Life Hacks

[t-bear52]

I too intrigued with this thread. I now love using a DE Safety Razor. There are dozens and dozens of both online shops dedicated to this renewing hobby along with dozens of online forums. Also many blogs on the lost art of shaving. It has been fun exploring all the information out there.
You can also check out lots of video's on YouTube regarding shaving with both DE Safety and single blade. I found many of these to be quite helpful.
Have hardly nicked myself at all. Found the  learning curve very easy to get up to speed. Many find the ritual relaxing. I do. And there is an entire universe of razors, soaps, creams, brushes, balms, blades, aftershaves to explore.
Just beginning my own exploration.
My sense is, don't buy anything from the drugstore. Won't give you a true indication of what the hobby can potentially be all about for you.

[Coffee]

Hi, T-Bear:

Do you have a link to the one you bought?

[t-bear52]

Sure. Here is the razor I selected:  http://shavenation.com/index.php?main_p ... cts_id=260

Good video's on this site as well.

I don't know if commercial links are permitted here but I bought my brush and sample pack of blades at: http://www.vintagebladesllc.com/

An article I found helpful:  http://artofmanliness.com/2008/01/04/ho ... r-grandpa/

My favorite blog: http://mantic59.blogspot.com/

A good forum:  http://theshaveden.com/forums/

Again, there are dozens of blogs and video's out there if you look. And lots of stores dedicated to wet shaving. I personally purchased from the above vendors and had great experiences with both. But I'm sure most are terrific as well. Wet Shaving can be quite the hobby it seems. Folks are informative, patient and kind. Important to a newbie like me!!

I am no expert about any of this. This thread got me interested and just kind of sought things out on the internet.

Two things I have learned though, NO PRESSURE on the razor on your face. Let weight of razor do the work. Don't try to do all in one pass. Seems most wet shavers do 2-4 passes. Think stubble reduction with each pass. Not elimination like with a Mach III or something.  Everyone talks about getting a blade sample pack. Seems you must search out the correct blade that works best for your razor and your face. Blade makes a huge difference. That's why I'd avoid the drugstore. Find one that works best for you.

If links aren't permitted, someone please let me know and I'll edit.  Thanks!

[Gumby]

Okay-- I'll admit: This thread got me curious: I went to CVS and Walmart today... neither had razors that used razor blades.  Where do you buy the razors?

Coffee... From your avatar, I just assumed you shaved with a Bowie knife each morning.

This thread made me aware of different shaving techniques for the first time. So I ended up with a new Edwin Jagger, a sampler pack of 22 types of blades, brush, mug, several soaps and creams, etc. I've tried it twice now and definitely need more practice. Maybe very long term I'll save money compared to cartridge blades, but I kind of doubt it. Reminds me of when I got into fly tying, thinking I would save money then too. I've spent more on fly tying materials than a lifetime supply of flies from a shop would have cost.

Here's an interesting opinion/article comparing the short and long term costs of wet shaving vs. mass-market shaving...

http://www.shaving101.com/index.php/edu ... wrong.html

[melveyr]

Additionally, the refill costs in that article look steeper than my set up.

What kind of blades costs sixty cents each? I paid 14 dollars for 100. I also think two pucks of Tabac will last me at least a year (28 dollars).

As long as you don't turn into a shave gear hoarder (it happens a lot apparently) you will save a lot of money going old school. Not to mention that your face will look and feel healthier.

[Gumby]

Here's a quick way to save $10 or $20 bucks (or more)...

Over the past few years, it's become commonplace to buy screen protectors and cases for mobile phones and iPads. And every time people buy a new phone, they go out and buy a new case or screen protector.

Many of the mobile products on the market don't need any protection. iPads and smartphones — including the iPhone 4 and the new iPhone 4S — have Aluminosilicate Glass screens and enclosures. Aluminosilicate Glass is also known as "Gorilla Glass". It is virtually indestructible. No case needed.

Don't believe me? Check out this article and video which demonstrates the power of Aluminosilicate Glass.

What's So Special about iPhone 4's Aluminosilicate Glass

Let your mobile devices go naked. The glass is a lot tougher than you think.

** Use this advice at your own risk. Although incredibly durable, it is physically possible to break Aluminosilicate Glass if you abuse it enough. All I'm saying is that most people probably don't need a case or screen protector for their 'Gorilla Glass' mobile products.

[Coffee]

That's pretty cool.  Thanks, Gumby.

[Gumby]

Here's a brand new life-hacking product that's selling very quickly (already backordered to mid-December) since it was announced a few days ago. Tony Fadell, the former Apple exec — who lead 18 generations of the iPod team and 3 generations of the iPhone — had promised Steve Jobs that he wouldn't ever compete against Apple when he was ready to retire. After taking a few years off and designing his own home, he became frustrated with the poorly designed (and overpriced) programmable thermostats that were on the market. So, he spent the last two years building a team and he created this...

http://www.nest.com/

It's the world's first self-learning thermostat. It retails for $249 and it's designed to save you money on your heating and cooling bills. It figures out your habits, and your preferences after a few days of using it. It even knows whether you are home or not, and it monitors the weather conditions outside (via it's wi-fi connection) and will adjust temperature cycles accordingly. It's fully adjustable and you can even set it from your smartphone or a secure website if you want that option. I just ordered one today to test it out.

Demo: http://youtu.be/QCJ1PnVlzIE

And here's an interview with Tony Fadell: http://techcrunch.com/2011/10/24/ipod-g ... no-really/

If you want one for this heating season, order it in the next 24 hours before they push the next round of orders back to January...

[Jan Van]

That's once nice thermostat!

[Gumby]

I have found wet-shaving with a double edge safety razor to be infinitely more satisfying than any Mach-whatever-number they are on now. Nothing beats applying real shaving soap with a boars head brush.

Also, each blade costs me 14 cents  ;)

Since we're talking wet shaving, I have to link to Badger & Blade: http://badgerandblade.com/

Who knew that this was so popular amongst PP advocates? Thanks for the suggestion. I just ordered a my first DE razor (Merkur Model 180). I have an old shaving mug — passed down from my gr-gr grandfather (circa 1870) — that I never thought I'd ever use. I don't think it's been used since then. Hope I don't drop it.  :-\

My favorite blades are Derby or Feather brands. Derby's are cheaper and more durable, but Feathers seem to shave a little closer. Each are much cheaper than cartridges by a long shot. You can get sample packs of blades and see which kind you like best. Also be sure to get a good badger hair brush and shaving soap.

I was finally able to make the switch to Feathers. Terrific shave. Needed to break out Mitchell's Wool Fat to keep my face from nicking. Face feels as smooth as glass. Thanks for the tip.

[Greg]

Before making any major purchase check the spot price on eBay and amazon.com.
Before making any online purchase check retailmenot.com for a promo code.
Before making a large purchase at a chain store, buy gift cards on eBay at a discount.

I know this is an old thread but I never even though of purchasing gift cards at a discount. For instance, if I do my shopping at Walmart, there's right now a $500 gift card for $480.00 with free shipping. That's a 4% discount which is better than what I'd get from purchasing $500 worth of food with my 2% Fidelity AMEX card.

Good idea!

Also does anyone know, if you were to use a credit card such as the 2% AMEX card in question, to purchase an item through paypal on eBay, would you then still get that 2% cashback from your credit card AND get the discounted gift card? That's seems like a really good plan in my mind but wanted to see if I had any holes in my logic.

[Gumby]

A few days ago, I downloaded the coolest app and just had to share it. It's called Dark Sky and it's an ultra-short term weather prediction app (for iPhone 3GS and newer and all iPads). This app will pinpoint your location and tell you exactly when it will start raining, how hard, and when the rain will stop.

[align=center][/align]

It's very accurate — down to the minute. When the app says it will rain, it rains.

Wired had a cool review... http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2012/05/dark-sky-app/

For those of you who enjoy reading about the tech involved in writing this app, check out this blog post.

[MediumTex]

Gumby,

That looks pretty cool.

The problem I have is that where I live there is no rain to predict.

I need an app that causes rain, rather than just predicting it.

[dualstow]

Also does anyone know, if you were to use a credit card such as the 2% AMEX card in question, to purchase an item through paypal on eBay, would you then still get that 2% cashback from your credit card AND get the discounted gift card? That's seems like a really good plan in my mind but wanted to see if I had any holes in my logic.

I think I have the same green Fidelity Amex as you. I use it to purchase gift cards for a bookstore cafe. The original idea was convenience: I can't swipe an Amex for a cup of coffee there and I don't want to deal with cash. I can swipe a gift card and get the 2% deposited in my Fidelity MySmart cash account. I do the same thing at Cosi, and on top of that you get points toward free food & drinks w/ the CosiCard.

I don't know why paypal's link to your Amex would be any different. I could be wrong, but I assumed that if they honor the card, the vendor does their part. Amex gets you that 2%, and some or all of that comes from fees that they in turn charge the merchant. After all, I was getting cash back on those $1 coins I bought from the Mint.

I did read recently that some vendors were trying to renegotiate fees with credit card providers. If I find a link, I'll edit it into this post.
EDIT:
Merchants Considering Credit Card Surcharges  { link } | New York Times

Starting this week, prices are 2 percent lower on ScanMyPhotos.com. At the grocer Kroger, executives are contemplating charging two prices for groceries — a lower price when shoppers pay with cash, and a higher one when they use a credit card. And at restaurants across the country, owners are weighing the wisdom — or lack of it — of a surcharge on bills paid with credit cards.

more recently...
Visa and MasterCard Settle Lawsuit, but Merchants Aren’t Celebrating { link } | New York Times

But even if he wanted to impose a surcharge, Mr. Charles is one of many merchants who would not be able to, because of a sort of Catch-22 provision in the settlement that makes it effectively impossible for establishments that accept American Express to take advantage of the new rules.

[MediumTex]

Gumby,

How did the new thermostat work out?

[Storm]

Also does anyone know, if you were to use a credit card such as the 2% AMEX card in question, to purchase an item through paypal on eBay, would you then still get that 2% cashback from your credit card AND get the discounted gift card? That's seems like a really good plan in my mind but wanted to see if I had any holes in my logic.

I do this all the time, and yes it does work.  Keep in mind that in a Paypal transaction the seller pays Paypal a 2.8% merchant fee so they are essentially funding this.  The only thing you need to be careful of is that Paypal always defaults to your checking account, so you need to manually click the little link that says "change funding method" and choose your Amex card every time you pay someone.

Also, if you use Paypal to send money to a friend (as a gift), Paypal will charge the 2.8% to your friend if you use a credit card funding method.

[Storm]

Here is a review of the Nest thermostat.  Looks pretty cool:  http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/08/ ... -the-nest/

[Storm]

I need an app that causes rain, rather than just predicting it.

Here you go:  http://raining.fm/

It's mainly a placebo, but it's quite a cool site.

[Greg]

Wondering if this is useful for anyone implementing the PP:

Looking on maximizingmoney.com, I found this:

http://www.maximizingmoney.com/investme ... nus-offer/

Essentially from what I've been reading, if you were to deposit a certain amount of money into a taxable account, such as $100,000, you could get $250 deposited to your account (.25%) and you have to keep the money in the account for at least 6 months. From a normal perspective, .25% for 6 months is only .5% APY, which isn't too awesome.

However, if you were to put this money into SHY, etc. you would be fulfilling the normal goal of the PP's cash portion while getting a little bit of extra money in the process. After 6 months, you could try to find another offer.

I already do things like this with my direct deposits on my checking accounts to keep bouncing around checking accounts every couple of months to gain a promotional bonus.

Just something for others to think about as a possible method to gain some extra dough.

[dualstow]

Wondering if this is useful for anyone implementing the PP:

Looking on maximizingmoney.com, I found this:

http://www.maximizingmoney.com/investme ... nus-offer/

Essentially from what I've been reading, if you were to deposit a certain amount of money into a taxable account, such as $100,000, you could get $250 deposited to your account (.25%) ...

Thanks, Greg. I am always tempted by these offers. I must get paper mail from ING bank every other week and, despite nisprius' recent scary ING thread at bogleheads, I'm still tempted. I mean, it's free money!

[Pointedstick]

I really like ING. Even now, more than a year after the Capital One acquisition, I haven't noticed any differences in the level of service. They recently redesigned the visual design of the site, but it's actually better than it was before, IMHO and not at all filled with gaudy Capital One logos or anything.

[Greg]

I really like ING. Even now, more than a year after the Capital One acquisition, I haven't noticed any differences in the level of service. They recently redesigned the visual design of the site, but it's actually better than it was before, IMHO and not at all filled with gaudy Capital One logos or anything.

I second the liking of ING. I use their savings account for about half of my cash portion (and I realize this might cause an aneurysm in some for not putting it in treasuries hah) where I am getting .8% on it and I keep finding promo offers for Sharebuilder so whenever I need to purchase IAU gold stock (if I don't feel like purchasing bullion) I can purchase it free of fees.

Plus I got $50 when opening the account and even though there is a $75 closure of account fee if I ever don't like them, I can always just look for an offer such as the one I just wrote about that would still put me in net-positive for switching or find a bank that offers transfer reimbursement cash. Cha-ching!

[dualstow]

I second the liking of ING. I use their savings account for about half of my cash portion (and I realize this might cause an aneurysm in some for not putting it in treasuries hah) where I am getting .8% on it and I keep finding promo offers for Sharebuilder so whenever I need to purchase IAU gold stock (if I don't feel like purchasing bullion) I can purchase it free of fees.

I thought Sharebuilder had fees 

[Pointedstick]

I also have a bunch of cash in my ING accounts, but I don't consider it a part of my investment cash. For example, I have automatic movements set up to automatically fill one account with enough to pay for 6 months of car insurance, I have another account with money I've set aside for travel in the next few months, another one with cash I use to cover the costs of stupid mistakes I've made, another with a few thousand in case of emergency taxes, etc.

Dualstow, I believe Sharebuilder offers free trades on Tuesdays or something.

[dualstow]

Dualstow, I believe Sharebuilder offers free trades on Tuesdays or something.

Neat. If only the IRS had tax-free Tuesdays in April.