Nickel Tackle. » Home and Living

The Importance of Having Water Filter Pitchers

NT — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 03:32:40 +0000

For exactly 12 days our household endured a water supply shortage along with the other affected Quezon City barangays that are in concession of Maynilad Water Services. It was such an ordeal fetching and storing as much water as we could from my parents’ house in Makati then transporting them to our house in Batasan, I can’t believe that we actually managed as well as we did. It’s a blessing that the drinking water refilling station did not run out, otherwise we would have to worry about our drinking water supply. Something like this certainly makes you realize how valuable water is, and to appreciate it when you have a good supply. I am glad we did not have to rely on the water that was being brought in by truck to use during the rationing, as some of it looked a bit murky and I was also wondering about how safe it was for drinking. While friends said it had to be safe or it wouldn’t be provided, I still was not sure. Also I read that in the U.S. that while their tap drinking water maybe seen as legally acceptable, it still may not be healthy to drink. So I thought you just never know, and I did not feel at all confident that this murky water was safe water for my family to drink. Lately I have read about some really effective water filter pitchers that remove almost all of the contaminants in drinking water. I got a lot of useful information at www.friendsofwater.com and they also had the test results of what they had decided was one of the best water pitchers currently available on the market. I read reviews that this is, by far, one of the best quality water filter pitchers. Their filters utilize a superior type of filtration material that can remove fluoride and can even filter viruses and bacteria. This just seems like such an easy and inexpensive way to ensure that you have safe, potable drinking water anytime. Such a small price to pay for such a valuable thing, pure and clear drinking water. I’m so glad that this whole water ordeal is over. I hope that the government will address this issue immediately so it won’t happen again in the future.

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A Homemaker’s Best Friend

NT — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:03:35 +0000

Now that we’re living on our own and I have our little home to manage, I’ve come to realize more the importance of smart budgeting and frugal shopping. We do our groceries every weekend and four weekends since we’ve moved in, I can not still say that we’ve fully adjusted. We haven’t established yet how much our average weekly grocery budget should be because there are still a few incidental expenses that arise. For example yesterday, we had to buy 4 water containers because our neighborhood is currently experiencing water shortage so we need something to store our water with. It’s a good thing that the containers were on sale so our weekly budget wasn’t injured that much. Speaking of sale, I know you’d be delighted to know that Pride Products have various sale promotions this month for their dollar store products namely: the Summer specials, Monthly specials, Back to school specials, and special product sales from closeouts. So if you are planning to purchase a shower curtain to replace your current one, baby wipes, fresheners or other dollar store wholesale items, do request a catalog from them because all kinds of household items are at incredibly low prices. These dollar store suppliers such as Pride Products are truly a homemaker’s best friend for their being a budget saver.

Macy’s Memorial Day Sale

NT — Fri, 28 May 2010 18:23:49 +0000

Macy’s is one of the shops I browsed first when I learned that the much awaited Memorial Day Sale will be this weekend. Being a homemaker and as we are stuffing our newly bought Little Mansion, the Home section of the site was my instant destination. And yes, I was able to find sweet and tempting deals on cookware and kitchen gadgets. I noticed though that most of the stuffs on sale are more on for the the outdoors like barbecue grills, inflatable pools, tents, etc. Well, it’s pretty logical because Memorial Weekend marks the beginning of summer in the US. So definitely, you won’t be able to scour an electric fireplace insert and winter related stuffs in this sale event.

Meanwhile, I’ll go and check out the Blenders on sale. I figured that we don’t have one yet for our new home.

Entertaining Shower Innovations

NT — Tue, 25 May 2010 05:42:04 +0000

Have you ever stopped to consider how time you spend in the shower? If you live to be eighty years old and take a ten-minute shower every day beginning at age ten, that’s almost 4,300 hours of your life spent under the showerhead. Isn’t there a way to make all those hours more productive, or at least more fun? There is now! Shower innovators have been thinking outside of the four tiled walls to come up with useful, amazing, and downright silly shower accessories that will transform your daily hygienic rituals.

Crayola has recently developed a bathtub line. You don’t have to be a kid to appreciate the Bathtub Crayons and Bathtub Markers they developed so that the artist in you (or your child) can express itself—anywhere! Draw or write on the walls, the shower tray, even the glass door, and your art, notes, or five-page paper will last until you wipe them off.

Soap and lotion dispensers can go a long way toward spicing up your shower experience as well. Designers have created a dispenser for almost any fancy. They range from the funny to the innovative, from noses that drip shower gel out of a "nostril" to dispensers that have separate champers for lotion, soap, shampoo, and conditioner, so you don’t have to mess with those obnoxious shower caddies anymore!

Of course, if you just can’t live without your daily shower and you often find yourself in the wilderness or other shower-free zones, you might want to invest in the pocket shower. The pocket shower can be used anywhere you have water—just fill it up, hang the showerhead, and enjoy about eight minutes of cleanliness.

Some of us, though, will just stick with the old-fashioned shower entertainments, like singing. After all, those ten minutes a day may be turning you into the next Pavarotti!

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LCD TV and Home Theater System Shopping.

NT — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 05:54:58 +0000

Last Easter Sunday, we bought ourselves and our dear Little Mansion a sort of an Easter Gift. The day before we bought a window type air conditioner at an appliance store for the master’s bedroom. We were also supposed to buy a HDTV however, there were not enough brands and models on display. The ones on the rack were too expensive and there were no interesting promos offered for credit cardholders. The ones on display were mostly Plasma TVs that are way beyond our budget. We were actually gunning for a 32 inch LCD TV, no particular brand in mind then. We thought that selecting should be easy when provided with great selection of choices and there are salesmen who can help us decide. But as the models are limited, we decided to postpone the TV buying for a while and check out other appliance stores.

Later that night, I decided to check out the internet and read more about LCD TVs and scout for stores that offers wide array of brands. I was so lucky to have stumbled upon Shopwiki.co.uk, because not only was I able to locate online appliance shops but I was also educated on how shop for HDTVs and Home Theater Systems that will suit our requirement. I’ve actually learned a lot from their Home Theatre Buying Guide especially about DVD Players, Blu-Ray Disc Players, DVD Recorders, DVD/VCR Combos and also Home Audio Systems. I got an idea what to look for, specifications to choose and Brands to prefer. The next day we found an irresistible deal in another appliance store and we bought it in a breeze. We did not have to rely solely on the salesman’s convincing ability because we knew all along already our ideal HDTV.

Hating Numbers

NT — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 02:26:30 +0000

Ever since, Math has always been my waterloo. I was never good at numbers no matter how I try to like them. And now that I am a homemaker, all the more that I get allergic with numbers especially if it has to do with budgeting household expenses and plotting costings. This can get really stressful especially if there’s not enough cash in forecast to anticipate and neverending cash outs pile up instead. I wonder if there is a special software that can help me budget household expenses more effectively and systematically the way big companies and businesses do. I know that there are cost estimation programs, like SEER, that help businesses in effectively handling their project and cost management. This way, who knows, I can get infatuated with numbers finally.

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Php 4995 Portable Massage Table

NT — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:18:17 +0000

Got this from SM Advantage Card Facebook Fan Page.

Members Only Special Offer!

Get Wooden Portable Massage Table for only P4,995 when you present your SM Advantage, SM Prestige or BDO Rewards Card upon purchase now until February 14, 2010.

Available at all Ace Hardware, Ace Builders & Our Home branches and also at the following Homeworld branches: Cubao, Cebu, Davao, Harrison, Las Piñas, Lipa, Makati, Mall of Asia, Mandurriao, Manila, Marikina, North Edsa, Pampanga and Ortigas.

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Glazed Ornaments

NT — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 06:29:27 +0000

Last weekend, we visited the ongoing construction of our Little Mansion somewhere in Batasan. I can’t exactly estimate in figures how far the progress has been but just seeing the structure of the two-storey building in hollow blocks and steels are enough to get me more than excited. In two months time or less, we could be seeing and finally meeting the house of our dreams. Because of this progress, we’re now also planning the interiors with the help of an interior designer aunt. She was with us last weekend and she has so many brilliant ideas on how to make our house so comfy, bright and just the perfect homey ambiance. A few of the ornaments she suggested are american art clay molded jars, glazes, porcelain vases and ceramic decors. She said she saw a lot of inspirations and even lectures about pottery at Amaco.com and she volunteered that she can try making/molding us a sample. She has basic knowledge as she had tried pottery before. All she needs now are the tools and equipment like hand extruder and hump molds. It’s great that these are available at Amaco. She even encouraged me to try pottery. She said, that it’s a great stress reliever not to mention, can be a lucrative business, too.

Check out these charming glazes AMACO/Brent products.

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Home Security

NT — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 07:13:10 +0000

Last night at a little past midnight, I woke up hearing some commotion in the street. Turned out the barangay marshalls were hunting down a burglar who raided a neighbor’s house. Our neighbor doesn’t have an installed adt security nor dogs that might have prevented the burglar from intruding.

No one can argue that one of the basic concerns that we, parents, always think of is home security. Living in a world where temptation and evil minds lurk even in our own communities where we think we are safe, we must always be on guard. Home emergencies may strike anytime. We cannot afford to be careless at any time. Our family’s safety is at stake so we shouldn’t think twice about acquiring tools and devising emergency plans to prevent or minimize effects of untoward and unfortunate events.

Here are some of our home security ways:
1. We lock up our home, even if we go out only for a short time. This may appear too elementary but we know that many burglars just walk in through an unlocked door or window.
2. We use a double lock or I think it’s called a spring-latch lock. Burglars sometimes use and slide a plastic card through a knob to unlock it.
3. Dogs can make good security guards, too. We have two and they stay outside at night.
4. We haven’t installed one but we’ll soon use an alarm system. It is proven that a home alarm system has prevented so many burglaries and thefts.
5. We padlock our gates and leave the garage lighting on through the night.

Ours is just simple yet truly effective. It doesn’t have to be exaggerated because the setup may also backfire and don’t serve its purpose if it’s too complicated.

How about you? How do you safeguard and protect your homes?

House in Progress

NT — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:06:50 +0000

I have been keeping mum about our little mansion project in the past few weeks. It is because there’s no progress to share yet then. But now, I’m pleased to share that it really is a “work in progress”. Construction is on-going and initial payments have already been made. Now we’re looking forward and we can’t wait until we do the big move by first quarter of next year. Excited. Actually, that’s an understatement. We’re actually like eager beavers that we’ve started shopping a few stuffs for the new house.

I’m a bit overwhelmed how this big goal of ours is little by little unfolding. It was just this mid-year when we plunged, took a big leap and decided that by hook or by crook, our house plans will push through. There’s no better time to start but on these remaining months of the year. We’re really grateful that we are surrounded by supportive people and loved ones. They are the ones who we’ve shared our project plans and dreams and they are the same people who are still with us aiding us in every way they can…all for that big dream. One of them forwarded the website: http://www.houseplansandmore.com where we got ideas and inspirations for our dream home.

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