Articles on Life Hacks

How the Banks Were Fleeced -- A Primer to Mortgage Fraud

Have you seen homes in your neighborhood sell for unreasonable prices and quickly end up in foreclosure? If this is a common occurence then perhaps there is a ring of thieves commi

What You Need vs. What You Want and How to Tell the Difference

Learn to distinguish between what you need, what you need in certain conditions, and what you want.

Get Your Own Identity! What to do when Yours is Stolen

Identity theft is considered an increasing national epidemic, being the fastest growing crime in the nation. And until you discover that somebody else has stolen your identit

Our Obsession to Clean is Making Us Trashy

I hate to clean just as much as the next person, so many of the new products on the market can be helpful to my daily routine. Others, however,

Unauthorized Video Game Hack May Net Consumers Up to $35

Discussion over the original version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas might have ended with its recall in 2005. A recent class-a

Can Limits Help Productivity Soar?

A mild, temporarily disabling accident in my home led me to consider how my friends with chronic disease (and accompanying physical limitations) manage to get things done. Limit

And did you do it with respect?

A few years back, I read a profile of a holistic fitness guru.  There was a sidebar with a little quiz

IMPORTANT UPDATE: The See's Candies debacle

For those of you (and I presume there were many) who took up the incredible See's candies offer I posted yesterday, I have bad news. I too got the email from See's saying t

How to Buy All That Stuff the Police Seize. And It's Cheap.

Here's a terrific site that lets you bid on all sorts of great stuff at silly prices.

Stop Calling Me! How to Avoid Telemarketers

Are you tired of dinner getting cold while waiting for a telemarketer to pause long enough for you to say you're not interested? Stop the calls dead in their tracks with some h

Many Happy Returns: 5 Tips for Getting What You Really Want This Holiday

Sadly, a recent poll by Inside Indiana Business reports that 13 percent of consumer

The Secret of My Success

Why is it that a few people “get all the breaks” while most seem to be starring in their own version of “Groundhog Day” for the better part of their lives: renting themsel

I Shouldn't Have to Pay for This! A Consumer's Guide to your Rights

If you buy something that stops working immediately and the seller refuses to refund your money, do you still have to pay for it?

My Car is a Lemon! What Now?

It all looked so great at the outset. But numerous trips to the mechanic and problems at the side of the road have shown you that you unwittingly purchased a lemon of a car.

Get enough sleep

I have a theory about sleep. My theory is this: everyone who routinely uses an alarm clock suffers from chronic sleep deprivation. Using an alarm clock a few times a year (to c

No Signal? 6 Ways to Boost Your Cell Phone Reception

I have been researching and testing methods to boost my phone in case of emergencies. Here are the five methods that worked, with varying success, for me.

I'm Tired!: 25 Awesome Ways to Beat Holiday Exhaustion

The holidays are fun but, honestly, they're exhausting. It seems like there is more of everything than at any other time of year: more social events, more items on the to-do l

How to wrap gifts with leftovers.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m no fan of the greeting card and gift wrapping industries. Not only are their products way over-priced, they’re also less than original in most cases.

Live like royalty on $20,000 a year

I'm stealing the title for this post from the cover of a magazine that I saw back in the early 1980s. It caught my eye especially, because at the time I had just gotten a rais

DeepDiscount.com's Price Match...don't hold your breath

I'm sorry to say that my long-time lover affair with DeepDiscount.com has come to an abrupt end. I've always been a fan of their low prices and free shipping, but even bett