Get a rag or soft cloth damp with warm water. Use the damp rag or cloth to wipe down the cork. Try to loosen any dirt while you wet the cork. Wash your cork directly under the faucet tap. Do this for cork that you are prepared to get fully wet, like a fishing rod grip. Don't leave standing water on cork floors. Also don't submerge shoes with cork uppers or heels under water. This could ruin any leather or suede on the shoes. Use a damp sponge, gently scrub a soapy cleaning solution into your cork. Rub in circles and clean the entire surface. Rinse the cleaning solution off of the cork. Finally, dry it with a clean, soft rag or allow the cork to air dry overnight before using. Clean smaller cork items with mild detergent and water, the vinegar, soap, and water cleaning solution above, or store-bought cleaners. Make a paste with Borax to remove tough, ground-in dirt. Combine water with Borax in a shallow bowl. Start with about ¼ cup (60 mL) Borax and add just enough drops of water to make a thick paste.

Summary: Wipe away dirt with water. Put your cork under running water. Wash other kinds of cork with a cleaning solution. Make a paste with Borax.


If you're new to following recipes, get out all of the ingredients you'll need and prepare them. If a recipe calls for dicing, mincing, or slicing ingredients, for instance, do all of the prep work first so you can start making the food. If you already feel comfortable doing prep work while you cook food, read through the recipe to see when to do specific prep. For example, if you're caramelizing onions, they'll probably take a long time. Get them cooking and then prep the rest of the ingredients while they're caramelizing. Instead of roasting large chunks of vegetables or boiling entire potatoes, chop them into smaller pieces than you usually do. Vegetables that are 1⁄2 to 1 inch (1.3 to 2.5 cm) in size will cook much faster than 2 to 3 in (51 to 76 mm) pieces.  If you're really short on time, try dicing or grating the food. For example, instead of cooking chunks of home fries, grate the potatoes to make hashbrowns. You can even cut meat and seafood into smaller pieces. Slice a large roast or fillet into smaller and thinner pieces to cut down on cooking time. A lot of cooking and baking recipes direct you to use softened butter instead of cold butter from the fridge or freezer. Although you could warm the butter in the microwave, you might accidentally melt it. Try grating the butter against the coarse side of a box grater before using it in the recipe.  This works best if the butter is very cold or frozen. Try this trick the next time you're baking biscuits or scones. It's much easier than rubbing or cutting chunks of butter into the dry mixture! The time you spend washing, chopping, and preparing ingredients adds up if you're cooking every day. To save on some of this prep time, consider what you'll be cooking for the week and prep the ingredients at the same time. Then, you can just pull what you need out of the refrigerator when you're ready to cook. For example, if you need diced onion for 2 meals, chop the onion and store them in separate containers in the refrigerator. If you're making rice for dinner and you also plan to serve it in a few days, make a double batch and refrigerate half of it. If you're making a few different things to serve, think about which dishes take the longest to cook and which can be prepared right before serving. If it helps you stay organized, write down a timeline of when to prep and cook each dish. Your list might look like this:  Marinate chicken for 3 hours Start the grill 30 minutes before dinner time Remove the chicken and thread it onto skewers Put the chicken skewers on the grill  Bring a pot of water to boil and cook rice noodles Remove the chicken from the grill Make a tossed salad to serve with the chicken and rice noodles Your food will cook evenly if the oven is already at the recommended temperature when you put the food in. If you put food into a cold oven while it's heating up, it will take longer to cook and the bottom or outside of the food could overcook before the center is done. For example, if you toss a frozen pizza into a cold oven that's heating up, the bottom may burn while the center only becomes warm. If you put it into a hot oven, the whole pizza will cook within the recommended time.

Summary: Cut or chop your ingredients before you start cooking. Cut food into smaller pieces. Grate your butter so you don’t have to wait for it to soften. Prep food for several meals at once. Plan the cooking order for a meal. Preheat your oven while you prep the food.


It can be a pain, but moving even a few blocks can sometimes save you a lot. If you have the chance to move to the outskirts of a major city or even to a cheaper part of the country, you might save significantly.  Move closer to work. This could save you money on housing and transportation. Look up prices in various neighborhoods through websites like Zillow. While you're at it, look up your own neighborhood. You may find you're paying too much where you live now. . Splitting your rent with another person (or more), even for just a few years, can provide major savings. Imagine cutting your rent in half — or more! Ask friends and family if they have any responsible friends, co-workers, or family who are looking for a room. You can also use ad services like CraigsList to find roommates. with your landlord. If you have a good rental history and are a good neighbor, your landlord may work with you when you tell him/her the cost of rent may force you to leave. Use Zillow or a similar resource to demonstrate that your rent is too high. Offer to sign an extended lease for a discounted price. A mortgage can be your largest monthly expense. Finding ways to lower this cost can drastically improve your financial outlook.  Buy a bank-owned property. These homes have typically been foreclosed upon, and the bank doesn’t want to hold them, so they may auction them at less-than-market value. Consider refinancing your mortgage if you've held it for several years. You might be able to find a better interest rate. To keep your long-term costs down, retain the original payoff date, but the lower interest rate will reduce your monthly payment. Consider a micro-house. These homes are short on space, but they're easier on the wallet. In the U.S., the most popular micro-housing company, Tumbleweed, allows you to pay around $6,000 down and make monthly payments of less than $500. If you’re struggling to find housing that you can afford, there is government help for people whose income is below a certain level.  These services will help you find housing or even pay a portion of your rent. The U.S.  government offers assistance through HUD,  and many states offer subsidized housing.
Summary: Consider moving to a cheaper neighborhood. Find a roommate Negotiate Save on home ownership. Find housing assistance in your area.