Recent comments

  • Build a Cable to Control Your Android Phone While You Drive   15 years 39 weeks ago

    Nice hack. I've been looking for something like this for a while.
    Tried it out on the weekend, it works well on HTC Legend with the same resistor values.

    As a side note, this same cable should work with an iPhone too. The only difference is the prev/next track buttons. The iPhone counts the number of clicks instead of detecting the resistance value. I think it 1 click=play/pause, 2 clicks=previous track, 3 clicks=next track.

  • Tasty, Healthy Breakfast Cookies With Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans   15 years 39 weeks ago

    I'm someone who needs a good breakfast in the morning or I just don't feel too well for the rest of the day, but weekdays I never seem to have time. These are perfect! I've tried a number of variations, but think I like the basic one best (minus the sweetener, which I've found I don't need). I use unsweetened soy milk instead of dairy milk. My additions are nutmeg, ginger, a couple of handfuls of walnuts, and some shredded shredded carrots, which I can't really taste but I like the texture they add. I use old fashioned rolled oats and those work just great. I also like them a bit crunchy so bake them for a bit longer so that they're pretty dark brown on the bottom and edges.

    I also use them as energy snacks throughout the day, and they work great. Thank you so much for this recipe!

  • Make Pizza Night Fun Again With These 30 Pizza Sauce Alternatives   15 years 39 weeks ago

    Similar to peanut sauce...when I worked at a pizza place in San Francisco, we would experiment with pizza combinations. I found that organic, homemade peanut butter is a great base topped with mozzarella cheese and tomatoes. Oh, you need a giant glass of milk to help wash it down.

  • Canned vs. Dried Beans: Which Are Cheaper?   15 years 39 weeks ago

    If you want to save lots of time, buy an electric pressure cooker to cook your beans. My friends from India and Mexico use them a lot for cooking beans and lentils. No soaking of beans required. Just put in the DRIED beans with some water and cook for about 30 minutes and they are done! You'll save on water, time, energy, and you don't get all the sodium that is in the canned. If you put some spices into the water, they will infuse into the beans as they are cooking. Yum!

  • Tattoo removal on the cheap...just use a Black & Decker Sander.   15 years 39 weeks ago

    I really don't recommending anything like this, becuase of the high chance of infection. What I would suggest is a painless herbal removal remedy i heard using a combination of some herbs can break down the ink pigment, one of friend's friend removed her 2 inch tattoo using natural remedies, she siad she used http://GetRidTattoo.com system. Have to use on mine too, I want to get rid of that stupid popeye on my arm..

  • Ask the Readers: What One Frugal Holiday Gift Would You Enjoy? (Chance to Win!)   15 years 39 weeks ago

    A 2011 Entertainment Coupon Book gets my vote

  • Is MagicJack a Scam?   15 years 39 weeks ago

    Your are limited to available area codes, you also are limited to the number of calls you may make or receive per day via there (TOS).
    Not worth it...
    Defiantly a Scam....

  • 3 Steps to Organize and Track Your Finances Without the Hassle   15 years 39 weeks ago

    I find that staying on top of things is the hard part. It's like spring cleaning. I can go through my finances and clean house and stuff, but keeping up with it does get difficult. So I did my own thing. I pay almost all my bills automatically, I keep enough in my checking to prevent any cash flow problems, and check on my savings twice a year. The only thing left for me to do is get rid of all that dang paper showing up at my house.

  • What is Simple Living and Why Should I Care?   15 years 39 weeks ago

    I am a big fan of what your talking about. It's important to keep the main thing, the main thing. If you fill your life with items and hording money, you'll miss out on all the other things that make life great.

  • Sick of Rebate Credit Cards? Read This to Get Cash   15 years 39 weeks ago

    I just buy a gift card at my grocery store (e.g. Safeway) for the amount of the rebate. Since I know I will be buying groceries there in the future, it works well, gives me a card that will not expire or charge me fees, and allows me to purchase the exact of amount of the rebate so I don't lose anything.

  • Website 101: How to Build a Site and Get It Online   15 years 39 weeks ago

    I'm assuming this article is pretty old as it mentions purchasing MS Frontpage, which was discontinued back in 2006. Expression Web was the replacement, of which a version is available for free, from the MS website.

  • Website 101: How to Build a Site and Get It Online   15 years 39 weeks ago

    This is crazy if you have no background with HTML. It's also completely too much work in the year 2010. (Microsoft Frontpage was discontinued in 2003, by the way, which is about when this article would have been valid)

    Use Wordpress. 'Nough said.

  • Website 101: How to Build a Site and Get It Online   15 years 39 weeks ago

    An even easier alternative would be to use a hosted blogging service like Blogspot, or Wordpress.

    Most hosting site offer 'One-click' installs of Wordpress which will get you up and blogging in very little time.

    There are also lots of themes available for Wordpress, my favorite site to get templates is ThemeForest, they have a lot of templates at a very reasonable price.

  • Website 101: How to Build a Site and Get It Online   15 years 39 weeks ago

    Frontpage, really? This was painful to read. No discussion of figuring out what you want your website to be about or its purpose? No discussion of whether a blog or a content management system might be better than a plain static website (blogs and things like Drupal are free and pretty easy to learn--and might better suit the person's needs)? No mention of free classes on web technology you can take through most of the continuing ed programs or better programs like Dreamweaver (instead of the awful Frontpage which does a bunch of garbage html)? I won't even discuss your part about templates.

    There is better info you can give people. They won't get much out of this article and what they do won't necessarily be a good start for them.

    I have a bunch of websites (although I will only link to my anonymous blog here) and there are plenty of options for people who are just learning.

  • 7 Cheap and Natural Ways to Fight the Cold and Flu   15 years 39 weeks ago

    Don't boil the water with the apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar kills while honey heals, but hot water, as opposed to warm, will kill all the good stuff in the honey. Make the water just warm enough to dissolve the honey
    I have great teach and have used this "concoction" for years. I only use it 3-4 times a year though.

  • 13 Natural and Easy Ways to Lower Your Blood Sugar   15 years 39 weeks ago

    I have done everything under the sun to bring down blood sugar levels, oral medictions, insulin, diet, excersise, and natural things such as cinamon. Nothing has helped, and or every thing is either ineffective or I have a major allergic reaction. I finally said screw this noise after the specialist that my insurance covers said he could not do anything else to help me and my primary care doctor refused to treat me. I stopped all medications and lost 60 pounds over the past year, I do not have the 24/7 neurapathy, the constant blurred vision, the night sweats, or any of these other side effects, but my blood sugar level is about 12. I guess, for some people like me who can get no effective help, I might as well just wait until I die.

  • What is Simple Living and Why Should I Care?   15 years 39 weeks ago

    Great article! I think that the more stuff you have, the more you have to worry about. Most of the stuff that we own we use rarely. I try to keep things if they are used often, and the more purposes they serve, the better. A great minimalist tool I use is my iPhone. It has all of my music, audiobooks, movies, compass, gps, gaming device, flashlight, weather, numerous science applications, notebook, guitar tuner, and many many other things, in a device that fits in my pocket. That is one of the most beneficial aspects of technology, in that by combining many technologies into one, we can reduce the amount of stuff we own. Although, the iPhone does carry a lot of digital stuff. I try to minimalize that as well, having only apps that I frequently use.

  • 12 Delicious, Healthy, and Inexpensive Snack Options   15 years 39 weeks ago

    I try to snack and generally eat healthy overall. When I am choosing healthy snacks to eat, I try to have foods with as well rounded health appeal as possible, and also as much plasticity as possible just like in this article. I try not to limit myself to calorie restriction as the primary method of choosing what to buy, as that ignores many other aspects of what makes food healthy. I think some of the ideas you presented such as adding peanutbutter to smoothies and chocolate to the trail mix and unnecessary calories, and sugar to snacks that are quite delicious and healthy without them. Whenever I make smoothies I just add ice, plain yogurt, 100% fruit juice, and frozen mixed fruit. For the fruit items, there is quite a variety to choose from. The fruits are plenty sweet by themselves and do not need help to make them taste good.

  • Canned vs. Dried Beans: Which Are Cheaper?   15 years 39 weeks ago

    I agree that dried beans are cheaper, but if I had to cook them to use beans, we'd very rarely have beans.

    I buy a variety of organic canned beans on sale. They have much less sodium than the other canned beans.

  • 6 Festive, Frugal Ways to Spruce Up Your Home for the Holidays   15 years 39 weeks ago

    Since I no longer have small children at home, we really simplified our decorating. We put wreaths on all of our doors, inside and out, hang stockings along the stairs, put up the tree and use some accent bath & table linens. No tchotchkes, got rid of the 50 million snowmen, angels and Santas that cluttered up every surface of the house. It looks simple and a lot less gaudy this way. Plus, it's easier to pack up at the end of the season.

  • Ask the Readers: What One Frugal Holiday Gift Would You Enjoy? (Chance to Win!)   15 years 39 weeks ago

    My daughter wants a blow drier. I've pretty much been a wash and wear gal since the kids so we haven't had one in the house. My neighbor was kind enough to provide a flat iron so hairdryer is on her Christmas wish list.

    Christine

  • Canned vs. Dried Beans: Which Are Cheaper?   15 years 39 weeks ago

    A couple of years ago I purchased a really good pressure cooker. I cook dried beans frequently. First I soak the beans overnight, or at least for a few hours, to soften them. The soaking liquid is drained and the beans poured into the pressure cooker. I add either water or homemade stock and cook according the type of bean. The shortest cooking time is for limas--about five minutes--and the longest is for garbanzo beans--about 20 minutes. I love beans and put them in salads, make my hummus, and, of course, make a myriad of soups and stews with them. I like to take out little containers to freeze for later use of small amounts. These only need a little defrosting before they can be used. Beans made with homemade stock are very delicious and I cook with very little salt, using mostly herbs and spices to liven up the flavor. I still keep a couple of cans of beans on hand for convenience, but most of the time, they have more sodium than I care to ingest. The beauty of a pressure cooker is that once the correct pressure is reached, the heat is turned down enough just to maintain the pressure. Crock pots are also very nice to use, but, of course, these take much longer.

  • Attempts to Escape the Clutches of Online Data Aggregators   15 years 39 weeks ago

    GOSH I LOVE THIS ARTICLE. I AM GOING THROUGH ALL THIS CRAP RIGHT NOW. I HAVE CONTACTED OVER 35 COMPANIES TO OPT OUT. THEN ANOTHER COMPANY COMES UP. DOES ANYONE REALIZE HOW MANY COMPANIES ARE AFFILIATED WITH INTELIUS. SO FAR I HAVE WRITTEN 15 DIFFERENT WEB SITES, WITH THE SAME ADDRESS AS INTELIUS. ALSO HOW IRONIC THAT SPOKEO SITE OFFERS REPUTION DEFENDERS SERVICE. PLEASE PEOPLE INTELIUS ALSO OFFERS A PROTECTION SERVICE AFTER THEY EXPLOIT THE CRAP OUT OF EVERYONE WITH THE SALE OF OUR OWN PRIVATE INFO. HELP WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THIS?

  • 5 Ways to Spend Less on Fido and Fluffy   15 years 39 weeks ago

    Awesome tip! Thank you for sharing! :)

  • Ask the Readers: What One Frugal Holiday Gift Would You Enjoy? (Chance to Win!)   15 years 39 weeks ago

    Lottery Tickets! They are cheap and fun!