RecipeMuncher

Welcome to Tips from a Frugal Housewife.

Today’s tip is one that I discovered rather recently while browsing at one of my favorite stores, Storables. I adore that place, man oh man! I am pretty sure you can get them elsewhere, but that’s where I saw them.

If you have Stainless Steel Appliances, which I do, you need the special “High Performance Cloth” they sell. It is some sort of micro-fiber, and all you do it wet it just barely and wipe down your appliances or anything stainless steel and it cleans it right up. No streaking, no chemicals and nothing to buff off. I was in heaven when I found it, I have two and they work amazingly well, I swear.

They also sell special ones for glass which work beautifully, as well.

Think of the time and money you will save on paper towels and that “special” stainless steel cleaner. You are also helping the environment!

Today’s tip is in regard to something that may be affecting you or someone you know, the big F; Foreclosure, something all homeowners dread. With the economy in distress, more and more homeowners are loosing the homes they have worked so very hard to acquire.

You may have heard of this already, but there is a new stall tactic for people who are at risk of loosing their homes to foreclosure, it is called “Produce the Note”. It forces the bank to produce the original note for the loan, which if it (the Note or Loan) has been sold multiple times, can be impossible or at least take some time for the bank to produce. This can be the difference between keeping your home and loosing it.

You can read more about it here, http://www.consumerwarningnetwork.com/

Disclaimer: I am not a finance professional nor do I purport to be one, I am just an observant and frugal housewife sharing things I have learned over my lifetime.

I want to thank the amazing Katherine at Smoky Mountain Cafe for the Sisterhood Award, she is an amazing cook and I am flattered to have received this award! Thank you!

The rules of this award are:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.

2. Nominate at least 10 (OK I am doing 5) blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!

3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.

4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

I would like to give this award to the following folks:

1. Jan at Range Warfare, she is an amazing writer and cook!

2. Paula at It’s All Gouda, she is a great cook and homeschools too!

3. Pam at For the Love of Cooking, she is an excellent cook and mother!

4. TJ at From a Kiwi Kitchen with Love, she is a friend from down under, and has some wonderful recipes!

5. Elra from Elra’s Cooking, she is a creative cook and takes breathtaking photos!

Thank you all for being part of my life!

Today’s tips are not really about being frugal, but about avoiding theft of your identity and credit. I am extremely careful about such things (part of being frugal), and have a few tips that you may not be aware of.

1. When putting your return address on an envelope, omit your name and just have the return address. It will still get returned to you but no one will be able to associate a name with your address. (I learned this from an Engineer about 20 years ago)

2. Have a black wide tip felt pen with you at all times. Check the copy of your visa bill being left at a restaurant and ensure it does not have your credit card information on it, if so use your pen.

3. When they ask you if you “want a receipt” say YES, if you say no, they most likely will pitch your copy into the garbage can. (this question is asked more and more often to me)

4. Make sure you have a “theft proof” mailbox, with the economy the way it is, more and more thief’s are breaking into mail boxes to steal mail and your identity. If you don’t live in a community that has them and you have a regular mailbox, you can get one, my in laws did and it works perfectly.

5. Check your credit reports every year, every 6 months would be even better. You can get free credit reports once per year at www.freecreditreport.com, get them from all 3 agencies and ensure they are correct.