Tips from A to Z to Make Your Life Easier

Aluminum Foil

Place a piece of aluminum foil under your ironing board cover to speed up your ironing and to get results. Try it and see what happens.

Banana Peels

If your leather shoes are scuffed, shine them with banana peels. Simply rub the shoes with the inside of the banana peel and then use a soft cloth to buff them. The shoes will look shiny. You can also use banana peels on other leather objects.

Banana peels also work wonders on silverware and your aluminum pots and pans to keep them shiny.

Cotton balls

Keep ants away by soaking cotton balls in a solution of sugar and water and leaving them in places where you have seen ants. You can also use salt in place of sugar. They both will work.

Make your refrigerator smell fresh by dampening cotton balls with some vanilla extract or essential oil and place them on a shelf towards the back of the refrigerator.

Dustpan

Carry a dustpan to the beach with your kids. It will be a tool to help them scoop up sand to build those sandcastles.

When you are shoveling snow, let your little ones help by using a dustpan.

The way dustpans are made, they can be clamped onto your broom. You probably knew that already.

Egg Cartons

There are many uses for egg cartons, so stop throwing them away.

• Use egg cartons as extra ice trays when you are having a party and need more ice.
• Use them on your dresser to drop earrings and rings into the sections. You will never have to search for that matching earring when you are in a hurry to get dressed and go somewhere.
• Use egg cartons on your desk for paper clips, thumb tacks, and rubber bands.

An egg carton is a poor man's tool chest.

Flower Pots

Just because the item is listed as a flower pot, it can be used for so many other things. On a picnic table, it could hold your utensils, condiments, and folded napkins. Decorate the pot to correspond with the holiday. For instance, decorate it in red, white and blue for Fourth of July.

Remember those cotton balls mentioned above? Put the leftover ones in a decorated flower pot in the bathroom. Use the bottom of the flower pot for a soap dish.

Ginger

Ginger has so many health benefits for headaches, cramps, colds, chills, stress, constipation, and almost any other ailment.

Ginger also has many beauty benefits, including reducing acne, wrinkles, age spots, and hair loss. If it can't be helped by ginger, it's unlikely to be helped by many other things either.

Ham

After you cook a ham and eat off of it once, don't think you can't use leftover ham in so many other ways. For instance, you can eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

• For breakfast, fry the ham and eat it instead of bacon or sausage. You can also add pieces of ham to your scrambled eggs or omelet.
• For lunch, include pieces of ham in your salad, and you can make a ham sandwich with slices.
• For dinner, add chopped up pieces of ham to your macaroni and cheese.

Ice Cream Scoop

Use an ice cream scoop to get the perfect shape and size of meatballs. Every one of them will be uniform and just the right portion.

You can use an ice cream scoop for the same reasons you would use a melon baller. Just like you scooped out meatballs, you can scoop out melons for a fruit salad or drinks.

Jam

The most common use for jam is to put it on toast. If that is the only thing you are doing with it, you are cheating jam out of so many other uses. For instance, use jam on your pancakes and waffles.

Add jam to plain yogurt for a delicious treat. Put some in your oatmeal for a change of pace from eatingthe plain oatmeal every day.

Ketchup

Ketchup is not just for putting on your hot dog or hamburger. Use ketchup to clean copper. Simply coat the surface with a thin layer of ketchup. Wait from five to ten minutes to rinse off and dry. There is no need to buy an expensive brand for this project.

Use ketchup to soothe insect bites. It might already be on your picnic table anyway. Dab a little on the bite. You will feel better immediately because the salt in ketchup will draw out some of the inflammation.

Lemons

There are so many uses for lemons that it is hard to narrow them down to just a few. Lemons are very versatile and can be used for many things.

• Use lemons as a toilet bowl cleaner by mixing one part lemon juice with two parts of borax. Let it sit for a couple of hours and then rinse.
• Add lemon juice to your laundry detergent to whiten clothes.
• Drink a glass of water and two teaspoons of lemon juice for heartburn.

Mayonnaise

Soften your hair with mayonnaise by applying a generous amount to the dry ends. Let it stay on for 15 minutes. Rinse all the mayo out and shampoo your hair as usual. The results will be rich-looking hair

Using mayo on your skin will be just as good as having a spa day. Mix mayo with a teaspoon of olive oil and apply to your skin. Let it sit for 5–7 minutes. Rinse off with warm water. Your skin will have an instant glow.

Nail Polish

• Just dab a small amount of nail polish into small dents, dings, and chips on your car to keep them from spreading.
• Use clear nail polish to keep a run from spreading when you are wearing hose.

Onions

Remove rust from kitchen knives by running the blade through an onion three or four times, or until the rust comes off.

After using your grill, slice an onion in half and stick a fork in one of the halves. Hold the fork and rub the onion over the grill with a bit of force. You will see the difference right away.

Pickle Juice

After you've eaten all the pickles from the jar, use pickle juice in place of vinegar in salad dressings, soups, or in other recipes. Put cucumbers, carrots, red onions, or skinless watermelon rind in the jar of pickle juice to make new pickles. You can also put hard-boiled eggs in the leftover juice.

Q-Tips

Q-tips were invented in the 1920s by Leo Gerstenzang after seeing his wife put a piece of cotton on a toothpick to clean their baby's ears. Leo invented Q-tips to replace his wife's invention. The Q stood for quality. Therefore, the name is “Quality Tips.” Doctors today advise against using Q-tips to clean the ears. Q-tips have many other uses, especially for cleaning small areas.

Soak a Q-tip in isopropyl alcohol and rub it over your laptop, computer, phone, and tablet. Also, use a Q-tip to clean the battery compartment on your TV remote and other electronics where batteries are kept.

Rubber Bands

If your eyeglasses keep sliding off your face, wrap a small rubber band around each handle. Your glasses will no longer slide down on your nose.

Keep your electronic cords organized with rubber bands.

Sand paper

Sharpen your dull scissors by cutting through a sheet of fine-grit sandpaper.

If you don’t have an emery board the next time you need to file your nails, a piece of fine grain sandpaper can act as a make-shift emery board.

Toothpaste

Just as toothpaste is good for cleaning dingy teeth, it is also good for cleaning fingernails that have been left discolored after nail polish has been removed.

Uggs

Uggs are on the same list as cargo pants, hair clamps, scrunchies, and wristlets. Some people want them to go away and stay away. Uggs are comfortable, and there are ways to make the winter boots look cool enough for people to accept them.

Vinegar

• Clean your windshield wiper blades by wiping them with vinegar on a cloth.
• Use vinegar on clothes with underarm wet stains. Spray full-strength white vinegar on the stain before washing, and the stain will disappear.
• Use vinegar on salads, chopped barbecue, pasta, tuna salad, and so many other dishes.

Wax Paper

Stop water spots from landing on your chrome faucets by rubbing the fixtures with a piece of wax paper.

Use wax paper to unstick a zipper. The paper will help the zipper slide along its track if you use wax paper over the teeth.

Xerox Machine

Every copier is not a Xerox. Xerox is the brand name of just one copier. However, some people call every copy machine a Xerox. Some people even call the printed document a Xerox.

Yogurt

Yogurt is a cheap substitute for teeth whitening treatments. Just rub some yogurt on your teeth daily for at least two weeks. Phosphorus and calcium in yogurt can help whiten your teeth.

Clean your skin with yogurt. Rub some on your face and other areas. Leave on for about 20 minutes. Then rinse the yogurt off and be amazed at the results.

Zucchini

Make zucchini bread because it is really delicious. There are some quick and easy recipes online. Use zucchini in a salad to spice it up.