Eco-friendly way of cleaning silver

A good start for my first week money-saving challenge: Cleaning Silver with Household Products

Silver is one of my favourite precious metals. I found it more elegant and fashionable than any other jewelries. Unfortunately it is more fragile than its fellow metals. Neglected silver jewelries can get tarnished and may even stain your clothes.

Tarnished silver jewellery before cleaning

There are many ways to get them shiny again. You can take them to a jewelry expert or look up for silverware cleaning and polishing creams in homeware stores and jewelry shops. Choosing the frugal way of cleaning silver jewelry will leave the money in your pocket. 
Why should you pay for it when you can achieve the goal with a simple, cheap and eco-friendly method?

Here it goes!

Accessories:

• A glass bowl or a dish
•  Aluminum foil
• Boiled water
• 2-3 tablespoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon salt (sea salt or iodized salt) 
 

Cleaning process
Cover the inner surface of the glass dish with the aluminum foil. Place the silver items into the dish then sprinkle the baking soda and the salt on them. Pour the boiled water on the sprinkled silver items. The items should be fully submerged in the solution. If you can smell the penetrating odour of the sulphur, then you will know that you are on the right way.

Depending on how badly the silver is tarnished the cleaning process should take between 20-50 minutes. My jewelleries were badly tarnished, so I left them for 50 minutes.

After the silver becomes brighter place them on a clean fabric. Don’t wait until they dry start scrubbing them with the clean, soft fabric or you may use a soft toothbrush as well.

This cleaning process can also be used for larger silver items like tableware, candle holders, jewellery, etc.

Voilá!

Silver jewellery after cleaning

Good to know!
For my experiment I used 925 sterling silver
If you have larger silver items I recommend you to use a larger bowl, because the reaction will only be successful if the silver gets in contact with the aluminum foil.
Don’t wear them while you are washing the dishes, having a bath, or getting in contact with mineral water.
Silver jewelries with stones should be handled with care. Use a waterproof plaster in order to protect the stones, then you may place them in the solution.
Never put your silver tablewares into the dishwasher.
If the water is warm the cleaning process will be faster.

Storing Silver
Store the silver in a well sealed box free of excess moisture and chemicals. Place moisture-absorbent near the silver wares, for instance silica gel packets. You can purchase it in most of the pharmacies.

Cleaning silver with baking soda instead of using industrial compounds is not just cheaper but eco-friendly as well. 
Plus, I’m sure all of you have the necessary accessories in your homes.
How about you? How do you clean your silverware? 

Let me know :)

Locksmiths - future profession?

Living the world of computer science and technology, sooner or later everything will be automated. While robots start to take over the production process, human power gets less important and by that the number of unemployed persons starts to increase. Why do I write about a perspiring blue-collar work, now? You might ask.

I do believe that locksmiths have high potential to become the profession of the future.

Now I can imagine the faces of my favourite readers, rolling their eyes and thinking: "Come on Sparrow! Locksmiths can be so pushy and annoying. No one likes them. Why should I become a locksmith?"

Annoying or respectable?

I know what you are talking about. I’m an internet geek. I’m surfing the net sixteen hours per day, mostly looking for new ideas and odd things to write about. I've visited tons of directories, online newspapers in which most of the entries were about handyman guys like locksmiths. It can become annoying when you type in a word like ‘key curriculum’ and the result page gets filled with locksmith entries with ‘key cutting services’. Even though it angers me, I must say these guys are doing a great job.

Why? The reason is obvious, because of the high competition. It’s a cruel world we’re living in. They are trying to overrun the competitors in order to remain on the market. They are willing to face everyday challenges with the high competition. Truly giving their best to advertise themselves even if they have to pass hundreds of captchas and wait until business directories or other advertising platforms grant them access. These people do care about their business. As a message for those enterprises who aren't willing to turn a few hours on finding (free) advertising platforms, no worries, you will do a favour for these little guys.

When and why do we need locksmiths?

Most of the times one hires a locksmith for two common reasons.

First when you lock yourself out from your house (like I did, in the middle of a cold winter) and no one’s home to open the door only your hungry dog is barking inside the house, disturbing your totally frustrated neighbours. After a couple of minutes you may realise that you have no choice, time to ask for a professional locksman to unlock your door.

            The second when you purchase a house and for security reasons you change the door lock. Additionally you may claim for a key cutting service as well.

These guys are really sweating to give their clients the best service possible. Most of them are accessible in twenty four hours a day. You might think - "So what? . . . I’m a waiter/waitress working in 24/7." Yes you may be right, but imagine these guys are working in the security field, if they go wrong, you might become a victim of a robbery. Each one of us needs security, this isn't a desire it’s a necessity, so show them some respect.

Where and how to find a job as a locksmith?

Most of the handyman companies offer courses for locksmith-to-be’s. All you have to do is to find a reliable locksmith company. Sounds easy enough?

I know your time is precious so I will write down some hints just to save your time and energy.

Media

Dare to attend locksmith courses. Look up in your local newspaper for advertisements. If you are impatient you can also add an advertisement where you mention that you are looking for a locksmith job or you would like to join the upcoming courses.

Internet

Post your CV on job portals. Visit some of your local business directories in order to look up for possible hiring companies. Most of them are advertising their vacant jobs on business directories as well. For instance you could look up in this Job Portal.

 Drink a coffee with your friends

You would be surprised how many job seekers find a job with the help of  a few whispered words:  "I think i saw a job advertisement that you might be interested in . . . "

This is the profession that was and will remain vital in the era of information technology.

There will always be a need of locksmith jobs, because there are things that cannot be automated. You may acquire a Japanese housemaid robot to open the door if you locked yourself out, but this presumption is highly unlikely. Or do you have one already?

I hope you will have more luck than these guys . . . :)

Image Source Weblearn

Need a job? Clean up your social media profile!

Infographic 

Employers say they don’t care what you do online . . . you shouldn't believe them regarding this matter. They are looking. In the past few years social media has become a powerful tool in the hands of employers. Nowadays employers use social media to meet their prospective employees before interviewing them.

Why do employers choose social media as an information source?

Companies have long used screening methods, searches on the internet to probe the previous lives of prospective employees.
In the infographic below I’m visualizing some of the facts that made companies believe internet is a great source of information. Because it gives access to information that mostly cannot be revealed on traditional interviews.
Each day Facebook users from the United Kingdom spend 26m 27s online on the social network.
24% of Americans and 28% of Brits admitted to lying or exaggerating on a social network about what they had done and/or who they had met.
How many employers use social media and what they want to find out?

Employers want to make sure that the person they're going to hire is representing their organisation to the best. According to Careerbuilder, a study made in 2009, shows that 45% of the employers were using social media sites to screen potential hires.
86% of the employers say that candidates should make their profiles more employer-friendly

3 key information what employers want to find out from prospective employees

Is the candidate comprehensively developed?
Will the candidate fit into the company's culture?
Which are the candidate’s professional skills

6 things employers surely don’t want to see

Bad mouthing about previous employer or acquaintance
References to drugs
Online evidence of racist remarks
Flagrant displays of weapons or bombs
Clearly identifiable violent activity
Sexually explicit photos, text messages or videos

Summary

Don't let your social media profile to be used you. Be careful what you post or share. Messy social media profiles can badly hurt your reputation. Make your profile employer-friendly before sending out your resume to your future employer.

 

Sources:

http://goo.gl/GEfvh
http://www.careerbuilder.com
http://www.vault.com
http://searchenginewatch.com
http://goo.gl/K9yNo
http://www.mediabistro.com/alltwitter/world-map-of-social-media-june-2012_b23912

Saving money by earning it!

We are living in a world where luxury is part of our lives, even though we don’t want to take notice of it. We tend to spend money injudiciously on every item which catches our attention. Women are considered to be the spendthrifts. Well, that doesn’t surprise me! The biggest part of the market is focused on them. Seven out of ten ads are about cosmetics, designer clothes, hygienic stuffs, fancy seasonal shoes, perfumes, housewares stuffs and so on. They are trying to convince you to buy them or else you will become ugly by the age of 25, miserable, fat and everything bad you can imagine. The supply is so superabundant and overwhelming that is hard to resist. Persons who aren’t limited financially tend to purchase items they will never wear or use. Be it a fancy watch, designer clothes or accessories, it doesn’t matter if other fifteen are awaiting in the drawer one feels the need of obtaining it and there is no way back. Probably these will not serve any purpose, but that’s not the point, is it?


If you choose this lifestyle, be prepared to pay its price. Monthly bills with their sharp dragon-like teeth can shake us from Cinderella's dreams to face the costs of everyday luxury.

I’m not saying you should not purchase. What I’m saying is live and purchase in a wise way. :)
Don’t be a puppet in the marketers’ hands. You can make a difference!

Thanks, but how?

I’ve always been a frugal person. Don’t get me wrong I’m not a penny-pincher, but a generous person (as my friends say :). I’m just trying to live wisely without spending money on unnecessary things. As a practical person I do believe that reusing your things instead of throwing it out is a wise way of saving money. In the following I will share some money saving tips with you, but let’s see where did it all started.

Back in the days . . .

As a child, I was raised to be careful with money, not to spend it on unnecessary things. Very soon I realised, buying the 19th doll won’t stop me begging for the 20th. Playing with an expensive 30£ plasticine won’t help me socialise with my classmates. Wearing a pink, cotton candy dress on my schoolmates’ birthday won't fulfill my wishes in becoming the fairy of the party. I had to wake up! Having lots of expensive clothes and toys won’t make me become popular and have more friends. After a while I gave up asking for them, just to realise that playing hangman in the sand can be a lot more fun. After all, money is hard to earn and should be handled with care.

In those days earning pocket money was a sweaty job. Several pocket money factors were taken into consideration by my parents. Cleaning my room and taking out the trash was just the start. After becoming tall enough to reach the sink, it was my job to wash the dishes. Planting flowers and keeping our garden clean wasn’t among my favourite jobs. But I always felt that I actually did something beneficial and deserved every penny. 
Back then I didn’t realise that my mother was teaching me to appreciate every penny that I earned with ‘hard work’. I’m quite grateful for my mother.

What’s next?

In thirty days my husband and I are going on a two-week holiday. Lately some pleasant family events have strained our purse. Renting a new apartment, joining a close friend’s wedding and two more wedding invitations, all these has taken out a few pounds from our family pocket. As a consequence, I decided to save some money.

I’m not complaining, really! I have a great job with amazing people around me and even my yearly earning is quite satisfying. But I do think nowadays without a great financial plan one doesn’t have many chances of saving. You never know what the future holds. Money can help you feel safer regarding the future. So don’t go with the flow. Make a difference. Make a great money saving strategy and stick to it.

Let’s save money for the sake of saving

Lately I read a great blog post about 30 day challenges written by Matt Cutts, in a nutshell it’s about trying something out for 30 days and if you like it then turn it into a habit. This blog inspired me to do something that serves my wallet and mother earth as well. Saving energy and water can leave more money in my pocket. So starting a visible money saving trial sounds great fun to me.

My experiment will be about saving money for the upcoming 4 weeks. But I’m telling you now, this will not end here. I have a few more ideas that I’m planning to share with you in the near future.

In the following four weeks I will switch myself on water and energy-saving mode. I will keep you updated about my success and failures (hopefully won’t be too much) and what I learned from them.

Coming soon . . .

Pool tester

Probably a Dream job: Pool tester

Previously I’ve written about my hair getting a grass green colour after swimming in the pool's water. Being optimistic and believing that every bad situation has to have some kind of benefit as well, I tried to think about the advantage I can get from that situation. Soon the question arose in me: what if the swimming facility would have had an employee to test the pool’s water? Preferably one with dyed-blonde hair :) Probably this situation wouldn’t occur.

So I rubbed my lamp for the genie (idea) to come out.

‘One pool tester job coming up!’

Wouldn’t be nice to have job opportunities as a pool tester? I’m not sure if there are already, but as the aforementioned story shows, it would be highly efficient to establish one. It would be wise if the local health department would hire a person whose task would be to test every swimming facility for its water quality as well as the pool’s condition. An important task would be to rate them just like the hotels are rated. I don’t know if they already have this kind of job or someone’s just walking around the pool dipping a piece of paper strip in the water and waiting the chemical reaction to happen. I think this cannot be compared with jumping in the water and paddle for an hour.

Daredevil wanted

I imagine an impartial daredevil whose task would be to travel around the country and try each and every public pool, be it at a hotel, olympic pool, spa resort or at a waterpark. I mean people should know what they are paying for while they are using the services provided by a swimming facility. By hiring this kind of person we could prevent such unpleasant surprises to happen. I bet there are persons ‘fearless enough’ to enter the water and spend some pleasant time in the pool and for that to receive a salary as well. The whole essence would be to rate the pool then bring it out to the public. Just like a food critic, but this person should be called a Pool Critic. 

Critic :)

Of course, it would be efficient if the pool tester would be scientifically minded and familiar with certain chemicals.

Pools can be an important part of a family holiday or even for sport loving persons. I think many people would love to read some real survey or review about the quality, condition of the pools they are choosing.


Lately I ran into a job ad, saying that water slide and pool testers are wanted. In January 2013 The First Choice travel agency was looking for someone to test their water slides and pools. 

The contract was for six months when the chosen one had to fly around the travel agency’s resorts to test their pools, water slides and rate them. The payment was around $15.000 and at the end of this exhausting job he got a seven night all inclusive holiday for two. Of course I don’t have to mention that there were thousand of candidates for the job, but only one could be the winner. 

Sound good enough?