Do you love a cup of delicious black tea? Don't toss the used tea bags when you're done. There are myriad uses for the natural powers of tea in your kitchen. The tannins from tea can help degrease and deodorize where you need it most. If you have a stubborn baked-on mess in your casserole dish, soak it overnight in water with some old tea bags; the tannins help break down the greasy mess. And does your fridge smell? Place tea bags in a cup in the back of the fridge. They'll absorb odors and help leave a fresh, clean smell.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

If you're having a party for a large group and you rent glassware, dishes and flatware from a rental company, it may seem rude to send them back dirty, but it isn't. The reality is, even if you do a thorough job in washing your rentals, the companies are required to use a commercial-grade dishwasher to fully clean and sanitize them before they go out to another party. So the company is prepared to clean items anyway. On a related note, if you have a sink full of dishes from a party, use the dishwasher. A loaded automatic dishwasher is much more water- and energy-efficient than washing by hand.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Is your mailbox inundated with catalogs? You're not the only one to notice that companies are sending more paper catalogs in the mail to potential customers. If you want to remove yourself from these lists, there's a free option that takes seconds to complete online. The nonprofit website CatalogChoice.org lets you simply search for a catalog and unsubscribe yourself from their mailing list. Unlike other services that charge a small fee to do this for you, CatalogChoice is completely free. You can even remove previous tenants if you're getting their catalogs in the mail.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION