Food Tents

Finally, I was able to find a type of food covers online. I thought I can send these to the Philippines for food cover protection. These food tents are interestingly designed. It came in a long box, in 3 different sizes...(small, medium, large). They look like the above photo when opened. It is made with white screen cloth with smooth texture. I just stacked them up to see the sizes, wherein the small size is on top, and the large one at the bottom :).

They can be opened and fold like an umbrella. But two of them have some small beads on top of their tip when you open them, and the beads have to be pulled upwards to hold the cover open. Then pulling them upwards again will close the cover. It was kinda tricky at first for me to figure out how to hold it open, as there was no manual for instructions given when I received them.

Anyway, quite ideal to protect open foods on the table against flies and ants and bugs. They are mostly common in the Philippines. My dirty kitchen doesn't have screens and the preparation table is usually where food can be while being cooked. I have a small kitchen inside which are free from flies, but ants are persistent bugs...they are just popping out anywhere! A small container stand filled with water usually does the trick, with a food cover!...Voila! No problemo :).

Bird Poopies

This is what I found one Saturday morning on our car! Bird poop everywhere...not so sure, but it must be that those birds hate our car so much??? Is it probably because of the bright blue color or something?

The car is not even under a tree and it is always parked on our garage way where it is clear from any trees. So, it was like the birds really intentionally did it.

What a day!

Overwhelming Mails!

While I was in the Philippines, a month after, my husband was so ecstatic sharing me this photo! So, this one is actually the mails I received in a month! These are catalogs and magazines that come in the mail. I can actually receive 2-3 mags or catalogs daily, not to include some other  spam mails. And oh yeah, I also get spam mails from the postal mail, not only on my email :(....the usual spams like credit card offers, insurance quotes, bank offers, etc...

After two more weeks, I got this high stack!

If  you are an avid readers of magazines such as RedBook, Essence, Travel & Leisure, Cosmo, Wired, Health, Money..., I got them all! The fact that they are quite pricey at the magazine stands, I receive them for free! ;). This is a signed up subscription for my miles that I got from my plane trips. They usually expire in certain months and so before they expire, I subscribe as to what they offer, depending on the airlines I have miles with. So, they offer tons of magazines.

I don't even read these...I do quick scans of their pages then off to the recycle bin. They are still brand new for a month and they are already landing on my bin.

I have decided that I won't be subscribing anymore...somebody might need it more than me, and another thing is they are crowding my shelf. Whew!

Designed Postcards To Send For Special Occasions

Every year, I and my husband receive lots of cards during Christmas. It starts as early as 3rd week of December until post Christmas. Some friends and families of ours do usually send a post card-type, with their family photo on it and a special greetings on top and sometimes with a calendar for the next year. I find that a cool design instead of the usual ordinary Christmas card we see on the stores. 

 So, I thought of doing it too for this year's Christmas and holiday occasions ;). I was just browsing on where I could get a resourceful link for printing and customized designing for that, and it was such a perfect timing to note that there is a cheap postcard printing where it could lead me to choose those sites that offer what I need. That's nice to know. At least I can bookmark them somehow so as not to lose them in sight.

I might start designing as well. Christmas is way too far yet, but I can use some designs for birthdays too!

"Balikbayan Box # 5"

Last week, I finally was able to take a quick shot about what's happening with my balikbayan preparations..lol! So, the items are still on the floor, and I haven't opened the box yet. I know I am trying to be as prompt as possible with regards to sending it home soon, but I still don't have time to check the list for additional items. I have to make sure the box will be full and intact.

It is always of highly importance to look and check for any spaces in between when sending your items through a big box such as this, because spaces are not allowed!...LOL! It's like every space is as costly as gold, you know ;). That being said, I have to wait for more days until such time that the box would be completely full.

I bought 2 big boxes and they came with 2 smaller brown boxes (free). Cool :).

So, now, I can't still say I can send these so soon. But the things would be for my house in the Philippines. Items are not really so badly needed, so it might take a while before either one or two boxes would be dispatched. I am sending additional bed sheets and more kitchen stuff. Whenever I get the chance to roam around, I just do random shopping in stores for more items.

I Need The Low Carb Grocery!

Few months ago, my doctor found out that I had a high blood sugar, way back while I was having my vacation in the Philippines. After her brief interview on me, she then advised me to lower my carbohydrates intake...and yes, I was so guilty having huge intakes of carbohydrates in my diet those previous days before my blood works were done! Bad indeed! :(

I was further advised to go back to her after a month to check on my blood works again. It was just like a big challenge for me because I love to eat rice. In the Philippines, a meal wouldn't be complete without a bowl of rice on the table...and I eat lots of it. Lol! But, of course, this time, I thought discipline is the key.

I didn't have any single idea that I can find low carb foods online. But this one is a perfect link I shouldn't miss! So, I am bookmarking it. I do shop online often, so I thought, why shouldn't I be shopping for grocery this time? I would be calling it a grocery shopping  the healthy way! Thanks a lot for the link. ;)

The "Little Helper"

My niece, Martina

It's just so heartwarming to see little kids grow as they show interest in helping do household chores. Whenever I see little kids as young as her doing chores in their own little way, I can see myself in them. As early as 6-7 years old, I was taught by my mom to do basic things in the kitchen such as washing the dishes. And those were the days where most of the chores we do at home are all done manually. No dishwashers, no washing machines, no rice cookers, no electric stoves, etc...

Good job for my niece Martina for helping her mom. According to her mom, she pretty much is slowly learning how to iron clothes. ;) Those are just but ideal things for her to practice and chores would be added as she grows older...:).

Oh, and look at those sandals! Good balancing will just do the trick!

Discounted Home & Kitchen Appliances

Late last year until this year, I have been noticing that my home appliances have been breaking! Ugh! Five months ago, I have to replace my washer because it broke in the middle of my laundry. Then, couple months ago, my cooking range's burners are starting to break too! Not to mention that my dishwasher never works since I moved in the house. 

 I told my husband, we don't need repairs because the damages are bad, to the point that repairs are costing more than the actual prices of buying new ones. So, this year is a big challenge. It was perfect that I saw goedekers.com for discount appliances. Maybe, it's worth considering this time. It would not be easy buying 3 appliances at one time. It will take a while for saving some for them. But for sure I am bookmarking this site. 

Closing The Deal!

We finally were able to have our mortgage closing deal done! From the time we applied and on to the processing, it was more or less a little more than  week. This is our 3rd mortgage refinancing with Quicken Loans to lower our payment. The signing was done at home by the company's representative, so it was just convenient for us. 

We will start our new first payment with this company in May, and we also had lowered our payment with an amount difference of $550. Big savings for a year if you would sum it out!

There would be no increase until after 7 years. We thought we would be moving before that year anytime soon, since the hubby is close to retiring. It is either that we will be getting a smaller home or staying longer in the Philippines (if not for good.)

There will be a refund for us awaiting from the mail...whew! Thank you Lord!

Cigar Lover?

Honestly, I am not fond of cigars and neither any type of smoking. But me and my husband have friends that are cigar lovers. What's so interesting, is that one friend of ours does not smoke cigars, but got amazing collections! So, it would be great to recommend him a good link to expand his collections the next time we will meet ;). 

 Padron cigars might be one of those worthy of recommending...both for cigar smokers and cigar collectors, don't you think?

Sagging Gutters?

It was summer more than a year go when one of the rain gutters at the back portion of my house started to sag. It was half of it was down hanging and so I requested my husband to find one that can fix it.

But on the other hand, a minor repair such as this can be a D-I-Y thingy if you don't want to shell out money for that. And yes, it can be expensive hiring a professional to fix a simple hanging gutter {sigh!}...

Here are the things that you can do if one of your rain gutters start to hang down. (Just a quick note: Don't do it yourself if you are not sure what the main culprit is.)

If the gutters started sagging, it might be that one of the spikes securing it to the fascial board may be loose. Be sure to check it first. Once you find the main cause of it, take a 2x4 block inside the gutter to act as a brace and wedge it in, then remove the spike.

Start drilling a pilot hole through the back position of the gutter and into the fascia board which is about at least an inch from the original spot.

Reinsert the spike and direct it on the new hole and hammer it in place.

Cover the old hole with a gutter sealant to prevent water damage to your soffit.

There you go...it will be good to go the next time it rains! Your mind will be at peace without even have to sacrifice heavy expenses out from your tight budget.

Talking about savings!