We know the benefits of having live houseplants in the home: They help absorb toxins and release fresh oxygen back into the air. But for many of us, houseplants can be hard to maintain or keep alive. Though magazine spreads often depict houseplants looking great on top of bookshelves or in guest bedrooms, these typically are less accessible areas in easily forgotten rooms. One tip is to keep your plants in areas that are commonly used and provide easy access to water: bathrooms and the kitchen are good places. The residual steam from a shower can even help water plants.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

A slow computer is not always the result of viruses or lack of memory on the hard drive. Sometimes, it can be a surge protector that the computer and all of the additional computer accessories are plugged into. Surge protectors are necessary to help prevent damaging electrical surges to your computer, but they, too, can wear out in about three years. To test if your surge protector is the reason for the slowdown, simply swap it out with a different one and run your computer.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Even with our digital devices, many of us still have a box with handwritten recipe cards we keep in the kitchen and pull out when it’s time to bake Grandma’s famous chocolate chip cookies. But paper cards can disintegrate over time, so if you want to protect them from splatters and spills without using non-eco-friendly lamination, try hairspray. Just spray a light coating of hair spray on the cards and let them dry. It’ll give a protective coating that will help prevent grease, water or any food stains from destroying the cards.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION