Stacking Unlabeled Boxes In A Hot Damp Garage Can Ruin What Is Inside, So Know What Never To Store In A Garage Or Attic And How To Protect The Rest

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A stack of plastic storage crates sits beside tables in a dim room.

Walk into almost any American garage and you will find the same scene: a tower of cardboard boxes, a few of them labeled in faded marker, most of them not labeled at all. Nobody remembers what is inside, and nobody has opened them in years. Meanwhile the garage swings between sweltering afternoons and damp, chilly … Read more

Scammers Posing As The FTC Are Now Threatening To Deactivate Your Phone Number, Then Passing You To A Fake Cop Who Demands A Security Deposit

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A hand holds a smartphone with a marble case.

The phone rings, and the voice on the other end says they are from the Federal Trade Commission. They know your name. They read out a badge number. Then they say something that makes your stomach drop: a phone in your name is being used for scams overseas, and your number is about to be … Read more

Texas Wants To Stop Charging Sales Tax On Online Marketplace Seller Fees, But The Proposal Does Not Promise Refunds Of Tax Already Collected From Sellers

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A brown cardboard shipping box sits on a white table.

Imagine selling a few things online, watching the marketplace take its cut, and then finding out you were also being charged sales tax on the fees you paid. For many Texas sellers, that is exactly what has been happening, and now the state is moving to end it. But there is a catch that sellers … Read more

Saying Yes To Every Bag Of Hand Me Down Kids Clothes Fills Your House With Things You Never Use, So Here Are Polite Ways To Say No And Sort First

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A neat stack of folded shirts on a blue table.

A friend calls and says, “I have a few bags of clothes my kids outgrew. Do you want them?” It is a generous offer, and saying yes feels like the polite and thrifty thing to do. Kids grow fast, clothes cost money, and free is hard to turn down. But a few bags turn into … Read more

Keeping Every School Paper And Art Project Backfires Fast, So Try One Box Per Child And Photograph The Rest To Stop The Paper Avalanche

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A bulletin board covered in layers of paper.

It starts so innocently. Your child comes home with a painting still damp from the classroom, a spelling test with a gold star and a macaroni necklace that is shedding noodles on the kitchen floor. Of course you keep it. You tape it to the fridge, and then it moves to a drawer, and then … Read more

Boxes Of Holiday Decorations You Never Display Eat Up Storage Space And Money, So Keep A Favorites Only Bin And Donate The Rest Before Christmas

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A box filled with Christmas ornaments sitting on a table.

It happens every year. You haul the tree stand out of the garage, pull down the boxes from the attic, and find that half of what is inside never makes it onto a shelf. The tangled lights that only half work. The wreath that has lost its shine. The figurine you were given years ago … Read more

Piles Of Toys May Be Making Your Kids Play Less, So Try A Toy Rotation That Clears The Playroom Without Throwing Everything Out Of The House

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Colorful ceramic figurines displayed on wooden shelves.

The playroom floor looks like a toy store exploded. Blocks, puzzle pieces, dolls, trucks, stuffed animals and a lone shoe are all tangled together, and your child stands in the middle of it and announces, “I’m bored.” You have probably heard it a hundred times. It seems backwards, doesn’t it? With so many things to … Read more

Overpriced Kids Clothes And Toy Listings Just Sit Unsold, So Price Against Sold Listings, Bundle Items And Shoot Your Photos In Good Light

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A neat stack of folded shirts.

You spent a weekend sorting through outgrown clothes and toys, snapped a few quick photos, set a price and posted everything online. Then you waited. And waited. Days turn into weeks, and the listings just sit there while the pile in your garage stays exactly where it was. If this sounds familiar, the culprit is … Read more

Buying Closet Organizers Before You Declutter Just Gives Your Extra Stuff A Nicer Home, So Purge First, Measure Second And Buy Only What You Need

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A crowded closet full of clothes and household items.

There is a special kind of joy in a trip to the organizing aisle. Matching bins, stackable shelves, hanging organizers in neat rows. You picture your closet looking like a magazine photo. So you fill the cart, haul it all home and set it up, only to find that the closet is still crowded. It … Read more

Selling Or Handing Down An Old Phone Without Wiping It First Can Hand Strangers Your Photos And Accounts, So Sign Out, Factory Reset And Remove The SIM

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An older gold smartphone lying flat on a wooden table.

Maybe you got a shiny new phone for the holidays, or the grandkids need a hand-me-down tablet, or you spotted a decent price for your old device on a resale site. It feels harmless to toss the old one in a box and send it on its way. But that little gadget holds more of … Read more