Q: Tell your parent that you're worried about them. Point out any health hazards in their house. If you are living in the home, explain how their hoarding affects you. For instance, you could say, "Dad, I'm concerned about your quality of life here. It's hard to get from one room to another, and all these papers are a fire hazard." If their hoarding affects you, say so. You might say, "I'm too embarrassed to invite friends over and I get picked on at school because of how our yard looks." Or, "I'm worried social services will come and take me and my sister away if this doesn't get better." Hoarding is a serious mental health issue, and what you may see as garbage might be something your parent regards as valuable or sentimental. Don't say anything like, "It's really gotten awful in here," or, "How can you live in this place?" Remember that your parent sees their clutter differently than you do, and if you're critical or harsh about it, they may not listen to anything else you have to say. Use a neutral word like "stuff" or "things" for your parent's possessions, not "junk." If you're living there, stick to the facts about how it affects you rather than dwelling about it being "gross" or "inappropriate." Tell your parent you want to help them clean up their place. Ask them what they're having trouble with and how you could help them best. If you live in the home, you may have already spotted places where clutter is out of control. Offer to start there. If you live outside your parent's home, say something like, "I'd like to help you make more of your living space usable again. How would you like me to start?" If you live there, you might say, "I'd love to be able to have a barbecue. How about we start clearing out the yard so friends and family can come over? I'm happy to help." Your parent might deny they have a problem or reject your offer to help. If they aren't in immediate danger, there's not much you can do. Let them know that your offer still stands if and when they decide to make a change. If you don't feel comfortable visiting your parent at their house, set a boundary that you'll only visit in a neutral place, like a park or restaurant. If you are concerned about safety because of your parent's hoarding, then you may want to encourage them to seek professional help to make the environment safe again.
A: Express your concern. Avoid being judgmental. Offer to help. Accept that your parent may not be willing to change.

Article: Leaving the refrigerator door open lets the cold air out, meaning your fridge has to work harder to maintain its inside temperature. Also, try to remember that oven-baked foods will cook more quickly and evenly if you can avoid opening the oven door repeatedly to check on the food. Try to pull everything you need from the refrigerator in one go. Use an oven timer for help with preheating, checking on your food, and remembering to turn the oven off. Putting frozen items in the refrigerator to thaw is safer than thawing them on the counter. Frozen foods also help to keep the interior of your fridge nice and chilly as the cold seeps into the surrounding air. Thawing foods like meat or casseroles all the way will reduce their cooking time once you're ready to start. If you're only using a small saucepan to cook with, put it on the smallest burner. Using a larger burner will allow heat to escape into the room, and does not cook your food any faster. This can be especially helpful around the holidays or if you enjoy baking large batches of pies or cookies. You can also turn off the oven before the end of the specified cooking time; the residual heat will continue to cook the food for several minutes. It'll boil faster that way, and keep steam heat from escaping into your kitchen. If you boil water every day, an electric kettle can save time and energy because they heat up very quickly. For speed and convenience, many people try cooking meals where all the ingredients can be cooked together in one pot. Soups, pasta dishes, and rice-based dishes are great examples of recipes that can be made using only one pot. This may require cooking in stages, i.e., browning the meat, boiling the pasta, and then finally combining all ingredients in the pot to finish the cooking together. Once your pot has reached the boiling point, turning the heat down will save energy by allowing the heat trapped inside the pot to do most of the cooking. Leaving your soup to boil increases the possibility of scorching food at the bottom of the pot, so lowering the heat can have more than one benefit. Cooking outdoors is a great summer pastime, but you can grill year-round if the weather permits. Cooking over an open fire or charcoal grill won't add a dime to your energy bills, and you can cook large amounts of food for use throughout the week.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Open the refrigerator or oven door only when absolutely necessary. Thaw frozen foods in the refrigerator. Match the size of the pot to the stove top element. Optimize your preheated oven by cooking several items in a row. Use a lid when boiling a pot of water. Try one-pot cooking. Put soups and stews on simmer. Use a charcoal grill outdoors.

Q: Sometimes you can't put a physical barrier up to keep your cat out of a room. In this case, you will need to make the room uncomfortable for it to be in. Make loud noises whenever it enters the room or shoo it away. Note that if you do this, the cat may associate the noise with you and start to avoid you. You can even employ stronger methods in some cases. For example, spill a small amount of water on the floor of your bathroom if you don't want your cat in there. A cat may hate to get its feet wet on any excess water on the floor. Another example is to make sure the cat has nowhere to hide in a room. Sometimes a cat likes going under beds or in corners to feel safe. With this type of cat you can block off access to under the bed or any other hiding spaces. This will make your cat uncomfortable in the room. Every time it goes near the room, have a spray bottle ready to spray a little water at it. This will make sure it knows that its actions are unacceptable. However, only use this method if you are prepared to accept damaging your relationship with the cat. It is highly likely the cat will associate the water spray with you, the sprayer, rather than the room. Thus, the cat is more likely to flee and not want to spend time in your company. You simply place the device in the doorway to the room and let it deter your cat from the area. Put a small amount of vinegar at the room's entrance or in areas of the room. This usually helps, as most cats hate the odor of vinegar. This advice is anecdotal, however, as some people find it helps while for others it makes no difference. Alternatively, fill a spray bottle halfway with vinegar. Fill the other half with lime or lemon juice. Spray at the entrance to the room and on beds and other places the cat usually goes. This will deter many cats from scratching on furniture or spending time in the room. If you go this route, the vinegar spray needs fairly constant reapplication. Make a different room more comfortable for the cat. Make another room cat-appealing so the cat will go there instead. Offer the cat several nice sleeping places (although it's likely to chose its own) including a high perch. Provide food, water, and a litter tray, as well as toys. This involves making a big fuss of the cat and making being in the room you want it to be in a pleasant experience. The goal is to make sure your cat associates the room with good things and wishes to return there. You may want to scatter extra tasty treats around the room so that it seems a more appealing place.
A:
Make the room physically uncomfortable for the cat. Spray the cat with water from a spray bottle. In addition, there are commercial electronic cat deterrents that will spray a cat with a burst of air when it approaches the room. Place smells in the room that your cat doesn't like. Redirect your cat's attention. Use positive training.