DIY Life

If you want to take control of your personal financial situation, you probably set some of your New Year's resolutions to the tune of 1) saving more money, 2) investing more wisely or 3) creating a household budget that tracks every penny in and out of your household. After taking a survey of some relatives this past Christmas, I was amazed to find that many consider balancing their checkbook to be keeping up with a 'budget.' Wrong, oh so wrong.

If you really have the will to take control of your finances, and have written your financial resolutions down somewhere, how are you going to start? How are you going to measure success? What will be your milestones, and will they happen every month or quarter? Things like these are requirements for succeeding in being rich over time.

Your PDA's swaddled in suede, your cell's clad in couture and your laptop's loving its sleek new custom case. Meanwhile, those are mere decorations and only protect you from scratches -- how do you protect your gadgets from water?

Ever dropped your gadget in a puddle, had your toddler pour coffee on your laptop (ah, the perils of a working parent), or worse ... you leaned over to flush the toilet only to have your cell phone slide out of your pocket and right into the bowl? Usually it means that you have to replace your gadget ... but sometimes if you act fast, you can save yourself from another expensive purchase.

Follow these steps to avoid a trip to the gadget graveyard.

Step 1: Turn off your gadget and immediately remove the battery -- no matter what you do -- DO NOT TURN IT BACK ON. If you dropped your phone and it has a SIM card, remove that too. Some or all of your valuable contacts (along with other data) could be stored on it. To some people this could be more important than the phone itself.

Step 2: Dry it off as much as you possibly can. Even take a Q-tip and get into the cracks and crevices. You can never be too thorough.

Step 3: Put the gadget and battery in a dry, warm spot and wait. Don't try putting the battery back in to see if it works as this would risk damaging the phone with a short circuit. Remember: Water and electricity don't mix ... don't let your short patience get the best of you. You will have to wait this one out and your best bet is to let it dry for two to three days and not a minute less!

Step 4: Put your batteries back in and cross your fingers. With a little luck, your gadget will be back in working order. Note: This can work for your kids' electronic toys too.

Tip: If something other than water (like coffee or soda) was the culprit, you may need to add another step ... after drying you will want to take your Q-tip and clean the gadget with alcohol (use sparingly) and then dry again. Unfortunately, liquids other than water will corrode the inside parts and the longer it dries without being cleaned out, the more concentrated the substance will become.

Household hacks are those creations and repairs which are accomplished without the use of instructions, diagrams, marked pieces and often without tools. Household hacks are the duct tape and hanger wire solutions which you've employed to solve a situation without making a trip to the hardware store. Most often, household hacks are not in any way meant to be a permanent repair but they are the kind of things which can satisfactorily carry you through to the next time you get to Home Depot. Household hacks can also be the sort of jimmy-rig repair which will get you home on time from a camping trip or will hold your lawnmower together long enough to finish the job.

Household hackers are the kind of individuals that discovered you can make a really cool looking flowerbed with a tipped over wheelbarrow and a pile of dirt. Household hackers are those ladies and gentlemen that have sixty three odd cookie tins and coffee cans full of cast-off parts on two dozen shelves in the back of the garage. Household hackers pay fewer car repair bills, make fewer trips to the hardware store and have generally more fulfilling lives because they are of the mindset, "there must be a way to do this". Household hackers are the kind of people who built America from the ground up.

Please feel free to join in and add your most ingenious household hack stories to the comments. We want to know about the ways you have found to keep the check out kid at True Value bored. We're not suggesting that anyone should try something dangerous like towing a dump truck with parachute cord, but if you found a safe way to accomplish a task or repair by using unexpected solutions you had on hand, we're just dying to hear about it!