Is the Law of Attraction That Important?

I was just reading this article about the Law of Attraction and it made really think.  Not so much about the post itself but one of the commenters Charles.  It’s all very nice to be able to get all the things that we want in life such as a new car or a second home in the sun.  But what is the point at the end of the day.  It’s like the Keef Hartley song, “You can’t take it with you.”  I really think we need to be more appreciative of what we’ve got and learn to be happy.  Yeah sure, so I’d like some nice things but I don’t see the point in owning 2008 Toyota Tundra SR5 4×2 when I can just drive around in my little jalopy which, for the time being, is holding up quite nicely.

Are People Really Stealing Petrol?

I find this quite bizarre, but apparently people are stealing gas from people’s cars according to the NY Post.  People are filling their cars up and then when they go to use their cars later they find ther’s no petrol left.  Wow, what sort of world do we live in?  I think I remember hearing about this happening when there was the big petrol crisis some years ago but I’m not sure how this is done.  I know that people can siphon but I don’t understand how the get the petrol cap off.

Perhaps there are some people who forget to actually use their key to lock their petrol tank and so there are theives just going around having a feel to see if they can find any that are unlocked.  I’m not really all that sure.  Anyway, you can buy locking gas caps that will solve this problem.  Don’t understand why anyone would actually need to buy one of these because my car already has a lock.  Who knows…

Some Interesting Recyling Ideas

I have generally been browsing around the internet and came accross this really cool website called Life Hackery. It’s the sort of website that you can easily get sucked into reading and before you know it three hours have passed! Anyway, I particularly love this post 99 Extraordinary, Creative and Unusual Uses for Ordinary and Everyday Objects.

I used to be a design student and one of the projects we had was to design an item made form recylced products. The one I made was a light made from car speakers but I have to admit that I really prefer many of the items listed on this post. I’m not sure which one I like best, perhaps the chopsticks. I’m not sure.

Other articles I like are 21 Amazing Alternate Uses for Vodka and 7 More Garbage Gardening Tips.

Our Fault or The Bank?

Sometimes I wonder why I got into debt. Is it me or is it the banks? I used to get lots of phonecalls asking me if I wanted to take out a loan for a car, holiday or whatever I wanted. They talked a good line about how there were special rate interest loans available. It just sounded so great. Doh! Stupid me!

Of course, banks have all their staff specially trained to sell products. Of course, credit cards, car loan, mortgages and payday loans are all products. Once for my birthday I even got sent a birthday card from my bank once. I thought that was quite nice. On the front is said “this birthday have your cake and eat it”. Inside the card said “with a special rate birthday loan”.

It’s important to learn the differnce between good and bad debt as you’ll learn in this video.

How to Use Vinegar

I’ve developed a real taste for pickled onions of late and felt a bit of shame throwing out all that perfectly good vinegar.  Surely there must be something that I can do with all that vinegar?  Well, I had a look around and see a number of great ideas on using vinegar.

First of all it can be used on chips, can be used for removing rust from metal and works well on fungal nail infections.

There are so many different types of vinegar and it’s important that you read up about what each type does.  It’s truly astounding that you can buy white vinegar, malt vinegar, apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar and a whole load more.

Does Money Really Make You Happy?

I have never been that well off but at the same time I would never say that I was poor either. However it’s very easy to get caught in a trap where you think that that next item you buy will somehow make your life complete. It might be that you’re really desperate to buy a PDA, digital photo frame or even a brand new Mercedes. But where does it all stop?

It seems that in no time at all you buy a product and then you see that a newer model has just been released. Of course, it is usually slimmer, sleeker, has more function and is a “must-have”. But when does it all end? There will always be another product released that is better than the one you have.

Let go of this feeling. Really, just let go. I swear, you will feel like there is a big weight lifted off your shoulders. Just be happy with what you have. After all, just look at all the poor people in the likes of Burma and China.

Car Was Cheap to Get Through MOT

Wow, I was really expecting the car to cost a lot of money to get through the MOT but the good news is that hardly anything needed doing at all.  Just a new bulb, a windscreen jet needed adjusted to point in correct direction plus the cable for my boot’s lock had come loose and needed re-attaching.

The total bill including the MOT fee was just over £90 which I feel was a great releif.  Perhaps it’s because the cost of repairing the car last year was so expensive, there wasn’t really anything else needing doing.

So that’s another year of motoring that’s safe.

Save Money on Vitamins

Paul from My Thoughts wrote a great post on how to buy discount vitamins.  Vitamins isn’t something that I’m always that interested in buying because I feel that all our nutrients should come from our food but sometimes it is helpful to have a vitamin or two.  Just be careful about what you take and don’t over-do it.  Read as much as you can about each vitamin and always take further advice if you aren’t sure.

Free Compost

It’s that time of year when everyone starts pottering about in their gardens. The problem is that buying stuff like compost can get pretty expensive. However if you are smart you should be making your own compost. We started composting last year and we’re starting to get a good amount of compost already. However you need to put a lot more organic materials in than you might expect. It all breaks down and compacts, sometimes it feels like it’s never going to end.

One major tip: if you open your compost bin and find that there are loads of flies coming out, it means you’re not putting enough cardboard, paper and wood chips in. If you incread the amount of “dry” matter then you’ll be able to get rid of the flies. I thought were putting in plenty of paper and carboard but it seems not. This has now been addressed.

It might be that you live in an apartment.  I don’t know a lot about indoor composting but I do know that it’s possible.  Sorry, but I can’t help you any more than that.

Worried About Car MOT

Every year all cars need to go through what’s known in the UK as an MOT.  Basically stuff such as brakes and emmisions are checked and if they aren’t as they should, you aren’t allowed to drive the car until you get them fixed.  The problem is that last year I spent about £700 on this and that yet the car is worth a fraction of this amount.

The car is really worth more that its monetary value but at the same time, do I want to spend anywhere near this amount this year.  I have to send the car in for its MOT tomorrow and dread to hear beack about what is needing done.

I just don’t use the car very much anymore and it sits in my driveway for all the week and we only use the car at the weekends for driving in the country.  My boyfriend has a car but it uses up more fuel than mine which is why we always drive my Fiat Punto.

It seems so ridiculous needing these cars when you consider how little either of us drives.  I suppose it’s just so nice knowing that the car is there when you need it.

I just have the fact that the second hand car market is so dead which means that 13 year old cars like mine just aren’t worth very much.  For some reasons people are so desperate to have a brand new car and don’t care about depreciation.