Few Organic tips to have your Home Pest free

Block Flies with Basil(Thulasi):

Flies hate the smell of Thulasi. To discourage them, place pots of basil at doorways and windowsills and on the kitchen counter. If you don’t have enough sun or space put some dried Thulasi in a small muslin cloth and rub it occasionally to keep the scent strong.

Scare Off Spiders with Citrus

Spiders are not fond of citrus. In a spray bottle, mix water and lemon or lime juice. Wipe your countertops with the mixture or spray down doorways and windowsills. You can deter spiders in your garden by spreading around lemon, orange, or lime peels too.

Avoid Ants with Vinegar

Use a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water to wipe down counter-tops and other surfaces—anywhere you've spotted ants. For best results, repeat this several times a day. Doing so destroys the scent trails that ants use to navigate.

Combating Mosquitos

Add 3-5 drops of any one of the various oil to about a teaspoon of a base oil such as jojoba oil, sweet almond or coconut oil and rubbed to the exposed body skin: Lemongrass Oil, Lavender Oil, Eucalyptus Oil, Neem Oil or Neem Seed Oil, Organic Soy Oil, Black Pepper Oil, Blue Cypress Oil, Peppermint Oil, Basil Oil, Geranium Oil, Clove Oil or Thyme Oil. Lavender Oil fives a good fragrance.

A favourite natural mosquito repellent is the essential oil of the Catnip plant. In Taminadu it is called by its Latin name Nepeta Cataria. This perennial herb is a member of the mint family and has many useful medicinal and household applications.

Repel Cockroaches

Again Catnip is a natural repellent to cockroaches too. The active ingredient is nepetalactone, which is non-toxic to humans and pets. Small sachets of catnip can be left in areas of cockroach activity. Catnip can also be simmered in a small amount of water to make a "catnip tea" which can be used as a spray to apply around baseboards and behind counters. This natural repellent should only be used in homes without cats!

Also keep a spray bottle of soapy water on hand. Spraying roaches directly with soapy water will kill them.

Leave bay leaves, cucumber slices or garlic in the affected area as deterrents.

Repel Fleas with Salt

Alternately salting and vacuuming your floors will kill flea eggs. But since fleas have a three-day reproduction cycle, you have to be diligent: Salt every day for nine days and vacuum every third day. Don’t forget to empty the vacuum every time, or the live ones will crawl right back out again!

Diminish Dust Mites with Cinnamon Oil

Cinnamon bark oil has been shown to control dust mites. Mix several drops into a 50/50 solution of water and denatured alcohol. Spray bedding, carpets, and any other places where dust tends to collect. Added benefit? Your house will smell like cookies!

Scare lizards away

Get some fresh Neem leaves and strew them in places around your home, your kitchen in particular. You never like to get your food poisoned by them. The sscent from the Neem leaves are unpleasant to them and they will move out.

List of Hill Stations for Chennaites.

The Summer Holidays are on and if you are looking to chill off and enjoy with your family try these hill stations.

Hill Stations	From Chennai (in KM)	Places of interest	District
Yelagiri	212	Jalagamparai Waterfalls, Swami Malai Hills, Telescope observatory, YMCA Camp Centre	Vellore
Horsley Hills	274	Rapelling, Trekking, Lake Gangotri, Highview Seeing Place, Gaalibanda, Environmental Park, Horsley Hills Museum	Kurnool
Yercaud	350	Yercaud Lake, Lady's Seat, Killiyur Falls, The Servaroyan Temple, Bear’s Cave, Green House, The Gange, Pagoda Point, Silk Farm and Rose Garden, Fairholme Bungalow, Heaven's Ledge, Karadiyur View point, Sri Lalitha Thripura Sundari Amman Temple	Salem
Kolli Hills	380	Arapaleeswarar temple, A serene Pond, Akash Ganga Falls, Viewpoints	Namakkal
Athoor	450	Shri Kasi Vishwanathar temple, Shri Vandi Kali Amman temple, Kamarajar Sagar Dam, Viewpoints	Dindigul
Palani Hills	550	Peaks, Viewpoints, Lakes, Rivers and Waterfalls	Dindigul
Kodaikanal	550	Kodaikanal Lake, Bryant Park, Coaker's Walk, Bear Shola Falls, Green Valley View, Pine forests, Shembaganur Museum of Natural History, Kodaikanal Solar Observatory, Pillar Rocks, Guna caves, Silver Cascade, Dolphin's Nose, Kurinji Andavar Murugan temple, Berijam Lake	Dindigul
Coonoor	550	Sim's Park, Pomological Station, Dolphin's Nose Viewpoint, Lamb’s Rock, Droog Fort, Law's Falls, Ooty, Katary Falls, Pasteur Institute	Nilgiris
Ooty	590	The Government Botanical Garden, Fernhills palace, Ooty Lake, Toda Hut, Government Rose Garden, Ooty Botanical Gardens, Ooty Lake, Stone House, Toda huts, Ooty Mountain Railway, St. Stephen's Church, Wax World, Ooty, Ooty Golf Course, Tribal Museum,	The Nilgiris
Coorg	640	Talakaveri, Nisargadhama, Iruppu Falls, Abbey Falls, Dubare, Nagarahole, Bhagamandala, Mallali Falls	Coorg
Munnar	640	Tea Estates, Valleys, lanscapes, flora and fauna	Idukki
Araku Valley	940	Coffee Plantation, Araku-valley, Valley Borracaves,	Visakhapatnam

Top 5 things to know before getting a Home loan

Know your maximum loan eligibility:

The loan amount to be sanctioned depends on your income and previous track record when it comes to repaying your loans and credit card dues. Home loan lenders generally provide 80 per cent of the value of the property as the loan amount, subject to your income. While assessing the income criteria, they do not consider some of your salary slip heads for calculating your net monthly income. They only consider the income heads which can be used to repay your loan. For example, your LTA and medical allowances are deducted from the monthly net salary you receive. You are expected to spend the amount received under these heads for the specific activities they are being provided for. This is one of the reasons why we generally see a difference in the eligibility amount quoted in the website and actual amount realized once the application is processed.

Check your CIBIL score:

The home loan eligibility depends on the credit worthiness of the individual. Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL) provides a credit score on a scale of 300 to 900 based on your previous credit card usage, how you maintained your bank accounts, any check bounces, existing loans, uninsured existing loans, loan repayments, how many times you have applied for a loan or a credit card. Individuals with a CIBIL score greater than 700 are more likely to get a home loan. All the home loan lenders approach CIBIL for this score whenever you apply for a credit card or any sort of loan. Paying the processing fee to know the maximum limit at more than three or four banks is one of the common mistakes committed by many people. The more times you apply for loan, CIBIL considers it as being credit hungry, so the chances of getting a loan are minimized. CIBIL rating, net salary excluding some variable heads and existing loans and EMIs being paid towards existing loans are the vital components which decide the repayment capacity of the applicant.

Type of interest rate:

The type of interest rate you choose has an impact on the monthly EMIs you pay. It is important that you know the difference between fixed rate home loan and floating rate home loan. If you opt for a fixed rate home loan, the EMIs don't vary over the loan tenure. It is beneficial when the interest rates are expected to rise in the near future. In case of a floating rate home loan, the interest rate is determined based on the prevailing base rates plus a floating rate. The EMIs vary based on the movement of base rates. It is beneficial when interest rates are expected to fall in near future.

Loan tenure:

The EMI is calculated on the basis of the amount of the home loan, home loan interest rate and loan tenure. The monthly EMI is inversely proportional to loan tenure, i.e., the longer the tenure the lower the EMI, and the shorter the tenure, the higher the EMI. Similarly, the total interest paid is directly proportional to the loan tenure. The higher the tenure, the higher the total interest paid, and vice-versa. Know the impact of your EMI payments on your finances before deciding on the loan tenure. Calculate the available surplus under different scenarios and assess the available monthly surplus for each scenario.

Read the documents carefully before you sign:

Don't let the bunch of home loan documents bog you down and just sign on the dotted lines. Check the documents to ensure that the terms are the same as what you negotiated and agreed upon. Read the documents carefully and know the different charges applicable. Importantly, know the processing fee, late payment fee, etc.

Courtesy: NDTV Profit