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Does your fridge feel like a disaster zone whenever you open it? Does it have a lingering odor with a source you can’t quite find? Below are a handful of hacks to keep your fridge fresh and organized.

Build a basket system. Just like a well-organized closet, your fridge should have a place for everything. While you may be skilled at stashing your produce in the produce drawers, grab plastic baskets and use them for separating your leftovers, dry goods, liquids, condiments, animal products and more. Pro tip: Place items that need to be used fast in a basket, so you always know what edibles you should prioritize consuming or tossing.

Take inventory with dry erase. Did you know the front of many fridges work like dry-erase boards? Here you can take inventory of your items, so you never run out of milk again.

Line the shelves. Grab plastic mats and line your shelves with them. These mats are easier to slip out and wash than our fridge shelves. Pro tip: Instead of mats, use plastic wrap. Once every other week, remove the wrap and re-apply.

Utilize Lazy Susans. Grab a few plastic Lazy Susans and store things like condiments, leftovers or liquids on them for easy access.

Keep animal products low. Items like meat and dairy tend to drip and spoil faster. Store them low so unwanted spills don’t impact items below them.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

Life can feel overwhelming. Work, traffic, family responsibilities and chores can cause you to feel understandably frazzled. While stress is unavoidable, there are simple things you can do to make it more manageable.

Change Your Mindset
When you’re rushing from one task to another, you may not pay attention to what’s going on around you. Take some time to breathe in fresh air, savor your food and live in the moment.

When life feels overwhelming, friends and family can be lifesavers. Reach out to your loved ones to talk about what’s troubling you. They might be able to help you see things from a different perspective or suggest a solution. If not, they can at least allow you to vent. Sometimes that’s all it takes to feel better.

Meditation or deep breathing can help you take a break from your thoughts and to-do lists. Taking some time to relax, even for five minutes a day, can make it easier to cope when life gets hectic.

Some people say laughter is the best medicine. A good laugh can instantly reduce stress and improve your mood. Take some time to watch a funny movie.

Music can reduce anxiety and lower your heart rate and blood pressure. Listen to soothing music while you take some time to relax. If you like to sing, feel free to belt out the words. That will reduce your stress even further.

When you’re feeling pulled in several directions, it can be hard to appreciate the good things in your life. Keep a journal where you write down things you’re grateful for so that when it feels like everything is going wrong, you can look at the list and be reminded of all the things that are right in your life.

You can easily feel overwhelmed if you try to do too much all at once. Figure out what needs to be done on a given day and which things are less important. Do what you can, and dont beat yourself up if you dont get to everything on your list. Tomorrow is another day.

Take Care of Your Body
Eating a healthy diet can give your body the nutrients it needs to be at the top of your game. Proper nutrition can give you more energy, reduce stress and help you avoid a host of physical problems.

Exercise has been proven to reduce stress and anxiety. Even a walk around the block can be enough to have an effect. As you see how exercise improves your mood and helps you manage stress, you may find yourself looking forward to it and decide to push yourself harder.

Ways to Cope
Dealing with stress is an unavoidable part of life, but there are plenty of ways that you can keep it from getting to you. Taking care of yourself and setting aside time to relax can help you get through the ups and downs of life.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

Unable to get a credit card? If so, it may be harder for you to build a good credit rating, making everyday life tasks like making a hotel, plane or car reservation a little more difficult. The same goes for loan approvals.

A secured card can help those who dont qualify for a regular credit card to establish or repair a poor credit history. But what is a secured credit card and how do you get one?

You’ll Need a Deposit
These cards use your cash as a deposit for your spending funds, unlike regular credit cards which don’t require collateral.

For example, if you put $1,000 in the account, you can charge up to $1,000 with the secured credit card. You wont be able to charge more than that unless the bank extends your credit limit because you made timely payments or you add more money to the account. The deposit is taken by the lender if you dont pay your credit card bill on time.

Where to Get One
Banks offer secured credit cards, though you might have more luck getting one from a small bank or as a member of a credit union. The annual fees may be waived and interest rates should be lower at a credit union.

Some issuers may only give secured cards to people who are new to credit.

Look Out for Fees
Be sure to shop around for a secured credit card. Dont apply for one that charges an application fee”there are plenty of options that don’t include this fee.

Most secured cards charge an annual fee. Read the contract carefully and look for other fees so that you know how to avoid them.

How to Best Use Them
The main benefit? You can build up your credit score. Although some choose this option to avoid carrying around a lot of cash.

To improve your credit score with a secured card, pay off the card every month. The card wont allow you to spend more than your deposit, but it wont stop you from making late payments. Set up automatic payments, if necessary, and only keep a secured card for as long as you need it to build your credit. Why? Because they have higher annual fees and interest rates than regular, unsecured cards.

You dont want to dig a bigger financial hole for yourself by paying more in interest and fees with a secured card. The point is to improve your credit, so try to keep that as your end goal.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

For many of us, moms use-it-up, make-it-last, wear-it-out mantra was our introduction to thriftiness”a traditional value that has largely been kicked to the curb due to a more materialistic lifestyle.

But the truth is, most of our common throwaway items have not yet reached their full potential. Here are a few smart re-uses that will help keep junk out of landfills and make our life a little easier:

Banana peel as silver polish. Run the peel through the blender with enough water to make a paste. This makes a great silver polish when applied with a washcloth and rinsed off with water.

Citrus peels as freshener. Burnt smell in the oven? Freshen the air by baking a few orange peels for a few minutes at 350 degrees. Or throw a few peels in a jar with some white vinegar. In a day or two, youll have a great-smelling and effective all-purpose cleaner. Lastly, lemon peels that are run through the garbage disposal not only neutralize odors but clear out any greasy build-up.

Ketchup bottle as bakers aid. Clean out that empty ketchup bottle with a plastic squeeze tip and use it as a frosting dispenser. Its a great way to decorate a cake and a lot more stable to use than cutting a corner off a plastic bag.

Toothbrush as kitchen helper. Disinfect an old toothbrush by running it through the dishwasher and use it to remove those pesky silk strings from ears of corn. You can also use it to clean the grout in your kitchen or the dirt from any other hard-to-reach places.

Drycleaners bags for storage. Those big plastic bags over your dry-cleaned clothes are great for covering sweaters, blankets and comforters before you stow them away in the summer.

Cooking water for plants. Hard-boiled eggs and steamed vegetables leave nutrients in the water you use to cook them. Use the water for your indoor and outdoor plants”they will love it.

Aluminum foil as a pot scrubber. Crumple up that fairly clean, used sheet of foil and use it to scrub the stubborn food residue from pots and pans.

Published with permission from RISMedia.

If your partner brings poor credit to the relationship, it can be an issue you should probably fix together.

A spouses poor credit score wont hurt yours, and credit reports for both people dont merge when they get married, but continued poor credit habits by a partner can affect each persons credit score if they have joint accounts together, such as a shared credit card.

Here are some ways to help your partner improve their credit score without jeopardizing yours:

Check Credit Reports
You first need to know how big the problem is before you can fix it. Start by helping your partner pull their credit report, check for errors and report them so they can be fixed.

Youre entitled to a free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each of the three credit reporting companies. Free reports can be ordered at annualcreditreport.com or you can call 1-877-322-8228. Your name, address, Social Security number and date of birth will be needed to verify your identity.

Tackle Debt
Paying off student loans, credit cards and other forms of debt can improve a credit score, especially if your partner has made late payments in the past. Paying bills on time is one of the best ways to improve a credit score.

Create a family budget and look for ways that both of you can cut expenses. Reducing debt and not taking on more can give your financial lives some breathing room and will ultimately make it easier to buy a home or meet other financial goals together.

Get a Secured Credit Card
For someone with middling credit, a secured credit card can help them improve their credit score without going into debt.

Secured credit cards only allow the user to spend as much money as they deposit in the account. The cardholder puts down a deposit thats usually as big as the credit limit. If they default on payments, the bank keeps their deposit.

Like a regular credit card, payment activity on secured credit cards is reported to the credit bureaus. A consistent payment history will steadily improve a credit score.

Share Credit
There are a few ways to add your spouse to your credit card without hurting your credit score.

One is to apply for a credit card together. The card issuer will review both of your credit histories. Each person will be required to have their own income, so dont expect a large income from one person to be enough for approval.

Another option is to add your spouse as an authorized user on a credit card you already have. Then, the accounts history will appear on your spouses credit report, so make sure the card you have has a good credit history.

Whichever way you share credit, discuss with your partner how theyll use the card, payment limits and payment habits so that problems dont crop up.

Published with permission from RISMedia.