Three years ago, I was preparing to move out of my brother’s basement. I had been living with his family in a makeshift apartment and it had reached the point where we were all ready for me to move out. I found a place to move in to and I set about the wonderful task of trying to find stuff for the apartment (i.e., kitchen utensils, various small appliances, and so on). I found myself at Best Buy wandering through the TV section, of all places, and I saw a “sale”: a Dynex 32″ HDTV for $499.

Televisions like these wind up a lot cheaper nowadays, but it was a pretty good deal at the time. Despite having a decent sized TV already, I started thinking about why I should get this thing:

• Well, this whole digital switch is going to happen and my TV will be obsolete anyway, right? I’ll NEED a new TV!
• It’ll be a great long-term investment in my entertainment. When all else fails, at least I’ll have a nice TV in HD!
• I’ll be working from home someday, I’ll want a nice TV to watch when I take breaks!

Oh yeah, and I didn’t have any money. So I whipped out the ol’ credit card and swiped it. And there it was: my glorious, 32″ widescreen HDTV.

Things were great. I was very happy with the quality of this TV, and I went out and charged an XBox 360 to it. I set up a nice HD-DVR through my computer hooked up to it, and life was good. I enjoyed Packer games in HD, The Office in HD, and anything else I wanted. I was working from home and life was grand. Easily, this TV was the best thing I had bought in years.

Then things went south.

I reached a point where I didn’t know where the next dollar was coming from. I had weeks where I struggled through a $10 grocery budget. I had an angry landlord who had to sit while I couldn’t pay the energy bills (and we’re talking winters in Wisconsin). I was prioritizing bills (“Let’s see, if I pay my credit card, I can let my electric bill lapse for a week, they won’t turn it off…”).

Some days I would sit and look at my TV. I’d start thinking about how much it was worth, with sadness knowing that it was worth much less now than when I had bought it anyway. Besides that, the interest had piled up on that purchase, so I have been paying hundreds more for this thing.

After all of that, the nice television offered no comfort. You might think it will – like, once you have it, you’ll enjoy it, even if you’re broke. But you don’t. As much of a TV nut as I am, I couldn’t take solace in having a nice TV when bills weren’t getting paid.

True comfort lies in security and accomplishments. Comfort comes from having a plan. That plan may not work out all the time, and sometimes it may blow up in your face. But you need to approach life with a plan – not with stuff. Stuff can be fun in the short-term, and even in the long-term. I still enjoy my nice HDTV. But before I turn it on, I sit down and make sure that I have the more important parts in my life taken care of.

Don’t pump money into a TV, or a car, or a house as a means of security or a nice feeling inside you. That nice feeling needs to be generated by activity. It can’t be bought.

Reading was once a privilege only enjoyed by those well-off and those with patience. It wasn’t that long ago that books took forever to print and the world clamored for new books a couple times a year. Now, books are published and distributed in so many ways that it’s hard to even keep up. In Martin Luther’s day, The Bible was chained up in the library. I have a version of it on my Blackberry that I can search different translations with just a few buttons.

Technology has met books with the introduction of the e-reader. Amazon released one of the first mainstream e-readers in their Kindle, a device that employs “e-ink” technology, where the page treats your eyes like a piece of paper but you don’t have to turn pages. Reviews raved about this little device: you could download books from anywhere – especially with wi-fi hotspots – on the fly, and store hundreds of books on a little device like this. Ebooks generally run cheaper than regular books anyway, so it seemed like a slam dunk. Plus, the e-ink took less power to operate, so battery life could be over a week.

One problem: the price. Amazon’s Kindle was $259. Sony’s comparable e-reader was a whopping $349. Barnes and Noble released their Nook last November at a price of $259. This is a pretty high upfront price to pay, and you’d have to read a lot of books to make up the price of just buying books like normal. So the niche market has always been travelers and very heavy readers – people who need to lug around a lot of books and can store them in one little device instead. But all these e-readers are looking to crack into the full, mainstream reading market.

Then: The Price War Began

Two things happened that kicked off the price war. One, the iPad . As much as I hate this piece of hardware, it has a slick presentation that grabs eyes. One of the biggest features of the iPad has been iBooks, which is just a slicker version of an e-reader. Even though the iPad is at the ridiculous price of $499 (and jumps to an even-more-ridiculous $629 plus a monthly data plan to add 3G service like the Kindle/Nook offers for free), some people justify that price for a color e-reader. So that started taking market share from the other e-readers; why pay almost $300 for a device that reads books when you can pay $500 and get (in certain ways) more functionality?

The second was the brilliant move by Borders: bringing the Kobo eReader to the U.S. While this device lacks any internet connectivity, its price point of $150 finally started to look enticing to the mainstream. And with the announcement of bringing in the Aluratek Libre eReader for $120 , Borders looks like it is readying itself to start bringing in some serious market share.

Until earlier this week, when Barnes and Noble announced they were dropping their Nook to $199, and releasing a wi-fi only version of the device for $149. With access to a ton of free wi-fi hotspots in the country, all of a sudden, the Nook looks like the best option. Amazon, the same day, responded by dropping the Kindle to $189 . With wi-fi and 3G service, as well as a pending App Store , it looks like the one to beat.

So where is the future of reading? So far, here are your options:

1. Buy an e-reader and use ebooks.

Pros: Extremely convenient – get a book in a matter of minutes, either through your computer or through your device. New releases available immediately. Low price for ebooks. Carry a ton of books without the weight.
Cons: Big upfront price for device. Quality of device varies from company to company.

2. Go to the library .

Pros: Free.
Cons: Can be a limited selection. You’re on a time limit, so you have to keep renewing the book. If you’re like me, you don’t like that added pressure sometimes.

3. Trade books on PaperbackSwap for cheap.

Pros: Own a book for $2-3. Big selection available.
Cons: Have to wrap and mail books to get credits. Receiving a book can take weeks. Quality of books can vary depending on sender. Few new releases available.

4. Buy new books at the bookstore.

Pros: New releases. That “new book” smell.
Cons: Sticker price.

5. Download free e-reader software on computers and smartphones and buy ebooks.

Pros: Software is free. Ebooks are cheap. Take your books anywhere on your phone.
Cons: Reading on smartphones can be hard on the eyes, reading on computer is less-than-comfortable for long periods of time.

6. Buy used books on Amazon.

Pros: Low price. Generally good quality. Excellent selection – pretty much any book you want. Free shipping on orders over $25.
Cons: Shipping charges if you just want one or two books. Have to wait for books to be shipped to you.

What’s the answer?

I don’t know yet. I think e-readers are getting very close to breaking through. If you show me an e-reader using the e-ink technology and works well (and looks slick enough) for under $100, I’m buying in. $150 is still just a little too pricey for me to buy (although I would take one as a gift!). What are your thoughts? With so many options for reading books, which one is the best for your situation and why?

[Not my leg.]

When was the last time you thought about how great walking is? It’s an incredible gift, isn’t it? You probably aren’t really thinking about it much. Allow me to explain.

I have a significant number of plantars warts on my right foot. Since starting my job, I’ve been going to the corporate clinic to have them treated. I’ve had them for nearly 10 years and nothing has gotten rid of them. I had only gone one other time to a doctor to work on them, and it cost me several hundred dollars, so I never went back for follow-up. This clinic is part of our company and it only costs $10 and appointment. It’s a sweet deal, and I want to be able to be barefoot and confident when I hit the Hawaiian islands in October. Two weeks ago, I had treatment #3.

For those who don’t know how you get rid of warts, basically you take a scalpel and cut off all the calloused skin protecting the wart. Then you freeze the crap out of the suckers so that the virus dies. Because mine are so old, they run pretty deep, so this process usually involves a little bit of blood and a fair amount of pain. The freezing part basically feels like getting stabbed in the foot the longer it goes on.

So I usually walk out of the doctor’s office with what somewhat amounts to several open wounds on the bottom and side of my foot. I limp for a day or two, and then it’s fine. But after treatment #3, I noticed the pain was getting worse. We had bandaged up the foot because it had bled quite a bit, and in the evening, I decided to peel back the bandage to check out the damage. To my surprise, I noticed that a large blood blister had begun to form right on the bottom of my foot. This blister would eventually swell to the size of a quarter and jut out about 1 cm off the bottom of my foot.

All right, you can stop shuddering. It’s not that gross.

Anyhoo, I was able to limp home that night, but when I woke up in the morning, it had swelled so much that I could not physically walk on my foot. I could hop along on my heel, but my heel bone didn’t like that too much. So, I had to bust out my dad’s old crutches and rely on those for four days, until the swelling went down enough that I could limp on it.

During that time, I realized what a gift the ability to walk really is. It’s one of those “you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”-type abilities. All of a sudden, what was once a minor activity turned into a big project:

• Going upstairs to use the bathroom or cook
• Walk to and from the bathroom at work (I drink a lot of water at work, so this one is pretty significant to me)
• Going down a flight of stairs to get a cup of water at work
• Getting groceries
• Just stopping at a store to pick up something
• Getting food and drink from my kitchen area to my living room area
• Driving anywhere

All of these things became ten times more difficult, just because I couldn’t put weight on one of my feet. It’s amazing the things you don’t think of as gifts until they are taken from you. Of course, people in wheelchairs or young babies who still haven’t figured it out know the frustration caused by not being able to walk. But the rest of us don’t always appreciate that.

Think about the different abilities and gifts that you have been given that you may not even think about anymore. A few generations ago, some of these gifts weren’t even there:

• The ability to run down to the store and pick up food, rather than relying on your own harvest or hunting skills
• The ability to set foot on any part of the world within 24 hours or so
• The ability to propel a car many miles using just your foot
• Access to millions of computers and databases through the Internet
• The control over the atmosphere and environment in your house, regardless of the weather outside
• Being able to walk to the faucet and grab a drink of clean, fresh water whenever you feel like

And these are just a few. Take a little time to appreciate the little joys in life instead of complaining about the rest of it. Oh, and I had my 4th treatment yesterday, and it looks like another blister is forming. I guess I’ll be really appreciative once this ordeal is over…

There is just a crapload of good stuff in today’s Pile. Let’s dig in!

The (Practical) nerdy stuff

• The Hassle-Free Guide to Ripping Your Blu-Ray Collection [Lifehacker] – I’m a huge fan of digitizing DVDs and storing them on a secure, backed-up hard drive. I’m actually in the process of doing this again. But I had no firm instructions on backing up Blu-Rays. Here you go. This one went into my Evernote, and it should go into yours, too!
• Use Google Maps’ Starred Locations To Find Your Car [Lifehacker] – Most Blackberries, iPhones, Androids, and others have GPS capabilities now. This would work really well with my Blackberry Curve when parking in big, confusing parking lots. Slick idea!
• Why You’re Hooked On Email, and 5 Ways To Stop [Dumb Little Man] – One of the most glorious days of my life was when I stopped getting pop-up notifications of my e-mails. That’s just one way to cut down on this time-suck.
• How to Return Facebook’s Privacy Settings to What You Signed Up For [Lifehacker] – Facebook is getting very close to jumping the shark with me. How about you?
• The Realities Of Dropping Cable [The Simple Dollar] – It just makes me happy to see other people doing the same.
• The Set-It-and-Forget-It Guide to Never Missing Important Events [Lifehacker] – TV shows, movies, concerts, events, birthdays, money, cell phone minutes, job hunting… yeah, you need this.
• Clean Up Your Photo Collection With Free Tools [Lifehacker] – Geez, a lot of Lifehacker articles, as usual! I’m also a big proponent of digitizing your photo collection (again, to a backed-up, secure hard drive). Make it easier and more awesome with this guide.

A ridiculously giant pile of money articles

• A Cheapskate’s Advice on Affording Anything You Want [Lifehacker] – Personal finance takes thought. Not a whole lot of it, but some.
• Think the iPad Will Save You Money on Magazines? Think Again! [Wise Bread] – I held my first iPad the other day. It’s very nice and very slick. But it’s a toy. An incredibly expensive toy. Those that think it will save you money are fooling themselves.
• Three Passive Barriers I Use to Counter Consumerism [Get Rich Slowly] – A short video from Adam Baker demonstrates how to keep control of your spending mentally.
• 5 Ways To Save Money With Online Banks [Christian Personal Finance] – I’m a huge fan of my checking account with ING Direct, and this is a great list for those considering it.
• My Checklist to Financial Freedom [Christian Personal Finance] – Again, personal finance is not complicated. It just takes time and a little thought.
• Calling BS on 5% Rewards Advertising [Wise Bread] – This is a great, well-researched article that blows open the idea that you are getting 5% cash back on your credit card.
• How Large Should Your Emergency Fund Really Be? [Christian Personal Finance] – It’s an interesting debate, and there are plenty of arguments. However, what’s most important is that you have one.
• Looking The Wrong Way [The Simple Dollar] – An interesting view: we have a hard time fighting debt because we can’t actually see it or use it.
• Debt Consolidation and The "Orbital of Stupid" [The Simple Dollar] – Here’s what debt consolidators say: “Give us your money and we’ll manage it for you. You don’t have to change a thing.” But smart people know that the only way you will beat debt is by changing up your lifestyle and socking money at it. Knock off the consolidation. It doesn’t work.

Health: Physical, Mental, Social. It’s all important

• Anyone Can Spend Less for Food [Wise Bread] – I learned this on my own. Food, at its core, is not expensive. Processed food is what kills your budget.
• How to Improve Your Social Life: 6 of my Favorite Timeless Tips [The Positivity Blog] – I’m a firm believer that everyone should actively work on their social lives. Continue working hard to be a better friend.
• Newsflash: There Is No Magic Bullet [Dumb Little Man] – Easily my favorite post of the past couple of weeks. I struggle with this sometimes. It’s crucial to understand that any measure of success will take time and sacrifice. You’ll get there. So will I.
• How to Reboot Your Sleep Cycle and Get The Rest You Deserve [Lifehacker] – I’ve been caught countless times in webs of insomnia. This is a great article to get you back on track if you do the same.
• 10 Essential Kitchen Items for The Healthy Cook [Cheap Healthy Good] – Cooking healthy, like personal finance, doesn’t take a whole lot.
• Slow Down and Enjoy Relationships [Zen Habits] – Facebook, Twitter, texting, etc. It’s time we start savoring our relationships instead of passing them by en route to somewhere else.
• 6 Reasons Why People Don’t Change, and What to Do About That [The Positivity Blog] – You want to change, but “can’t”, right? Yes, you can. Try these.
• Is The News Making You Sick? [Simple. Organized. Life] – I hate the news. I never watch it. Crime rates are down and the economy is on the mend. All you see on the news are tragedies, murders, kidnappings, and doom. Turn it off and get your news on your own. You’re better off.
• The Cost of Negativity [The Simple Dollar] – You’re losing time and money by being a cranky old butt. Knock it off and find some solutions.
• 7 Must Read Life Lessons From Abraham Lincoln [Dumb Little Man] – Smart guy, that Abe.
• Discipline Outdoes IQ in the Long Run [Lifehacker] – You think you just got a bad break? Get down to business and quit whining, and you can go places.
• 4 Ways to Spend Time With Kids When You Have No Time [Stepcase Lifehack] – Another great parenting article for struggling parents in the modern age.
• 11 Reasons Why You Aren’t Getting Results [Stepcase Lifehack] – Feel like you’re spinning your wheels in the mud? There might be a reason why.
• What Is Manliness? [The Art of Manliness] – Hint: it’s not abs.
• Finding The Fire: Nine Things I Do To Make Each Day Great [The Simple Dollar] – You have more control over your day than you realize.
• Top 10 Ways To Upgrade Your Morning Routine [Lifehacker] – Are you getting up, limping along, sucking down coffee, and sitting at your computer? Get moving and jumpstart your day.
• 7 Harsh Truths That Will Improve Your Health [Dumb Little Man] – My favorite? “#1. Nobody is responsible for your health but you.”

That’s it! Enjoy – and feel free to share your favorites in the comments below!

(Sorry for the blurry pictures.)

I’m a Disney World man. I love the parks. I love going and hitting up all the rides, basking in the sun, and generally getting lost in the Disney merriment, even if it is manufactured. But my least favorite part about visiting the parks is the transitions – moving from inside to outside and back again. There are lots of great rides that just happen to be indoors. So, any normal person will need to take off their sunglasses before heading in. But I’m a glasses wearer, so that always meant carrying an extra glasses case in my bulging pocket, pulling it out, opening it up, taking off my prescription sunglasses, taking out my regular glasses, folding up my sunglasses, putting them in the case, putting the case in my pocket, unfolding my regular glasses, and putting them on my face.

Can you see why this would get old?

A couple years ago, I tried contact lenses and absolutely loved them. I finally had the freedom to wear regular sunglasses, and just throw them on top of my head or clip them to my shirt collar if I needed to take them off for a second. It was beautiful… for about six months. I learned through an arduous process that my eyes can’t handle contact lenses, and I am doomed to an eternity of regular glasses – at least until I can afford laser eye surgery.

I went back to the eye doctor a couple months ago to get checked out and see if there was any way I could wear contacts. No go. We tried a different brand, and the same things happened. The night I came to terms with my misfortune, I started looking online at the possibility of buying a pair of glasses for cheap, and I discovered Zenni Optical.

Zenni Optical is an online purveyor of eyeglasses – there are plenty of other options, but I liked Zenni Optical for two big reasons:

1. If I considered it to be too much of a risk, I could buy an $8 pair of glasses to try out. Then I wouldn’t lose out so much if they didn’t work.
2. They have models called “Sunshade+”, with magnetic sunglasses to discreetly clip on to your regular glasses. More on that later.

After about an hour of browsing and measuring, I decided to try a Sunshade+ model. They were a little pricier on the site, but far less than your typical mall glasses shop. I dug into my file box, pulled out my old prescription, and entered in the numbers. Less than two weeks later, I had new glasses. Observe.

These glasses are completely frameless, which generally run about $200 or so in a glasses store. My total, with the clip-on shades and shipping, came to $37.85. Oh yeah. And here are a couple shots of the glasses wearing the shades:

The reason I chose the Sunshade+ model is because I can quickly clip the shades on to the glasses with one hand, and take them off and slip them into my pocket, or even a thin case. This allows me much quicker and easier transitions, and it was worth paying extra for it. This is going to come in handy when I’m honeymooning in Hawaii this October! Here are some tips to take advantage of sites like Zenni Optical without risking too much.

Get your prescription, and try to get your pupilliary distance (PD), too.

From what I’ve heard, eye doctors have no right to withhold your PD from you – they just don’t tend to write it on the prescription that you get. I awkwardly measured mine in a mirror, and settled on what turned out to be the average PD for most people. It worked great, and my glasses prescription is spot-on. You don’t need to understand the numbers, the form you fill out will be nice and clear.

Get to know your tape measure, or ruler.

Every little measurement about a pair of glasses on Zenni Optical is provided, and it’s important that you compare those measurements with your current glasses. I chose glasses that were a little bigger than my last pair. If these had frames, they’d probably look too big on my face. This is good information to know.

If you want to minimize risk, go with an $8 pair at Zenni Optical.

There are a lot of places to buy glasses online, but if you are looking to buy for the first time and aren’t very confident in the process, get an $8 pair to try out. Oh, and that price includes the lenses, too.

Get your glasses adjusted at the mall – for free.

You don’t need to tell anybody that you bought them online. I went to the mall for a haircut the other day and decided to drop in to a glasses shop, because my glasses were a little loose on my face. I kindly asked them if they wouldn’t mind just giving me a quick adjustment. They told me to have a seat and they took my glasses. This place actually went far above and beyond, and they took apart my glasses, added a few washers for a tighter fit, put them back together, and cleaned them for me. For free. No questions asked.

If you are considering clip-on sunglasses, go with the Sunshade+ models.

There are lots to choose from. You can buy clip-on sunglasses for any pair, but the Sunshade+ models at Zenni Optical have custom-built shades for each pair. They have tiny magnets in the bridge that allow you to connect them with one hand, quickly and easily. When wearing them, nobody can really tell that they are clipped to my glasses unless they look pretty closely.

Be prepared to wait a little bit, especially if you are outside the U.S.

…and save your confirmation number and receipt! Zenni Optical has a base in California, so it took less than two weeks for my glasses to arrive. But I have heard of customers in other countries having to wait 8-10 weeks for them. If nothing else, brace for the worst, and you’ll be impressed at how quickly they arrive!

The Sunshade+ shades skew light – go darker.

If there is one thing I would change about my glasses, I would go back and get the shades tinted a little darker. I took the default tinting, which works fine, but I would have wanted them a little darker. Also – the shades come with a protective film over both sides of them. Take the time to peel those off before you try on the glasses.

Have fun with it!

Think about how much money you are saving! This is a great time to try out a different style, or even order a couple different pairs. Once you are confident in the process, you can afford to enjoy yourself with it a little bit!

For more info, visit Zenni Optical (NOT an affiliate link!).

Look at the cute li’l sunshine! Awwww….

As I type this, it’s Monday morning, and the beautiful sunlight is streaming through my tiny window. It’s the only taste of sunshine I’ll get today without sitting in a car driving to work at my windowless cubicle. I like to think of moments like this as motivation to keep plugging away at the business. It’ll get there…

Here are some of my favorite stuff from around the Web this past week:

Gettin’ crap done

Yes, the little-mentioned “GCD” techniques. I’m always about looking at different ways to approach my workweek.

• 8 Small Habits That Make My Daily Life Simpler, Easier, and More Effective [The Positivity Blog] – The beauty of tips like these is that they don’t require a complete overhaul of your life. I already took time this morning to declutter some stuff (#4), wrote down my goals for the week (#5), and I spent my Saturday morning doing my week’s worth of grocery shopping (#2). Boom.
• on economy [mnmlist] – When you see the word “economy”, you immediately think of government spending. That’s the curse of being an American. Economy actually refers to how effectively you make the most of stuff – and it goes beyond money. Leo shares a few simple words that encourage economy in every part of your life.
• 9 Simple Tips for Getting Rid of a Bad Habit [The Positivity Blog] – Yup, another one from TPB. Destroy your bad habits by involving others, focusing on one at a time, and letting yourself feel a little bit of pain (news flash: pain is okay sometimes!).
• The Hard Truths About Building Your Own Success [Dumb Little Man] – The beauty of following blogs is that, every once in a while, you’ll come across a great post that will totally hit home with your current situation. This one was mine.

Make your body happy, and make your mind happy

What’s life without happiness? Answer: a big ball of suck. Take care of your health and your happiness with these articles:

• How to Be Kinder: 11 Fine Tips [The Positivity Blog] – TPB is just knocking it out of the park this week, folks. If you don’t think you need to be kinder, chances are you need to. Part of being happy is sharing in the joy of others. Life ain’t just about you, my friend. Follow these tips to be a more pleasant person to be around.
• 7 Superpowers You Act Like You Have But Don’t (And How That Messes You Up) [Dumb Little Man] – After re-reading this one, it may be my favorite of the week. Everybody pretends they have these, but you just don’t think about it. Mind control? Precognition? Time travel? I’m guilty of these. What a creative article!
• Getting By Is Worse Than Failing [Location Independent Professionals] – I do a lot of guest posting at this particular blog, and it is geared towards entrepreneurs, but this is great advice for everybody. Taking those risks and falling down a few times is infinitely more beneficial to you than just “getting by”.
• 7 Life Changing Lessons Learned From Walt Disney [Dumb Little Man] – Want to ensure that I’m going to read your article? Put “Walt Disney” in the title. The guy had an incredible attitude about life and business.

Buying stuff and selling stuff

In other words, the art of personal finance:

• Going Up? [The Simple Dollar] – Ah, the age-old argument of “good debt” versus “bad debt”. This is a great article that quickly summarizes the good and the bad (hint: pretty much anything on a credit card is bad debt, and a house isn’t always good debt, but it can be). This article also shows a startling difference between what you want and what you need.
• 8 Life Landmines That Will Blow Up Your Financial Plans [LiveCheap] – We all know disaster will strike us at some point. This article aims to make us aware of these moments, react to them, and proactively live life to prevent these things from happening (or lessening their blow).
• 10 Things You Should Never Pay For [LiveCheap] – It actually kind of scares me how many people pay for this stuff.
• 7 Ways My Clunker Is Smarter Than a Hybrid [Wise Bread] – News flash: hybrids are “better” cars because marketing campaigns are designed to convince you of that fact. Save your cash.
• Fifteen Great Websites That Saved Me Money in 2010 [The Simple Dollar] – Some of these are obvious (Craigslist), but some not so much (Yard Sale Treasure Map). And I’m heading over to PaperbackSwap today to sign up.
• ClickFiller Finds the Best Possible Amazon Filler to Net You Free Shipping [Lifehacker] – I am a huge fan of Amazon, and their free shipping for most orders over $25 is just the icing on the cake. If your order is close, use this tool to put it over the top.
• Four Atypical Things to Do Before You Consider Buying a House [The Simple Dollar] – Figure out why you’re buying a house is a great tip. A better tip is to save like clockwork for two years to get you used to a mortgage. My favorite tip is to start fixing stuff – because you’ll have to.

“Feed me, Seymour!”

Little Shop of Horrors? Anyone?

• 10 Cheap Shortcuts to Making Cooking Oh-So-Much Easier [Cheap Healthy Good] – It amuses me that people think cooking is a lot of work.
• How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love Seasonal Produce [Cheap Healthy Good] – Since I started buying from a CSA, I’m learning the value of buying seasonal. There are some great tips here.

Nerdy Stuff

Because that’s why this site exists:

• 8 Reasons To Use Google Chrome As Your Primary Browser [Dumb Little Man] – I wrote a while back about my painless switch from Firefox to Chrome, and I still stand by this browser as the one to beat.
• Five Ways to Make Productive Use of Foursquare (and Not Be Annoying) [Lifehacker] – I know a handful of people that are using Foursquare. It’s an intriguing tool, but it’s too easy to be annoying with it.

There you go! Have any links you liked from this week? Share ‘em, or send them to me for next week’s Pile!

A lot of business-related writings and articles out there talk so much about the importance of giving great customer service. They’re right, too: a lot of places really lack in customer service. However, it’s also important to be a good CUSTOMER as well.

Why?

1. It makes the process less frustrating for everybody.
2. Things get done.
3. They will be more willing to accommodate you.

As a guy who currently works in customer service, I am always shocked and amazed at some of the treatment given by customers. Here is some advice for you to remember when dealing with customer service representatives.

If you want respect, show respect.

If your immediate reaction to a problem with a company is to call and yell at the customer service representative, or send an email in all caps, I’ve already lost respect for you as a customer. I don’t care if you gave the company money – customer service representatives are not in their position for the love of their job, and they don’t see a dime of your money. They’ve never even glanced at your situation until you brought it up, so there’s no point in getting angry with them. It’s not their fault 99% of the time.

Understand that sometimes, the rep’s hands are tied.

It’s funny, because every week I will get emails from people who want us to cancel their order, and I have to tell them that it’s too late in the process and we can’t cancel them anymore. This almost always results in a reply along the lines of “I looked at my order status – it hasn’t shipped yet, so you can cancel it. Cancel my order NOW!” Our system honestly doesn’t allow it, and there’s nothing we can do, so we just apologize. Customer service representatives are just above janitors on the totem pole, so stop assuming that they can move the earth for you.

If you curse in your email, I immediately write you off.

There is nothing more classless or disrespectful than cursing at a customer service representative who honestly did nothing to you. I know I’m supposed to go the “extra mile” for customers, but if you can’t even type an email without using stupid swear words, you can bet that I’m not going out of my way to help you. Not a chance.

The same goes for name-calling.

Yes, please, I would like to assist the person calling me a “moron” and an “idiot”. One of those emails came in the other day, and they accomplish nothing. Do you think that your request is suddenly going to go through because you called me names? We are not emotionally attached to the customers, so we will just apologize to you and move on with our day. Keep it clean and respectful, and I might be willing to look a little deeper for you.

Read the promotion details thoroughly. If you don’t qualify, you don’t qualify.

The store I work for puts out coupons and discount codes more often than Congress spends money. Every day there’s at least one person who placed an order and then got a discount code in an email and wants to apply it to the order, even though the code wasn’t active yet. Or they spent $70 and want free shipping, even though they have to spend $75. If you don’t qualify for a promotion, you don’t qualify. Move on. Rules are made for a reason, and you are wasting a lot of time for yourself and us by contacting us about it every single time.

Understand that there may be a lot of moving parts.

If we can’t change the size of the blouse you ordered before it ships, we can’t. Leave it alone. Many people just assume that I’m answering emails at a computer next to a door where we stack boxes for orders, and I can just walk over there and change out the blouse. Our warehouse is in another state, contains tens of thousands of pieces of merchandise, and employs several thousand people to run it. Yeah, we can’t change the color anymore. I’m sorry you don’t understand that.

You don’t carry as much weight as you think, so stop trying to "pull rank".

“Twitter” seems to be the magic word now. People threaten to tell all their friends to not shop at our store, and that they’re going to tell their Twitter communities too. First of all, I’ve had plenty of people in my life tell me to not shop at Walmart, but you know what? They have cheap prices on stuff, so I’m going to shop there anyway. Nobody’s going to boycott a business out of loyalty to you because we didn’t give you free shipping. Second, anybody who knows anything about social media knows that social networks are only as good as the credibility of the person sending out the message. If you are a housewife that sits around all day, nobody on Twitter cares what you think. It’s just me being honest.

If you need to complain publicly, do it with a little honor, and be strategic.

A few months ago, I had some major issues with Bank of America over my stupid credit card. Their customer service representatives made some promises that they did not follow through on. So, I searched Twitter and found that they had a Twitter account. I tweeted publicly using their username stating that their reps went back on their word, and within minutes, I had a new representative getting my contact info and giving me a call. They handled the entire situation and I got what was promised to me. I didn’t just tweet “BANK OF AMERICA SUCKS EVERYBODY SHOULD BOYCOTT THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”. I stated my case publicly and respectfully, and in return, I received excellent customer service in an escalated situation, and I saved myself literally hundreds of dollars in fees. Be smart about it, and you’d be surprised what you can accomplish.

It doesn’t matter what you "think" you should get.

Don’t ask for a gift card. Stop. Please. I don’t care that you think you should get a gift card for your inconvenience, or you should receive a 25% discount. That’s a quick way to guarantee that you won’t get anything, because it shows that you are more concerned with getting something for free than resolving your problem. If you want to keep making a stink about something, we’ll throw a discount your way to keep you quiet, but that’s it. It’s up to us, not you.

Stop using your children or your sorry situation to get attention/compassion.

Around Christmastime, we heard from a lot of customers saying we ruined their Christmases because their two kids weren’t going to get any presents and they’ve been unemployed for six months. Our response to each other usually is, “Then stop buying your kids presents!” We don’t differentiate customers based on their personal lives. You are all treated equally, and giving us your sob story isn’t going to change that.

One last caveat, speaking as a customer service representative: Most of us are remarkably compassionate people, and we understand the frustration that boils over when you have to deal with a lousy situation. Our company isn’t perfect, and we talk often of ways we can improve things. If you were saddled with a crappy situation based on something that we screwed up, we certainly are going to work to try to fix it for you. Unfortunately, we lose our compassion when dealing with people who act the opposite of the tips above. If you demonstrate a little awareness of your behavior, we will want to bend backwards to help resolve your situation. I believe that’s the case for most customer service departments. We don’t mind our job if we’re dealing with respectful customers.

Do you have any good customer service-related stories? Share them!

The above is in honor of the Milwaukee Brewers, who just set a franchise record as I type this for the biggest margin of victory in a shutout win over the Pirates, 20-0. Way to go, fellas! We’ve got a lot of ground to cover today, so let’s just get started:

Family Life

Ironically, even though I don’t have kids, I’m fascinated by articles written by parents about how they raise their kids. Here are a couple I saw (plus a marriage one, too):

• Why You Want a Debt-Free Marriage [Simple Marriage] – This is a nice article that tries to help you avoid the problems that come from money issues in your marriage. Amanda and I won’t be debt-free, but we’ll be working our tails off to get there as quickly as possible.
• What Children Can Teach Their Parents [Stepcase Lifehack] – On the flip side of the usual take on parenting, here’s what the older folks can learn from their rugrats.
• Parenting: 6 Myths You Should Know About [Stepcase Lifehack] – My favorite: “#6. Letting your child struggle or get upset is bad parenting.” Too many people think this is truth.

Put a smiiiiile on your faaaaace…

Happiness seems elusive for so many. Check out these great tips:

• Stuff won’t make you happy, experiences will [Unclutterer] – It shocks me how many people don’t realize this. Even if you consciously understand this, do you subconsciously believe it?
• why i won’t be buying an ipad [mnmlist] – This isn’t an anti-Apple article. It’s a common-sense article.
• The Boy and the Sundae [Becoming Minimalist] – This is a really sweet story that teaches a good lesson about giving back to others.

Nerdy Stuff

Time for something a little more technical – but no less practical!

• Ditch Desktop Apps for Webapps, Free Up RAM, and Enjoy the Best of Both Worlds [Lifehacker] – Most of us have a constant internet connection now, and you can do most computing within a web browser without noticing a difference, except your computer will run better. That’s why I use Google Docs, Gmail, Picasa, Google Reader, and Pandora, among other apps.
• Windows Media Player 12 Streams Your Media Library Over The Internet [Lifehacker] – Say what you want about Microsoft, but they continue to just swing for the fences trying to improve their software for our benefits. I won’t say they’re doing fantastic or anything (I still haven’t tried Windows 7, and it is expensive), but WMP12 lets you connect your music and videos to any computer using the same software that everybody has on their Windows computer. That’s pretty cool.
• Why I’m Returning My Apple iPad [Social Times] – Writer Nick O’Neill puts forth the idea that the iPad is not revolutionary and that Apple has missed the boat here. Besides that, he reiterates like everybody else the same thing: we don’t need it.

Make some changes!

Whether it’s in yourself or in the world, we can all agree that a little change would be nice once in a while:

• From the Greats: 6 Tactics to Increase Your Class and Charm [Dumb Little Man] – The old days weren’t perfect, and I wouldn’t want to bring all of it back (sexism, racism, etc.), but people – especially men – carried themselves differently back then. They had respect for themselves, and that’s something we can agree needs to come back.
• Why Rejection Letters are Great [Write to Done] – Yeah, this is about business and writing, but it could easily be called “Why Rejection Is Great”. In other words, rejection puts you one step closer to success.
• the only thing you can change [mnmlist] – Putting big life changes in perspective. If you feel like you’re in over your head, read this one.
• 6 Proven Ways to Make New Habits Stick [Stepcase Lifehack] – Want to go to the gym? Get up earlier? Eat healthier? Start here.
• How to Lose Weight: 6 of My Own Favorite Tips [The Positivity Blog] – Hint: it’s really not that complicated.
• 9 Great Ways to Be Exceptionally Boring [Stepcase Lifehack, again] – This blog really showed me this last week why I kept it in my Google Reader feeds. This is a quick article showing you the habits that make you a bore (and somebody nobody wants to really be around).
• 34 Little Ways to Share With the World [Zen Habits] – The beauty of today’s internet is that anyone can make big changes with small actions. Here are 34 of them.
• Give Up [Rock Your Day] – Stop expecting things to go well all the time. Life doesn’t owe you jack. Then you’ll see some awesome things happen.
• 42 Practical Ways To Improve Yourself [Stepcase Lifehack] – I’m a sucker for any post with the word “practical” in the title, but this one is a great summation of different ways you can make yourself a better person. Pick one that intrigues you and give it a shot!

Money, money, money, money, moneeyyyyyyy…

No list is complete without some money tips. Here are my favorites from the last two weeks:

• Is It Possible to Manage Credit Cards Well? [Christian Personal Finance] – No. No it isn’t. I got ripped to shreds on Facebook the other day for posting a similar anti-credit card article. Makes me sad.
• 10 Ways To Simplify Your Life [Christian Personal Finance] – Here are some great ways to cut out the clutter in your life and make yourself a little money in the process.
• Why Do You Buy? [The Simple Dollar] – This is a remarkable trick: the next time you go to buy something, ask yourself “Why?” five times, just like a little kid. I bet you will wind up saving a little more money.
• 5 Tips For Going Out to Eat on a Budget [Christian Personal Finance] – I am a big proponent of cooking for yourself, but it’s nice to go out to eat once in a while. But don’t blow the bank account when you do by following these tips.
• How To Buy a $5,000 Car [MoneyTalksNews] – We are a nation full of people that pay too much for their cars. Talk about reliability all you want, but you buy the newer car for the flash. Otherwise, we’d all be driving Toyota Corollas or something. If you want to avoid the car payment trap, you need to buy a good used car. This is a great guide.
• Seven Reasons To Care About The Tiny Things (And Seven Tiny Things To Care About) [The Simple Dollar] – Chances are, the tiny things are more controllable than the large things. And they add up.

What a great show this was.

One of the fun little surprises of living with your parents is when you come home and find there’s a different television in your bedroom. Actually, the television I found was my old TV/VCR that I bought with my confirmation money eleven years ago (holy crap, has it been that long?). Motivated by this newfound TV, I dug up some old videotapes I had in a box under my bed, and I found tapes upon tapes of episodes of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, one of my favorite shows.

For those who don’t know, Whose Line was a show hosted by Drew Carey where four performers (Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, Wayne Brady, and a rotating guest) played improv games for half an hour an episode. It was an amazingly funny show, and such a simple, clever idea. In fact, I miss shows like this, instead of the cookie-cutter crime dramas and crappy comedies they put on TV today (boy, I sound curmudgeonly, don’t I?). So, let’s sit back and learn from Whose Line while enjoying some classic moments and great laughs, thanks to our friend YouTube.

Surround yourself with good friends.

On the show, it’s very clear that Colin and Ryan are great friends, as well as Ryan and Drew. When they all crack each other up, you smile knowing it’s a bunch of friends just having a good time. Companionship is one of the keys to happiness in life. You need to have a core group of friends that you enjoy being with, whose company makes the good days great and the bad days tolerable. It keeps the gas in your tank when life gets rough.

Turn a crappy situation into an opportunity to shine.

Life doesn’t always go as planned. And it could be easy to use Whose Line as an excuse to write “Improv life!”, but that would be lame and obvious. Instead, try to turn those unplanned mistakes into something worthwhile. Life snowballs when things go wrong, and it’s up to you to turn the tide. In this clip, Drew absolutely blows this game up, but Ryan tries to save it and it turns into a classic moment. They could have given up and started over (and if you don’t think they do that, you haven’t watched the uncensored bloopers on YouTube, like I have for the last hour instead of writing this post!), but they didn’t. They plowed through and made it a great segment to air instead.

Try something new and challenging.

You know what you’re good at. In fact, you’re great at it. So why change? Stick to your strengths, right? By not changing and learning new things, you stop growing. Life is all about growth – from the day you’re born until the day you die. Give yourself some room to grow by trying something new. Take a class. Start playing a new sport. Start that business you’ve always dreamed about. Don’t just plan it out – do it. The guys on the show are great at all the games they know, so they added a game called “Questionable Impressions”, where they all have to talk in questions, but also do different impersonations of celebrities while they do it. It doesn’t always go very well, but it’s fun to watch them try.

Use your own flaws to your advantage. Embrace them, don’t deny them.

Is there something wrong with you? Yup. There’s something wrong with me too. Hey, some of us aren’t great at sports, so why should we pretend? And if we don’t have a lot of cash right now, what’s the point of trying to look like we do? There’s no sense in faking it, especially if there’s no hope of “making it”. Colin’s bald. So they all talk about it and crack jokes. Instead of wallowing in it, he turns the tables on them whenever he gets a chance.

Instead of getting more crap, get more out of the crap you have.

Stop buying stuff. Is this so hard? Why do we rush out to put the latest gadget on our credit cards that we don’t need? (Yes, I’m looking at you, iPad!) People, before you go grocery shopping, take a look at your cupboards. Use a service like Supercook and see just how much stuff you can make without spending another dime. Finish paying off your car and run it into the ground before you buy a new one. Get your money’s worth already. If you started focusing more on the stuff you have, you’d be surprised at what you can accomplish with it (and how much money you can save!). Whose Line was a cheap show to produce: a desk, a few chairs, and a couple stools. Heck, they made a great, funny game out of a couple of stools called “Stand, Sit, and Bend”. Are you this creative with what you have?

Any other wonderful, life-altering advice you can get from this great show? If you can’t think of something, try to improvise something. Hiyoo.

"Hey, Mom! I got a credit card so that I can build credit. This is going to be a smart move towards my future – a good credit score will mean a nice mortgage and better loan rates!"

"Son, take the credit card and lock it up. Don’t carry it around with you. Only use it for emergencies."

"Aw, I won’t use it. What am I going to buy for $1,000, anyway?"

Then I go bowling and I’m out of cash. "I’ll just put thirteen bucks on the card, who’s that gonna hurt?" Flash forward 5 years: I racked up about $3,000 in credit card debt, got a second job to pay it off, and now I sit with another $8,000 in credit card debt after that.

No matter what I’ve done over the last five years, I’ve constantly succumbed to the lure of the credit card. The problem is, when I see that I have $200 "available" on my card, my mind instantly thinks of stuff I can buy for $200. The first key in getting out of debt is to understand that this is not "available" money; every dollar you put on a credit card is money you have to pay back or creditors will start hunting you down.

In my case, both of my cards, on separate occasions, sent me letters saying they were going to triple my interest rates if I didn’t stop using the card and close it down. Not being able to afford the interest and the payments that were going to come along with them, I had no choice but to close them down. If I used my card even once, they would retroactively charge me for the higher interest rate and I would be screwed.

Each time this happened, I took my cards out of their well-worn spots in my wallet, grabbed a scissors, and split them in half. I keep the pieces in a filing cabinet to remind myself of the pain that these cards have caused me.

How did I survive? I wasn’t making enough to cover my bills. I figured I’d starve, since I wouldn’t be able to put groceries on my credit cards anymore. Here’s what happened:

1. I prioritized my spending. This, for me, meant getting on a budget, but suddenly, I started working on the Four Walls. I had to make sure I understood where my money needed to go, first and foremost.
2. I made some sacrifices. I thought I wasn’t spending on myself, but sure enough, I found little bits and pieces throughout my typical month where I was wasting money. Reigning in this spending allowed me to cover the usual bills that I was using my credit card to pay for.
3. The bleeding stopped. It may not be much, but now I can see some progress made on my accounts. Each card has a few hundred dollars “available", and without the cards, I have no desire to use that "money".
4. I slapped together an emergency fund. To pay for the little emergencies that come my way, I now have some money in the bank to pay for them, should they occur.
5. I went out less. This doesn’t mean my life is somehow less fun. It just means that I’m being responsible with the money I do have, and I make it count when I go out and pay for stuff with cash. I find other ways to bond with my friends, besides going to the bar and opening a tab on the card.

In short, I feel liberated. In the short-term, yeah: things suck a little. But I don’t feel chained to these cards anymore. Cut the cards and cut your chains. Think you "need" them? Think again. Your financial situation is not unique, and other people are dealing with it better than you are. Suck it up and cut ‘em up!