Natural Remedies for Pollen Allergies

Allergies are a really annoying problem for so many people. Allergy medication can be expensive as can allergy shots.  There are some very inexpensive things you can do for pollen allergy prevention:

1. Keep your doors and windows closed during peak season so pollen stays outside.

2. Use allergen-proof pillows and mattress protectors to avoid dust mites, and wash you bedding in hot water once a week. Wash hands when you come in from the outside and change your clothes when you come inside if you have spent a long time outside during heavy pollen times.

3. Bathes pets frequently and keep them out of bedrooms of those who have pollen allergies.

4. Dust and vacuum at least weekly. Have a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter.

5. Buy a HEPA filter for your bedroom; it will help remove particles from the air that can be irritating. These can be a bit expensive but well worth a good nights sleep.

Want to find out the very cheapest air filter you can buy? See our post Cheap Air Purifier Non Flowering Plants

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Mooch Books

Give a book; get a book. That’s the basic principle for most online book exchanges. If you read more than a few books a year, joining one of these online exchanges could really save you money. Plus, the online book exchanges are set up to be easy to use so you don’t have to waste a lot of time learning how to use them. Here are the details of how two work.

BookMooch: List the books you are willing to give away on bookmooch.com. If it’s more than 10, you are already eligible for a book. When someone sees a book on your list, they request it. You put it in the mail. When it is received, you get a point, which is worth a book from someone else’s list. Overseas books are worth more points. It is also possible to donate points to one of the charities the site supports.

PaperBackSwap: Sign up at paperbackswap.com and list your books. From there it is a lot like BookMooch. For a fee, PaperBackSwap allows you to print two sheets of people with addresses and postage on it, so all you have to do is plop the book in a mailbox.

According to our local newspaper here is a list of what’s hot now:

Most wanted:

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions From Ordinary Lives by Frank Warren

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver

Most available:

Angels & Demons by Dan Brown

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Digital Fortress by Dan Brown

Deception Point by Dan Brown

The Pelican Brief by John Grisham

Carly Milner will share hers if you’ll share yours.

Her books, that is.

In fact, Milner has a whole list of books just ripe for the taking. It includes titles by such hot authors as Michael Chabon and Bill Bryson.

All are nearly free for members of BookMooch, a Web site that connects readers interested in “mooching” from other people’s libraries.

Hera some comments from people who have been using these services and the people that created them:

“There is something fun about sending a book to someone who wants that book specifically,” said Milner, who has been a member of the site since 2007 and figures she’s shipped out about 200 works from her extensive personal library.

For the cost of postage, readers trade books through the mail in an online library of sorts.

Richard Pickering’s PaperBackSwap developed from his own experience as a book lover. Before starting the online book exchange in 2005, Pickering traveled for a living and was constantly in airport bookstores picking up a new paperback for the flight. As a result he had many gently used paperbacks and had dished out a lot of money.

‘Saving money’

An online swap, he figured, would connect readers with books for the price of postage and would save paperbacks from languishing unused on shelves or winding up in landfills.

“We believe in saving money,” Pickering said. “We also believe in recycling.”

PaperBackSwap has more than 160,000 active members and a roster of more than 200,000, Pickering said.

The site boasts more than 3.6 million books available for swapping - a number that grew from the few hundred of his own that started the service.

In any given week, Pickering says about 65,000 books are moving from owner to owner through PaperBackSwap.

In the past two years, Pickering also added SwapACD and SwapADVD to the lineup.

“We are able to satisfy the needs of a lot of different families,” he said.

The concept is pretty simple for both services. Readers list the books they are willing to share. When asked for a title on their list, they put that book in the mail.

In return, the click of a mouse delivers a literary treat from a stranger directly to the doorstep.

Sharing information

But buying books just didn’t pay. “For as much as I read, bookstores were getting really pricey,” said Salazarescobar, a Houston legal clerk who figures she reads four or five books a week.

She’s not the only one who feeds the habit online. Pickering figures the average family that really participates in PaperBackSwap can save about $300 a year.

For serious readers, the online exchange also offers a way to find out-of-print books or learn about a favorite author’s lesser-known gems, said Denise Stallcup, a writer who lives in San Antonio and participates in BookMooch.

“It has also encouraged me to stretch further with my favorite authors and introduced me to a lot of books I wouldn’t have read otherwise,” Stallcup said.

Connections

Stallcup has found that packing up a book and sending it off to someone she may never know creates literary links.

“I like the idea of a community of readers and people who appreciate poetry and literature,” she said.

Mooching is one thing. But lending - and expecting the book to return - may still not be advised for many a reader. Even Milner keeps her favorites from Jane Austen, P.G. Wodehouse or Henry James for herself.

“I only lend books,” she said, “to people who I know really well and I know where they live.”

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Our sister site Fasthowto.com just published a post on how to avoid unfair bank fees. There are several hidden fees you may be paying that you are unaware of. Read the post at Fasthowto.com and find out how to save money on banking fees.

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Cheap Creative Christmas Gifts

1. Give your time - Personalized coupon book for family - hugs, doing a family members chores etc.

2. Bring coffee or tea for a co-worker - As a treat for a colleague, bring coffee (tea) and muffins, kolaches etc just for them one morning. Or you could offer to run out and bring back lunch for a busy co-worker.

3. Candy - Find interesting or colorful inexpensive candy and put in fun containers. Many craft stores sell decorated chinese takeout cartons to use as gift boxes. These are great gifts for teachers co-workers etc.

4. Make custom trail mix or gorp - Mix nuts, candy, dried fruit and chocolate chips and put in cello bags tied with ribbon.  Peanuts and sunflower seeds are usually the cheapest nuts to use.

5. Soaps - Forget the really expensive French milled soaps, find unbranded soaps at drugstore and take them out of the box or plastic. Stack flat shapes and tie with a wide ribbon, or create a “birds nest” by putting soaps in round basket.

6. Recycle gifts as a group - To relieve financial pressure on everyone ask guests to recycle what’s in their closets.  That scented candle you got last year for Christmas that you hated, another person might really like. Or just agree to swap $5.00 gift cards.

7. Cruise the thrift stores, flea markets and used book stores -  You can find really unique stuff at these places for not much money. You can also check out online sites and get someone’s favorite book that has gone out of print for really low prices. I found a great cookbook a friend of mine had been looking for.

8. Charitable donation - Make a charitable donation to someone’s favorite charity or cause. No  one has to know how much you spent and every gift helps.

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Want more ideas? See our post 20 Gifts Under Ten Dollars

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Make a Compost Pile

Did you know that if you add compost to the soil in your yard - regardless of whether your soil is sand or clay - you will save water?  According to our local water control and improvement district, you can save between 30 to 50% of the water you would regularly use which can make up as much as 50% of your summer water bill.

How does compost help you save water in your landscape? Organisms - the living ingredients are what you must have in your soil to hold water. Bacteria, fungus, protozoa, nematodes( the good ones) are some examples of organisms that help you save water. They live in the spaces between soil particles and are made up mostly of water. The organisms digest carbon products and use nitrogen to create enzymes to break down matter.

Protecting these microscopic organisms and adding them to  your soil as part of good compost is what helps you save water. Using compost also reduces the amount of fertilizer and pesticides needed to produce healthy plants, and it is cheaper than artificial soils.

You can buy compost or you can make your own in your backyard. Making your own compost can save money. Composting leaves from one mature tree is equal to $50.00 of purchased compost/mulch. If you buy compost find a reputable dealer who sells compost with fresh ingredients. If you buy from the local chain your compost may have been sitting on the shelf for some time.

If you want to start your own compost pile here is a link with more in-depth information about composting and some simple containers you can make yourself. Visit  http://www.stopthedrop.org/compost/index.html If you are not handy you can check out your local garden or hardware store and buy a ready-made composter.

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Department Store Credit Cards

During holiday shopping you will frequently be asked by the store clerk “Would you like to apply for a store credit card and save 20 percent on your purchase?” Should you do it? I found a really good article in our local paper that discusses the pros and cons of retail store credit cards.

Risks - One factor to consider is are you likely to carry a balance on your department store credit card. Store credit cards frequently come with high interest rates, so any discount you get up front could quickly be erased. For instance the J.C. Penney card has an interest rate of 23.99 percent.  Another risk is that if you don’t shop at the store often you will be slower to recognize identity theft. Even though you are not liable for the charges sorting out the mess will be time consuming.

Credit score impact - Applications for new credit, whether it’s a store or bank card, can lower your score.  Especially if you open several cards over just a few months.  Given this tight credit environment, you might also be tempted to open a store card as a way to boost your credit line (which is another factor in your credit score).  But store cards typiclly come with lower credit lines than bank cards. The dip your score initially takes will probably outweigh any positive impact, too.  Generally a store card will not affect your score as badly as a bank card partly because store cards can only be used in a limited way.

Rewards - The advantages you receive with department store credit cards sound the sames as reward cards, but there is a difference. With traditional cash-back rewards cards, you get rebates on purchases you make anyway. With store cards, the deals are intended to make you spend more.  So if these offers will make you over spend best not to have the temptation.

Summary - Store cards can work to your advantage if you are a regular shopper and capitalize on the year-round discounts. Your store might also offer valuable perks such as free shipping. If you do decide to open an account at least wait until you make a large purchase to get the maximum advantage of the initial discount.

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Cheap Unique Gifts

Tie dye is always fun and always different. Tye dye t shirts make great Christmas gifts and are inexpensive to make. You can tie dye all kinds of things - towels, pillow cases, scarves etc. You can use Christmas colors to make your gift seasonal.  Check out our post on fasthowto.com about How to tie dye shirts

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How Much Is Rental Car Insurance

Whenever you rent a car, you always encouraged to purchase the collision damage waiver to eliminate your liability for the deductible or any uninsured losses to which the rental car agency is exposed. The usual fee is $9.00 a day.

In most instances, your personal auto policy or family auto  policy will provide coverage to secure you against payment of any of these deductibles. The only problem you have with using your own policy is that if your rental car is damaged at a time when your insurance agency is closed.

For example, say you return your rental car on a Sunday night and you have damage. You may have a hard time proving you have coverage and the rental car company may demand immediate payment for that damage.  How do you avoid this problem without paying that extra $9.00 a day?

Many credit card company have included automatic coverage in their package of benefits, saying that if you rent a car using their credit card, they will assume this liability. In most situations, rental car agencies have accepted the “credit card insurance” and not demanded immediate payment.

Make sure you check with your credit card company to see if you have car rental insurance option and check with your insurance company to find out how much your policy covers when you rent a car.

There are two reasons you may want to purchase the rental car insurance from your car rental agency:

1. Your auto insurance policy does not cover you for amounts the rental company charges you for the money it loses while the car you damaged is out of service.

2. Your insurance company may not reimburse the rental car agency quickly enough to satisfy them and the rental agency will insist on immediate payment from you if you did not buy the agency’s insurance.

For more information on saving money on auto car insurance policy quote see our site free insurance policy quotes

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Online Video Rentals

Watching movies is great cheap entertainment. You make your own popcorn and the candy and soda is sure much less expensive than at the theater. Plus you get to watch in the comfort of your own home. With advent of video rentals online your choice of movies is unlimited. There are a few companies that offer video rentals online but Blockbuster Video rentals really seems to have the best deal because you have a lot of flexibility in terms of where you rent and what you can rent i.e. video games at a discount.

The BLOCKBUSTER Total Access™ program gives you the convenience of renting movies online and the ability to exchange them in-store for FREE rentals. When you’re finished watching a DVD, you have a choice:

1. You can return it by mail.

2. You can exchange it for FREE movie rentals or discounted game rentals at participating BLOCKBUSTER® stores (up to plan limits on exchanges).*

If you don’t have a BLOCKBUSTER store nearby or prefer the simplicity of a mail-only rental service, you can opt for the BLOCKBUSTER By Mail. BLOCKBUSTER By Mail lets you rent online and return movies by mail. If you happen to be near a BLOCKBUSTER  you can still return your online rentals to a BLOCKBUSTER store in exchange for discounted movie and game rentals.

There are no due Dates or late Fees if you are part of the online rental program. Plus there is no extra charge for Blu-ray. You can choose from more than 90,000 Titles, from Cinema Classics to the Hottest New Releases. DVDs usually arrive within 1-2 business days.

In addition to all that, as a BLOCKBUSTER Online member, you’ll receive emails for exclusive deals and discounts to use in the stores or with BLOCKBUSTERS online partners.

If don’t want to commit or just want to check it out, BLOCKBUSTER is offering a FREE TRIAL. Just click on the START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW below and try it.

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Tips on Saving Money on Groceries

If you are planning on doing holiday baking start buying your ingredients now and put them in the freezer.  Prices can fluctuate tremendously over the course of just a few weeks.

Butter is a commodity and shortages in cream supplies and higher demand can drive prices up.

Industry executives explain that market pressures also affect prices. Butter tends to be cheaper in November than in December, when more people bake. Prices generally drop again in January.

Some supermarkets will offer discounts on their house brand to beat out competitors like Challenge or Land O’ Lakes.  A newspaper survey of prices in November and December showed major differences between months and between stores. Horizon was $3.99 in November and $4.99 in December at one store and at another store Horizon Butter was $2.89 in November and $4.19 in December.

One butter executive advises buying butter in November when it is cheaper and freezing it. While that changes its quality slightly, the savings can sometimes be as much as $1 per pound.

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