In my opinion renter’s insurance IS worth the cost, mainly because it’s super cheap, but protects you if your rental say burns down, is broken into, or you have some other emergency situation happen.Your rental landlord most likely has insurance but landlord insurance tends to cover stuff like structural damage to the building but for sure won’t cover your personal property.

If you’re thinking you don’t need renter’s insurance because you have few valuables you’re most likely wrong. You don’t need gold statues to benefit. Renter’s insurance can be set up to cover electronics, clothing, albums, and more. Your whole clothing collection and your TV cost way more to replace than insurance will cost you.

What will a policy cover?:

Most of your home goods. A basic renter’s policy will not usually cover natural disasters like a major flood though. You’ll need to look into extra insurance for that. Talk to an insurance company to get an idea of what is and is not covered. It’s helpful if you create a good home inventory list before shopping for insurance because this list can help an insurance agent find you the best coverage for your needs.

How much does it cost?

I’ve had renter’s insurance at many different dwellings and it’s always averaged around $20-30 a month, although I know it can go as low as $15 a month. If you lose all your possessions in a home crisis, it’s going to cost you far more than that yearly fee of about $300. Plus you can get usually get a discount if you double up your insurance; for example, if you get auto and renter’s through the same company. You can also usually get discounts if your home has fire or burglar alarms, fire extinguishers, sprinkler systems, or deadbolts.

Of course discounts don’t always come easy so be sure to shop around.

What do you think? Do you have renter’s insurance? Why or why not…

Ok so recently my dishwasher has been flooding all over the damn kitchen. Did I just curse? Sorry, but well, it’s super annoying. I’m talking soap and water ALL over my kitchen. I was thinking I’d need a new one, but read up on it first, and found out…

If you have a disposal, you need to run it for about 30 seconds before you run your dishwasher or debris left in the disposal can be pulled into the dishwasher drain line and clog it - which of course can lead to my issues. Do I always run the disposal 30 seconds? NO. From now on I will though, and hopefully it solves my problem.

Other ways to keep you dishwasher in tip-top shape (and save you from repairs and new washers) include:

• Use less detergent. Dish wash detergent companies say to add a certain amount of dish soap to your load of dishes, BUT if you actually read your manual, it likely says ONLY add a teaspoon. The soap people want you to buy more soap, but more, doesn’t always equal cleaner and better. Too much detergent can clog your washer and leave icky residue on dishes. All this means you need to waste more water and energy running your washer again and you waste soap.
• Periodically check the holes in the spray arm of your dishwasher. Small bits of paper and other junk can get stuck in there and then your machine won’t work as well.
• You need to clean your dishwasher filter out once in a while. Check your manual for instructions.
• Keep the exterior clean as well which can help avoid soap buildup and rust. Plain old hot water and a little soap work fine.
• Always read your specific manual. There’s a section with upkeep and cleaning - actually follow this. It may seem like a small thing, but having to buy a new washer can be pricey when you’re not expecting it.

Got any other cool dishwasher tips?

[image via stock.xchng]

Just as promised, we are letting you know of some great products this month for Earth Day.  This time, I had the opportunity to review some of the Bright Green™ cleaning products. Bright Green is a new line of home care products featuring cleaning and laundry soaps made with biodegradable and naturally derived ingredients, energy-efficient light bulbs and paper products made from 100% recycled content.  The Bright Green products are sold exclusively at Safeway stores.

I was able to review the Bright Green dishwashing liquid and all purpose cleaner.  The question that I have often asked myself is, “Is it possible to use green cleaning products and get the same results?”  My experience so far has been a positive one.  In all the environmentally friendly products I have tried, I have not found a difference in the way the product cleans from the other products. 

The Bright Green dishwashing liquid cleaned my dishes very well.  It took the grease off my dishes and had a very pleasant lavender scent.  My son especially enjoyed it.  He asked if he could wash dishes, which in our house means that I put some soap and water in a bowl and he “washes” some of the dishes in the sink.  He ended up using 1/2 of the bottle, so there were lots of suds and my kitchen smelled great for days.  lol  The Bright Green all purpose cleaner is great for the kitchen or garage and it has a refreshing lemon scent.

And now, on to the giveaway!

The giveaway includes an attractive  reusable shopping bag and $1 coupons for Bright Green cleaning products.  Safeway credits customers $.05 each time they use any reusable bag at the checkout.

There are many ways to enter this contest.  You can choose as many as you’d like.

You can earn an entry for each item you complete, but you must leave a separate comment for each one.  It just makes it easier to tally and pick a random winner.

1) Leave a comment telling me why you’d like to win this prize or why you use green cleaning products.

2) Give this post a thumbs up at Stumble Upon and leave your Stumble name.

3) Tweet this post and leave your Twitter name or status url. To retrieve your Twitter status url, simply click on the timestamp of your tweet. It will say something like, “5 seconds ago from the web”. You can earn 3 twitter entries each day for each time you tweet this giveaway. You must leave a comment for each tweet.

4) Follow @thriftymommy on Twitter. Leave a comment with your Twitter name.

5) Blog about this giveaway and leave a direct link to your post.

6) Mention this giveaway on any forums or message boards and leave me a link.

7) Add Thrifty Mommy and/or Keeping the Castle and/or to your blogroll.  You can earn a separate entry for each one.

This contest ends Sunday, April 12, 2009 and is available to those with a U.S. shipping address (no P.O. boxes please). The winner will be contacted by email and will have 72 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen. You will not be put on a mailing list, but you must include your email address in the second box under your name (not in the comment box).

Good luck everyone!

Coffee (good coffee; people) can be expensive. You can buy cheaper coffee to save money OR to make your coffee purchases work harder use the grounds up - all the way.

After brewing a pot, set aside the grounds and try one of the following applications…

Place them in your compost bin where they will enrich your compost content. Coffee grounds naturally release nitrogen which plants adore all to pieces. Flowers like azaleas and rhododendrons are especially huge fans of the acid content in coffee. In fact, even if you don’t have a compost bin, you can still use coffee grounds in the garden to enrich the soil. Simply sprinkle the grounds over the soil and flower beds.

Place some of your old grounds in a canister in your kitchen. Rub on your hands after you peel onions or work with smelly old fish. The gorunds work well at removing icky lingering scents.

Coffee grounds also work like baking soda when used as an odor absorber. You can put some into a plastic bin, toss on a lid, punch holes in the lid, and place the whole shebang in your fridge. The bin will absorb fridge odors well.

Scrub down in the shower with grounds. I know, it sounds weird, but coffee grounds are actually perfect for various skin and hair applications.

Have your kiddos make a coffee grounds craft - trust me, it’s super cool fun.

Lastly, I’ve heard that coffee grounds will remove (or hide anyhow) scratches on wood furniture. I haven’t tried, but plenty of folks say it works wonders.

Do you have any other uses for coffee grounds?

[image via stock.xchng]

The following is a guest post. 

What could be better than saving money, reducing landfill waste and at the same time making your home safer for you family?  Making your own simple cleaning products will accomplish all three of these and give you a sense of self sufficiency that is very powerful.  Who knows, it may start you down the same path that I took ten years ago to simplify my life by teaching myself to do things that I had previously relied on others to do for me. 

Maybe you have started on this journey already but haven’t had the confidence till now to defy the huge marketing machine that bombards us every day declaring that only their chemical laden products can make our house safely clean.  Take heart, with a few simple and safe ingredients you can make products to clean most of your home and make it much healthier.  And despite what the huge cleaning industry bosses say, you don’t need ten products to clean you home.  The following two creations will clean almost every surface that gets dirty.  Have fun!
The long list of complicated ingredients and supplies that will cost you lots of cash (not!):

Clean spray bottle (can be recycled but rinse well before use)
Glass or plastic wide mouthed jar (I use a pint canning jar)
Baking soda
Liquid castile soap (Dr. Bronner’s is good)
Rosemary, Peppermint or Lavender essential oil (can be mail ordered or found at health food stores)

Disinfectant Cleaning Spray
Fill a one quart spray bottle to within two inches of the top with warm tap water.  Add 2 tablespoons of liquid castile soap.  Add 1-2 teaspoons of your essential oil (EO) of choice.  All three of these have disinfectant properties so it is a matter of personal preference.  Adjust the amount of EO to lighten or strengthen the scent.  Shake to mix and shake before each use.  Label the bottle.

This cleaner will cost you about $.50 to make and can be used in so many ways.  Here are the things that I use it for.  Sinks, toilet (both inside and out), wood floors, tile floors, carpet stains, ceramic stove top (for non baked on stains) counters, bathtub and countertops, walls and anything else that gets dirty.  You can spray this directly on dirty little hands too. Just rinse with water to avoid the soap getting into the eyes.  This cleaner is completely natural and non toxic and cleans amazingly well.  Just spray it on, let it sit for a couple of minutes will you receive an aroma therapy session from the EO and then wash off.

Scrubbing Powder
Pour two cups of baking soda into a clean bowl.  Add about 4 tablespoons of liquid castile soap and 1-2 teaspoons

Read more

Here’s another use for vinegar that we can add to the list.

How To Clean Your Dishwasher With Vinegar

It always seems like I find someone every day who is talking about saving the environment.  Granted, I want to be a good steward of hte things I am gifted, but I also want to use disposable diapers and I enjoy a good Styrofoam cup that doesn’t sweat all over my car or coffee table.  So today I thought I would give you the top 10 green household cleaners.  See how you stack up to the list and let us know how you are doing.  Some will even save you money.  That’s my favorite part.

1. Vinegar, we have talked about vinegar tons of times.
2. Baking soda.  Use it to polish your silver and freshen your carpets.
3. Lemons help keep your garbage disposal clean and smelling good.
4. 1 part Rubbing Alcohol added to a 1:1 vinegar water mix will shine up your mirrors and sinks nicely.
5. Salt added to lemon is a great scouring pad for your dirtiest dishes.
6. Don’t waste your money on bottle scrubbers. Boil an old toothbrush and use it instead.
7. Keep house plants inside.  This will help to naturally clean your air.
8. Use egg shells and ice to work your garbage disposal to a shine.
9. Use an old dryer sheet to shine up your chrome.
10. Use half a box of baking soda downa drain chased by vinegar to clean out any slow drains.  It’s best to let it set for about 10-15 minutes and then rinse it with hot water.

So there you have it.  My top 10 favorite green household cleaners.  Did you also notice that they are every day cleaners so you don’t have to spend any extra money using them?  See, I shot 2 birds with one stone (for lack of a better phrase)

Thrifty shopping …

So I promised a closer look at baking soda. It seems to be a huge resource for a lot of things. And you don’t get much cheaper than $1 for a powerful cleaning agent. So here is my list of the top uses for baking soda. Some will seem familiar as we have talked about them before.

In the Kitchen:

1. Make a paste with water to clean up your sink that isn’t very abrasive.
2. Stick a box in your fridge to keep the smell gone.
3. Mix 3 tsp with hot water to soak and remove tea and coffee stains from thermos’ and tea cups.
4. Use it on your counters to get rid of Kool-Aid stains off.
5. Rinse your fruits and veggies with baking sod. Make sure you rinse well.
6. Did you know it will tenderize meats?
7. If you like fish but hate the smell, soak your fish in water and baking soda for an hour in the fridge.
8. A pinch of baking soda added to tomato recipes can help cut down the acid in the recipe.
9. When you make baked beans, add a pinch of baking soda to the beans to help rid them of their gas producing ability.
10. 1/2 tsp of baking soda added to 3 eggs makes a light and fluffy omelet. Read more
    
    Share and Enjoy:

    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 
    • 

A few weeks ago, Cuddlebug snuck a red crayon into the living room and colored on the beige carpets.  What to do?  I called my frugal friend Revka and thought she might have some tips.  Indeed she did and I was inspired to share some stain removal tips with you.

1.  Crayon on carpet - Spray with WD-40 and scrub.  Follow immediately with dish soap and water or steam clean carpet.  The soap removes the WD-40.

2.  Ballpoint ink -  Place a paper towel or rag under the stain and then saturate the stain with an alcohol-based hair spray or rubbing alcohol, which will help to break up the ink.  The paper towel will help to absorb the excess hairspray/alcohol or stain if it starts to run.  Then blot the stain with a rag.  Continue these steps until the stain is removed and then wash as normal.  (You may want to test the hairspray on an inconspicuous area first.)

3.  Chocolate - Mix detergent and warm water together and blot the stain.  Next, blot the area with ammonia and water.  Clean the area again with the detergent solution.  Then, clean the area again with clean water (no soap).  Repeat as necessary until stain is gone.  I found out the hard way that this does work!

4.  Chewing gum - Put ice cubes in a plastic bag and place on gum stain.  You could even try to put the whole garment into the freezer.  Crack or scrape off excess gum.  Spray the stain with a pretreatment product.  Rub with a heavy-duty liquid detergent such as Wisk, Gain, or Tide.  Rinse with hot water.  Repeat until stain is gone.  If stain will not come out, then try using liquid lighter fluid (test first).  Put lighter fluid on a clean cloth and rub over the remaining gum.  Wash as normal.

Read more

I have tried everything to get tar out of my carpet.

• WD 40
• Carpet vleaner
• Lighter fluid
• Avon Skin so soft (my boss used it to get something out of her carpet)

Nothing got it out. Now, not only does my carpet have tar stains but my berber is now roughed up. So when I saw the commercial for the Woolite Oxy Pod, I thought I should at least try it. Low and behold, it got the stain out. So now all I have to do is use my carpet cleaner as an all around cleaner to hopefully level out the rough edges to make it look even. I am so glad tha tthe stains are out. Granted, you can still see that there was something there, but at least the bulk of the stain is out. I don’t think anything else will be able to get it out. I am very happy with the outcome. I didn’t think anything would even touch it since I had tried everything the internet had to offer and then some.