7
Teach the Leash
pets Think you have a headstrong dog when you’re
out for a walk? Most dogs are like that. “Dogs have an
opposition reflex. You pull back; they pull forward,”
says Russell Hartstein, a certified dog behaviorist and
trainer. The way to train your pet to go with your flow
is to start by taking him or her on a distraction-free
walk. The best place to do that: inside your house.
“After your dog has successfully walked next to you
on the leash in your home, advance to the backyard,
then a few houses down, and so on,” Hartstein says.8
Get a Key Chain
Remote for
Your Garage
auto A thief who breaks
into your car can grab the
remote for easy access to
your garage. This isn’t a
problem only when you’re
parked in the driveway;
the registration card in
your glove box gives away
your address. So get rid
of the remote on your visor
and buy a key chain re-
mote, which you can easily
take with you every time
you leave the car. You’ll
find universal remotes
online from about $20.9
Get a Tax Break
When You
Volunteer
money Volunteering is
its own reward, of course,
but it can also help on
your tax returns. The cost
of transportation to your
volunteer location is tax
deductible—you can use
the standard 14 cents
per mile. Out-of-pocket
costs are deductible too.
Just be sure to keep
accurate records.6
Preserve Your
Laptop’s Battery
technology It sounds
counterintuitive, but
unplugging your laptop
can help save its battery.
The capacity of the lithium
ion batteries most laptops
use diminishes slightly
with each charging cycle,
so keeping it plugged inwhen you don’t need to
degrades its capacity
more quickly. Aim to keep
the charge between 50
and 80 percent. A good
strategy? Plug your lap-
top in first thing in the
morning, recommends
Tim Katsch, former vice
president of iDropped.
Once it’s charged, unplug
it for the rest of the day.
The same applies to your
smartphone battery.Reader’s Digest We Found a Fix
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