For example, I 3d printed a box over my outlet to protect my cables from my bed pushing against it. In addition, my cables never fall to the floor so they’re much easier to grab.
I bought 20 pairs of identical socks.Now every sock matches and makes putting away laundry easier.
Until the first few break down and you need to buy new ones, just to realize they are different from the ones you have by now (or discontinued outright).
Yep, I wish Darn Tough had socks that didn’t look like the ugliest mosaic ever.
They do have at least one style of solid color socks.
I did this too :D I used to have 20 pairs of non-identical black socks, which made matching hard and it felt wrong to wear socks of slightly different type or size. Much easier now
I keep getting socks for Christmas though, which I never wear cause they’d mess up the simplicity
Lol that’s funny and and annoying in a good way…
Fuckin game changer. Lowered my blood pressure LOL
Eliminated Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and all of the affiliate companies and services for the mentioned ones, from my life. Now all I have is Linux based and self-hosted. My life’s toxicity levels dropped to pretty much nothing since then.
I just finished doing this too. It’s so freeing not being tied to mega corporations anymore.
What do you use for search?
Not OC, but I’m using Kagi and super happy. Before I use Kagi, I didn’t realise how bad Google result is. Its results are poisoned by ads and SEO nowadays.
I still am using Google and I hate how useless it has become since SEO started to become a thing in the last 5 or 10 years. Maybe I should try Kagi. Does it have location specific search results
more on the 10 years end of that, i remember thinking results were declining ~2011 when they decided to start being ask jeeves
Yeah, since about 2016 it has started to get really bad though. I remember when I would be looking for a solution to a computer related issue, all the top results were super useful Tom’s Hardware and AnandTech forum posts. But of course nobody does SEO for forum posts because they’re just trying to help people not make money, so instead now all of the probably AI written crap is in the top results which half the time is only barely related to what I searched
Yes, you can filter by almost any country in the world.
Cool, yeah I will definitely be trying it out thanks.
I have my own self-hosted instances of Ecosia, Searx and Whoogle.
It might seem dumb but i started preparing what i need for the next day the evening before it, clothes ,my bag, the train ticket, what i need to eat on the go, etc. instead of doing a mad rush in the morning to get ready.
Also good is to always put something back where it should be. Like my work badge is always in the front pinch of my laptop bag and the first thing I do when I finish work is put it back into that pouch.
Labelled bag clips on all the stuff in the freezer. When something runs out, the clip goes onto a bit of string, hanging from the bottom of a cupboard. Instant freezer shopping list.
Basically a system where the clips act as Kanban-cards. Simple and effective!
oooooh this is a good one
I write everything in my freezer down on a list with a in/out side. Once the two sides equalize I cross the line off. I also record the date on the freezer bags and the list so I eat the older stuff first.
Helps keep track and makes shopping easy.
I have ADHD, that would last about a week before being forgotten about. Organisation is definitely not my strong point.
Overstock.
Buy two bottles of cleaner. One in the kitchen, one in the bathroom. Tool box lives in the garage, but I have spares in the kitchen drawer. Trash can in every room. Extra shoelaces sitting on the shoe rack. It doesn’t take up a lot of space and it makes life much easier when you don’t have to look for something.
Extra shoelaces? I don’t remember ever needing extra shoelaces ever in my life.
This is such a generational thing. My parents and grandparents would get shoes and have them resoled periodically. With a little care, a pair of shoes were expected to last decades. You used to see shoe repair shops in every neighborhood. I can’t remember the last time I brought a pair of shoes that could be resoled.
Shoes that can be resoled are way, way more expensive than shoes that can’t be. (See also Sam Vimes’ “boots” theory of socioeconomic unfairness)
I’m currently wearing a pair of boots manufactured in 1982. They where my grandfather’s. I’ll have them repaired for as long as I can find a cobbler to do it. New laces on occasion and shoe polish every few months.
I disagree. I had a pair of cheap elastic sided boots from Rivers resoled, and my partner once got new heels put on his worn down Kmart shoes. It is possible to get shoes cheaper than the cost of resoling them.
IIRC most cobblers will work on Birkenstocks.
The day when you will,you’ll see that this is really smart.
My work boots typically go through 2-3 sets of laces over their lifespan.
You sound like someone who has never lived in a small space.
Adding to this buy extra phone chargers for your work desk, car, suit case, and sofa so most any time you have a charger and cable ready to go.
How could I forget that??
Honestly? I switched from Windows to Linux. I was working for several years at a Windows-centric computer magazine and realized a couple of years ago that many of the articles I was writing were about how to make Windows behave less like Windows. So I installed some Linux distro in a virtual machine on my work PC to play around with it for a bit. And soon after I installed Manjaro on my PC at home. Today, four years later, I’ve installed various Linux distros on all my PCs, and I’m much less annoyed by computer issues on a regular basis.
Yes Linux sort of feels like a car from the 1980s or earlier, where you can open the hood and understand it, and Windows feels like a car from the 2020s where you simply can’t understand everything the car is doing because of all the computers onboard.
you simply can’t understand everything
ironically neither can the car (windows), which is what always ends up making it run like horse shit after a few years of use
Except instead of the car being old, it is modern and fast.
When going on vacations abroad, we bring a power strip from home. With it, you’ll only need a single international converter to power multiple devices.
I do this as well, but add in a 10 port USB charger and some USB cables so I can charge all my devices.
That sounds like its gonna explode XD
Do you often have like 10 usb devices charging at once??
I have a family of five. When we go on vacation, we have 4 tablets, 2 phones, 5 watches, and a power bank. If it’s summer, a rechargeable personal fan for my wife. So 10 isn’t even enough.
Whoa. At this point, I’d be so stressed from charging stuff all the time, that I would reject technology and buy a country house lol.
And you also add your own portable electrical dam
I just tend to buy a powerboard at whatever place I end up. Surprisingly cheap compared to the price of the journey, and a great gift for someone on the last day.
How would that work? Instead of one foreign electrical outlet, I end up with six of them.
When I was in college I had zero knowledge of how to cook so I relied on what my mom packed me and takeaways.
I decided to learn how to make basic stuff, like pasta, eggs, baked potatoes, etc and it saved me tons of money.
I’m not a good cook by a long shot but I can feed myself and to this day I enjoy some quality time in the kitchen.
This also makes you good dating material, for anyone out there who could use the advice 😉
Pretty great 2nd date in my experience, not a great idea for an initial date unless you know the person ahead of time. But can pretty quickly reveal if they can cook too!
It’s crazy to me how people dont know this.
Cooking saves so much money, its incredible.
Try and find a cheap deal for a meal service like hellofresh or blue apron or any other service. I didn’t want to, but my spouse did. I’ve learned some good techniques and used ingredients I would not normally use. Don’t sign up long term, just get a box or two or whatever and cancel. Once you’ve learned your lesson you can extrapolate that.
Started distancing myself from friends who become political extremists and life is much calmer
Unless all you did was talk about politics, how does it actually affect a relationship (unless they say something actually atrocious)?
In my experience with these types of people, they more and more frequently shift conversation to them wanting their beliefs validated, because normal people have stopped engaging with them.
Can understand now. If everything someone’s wants to talk is politics then really is not that fun to be around.
I have a friend who was a classic Catholic libertarian in college–he held some views on trans rights, abortion, and economic justice that I find deeply disagreeable. It made conversations a little tricky because there were a whole set of topics I couldn’t bring up unless I wanted to wade into a debate immediately; sometimes I did, but often I just wanted to hang out and chill and that was hampered.
It took him exactly one year of being out of college and working a real job to realize that his economic views were fucked, and the whole rest of it unraveled from there. He’s now a staunch leftist, and it’s way, way easier to hang out with him.
That’s not, however, to say it’s not worth having friends you disagree with. We remained friends because we were able to disagree productively, and I feel I understand my own political views far better for all those long nights discussing them. Still, it was a friendship that took unusual effort to maintain.
My BIL is a Catholic Libertarian. Almost forty and still lives with Mom and Dad, so he never had the brush with reality that your friend went through. He thinks he’s politically savvy and always wants “civil debate” with me, but he’s utterly insufferable.
I’m not looking forward to Thanksgiving next week.
Using a password manager
Bitwarden FTW. I also recommend Aegis 2FA and Raivo 2FA
KeePass for life!
KeePass is also good if you want it local only or have figured out a way to sync on multiple devices.
SyncThing makes it pretty easy. It is less easy than a cloud based solution, though.
I went on a T-shirt wholesale website and ordered 20 navy blue shirts for a few bucks apiece. I look like this now. Get over it.
I do this with socks. Mostly because I hate taking the time to match socks when I’m doing laundry. And when I inevitably lose a sock I’m not left with one sock that doesn’t match any other sock.
Me too! The only bummer is when they all wear out at the same time and you have to buy 2 dozen socks at once. I’m at that stage right now, which is only a drag because I bought shitty socks last time and need to find a new brand.
I hear that. I just bought a bunch of Darn Tough stocks. I’m hoping they hold up for as long as I hear they do. I wear out socks really fast!
Expensive but worth it.
I love them. They fit well and feel and look nice.
One thing you can do with quality stuff is to just buy one or two every month (or however much you can afford). Assuming it’s good quality and holds up, you’ll have a good amount after a year or so. I do this with underwear as well.
Oh, you reminded me what I need to get my brother for Xmas.
What brand socks do you buy?
One time I bought Calvin Klien and they were pretty good. This time I think I got Mark’s Work wear house brand and they were crap. I used to buy one pack to see if I liked them but this time I bought a bunch and got burnt.
My friends kids all just wear mismatched socks. Apparently that’s the thing to do these days.
tom scott arch nemesis
Bitwarden.
I actually can’t understand how most people live without a password manager.
I just give up after 3 tries and click “forgot password”.
It isn’t about the convenience of remembering passwords, it’s about changing all of your passwords to something unguessable, and having a different password for every individual website. Something like
sC6vht8q!J#yZgHfmUq9p#%V2GqFrv96Wqy@$BrNxmmdtLM^aUWrSSTTsYnnLac8C9YPN*bUZxVTqkmy6Y!5!pm9qE7BRJ9nE
Is impossible to remember, but it’s also impossible to brute force or guess.
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Hired a bi-weekly house cleaner. My mental health is so much better now that my house is always clean.
Ooh that sounds nice. I’ve considered doing something similar, but I’m worried about being able to find stuff if I’m not the one who puts it away. Have you had any trouble with that?
Most cleaners only clean, dont really change stuff. The secret is to kind of tidy up your house before they arrive. And yes, definitely get one. It’s a life changer, and good for your personal relationships.
Yes, I am not comfortable with someone coming in my private residence. So I am left to do everything myself…
My cleaner just moves stuff to the side, cleans that area and slides them back. So at most it’s like a few inches from where it was before or in the same general area. We have a really sweet lady come once a month and it’s so nice to not worry about doing deep cleans. I do basic cleaning in between if stuff gets really dirty.
Just to clarify, do you mean twice a week, or every two weeks?
Every 2 weeks
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I managed to clean the kitchen and do the dishes every evening for two weeks in a row now and it is a start to be nice to tomorrow me. If it becomes a habit, I will try to do more, but for now it is hard enough, but also so, so satisfying the next morning! Past me, today me and tomorrow me are a team!
Yeah the hardest part is making a habit. I’ve started to do a quick vacuum on the stairs once a day (cordless vacuum FTW) and it makes a big difference.
I stopped listening to news radio in the morning. Music is the way to go to start the day.
Big feel you on this one. There was a while I would hate-listen to NPR on my drive and realized how badly that was making me shit my ass. One day, I was listening to ‘Lovely Day’ by Bill Withers with the windows down and an older lady started dancing while I was at a stoplight and blew me a kiss. Terry Gross not giving me nothing that compares to that…
