pileofcrapola

Nobody likes to waste food. Thankfully, you can make your food last longer just by storing properly. Here are 10 tips, in 60-second video form, keep your food fresh.

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Dear Lifehacker,
I live in an apartment with squeaky doors, creaking floors, and whining pipes. I want peace and quiet but don't know what to do. Can you help?

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If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you have credit card debt or have had it in the past. Even if you think you’ve got it all under control, there are still some dangerous things about using credit cards that might be affecting you, so it’s important you know them and understand how to protect yourself.

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If you're in the market for a new tablet, you have a lot of information to sift through. Benchmarks, specs, software versions, supported apps, there's a ton of data. TabletRocket makes it a little easier by putting any two tablets side-by-side so you can compare them directly.

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While it won't power your home or anything requiring a ton of electricity, you can use a cola can and a penny to create a battery. It might get you out of a bind if you need a little bit of power and you've just got soda and some change.

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For many of us, cleaning is a somewhat tedious task. Having the right tool for the right job can certainly help things go faster. What's your favorite cleaning tool? Snap a pic and share it with us below!

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Seven months ago I transitioned out of a corporate job in market research to work for myself full-time. By the time I left my day job to become a personal finance coach, I had nine clients, $22,000 in savings to cover my living expenses and $5,000 in a business account. This is how I did it.

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Say hello to construction expert Fraser Patterson. Fraser has spent his entire career in the construction field, starting as an apprentice and eventually owning his own contracting firm. Since then, Fraser has been head of the Centro Business Incubator at Centro University in Mexico, and CEO of OnisVida, a company that helps consumers manager their construction projects. His newest venture is Bolster, a soon-to-launch site that will help people solve their biggest remodeling challenges. Have questions? Fraser is here for the next hour—ask away!

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Have a DIY problem you can't quite get a lock on or an idea for a project that you're just not sure how to start? We'd like to hear about it. Snap a pic, write up your problem, and then share it with us or send us an email. We might just feature it in our regular What's Your Problem series.

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If you spend a little extra cash on a nice wood cutting board, you want it to last for a long time. As The Kitchn points out, the best way to do that is to regularly maintain your cutting board with a bit of oil.

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Office space is expensive. Why pay to keep all of your employees in the building when there are perfectly good areas right nearby with plenty of desks (well, tables), plentiful wireless Internet, and someone always puts on a new pot of coffee? What we’re saying is that some businesses are kicking employees out and sending them to Starbucks.

Because we in the word-slinging business like to sit around staring at our navels, the most notable examples of this have been news outlets. It makes sense: instead of paying to maintain suburban bureaus, why not station employees in suburban chain restaurants? the Arizona Republic did just that recently, encouraging community reporters who no longer have fixed desks to camp out at Starbucks or McDonald’s. As a bonus, it forces the workers to change out of their pajamas, and local people who might have some news to share know that they can find the reporter in a public place.

Would this work in other fields? Coffee shops and fast-food places are a refuge for freelance workers and business travelers, but we don’t see kicking employees out becoming a trend anytime soon. Even among office jobs, they aren’t all suited to getting kicked out. You couldn’t really do call center work, and any job that requires a lot of yapping on the phone would really annoy people.

The businesses themselves welcome it. They aren’t about to kick out paying customers as long as the tables don’t need to be turned over and those remote office workers are behaving themselves. “While there isn’t a specific policy about customers working from our stores, Starbucks strives to provide a welcoming experience with a focus on maintaining a welcoming atmosphere for all of our customers,” a Starbucks spokeswoman told Businessweek in a very welcoming manner.

You’re a slushie machine. You sit at home at the convenience store of the gas station, churning out sweet frozen delight and depositing it in customers’ cups. Then along comes an unclothed someone who wants to beat you up — and for what? What did you ever do to deserve such a beat down?

The aggrieved slushie machine in this instance was minding its own chilly business at a Shell station in Massachusetts when police say a woman took off all her clothing in a violent attack on the machine.

WWLP.com’s 22News reports that cops had to use a taser and pepper to subdue the 26-year-old suspect while her two children were in the car in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

State Troopers called in police to help them out when they found the woman causing damage to the machine inside the store. According to authorities, she resisted their efforts and took off all her clothes while continuing to fight, kick and yell until she was placed under arrest.

As for any reason why a slushie machine would become the victim of such an outburst, a police representative says her behavior could indicate PCP use, because people under its effects can feel hot and agitated. And slushies are very cold, so maybe that makes sense?

Poor slushie machine. Keep churning, little guy.

Woman took off clothes in slushie machine attack, police say [WWLP.com]

Welcome to “How To Not Suck,” a new, weekly series in which personal finance writer and consumer advocate Karin Price Mueller gives you the essential information to avoid being foolish with your finances.

We all know it happens. The dreaded Freshman 15. Sure, a ring around your gut and those snug jeans aren’t pleasant, but they’re not the worst challenges you may encounter during your freshman year. If you’re not careful, you could end up broke by the December — and it’s not all beer and pizza. Heck, beer and pizza are a bargain compared to a semester’s worth of textbooks.

Here are the Consumerist Freshman 15: money-related topics to think about in order to make sure you don’t suck at being a financially responsible college student.

1. Buying new books
There’s nothing like the scent of a freshly-cracked open new book, but college textbooks can crack your bank account. In most cases, there’s no need to buy new. Take “Chemistry: The Central Science,” for example. Prices for a new copy range from $140 to $246, while used copies go for as low as $68. Rentals for a semester are in the $60 range, while the e-book version costs around $100. To comparison shop, you may want to check out sites like BookRenter.com, CourseSmart.com, CampusBooks.com, DealOz.com and BigWords.com. Then there are always the bigger booksellers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Also ask your school if it offers a book rental program — the latest rage on some campuses.

[NOTE: Consumerist does not endorse any of the sites, sellers, or services, referenced in this or any story. Any brands mentioned are merely provided as available options for consumers. See full Disclaimer at bottom of page.]

2. All those supplies
In the days leading up to the start of classes, it’s easy to get caught up in the college spirit and you might splurge on unneeded or impulsive items. Wait until after your first class to hit the local office supply store or campus bookstore for goodies. You may find you don’t need all that much to get your work done. You may even be able to recycle some folders, binders and more from your high school career. If you have to buy, don’t forget to check the dollar store. And remember — the Cadillac of pens really does the same job as the freebie from the doctor’s office.

3. Rah, rah, an $80 sweatshirt?
There’s nothing like fitting in and showing support for your college, but keep it under control. Cool hats and apparel sporting your college’s name are “wants” and not “needs.” Consider adding them to your holiday or birthday gift list so someone else forks over the dough.

4. Bank smart
ATM fees, minimum balance fees and money transfer fees can eat away at your checking account, and fast. Truly free checking accounts are still out there, but you have to shop around. BankRate.com is one site that lists accounts specifically tailored to students. Also make sure the bank you do business with offers an ATM nearby. Ask about opting out of overdraft protection, which would allow your balance to fall into negative territory rather than declining a withdrawal or a purchase — for a hefty fee. Also see if your parents have an account that can be linked to your new one to keep fees low.

If you go the debit route, make sure you know what you’re getting into — especially the fees associated with cards onto which colleges put your financial aid, or which are combined with your student ID card. These accounts can come loaded with high costs and restrictions that will chip away at the typically low-running college student’s bank balance.

For more on the new, burgeoning love affair between colleges and banks, read these stories:
*CFPB Looking Into Very Cozy Relationship Between Colleges & Banks Marketing To Students
*Millions Of College Students Pushed Into Receiving Financial Aid On Fee-Laden Cards
*Financial Aid Debit Cards Force Some Students To Travel If They Want To Avoid ATM Fees
*Lawmakers Suddenly Care About Those Fee-Laden College Cards That Are Now In The News

5. Food, glorious food
Look closely at your campus meal plan and your eating habits. For example, if you’re not a breakfast eater and you hit the local fast food shop for lunch, you’re wasting your meal plan money and paying for food you never eat. If you’re required by your school to have a meal plan, don’t give in to the temptation of fast-food just because McDonald’s is closer. Every meal you eat using the meal plan is more money in your pocket. For the extras, invest in a coffee pot to avoid those $3 coffees you “need” every morning. (Three bucks four times a week adds up to $180 over a 15-week semester.)

6. Credit card debt
A 2013 Sallie Mae survey found undergrads had an average credit card debt of $787, while freshmen carried the highest balances of $1,007. While the 2009 CARD Act has helped to curb the once-rampant marketing of credit cards to college students (Sorry, no more free Visa T-shirts at orientation), it’s still not difficult for you to get your name on some plastic. Responsibly use a debit card first, and if/when you decide to delve into the world of credit, you can research cards on sites like BankRate.com, CreditCards.com, Cardhub.com, and Credit.com for the best terms, and never opt in to things like overlimit protection or credit-monitoring, as these programs will cost you money and rarely provide any useful services.

7. Look for freebies
While your friends are paying big moolah for movies, concerts and other entertainment, look for freebies and discounted tickets. From museums to theaters, you’ll find most offer a discount for those who can present a valid college ID, and many have free college nights. Also look in your school newspaper for campus offerings, which are usually cheap or cost nothing at all.

8. The home entertainment money pit
You might think cable TV is a must, but you can cut expenses by getting creative. Lots of television networks offer free programming online, and there’s plenty of technology that will allow you to stream programs for a far lower cost than traditional cable programming. Consider services like Netflix and Hulu, and remember that you can even watch some sports live and for free at ESPN.com. Amazon Student is half the price of Amazon Prime, but still gives you free two-day shipping and access to the Prime streaming video library at no additional charge.

9. Can you hear me now?
Yes, people say the latest iPhone is cool, as are many other smartphones and tablets. But wanting the latest and greatest is not the same thing as “needing.” If you’re paying for your own wireless service, look carefully at your phone and your options for data and calling plans. You could end up caught in a steeply-priced two-year contract that offers way more than you need. Or crunch the numbers on a prepaid phone. A recent New York Times piece found a two-year contract with AT&T for an iPhone would cost $200 for the device and as much as $90 a month for the data plan, adding up to at least $2,360 over two years. For a prepaid plan with Virgin Mobile, you’d spend $650 for the iPhone but only $30 a month for unlimited data, costing $1,370 over two years.

Even if your parents or a loved one is footing the bill for your wireless, it’s still worth looking to see where money can be saved. After all, the money saved by switching plans or providers is now freed up to be spent on much more fun things, like food.

10. Computers
Unless you’re in a pre-Luddite track at your college, you’ll need a computer, but you probably don’t need one with a video card that costs more than a good used car, or two 36-inch LED monitors. With so many services and applications being cloud-based, all that really matters for most liberal arts students is that the computer has dependable WiFi access and enough storage memory to download some movies (legally, of course). You also won’t feel as bad if you accidentally sit on your $250 Chromebook compared to the loss of a $2,200 MacBook Pro.

11. Printers
More and more professors are happy to accept e-mailed assignments, but you will probably need to print something before the semester is out. Rather than buy a printer and take on the costs for paper and printer ink (one of the most expensive products, per ounce, on the market), dump your assignments on a thumb drive or e-mail them to yourself, and print at your college library or computer lab. A lot of schools build the costs for these services into students’ fees, so you should use what you’ve already paid for rather than screaming “Nooooooooo!” at 3 a.m. when your inkjet runs dry with two pages to still print out.

12. Plan ahead
The B-word. Budget. Rather than spend as expenses come up, think ahead and create a spending plan. Estimate your costs for supplies, food, entertainment and even long-term outlays, like that spring break trip you’re hoping to score. Using a budget will help you plan for the bigger expenses, and it will show you when you’re spending more than you planned on the little things so can reign yourself in before your bank account is empty.

13. There’s an app for that
Consider a budgeting app that will allow you to enter your purchases as you go. It’s a great way to keep track of your spending. Research services like Mint.com, iReconcile, DollarBird and BUDGT to see if any of them are to your liking.

14. Ask for practical gifts
While toiletries and textbooks may not be sexy, you’d much rather be spending your pocket cash on fun stuff than on shampoo and toothpaste. For the holidays or your birthday, ask for gift cards for stores that sell the items you need, or ask for the items outright. You could also ask for luxury items: gift cards to the restaurants you covet or the clothing stores you’ve been avoiding for fear of going bankrupt.

15. You’re not too old to qualify for a scholarship
You may have started college, but there are plenty of scholarships available for upperclassmen. It’s free money that will loosen up your budget for other items. Monster’s FastWeb.com and Sallie Mae’s CollegeAnswer.com offer free scholarship searches.

You can read Karin Price Mueller’s stories for The Star-Ledger at NJ.com, follow her on Facebook, and on Twitter @kpmueller.

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.

Mike is confused. He took advantage of a Babies ‘R’ Us deal promising a free $10 gift card with the purchase of a certain amount of Pampers brand disposable diapers. In the checkout line, he was confused when the cashier added the gift card and his total purchase went up by $10. That’s not how “free” works!

He writes:

At the request of my wife, I went to Babies R Us in [redacted] on the afternoon of October 6th, 2013 expressly to take advantage of the Pampers diapers promotion they have offered: Buy two qualifying packs of Pampers and receive a free $10 gift card. I went about my shopping, picked up a few other things for our 14-month old and upon reaching the register, left scratching my head frustrated beyond belief.

When the cashier rang me up, I made sure to ask if I had purchased qualifying packs of Pampers, which I did. My total, with a few other items came to $105 and change. I was getting ready to pay, when the cashier reminds himself, “Oh, and let’s not forget your $10 gift card,” at which point he scanned a card and my total went up by exactly $10 to $115 and change.

I asked him why I was being charged $10 for a FREE $10 gift card and his only explanation was that “It’s confusing, but the money is on the card” and that they need to charge the $10 to activate the card. I maintained that I was actually then paying $10 for the free $10 card and was in effect receiving no promotional savings at all. His reply, “The $10 is on the card.” So why was I paying for it to go on the card if it was free? Circular discussion ensues.

After a few back and forths and his inability to explain where the phantom $10 disappeared to, I requested to speak to the manager on duty. The woman who came over was pleasant enough (the entire exchange in fact was never heated, just me somewhat incredulous and chuckling at the idea of contesting simple math), but again could do nothing other than state repeatedly that the “$10 is on the card.”

I again challenged that I was paying to receive a card of exactly that amount, to which she responded that she had no other way of explaining it to me and that “many customers take the card with no problem.” I suggested the promotion was confusing at least, deceptive at worst. Her reply was simply that if there was anything wrong with the promotion, “we’d have been sued by now” and to take it up with corporate.

I immediately requested to leave without any of the items in my cart and went to Target instead. Needless to say, I’ll be going directly to Target first in the future.

I very well may be missing something here, but if that’s the situation, I can’t seem to figure out which piece isn’t connecting for me. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume there is something that wasn’t explained well, but it that’s the case, this is a case of a very poorly trained staff holding up a corporate promotion without any ability to explain how it works. Where’s the FREE part coming in if I’m paying for it? This seems to be simple math to me, but maybe I’m just not seeing it? Am I crazy?

No, Mike, you’re not crazy–the employees just didn’t explain how the promotion works very well. From their point of view, it’s hard to explain transactions that you run every day to someone when they seem perfectly natural to you, isn’t it? As it turns out, the gift card really is free, but how the store gets there is kind of confusing. they mark down the items by $10, then “charge” you for the $10 gift card.

A Toys ‘R’ Us rep explained it to us like this:

In order to activate a promotional gift card such as the one in this offer, our point-of-sale system marks the qualifying item down by $10, and a $10 charge appears on the gift card line. Currently, this is the only way to activate the promotional gift card. The customer is not charged for this gift card, and had the transaction continued, this would have been reflected on his receipt.

So if he had to buy two items that originally cost $30 each to get the gift card, the receipt would show that they each rang up at $25, then add on a $10 gift card. You’re still spending the same amount in the end, but it creates the illusion that you’re somehow getting ripped off if you look at the transaction before the final total comes up.

An intoxicated 19-year-old in Georgia didn’t learn his lesson when his pickup truck collided with the side of a Taco Bell restaurant. No, it took two additional bumps against the building (and a police officer with a drawn weapon) to get him to stop acting like a drunk buffoon.

The diagram above shows how the car allegedly veered off a road in Gwinnett County, GA, on Sunday, taking out a water meter box en route. What the diagram doesn’t show is that the side of the building that took the first blow from the truck was all glass. Note that I said “was” all glass:

“Anyone sitting at those tables near the walls would have been seriously injured,” a deputy tells WSBTV.com.

After ruining that wall, the driver whipped around the back of the building through the drive-thru lane. What he didn’t know was that there had been a sheriff’s deputy parked on the other side of the building when this whole thing started.

So when the driver turned the corner — smashing into the side of building for a second time — he was greeted by the sight of the deputy waiting in the drive-thru line.

“I felt the driver’s intent was to strike any object or person within the path of the truck,” wrote the officer. “I saw the truck strike (one of the aforementioned women’s) vehicle as it sped (past). The truck made a sharp left turn and struck the building.”

The deputy says the driver continued to rev the engine and only stopped after the officer drew his weapon.

“I’m sorry,” the driver is quoted as telling the officer, “but the gas pedal was stuck.”

Surprise, surprise… the young man had a BAC of .142, significantly over the local limit of .08. Not to mention he wasn’t old enough to be drinking in the first place.

And so he was arrested and charged with DUI, possession of alcohol by a minor, hit and run, improper lane change, first-degree criminal damage to property and two counts of aggravated assault.

Alleged drunk driver plows into Taco Bell — four times [Gwinnett Daily Post]

Police: Drunken driver crashes into Gwinnett Taco Bell [WSBTV]

How much junk mail from one company is too much? There is no universal number, but the limit is definitely smaller than this one-day crop of Comcast mailers at one six-household apartment building. Look, Comcast, maybe the residents of this building just aren’t into you.

Reader J.A., one of those residents, lined up the crop of mail to take this picture. He was able to do so because the mail carrier just dumped all of the letters on the floor of the foyer.

The entrance foyer to the part I live in has six mailboxes. We regularly get junk mail from Xfinity/Comcast, but today was special: Twelve pieces of mail for six boxes. The postal worker just dumped them on the floor. Nine are addressed to “Current Resident” and three have actual resident names.

J.A. didn’t tell us, and probably doesn’t know, how many of those residents are Comcast customers. Not that it would probably matter.

“90 degrees out. Harris Teeter fully decorated for Christmas. Attached is just a small sampling of what I saw today there,” read reader Robert’s hysterical dispatch from the grocery store. “Santa hats and Christmas stockings at every register! Too soon!!!”

Before anyone cries, “This picture was taken last December, Consumerist! You were duped!” note the magazines in the rack next to the stockings. That InTouch magazine with the Kardashians on the cover? It’s this week’s issue.

Any one of these displays would horrify us, but all in one store? And there’s more? I don’t know anyone who picks up stockings as an impulse item while it still feels like summer outside, and the hat makes sense only if you’re dressing up as Santa for Halloween. Is that a popular costume on some planet?

Drive-thrus are meant to be convenient for customers, but that ease of ordering is only meant for food, not for ahem, other services. A McDonald’s employee called 9-1-1 on a pantsless customer who allegedly tried to get her to help him out with his masturbatory efforts.

Those shuttable drive-thru windows proved very helpful indeed for the worker, reports the Smoking Gun, who told cops that she had a bit of a shock when turning to give the 69-year-old customer his change.

It was then that she realized he wasn’t wearing pants and was apparently in the midst of a self-touching session. He then allegedly “grabbed the cashier’s hand and attempted to pull her hand into his vehicle,” according to an arrest affidavit.

She denied that effort and shut the window on him to call the cops. He was later arrested on a misdemeanor battery charge while pantsless at a nearby gas station, where he’d a least draped a t-shirt over his downstairs bits.

Cops: Pantsless, Masturbating McDonald’s Customer, 69, Tried To Force Drive-Thru Worker To Touch Him [The Smoking Gun]

The mailer from the Neptune Society addressed to Holland’s father has a point. Many Americans do put off planning for their own burial or funeral until it’s too late, leaving their family members scrambling and guessing when the time inevitably comes. That’s not true for Holland’s dad: he received this mailer two years after he died.

They’re right: at this point, he really has put it off too long.

Meanwhile, Kelly’s late grandmother hadn’t donated to Heifer International in a while, and they sent her this inadvertently accurate letter:

Kelly comments:

My grandmother died just over a year ago. I bought her house and still get lots of mail from the charities she supported. (I’ve been trying to get her name off the mailing lists, but I’ve been fairly unsuccessful.) On the anniversary of her death (September 24th), I found this in the mail. Seems like there could have been a better way to say it.

This one of those moments when the world seems to actually shift on its axis and the truth beams out through a puffy cloud in the heavens: Everything about the way retailers fold shirts has been completely wrong, and this is the one true path to shopping enlightenment.

Kotaku got ahold of a few snaps from Uniqlo stores in Japan that are doing something so brilliant and yet so simple, it makes me want to tell all the other retail establishments with graphic t-shirts that they need to change their ways: Folding each shirt in a pile at a different crease point, so that the stack shows the full front design of the t-shirt.

Sure, stores can just hang a sample shirt, unfolded, somewhere near the display to show what it looks like. But there’s not always enough room for that if you’re selling a wide variety of graphically interesting merchandise.

Doing it this way could take a bit more time, of course, and then there are the marauding hordes of shoppers who would inevitably muss it up. But a girl can dream.

Uniqlo Folds T-Shirts Better Than You Do [Kotaku]

Some people will do anything to meet sales and customer satisfaction goals, even if it means falsifying signatures, and opening bogus accounts. Which is why around 30 people in the Los Angeles area are now former Wells Fargo employees.

The L.A. Times confirmed last week that some bank employees in the region were going too far in trying to keep up with the bank’s sales goals. The main infraction involves these employees opening fake accounts in order to give the appearance of having reached a certain level of new customer acquisition.

Sometimes the people whose names were on these accounts knew they were being opened and played along with the charade, while others were unaware that they now had a brand new Wells Fargo bank account.

“We found a breakdown in a small number of our team members,” a Wells rep tells the Times.

But at least one fired employee says there was pressure from managers to meet these goals:

At times, managers required workers to stay in the branch after the close of business, calling their friends and family members, if they failed to open enough accounts during the day, the worker said.

To which the rep responds, “Our team members do have goals. And sometimes they can be blinded by a goal.”

Here’s how inept Bank of America is. Not only did the bank ignore the fact that a couple’s mortgage debt had been discharged in bankruptcy, continuing to harass them for a debt they no longer owed, it also ignored messages from the bankruptcy court judge. That is until after the judge imposed a $10,000/month sanction on the bank.

“This is not just a stupid mistake. This is a policy,” wrote the U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge. “And frankly, $10,000.00 a month plus attorney’s fees may not mean much to Bank of America, but at least it will send a message that other attorneys may pick up on.”

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing means the homeowner no longer needs to pay the debt, but the bank retains its right to foreclose on the property. But the couple claimed that BofA disregarded all evidence provided by them and their lawyer that the loan had been discharged, and continued to contact them by phone and mail in order to collect on the debt.

It was a full 10 days after the judge ordered the sanctions that the bank finally responded to any of his requests. Now facing the $10,000/month, plus lawyers’ fees, Bank of America has finally decided that to stop hassling the couple about the discharged debt.

Bankruptcy Judge Sends a Message to Bank of America [Bankruptcy Beat]

Prince William County school notes Washington Post Virginia libraries offering free online homework help. The Prince William County Public Library System is offering free, live online homework help from teachers through the Literati database on its Web site. Gil Florini (R), priest of Saint-Pierre-d ...

PayPal says users will be able to pay in stores by typing in a four-digit number that pops up on their mobile phones

The "flawless" oval diamond weighs slightly more than 118 carats.

Without compromising on quality or selection today you'll find the top deals in the country and some overnight reductions below.

The National Toy Hall of Fame is getting ready to induct its class of 2013. 

In the spirit of Halloween, check out these photos of abandoned asylums and hospitals.