Sand Storage, the Best Storage

The best way you store ginger is to leave it in sand. I know it sounds weird, but ginger does best in a dry environment. And what's a dryer environment than sand? It can last indefinitely stored in sand.

Walk and Talk or Walk and Listen

If you aren't looking for a rigorous workout routine and just want some basic exercise, walking is a free and easy solution. It's a gentle cardio that can be combined with strength training, if you'd like, by carrying dumbbells. Unlike running or circuit training, walking doesn't require as much self-motivation. To make sure you walk, consider finding a friend you can talk to regularly. It's a great way to keep in touch with friends. If you don't have a buddy in mind, consider listening to your favorite radio show or news radio.

Festivals and Parades

Check out your local festivals and parades. There are a bunch that celebrate specific races and ethnicities. It's a free, cheap way to have fun, and have an educational experience. It's also a great opportunity to meet new people.

Rejuvenate Your Dark Clothes to New Status

As your dark colors fade with time, consider re-dying it with inexpensive Rit dye instead of replacing it. Buying staple clothes such as camisoles, tank tops, crew neck tees, long crew neck tees, v-neck tees, etc and re-dying them will prolong their lifespan, while saving you money.

Play Secret Santa

Have too many friends and family to shop for and way too small of a budget? Play Secret Santa. Everyone writes their name on a sheet of paper that gets folded up. Put them all in a bag, bowl, cup, whatever. Once it's all mixed up in there, everyone picks a name and is responsible for buying a gift just for that person.

Floating Candles or Flowers or Flower Candles

A beautiful centerpiece can be created with a beautiful bowl, some water, and floating flowers or candles or flower candles. If they're floating flower candles, they're beautiful even if you don't light them. And they never die.

Caffeinate Your Candles

If you have unscented pillar candles, you can place them on a plate covered with coffee beans or ground coffee. As the candle heats up, the scent of the coffee will linger and fragrance the air.

Don't Ice a Burn

If you burn yourself, it's natural to want to relieve it with an opposite effect by icing it but the two extreme in temperatures is a shock to your system and really bad for you. Don't do it! If you burn yourself and it's not an emergency, run it under cold water until the burning sensation subsides. Lightly tap it dry and moisturize it with ointment.

Cheap Oatmeal

Pre-packaged, pre-flavored oatmeals are convenient but overpriced. You can do that yourself by preparing ahead of time. I like to keep a stash of dried fruits such as raisins, strawberries, apricots, and cherries nearby. I fill a bowl with oatmeal and my choice of fruits. Then I add already boiled water. Or I dump the oatmeal and my choice of fruit in a 2-quart saucepan with milk and bring it to a simmer until it's ready.

Breakfast Smoothie

Don't have time to prepare eggs your style with a side of sausages and bacon? Try a quick, filling, and easy to make breakfast like a smoothie. You can even use frozen fruit which can serve as ice, but it's gentler on the blender. You can add regular milk, soy milk, rice milk, Kefir milk, or yogurt.

Add Sparkle to Your Juice

Instead of buying soda which is unhealthy, personalize and create your own bubbly effect by adding sparkling water to your juice of choice. It can be orange, grape, lemonade, whatever you'd like!

Buy Concentrate

If you shop in family-oriented neighborhoods, you're more likely to find large concentrate cans for super cheap. Just add water and sugar. Make a huge batch in a pitcher. You can even freeze them and turn them into popsicles :)

Make Your Own Croutons

I was delightfully surprised when I discovered how easily croutons can be made yourself. They're delicious, pricey, and salty already made. When you make them yourself, you can personalize the taste to your preference. I was inspired by the flavors of garlic. But you can do whatever you'd like. I cube bread especially something like sourdough or something hard. I coat them in extra-virgin olive oil (which if kept in minced garlic overnight would give it an amazing flavor!), garlic powder, parsley, salt, pepper, parmesan cheese, and a little paprika. I pan-fried it until it was thoroughly dried and appeared toasty and slightly darkened. A yummy nummy treat!

A Sunkissed Glow

To give your skin a nice glow after a day in the sun, sweep your cheekbones, forehead, nose, and chin lightly with a solid bronzer and bronzer brush. It takes 30 seconds and makes a great impact.

A Splash of Color

A great decorating technique is to splash the walls with some color. But if you feel uneasy about committing to a specific color, consider painting the bathroom walls. You get to enjoy it without feeling overwhelmed because the bathroom is unlike the living room or bedroom, a space not primarily used.

Pre-Made Pasta Sauce

I'm a great cook, but I hate to do it! So when I finally get around to doing it, I like to do as much of it as possible at one time. I cook up a huge batch of ground beef and heat up some pasta sauce. Sometimes I'll just blend a huge can of tomatoes and doctor it up myself with tomato paste, maybe some tomato sauce, and definitely some herbs like basil. I separate them into smaller batches and put them in ziplock baggies. I squeeze all of the air out and put them in the freezer. Whenever I have a hankering for pasta, I grab pre-made pasta.

A Sweet Treat

Don't you just love the smell of baked goodness in the oven? You can enjoy the sweet smell without the manual labor by pouring a little milk and vanilla extract in the bath water. You can even add oatmeal, too, for a moisturizing effect. But I would recommend putting the oatmeal in a satchet to make clean up a breeze! :)

A 5-Year Old Treat

When I was five years old, I never got to enjoy such indulgences. So every so often I play five year old by toasting bread and slathering it with creamy peanut butter and topping it with slices of bananas. My boyfriend likes to drizzle it off with honey, too!

Celery and Peanut Butter Snack

Have a couple celery sticks and slather them with creamy peanut butter for a yummy and filling snack! The fibrous nature of celery requires saliva production which promotes oral hygiene and peanut butter offers an adequate amount of protein, an energy inducer. It's light but filling and yummy, too!