The big end-of-the-year holidays are coming, and that means so are some of your relatives or close family friends. If they don’t live nearby, they’ll need a place to stay. We’re sure you don’t want them to get a hotel room for the night just to visit you. Lucky for you, you’ve come across our article on how to turn a space into a temporary guest room. With these tips, your guests can stay with you and save some money.

Make Sure There’s Some Privacy

Privacy is the most important part of sleeping comfortably in someone else’s house. We doubt your guests will be doing much that will require seclusion from others while they’re asleep, but no one wants others to have to tip-toe around them in the morning. That means living rooms are pretty much off-limits. It doesn’t matter how comfy your couch is—no one is going to feel comfortable sleeping on it for the next few nights.

Give Them Something Suitable To Sleep On

Unfortunately, it isn’t easy to have a bed dedicated to guests when you have limited space. Most homes will need to use a spare room for an office, den, or storage area. Fortunately, most of these can transform into a bedroom with relative ease.

Putting a futon in your home office is natural and doesn’t look out of place. Sure, they’re not the most comfortable, but there are quite a few things you can do to make them comfier. Buying a couch with a hideaway bed or installing a daybed are both feasible options for your den. While there’s no natural solution for a storage room, you can place a folding cot with a mattress in any of these three rooms for a quick sleeping solution.

Give Them Easy Access to a Bathroom

The final thing you’ll want to do when figuring out how to turn a space into a temporary guest room is to ensure that a bathroom will be nearby for them to use. It’s never a great idea to ask your guests what their bathroom schedule is like, so giving them easy access is the best way to provide them with what they need without having to know the details of it.

As long as you follow these three guidelines, you should be able to make your guests comfortable enough to stay with you anytime they’re in town to visit.

Fall is plenty upon us, and the changes of the season are clear, from the color of the trees to the presence of the deer. If you have a backyard or community pond that is starting to see the effects of fall as well, it’s time to start taking action to protect it. Here are a few tips on how to keep a large pond clean in the fall.

Make a Habit of Removing Debris

The most immediate issue for your water will be the added debris that comes with the season. Leaf litter and branches that fall in or around the water can interrupt the biome and cause harm to the fish inside. The decay of this organic debris also creates sludge at the bottom of unaerated, natural ponds that will start to smell in time.

Unless you plan to use leaf netting on the surface of the water, taking some time each week to skim the surface until ice forms will help keep the fish inside healthy.

Begin Limited Fish Feedings

If you or your family enjoy stepping out to feed the fish in the local pond, it’s important to know that you should cut back on the amount you feed them before winter starts. If the temperature is below 60 degrees, their metabolism will slow down, and any additional food beyond what they’re capable of eating will just rot in the water.

Keep Livestock and Wildlife Out

Wildlife becomes more active in the fall during the mad dash to prepare for winter, even in Arkansas. Increased animal activity across the state can spell trouble for your pond, especially if you’ve curated the fish housed inside yourself.

Birds, raccoons, and bobcats might try to use your pond as a source of food. The more active wildlife around your pond, the more you’ll have to contend with fish remains, animal feces, and oils in your water.

In early fall, before the temperatures cool further, local livestock is another issue to be aware of. Cooling off in the pond or grazing through the foliage around it is a temptation for domesticated animals as much as it is for wildlife, and farm animals bring with them the same problems for your pond.

Making sure to keep a large pond clean in the fall only does half of the work needed to keep the body of water healthy. There are several other factors of the season that can impact a pond’s health and will need to be addressed to keep your pond at its best. Taking the time now to help your pond thrive through the fall will only make it stronger for winter later!

There’s a myriad of reasons someone might need to cut down on their monthly expenses. Maybe something huge just happened in their life. They have had a baby, graduated from school, or bought their first house. These are all milestones that tend to stretch budgets thin. Maybe they lost their job or quit to look for something more promising. Or perhaps they want to temporarily live beneath their means to save money for something, such as vacationing or retirement.

Cutting down on monthly expenses might seem challenging, but it’s easier than you think. It requires creativity, an iron will, and perseverance. But as long as you can set a plan and stick to it, you have this in the bag. Here are some easy ways to save money on monthly expenses to help you on your cash-saving journey.

Set a Monthly Budget

The first step to cutting down on expenses is to set a monthly budget. Determine how much money you’re bringing in each month and how much you’re spending. Then, find areas you can cut back on.

You can’t skimp on your rent or student loan payments without heavy repercussions. But maybe you’re spending an outrageous amount of money on your hobbies each month or dining at fancy restaurants multiple times per week. You can limit your hobby money to a lower amount per month and commit to cooking and eating at home a specific number of days per week.

Cutting back on the small things can save you a ton of money in the long run.

Embrace the Heat and Cold

Another easy way to save money on monthly expenses is to fiddle with your thermostat. Did you know that adjusting your thermostat by 7 to 10 degrees for a minimum of 8 hours per day in the summer and winter months can lower your annual energy bill by 10 percent?

If you don’t mind slightly chilly or toasty weather, you can save lots of money this way. Raise your thermostat in the summer and lower it in the winter for instant cash savings.

Be Crafty

Sometimes, maintaining your budget means having to think creatively. Need new clothes but don’t have a ton of money left in the budget? There are plenty of ways to shop for fashionable items frugally. You can visit secondhand stores or even swap clothes with a friend or family member.

Want to treat yourself to an expensive meal? Go ahead, but don’t scarf down all of it in one go! Eat half and save the other half for tomorrow’s dinner.

Do you need to go shopping for presents during the holiday period? Seasonal sales and discounts are your best friend. Also, don’t be afraid to clip and use coupons.