money| Boost your personal-finance IQ: Putnam Investments is offering a free, 15-question Internet quiz aimed at boosting money management and retirement planning skills. The service stems from “The Index of Financial Maturity,” a recent Putnam-commissioned study that determined most people fall into four financial categories: informed but cautious, skilled and confident, carefree and careless, or overwhelmed. Take the quiz at putnam.com/survey. |Elana Ashanti Jefferson
space & time| Bring “Law & Order” to clutter: Use TV time to organize. Here’s how: Pull out a drawer, then iet yourself up in front of the television. Dump out the drawer contents and sort into four groups: throw away, give away/sell, put elsewhere and put back. When the show is over, throw away the trash, put the give-away/sell items in a distribution box, put away whatever belongs elsewhere, and return your un-cluttered drawer to its original cabinet. |”Cleaning Plain & Simple,” by Donna Smallin
energy| Fix a house that runs hot and cold Temperature differences of up to 3 degrees from room to room are not uncommon, but often one room is uncomfortably warmer or colder than the rest. This could be caused by inadequate insulation, air leakage, poor duct system design, duct leakage, unwanted sun heating, or a heating/cooling system failure. While hiring a contractor who specializes in energy issues is one solution, others include: sealing window leaks and adding insulation; installing shades or solar screening; and using ceiling fans to make air circulation more uniform. |energystar.com
