By Xin LuToday I stumbled upon a site called Swoopo. It is touted as a new auction site that combines shopping with entertainment. I took a quick look and it seemed like many items were selling for very low prices. For example, an ounce of gold recently sold for only $187.96 when it is worth around $1000. How is this possible?
Join us this afternoon for the third episode of The Personal Finance Hour, a BlogTalkRadio program all about personal finance. I’ll be co-hosting the show with Jim from Bargaineering at 3pm Pacific (6pm Eastern).
When I reached my financial bottom, one of my first responses was to look for fat to cut out of my life. I eliminated Netflix. I eliminated magazine and newspaper subscriptions. I whacked away at some of the pricier options on several other bills.
Several thoughtful readers sent me this fake ad for Despondex, a “prescription depressant for the insufferably cheery.”
According to the ad, Despondex is “effective at reducing a range of symptoms,” such as:
talking to people in line at the grocery store
participating in community theater
Christmas caroling
collecting ceramic animal figurines
organizing neighborhood potlucks
That’s a rather provocative title, I suppose. Surely if you can avoid failure that is better, right? Not necessarily. There are two ways to avoid failure.
Working so hard and doing such a good job that you succeed.
Only taking on projects that are so far below your capabilities that failure is never a realistic possibility.
By Paul MichaelIt's not often that I'm taken aback by the simplicity and power of an invention, but this one does it for me. It's cheap, anyone can make one and it literally changes lives. Welcome to the water-bottle lightbulb.
Ah, I love these 2 hacks from Sarah. The first is a really cool cooking prep space and the second is a smart tweak of the circular bed into a cosy area.
Of all the improv games and exercises we learned in our four-week class, the ‘three-line scene’ was perhaps the most enlightening. In it, two people stood on stage and performed the beginning of what could have turned into a full improv scene. The first person would give the partner a name and begin with a simple physical observation of the other person.
Nicoletta submits her daughter, Chiara's hack. An Ikea picture frame (Ribba?) and a light shade. She covered the base with expanded clay balls and inserted plastic flowers.
Under stair storage is a great way to utilize dead space in your home. It may not be the easiest project to tackle yourself, but it is an ingenious way to store things. We highlighted some under stair storage a while back and the most recent example is from Toronto architects Christine Ho Ping Kong and Peter Tan.
Each Monday, The Simple Dollar opens up the reader mailbags and answers ten to twenty simple questions offered up by the readers on personal finance topics and many other things. Got a question? Ask it in the comments. You might also enjoy the archive of earlier reader mailbags.
Lately my personal focus has been on finding balance in my life. I’m trying to discover the proper place for money — and for time. Over the past few years, I’ve allowed money to become too important. I’ve worked too much, and that has hurt other aspects of my life. I don’t have time for anything else.
Artist Christoph Niemann reflected on his relationship with cables and wires on the New York Times blog Abstract City. His distain for cable clutter is right at home with Unclutterer and I’m sure many of you will enjoy it.
The whimsical art that Niemann creates incorporates actual cables with his illustrations. From the blog:
