Donate Your Old Things Before They Become a Giant Pile of Junk
When we put together weekly updates for our staff last Friday , our editors slashed our Instagram habits, downloaded TV shows to watch on the road, invested in quality cookware, and more.
This week, we’re rolling out classic cookbooks, backing up our data, preparing for tax season, and eliminating clutter more effectively.
What updates have you made this week? Let us know in the comments.
Use an analogue for your recipes
Get a cookbook! I keep bookmarking recipes on the Internet, but my brother and sister-in-law gave me a real cookbook over Christmas (it’s Deborah Madison’s New Vegetarian Cooking for All ) and it suddenly changed the rules of the game. The limited number of recipes (limited compared to the internet, anyway) was oddly soothing, the food was delicious, and I’m surprised how much I enjoyed flipping through physical items. Books, dude. Wow.
Caitlyn schneider, social editor
Prepare a rainy day backup
I helped my wife switch her remote backups from Crashplan, which recently discontinued its individual plans, to Carbonite, which costs $ 60 a year for unlimited backups from a single computer. Registration was easy. She will be fine now when her laptop eventually dies.
Nick Douglas, staff writer
Expand your repertoire with the right tools
Lately, my favorite way to relax is to sit on the couch with a ukulele and a beer, watch the chords of my favorite songs and play them badly. (My husband is deaf and my kids don’t care, so this is a judgment-free zone.) A lot of the arrangements I’ve found fit the original song only if you have a capo, which is a small clip that changes the sound. the key in which you play. I took a capo for myself, and now I can practice along with the recordings.
Beth squarek, staff writer
Make smaller, more frequent donations
There is a donation center next to my daughter’s singing class, so I bring one small bag there every week – old toys, clothes and kitchen utensils. This is more manageable than waiting for things to pile up over months and years (which was my usual method). And it became part of the routine, so I remember to do it.
Michelle Wu, parenting editor
Manage your unfinished business
It confuses me a little, but hey, an upgrade is an upgrade: six months after starting Lifehacker, I finally got to my 401 (k) from my previous job at the IRA, which I can now start contributing again. Nothing like tax season to get you to deal with annoying financial affairs.
Virginia K. Smith, Editor-in-Chief