Household Hints with Hoyas
alpanther
11 years ago
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pirate_girl
11 years agomdahms1979
11 years agoRelated Discussions
Another Handy Hint.
Comments (16)I do what KayJones does. Plastic bag in hot water. I have a "defrost" setting on my microwave but don't like it. It patially cooks the meat. I don't like defrosring in the fridge,takes too long....See MoreExcellent Home Office and Household Paper Management Advice, Link
Comments (10)Interesting thoughts -- we could all improve on paperwork storage in our homes. Two things I think I'm doing well that differ from the above mentioned Script, and someone else might find some ideas in my methods: Taxes. Yes, like Script, I am scrupulous about maintaining records for my taxes. About a dozen years ago I went to the office supply and bought two big boxes of BRIGHT GREEN folders (green like money). I labeled them Taxes 2000 ... Taxes 2001 ... Taxes 2002 ... Taxes 2003 ... and so on. Given my family's typical lifespan, I made enough green folders to take me to age 110 -- probably more than I'll need, but I'm ready! They're all stored in my file cabinet, taking up very little space. Now when I receive anything tax-related -- a charitable receipt, an end-of-the-year bank statement, whatever -- I have a place to file it. In April, I have a place to file a copy of my taxes, and I can go back and see previous tax years. For the rest of my life, this system is in place. Death folder. Ours is a notebook. Two identical notebooks, actually, since we have two children. Our girls are young adults now, but they've never dealt with an estate -- even if they don't open it 'til they're old, it'll be useful to them. It contains a lot of stuff: - A personal letter to the two of them - A list of our wishes about funeral and items we'd like donated to various family members or charities - A list of things they must do immediately; it starts with going to our house and taking possession of the dog, but it also includes small details like canceling our voting registration and destroying any medicines in the house. At every turn this list includes addresses and phone numbers, including the lawyer we suggest for probate, the funeral home our family's always used, and family members who should be contacted. - A copy our will; they know what's in it -- everything split between the two of them - A list of our financial assets -- bank accounts, investments, insurance, deeds/maps of real estate ... when our youngest became a legal adult, we made the two girls co-beneficiaries of every account; note that this was done before either was married, so our two kids -- not future son-in-laws -- will own these items. - A list of the bills we pay each month -- electricity, phone, even the guy who cuts our grass. - Official copies of our birth certificates, our marriage certificates, and the girls' birth certificates -- they might not be needed, but the girls won't have to scramble to find them - A flashdrive with all of the above in digital format plus photographs that might be useful in putting together the funeral Our rule: We keep two years of tax returns in the notebooks ... the reason being that someday an accountant will file our final estate tax return, and he or she will want our last two years of returns -- so every April we pull out the notebook, discard one old return and insert the newest ... so our rule is that every April we look over the notebook and update anything that's changed. For example, last year we changed bank accounts, and someday we hope to add items concerning grandchildren to the book. Our girls know that the notebooks are stored in the safe, and they know where the key to the safe is hidden, and they know it's labeled with a misleading name so that a thief wouldn't look at it twice. Last thought on this notebook: Though this project took us the better part of a year --- we kept remembering one more thing, one more thing that really should be included -- we didn't find it difficult emotionally. I suspect that if we were older and/or one of us were in poor health, it might've been different....See More'Why didn't I think of that?' - household hint
Comments (3)Now that you mention it, it does make since. One of the tips in Tightwad Gazette is to use onion bags to make scrubbies and it is essentially the same material. I once knew a wonderful lady who would crochet kitchen scrubbies out of netting and I absolutely love them and someday hope to make some myself. I also would not see any problem with using them in the kitchen if you threw them in the washing machine first on hot water....See MoreI've Got 2 'Hoya Imperialis'......Red Variety....Any Hints?
Comments (5)Well thank you very much, I appreciate it very much. No tips yet:( Yea, this little hoya i put outside, that i swear looked totally dead, and is an expensive and hard to get large flowering variety, one of the 'Archboldandia', types, was not growing at all for over 6 months. So like I said, I put it outside, here in Ft.Laud, and it is SO hot and humid, these large flowering ones really love that, but I put it out because i was sure it was dead, and I went to finally throw the plant away, and there were 3 new vines growing on it !!!! I am still in shock! It is growing so great now, it is almost at the point where I can tie the vines to the trellis that is in the pot. So...down the road, I could get blooms if it grows this fast all summer/fall, maybe next year. I have great luck with the large flowering ones. It is buying them that is so hard, they cost so much! But growing them here in south Fla. is so easy, since it is like their natural habitat. And that little plant, that I thought was dead, cost me over $30,in a 3in pot! So...I didnt loose my money on this one. Are you are hoya lover? Got any question I might be able to help you with? This is the hoya that turned out to be alive...if it ever blooms, it will look like this one....See Morealpanther
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