Threading a needle isn't horribly difficult, but it can certainly be a pain if you don't do it regularly or you're using thick thread. Thankfully The Art of Manliness has a time-saving tip that makes it much easier: Move the needle to the thread, not the thread to the eye of the needle.
    
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Everyone knows what it's like to have a frustratingly dumb coworker to deal with, but what if you're worried that the frustrating coworker is you? After all, it's easy to point out the faults in others without taking responsibility for your own shortcomings. Let's look at how you can make sure you're not the one everyone in the office has to plan around instead of work with.
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A bit of planning can save you a ton of money when it comes to buying throughout the year. Here’s your comprehensive, always up-to-date guide on the best times to buy everything this year.
Making your own lunch provides a chance to eat a bit healthier, save a bit of money, and avoid the lunch hour rush that takes up most of the time you have to actually eat. Do you do it?
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Dear Lifehacker,
I know I'm supposed to go to the doctor once a year and the dentist twice, but do I really need to? Whenever I get a physical I feel fine and there's really anything wrong with my teeth. Do I really need to have these visits so frequently or am I just paying for nothing?
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There's a fundamental flaw with lots of financial advice: it assumes you have money. For some people, post-bills income just doesn't exist (and that number is only growing). So, when hard times make a 401(k) a non-option, you just can't follow all the advice you get.
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A hair dryer can do more than just style your hair. NPR and America's Test Kitchen suggest you should keep a hair dryer in the kitchen for some clever cooking uses, including melting chocolate and getting perfectly crisp chicken or duck skin.
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PotomacLocal.com |
Updated: Manassas Park Police Investigate Homicide PotomacLocal.com Manassas Park police identified the a father found dead in Manassas Park. While they are looking for his killer, police said there is no threat to the immediate community. More in a press release: The victim of the homicide has been identified as ... Manassas Park Man Found Slain in Parking LotPatch.com all 7 news articles » |
The brain tissue was taken from the Indiana Medical History Museum, site of the former Central State Hospital, which treated patients with psychiatric and mental disorders from 1848 to 1994.
Actor James Avery reportedly passed away on Tuesday night in Los Angeles.
A tow truck driver accused of hitting a robber with his car on Tuesday has been charged with murder two while armed, according to court records. 
A mother faces several charges after police say she left her 4-year-old child in the car unattended at the Maryland Live! casino parking garage on New Year's Eve. 
Research shows our emotions are directly linked to sensations in our bodies.
A man is accused of stealing from an acquaintance's home in Triangle this past weekend. 
For the 80th Anniversary of Prohibition Repeal drink historian Derek Brown made a Mary Pickford.
Manassas Crime Watch: Arrests Made in Prostitution, Bar Room Brawl Cases PotomacLocal.com At approximately 1:30PM on December 22, 2013 Manassas City Police responded to “Don Julio Restaurant” located at 9007 Centreville Rd for a report of an assault. According to the victim, he was sitting at the bar inside the restaurant when a male ... Police: Manassas Woman Choked During AttackPatch.com all 2 news articles » |
Isn’t it a good thing when you get a bonus item with your lunch? Not when that bonus item is a dead, uncooked frog hanging out in the middle of the bowl. That’s what a Wall Street Journal staffer allegedly found in her bowl at a Manhattan Pret-a-Manger. It was a tuna salad. Not a frog salad. We cannot emphasize this enough.
Here at Consumerist, we noticed a strange uptick in reports of dead animals in packaged vegetables. Most of these animals were frogs, and we came to call all animals included in food that weren’t meant to be there, from rats to insects to chunks of snake, “free frogs.”
(Warning: actual frog photo below)
This is going to happen when we eat organic greens, fresh from the field. We get it. Sometimes it’s hard to accept the dual nature of our food, as plants that once grew outside and animals that once walked around. Maybe because when we’re paying premium prices for someone to clean and chop those vegetables and make a salad for us, we expect that salad to be free of dead animals that we didn’t order.
Wall Street Journal colleagues blogged and Instagrammed about the free frog, reporting that the diner who found it was “pretty shaken.”
Guys, to be clear, it wasn't my salad. It was a colleague's, and she was pretty shaken, understandably!—
Kathryn Lurie (@kathrynlurie) December 30, 2013
Pret A Manger contacted Gothamist to let them know that they’re taking the froggy very seriously.
At Pret A Manger, we take issues like this very seriously. Our lettuce is sourced from farms that do not use any pesticides on its produce, therefore organic matter does very rarely manage to pass through our production process. We are currently looking into this issue to make every effort that this does not happen again.
Photo: Woman Finds Frog In Pret A Manger Salad [Gothamist]
Instead, before you set New Year’s resolutions that you break before you lose your hangover, remember that being realistic about your goals is half the battle. The other half is making it simple.
We’re not going to tell you to lose weight or quit smoking (though that may lead to money savings in lower premiums for health and life insurance), but we will offer these tips so you don’t suck at keeping your money resolutions.
Use Your 401(k)
If your employer offers a 401(k) or similar retirement plan, take advantage. These plans allow you to save money pre-tax, which means you can lower your taxable income with every dollar you contribute up to the maximum, which for 2014 is $17,500. Those 50 and older can save an extra $5,500 “catch-up” contribution for a total of $23,000. After you contribute, your money grows tax-deferred, meaning you won’t pay taxes on your earnings until you withdraw the money in retirement.
If you don’t contribute yet: Start. If you can’t contribute the max, ask your benefits administrator about matching funds. These are free dollars your employer will add to your account based on your contribution level. Try very hard to at least contribute enough to take advantage of the full match so you’re not leaving free money on the table. If you earn $50,000 a year and save 5 percent of your salary, and if your employer matches 50% on the first 4% you save, a 30-year-old could have more than $500,000 at age 65 if the account earns an average of 7% a year.
If you already contribute: Consider upping your contributions. Maybe set your sights on increasing your percentage by 1% every two months so you can slowly get used to having a little less in each paycheck. If you save 10% of your salary with the same assumptions, you could have more than $860,000 at age 65.
Try BankRate.com’s 401(k) calculator to see how much you could save.
Stop Guessing About Your Budget
You may have a pretty good idea of where you spend your money, but most people simply guess-timate. And you can imagine many of the guess-timators are wildly inaccurate.
It’s hard to set money goals if you’re not really sure what you spend. So get to it.
You can do it the old-fashioned way — keep a small notebook in your pocket and mark down every penny you spend. Or, you can get high-tech with apps that allow you to enter all your spending on your phone — which you probably have with you every time you take out your wallet, anyway.
Try apps such as those recommended in this story by CNN-Money and this one loved by LifeHacker and take a look at BankRate’s favorites.
Stop Using Plastic
Easier said than done, but give cash a try for a change. Or at least promise yourself you won’t use credit cards until you’ve paid off your balances from that excessive holiday spending.
While you’re on credit card hiatus, take a close look at all the cards you have and decide which is the smartest for you to use regularly. Refresh yourself with the rules of your rewards cards, too.
Cut Down on Bank Fees
BankRate offers some scary banking fee numbers for 2013. The average overdraft fee rose 3% to a record $32.20, according to the site. And the average cost for using another bank’s ATM set another record, rising 2%, to $4.13.
For the new year, vow to avoid bank fees. How? Start by refreshing your memory on how your accounts work. Review ATM charges, minimum balance fees, checking fees and more, and see if you can find an account that will do better by you. Check out BankRate.com’s lists of the best checking accounts, savings accounts and more.
Start a Rainy Day Fund
Unexpected expenses are a part of life, so you may as well be prepared.
Start an emergency fund. This would be money you set aside in a separate bank account that you don’t tap unless you really, really need to. You know, in case the roof caves in or you need to have teeth pulled.
Most financial advisors suggest you keep three to six months of expenses in a rainy day fund. That may seem overwhelming, but remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day and all, so you can take your time building your account.
Let’s not count interest here — because let’s face it, because most savings and money market account pay a pittance these days. But if you set aside $10 per week, you’ll have $520 in a year. If you save $25 per week, you’ll have $1,300, and $50 per week will give you $2,600.
While you’re at it, start a holiday savings fund for your 2014 purchases.
Have a topic you’d like to see covered in How To Not Suck? Or maybe you’re an expert who would like to share your insight with Consumerist readers? Send us a note at notsuck@consumerist.com.
You can read Karin Price Mueller’s stories for The Star-Ledger at NJ.com, follow her on Facebook, and on Twitter @kpmueller.
PREVIOUSLY ON HOW TO NOT SUCK:
How To Not Suck… At Last-Minute Christmas Gifting
How To Not Suck… At Saving For The Holidays
How To Not Suck… At Charitable Giving
How To Not Suck… At Disputing Credit Report Errors
How To Not Suck… At Lowering Your Utility Bills
How To Not Suck… At Home Inspections
How To Not Suck… At Understanding Credit Card Rewards
How To Not Suck… At Getting Ready For Tax Season
How To Not Suck… At Picking A Retirement Plan
How To Not Suck… At Deciding When To DIY
How To Not Suck… At Getting Out Of Debt
How To Not Suck… At First Year College Budgets
DISCLAIMER: Any websites, services, retailers, or brands mentioned in the story above are only intended as some of many options available to consumers, and do not constitute an endorsement by Consumerist, Consumerist Media LLC (CML) or its staff. Per Consumerist’s No Commercial Use Policy, such information may not be used by others in advertising or to promote a company’s product or service. In addition, this policy precludes any commercial use of any of CML’s published information in any form, or of the names of Consumers Union®, Consumer Media, Consumer Reports®, The Consumerist, consumerist.com or any other of CU or CML’s publications or services without CU or CML’s express written permission.
(WTHR.com)
In what sounds like an insurance company’s worst nightmare — and also your own nightmare if you happen to appreciate a house that is intact — the Indy Star says the couple who live in the home were minding their own business on Sunday, watching the Colts game in their living room.
Suddenly a Chevy Equinox crashed through the wall, missing the woman by perhaps a foot.
“This time I thought she was dead, five inches away from it,” the husband told WTHR. “I had no idea how something didn’t hit her. She was sitting just on the other side of the wall there.”
When you have to say “this time” there could possibly be a bigger problem here, no? And that problem could be the fact that the house is near a railroad crossing, where speed could be an issue in many of the 11 or so crashes that have happened at the house, according to the fire department. Drivers could be trying to beat a train at the crossing, instead of getting stuck waiting for it to go by.
In this particular case, the 29-year-old driver wasn’t seriously injured, despite going through the windshield. She told officials that she’d been going too fast over the railroad tracks near the house and lost control of the car.
Despite the occasional danger that exists simply by living in the house, the woman’s mother who lives on the other side of the duplex home says she’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
“I’m staying,” she says. “They’ll have to carry me out.”
Indy house hit by vehicle for 11th time in 30 years [Indy Star]
Vehicle crashes into house – again [WTHR]
If you're interested in giving your phone a new operating system, or you want to breathe new life into an old device, installing a new ROM is a great way to go. However, there are dozens of ROMs available, and picking the best one can be tricky. This massive database will help you find the right one for you.
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