A garage is an excellent place for storage, but things are often put there and forgotten. This can result in a disorganized mess that makes it difficult to find room for vehicles and other important items. If your garage could use some organization, you need a strategy.

Get Help and Make a Plan
First, realize that organizing a garage is a task that will take a lot of time and effort. Set aside at least two consecutive days and find people to help you. Dividing the work among several people and multiple days will make it more manageable and less stressful, which means you will be more likely to get it done.

When organizing your garage, you need a plan. You can work out the details and make changes along the way, but having a general idea of what should go where and which items you can get rid of will help you avoid feeling frustrated and overwhelmed.

Look around and take stock of what is in the garage. Make a list of categories that you can use to organize items. You will want separate areas for tools, car care equipment, paint, seasonal items, sports equipment and other belongings. If any items can be safely and conveniently stored inside the house, that will make it easier to organize the rest of your possessions in the garage.

Decide where to put each category of items based on how often you use them. Frequently used tools should be stored in a toolbox or hung on a wall. Lawn and garden equipment should be easily accessible. Seasonal items can be put in an out-of-the-way place where you can still get to them without too much trouble.

If the garage does not have shelves or cabinets, installing some can make organizing much easier. You can purchase shelves and cabinets at a home improvement store and install them yourself or assign the job to one of your helpers.

In the process of organizing the garage, you will likely come across things that are broken or that you no longer use. Either throw them out or donate them. If you have a lot of trash, consider renting a dumpster. Designate an area for items to donate.

Make Sure Everyone Is on the Same Page
Communication is vital when working with a team on a large project such as organizing a garage. Before you get started, discuss the plan. Listen to others’ suggestions, make any changes you consider reasonable, then settle on a final plan and be sure that everyone understands it. Making signs to indicate where various types of items should go can help the group avoid confusion, arguments and wasted time.

Get Started
Looking at a messy garage every day can be frustrating and overwhelming. The problem won’t take care of itself, so the best thing is to come up with a plan and tackle it head-on. Get some friends or family members to help you make the process more manageable.

How to Organize Your Kitchen Cabinets

 

The kitchen is one of the busiest rooms in any household. It’s where meals are cooked and families eat, and also a place to play fun games or just talk.

The foodie craze is changing the way we eat and the way we cook. Amateur chefs get ideas from cooking shows and then visit farmers markets to find the best possible ingredients for the delicious meals they put together. And homebuyers want the perfect kitchen where they can make their culinary creations. While a complete revamp of your kitchen isn’t necessarily practical, one easy step is to clear out the cabinets and pantry.

Organize Your Pots and Pans. You should dedicate a cabinet or two to your pots and pans, and start the process by emptying out the cabinets and dusting them. Then, put the cookware back, neatly and organized. Place covers on pots and arrange them by size. This is also a good opportunity to get rid of items you no longer use and to designate a cabinet for special cooking items like slow cookers, bread makers, food processors, blenders, etc.

Dishes and Glasses. If your cabinets are overrun with dishes, bowls, cups and glasses, clear out some clutter. Set aside older things you no longer use and, if possible, donate them to a local soup kitchen or senior center. Keep whatever you’ll need to use while selling your home and place everything back neatly. Try not to leave any cabinets completely empty, but rather, send the message to buyers that your kitchen has enough room for all their cooking supplies.

In the Pantry. This is commonly a space that has a lot of potential for improved organization. Go through your pantry and toss ingredients and packages with expiration dates that have passed or that you don’t expect to use. Then clear everything else out, clean the shelves of crumbs and spilled foods, and replace things neatly. Put canned goods like soups, sauces and vegetables together, and cereal boxes on one level with boxed goods on another level.

Under the Sink. Here’s a space that can get unorganized and messy very easily. Clear everything out and clean this space thoroughly. This is where people commonly keep cleaning ingredients, dishwasher detergent, sponges and cleaning supplies. Get rid of items you don’t use (be sure to dispose of cleaners in an environmentally safe way) and replace them in an organized manner.

Organizing the storage areas in your kitchen will improve your home’s visual appeal while allowing potential buyers to imagine themselves preparing delicious meals in the space.

Eco-Friendly Tips With Low Costs and High Savings

 

Most homeowners have weather-stripped their doors to maximize climate control, and have switched out traditional incandescent light bulbs with eco-friendly CFL models. Short of installing double paned windows or making other costly home improvements, what more can you do to make your home “greener” without emptying your wallet?

Change filters often. Change air conditioning filters monthly to keep the system running at peak performance.

Dry bigger loads. Your dryer has more capacity than you think. Dry two or more loads at once so the dryer cools down and heats up less frequently. And clean out the lint filter often.

Check the fridge seal. Feel for cold air around your closed refrigerator door to be sure the seal is in good condition.

Adjust stove top cooking. Avoid wasting heat by matching up your pot/pan size to the correct burner.

Unplug battery chargers. Many chargers continue to draw power even when not connected to a device, so unplug yours after charging.

Use a laptop. They use less energy than your desktop computer, so use them instead when you can.

Reduce hot water consumption. Install low-flow, aerating faucets and shower heads. Select a shower head with a flow rate of less than 2.5 gallons per minute.

Choose drought-tolerant plants. Any number of plants and ground covers can add greenery to a yard without gulping lots of water – including clover, certain breeds of grass like Bermuda and Zoysia, and edible plants like herbs and strawberries. (Note: you may want to put in some type of wood or brick border to contain groundcovers or plants in the area you want them to stay in.)

Pros and Cons of Smart Appliances

 

Smart appliances can make life easier and more convenient. Since the technology is relatively new, many manufacturers are still working out problems and resolving glitches. Before you purchase a smart appliance, it’s important to understand what they have to offer and to be aware of potential pitfalls.

Popular Smart Appliances
A smart refrigerator can make grocery shopping easier. A camera allows you to peek inside the fridge even if you aren’t home, and you can keep a running list of what you need. You can also control the temperature and humidity to keep your food fresh as long as possible.

Smart refrigerators are much more expensive than traditional ones, and they are more expensive to repair. There is also the risk of viruses. If you have linked your email and social media accounts to the smart refrigerator, they could be at risk.

A smart dishwasher can help you get sparkling dishes every time. It can tell you if you need more detergent and can let you know when the cycle is done so you don’t have to get up and check. It can also help you save energy and water and notify you if the dishwasher is leaking.

A smart dishwasher is more expensive than a traditional one in terms of both purchase price and repair costs. You might be able to purchase an extended warranty for an additional cost.

Smart washers and dryers can make doing laundry a breeze. You can control the cycle from anywhere in your house and be notified when a load is done. You can even figure out which time of day is the best in terms of energy efficiency.

Companies that make smart washers and dryers still have some bugs to work out, and updates are not always provided automatically if the appliance was not purchased recently. That means you might be on the hook for updates and repairs.

Things to Consider
If you have several smart appliances, they can all be controlled from your phone. That can make it easy to monitor and control things at home no matter where you are.

With any type of smart appliance, hacking is a serious concern. Although safety measures are in place, they vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, and hackers are always looking for ways around them. You can protect yourself by using a secure internet connection, changing your passwords frequently and promptly installing updates.

Sometimes adjusting to smart appliances poses a challenge. If you aren’t tech savvy, you might find it confusing and overwhelming at first. The person who installs the smart appliances should thoroughly explain how they work, and you should be able to call tech support for help.

Are Smart Appliances Right for You?
Smart appliances can make life much easier, but they carry some risks. Security features need to be fine-tuned, but there are ways that you can protect yourself until they are perfected. You may decide that smart appliances are a worthwhile investment that can greatly improve your life.

10 Painless Changes for a Greener Home

 

Making eco-friendly changes in the way we live may be easier than you think. Real Simple Magazine lists 10 little tips that can go a long way toward living a “greener” lifestyle:

Start with household cleaners. Switch to plant-based products (read the list of ingredients) that reduce air pollution, minimizing exposure to asthma and allergy triggers as well as chemicals that can be harmful to your health.

Try meatless Mondays. Preparing one meat-free meal per week (for a family of four) has the same impact on the environment as driving a hybrid car. (That’s because of the greenhouse gases produced in raising livestock.)

Buy sustainably-raised meat. Look for labels like free-range and organic, as well as no-hormone and no-antibiotic, which indicate the animal was given ample room to roam and wasn’t treated with hormones.

Upgrade your home’s insulation. Adding insulation to prevent leaky ducts, walls, windows and doors can improve your home’s energy draw by 20 – 30 percent. If that isn’t in your budget, try thermal shades, which block the sun in the summer and retain heat in the winter.

Leave your shoes at the door. Removing your shoes at the door prevents car exhaust, chemicals and pesticides from being tracked all over your home.

Microwave glass only. Heating plastics can cause hormone-disrupting compounds that leach into your food. Plastics labeled “microwave-safe” can withstand a higher temperature, but they are no safer. When microwaving, opt for glass or microwave-safe ceramics only.

Donate, don’t dump. By some landfill estimates, for every item of clothing you donate for re-use, carbon emissions are reduced by 27 pounds.

Choose safer cookware. The materials you cook with have an impact on food. The safest options are cast iron, enamel-coated cast iron and stainless steel. Non-stick pans are problematic if any scraped-off coating gets into your food.

Use fragrance-free products. Many fragrances contain chemicals believed to disrupt hormones, which can be harmful to the ecosystem when washed down the drain. If you like scented soaps, cleaning products or cosmetics, read labels to find those made with essential oils.

Reduce use of pesticides. Control pests indoors by keeping your kitchen crumb-free and sealing any cracks in the walls or foundation. If you do require more pest control, reach for green alternatives. Again, read the labels.

7 Simple Gardening Skills Anyone Can Master

 

Puttering in the garden is an age-old hobby pursued for several reasons; it can keep you fit, provide food and flowers, and help you live in a more beautiful world. Experienced gardeners say mastering a few simple skills can get you off to a productive start to the home garden of your dreams:

Know your soil. Before you plant, it’s important to know the kind of plants your soil will best support. If you’re new to the neighborhood, ask a neighbor or local garden shop if the soil is alkaline, acidic or neutral.  Or test the pH yourself with a commercial test probe you can buy. Once you know the soil’s pH content, local gardeners or an online search will help you choose the food and flowering plants that will thrive in that environment.  

Seed or plant starting. Many gardeners say planting from seed has two big advantages; there are more varieties available as seeds, and it’s far more economical. It’s fairly easy to save seeds, as well, from one season to the next. A good gardening book can show you how. 

Container gardening. If space is limited, or your soil is less than welcoming, it’s easy to grow vast amounts of food or flowers in containers—and not necessarily in expensive terra cotta pots. Use plastic storage tubs, old buckets, whatever.

Cuttings and transplants. Succulents and a host of other plants are perfect for cutting, which you can re-plant to expand your landscape and/or pot in attractive little containers to give away as gifts. A gardening book will show you the best candidates for cutting and transplanting.

Watering. Plants die from under-watering, but they can die from too much water. Local rainfall will impact your watering schedule and learning proper watering techniques will make you a more successful gardener.

Pruning. While tree pruning is best left to professionals, it’s easy to prune your own roses and other small plants, removing dead or dying parts damaged by insects or weather. Pruning regularly keeps your plants producing and looking healthy.

Tool maintenance. It’s useless to save by producing tomatoes and such if you spend a fortune replacing garden tools. Choose good rust-proof tools, clean them after each use and store them in a dry place and you will have tools that last a lifetime.

Did You Know It Only Costs a Few Dollars for Someone to Buy Your Identity Online?

 

Your online identity is probably worth a lot to you. To thieves, not so much.

For $1,170, a thief can illegally buy the entirety of the average person’s stolen personal information on the dark web, according to a review of fraud-related listings by the VPN review site TOP10VPN. That’s relatively cheap, considering that it includes hundreds of logins, passwords, credit card numbers and other identifying information.

In what it calls the Dark Web Market Price Index, the site details how would-be scammers could spend more on going out to lunch than on getting hacked account information such as from Grubhub ($15), Walmart ($12) or Netflix ($8).

The VPN site’s security experts reviewed tens of thousands of listings on three of the most popular dark web markets. These are encrypted websites that can only be reached using the Tor browser. Once there, criminals can anonymously sell stolen personal information and other illegal things such as illicit drugs and weapons.

Credit Cards Wanted Most
Stolen credit card numbers can be used immediately to buy something online, making them some of the most valuable hacked items on the list.

Credit cards sell for an average of $500, the same price as bank logins. Some hacked logins come with a credit card added, such as a Costco login with a credit card for only $5. A Pizza Hut login for ordering pizzas online is only $6 and includes a credit card that can then be used to buy much more than pizza.

Selling prices for credit cards tend to be 10 percent of the available credit balance, researchers found. PayPal accounts have much higher demand, asking double that of credit cards. Verified PayPal accounts with high balances of $10,000 that come with an email address and password cost $2,000.

Bundles of “full” identifying information, called “Fullz,” cost as much as $515 for guaranteed access to a Wells Fargo online account. They can include an individual’s name, billing address, mother’s maiden name, Social Security Number, date of birth and other personal data.

Setting up lines of credit in someone else’s name is the main tactic of cybercriminals. Along with credit card and personal information, they’ll buy digital proof of identity such as passport scans ($16) or a real passport ($2), selfies and utility bills. For $52, a driver’s license scan, Social Security Number and utility bill are included as a package.

Online Shopping
For less than $10, hacked online shopping accounts are sold, providing many fraud opportunities. If you store payment details on Amazon, Best Buy and other online stores, hackers can order items online and sell them for cash. A hacked Amazon account is $6 and a Best Buy account is $15. For a Best Buy login with instant delivery, it’s only $9.

Hacked eBay accounts for $15 allow criminals to dupe buyers into sending them money for fake listings or to buy expensive goods with the account owner’s funds to intercept and sell later.