If you’re not doing enough spring cleaning or remodeling to merit a full dumpster rental, you might think you’re stuck with multiple trips to the dump or tricky garbage can filling. Bagster fills in that in-between waste remove niche nicely. More »
After finishing (for now) our guide to the best times to buy anything, we were pointed toward a book that tackles the topic in greater detail. Buy Ketchup in May and Fly at Noon looks like a true money-saver’s tipsheet.
Written by former investigative journalist Mark Di Vincenzo, Buy Ketchup doesn’t take all of its time-saving tips seriously, because nobody expects you to rearrange a European vacation to arrive at The Louvre on the mid-week day with the shortest lines. But other tips in the book, which sports a meticulous list of sources, could save you real money, or at least some major headaches and wait times.
Di Vincenzo’s book page includes a few spare tips not found in his book, including this bit about the best time to take your pet to the veterinarian:
9 a.m. Tuesday. By this time, vets are digging out from the weekend’s emergency calls.
The worst time? 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Friday. Pet owners who have just returned home from work discover pet emergencies, some of which don’t get resolved until Monday.
Cool stuff, even if only for the lunchtime discussion topics. And at an Amazon price of about $10, worth an exploratory purchase. Thanks Phil!
Store butter in the fridge and it’s too hard. Store butter on the counter and, if it’s left uncovered, it gets warm and, occasionally, funky. Stash your butter in a Butter Bell, a novel centuries-old French storage method.
The Butter Bell is, basically, a crockery shaped like a small cookie jar. Inside the jar, there is a bell-shaped space attached to the lid where the butter is stored, and a small amount of cool water is kept in the bottom of the jar to keep the butter cool and sealed against odors and contamination.
Check out the video below from the Food Network to see how the Butter Bell keeps your precious all-purpose food enhancer safe and palatable:
Have a novel old-school kitchen trick to share? Even if it isn’t several centuries old, we still want to hear about it in the comments.
If you (or your kids) live a rough-and-tumble lifestyle, Tear Mender makes instant patches on fabric and leather for a quick and effective fix.
How well does it work? According to weblog Cool Tools:
Better than iron patches? Yes. Holds much better. Never comes off and easy to add additional repairs. If you're careful, you can make "neat" patches, or you can make very strong patches that aren't so pretty. You can wash Tear Mender—over and over and over.
We haven’t had the opportunity to use Tear Mender yet, but for $8 at Amazon, it sounds like a great addition to your household DIY kit. (Check out the instructional videos on the Tear Mender homepage for more usage specifics.) If you’ve had a chance to use it in the past, share your experience in the comments.
