One of the topics that I particularly enjoy writing about is saving money and living frugally. Following you’ll find links to a selection of my top articles that each offer ten or more tips for some form of frugal living. In total it’s over 100 frugal living tips to help you save money!

1. Top Ten Tips for How to Grow a Frugal Garden
2. Twenty Simple Tips for Spending Less on Food without Resorting to Ramen
3. Ten Tips for Reducing Shipping and Handling Fees
4. Ten Ideas for Romantic Frugal Summer Dates
5. Ten Frugal Summer Fun Ideas for Families and Couples
6. Ten Ways to Turn your Travel into Cash
7. Ten Tips for Breaking an Internet Shopping Addiction
8. Twenty Five Frugal Ways to Say I Love You

Frugality is a popular topic during the recession but I hope that it’s one that remains popular with readers even after the economy improves. Do you think that it will?

Tags: Frugal Living, frugality, money saving tips, Personal Finance, save money, tips

I recently had a reason to do some research into firewood racks. As their name suggests, these products are racks that are designed to hold your firewood. If you’ve never bought this type of product before then you may be wondering what you would look for when choosing such an item. My research has turned up the answer to exactly that question.

Here are ten things that you want to look for when selecting a firewood rack:

1. Size. What size firewood rack do you need? Do you burn wood every day of the year and need a rack that can hold a whole winter’s worth of wood? Or do you just need a small firewood rack that can hold enough wood for a few cold nights?
2. Shape. There are different shapes available for firewood racks. The shapes are mostly decorative but you should still choose what you like.
3. Other decorative features. In addition to the shape of the firewood rack you should look at its general design. Choose one that compliments your other outdoor furniture.
4. Material. You want to get a firewood rack that is durable so that it lasts through the winter even when it’s stacked with heavy wood. Look for steel or some other material that’s designed to last.
5. Cover. You want to make sure that your firewood stays dry or else it won’t be very useful to you. Get a rack with a built-in or add-on cover to make sure the wood doesn’t get wet.
6. Mold-Resistant. Look for a rack and cover that are both resistant to mold.
7. Portability. Do you need a firewood rack that you can move from one place to another throughout the season? If so then you need to get a portable one that has wheels which make it easy to move.
8. Ease of Assembly. If you get a firewood rack that needs to be assembled then you want to make sure it’s one that’s simple to put together!
9. Easy to Access. You want to make sure that the design of your firewood rack makes it so that it’s really simple to access the wood that you need when you want it. Sure, it’s great to have it stacked and covered but what good is that if it’s hard to get to when you need it?
10. Cost. Finally, take a look at cost. Do some shopping around to choose a firewood rack that’s within your budget.

That’s what I would look for if I wanted to buy a firewood rack.

Tags: firewood, firewood rack, shopping, tips

I discovered an easy way to make my morning oatmeal a little bit more special. I thought that I would share. The tip is to add yogurt-covered raisins to the oatmeal. Do this when it’s still piping hot and what happens is that the sweet yogurt melts into the oatmeal. You can stir it up to get a creamy sweet taste for the oatmeal. The raisins are still in there. I added a bit of cinnamon, too, to top it all of.

YUM!

Other ideas for better oatmeal:

• Add fresh sliced fruit. I always love this one!
• Add a bit of granola or other dry cereal. Stir in some milk.
• Get a granola bar or breakfast cereal break. Break it into small pieces and add it to the oatmeal.
• Swirl honey into your oatmeal. Some people also use maple syrup although that’s a bit too sweet for me!

What are your tips for making morning oatmeal a bit more special?

Tags: Food, healthy eating, kathryn vercillo, oatmeal, tips

People sometimes ask me how I manage to stay on top of all of my work when there isn’t a boss at home telling me to do so. I joke (half-joke, really) that I can’t stomach the idea of having a boss hanging over my shoulder so I’m motivated to stay productive!

The truth, however, is that I’ve learned a lot of little tricks over the years that keep my productivity on track. Here’s a few of those tips:

• Stick to a schedule. One of the things I love about my work is that my schedule is flexible. Despite this, I try to stick to one more often than not because that’s the way to stay productive.
• Set goals. It’s so cliche but setting your own goals really helps you to stay on top of productivity.
• Hold yourself accountable. Do productivity checks throughout the day to make sure you’re meeting your goals. Make a phone appointment with a friend to touch base about how productivity you are (or aren’t) being.
• Use technology in a productive way. Your mobile phone, social networking sites and access to the Internet are all great tools for productivity but only if you’re careful not to let them distract you.
• Cut yourself some slack. Sometimes it’s okay to slack off a little bit. If you beat yourself up when you do, you’ll actually reduce your productivity.

Mostly being productive is about knowing what you want to get done and finding a way to motivate yourself to do it. Do you have any specific productivity tips that have helped you out?

Tags: business, freelance, kathryn vercillo, productivity, time management, tips

I’ve been doing a lot of research and writing lately about the topic of being more efficient with email. In discussing this topic with people, I’ve discovered that the majority of people who feel that they are not efficient with email have the same few concerns.

Those concerns are:

• Lack of understanding about their email program. Most of these people feel that they don’t fully understand the different things that they can do to sort, organize and utilize their email accounts most efficiently.
• Too-frequent use of email. One of the most common complaints from people is that they check email all of the time which reduces productivity in other areas of their work.
• Taking too long to respond. This means two things. First, people feel like they leave emails in their inboxes too long before answering them which clutters the inbox and stresses them out. And second, they feel like writing up their responses takes too much of their time.

What I have come to believe after talking with these people is that the solution is a fairly simple one:

Set aside time each day to deal with email.

During this time, you can commit to answering everything that comes through your inbox in a focused and efficient manner. You can also commit a certain amount of time each day to learning a new tool or trick for your email. (A good one is to learn about email templates which will reduce your response time!) And then you can forget about email the rest of the day.

Tags: efficiency, ehow, email, how to, kathryn vercillo, productivity, simplify, tips

Many people have told me that they would love to work from home but that they don’t think they could be productive there. It’s true; it’s really easy to get off task when you work from home. Your home life and work life tend to blend and you could easily find yourself watching TV when you’re supposed to be working. However, if you put a few simple things in place at your home office then you can have the benefits of working from home without the drawbacks.

To be productive when working from home you really need to make a commitment to doing this work. If you’re fully committed to the idea that you’ll work from home then you’ll be able to put an effective plan in place for being productive during your working hours at home. This plan includes when and where you will work and how you will separate that from your home life.

It’s not easy to figure out this plan. You will constantly be adjusting things (especially your schedule) to see what works so that you can be productive at home without feeling like you’re constantly tied to work. It’s true that this type of balancing act isn’t right for everyone. However, it’s great for some of us when we can figure out how to make it work for us!

Tags: business, employment, productivity, self-employed, tips, work

I’ve just been doing some research into how to get rid of foot odor. It’s not a bad thing to know – most people are embarassed when they have stinky feet and they want to get rid of that smell. But still, some of the remedies that I’ve found during my research just seem a little bit weird to me.

For example, one big suggestion is to wash your feet in bleach. As a general rule, I don’t think that you should use bleach to wash your body. It’s just too hard on it. Finding a strong soap, washing your feet regularly with it and properly drying your feet makes a lot more sense to me than putting them through a bleach wash.

Another similar example is washing your feet in vinegar. Granted, this one is safer and it probably will get rid of your foot odor but then you’re going to have feet that smell like vinegar which, in my opinion, isn’t really the best smell in the world to be walking around emitting.

There are also tons of options for foot scrubs that seem to have the same problem as the vinegar solution which is that your feet end up smelling like the food. Radishes, for example, are not something I’d want my feet to smell like. Ginger, on the other hand, may be a good home remedy for foot odor since it smells pleasant enough.

Mostly I think that you should take a common sense approach to keeping your feet clean and dry rather than relying on these types of solutions. What do you think?

Tags: foot care, foot odor, home remedies, how to, how to get rid of foot odor, hubpages, kathryn vercillo, stinky feet, tips

As mentioned earlier today, I think that it’s useful for me as a HubPages writer to take a look at how my hubs fare traffic-wise each month.

Here’s a look at my lowest-traffic Hubs for March and why I think they didn’t get much attention online:

1. Choosing a Restaurant for Valentine’s Day. How to pick a romantic restaurant.
2. The Perfect Valentine’s Gifts. Which romantic gifts are best?
3. Everyone’s Favorite Holiday Gifts. What do you want at Christmas time?
4. Tips for a Healthier Super Bowl Party. Great low-fat snacks for sports parties.
5. Great Wine Without a Great Cost. Good wine doesn’t have to be pricey.
6. Evaluating Credit Card Offers for College Students. Which deals are best?
7. Why to Improve Your Credit Score. There’s a reason that you really want to.
8. Job Trends for Real Estate Agents. What was going on with real estate jobs when this was written?
9. Small Business Marketing Guide. How to network and market for your small business (and small budget!)
10. Tips for Dealing with Frightening Changes in the Economy. How to cope.

It totally makes sense that the first four articles here weren’t getting traffic in March since they are seasonal articles that aren’t so appropriate right now (although some of the tips really aren’t time-sensitive). Several of the other articles are just old (older than a year) so that’s probably why they aren’t getting attention although I’m sad to see that no one is reading about how to deal with the economy’s changes since that’s important right now.

Tags: articles, hub pages, hubpages, kathryn vercillo, tips, web traffic, worst hubs, writing

I don’t get the chance to write about fashion very often but it happens every now and then. For example, I recently provided advice on How to Wear High Heels without Hurting your Feet. I’ve been wearing high heels for as long as I can remember but I also walk everywhere so I’ve had to learn how to do this the hard way. It’s paid off in a set of great tips.

The article was chosen as one of the Top 3 articles this month in the Fabulous! Festival. The two other posts that were chosen along with mine for this honor were on mineral makeup and around-the-world shopping from your computer. Although these were considered the Top 3 posts, all of the other posts were also good.

There were posts on beauty in the areas of skin care and alpha lipoic acid. There were posts on fashion topics like pinups, depression chic and Milan fashion week. There were general style posts on handbags and Apple products. And there were shopping tips for things like prom. All great stuff! Do have a read.

Tags: beauty, blog carnival, ehow, fabulous festival, Fashion, high heels, how to, kathryn vercillo, style, tips

DayTipper is a really cool site where people provide short tips on all sorts of different topics. It’s easy to sign up to contribute there. I like to participate there so that I can share some of the things that I’m learning about in my research around the web.

Take a look at some of the tips that I’ve recently had published there:

• How to be a Great Friend to Other Women.
• Natural Treatments for Fibromyalgia.
• Make your Boyfriend Feel Sexy.
• Wear Red Shoes without Looking Ridiculous.
• Travel Without Leaving Home.
• Choose an Electric Car.
• Cost of Owning a Pet.
• Simple Chocolate Mousse Alternative.

Would love to know your thoughts on any of those tips!

Tags: advice, day tipper, how to, links, smartchick, tips, websites