100 Essential Home Ec Lessons You Should Have Learned In School

Let’s face it: you’ll learn a lot in school, but there’s no way you can possibly learn everything. Chances are, if you took a home economics class in school there was a lot it didn’t cover. Check out these household lessons to fill in the gaps.

Finance

Get the lowdown on investing, saving, budgeting and so much more in these finance lessons.

1. Calculating principal: Check out this lesson to learn how to calculate principal.
2. 5 Money Ratios to Live By: Use these money ratios to plan your spending and budget.
3. Setting priorities: Setting priorities will teach you about achieving the financial goals that are important to you.
4. Charities and Non-Profit Organizations: This lesson will give you an overview of donating to charities and other non-profits.
5. 20 Ways to Raise Cash: Find money through these 20 great ideas.
6. How to Buy a $5,000 Car: Check out this guide to learn how to successfully buy a $5,000 car.
7. Planning for Retirement: Use this lesson to learn how to plan for your retirement.
8. Making a Budget: Get a grip on your spending with this lesson on budget building.
9. Paying student loans: Read this lesson in finance to understand the reality of student loans.
10. Steps to Financial Freedom: This guide will show you the various steps to reaching financial freedom.
11. Introduction to Credit Cards: In this lesson, you’ll learn about credit cards, credit, and paying interest.
12. Hiring Financial Help: Get the lowdown on hiring a financial planner in this guide.
13. How to Cut Car Ownership Costs: Here you’ll find out how to make your car ownership costs as low as possible.
14. Checking accounts and checkbooks: This lesson will teach your skills for check writing and checking accounts.
15. Steps to Successful Stock Investing: Successfully invest in stocks with what you can learn here.
16. Investing basics: Get a look at stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and inflation.
17. Taxes: This tax lesson covers sales tax, federal and state taxes, and what your tax dollars go to.
18. Understanding Risk and Return: Learn about risk and return here, two important concepts in investing.
19. Introduction to Earning Interest: This worksheet will help introduce you to the concept of earning interest.
20. Calculating interest: Better understand how interest works with the help of this lesson.

Consumer Education

These lessons will teach you how to be a smart consumer.

21. Shrinking sizes: Although products may look the same, it’s always important to look at the fine print and make sure you’re getting as much as you believe you are.
22. Watch out for early termination fees: Many services, usually cell phones, will charge you for backing out of a contract early.
23. No one wants to just give you millions: If you receive an email promising millions of dollars from a stranger, just ignore it.
24. Save your receipts: Whether it’s for warranty, returns, or taxes, receipts can really come in handy.
25. Protect your social security number: Don’t give out your social security number to anyone who shouldn’t get it.
26. Be nice: Be a friendly and polite consumer, and you just might find kindness in return.
27. Know your family tree: Some scammers pretend to be distant relatives in desperate need of cash.
28. Check your phone bill: Be sure to glance over your phone bill to make sure you’re not being billed for bogus charges.
29. Never wire money to strangers: Don’t ever wire money to people you don’t know.

Interior Design

In these lessons, you’ll learn about great design for your home.

30. Introduction to interior decorating: Learn the essential factors of interior design from this lesson.
31. Don’t Be Afraid of Color: This lesson encourages readers to embrace color in decor.
32. Create Ambience: Here, you’ll learn a little bit about creating ambience.
33. How to buy furniture: This lesson contains great tips for buying furniture, and the terminology you’ll need to understand it all.
34. Find a Focal Point: Check out this lesson to understand the importance of a focal point.
35. Tips for Mixing Patterns: Mix prints with the help of these tips.
36. Use small spaces: Check out this lesson to see how you can make your small spaces look and feel more spacious.
37. Details Matter: This lesson will teach you to pay attention to details in design.
38. 5 Tricks for a Quick Home or Apartment Makeover: Transform your space quickly with this lesson.
39. Prepare: Measure, make a floorplan, create a list of materials needed, and you’ll be on your way to a prepared interior design project.
40. Be Fearless: This decorating lesson encourages you to push the envelope on creativity.
41. Maximizing Space: Use your space more effectively with the help of this lesson.
42. Express Your Personality: Understand how to express yourself through interior design.

Cleaning

If you’re clueless about how to get your house clean, check out these lessons.

43. How to clean a microwave oven: Here you’ll find professional tips for cleaning splatters and explosions out of your microwave oven.
44. How to Clean Your Bathroom: Follow this lesson to get your bathroom spic and span.
45. Schedule cleaning: Put cleaning on the calendar to make sure the job gets done.
46. Introduction to cleaning: Pass the white glove test using this lesson.
47. How to Wash Your Clothes: Master the art of keeping your clothes clean with this lesson.
48. Proper cleaning tools: Here you’ll learn about investing in good cleaning tools.
49. How to Clean Suede: Check out this guide to getting suede clean.
50. Prevent cross-contamination: Read this lesson to learn how you can help prevent cross-contamination.
51. How to Go Green: Cleaning: This guide will tell you how to green your cleaning.
52. Transforming your junk drawer: With this lesson, you can give your junk drawer new life.
53. How to Clean Laminate: This lesson offers the details on cleaning laminate floors.
54. How to clean carpet: Learn how to remove stains, wax, urine, odors, and more through this lesson.
55. How to Clean a Garbage Disposal: In this lesson, you will find out how to clean your garbage disposal.

Sewing

These lessons will teach your the helpful household skill of sewing.

56. Sewing 101: Sewing 101 explains sewing lessons, definitions, sewing machines, and more.
57. Choose Your Fabric: Follow this lesson to understand the different types of fabric and how to choose the right one for your pattern.
58. How to Thread a Needle: Find out the easy way to thread a needle in this lesson.
59. Before You Operate a Sewing Machine: Debbie Colgrove will tell you how to buy and operate a sewing machine.
60. Learn to Stitch: Here you’ll find a lesson in stitching.
61. How to Thread a Sewing Machine: This lesson offers basic directions for threading a sewing machine.
62. Sew Your Own Pocketbook: Create your first bag with the help of this guide.

Cooking

Get a handle on meal preparation through these lessons.

63. Fruits and Vegetables Preparation Guide: Here you’ll see how to prepare a variety of fruits and vegetables.
64. How to Boil an Egg: This lesson will teach you how to make a simple boiled egg in just 6 steps.
65. Thrifty Meal Ideas: You’ll get great ideas for cheap, healthy meals from this lesson.
66. How to Plan a Meal: You’ll learn how to plan meals for nutritional needs and more through this lesson.
67. Kitchen Safety Tips for Kids: Keep your kids safe when helping out around the kitchen.
68. How to Grill: Learn how to fire up your grill with this lesson.
69. How to Become a Vegetarian Chef: Here you will get an introduction to vegetarian cooking.
70. Gravy 101: Take Gravy 101 to make the perfect gravy.
71. How to Boil Water: This guide covers the fine art of water boiling.
72. Easy Meals for Beginner Cooks: Check out this lesson to create foundation meals.
73. How to Cook: How to Cook follows the basic steps of cooking just about any dish.
74. How to Cook for Just Yourself: This lesson will teach you the essentials of cooking for one.
75. How to Chop an Onion Like a Chef: Follow this lesson to learn the technique of onion chopping.
76. How to Cook Fish: Make a heart healthy and delicious fish dish with the help of this lesson.
77. Bread 101: Check out this lesson to see just how easy making bread is.

Child Care

Here you’ll find the basics of taking care of babies and children.

78. First Aid for Children: Know how to administer first aid with this guide.
79. Amazing Grace: In Amazing Grace, you’ll find tips for teaching children manners.
80. Two Basic Rules for Rewarding Your Child: Follow these rules to healthily reward your child.
81. Diapering Your Baby: Diapering Your Baby shares step by step instructions for using diapers.
82. Choosing the Right Car Seat: Check out this guide to learn how to use the right car seat.
83. How to Childproof Your Home: Make your home safe for baby with this guide.
84. Basic Swimming Pool Safety Tips: Check out this guide to keep your child safe in the pool.
85. 21 Ways to Soothe Your Crying Baby: Find out how to soothe your crying baby with this guide.
86. Basic Childcare Tips You Should Know: This guide will help you find a source for child care.
87. Allowances for Kids: Allowances for Kids will give you a guide to teaching financial responsibility to children.
88. Instructions for Nursing Your Baby: Here you’ll learn the basics for nursing your newborn.
89. Age-by-Age Guide to Feeding Your Baby: This guide will tell you what and how much to feed your child at every stage up to a year.

Relationships

Learn from these lessons to build a healthy relationship.

90. Marital Depression: Find out what causes marital depression and how you can avoid it with this lesson.
91. Be Proactive: This lesson will teach you how to be proactive in marriage.
92. Compromise: Here you’ll find a short and funny lesson in marriage compromise.
93. What is Codependency?: Here you’ll learn about codependency in relationships.
94. 5 Communication Lessons Learned in Marriage Counseling: Here you’ll learn about communication in marriage and beyond.
95. Marriage 101: Marriage 101 is a beginner’s guide to marriage.
96. Avoiding the Urge to Stray: This guide can help you stay faithful in your relationship.
97. Relationship Help: Relationship Help offers advice for health and exciting love relationships.
98. Hanging Onto Your Identity: Use this guide to find out how to keep your own identity while in a relationship.
99. Communicate or Disintegrate: This lesson explains how important communication is.
100. Happy Marriage Lesson #1: This lesson encourages you to drop everything and have fun with your partner.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 28th, 2010 at 7:53 pm and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.