Dr. Scott Ferrell

Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store.
If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.
I didn’t know that!

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil.
It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating.
Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef.
It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich, add a couple of
spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.
(Caution: Be sure that you like this consistency in your scrambled eggs.)

For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed. Melt Andes mints in double broiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic, and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic.

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream. Yummm!

Reheat Pizza
Heat up leftover pizza in a nonstick skillet on top of the stove, set heat to med-low and heat till warm.
This keeps the crust crispy-no soggy micro pizza. I saw this on the cooking channel and it really works.

Easy Deviled Eggs
Put cooked egg yolks in a zip lock bag. Seal, mash till they are all broken up.
Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly, cut the tip of the baggy, squeeze mixture into egg.
Just throw bag away when done easy clean up.

Expanding Frosting
When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size.
You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Reheating refrigerated bread
To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in
a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food
moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper weeds away
Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers.
Put layers around the plants overlapping as you go. Cover with mulch, and for-
get about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic; they will not
get through wet newspapers.

Broken Glass
Use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can’t see easily.

No More Mosquitoes
Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away. (Harold has put this under the back of his cap (when mowing the lawn) for years, and it works–so he says.

Squirrel Away!
To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn’t hurt the plant and the squirrels won’t come near it. (Wonder if this works with rabbits? Sure gonna give it a try)

Flexible vacuum
To get something out of a heat register or under the fridge, add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and … TA DA! … Static is gone.

Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water.
Dump out the hot water, but don’t dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such
as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

Foggy Windshield?
Hate foggy windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car when the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than a cloth!

Reopening envelopes
If you seal an envelope and then realize you forgot to include something inside, just place your sealed envelope in the freezer for an hour or two. Viola! It unseals easily.

Conditioner
Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It’s cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It’s also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn’t like when you tried it in your hair.

Goodbye Fruit Flies
To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it ½” with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid; mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

Get Rid of Ants
Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it “home”, can’t digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don’t have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!
(This I will definitely try!!!)

INFO ABOUT CLOTHES DRYERS (I do this all the time)
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the filter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material. I’m sure you know what your dryer’s lint filter looks like. Well…the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn’t go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh and that’s what burns out the heating unit. You can’t SEE the film, but it’s there. It’s what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free. That nice fragrance too. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box…well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very longtime (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?! Learn something new every day! I certainly didn’t know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I’d share!

Note: I went to my dryer and tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water and a nylon brush and I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it, the water ran right thru the screen! There wasn’t any puddling at all! That repairman knew what he was talking about!

10/7/2011 7:08 PM ET
By Emily Brandon, U.S. News & World Report

• Before you decide to take this big step, take time to figure out the specifics: It can have a tremendous impact on the lifestyle that awaits.

The decision to retire can be sparked by a number of factors: reaching a specific age, hitting a savings goal or being laid off in a tumultuous job market. To support yourself without income from a job, you’ll have to make a series of choices about Social Security, health coverage and your investments. Here are 10 of the toughest decisions you will make before you retire.

1. When to retire. For some people, it’s a financial calculation. You know you’re financially ready when the combination of your Social Security, traditional pension and investment income produces enough cash flow to cover all of your anticipated expenses for the rest of your life.

“Working two or three more years can make an incredible difference to your long-term plan if you continue to save in your 401k or 403b and continue to pay into Social Security,” says Mary Alpers, a certified financial planner and the founder of Alpers and Associates in Colorado Springs, Colo.
But retirement also often involves an identity shift from your former job title to a free agent. Sometimes this decision is made for you because of a layoff or buyout. Many people also like to coordinate their retirement with that of a spouse.

2. When to claim Social Security. You can sign up for Social Security beginning at age 62, but payouts increase for each year you delay claiming until age 70. “Wait as long as you possibly can, because the additional percentages that are added on are enormous,” says Jane Nowak, a certified financial planner for Kring Financial Management in Smyrna, Ga. “Since we are living longer, you certainly want your paycheck from Social Security to be as fat as possible.”

3. Health coverage. It’s essential to find affordable health insurance if you want to retire before age 65. “If you are not entitled to retiree medical benefits or if they are deferred to a later date, make absolutely certain you have access to and can qualify for individual coverage,” says Robert Henderson, the president of Lansdowne Wealth Management in Mystic, Conn. “Also verify the costs. Health insurance can be prohibitively expensive in some cases.”

Even after you qualify for Medicare, the decisions don’t end. You have to choose whether to purchase a supplemental policy and shop around for the Medicare Part D plan that best meets your prescription drug needs each year in retirement.

4. How much you can safely spend each year. If your nest egg isn’t big enough to finance your retirement completely, you’ll need to calculate how much you can safely spend each year without depleting your savings too quickly.

“Three to 4% is my comfort zone, and I hope less,” says Alpers. An annual draw-down rate of 4% on an investment portfolio with 35% in U.S. stocks and 65% in corporate bonds has an 89% likelihood of lasting 35 years or more, according to Congressional Research Service estimates.

5. How much investment risk. Retirees need to balance their investment needs for safety and continued growth. “Hold as little equities and higher-risk assets as possible, while still enough to meet your long-term goals,” says Henderson. “Most retirees need no more than 50% to 60% in equity and equity-like investments.” You’ll also need an emergency fund and several years’ worth of living expenses set aside in a safe place.

“Always make sure that you have your first three to five years of withdrawals invested in very conservative investments. Good choices are CDs, money market accounts, short-term Treasurys or mutual funds that invest in them, and fixed immediate annuities,” says Henderson. “This way, regardless of what the stock market is doing today, you don’t have to worry about withdrawing assets that have dropped in value.”

6. When to pay taxes. After decades of deferring taxes on your retirement savings using 401k’s and traditional individual retirement accounts, the tax bill becomes due upon withdrawal in retirement. The timing of these withdrawals could affect how much you pay in taxes.

“Try to balance out your withdrawals from taxable and nontaxable accounts each year so you are not kicking yourself into a higher tax bracket at some point,” says Henderson. Taking a large IRA withdrawal in a single year could result in an oversized tax bill. Withdrawals from traditional retirement accounts become required after age 70 1/2.

7. Where to live. Once you are no longer tethered to a job, you can live anywhere that suits your tastes and budget. Moving to a place that costs less than where you live now can boost your standard of living and help stretch your nest egg. You could also test out a place with better weather or more opportunities for recreation, or move closer to family.

8. Whether your home should help finance retirement. A paid-off mortgage can help finance your retirement because it eliminates one of your biggest monthly expenses. In some cases, downsizing to a smaller home or moving to a place where the cost of living is lower can give a significant boost to your nest egg.

“Especially if you live on the East or West Coast, where housing can be extremely expensive, you may have an opportunity to downsize and realize quite a bit of the appreciation you had in your real estate,” says Henderson.

9. Whether to keep working. A part-time job is increasingly common in the retirement years. Many people downshift to a job with shorter hours and less responsibility before retiring completely, while others return to work after a break. Income from a part-time job can allow you to withdraw less of your retirement savings each year. Some people also find jobs they enjoy that allow them to interact with former colleagues, consult on the occasional project or learn a new skill.

10. What you will do. Retirement isn’t only about quitting your job. It’s an opportunity to have complete control over how you spend your time. Make sure you have a few ideas about how you will fill the eight or more hours per day you previously spent working and commuting. Some people miss the sense of purpose and friends that their jobs provided for them, while others finally have the time for hobbies and projects they have been waiting years to tackle.

1. Saving

No matter how much or how little you make, always pay yourself first.
• Stash some cash for an emergency (3-6 months living expenses)
• Retirement (10-20% of yearly gross)
• Automate, automate, automate

2. Spending

Know the difference between needs and wants. We have everything we need and most of what we want. Always ask “What do I want that for?”
• Research every major purchase and buy quality
• Do it yourself (car repair, hair cuts, sewing, cooking, home maintenance etc.)
• If your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep will be your downfall.
• Live within your means

3. Debt

Don’t pay interest on anything that loses value (i.e. credit cards, cars etc.)
• Real estate (your home) is good debt
• Education (your means to wealth and a good investment)
• Never co-sign a loan (putting your good credit in someone else’s hands is not wise—this rule includes family and friends)

4. Building Wealth

• If you need more money, go out and make more money.
• Own your own business (including the building it’s in)
• Don’t gamble more than you can afford to lose (Vegas and Wall Street!)

5. Keeping Wealth

Prince Charming isn’t coming! Anyone who’s expecting the lottery ticket, stock picker, inheritance or some other outside source to bail them out is living in a fantasy world. Wake up and take charge!

• To truly achieve financial security, your only protection is YOU. Make your financial decisions from a place of knowledge and not ignorance.

6. Giving

• Remember: Everything we have comes from God. Give as you have received and it will be given to you ten-fold. That’s a promise from God!