchers starting at $3,500 if they trade-in a vehicle that gets 18 mpg or less for a new vehicle that gets 22 mpg or better. The incentive grows to $4,500 if they trade in their 18 mpg or less vehicle for a new vehicle that gets 10 or more mpg over their old vehicle.


When Does Cash for Clunkers Start:

It was just passed by Congress on June 18, 2009 and is headed to the White House for signature by the President. Once signed by the President it is estimated to take up to 30 days for the Department of Transportation to get the program up and running so we are looking at early August as a start date.

My parents have been waiting to take advantage of the new Cash for Clunkers legislation. They have a 1994 Chrysler LHS that they are looking to trade-in on a new car. Unfortunately, when we looked up the combined MPG for the LHS it came to 19, just 1 mpg over the requirement. ugh!!

Summer Saving Tips

from feedthepig.org:

As the summer heats up, here are a few savings tips to help you enjoy some fun in the sun without worrying about your wallet!

Summer Tip #1: To save on your air conditioning bill, turn off unnecessary lights during the day. Much of the energy used by incandescent bulbs is emitted as heat.

Summer Tip #2: To save 1-2 percent on your energy bill, unplug electronic devices and chargers when they aren't in use. Most new electronics use electricity even when switched off. Turn computers and printers off at the power strip.

Summer Tip #3: For a more energy efficient way to cook, use your microwave instead of your stove. Microwaves use two-thirds less energy than conventional stovetops.

Summer Tip #4: Consider replacing your incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs, or CFLs. They use about 75 percent less energy and give off 75 percent less heat but produce the same amount of light as incandescent bulbs.

Summer Tip #5: Make some shade! Awnings, blinds and drapes keep sunlight from entering your home. Install them on windows, skylights, doors, and other places where the sun comes through. During the day, closing the blinds and drapes to filter the sun will keep the room's temperature from rising.

Summer Tip #6: Planting trees in strategic areas can reduce the energy a house uses for cooling by up to 25 percent. Deciduous trees (that lose their leaves) help block the sun during the summer and still allow the winter sun to warm your home. Also, planting trees and shrubs around your air conditioning unit can increase its efficiency by up to 10 percent. Just make sure to place them at least 18 inches away so they don’t block the vents.

Summer Tip #7: “Summerize” your home by adding insulation and sealing air leaks around the house. Add insulation to the attic or add to already existing insulation. Weather-stripping and sealing drafty doors and windows will keep your house comfortable year-round and potentially save you hundreds of dollars.

Summer Tip #8: On a hot, sunny day, dark-colored roofs can reach temperatures of up to 150º to 190º F, heating the living spaces below. Consider adding a reflective coating to a dark roof, or choosing a lighter color when it’s time to replace the roof.

Summer Tip #9: Have an extra refrigerator in the garage that you’re not using? Unplug or recycle that spare refrigerator if you don't really need it, and it could save you up to 10 percent or more on your energy bill.

Summer Tip #10: Thinking about buying a new refrigerator? Refrigerators with a top or bottom freezer design can save you an additional 2-3 percent on your energy bill compared to a side-by-side design.

Eating Better for Less

from feedthepig.org:

With food prices still on the rise, it's not only important to be frugal when you shop, but also to consider the types of foods you buy. With the right ingredients, affordable and healthy meals are just around the corner. Here are some tips:

• Eggs and beans are inexpensive and versatile ingredients. Look for recipes in your cookbooks or on the internet.
• When food runs out, it’s tempting to order out or reach for ready-made meals. Planning your grocery list ahead of time makes it easier to buy in bulk and repurpose ingredients. The more you can cook from scratch, the further your dollar can stretch.
• Consumers often pay an additional “convenience expense” when purchasing certain foods. Grate your own cheese, make pizza dough from scratch or buy a fresh head of lettuce instead of bagged lettuce. Be creative with these ideas and you’ll reap the rewards in savings.
• Make use of the leftovers in your fridge. Web sites like Allrecipes.com let you search for dishes based on ingredients you have at home. Also, certain dishes, such as lasagna, chili and soups, are easily made in large quantities that can be frozen or eaten throughout the week.