This is exactly how I realized I needed to formalize my data analysis skills, especially in the area of big data. None of the job postings were looking for people who do what I do anymore.

I must have read it wrong; I thought you had to accept electronic delivery and have at least $50,000 invested.

Plus you’re either paying trading fees if you go through a brokerage, or you’re paying $20/year for having less than $50,000 invested if you purchase directly from Vanguard. If you’re putting it all in at once, you should go through the brokerage and earn nothing on the first $400-800 (assuming $4.99-9.99 trading…

We always made the signal tower. Nothing more fun for a kid than sitting two stories high on nothing but wood and rope.

While these things are all technically enforceable (if they can prove it), the IRS doesn’t really care about your $150 in gifts or occasionally mowing your neighbor’s lawn. I knew a real estate broker who represented small business owners in their lease negotiations in exchange for free goods & services instead of…

Here’s a much safer way to file your taxes for free:

This is one of the several reasons I really like Habitica (fka HabitRPG). Unless you full-on cheat by always resting at the inn, you can let yourself take a little damage (or expend a little mana) to skip a few tasks from time to time. I find it strikes the perfect balance between accountability and flexibility.

I’d be more concerned about the data. Read the hell out of their privacy policy if you do decide to try it. I don’t use this kind of service because I’m a control freak, but I’m not sure I’d be cool with any one company having a complete picture of my balance sheet.

Oh yes. You have to do the work, and you have to keep mindful of why you’re doing the work. A lot of people add all the deals to their cards so it’s there if they decide to buy something, but I find that causes overspending. “Well, I wouldn’t normally buy cookies, but it’s BOGO so I’ll splurge!” If I just don’t add…

Between manufacturer’s coupons (newspaper and online), store apps (your Kroger, my Vons), and rebate apps like Ibotta, I pay far less for brand names than I do for generics. I’ve mostly stopped shopping at the dollar store because it’s too expensive. You do have to be willing to do the work, though, and if my rent…

Awesome. I keep my recipes in Paprika but I hate their meal planner. This is exactly what I’ve been looking for.

I love MMM precisely because of his strong focus on thinking differently. I’ve gone from desperately trying to figure out how I could possibly save any money between my car payments and rent and groceries to the point that I now have no car, my groceries are cut to the bone (except I still think I can cut them…

For me it depends strongly on how fixable the item is. If I can repair a $25 coffeemaker when it breaks, I have no reason to buy a $100 coffeemaker. I wear canvas shoes that cost about $20 and wear out in about a year, but I can fix them with a few cents’ worth of canvas and Shoe Goo.

Huh. I have a pair of Levi’s 511 (1% elastane, not even pure denim) that have outlasted my Dickies. Are you buying Levi’s Signature brand by any chance? Those aren’t real Levi’s: they were originally made by Levi’s so Walmart could carry a Levi’s brand without paying for Levi’s quality.

Type-C is not great. It may have been a great idea, but the fact that you need a spreadsheet just to replace a cable proves that it is a very bad implementation.

A NEEDLE AND THREAD. I’ve seen many of these lists and a needle and thread are missing almost every time.

“There’s no bad foods, just bad portions.*”

That is a face that says, “I’ve been a colossal douchebag my entire life and got away with it, and now I’m old and I’m going to die soon and it’s too late for you to do anything about it.”

Patches are still updates - it’s not like they’ve abandoned development. They certainly haven’t “kill[ed] the PC version”, which doesn’t even make sense considering the idea that you would get any new content for a $27 game is practically unheard of. Any other developer would have made every update since 1.0 DLC.

MC 1.8.8 was released for PC in July 2015 - well under a year ago. It’s so new most of the mods haven’t updated for it yet (they probably won’t: I think most of them are waiting for 1.9).

ETA: 1.8.9 was also released on December 9, which I didn’t even realize yet.