Healthy elves love vitamins. Use a vitamin caddy with a slot for every day. Load Sunday night and stow those bottles out of sight! Healthy and tidy!

When you come home from work, keep everything (phone, keys, wallet) in the same spot everyday (shelf, bin) - it cuts morning stress!

Santa Spotlight: PROGRAMMABLE THERMOSTATS! Slash your power bill (and carbon dioxide) by auto-adjusting your workshop’s temperature to your schedule!

When cleaning your sleigh, be sure to wipe down the steering wheel (the germ capital of your car) with disinfectant!

Creative gift idea: IOUs! Take over a chore for a loved one for a year...and stick to it! Nothing says I love you more than doing dishes or laundry.

Special thanks to Amy Donaldson for this week’s "Help Heidi Friday" tip!  I’m a tidy elf, but Amy is a health elf (aka “nurse”) so listen up: "Healthy elves love EWG's Skin Deep Cosmetics Database (www.ewg.org/skindeep), a site with safety information on over 65,000 personal care products such as make-up and deodorant."  Thanks, Amy!

Happy Thanksgiving! And for those elves getting up early tomorrow for some Black Friday madness.... Tidy elves love LISTS! Writing down who you plan to buy gifts for (or give tips to) with ideas and your price cap = an instant shopping list and a budget!

Today is the heaviest travel day of the year! Save gas and money by having the correct air pressure in your tires. (Or travel by sleigh.)

Tune up your car according to the owner’s manual to increase its life, your fuel efficiency, and the dollars in your wallet!

Need to defrost faster? Give the bird a bath!  Water conducts heat better than air in the fridge.  (Count on 30 minutes per pound.)

Need a big bird? Two in the bush might be better.  Roast two smaller turkeys side by side.  They defrost/cook quicker, and stay juicier.

Turkey math. How many pounds per person? Figure ¾ - 1 pound for no leftovers, 1 or slightly more to gobble weekend leftovers.

Special thanks to Joe Costanza for today's "Help Heidi Friday" tip: "Tis the season to donate pantry items too. Those dusty cans can be put to good use." Couldn't have said it better myself, Joe!

That’s not just air leaking out, it's money - plug electrical outlets in your home's exterior walls with inexpensive foam insulating gaskets.

Oh baby! Did you know that baby oil can polish chrome? Add to a cloth and your faucets are all set!

PanTRY this: go through your pantry every 6 months, ditch expired spices, foodstuffs, etc. then clean before reloading.

Tapped out of bottled water? Use a water-filter pitcher or install an in-sink faucet filter. Use the H2O you’re already paying for! 

Coolest by a mile – keep a cooler in your car, so you don’t have to rush home with perishables after a grocery run!

Tidy elves love shelves! Baskets and bins too. When things (keys, phones, transit cards) have a “home” they’re harder to lose! 

Special thanks to Clark Lohr, a veteran (and member of the Elf Army) for his "Help Heidi Friday" tip: "Three max power minutes in a microwave sterilizes your dishcloths and sponges - sponges, where microbes lurk."  Thanks, Clark, for everything!

Beware computer viruses! The kind you get from filthy keyboards. With swabs or a cloth, swipe rubbing alcohol between/across keys! (Mouse too!)

Santa's Clause: if you haven’t worn a garment in a year, donate it. 

Tidy elves love vanilla.  Extract, that is.  Wipe your freezer with vanilla extract and the smell just went from crummy to yummy!

Pick a night, cook dinners for the week, and freeze them in meal-sized portions. Dinnertime just went from a hot mess to chill!