If you haven’t yet converted all of your music collection to digital formats, you’ll still have to deal with CDs when you want to listen to your favorite music.  Grabbing a CD only to find it scratched up and unreadable is a completely frustrating experience.  Instead of throwing it out and buying a new copy, give that scratched-up CD new life by removing the scratches.

There are plenty of old wives’ tales and urban legends about removing CD scratches, and many of them are worthless.  In order to separate the fact from the fiction, Wisebread writer Paul Michael tested out four popular methods: toothpaste, a banana, chewing gum, and metal polish.  To see which methods worked and which were a waste of time, read the complete story here.

If you’re in a slightly less adventurous mood and want to use the more tried-and-true methods of fixing the scratches in your CDs, visit the WikiHow article on How to Fix a Scratched CD.

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Some people have all the luck.  They get the good jobs, they’re swarming with friends, and people are just lining up to be included in their social circle.  These people probably don’t need much advice from us.

We’re more concerned with the rest of society: the guy who seems to have an uncanny knack for repelling people, for instance.  Or the people who stick their feet so far in their mouths every time they speak that medical science had to develop a new specialty devoted to removing them.

Maybe these unfortunate souls aren’t just biologically programmed for a life of social flubs and loneliness.  Maybe they are unknowingly attracting negative vibes by using poor grammar, assuming a threatening or confrontational body position, or making everything sound like an accusation.  Shilpan Patel gives you six ways that people attract negative vibes on Dumb Little Man.

Other people are so obnoxious and pitiful in their everyday actions that they can cause themselves to be lonely and friendless without ever realizing why.  See if you can spot any of your own behaviors in Sally Bishai’s 12 Ways to Turn People Off.

There’s always help, though.  If you’re one of those people who lack the social graces that other people seem naturally gifted with, the trusty internet is teeming with information on how to attract friends, get a social life, and create your own positive life experiences.  Who knows?  Maybe one day you’ll be one of those social butterflies that other people envy.

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At one point or another, nearly everyone will feel the need to simplify their life.  Whether it’s because of a big life change or just because various responsibilities and problems keep piling up, paring your worries down to the essentials can make a huge difference in the way you see the world.

Oddly enough, simplifying can often seem to be a complicated task.  Where do you start?  Zen Habits has a list of 10 things to do to simplify your life today.  You can start right now, right this minute, and end the day with fewer things on your shoulders.

Remembering to just enjoy the simple things in life can help plenty.  Instead of rushing around to all of the places you need to be and missing the simple pleasures of every day, try to remember the wonder you felt when you were a kid.  Something as ordinary as lightning bugs in the grass or the sound of the ice cream man’s bell could cause unadulterated joy back then.  Make it a point to slow down and notice the small, simple, non-electronic joys that confront you every day.

If you still feel too stressed and overwhelmed to enjoy life, try taking up a relaxing hobby.  Meditation, gardening, yoga, fishing, stargazing - whatever you find enjoyable and relaxing will go a long way toward helping you to slow down, enjoy every day, and have the strength to get rid of those things that are cluttering up your life.

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“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.“  -Lao Tzu

This is the time of year when we start looking ahead to spring cleaning.  We clear out the clutter from our homes, our relationships, and our lives in general to get a fresh new start to go along with the rebirth of the year.  In a lot of cases, this means taking care of all of those tasks that we’ve been putting off for ages because they’re unpleasant or because they seem too difficult.

Many of us are hung up on the idea that we have to complete a job all at once, and if there is no time to finish it we just don’t start.  Things that can’t be done immediately are often put off until they pile up and become overwhelming - and being overwhelmed means that we may panic and simply not tackle the task at all.

The next time you have something to do that seems too difficult to bother with, or you don’t have enough time or energy to finish an important job right away, consider doing it in small stages.   This way, all you have to worry about for the time being is getting started.  Once you get started, you only have to worry about the next very small chunk of work.  This is a simple thing to do, but a lot of us just don’t think about breaking up a job instead of forcing ourselves to finish what we start right away.

This concept can be applied to nearly everything, from organizing to cleaning to writing and whatever else you find yourself faced with.  Mark Twain said it best: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small, manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.”

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Traveling by air with small children is not what any sane person would probably think of as a “fun time.”  In fact, between the disruption to routines, the running around trying to stay on schedule, and the whole ear popping thing, it can be downright nightmarish.  Luckily, though, the magical internet information fairies can help you to manage the ordeal and help you keep it from turning into a disaster of slasher-film proportions.

Dumb Little Man gives 18 great ways to keep your sanity while traveling with kids and pets - hopefully you aren’t traveling with both at the same time, you sadist, you.

There are also endless safety concerns to consider along with the practical and emotional concerns of traveling with small children.  Plan ahead to minimize the stress and potential danger that can accompany you on your family travels.

Whether you’re traveling by car or by plane, you’ll need to bring some entertainment for the young folks - the items you can use will vary depending on your mode of transport, of course.  You probably want to avoid being the parent that lets your kids shake a tambourine or play their toy electric guitar on a 6-hour plane ride.

Not all advice for traveling with kids is brand new and groundbreaking information - some of it is simple, but we need to be reminded of these simple travel tips to keep our travels sane and simple.

The unifying theme of all of the above lists seems to be to plan ahead.  Always know your needs and those of your kids, and try to do everything possible to minimize the disruption to your and their routine.  Even if you have to plop them down with a Gameboy or let them watch movies on the private TV screen the whole flight, keeping a child occupied and happy during a flight can make a world of difference for you and the entire plane full of passengers.

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No matter what your age, an untrustworthy memory can cause serious problems in your life and relationships.  How many arguments have resulted from one person forgetting a special date or part of a past conversation?  People with poor memory skills often struggle in school and at work because they seemingly miss essential facts.  While memory loss is often associated with getting older, even young people can have problems recalling information if they never learn to process and store it correctly.

One of the most effective ways to improve your memory is to use it and challenge it.  Most experts agree that exercising your mind is the best way to keep it sharp; playing memory games and consciously testing your memory can help you to improve your recollection now and hold on to your memorization skills well into your old age.

There are also plenty of other ways to improve your memory.  Regular exercise, sleeping well, avoiding smoking, and eating healthy foods can all help you prime your brain to remember things both big and small.  Mnemonic devices are excellent when you want to remember a specific piece of information.

For more suggestions on how to improve your memory - and the science behind the mysteries of human memory - read Tips and Techniques to Improve Memory at HelpGuide.org.

Then test your memory with fun games and activities at YourAmazingBrain.org.

If you have a child who struggles with remembering things he or she learns in school, help those things stick by encouraging them to train their brain with fun games designed just for kids at KidsMemory.com.

Older people and those already suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease may find it beneficial to add apples or apple juice to their diet.  Apples are rich in an essential neurotransmitter that can improve general health and boost brain power, and they may help to reduce the effects of Alzheimer’s.

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We’ve already seen that something as simple as a tennis ball can be put to lots of uses other than just playing a friendly game, but not everyone has a ton of tennis balls just lying around. What about common household items? Aluminum foil is found in nearly every kitchen, and it’s surprisingly useful - but not only for its traditional purpose. From the cookbooks of grandmothers and the journals of contemporary internet homemakers, here are 30 new uses for that most unassuming of all shiny flexible metals: aluminum foil.

1. Frosting a cake but you’ve run out of pastry bags? Just grab a double thickness of aluminum foil and roll it into a cone shape, leaving a small opening at the point. Fill with frosting of spreading consistency. Twist the top to close the cone and use the device to make pretty frosting designs on your cake. Admittedly, this whole process is easier with a plastic zip-close bag with a corner snipped off, but when aluminum foil is all you’ve got it can be a lifesaver!

2. Sharpen your scissors. In between professional sharpenings (or for those 99 cent pairs of scissors that you don’t want to pay to have sharpened), use aluminum foil to keep your scissors in top form. Cutting through 6-8 layers of aluminum foil will improve the cutting surface of most scissors.

3. Make an Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie. You know, for protection from mind control enemies.

4. Shine up rusty chrome. With a bit of water on a wadded-up piece of aluminum foil, you can rub most rust spots off of chrome car parts.

5. Keep your oven clean. Tired of scraping burned-on food out of the bottom of your oven? Line it with aluminum foil before making something particularly messy. Don’t leave it in there permanently, however, because it can lead to oven damage over time.

6. Protect the heating element in your electric oven. For those times when you have to scrub burned-on crud out of your oven, cover the heating element with long strips of aluminum foil before spraying the inside of the oven with oven cleaner.

7. Make your soap last longer. Put a piece of aluminum foil on the bottom of your bar of soap to keep it from sitting in a puddle of water and wearing away quickly.

8. Make interesting cakes. Novelty cake pans in odd shapes are expensive. Get the same effect by using a regular cake pan but making a shaped liner for the inside. Make sure the liner is at least as tall as the edges of the pan and several thicknesses so it will hold its shape. This makes it easy to make that snowman or heart-shaped cake without spending a lot of money on a new pan.

9. Make a sun box for seedlings. If your plants are growing crooked or looking less than healthy, cut off the top and one side of a cardboard box, then line the bottom and remaining sides with aluminum foil. Place your plant inside and put the entire operation in the window with the open side facing the window. The sun will reflect off of the foil and cause your plant to grow up straight.

10. Make a portrait reflector. Forget those super-expensive professional photography reflectors. Just cover a sturdy piece of cardboard with aluminum foil and you’ll have an excellent light reflector for portraits and still lifes.

11. Keep birds out of your fruit trees. Hang twisted strips of aluminum foil all over your fruit trees using fishing line. The light reflections and the sound will keep birds away from your fruit.

12. Protect saplings. Rodents and other animals sometimes chew on young trees in the winter. Protect your saplings by covering their bases with aluminum foil. Remember to change the covering periodically as the tree grows.

13. Re-soften hard brown sugar. Many people put hard brown sugar in the microwave to soften it up, but this can actually backfire and make the sugar harden even more. Instead, wrap the block of hardened sugar in some aluminum foil and bake in a 300° (Fahrenheit) oven for 5 minutes.

14. Keep the bottom of your fireplace or charcoal grill from becoming encrusted with soot. Line the bottom of your fireplace or grill with aluminum foil before starting a fire, then dispose of the foil after the fire is out and the coals are completely cooled.

15. Protect your furniture. Pets can’t stand the feeling or the sound of crinkling aluminum foil. If you want them to stay off of your furniture, cover the seats with clean aluminum foil whenever you’re not using the furniture. Your pets will learn within a couple of days to avoid sitting up there. You can also prevent them from scratching or biting furniture legs by covering them in aluminum foil.

16. Avoid moving the heavy furniture. When you want to quickly shampoo your carpets but don’t want to lug all of the furniture out of the room, simply cover the legs with aluminum foil to avoid getting shampoo on them.

17. Although we haven’t tested this tip (and it seems a bit dubious), it’s said that you can put a wadded-up ball of aluminum foil in your dryer with a load of clothes to reduce static cling.

18. Get creative and make fun sculptures with your aluminum foil.

19. Remove daily buildup on silver jewelry. With some common kitchen items you can make a simple but effective way to clean your jewelry at home.

20. If your TV and DVD player are stacked one on top of the other, you may find the picture is a bit fuzzy. This often happens when the electromagnetic fields from both devices interfere with each other. Place a sheet of aluminum foil between them to cut down on the interference.

21. When ironing, put a piece of aluminum foil under the ironing board cover. The foil will reflect the heat from the iron so you can essentially iron both sides at once.

22. Steam your silk or wool garments by placing a piece of aluminum foil on top of the ironing board and under the garment. Pass the iron over the garment from a few inches above the fabric while holding down the steam button. The steam will remove wrinkles without harming the cloth with direct heat.

23. Use it as wrapping paper in a pinch. You can glue or tape interesting cut-out pictures onto the aluminum foil to make it even more personal.

24. Make interesting Easter eggs.

25. Reflect heat into your house. Put a layer of aluminum foil behind your radiator when it is off and completely cool. When the radiator is turned on, more of the heat will be directed into the living area and less will be absorbed into the wall behind the radiator.

26. Keep pie crusts from burning. This may be one of the oldest aluminum foil tricks in the book, but it’s a good one. When baking a pie, cover the edges of the crust with aluminum foil at the very end of the baking time to keep it from browning too much.

27. Make a cool noisemaker with your kids.

28. Make a solar cooker. You’ll cut down on energy costs and experience a traditional way of cooking.

29. Use strips of aluminum foil to wrap your hair, then coil them up to make impromptu curlers.

30. Cover doorknobs and hinges with aluminum foil to avoid having to take them off while painting.

Bonus Tip: In many locations, aluminum foil can be recycled along with all of the other household recycling. When you’ve used it for cooking and all of the other interesting projects listed here, just throw it into the bin along with all of your other recyclable materials to keep it out of the waste stream.

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When you move into a new rental property, you will probably be required to pay a security deposit.  This is a kind of insurance policy for your landlord that you won’t trash the apartment and then run off - or, if you do, it’s assurance that they’ll have money to have things fixed and/or professionally cleaned.

Is there any way to guarantee that you’ll get your entire security deposit back upon moving out?  Barring any major catastrophes in the apartment or any cheatery on the part of your landlord, there are plenty of ways to increase your chances of getting your deposit back.  We can’t guarantee they’ll work for every situation, but they’re handy tips to have.

1. Do a pre-move-in walk-through.  After you sign the lease but before you move in, walk through the property with the landlord.  Make a detailed list of every little dent, ding, chip, and stain that you find.  Bring along your digital camera if you can and take photos of everything.  Ask your landlord to sign the list, then make a copy and give the original to the landlord.  Keep the copy in your own files.  This whole process reduces the likelihood that your landlord will blame you for damage that was already there when you moved in.  Some landlords do this already, but plenty of them do not.

2.  When moving out, clean everything thoroughly.  For many of us, the standards of cleanliness that we live by daily aren’t exactly on the same level as the standards your landlord will expect.  Cleaning thoroughly may be a pain and it may take you a while, but it’s better than losing your whole deposit.  Remember to allow yourself plenty of time; don’t start cleaning an hour before your landlord comes to inspect the place.

3.  If you do cause damage to the property, document it well.  Photograph and write down details of when and how it happened.  If you end up in court with your landlord over repair costs or your security deposit, you will have a way to prove how extensive the damage was.

4. Get a receipt.  If you cause damage to the property or leave it so dirty that your former landlord has to hire someone to fix things or clean up after you, you can bet that your deposit will not be returned - at least not in full.  Your landlord is required to give you a copy of the bill for any service that they charge you for out of your deposit.

5. Be informed.  Some states place an upper limit on how much your landlord can charge for a security deposit when you move in.   Most states have a specified amount of time within which your security deposit must be returned to you if you’re entitled to it.  Also be sure to read your lease carefully; some of them contain items stating that every tenant is charged a mandatory cleaning fee.  If this is the case, it has to be considered a fee separate from the deposit and declared when you move in since “deposit” refers to money that is meant to be returned at some point.

6. Do a move-out inspection.  When you move out, go through the apartment again, noting the areas where there was pre-existing damage as well as areas that you damaged.  Again, a digital camera comes in very handy here.  Get your landlord to sign off on the list; most landlords have their own form for the final inspection, so make sure you get a copy of it and read it to ensure its accuracy.

Although your landlord isn’t allowed to keep your deposit for normal wear and tear on your rental property, the idea of “normal” wear and tear differs significantly between people.  Some tenants take their landlords to small claims court if they don’t feel they should have lost their deposit, but the court costs can sometimes cost more than the amount in question.  Use your best judgment and always strive to leave your rental in at least the same condition as you found it; that is the best way to get your deposit back.

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It’s something that none of us really want to think about but most of us can’t avoid: the R-word. You know, the one that brings to mind visions of nose-diving stock prices, $6/gallon gas, and burning furniture to stay warm. While it’s unlikely that things will get that bad, it is clear that the American economy has been slowing for a while. This has left many people wondering what they can do to prepare their family for the future.

One of the most prudent and simple things you can do is to put all of the money you can into savings. This applies not only to times of economic turmoil; having money in savings is always a wise move. But if you want to minimize your potential financial troubles for the present and future slowdown, it’s especially important now.

In the typical American budget, the single most controllable area of spending is groceries. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual food expenditure of a family of four (including meals away from home) in 2006 was $8,543. That comes out to just over $711 every month. To many families, a food bill that high would take up nearly all of their discretionary budget. So how can you drive that cost down and have more money to squirrel away for lean times?

Most experts say to grocery shop less often. Only going to the grocery store once or twice a month might encourage you to put more thought into your grocery list and walk out with just the things you need. However, f you are a more disciplined shopper adopting the European grocery shopping method might be more effective. This involves shopping once every day or two and buying only what you need until the next shopping trip. Shopping in this way helps you avoid the hundreds of dollars of usable food that most households waste every year by ensuring that you don’t have a bunch of stuff decomposing in the back of the fridge. This will probably only save you money if you have the time to shop every day, live within walking distance of a grocery store, and don’t have a lot of people to feed.

Using coupons and taking advantage of advertised loss-leaders is a timeless tip that has helped many people save money. However, it takes a savvy shopper to use coupons effectively. Many times, generic products are cheaper than their name-brand counterparts - even after coupons.

You’ll hear many people insist that eating convenience foods is cheaper than buying whole foods and preparing them. This may seem like the case, but if you look at the cost per serving it’s easy to see that whole foods are much less expensive. You can get a box of Hamburger Helper for under $2 and a pound of ground beef for around $2 (on sale) and eat for one or two meals. Or you can buy a pound of beans for 80 cents and a pound of rice for $1 and eat for ten meals. We certainly don’t suggest eating only beans and rice, but maintaining a diet rich in whole foods is much cheaper than eating a lot of processed stuff. That isn’t even taking into account all of the health care costs you’ll save in the future by eating more healthfully now.

You can cut down your grocery bill by huge proportions by growing some of your own food. Plant as much as you can on the land that you have, but make sure it’s food that you’ll put to good use. Sure, chili peppers are easy to grow and attractive, but if you’re not going to eat them you’re just wasting valuable garden space. Tomatoes, zucchini, onions, cucumbers, bell peppers, and peas are all relatively easy to grow and can be planted in most parts of the US.

You can grow herbs and vegetables even if you don’t have a garden. Use your kitchen windowsill for herbs and use your balcony or patio for tomatoes. Sprouts are easy to grow absolutely anywhere and don’t even need light - and they’re cheap and nutritious.

If you have more room, plant food-bearing trees and shrubs like chestnuts, raspberries, and apricots. They may take a few years to get established and start bearing a good-sized harvest, but some trees can start producing in their second season.

Foraging for these foods is a method that many of us have utilized for years. Finding unused food-bearing trees isn’t difficult in most locales. Try to get permission before picking food from anyone else’s property! Foraging can get you whatever kind of nuts are local to your area, apples, raspberries, mulberries, elderberries, oranges, and many other foods that happen to grow near you. For the most adventurous and environmentally-minded among us, freeganism (or urban foraging) is rapidly gaining followers around the world.

After you learn to acquire food cheaply, you’ll need to learn to preserve it. You can’t grow or forage fresh produce all year, so learn to can whatever you can’t use right away. A vacuum sealer can be a very handy food storage appliance. A freezer is a sound investment for foods that you find on sale as well as things that you cook in advance. If you’re inclined to order a pizza after a long day instead of taking the time to cook, having a bunch of pre-prepared meals in the freezer can drastically reduce the amount you spend on takeout.

Finally, working at a co-op can get you good food (often in bulk) at discounted prices. Many cities have natural food co-ops where you can get fresh produce, whole grains, and all kinds of healthy foods at cost, provided that you work at the co-op store for a few hours per week or per moth.

These are just a few of the hundreds of ways to save money on your grocery bills. We want to know: how do you cut down on your food costs when money is tight?

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No matter how experienced a cook you are or how careful you may be, there’s just no avoiding the occasional baked-on or burned-on mess.  Your cookware can suffer not only from the high heat and carbonization of its contents, but from the methods you use to clean up the mess.  You can safely clean your cookware without damaging it, even if you have managed to turn your lasagna into a very large lump of charcoal.

*Wash your cookware immediately after using it.  Letting it sit out will not only allow the mess to solidify; it will make you less likely to want to pick up that nasty pan to scrape it clean.

*Most cookware doesn’t do well in the dishwasher.  Unless the directions from the manufacturer specifically say that you should wash the cookware in the dishwasher, plan to wash your pots and pans by hand.  It may take longer, but it will help to extend the life of the cookware.

*Unless you’re using a stainless steel pot, you can pour a layer of baking soda over the baked-on gunk on the bottom of the pot, cover it with water, and wait for the mess to loosen.  The baking soda releases the burned-on food, but this may take several hours.  If it doesn’t work, try adding a little more water and boiling the mess for 15-30 minutes.

*Avoid using metal utensils to scrape up burned-on food from nonstick cookware.

And for the basic maintenance of your cookware, there are a few things for every cook to remember.

*Don’t use nonstick spray on nonstick cookware.  The tiny droplets of spray get into the nonstick coating and cause holes and peeling.

*Cast iron cookware should never be put in the dishwasher.  This will ruin the seasoning of the pans.  Just wash your cast iron pieces in very warm water, dry thoroughly, and re-season whenever rust begins to appear.

*Never use metal utensils with nonstick cookware.  Even something as simple as using a fork to stir your noodles can cause holes and scratches in the nonstick coating.

*Let all cookware cool down prior to plunging it into cold water.  Subjecting your cookware to sudden temperature changes can cause warping and buckling.

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