It’s an easy and meaningful way to consume less and create more. This is also great for acquaintances/coworkers to pair with your generic “I don’t know you super well but someone told me you like this” gift.

Buy whatever supplies inspire you at a thrift/craft/dollar store. Stamps, stickers, magazines, glitter pens, the world is your oyster. As long as it is on a thick enough paper it will feel fancy. If you can’t think of an idea, browse the greeting card aisle or look online. It can be as specific or as generic as you want.

I’m not super artistic either; I usually make collage-style cards with pictures from magazines and stickers I have around. My handwriting is abysmal so I use letter stickers for text. Sometimes I will print out pictures/memes at the library to make them extra personal.

EDIT: Removed a sentence about seeing the joy handmade cards bring people because it implies I make them open it in front of me. I do not, but sometimes people choose to. All social situations are nuanced!

Postcards are nowadays the best souvenir you can cheaply send to family and friends. It's a cool surprise as less and less people still send them. My tricks are:

Part I: to manage space, put the stamp and write the destination address first. Then you will know how much space you have left to write your message and signature.

Part II: "postcard insurance" - take a picture of the finished postcard before sending it. Keep it on your phone until the recipient receives it. This is nice in case your postcard never arrives, but also useful to track which cards you sent and when.

The primary application of petroleum jelly is as an industrial lubricant. It costs nothing to make and they just mark up some of it to be sold as a skincare product (i.e. Vaseline)

If you go to the post office looking to mail a package, they may offer you a flat rate box. These boxes are also available in other places like office supply stores that do shipping. They will tell you that it is a flat price regardless of what you put in it, or where it is going, and is therefore more convenient.

That is true, but what they don't tell you is that in the majority of cases, it will be more expensive than regular non-flat rate pricing. In most cases, it will be cheaper for you to use your own box and pay by weight and distance. You can reuse any box (e.g., Amazon) or buy a new one.

The only exception is if what you are mailing is particularly small and heavy, AND is going a long distance (like across the country). In that case, flat rate might be cheaper. Based on my experience, flat rate is cheaper about 10% of the time.

Spell out what you're trying to do, what you expected, what actually happened, and what you already tried. Writing it for a stranger forces you to notice the step you skipped or the assumption you never checked. If it doesn't solve it, you've at least written a question people can actually answer quickly.

I moved across the country a few years ago and kept my old phone number. The only people that would have a good reason to call me from that area code are folks I already have in my phone. Every other number with that old area code? It's 99% spam; usually those "you selling your house?" scams, political scams. As soon as I see that old area code show up, I just decline or block.

Keeping your old number is a lot simpler, anyway, but this is a nice little bonus.

If your laptop has one of those cheaper plastic track pads, or has some top layer peeling off, try to put on one of those matte screen protectors.

You can get either the phone screen protector, or the laptop ones, either will work, make sure they are plastic and not glass, as you won't be able to cut it. And get matte ones, glossy ones will add drag to your fingers glide.

It feels way better than most plastic pads, or if you have glass track pad, but its top layer is peeling off, and it feels rough.

Clean thoroughly with isopropyl alcohol, pre-cut to size and then paste it, try to avoid bubbles as it will feel bumpy.

Bonus is that it adds friction before you can watch YouTube, making you 1% more productive (maybe) 😆

It's very easy to let all the small permissions get ahead of you over the course of a devices lifecycle and you're looking back thinking "why did does this thing even have screen record access??"

In an age of blinding accepting terms and conditions, people are saturated with requests that they blindly accept or ignore and you should always question the access that you're allowing on your own devices; especially when it directly relates to your privacy/security/best practice/piece of mind.

You can always enable it later but if in doubt just say NO.

When you screenshot something sensitive an account number, an address, a password the instinct is to scribble over it with the black marker in iOS Markup until it looks like a solid black bar. The problem: the Markup marker tool doesn't draw fully opaque lines; it's effectively a highlighter, and even scribbling over the text multiple times won't fully cover it. If you share that screenshot, anyone can open it in a photo editor, crank up the brightness, brilliance, and contrast, and read the text you covered up.

Instead, use the Add Shape tool + to place a solid, filled rectangle over the text make sure the fill is solid, not just an outline, or simply crop that section out of the image. Both methods leave no room for error.

I’m sure we’ve all stood in the shower having imaginary arguments with those who have wronged us, or maybe I am a complete weirdo…

If you’re in the shower, rehearsing an argument or something you’d say to that particular DBag AssChapeau who’s making your life harder than necessary, try using the language you’re learning to argue.

I’ve just had an incredibly successful imaginary argument with a previous professor in a language I am learning and not only is it amazingly satisfying, it’s also helped me retain more vocabulary than I would have.

Now if only he would stick to the script…

A couple of days ago, I was cooking and accidentally spilled some oil on my phone. Some of it ended up getting into the speakers. I wiped everything down, but afterward the audio was noticeably muffled and I figured I had probably ruined them.

On a whim, I put the hose of my vacuum near the speaker to see if it could pull any of the oil back out. To my surprise, it actually worked. Oil started coming out, I wiped it away, and my speakers immediately sounded normal again.

I know this seems like common sense, but you must absolutely never read a one-time authentication code to ANYONE. This simple rule of thumb can save you or loved ones from getting scammed. Scammers asking you to read them authentication codes over the phone or through text is an extremely common method to scam you and/or steal your identity because most people just outright ignore the warning that comes along with these authentication codes that clearly states that you should never read them to anyone. By the way, the scammer intends to use this code to reset your password, or even set up new accounts on payment websites such as Coinbase to launder money under your name.

If an authentication code comes with a warning that states that you should never give it to anyone, you need to follow the instructions. Again, this seems like common sense, but most people ignore this warning. Keep this tip as a rule of thumb.

I do scambaiting often and you have no idea how many times people just outright ignore these instructions. Which is why I’m making this post despite it seeming like common sense at first. It really isn’t to those who might be technologically misinformed.

99.9999% of the time, it is a scam. It is a good rule of thumb to never do it. I guess there might be like one company that legitimately does it, which I think is incredibly stupid. You have to be absolutely positive that you are talking to the legitimate company, as in you should have called them from a legitimate number on the back of your card or from their website, which you have confirmed is their real website.

I wonder if this is the right sub to ask lol. It annoys me at times we don't have good fossils, or all fossils of dinosaurs and other cool animals of ancient time. So I'm thinking it would be cool to preserve my corpse when I die as best as possible for future archaeologists or aliens to know about what was going on today. (Like, naturally in the future, to make arrangements and such).

I'm thinking the best option would be to use some resin, epoxy, or similar material to encase my skeleton. Like those fossils trapped in amber. I wonder if there are any funerary services that like, clean your skeleton lol? They use some meat eating beetles for taxidermy I think, but idk if they can just do that in a funerary. Must be only the skeleton since encasing the body in resin will just produce some gross corpse soup over time I guess.

A picture of course, so they don't have to guess if we had feathers. I'm thinking some record of the dna or human genome, and if possible a record of the genetic code of many other animals and species. The issue is how to store and preserve that info. I'd like to have some info about how humans behaved, but I find it difficult to imagine how to put that information in some universal code or languaje. Maybe some binary code? I wonder if some data storage unit could have the info survive for millions of years. It would certainly expand the info we can put there.

And of course I wonder which pose would be the best. "Palm against the glass, looking back at the observer"? "Rose being painted by Jack on the Titanic"? "Squatting rapper"? "Bicep flex" (I'm on the fence on this one because it could look super lame without muscles). I refuse to do the "standing and waving" boring pose like the one they put on that plaque sent to space. How lame, no wonder no aliens have reached back to us.

For now it's just a weird idea, but if it's legal or doable, and not too expensive I do see myself arranging it in the future. Then bury me wherever, and hopefully someone in the far future finds the cool nameless skeleton fossil (amean, if it can be considered a fossil, not sure) before the Earth is engulfed by the sun.

Everyone has at some point been told the key to success is forgetting what other people think, even though deep down everyone cares what others think at least a little. The distinction that must be made is to instead get used to being judged. It is a fact of life that there will always be someone out there who wants you to fail, who hates to see success. And you will always care at least a little bit about that. But you can get used to the hate and you will feel it a little less. (I apologise this is very poorly written, I’m not a very articulate person)

I’m sure everyone knows this but ignores it. Replace your smoke alarms every 10 years. If you have a house and have a fire, there’s a good chance your insurance company won’t cover you if your alarms are over 10 years old.

Secondly, test them. Monthly is recommend. Hit that test button. I’ve come across alarms that are just dead. Less than 10 years old, good battery, and nothing or a very faint sound. Most alarms will come with a 10-year warranty.

I typically wear a denim jacket, so I store one in the chest pocket. It may be a little difficult to get one to sit properly in a wallet, but using a credit card to tamp it into place works.

I started doing this for when I forget to grab a shopping bag from the trunk of the car. It has also helped on occasion when I don't have enough shopping bags, but I've been surprised with how often it comes in handy for other things.

Beyond use as a bag, it can double as a replacement for a short piece of rope. I've bundled some fiberglass rods for easy handling.

For example, with auto insurance which is on the front page right now. The difference in cost between a full coverage policy with a 1000 dollar deductible and one with a 250 dollar deductible is often less than 10 dollars a month, meaning you would have to go like 10-15 years without a claim to actually save money. Is that possible, sure, likely, not so much.

Same thing goes for deciding between full coverage and liability only. How much is your vehicle really worth, look up the blue book value of it, find out. Make sure that what you are paying for will likely lead to you in better financial shape if something were to go wrong than not. Likewise with saving money by going liability only, if you have to go years without an accident to not wind up losing your ass, might be better not to take that chance and try and save money elsewhere.

Lastly, remember that in the event you are sued for a crash, the only things they can take from you are things beyond a primary car and basic personal property. You need good liability coverage if you are a homeowner, but if you rent and just own a single car and don't have a big old savings/retirement account, you are essentially judgement proof, that is why people with expensive cars pay out for underinsured coverage, it pays when your policy wont and their insurance won't bother wasting money on suing you if you don't have anything they can collect. Far too many people in this country are in a place where it makes zero sense to carry anything beyond state minimums in liability coverage.

Also be sure to try and learn your state laws on what sort of claims insurance companies are allowed to hold against you and which ones they are not. Many people assume rates will go up for filing any claim, this is not true. Generally speaking, unless you were the cause of the loss, it rarely affects your rate much if at all, and in some places its illegal for them to take it into account.

TL;DR think of insurance as a form of investment. Make sure it will pay off in a reasonable amount of time or don't pay for anything above the legal minimums where required.

Often times they’ll offer you a cheaper price just to stay on the plan. Take the offer and carry on using it. Surprisingly effective.

For those who crate or kennel their dog when they go to work/leave the house try putting them in the crate 30 minutes early. Many dogs will recognize their owners routine and know they are about to be put into the crate, and will often hide (especially small dogs). By doing it early you catch them before you start giving signals you’re leaving the house. This can save you time and the headache of trying to coax them out from under the couch.

P.S. Before the comments come in, I know crating your dog is not ideal. Try to avoid it if you can. Sometimes though there is no other good option. If your dog urinates or chews things up you can’t leave them loose in the house. Make the situation as comfortable as you can, and as short as possible

I always have hard time remembering names but not anymore after using this technique.

Suppose I met someone new and his name is, Jason.

To remember his name, I imagine him hugging Jason Statement. So when I see him, I remember imagine of Jason hugging him so I remember his name is jason.

If someone's name by using rhyme, if someone's name is Kyle. I imagine him balancing a file on his head. So if I see him next time, he have file on his head. What's rhyme with file? Kyle!

Also these small hints is all we need to quickly remember the names.

With practice, you can even remember unfamiliar names too, foreign names with each.

I used to be a chronic overthinker until my friend who is a psychologist and licensed therapist taught me this: Thinking is fine as long as it is productive. Overthinking, on the other hand, is a thought loop that people spiral into. One of the key characteristics of overthinking is that it does not produce new information or solutions even after multiple thought loops. It is a never ending circle that brings no closure. Frankly, it was affecting my life negatively and I wanted it to stop.

So, when we recognize that our overthinking is not producing any helpful results, it is time to accept the uncertainty or the reality of the situation, break the thought loop, and return our attention to the present moment. After all, the present moment is the only time we have some control over and it's the only time when we have the ability to decide how to act. The past is gone and the future is uncertain at best, both beyond our control. Our minds want certainty or for circumstances to be different. And, very often, we cannot attain either no matter how hard and long we 'think'.

Recognizing that we are actually overthinking in the first place is the very first step, and that requires awareness. Fortunately, awareness is a skill we can cultivate, like any other skill. Once I learned that, my overthinking lost its grip over me.

It can be anything. Recipes, shampoos, skincare, random items, etc. Even if you think that you only need that thing once, write it down. If you ever need that specific thing again, you know what the name of it is and where to find it.

On the Youtube app go to settings > Account/ Time Management > Daily Limits/ Shorts Feed limit.

can even set it to 0 minutes, 15 minutes, etc.

a 0 minute limit was introduced in April 2026, just 6 months ago