More than 50% of supermarket purchases are “impulse buys”. You may not have known that, but the supermarkets do. And they’ve built their stores accordingly. A fool and his grocery cart are soon filled to the brim.

In this 6-minute video from NBC’s The Today Show, you’ll learn how supermarkets use everything from packaging to placement so that customers spend more of their money with each store visit.

Among the supermarkets’ tricks:

• Placing flowers and bakery at the front of the store to “make you salivate”
• Specific “deal wording” (e.g. Buy 5 for $5.00) meant to entice larger purchases
• Placing staples on top and bottom shelves, leaving middle shelves for impulse products

The piece also recommends shopping a supermarket in a clockwise-fashion. It helps you spend less time in the store.

We’re all mindful of our household budgets. Watch this video to save more money on your next trip for groceries.

There’s plenty of reasons to want to change a showerhead in your head. Perhaps you’re trying to fix a leak in the faucet; or, remodeling your bathroom; or, trying to conserve water via a low-flow showerhead.

Whatever the reason, changing a showerhead can be a basic do-it-yourself project. The tools aren’t complicated and the job is a quick one.

In this 2-minute video from AOL, you’ll learn:

• What tools you’ll need to change the showerhead
• How to remove your old showerhead
• How to firmly attach your new showerhead to prevent leaks

If you get stuck, or just want to outsource, call a professional handyman to finish the job. Changing a showerhead should take less than a hour to complete.

It doesn’t take much effort to stand over a pot and “stir continuously”, as called for in some recipes. It can be tedious, though, and once a chef stops stirring or leaves a pot unattended, the recipe is sure to ruin.

Enter the automatic stirrer.

With its self-adjusting, self-centering blades, the Ardenté Gourmet Stirrer latches on to the side of most kitchen bowls, and does that stirring for you. The machine’s constant blade-turning protects your milk-based recipes from burning; your sauce-based recipes from charring; and your temperate-sensitive sugars from caramelizing.

While it does its job, you’re freed up to tend to other tasks in the kitchen, or to spend time with family around the house.

It protects your pots from scorching, too.

The Ardenté Gourmet Stirrer runs on 4 C batteries and can be run continuously, or intermittently. Its blades run at different heights to promote consistency, and are dishwasher-safe for easy clean-up.

You can buy the automatic stirrer in white or black on Ardenté’s website, or on Amazon. It retails for $59.95.

Want to replace your kitchen faucet? It’s a job for which you could hire a plumber, or, with just a little bit of craftsman skill, it’s a project you could finish yourself.

Watch this video from the Lowe’s YouTube channel. You’ll get step-by-step instruction on how to take out an old faucet and how to install a new one. The supplies you’ll need are minimal, too.

In 3 minutes, the video covers:

• How to shut the kitchen water supply off and drain residual water from the pipes
• How to detach and remove the old kitchen faucet
• How to align the new faucet and reconnect to the water lines

There’s some good tips along the way, too, including how to make sure you don’t accidentally connect the hot water supply to the cold-water faucet.

If you’re uncomfortable working with your home’s plumbing and would like a referral to a plumber near Huntingdon Valley , please just ask. I’m happy to help how I can.

Related articles

• How to Fix an Outside Faucet (brighthub.com)
• Quick Fix: When the Lever on the Faucet Breaks (apartmenttherapy.com)
• Tips on installing a soap dispenser in a sink (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Home remodeling is back in vogue.

With contractors dropping prices in most U.S. markets, and a resurgence in confidence among homeowners, home remodeling projects are expected to top $125 billion this quarter.

Not all renovations will be “worth it”, according to Remodeling Magazine’s 2011 Cost vs Value report, but some projects should never be started — especially when said projects render a home somewhat un-sellable.

For example, if installing a new toilet requires that the discharge pipes run along the living room ceiling, the project should be re-engineered, or skipped entirely.

A recent renovation article on CNNMoney.com listed several others “never do” projects.

• Don’t add a 4th/5th bedroom to a home with just one bathroom.
• Don’t build a bedroom with no closet space.
• Don’t make common rooms disproportionately large or small to one another.

And, for all projects, no matter what the details, try to keep the home’s traffic flow intact. Nobody likes to walk through bedrooms to get from the kitchen to the living room.

Home remodeling can be a less expensive alternative to moving, and can improve a property’s resale value. But keep in mind — just because a project is featured on HGTV, for example, that doesn’t make it a Do-It-Yourself. Some projects can be handled on your own, but most should not.

With the help of a professional, you’ll be sure the job is done properly.

If you need the name of a local contractor or specialist, please reach out anytime. I am happy to help you with a referral.

The 2010-2011 Flu Season has started and the Center for Disease Control expects that the H1N1 influenza virus (i.e “Swine Flu“) will play a large role in Palmyra and worldwide, as in 2009-2010. Last year, the virus reached pandemic status — the first time that’s happened in 40 years.

In public places, avoiding “germy” places can be difficult. But within your home, you can easily create germ-free spaces.  This 4-minute interview from NBC’s The Today Show teaches about the flu virus, and how to protect yourself.

A few of the cleanliness tips shared include:

• Flu virus can live for up to 8 hours on a household surface
• Computer keyboards carry 400 times more bacteria than a toilet seat
• Make sure your cleaning tools (i.e. sponges, mops) are, themselves, clean

The video also shares tips for keeping a cleaner, safer home, plus facts on the influenza virus.

Stay clean, stay healthy, and consider vaccinations. The flu virus hospitalizes 200,000 people each year.

According to the United States Fire Administration, in 2008, there were an estimated 378,200 in-home fires. Combined, these fires caused $8 billion in property damage and killed 2,600 people.

Unfortunately, many of affected homes did have smoke detectors installed, but the devices were faulty either because of dead batteries, or because the smoke detector had reached the end of its useful life.

This is why it’s so important to test your home’s smoke detectors at least once annually.

Here’s how to test a smoke detector:

1. Ask a family member or friend to walk to the farthest point of the home from the detector.
2. Push and hold the testing button to activate the alarm. Usually, this takes 5 seconds.
3. Confirm with the family member or friend that the alarm was audible from his/her location.

And there’s an additional step worth taking.

Just because the smoke detector’s alarm works doesn’t mean that the actual smoke detector works. For less than $15, therefore, you may want to buy a “smoke test” from Amazon to confirm whether your detector is faulty. The smoke test simulates a real fire so, if the detector fails to sound when it’s tested, it’s time to replace the entire smoke detector unit.

If you’re making a resolution for the new year, safety for the home should be among them. You never go wrong placing your family first.

Preventative care will minimize your home repair costs and, at this time of year, it’s a good idea to sweep your home’s exterior for sign of air leaks and drafts around windows.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, drafty windows can account for 30% of a home’s heat loss in winter so it’s best to find them, and seal them.

In this 4-minute video from the DIY Network, you’ll learn how to identify your home’s leaky windows, and how to seal them with caulk. The job requires a little bit of elbow grease, but it’s manageable for even the notice handyman.

Some of the tips include:

• How to use a lit candle to find windows that leak air
• How to remove existing caulk using caulk softener
• How to “push the bead” of caulk for proper application

The video concludes with a brief tutorial on setting your home’s programmable thermostat so, when taken with the window caulking exercise, homeowners in Philadelphia could stand to save a bundle on their winter heating bills.

Christmas is more than a religous holiday – its a season that reminds us of family, and childhood, and giving – and this cartoon from 1953 is a simple and pleasant childhood experience rom a quieter and simpler era.

So if you’re spending some time on the computer today, take a minute to relive a childhood memory, or perhaps create one by sharing this with a child in your family.

But whatever you do, accept our thanks for reading and being part of our community – and allowing us to be part of yours.

BusinessWeek recently released its America’s Best Place to Raise a Family list. Chicago suburb Tinley Park, Illinois, topped the list.

2010 marks the second straight year that a Chicago suburb took top honors. Last year’s winner was Mount Prospect, Illinois.

The BusinessWeek survey uses data from Onboard Informatics, compiling statistics in areas including education, crime, and access to parks, jobs and affordable homes.  Selections are limited to towns with 45,000 residents or fewer, and a median income of between $40,000 and $125,000.

One winner and 2 runner-ups are named for each state; the 10 most populous of which are listed below:

1. California : Arcadia (Monterey Park, Diamond Bar)
2. Texas : San Marcos (San Antonio, Houston)
3. New York : Tonawanda (Irondequoit, Cheektowaga)
4. Florida : Pembroke Pines (Sunrise, Tamarac)
5. Illinois : Tinley Park (Arlington Heights, Schaumburg)
6. Pennsylvania : Scranton (Erie, Allentown)
7. Ohio : Lakewood (Parma, Strongsville)
8. Michigan : Ann Arbor (Royal Oak, Portage)
9. Georgia : Warner Robins (Valdosta, Roswell)
10. North Carolina : Chapel Hill (Cary, Jacksonville)

Rankings like this BusinessWeek report can be useful for home buyers, but like all of real estate, it’s important to remember that statistics don’t apply to all parts of town equally. Some parts will have better schools, or better crime prevention, or more amenities.

Therefore, before you make a buying decision, talk with a real estate agent who has local market knowledge. It’s the most reliable way to get data that matters.