Best Tips and Tricks: 5 Things you Need to Know About Immediately!

How to Improve Your Life with 5 Life Hacks at Home

Tis’ the season, am I right everyone? Time to shop til’ you drop, party like a rockstar and spend every waking moment wishing you had 10 more hours added to every day. Trust me, I really wish I could give you some additional time, but hopefully you’ll settle for five of my other current favorites, which I’m certain will quickly become your favorites as well. Whether you want DIY hacks for cold remedies or Christmas budgeting ideas or my recomendations for the best drugstore makeup products, do yourself a solid and keep reading:)

Searching for a Cold Remedy? Natural Might Actually Work Best!

My life hack #1 has seriously been the best thing I’ve ever discovered. But it does have a little bit of a backstory. Bare with me:) About 101 years ago, I was in college and one winter Sunday night developed a sore throat. But this wasn’t quite like a normal sore throat. It felt different…I don’t really know how to explain it, it just wasn’t like a sore throat I’d had with other colds.

The next morning I went to our Health Center where they eventually diagnosed me with strep, the first time I had ever had it. It took a minute because at the time, whenever you went to the Health Center (I’m not even sure it mattered if you were male or female), they were convinced you were pregnant.

When I eventually l sold them on the idea that I actually had a sore throat, it took them 3 times of checking (the first 2 times they were sure nothing was wrong with me). After telling the little doctor or nurse EXACTLY where to look, she exclaimed, “oh my gosh, LOOK at all those white spots. You have strep!” Anyways I took some antibiotics and life quickly returned to normal.

Fast forward to this past summer when around 11:00 on a Thursday night, I got that same, “this doesn’t feel like a normal sore throat,” feeling. Remembering to way-back-when, when I had strep in college and knowing/hearing EVERYONE talk about getting it since that time, I knew what to look for.

Turning on my lil’ flashlight and looking into the mirror I saw what I’m sure the doctor was looking for a million years earlier - ALL the white and yellow spots (strep really is kinda gross). I didn’t want to go to the minute-clinic that late and to be honest, the next day I had SO much going on. I really just didn’t have time for strep, lol.

So I did what everyone in this day and age does, turned to the internet. Googling strep throat remedies, home-based of course, I found a variety of “interesting options,” but there was one that came up over and over and over again, with ingredients I actually had.

Strep Home Remedies

Recipe to Get Rid of Strep, Naturally:

1 tsp of Honey
1/2 tsp of Cinnamon

That’s it guys. I kept reading about how people literally swore by it as an option to get rid of strep and colds and although I didn’t really think it would work, I decided to try it. I took one “dose” right away then waited about 30 minutes and took it again.

Much to my surprise when I woke up in the morning, as I was going through everything I needed to get done, it dawned on me, my throat wasn’t sore. Like, at all. I literally layed there, I think trying to talk myself into a sore throat, because, there’s no way honey and cinnamon benefits could include getting rid of strep, right? But when I got up and looked in the mirror, I had not one white or yellow spot. Nothing.

I took another dose just to make sure it was gone, but I had no other signs or symptoms…it literally had vanished.

Since that time, I’ve tried this home remedy a few other times for colds and am happy to report, I’ve not had a cold at all this fall/winter. I’ve taken it at the very first signs I was coming down with something and a couple of times, I’ve had to take it several times throughout a 24-48 hour time period, but the “cold” has never amounted to anything other than that feeling I’m about to get sick.

Since we are really getting ready for cold and flu season, be sure to keep this little DIY hack in your back pocket and the second you feel something coming on, take it right away!

The “It” Planner

Last year I did a lil’ Instagram collab with inkWELL Press and I was so excited when they asked if I wanted to do a little something else on IG in exchange for a new planner. The thing is, over the course of the past year, I have loved and relied on this planner so much, I thought it deserved way more than an Instagram pic.

I’ll start with the basics and then go in to some of the reasons it’s been the best planner I’ve ever used as well. When you visit inkWELL.com you’ll get to create a planner that’s more customized, based on your needs. Starting with the cover, you can choose from 6 different options (3 patterns, 3 solid vegan-leather styles). This year, I chose “No Cover” because I really do like the “Orchid” design I chose last year. That’s right, from year-to-year, you can keep parts of your planner so you don’t have to re-purchase the following year!

After selecting the cover, you move on to the Discs (think of these like “rings” on a binder. It’s what the pages will attach to) where you can select from gold, silver or rose gold. And then we move to the really fun part, the inserts and add-ons!

The inserts or “Planning Pages” are the “guts” of the planner, where you plan and track the day-to-day, week-to-week and month-to-month. The big difference with these is just stylistically in regards to the calendars or, if you don’t care necessarily about planning specifically for the days or the weeks, you might instead want the Daily or Goals Planner pages (more on those later).

I like the layout of the Weekly Flex Option which is what I’ll be using this upcoming year (and also what I used last year). These pages start out with important dates happening throughout the year but also includes a spread of goals pages. Each new month starts with a “Mission Board,” which I like to use to help track monthly goals. It then goes into the full monthly calendar spread, and finishes with each week (one week per spread, i.e. left page and right page) plus notes.

The last few pages have such good practical uses like gift lists, a space to write what you’re grateful for each month, bucket list ideas, project planning pages and more. The Planning Pages are for sure enough to keep you organized and focused all year long…but wait, there’s more:) :) :)

I also elected to include a few add-ons, starting with the Goals Planner. This is not a daily, weekly or monthly calendar. In fact, there’s no traditional calendar invovled with the Goals Planner at all. Instead, it begins with a series of questions to help you really get to what’s important for you, by diving into your past year.

After that, it’s time to define your future self, again through a series of questions which really gets to the heart of your goals. From there, it’s time to start goal-setting! Not only are there pages for each goal, each goal has Action Road Map and there are checkpoints and other activities each month throughout the year.

Since most of my goals this upcoming year relate in some capacity to this space, it shouldn’t be a surprise that I also chose the Project Planner. While these 50 pages could truly work for any type of plans - from home to work, financial to vacations, I’ll be using them to brainstorm ideas for my blog and social posts. Since that type of thing is usually “in my head,” scary, I know, it will be nice to have a space to get these ideas out and organized.

I also picked out the Daily Docket Notepad….the perfect space to help me keep focused on my busiest days. There is even a space to cross off the tasks and errands I’ve accomplished and honestly, who doesn’t love a nice “cross-off?!?”

Lastly, I got the beWELL Fitness Log to hopefully help me kick my own butt this winter. I can admit, I do an AWFUL job of working out in winter, but I’m hopeful I can break that trend this year and writing down workouts, foods, goals and accomplishments is a pretty good place to start!

inkWELL has all the things you need to ensure a great 2020, so many I’m not able to mention them here. BUT, be sure to check them out, put them on your Christmas list or purchase one as a gift for yourself - you will thank yourself every day of the week (and month….and year).

Help Yourself at Christmas with Afterpay

I don’t know if I’m just behind on this, but have you all heard of Afterpay? Total gamechanger! It’s an app (or you can sign up via the website) that allows you to shop at an endless number of stores, splitting your payments up into 4 equal payments, automatically paid from your debit or credit card every 2 weeks.

It’s SO easy to use guys. Download the app and sign up for a free account. Shop through the plethora of stores - a good variety of locations you’re already likely a frequent shopper (think DSW and Ulta) and smaller boutiques you’ve probably never heard of.

So let’s say you purchase exactly $100 worth of items from DSW. At checkout, $25 will be charged immediatley. Your order is processed and shipped just like normal. After 2 weeks, an additional $25 is charged, and so on, until your $100 is paid off. There’s no interest, it’s not like using a credit card, it really just makes shopping a little easier if you’re on a budget, especially around Christmas.

When I say an “endless number of stores,” I actually mean it. I’ve tried twice to scroll through the entire list and both times had to quit due to the fact that I coudln’t get through them all. So go ahead and shop your hearts out this season and help your budget when doing so.

Not only did I purchase the tee I’m wearing above using Afterpay, but a super cute cardigan as well.

Neutrogena It Matters Mattifying Primer Stick

Soooo, there’s like a whole generation of makeup appliers out there, that never even knew life before primer. Yes ladies, some of us actually put on foundation without primer. Not because we were complete losers who knew nothing about makeup, but because primer didn’t exist. Hard to believe, right?

I’ve always been a fan of Neutrogena products but love their new and improved packaging. It reminds me a more modern Benefit (and Benefit packaging without a doubt is one of my all time favorites).

Back to the actual primer however…there’s one small thing I don’t like. The stick itself is large which means it’s hard to get into the crease of my nose. But the reality is, that’s not really that big of a deal. I LOVE that this primer does what it’s supposed to and it’s not heavy or cake-y feeling at all.

In additional to the non-heaviness, it’s also not greasy and definitely helps fill my pores for a nice even texture. I’ve purchased looooots of primers and the truth is, a lot of them aren’t worth the money. They make me literally feel like I’m just scooping grease onto my face. An additional bonus is that the Neutrogena primer is right around $7, which also makes it affordable. Total win-win.

Get Clean with the Think Dirty App

The other day I was shopping for my regular dry shampoo from Not Your Mother’s - the Plump for Joy option. They were out of that particular kind and after MUCH deliberating, I decided to go with their Clean Freak Tapioca Dry Shampoo. After I used the Clean Freak, I didn’t really notice a difference so compared the ingredients, wondering if the only true difference was the scent.

The ingredients were primarily the same, however, Plump for Joy contained Aluminum Starch and Clean Freak contained Tapioca Starch. Aluminum Starch? I had no idea what it was, but honestly, I thought in comparision to Tapioca Starch, it sounded like something I didn’t want on my scalp.

I looked it up and the first article I found did mention that lots of dry shampoos use aluminum starch and how terrible it was for your body. I then realized it was a website of a dry shampoo brand (all natural) and I wondered about their sincerity.

I then happened across the Think Dirty app, an app designed to let us know what ingredients are in our skincare, haircare and other beauty brands, as well as household cleaners and other products around our homes.

All you have to do is scan the barcode, or enter the name of the prodcut, and the Think Dirty shows you a score of 1-10 (low is good). It also breaks down where there numbers come from and why a product scores high or low.

As far as the Not Your Mother’s Dry Shampoos, both received an 8 (not good) not because of the starches or other ingredients…the culprit was their perfumes. And, there was a disclaimer that Think Dirty hadn’t had a chance to anyalyze their specific perfumes, so I’m hopeful that maaaaybe they are better than 8’s:) Although I’ve also noticed NYM makes an unscented option as well.

I also tried testing the Neutrogena Primer I mentioned above but unfortunately it’s too new and hadn’t yet been analyzed. I admit, I’m not always the best at looking for more natural product options, but the Think Dirty app is so easy to use that it’s hard not to start incorporating some better-for-us things into my home.

Alright everyone - what do you think of my 5 must-haves for December? Let me know what you’re looking forward to trying or using, or if you’re already a fan of any of the above!

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