MyCouponsBlog

«	August 2008	»
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31

Don't forget the floss!

mycoupons | 16 April, 2007 06:34

Along with shampoo, deodorant, feminine hygiene products and tooth paste, I have an over abundance of toothbrushes.

I have so many toothbrushes, that I am quite certain I will never have to purchase one again.

By the time I run out, I will be in the ground.

So, as with all things in my house, they have uses other than for what they were originally intended for.

Here’s what I use toothbrushes for!

Brushing my teeth
Cleaning Jewelry- A little ammonia and a tooth brush will make your hard jewels sparkle!
Cleaning brushes and combs
Cleaning the track on my shower door- Spray the brush with your favorite cleaner, and scrub the gunk out!
Cleaning my shower tile grout
Cleaning around faucets
Cleaning my computer keyboard- Turn the keyboard upside down, and tap lightly to remove crumbs, then use a toothbrush to clean between the keys.
Cleaning my can opener blades
Cleaning scuff marks off of shoes- If the shoes are white, add a drop of tooth paste to the brush and gently scrub scuffs off.
Cleaning my cheese grater after use
Scrubbing stain remover into laundry stains- I put some oxy clean on a brush, and rub it into stains.
Removing silk from ears of corn- why brush your teeth AFTER eating corn? Stop the silk from getting in your teeth!- Just run an ear of corn under cold water and gently brush the silk out!
Putting hair color on my roots and eyebrows
Cleaning my appliance crevices
Cleaning the radio controls in my car
Cleaning rubber stamps after a few uses- A wet toothbrush with a drop of soap will clean the ink off your rubber stamps.
Cleaning my children's fingernails
Cleaning the rubber gasket of my garbage disposal- A brush dipped in bleach water is the perfect tool for cleaning the gunk from the underside of the gasket.
Cleaning gunk off of my children’s toys

With so many uses, the toothbrush just may be the answer to all of life’s problems!

Happy Brushing!

Until we meet again,

Cici

Cici@MyCoupons.com

Smells like teen spirit

mycoupons | 08 April, 2007 23:49

If you have been reading my blog for any period of time, you will know that I am big on smells.

I can relate a scent to every major event in my life.

If I smell fresh cut grass, it reminds me being a little girl watching my dad mow the lawn.

The smell of lemon cake brings me back to my wedding day.

And the smell of curry makes me think of Mario, who sat next to me in eighth grade history.

Every day he smelled like curry. It grossed me out.

You know how everyone’s house has a smell?

You could put me blindfolded in my grandmother’s house and I would know where I was.

Same for most of my friends. Ever notice that you can’t smell your OWN house?

I am constantly obsessed with the smell of my house.

What do other people smell when they come here?

Baby poop? Cat Pee? Last nights Chicken Cacciatore?

Most likely, all of the above.

So, I have devised a plan to keep my house odor free. I hate the smell of commercial air fresheners, so I use everyday products.

Coffee grinds. I use this in my freezer about once a week. Just place a small open dish with about ½ cup of coffee grinds on a shelf, and leave it for eight hours. The grinds absorb all the mixed flavors in the freezer.

Cotton Balls. I soak a cotton ball in my perfume, and drop it into a fresh vacuum cleaner bag. It makes the whole house smell like me! I also place a perfume soaked cotton ball in my undergarment drawer.

Lemons. I set a bag of popcorn on fire in the microwave last week. I popped half a lemon in the microwave and set it to low for 45 seconds. No more smell! I put half of a lemon, cut side up on a plate near the cat litter a few times a week. I use a cool mist humidifier in my bedroom, and after a week or so, the filter smells like a wet dog. When that happens, I add a little lemon juice to the water.

Cloves or Cinnamon. My mom used to simmer a pot of water and cloves or cinnamon on the stove when we were expecting company. It always made the house smell warm and inviting. I do the same thing now.

Vanilla Extract. My dad taught me this trick when I bought my first house. Add a tablespoon of vanilla extract to a gallon of paint and mix well. Your house will not smell like new paint chemicals!

Place a drop of vanilla extract on a light bulb and turn on the lamp. The smell of fresh baked cookies will fill the air!

And of course, we all know my fondness for dryer sheets. I stick them anywhere I can think of.

In hindsight, I guess my friends think my house smells like laundry, lemons, coffee, cinnamon, vanilla, perfume, and baby poop covered cat urine.

Smell ya later!

Until we meet again,

Cici

Cici@MyCoupons.com

Oh, what a relief it is!

mycoupons | 02 April, 2007 06:15

Plop, plop, Fizz, Fizz.

Barf, Barf.

Late last year I found Alka-Seltzer tablets on sale at CVS. With the coupons I had and the discount price of the boxes, CVS graciously paid me .25 a box to take them from the store.

I went home with fourteen boxes, and the promise of cured heartburn for the rest of my life.

A few days later, after an Italian dinner of garlic and tomato sauce, I woke up at 3am with terrible heartburn.

Instead of reaching for the trusty Tums, I remembered all the Alka-Seltzer.

I ripped open a package, dropped two tablets in the water, and sang the ‘Plop, Plop’ jingle as I marveled at the fizzing sound.

Once the bubbling subsided, I took a large gulp. My heartburn was gone three seconds later.

Because I threw up.

Have you ever had this stuff? Lord have mercy. It was like drinking a glass of bubbling chalk.

The taste was terrible, but even worse was the sensation of tiny rockets exploding in my mouth.

Okay. Thank GOD they paid me to take it out of the store. No wonder.

On to plan B. What to do with fourteen boxes of fizzy-lifting juice.

Here’s what I have come up with so far, please feel free to add on.

Clean your fake teeth!

Not that I do this anymore, but I remember putting my retainer in a glass of Alka-Seltzer when I was a teenager. I assume it would work for dentures as well!

Clean your coffeemaker!

Fill the water chamber of your coffee pot with water like normal, and add a few Alka-Seltzer tablets. Brew a nice hot pot of bubbly goodness. Then brew two pots of plain water. It will clean the internal parts of the coffee maker, and get rid of any bitter taste.

Clean your drinking glasses!

My drinking glasses are very narrow at the bottom, and sometimes when I take them out of the dishwasher, there is dried gunk at the bottom. Just drop an Alka-Seltzer tab in and watch it bubble away the gunk. The same rule applies for glass cookware. Burnt on cheese is no match for an hour long Alka-Seltzer bath!

Clean the toilet!

If you run out of toilet cleaner (Or Coke!) Drop a few tablets in the toilet and watch them fizz. Let them sit for fifteen minutes, and flush!

Make your diamond sparkle!

Soak your jewelry in a glass of bubbling tablets for a few minutes. Remove the jewelry and run it under cold water..

Eliminate the stink!

The non-disposal side of my kitchen sink was smelling pretty nasty last week. I tried pine sol, lemon juice and bleach, yet the funk remained. I finally crushed six tablets into the drain and poured white vinegar in. It was pretty darn cool to watch what happened, AND it got rid of the smell!

Stop scratching!

Mosquito’s love me! (Why wouldn’t they? I’m very loveable!) I get eaten alive if I am outside for more than three seconds. Alka-Seltzer and water soaked cotton balls are the best itch reliever I have found!

Of course, it works on relieving heartburn too.

Or so I’ve heard.

Until we meet again,

Cici

Cici@MyCoupons.com

Excuse me, were you reading that?

mycoupons | 26 March, 2007 06:32

You know how I diagnose myself with every disease known?

Well, I also get made up diseases too.

In High school, I had ‘Senioritis’, during my wedding, I had ‘Bridezillaism’ and now I get afflicted week after week with ‘The Monday’s.’

It happens every week without fail. I wake up on what should be a clean slate day, feeling tired, lazy and like sleeping all day.

I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that I wake up at 2am on Monday mornings to go pilfering through my neighbors recycle bins?

I like coupons.

The sad truth is, most of my neighbors KNOW I do this. Many have offered to GIVE me their papers on Sunday night. But, the thrill of running down the street at 2am to ‘steal’ them is part of the excitment.

I used to rummage through looking for the inserts, but late last year, I got smart. I realized that 9 out of 10 people have the Sunday paper on the top of the pile. So now I just grab the top paper, and I’m off.

Of course, this created quite the predicament, as now I had anywhere from 10-20 FULL newspapers in my garage, and a week until next recycling day.

So, I did what I always do. I got resourceful. I figured out all these neat things to do with the extra newspapers! Check it out!

Newspaper is an AWESOME packing material for moving! If you are moving, or putting glass away in storage, wrap WET newspaper around the glass. It will harden, and make a nice hard cocoon to protect your glassware!
Newspaper dries glass without streaking! We washed the outside of the windows this weekend, and using crumpled up newspaper was better than paper towels for drying!
Newspaper is perfect for keeping your luggage smelling fresh! Every time I return from a trip, I crumple up tons of newspaper into my suitcase. It keeps it dry, and keeps it smelling clean!
Newspaper is great for drying shoes! Living in Florida during the summer is like living in the rainforest! It rains EVERY DAY! And there is NOTHING worse than wet shoes. When I come inside, I place newspaper in my shoes, turn them on their sides, and they are dry in hours!
Newspaper can replace paper towels for many things! I use crumpled newspaper to wipe the ashes out of my self-cleaning oven when it is done!
Instead of vacuuming up broken glass, use wet newspaper! Run the wet newspaper along the floor and the shards will stick to the paper. Then throw it away! It works for unscrewing broken light bulbs too!
Put some newspaper at the bottom of your garbage pails! We had a diaper odor problem in our garage. All dirty diapers get thrown out there. After 3 days in the hot Florida outdoors, my garbage pails smelled like a zoo! I started putting layers of newspaper at the bottom of the can before putting the trash bag in. No more smell!
Newspaper is better than painter’s tape! Instead of taking the time to carefully place blue tape all over your window edges and baseboards, use wet newspaper strips! The wet newspaper will stick and keep paint off. It’s not as fun to remove as painter’s tape, but it IS easier!
Cats can read too! I line the bottom of my litter box with newspaper before filling it with litter. It really cuts down on the odor, and I think Mr. Fluffy Tail likes reading the classifieds!
Newspaper is the perfect table cloth for kid’s crafts! Anytime my children are painting or using markers, I put newspaper all over my dining room table and let them go crazy!
Newspaper can be wrapping paper! We use the color comics to wrap birthday gifts for small children. They think it is neat to open, and I love teaching my kids to reduce before recycling!

I would love to hear YOUR ideas! Please email me or leave comments!

It is almost 11:30 P.M.on Sunday night as I type, and I have to get up in 3 hours to go dumpster diving!

So….

Until we meet again,

Cici

Cici@MyCoupons.com

They say you can't take it with you.

mycoupons | 19 March, 2007 06:30

You may recall from a previous post that I have an OVER-abundance of shampoo. I am addicted to "buying" it- simply because I get it for FA-REE.

I have all different types and brands of shampoo. From .77 a bottle to $9.99 a bottle. Oily hair, dry hair, red hair, blonde hair. I could open a health and beauty store in my bathroom, if I was so inclined.

In fact, if this blogging gig doesn't work out for me, I just might.

Well, having more shampoo than I could use in a lifetime left me with the dilemma of what to do with it. Over the years I have devised ways to put shampoo to use. Besides washing my hair, look what I have come up with!

My mom taught me this one- if you have a zipper that won't budge, put a little drop of shampoo on a Q-tip and run it up and down the zipper. The shampoo lubricates the zipper teeth, and the zipper will unstick!
Wash your car! Shampoo is cheaper than car wash, and was MADE to remove grease! The kids will LOVE it! Make car washing a family activity- we do! Pick a nice sunny day, and use 1/4 cup of shampoo, fill the bucket with water and wash away! Make sure to 'accidentally' spray your kids with the hose! (Note: My husband, in his never-ending quest for corner cutting, schedules family car wash approximately two hours before bedtime- he figures if he covers the kids with shampoo and hoses them down; bath time is complete for the day!)
Bring your leather shoes and purses back to life by rubbing a little bit of shampoo on worn areas, and then buffing it off with a clean washcloth!
A washcloth dipped in hot sudsy shampoo water and wrung almost dry is the perfect way to clean dust off your live and not-so-alive houseplants.
Ok, so my daughter chews gum. My son finds it once she discards it. Three months ago, he put it in his hair. Last week, he put in Mr. FluffyTail's fur. Guess what? Shampoo took it out! (My husband wanted to shave the cat, I wouldn't let him!) Just put some shampoo on the gum, and gently pull it off the fur. Then rinse, repeat, and follow with your favorite styling gel!
My Husband uses shampoo instead of WD-40. (He also uses scotch tape instead of glue and nails, so don't quote me on this use!) He swears shampoo will lubricate nuts and bolts and stop creaking doors just as well as the WD.
Johnson and Johnson No More Tears baby shampoo is THE best eye make-up remover there is. No comparison. A drop on a cotton ball and your make-up will be gone- without your eyes watering!
This one I learned by accident. My daughter HATES taking Band-Aids off- we usually have to sneak in and remove them while she is sleeping. Once she had a Care Bear Band-Aid on her forehead following a scrape. She wouldn't let me take it off. While in the bath, the shampoo ran down her face, and the Band-Aid SLID off! So now I use a drop of shampoo, rub the Band-Aid, and they slide off every time
Instead of buying bubble bath for my kids, I squirt kids shampoo under the running faucet. Not only does it make HUGE foamy bubbles, it CLEANS the tub when I rinse it out!
If you are like me, you have hairspray on your mirror, door, door knobs, and wall behind where you stand to spray it on! Guess what?? Shampoo was MADE to remove hair products!! A little shampoo on a wet sponge and the hairspray film will be gone!
I no longer buy detergent marketed for my unmentionables. A drop or two of shampoo works just as well!
Shampoo can be used instead of shaving cream- it will not dry like soap ( I sound like a commercial) and it will NOT clog your razor!

If you have any further uses, I'd love to hear them! What else can I do with all this free shampoo? Remember, my husband is bald!

Until we meet again,

Cici

Cici@MyCoupons.com

P.S. My blog tracking software (Yes, I can see YOU!) shows that I have a reader in Melbourne, Australia. How cool is THAT? I am GLOBAL!! I think a raise is in order (cough..cough..hint hint) Hey mate (Or Sheila) leave a comment and let us know you DO exist!

Valid XHTML 1.0 Strict and CSS.

Calendar

Recently

Don't forget the floss!

Smells like teen spirit

Oh, what a relief it is!

Excuse me, were you reading that?

They say you can't take it with you.

Search

Archives

Categories

Syndicate