The Thrifty Almanac — Budget home hacks and DIY pest control that actually work
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Bugs in your Christmas tree: what rides in on a live tree, and is any of it harmful?
What bugs ride in on a live Christmas tree, whether they are harmful, where the 25,000-bug claim came from, and why experts split on spraying the tree.
Shower drain clogged with hair? How to unclog it without chemicals, and what actually dissolves hair
Get hair out of a shower or tub drain: removing the stopper, barbed strips, plunging, what sources say about baking soda, and what hair-clog gels contain.
Mouse droppings vs rat droppings: how to tell them apart by size, shape and age
Tell mouse droppings from rat droppings by length and shape, Norway rat from roof rat, fresh pellets from old, plus the look-alikes and CDC cleanup rules.
Ice dams on the roof: do heat cables prevent them, and is raking snow worth it?
What roof heat cables really do about ice dams, what they cost to run, when a roof rake helps, and the attic fix that stops ice dams at the source.
Can you freeze butter? How long it keeps and how to thaw it for baking
How long butter keeps in the freezer, why brands quote 4 to 18 months, how to wrap it, and how to thaw it for pie crust or cookies.
Do mothballs keep mice away? What the label allows and what the fumes do
What agencies say about mothballs and mice, what the label allows, what the fumes do indoors, and how to clean up if you already used them.