Little tips to keep your home (and car!) running efficiently

Compiled by Ariella Schiller

When it comes to frum living, we’re not looking for extra expenses. M.S. from Brooklyn, NY did the research on gas station fill-ups so you don’t have to.

Fill ’Er Up

Before you fill up, go to globalpetrolprices.com or gasbuddy.com to check for the best prices near you. The price spread — even within your own area — can be as much as much as 10¢ to 20¢ per gallon!

Premium doesn’t mean best. The recommended grade for most cars is regular unleaded (usually 87 octane). Premium or “super” gasoline won’t do anything to improve performance or fuel efficiency. It will only cost you more money. Check your owner’s manual for the lowest grade of fuel you can use, and stick with that.

In states that allow self-service, you can save as much as 5¢ per gallon by pumping your own gas. In many stations, you can spend the time using their scrub brush/squeegee and washing your windshield.

Make sure your gas cap fits tightly.
A loose or missing gas cap lets gas evaporate, costing you money and polluting the air. It can also trigger the check engine light on your dashboard.

Keep your tires properly inflated.

Check the manufacturer’s recommended air pressure on the stickers by your vehicle’s doorjamb or in your owner’s manual. Underinflated tires can cost you gas mileage.

Don’t go right from a cold engine to top speed.

Let your engine warm up before going over 35 mph.

On the other hand, don’t just let your engine idle.

If you’re parked for more than 30 seconds, you’ll save gas — and breathe easier — if you cut the engine.

Drive smoothly.

Don’t gun your engine from stop to 40 mph. You will not only waste gas, you’ll also “burn rubber,” wearing down your tires, and possibly shorten the life of your transmission. Accelerate smoothly.

Your air conditioner might coolyou off,

but it can burn more gas when you’re doing local stop-and-go driving. Consumer Reports did find that at highway speeds, there’s not much difference between running the air conditioning or keeping the windows open. So if you’re driving under 40 mph, try using the vent or keep the windows open. If you’re driving on the highway, you might as well use the air conditioner — and the wind won’t muss up your hair.

Using cruise control on the highway helps you maintain a constant speed.

But only use it on flat roads. On hills, you want more control of your speed.

Sara’s Fave Five at Trader Joe’s:

Chili & Lime rolled chips 
a favorite in every house.

Precooked frozen rice
saves time and has tons of flexibility.

Fruit leather buttons 
pseudo-healthy and delicious!

Pareve chocolate chips and chunks 
very rich flavor for a significantly better price than in the grocery store.

Spice blends 
they have the best mixtures, and they’re a great hack for enhancing flavor.

Paper Plan

The first step in organizing papers is to declutter. No need to spend time on unnecessary papers! Throw out circulars and old receipts, save important phone numbers to your phone,  insert old parshah sheets in the genizah bin, record that wedding in your calendar, and throw out last week’s shopping list.

Then, you’re ready for strategy. Each category of paper that enters your home needs a plan. Create categories such as To Do/Active for temporarily necessary papers and Archive/Save. A few broad categories are better than many specific ones.

Once you have those categories, establish a place to store each group of papers. It can be a bin, a desk file, an accordion file, or a drawer. Notice which papers are still hanging around; maybe you need another category for those.

And finally, set a date to go through the categories that need reviewing (Rosh Chodesh, perhaps) because paper clutter, like most home organizing, is a journey, not a destination.

Dvora Henner is a home organizer and life coach, who coaches women in time management and concerns related to home organization.

Paper It

For interior designers on a budget, my biggest design hack is wallpaper.
Our apartment had a weird double wall in one corner, so I papered it. Our front door was peeling, so I bought some beautiful wood chevron wallpaper and it looks like it’s a new door. My purchases usually average $20, and the way they transform a room is priceless.

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 926)