All posts by Tia

Get Magic Marker Off Surface

Get Magic Marker Off Surface

Photo by Elena Rubtsova

Whether it is from the kids drawing or you’ve made the mark yourself; hearts sink, when magic marker residue is left behind on something it was never meant to be on.

In a panic, some people will try anything to remove the belligerent marks, but as long as you have a little patience, the best results happen with a baking soda paste.

Get in the Mix

Mix baking soda with a little bit of water until you get a creamy paste-like result. Apply to the stains, while rubbing the solution in, and let set for a couple of minutes.

Put Some Muscle into It

After several minutes of letting it soak in, continue to rub, working the marker stain out. You may have to use a little elbow power, to get it all the way out if it’s embedded in wood grain or something like that, but you should see the stain start to lift and disappear.

Tia, and TipsfromTia.com  is trying to keep you looking good and
feeling good, from the inside out. If you’ve got a problem or a tip email me! Be sure to Like and share on Facebook or Follow on TwitterTikTok, or Instagram

Moving Doesn’t Have To Be A Day Of Nightmares

Moving Doesn’t Have To Be A Day Of Nightmares

Are you worried about moving home? It’s true to say that some people find moving home an absolute nightmare, and that’s understandable. There’s a reason why it’s commonly named as the most stressful experience that you can encounter in your adult life. However, we’re not sure it has to be this way. If you take the right steps, moving home can be a breeze. That’s true, regardless of whether you’re moving down the road or half a world away. 

Stay Organized

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The first thing that you’re going to have to do to keep moving day from becoming a nightmare is to stay organized. Organization is the key when it comes to doing most things, and moving homes is no exception. There are multiple ways that you can do this, but one of the best, we think, is to write out a checklist and then go through this one by one. You can write next to each task who is going to be responsible for completing that, as well as when it’s going to be done, so that you can keep everyone on track. As soon as something has been completed, it should be checked off the list so that you can move on to the next thing.

We know that it can be tough to keep up with everything that is going on, so you might even want to utilize technology here. You can share the list with the people involved in the move, and they can tick off their parts as they are completing them. This way, everyone knows what they should be doing and what everyone else is doing.

Read: SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE BY DECLUTTERING: THE BEST WAY TO DECLUTTER YOUR LIFE

Hire Help

You’re not going to be able to get through moving day alone. Even if you have friends and family members helping you, which we’re going to be talking about in a minute, you’re still probably going to need professional help. If you look into something like residential relocation services, this will make the whole day so much simpler. You will have professionals on your side who know what they are doing, who know what their tasks are and who are there to get the job done as swiftly and efficiently as they can.

But, movers are not the only people you’re going to need. You might also need to look into hiring cleaners to go in after everything has been moved out. Before you leave, the house needs to be cleaned from top to bottom, so either you’re going to need to do it or you’re going to need to hire someone to do it for you. Hiring a service makes your life easier, it takes some of the stress off of your plate, and let’s be honest, it will be far cleaner than if you were to do it yourself.

Get Everyone Involved

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If your friends and family are available on moving day, then ask them to help you and then buy a pizza or something at the end of the day. If you have kids then they can get involved and help too so that the day goes easier. The more people that you can get to help with moving day, the easier it is going to be. More hands make for less work for each person, and the quicker that you can get everything sorted, the better. You can then get into your new house and either relax because you made it through without it becoming a nightmare or get started on unpacking!

Start The Process Early

The early bird gets the first worm, and the early mover avoids the migraine. We promise that if you don’t put everything off until the last minute – tempting as this might be – it will save you from huge headaches in the long run.

Prepping early also helps you get an idea of what you can and can’t fit in your new home. If you’re downsizing, because you’ve decided that moving into one of the best retirement villages is a great option for you.

You may need to rent storage to keep some pieces, such as boxes of clothes or furniture, safe while you work out what to do with them. 

So, when should you start prepping for the move? Well, as soon as your home offer is accepted or you find the home you want to buy, it’s time to start prepping. 

Don’t Take On Unnecessary Stress 

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It’s important that you don’t end up with any unnecessary stress when you are moving home. When is this going to be a problem? Well, there are a lot of accidental ways that you can make a home move far more stressful than it needs to be. For instance, you could put yourself in a situation where you are more likely to sustain an injury. That’s why you should always use the right equipment to move heavy items and ideally, get support instead of arranging a DIY move. 

It’s also important that you do get some much-needed “me” time and downtime during a move. Your whole life can’t suddenly be all about this one event. You need to take time off, and you need evenings where you can just chill. If you don’t have options like this, then you’re always going to find the stress is constantly building.

Read: SOOTHING SELF CARE IDEAS TO TRY AFTER A ROUGH DAY

Double Check Everything

Finally, you should make sure that you are double checking everything and anything. One of the problems with a home move is the fear that you will forget something important or that a job that you need handled will be brushed over. Since there’s so much to think about when moving, this mistake is all too easy. But if you make sure that you double-check everything you’re doing, then there isn’t going to be any chance of a mistake like this which is great news.

This is another reason why a list can be a great tool during a move. With the right list, you’ll be able to ensure that you have double-checked everything that you need. You can even tick things off twice to give yourself peace of mind if this is the case.

We hope this helps you understand some of the key steps that you can take to ensure that you avoid any unpleasant issues with your next home move. Remember, if you have the right strategy in place, then a home move doesn’t need to be a day filled with stress. It can be an exciting and welcome new chapter in your life without some of the common worries and concerns. 

Tia and TipsfromTia.com are trying to keep you looking good and
feeling good from the inside out. If you’ve got a problem or a tip, email me! Be sure to Like and share on Facebook or Follow on TwitterTikTok, or Instagram.

Being Safe After Domestic Violence

Being Safe After Domestic Violence

Everybody has heard about the difficulties in relationships that can occur. For example, some people understand from their friends and their family – and even their own personal experience – have a relationship and go from loving and happy to scary and tremulous.

Separation from somebody who has called you to be afraid, or has hurt you in some way is important. That doesn’t mean that it’s the easiest thing to do.  Domestic violence is something that a lot of people go through but it isn’t something you have to continue to put up with, once you break free you will feel the weight shifted from your shoulders and see the new opportunities ahead.

Making sure that you are as safe as possible after a domestic violence relationship is one of the most important things that you can do as a person. There are plenty of actions that you can take to ensure your safety, especially when you have children involved, and where did you learn how to change your iPhone IP address so that you are not followed by your ex, or be sure to speak to the police about sheltering you, you need to be safe so that you can continue to live your life in the best way possible. In this article, we are going to detail some of the ways that you can be safe after a domestic violence relationship.

Image source: Pexels

  • Talk to your family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues. If you are separating from somebody who has been abusive in any way, you need to talk to your people around you. Even if the people around you happen to be social workers or police officers, you need to speak to somebody and inform them of the separation and what you are worried about. You need to ensure that the people around you are aware of your movements and where you are planning to go, because those are the people that are going to be able to help support you.
  • Talk to your children’s school. If you are separating from an abusive partner then you need to inform your childrens’ school now! They need to ensure that they are not handing over somebody who is unauthorized to collect your child. You should ensure that you have a parental order in place for this, however, because if you are being harmed by the child’s other parent, they still have the right to pick up the child unless there is an order in place
  • Change your passwords. Go through all of your social media and email accounts and change your passwords. You should even change passwords to banking and streaming services on the TV. You need to ensure that you are no longer allowing access to you from the person who you are separating from.
  • Check devices and location settings. You need to ensure that all cloud sharing settings and location settings are turned off. Sometimes, spyware apps downloaded onto devices that are remote to get access to text, calls and photos. If you suspect this, you need to check your phone and consider getting a new phone number and phone.
  • Install panic buttons. To be safe after a domestic violence relationship you need to ensure that you have a button in your home to call the police should you need it.

Tia, and TipsfromTia.com  is trying to keep you looking good and
feeling good, from the inside out. If you’ve got a problem or a tip email me! Be sure to Like and share on Facebook or Follow on TwitterTikTok, or Instagram

How To Cement Better Habits

How To Cement Better Habits

Something that will help all of us to live better lives is the ability to foster and cement good habits on a regular basis, especially when we are replacing bad ones. It might be better to think of them more as useful habits and less useful habits in that regard. If you are wondering how you can effectively cement some better habits into your daily life, then there are many things to consider. Let’s take a look at some ideas of how you might be able to do this more effectively. You’ll find the following is all really useful.

Read: 7 HABITS THAT DESTROY YOUR EYES

Take Stock

One of the first things you need to do is to take stock of your life as it currently stands, in particular your habits and what they tend to be. It’s hugely important here that you are being as honest with yourself as possible, as otherwise, you are going to struggle to actually make the necessary changes. As part of this, you might find that there are some un-useful habits that you would rather do away with, or you might sense a distinct lack of a particularly useful habit that you think you should develop. You will now need to follow your nose with regard to those.

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Identify Some Goals

Next up, you can start to think about some of the things that you would like to be different in your life, so you can start working towards them. In short, you should try to identify some goals so that you can decide on which habits you might want to begin developing and building from. It might be as simple as wanting healthier teeth and gums, or as huge as wanting to lose a lot of weight, or anything in between. Just make sure you are clear on them.

Read: 4 HEALTHY LIFESTYLE HABITS YOU SHOULD CONSIDER

Break New Habits Down Into Components

Once you know what you are aiming for, you can start to think about the habits that these will require – and in order to make that more manageable, you might want to break down those identified habits into smaller components that are easier to put into place. In the case of having healthier teeth, as we mentioned above, that might include: visiting your local dentist, setting an alarm to floss, and so on. This is going to feel much more doable than trying to do big changes all at once.

Get support for the bad habits

Bad habits can form easily and it’s something you want to identify before working on removing them from your life. For example, smoking is for many, a bad habit that has developed over time and often from a young age. That’s why smoking cessation programs are a great way to tackle the bad habit with professional support.

Getting support for bad habits is going to help remove them so that you can make way for better habits instead.

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Turn Habits Into Routines

Next up you are going to want to turn those habits into genuinely unbreakable routines. This is when their effectiveness starts to become really clear, and it’s the kind of thing that can really radically transform your life. One way to achieve this is to use a process known as gamification, where you trick the mind into the new habit by treating it as a game. This can be very effective, and it’s something you might want to check out if you are really keen on making big changes in your own daily life and seeing those results very soon.

​Tia and TipsfromTia.com are trying to keep you looking good and
feeling good from the inside out. If you’ve got a problem or a tip, email me! Be sure to Like and share on Facebook or Follow on Twitter, TikTok, or Instagram.

How To Control The Humidity In Your Home

How To Control The Humidity In Your Home

Having to deal with too much humidity is neither fun nor comfortable. Even worse is when there is increased moisture and humidity in your home. It can sometimes feel hot, sticky, and just downright disgusting. But it’s more dangerous than just making you feel bad. The structure, surfaces, and condition of your property can be severely damaged by high humidity and moisture levels.

Did you know that too much moisture can hurt paint, wood, insulation, and siding, among other things? What about the fact that allergens and pollutants like mold, dust mites, and mildew can easily get into it? All these things can be very bad for your lungs, and it’s even worse if you already have allergies, asthma, or other lung problems.

Ideal indoor humidity levels are between 30 and 50 percent. Keeping humidity levels in your home at a manageable level will not only make you more comfortable, but it will also improve the quality of the air in your home and make it safer. Read on to find out more. 

Photo by Sunsetoned

How Can You Tell If Your Home Is Too Humid? 

Obviously, you can’t walk around all the time with a humidity or dew meter. But how do you know when the humidity inside your home is too high? There are a few telltale signs, like foggy windows, clammy skin, and a heavy but warm atmosphere. But when there is too much moisture in the air in your home, it can smell like mildew or seem musty.

Here are a few ways to find out if your home has too much humidity:

Look for noticeable condensation on windows, reflective surfaces, pipes, and the walls of your basement. If you do find it, touch the area around it and look at the walls and other nearby surfaces to make sure the moisture hasn’t spread.

On the ceiling, look out for wet spots or stucco that is falling apart. Moisture often shows up as a change in color, which can be hard to see in some lighting conditions.

Do you see paint that is peeling or hear floorboards that are creaking too much? That could be because of moisture. 

If you or someone in your family has shortness of breath, common allergy symptoms like wheezing, a severe headache, or a cough that won’t go away, it could be because of the humidity.

Mold and mildew can sometimes smell like smoke, so check your home for that. If you’ve been at home for a long time, try going outside for a while and then coming back. After getting some fresh air, you should be able to smell, and notice smells better.

If you suspect mold in the home, it’s best to schedule home testing from certified professionals to understand what kind of mold you are dealing with. Mold can happen in all sorts of climates, as long as it has the right climate to grow.

To find mold testing in North Kingstown, RI or a location closer to you, do some research to make sure the company you choose conducts thorough testing – bonus points if they also offer comprehensive mold remediation services.

Are there any walls, floors, or shelves that feel soft or wet?

Do you see dark spots or spots of a different color?

Some of these signs may not mean you have a humidity problem if they are on their own, but if you’ve had more than one, you should probably have your home checked.

What Causes Humidity In The Home? 

Several things affect how humid a home is, such as its design, construction, and materials, as well as the use of vapor retarders, insulation, and how airtight it is. Humidity is, of course, also directly affected by the weather and temperature in the area. In Florida, for example, a home’s average humidity will be much higher than that of a home in New England.

A home can also be more humid if the air conditioner is too big, which can happen in places where it is hot. When an AC unit is much too big for a home, it cools too quickly and in short, inefficient cycles. This makes it turn on and off often, which lets humidity build-up. The air conditioner’s evaporator coil pulls moisture out of the air, making it less humid. But that can only happen if the air has enough time to move through the unit. If your system turns on and off too often, the humidity of the air coming into your home won’t change.

You can tell if your air conditioner is too big by how often and how long it runs. On the hottest days, each cycle will only last about 10 to 15 minutes before it turns off. If you have your HVAC unit installed and maintained by experts, however, this should be much less of a problem. 

How To Decrease Humidity In Your Home

There are a lot of things you can do and tools you can use to lower the humidity in your home. Don’t forget that you’ll want to know how to lower humidity in the house in the winter as well as the summer:

Dehumidifiers: Most of the time, dehumidifiers are put in basements, but you can get big ones that work for an entire property. They work best when all the windows and doors in a room or area are closed. They take water out of the air, but they can’t be close to walls or other things, or the air won’t flow right. 

Proper Ventilation: You want to make sure that places with a lot of moisture, like the kitchen and bathrooms, have enough airflow. When there is moisture in the room, turn on the vent fans and leave them on. If you think that moisture is causing problems, get more fans. If you don’t have exhaust fans, you can open one or two windows.

Air Conditioning Devices: Air conditioning units do more than just cool the air inside a home. They also get rid of humidity and moisture. Just make sure that the unit you have put in is the right size for how big your property is.

Weatherstripping: Putting weatherstripping around your home’s doors and windows to make an airtight seal that keeps cool or warm air from escaping and stops excess humidity from coming in. They are especially important in places where it is hot and humid outside.

Insulation: If you don’t know, insulation is used to keep heat in and keep out extra dust and other particles. If a home’s walls are properly insulated and aren’t already damp, cool and warm air won’t be able to get out or in through cracks in the walls.

Interior Changes: There are many things you can do to change the inside of your home. For example, you can install ceiling fans, clean your AC ducts and filters regularly, and more.

​Tia and TipsfromTia.com are trying to keep you looking good and
feeling good from the inside out. If you’ve got a problem or a tip, email me! Be sure to Like and share on Facebook or Follow on TwitterTikTok, or Instagram.