If it’s the airline’s fault that your flight is delayed or canceled or you missed your connection, whip out a copy of their Rule 240.
lifehacker
Turn An Old Computer Into A Dedicated, Secure, Banking Terminal
By 4.2.07
Here’s an idea for a spare computer you have lying around: make it into a secure banking device.
VIDEO: Write In The Shower With Rite-In-The-Rain Notebooks
By 3.29.07
Using a pencil or a waterproof pen, you can actually write on it underwater. The pages are coated so they never get soggy. The book does get “damp” but it dries off after a while. Your writing stays legible. The book doesn’t dissolve.
8 Free Personal Finance Management Programs
By 3.27.07
When we posted our scrappy guide to making your first budget, many readers chimed in with what personal finance software they enjoyed, many of them free. Here’s a roundup of the results:
Deodorize Your Clothes With Vodka!
By 3.26.07
Solution: Spritz garments with a small amount of vodka; hang them to dry in a well-ventilated area (spot-test first). Straight vodka kills bacteria, but it doesn’t leave a scent.
Great tip, because if we know you there was likely going to be some vodka on those clothes anyway. —MEGHANN MARCO
Attention: You Cut Your Electric Bill By Almost Half!
By 3.22.07
Reader Melissa writes in to tell us that using tips from Consumerist and other sites, she cut her (admittedly outrageous) electric bill down to size. Melissa writes: I cut my electric bill nearly in half.
Consumerist's 9-Step Beginner's Budget
By 3.19.07
Are you a budget novice? Constantly overdrafting? Never have enough money to buy what you really want? Wish you could get your shit together? We’ve got a sexy free Excel document to share with you.
Prevent Your Dryer From Catching Fire
By 3.17.07
Krunk4Ever! says that if you use dryer sheets you can extend the life of your dryer and prevent it from catching fire by washing the lint filter with hot soapy water and a brush once every six months.
How To Take Pictures Inside Stores Without Getting Caught
By 3.15.07
How can you take hundreds of pictures inside a store without getting caught? It can be really hard. If you ask for permission, it will be likely be denied. If you’re too conspicuous, someone will say, “No pictures!” and you could get thrown out.
Farecast Deals Searches For Cheap Airline Tickets Using 'Science'
By 3.14.07
How are our deals different than thousands of other travel sites? They’re different because our deals are based on science, not marketing. We apply science to airfare deals in two ways, 1) why it’s a deal and 2) why you should buy now.
These are the questions we find ourselves asking, and now we don’t have to. Very cool. —MEGHANN MARCO
Decide Your Next Camera Purchase With Flickr's Camera Finder
By 3.1.07
Flickr’s “Camera Finder” feature is a good tool to help you decide on your next camera purchase.
20 Online Furniture Buying Tips From An Industry Insider
By 2.27.07
A tipster from one of the top three online furniture retailers advice for shoppers spills his guts. His top advice for consumers looking to shop for furniture online: don’t.
Objective Movie Rating Site For Parents
By 2.8.07
Want to know if a movie is appropriate for kids but don’t trust the crappy, arbitrary, and useless censorship of the MPAA? You might want to check out kids-in-mind. The site seems relatively free of pesky moral judgments; it sticks to listing potentially inappropriate stuff so that you, the consumer, can decide if the movie is ok for your kid.
Free No-Frills Tax Prep Software From H&R Block
By 2.6.07
H&R Block is offering Tax Cut Basic federal tax preparation software to directly compete with TurboTax. It’s free, for a price.
Free 2007 Consumer Action Handbook Available
By 1.31.07
The 2007 Consumer Action Handbook is now available. Published by the Federal Citizen Information Center
10 Shopping Tricks That Stores Hate
By 1.30.07
Stores are always trying to get you to do what they want. But what if you refuse? What if you do what benefits you and not the store? Aside from outright fraud, what are the things that you can do to come out ahead? We’ve put together 10 tips that will help you save money, but probably won’t help the store. That’s why they hate them. And you.
StolenID Search: See If Your Identity Was Stolen, Just Type In Your SSN….
By 1.25.07
Has someone stolen your social security or credit card number? StolenIDSearch is a new site aims to answer this question that has tickled the back of most American’s minds at some point, especially in light of the recent spree of retailer breaches and stolen laptops containing reams of personal information.
Microwaving Sponges Kills 99% Of Pathogens
By 1.24.07
Popping a dirty sponge in the microwave for two minutes will kill 99% of its pathogens, says a new study in the Journal of Environmental Health. [More]
