<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>Level Up House</title> <atom:link href="/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link></link> <description>Home is the best place on earth</description> <lastBuildDate>Wed, 03 Jul 2024 00:49:35 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5</generator> <item> <title>Living With Less: 500 sq. feet and just the essentials</title> <link>/2014/living-less-500-sq-feet-just-essentials/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mandi]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 08 Dec 2014 02:50:34 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Minimalism]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Travel & Vacation]]></category> <category><![CDATA[downsizing]]></category> <category><![CDATA[duplication of function]]></category> <category><![CDATA[minimalism]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">/?p=3235</guid> <description><![CDATA[My husband and I just returned from a wonderful 3 day vacation in Friday Harbor, a touristy town of about 2,000 on San Juan Island, Washington. This was our first trip with Gadget and an unusual trip for us in that we spent almost half of every day inside our 500 sq ft hotel room! Since our trip […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My husband and I just returned from a wonderful 3 day vacation in <a href="http://www.fridayharbor.com/">Friday Harbor</a>, a touristy town of about 2,000 on San Juan Island, Washington.</p> <p><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/friday_harbor_dock.jpg"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3265" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/friday_harbor_dock.jpg" alt="friday_harbor_dock" width="1000" height="525" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/friday_harbor_dock.jpg 1000w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/12/friday_harbor_dock-300x157.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></a></p> <p>This was our first trip with Gadget and an unusual trip for us in that we spent almost half of every day inside our 500 sq ft hotel room!</p> <p>Since our trip fell squarely into what is considered the “off season” on the island, most attractions were either running on winter hours or closed altogether. So while we may wake up at 6 and be ready to venture into the world by 7, there wasn’t much to do before 10am or after 5pm. (Not a complaint, we love the quirks of off-season travel.)</p> <p>When we travel we usually try to maximize the time we spend at whatever the nearby point of interest is. Disney parks have us up by 7 and in line for whichever park opens earliest by 8 or 9. Ditto and likewise for road trips and skiing vacations. On those kinds of trips, we return to the room and collapse into bed somewhere around 9 or 10. There’s never much time to enjoy the room, nor is there any point – the rooms we rent tend to be little more than a bed in a box.</p> <p>But this room was different!</p> <p>This room (at the <a href="http://www.fridayharborsuites.com/">Friday Harbor Suites</a>) had an almost-kitchen including flatware, bowls and plates, a sink with Palmolive and a new sponge, microwave, medium sized fridge. It also had a dining table, a separate bedroom, a bathroom larger than any I have in my single family home, a living room complete with sofa and oversized coffee table, and a little sliding door that opened to a ground-level deck. If the room just had a range to cook on, I think I could have moved in.</p> <p>Everything had a purpose, and almost nothing duplicated the purpose of anything else (well, except for the two flat screen televisions and the bar chairs at the kitchen ledge).</p> <p><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/friday_harbor_suites_room_1.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3239" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/friday_harbor_suites_room_1.jpg" alt="friday_harbor_suites_room_1" width="1000" height="667" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/friday_harbor_suites_room_1.jpg 1000w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/12/friday_harbor_suites_room_1-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></a></p> <p><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/friday_harbor_suites_room_2.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3240" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/friday_harbor_suites_room_2.jpg" alt="friday_harbor_suites_room_2" width="1000" height="667" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/friday_harbor_suites_room_2.jpg 1000w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/12/friday_harbor_suites_room_2-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></a></p> <p>Living in this tiny space was refreshing! As a recovering stuff addict, I love an opportunity to see just how much stuff I don’t actually need.</p> <p>Three days in the “mini house” also made it obvious how much of my home is just duplication.</p> <p>Whereas this hotel room had just one table to eat at, my home has at least <strong>five</strong> places where we occasionally dine:</p> <ul> <li>dining room table (where most of our meals are eaten)</li> <li>TV trays in front of the blue sofa</li> <li>computer desks upstairs (I eat here sometimes)</li> <li>folding card table in living room</li> <li>standing up in the kitchen (guilty…)</li> </ul> <p>I can also sew at two different machines, shower in two different showers, sit on four different toilets, wash my hands in any of 5 different sinks, and lounge on two different sofas. If I wanted to sit somewhere, I count at least 11 different places I could have a nice sit. I have two televisions (and three laptops, plus an iPad) for watching things on, and I even have two separate beds I could sleep in.</p> <p>That’s <strong>a lot</strong> of duplication.</p> <p>If I removed all the duplication from my home (three of the four bathrooms, all but one of the bedrooms, one of the living rooms, etc), I’d probably have a 700 sq ft home instead of a 2200 sq ft home!</p> <p>A lot of it happened accidentally – upgrading to a new version of something and retaining the old one is the most common cause of duplication. But it’s a lot of upkeep and management, time I’d rather spend making art or writing or walking outdoors with my family.</p> <p>In a way, my home encouraged it. When there’s room for stuff, it’s easy to keep it around!</p> <p>When we replaced our 7 year old sofa with one large enough to hold us both, the old sofa just moved to another room (at the cost of $125 for movers, since we couldn’t move it ourselves). The room that received it was otherwise empty – because for whatever reason, my 1977 single family home has <em>both</em> a family room and a living room to fill up. Sure, we’d left that living room empty for a good three years, but the looks we got from visitors made it clear that the social expectation was that living rooms should have at least a little furniture in them.</p> <p>But what’s the point? I didn’t miss the excess while on my vacation, and I didn’t mind having “only” one place to sit or sleep. Why do I need two sofas if one will do? Why was my house (and so many like it) built on the assumption that someone would want so many duplicates of things? (It even has two fireplaces!)</p> <p>The three days I spent in this little room were inspiring. I took three car-loads of unused stuff to the local charity dropoff the day after we got back. Feels good, man.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Thing I Like: D-Link Wi-Fi Cloud Camera Review – Spy on your Home!</title> <link>/2014/thing-like-d-link-wi-fi-cloud-camera-review-home-surveillance/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mandi]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 11 Jun 2014 18:18:43 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Gadgets for the Home]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category> <category><![CDATA[cameras]]></category> <category><![CDATA[D-Link]]></category> <category><![CDATA[gadgets]]></category> <category><![CDATA[home surveillance]]></category> <category><![CDATA[home tech]]></category> <category><![CDATA[review]]></category> <category><![CDATA[security]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Wi-Fi]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">/?p=3129</guid> <description><![CDATA[For a long time, I dismissed home security products as evidence of suburban paranoia run amok. Who wants to dig through archive footage to figure out which neighbor’s dog pooped in your yard? Eh.. not me. But then my dad went down the home surveillance rabbit hole and got me hooked, too. I now have three D-Link Wi-Fi […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_3142" style="width: 160px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Day_Night_DCS_932L.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3142" class="wp-image-3142" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Day_Night_DCS_932L.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="221" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Day_Night_DCS_932L.jpg 830w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Day_Night_DCS_932L-203x300.jpg 203w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Day_Night_DCS_932L-694x1024.jpg 694w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3142" class="wp-caption-text">Palm-sized and lightweight, D-Link Cloud cameras let you spy on your home – even in the dark.</p></div> <p>For a long time, I dismissed home security products as evidence of suburban paranoia run amok.</p> <p><em>Who wants to dig through archive footage to figure out which neighbor’s dog pooped in your yard? Eh.. not me.</em></p> <p>But then my dad went down the home surveillance rabbit hole and got me hooked, too. I now have three D-Link Wi-Fi cameras and I think they’re super awesome. I spy on the dog, check that I put the dinner away, and confirm that I closed the garage door. Mundane stuff, sure, but having “eyes” everywhere is awesome.</p> <p>Read on to learn more about these great little cameras and find out which one is best for <strong>you</strong>.</p> <p><em><strong>PS:</strong> I wasn’t paid or perked to write this review, and I do actually own and use these cameras! The camera shots you’ll see in this review are mine. I’m just a tech enthusiast searching for the best gizmos and gadgets for her home, so if you see an error let me know.</em></p> <p><em>The links in this article are Amazon Affiliate links. Purchases made through these links help support this site at no additional cost to you. Read my <a href="/about/privacy-policy-and-disclosures/">affiliate disclosure here</a>. </em></p> <p><em> Please enjoy and share this review. :)</em></p> <p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-3204 aligncenter" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_Review.jpg" alt="DLink_Camera_Review" width="500" height="500" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_Review.jpg 500w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_Review-150x150.jpg 150w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_Review-300x300.jpg 300w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_Review-120x120.jpg 120w" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /></p> <h1>D-Link Wi-Fi Cloud Camera Review</h1> <p>Home surveillance via little Wi-Fi cameras isn’t so much about trying to catch a crook, it’s about <strong>keeping an eye on things.</strong></p> <ul> <li>Did you leave the garage door open?</li> <li>Who is ringing the doorbell?</li> <li>What are the kids doing in the yard?</li> <li>Is the dog on the couch or chewing up the rug?</li> <li>Did you leave the medicine out?</li> <li>Is the kitchen on fire?</li> <li>Is the basement flooding?</li> </ul> <p>At just $45-$100 a pop, it’s easy to get hooked. My Wi-Fi cameras have been in action for 2 months now, and I LOVE checking my “spy network” when I’m away.</p> <div id="attachment_3136" style="width: 259px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_At_Window.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3136" class="wp-image-3136" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_At_Window.jpg" alt="D-Link Wi-Fi Cloud Camera watching out a window" width="249" height="332" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_At_Window.jpg 384w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_At_Window-225x300.jpg 225w" sizes="(max-width: 249px) 100vw, 249px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3136" class="wp-caption-text">I spy with my little camera… a yard.</p></div> <h2>Why D-Link? D-Link vs. Dropcam</h2> <div id="attachment_3165" style="width: 244px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006P88VSE/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B006P88VSE&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20" rel="nofollow"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3165" class="wp-image-3165" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Dropcam_Wifi_Camera.jpg" alt="Dropcam_Wifi_Camera" width="234" height="234" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Dropcam_Wifi_Camera.jpg 1000w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Dropcam_Wifi_Camera-150x150.jpg 150w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Dropcam_Wifi_Camera-300x300.jpg 300w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Dropcam_Wifi_Camera-120x120.jpg 120w" sizes="(max-width: 234px) 100vw, 234px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3165" class="wp-caption-text"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006P88VSE/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B006P88VSE&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20" rel="nofollow">Dropcam</a> is a feature-packed alternative to the D-Link cameras, but be careful not to buy more features than you need.</p></div> <p>Rapid adoption of broadband and smartphones opened the home monitoring floodgates! There are a<em> ton</em> of brands to choose from, but the major players in the “inexpensive home surveillance” category right now are D-Link, Dropcam, Samsung, and Linksys. Which one you choose basically comes down to your budget and your desired features.</p> <p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F9FCW7K/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00F9FCW7K&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20" rel="nofollow">Dropcam</a>, for instance, is another popular home surveillance camera manufacturer, but Dropcams is aimed at a rather sophisticated and upscale ($$$) market. Dropcams are cool, don’t get me wrong – they offer a plethora of great features: remote zoom, tilt, two-way talk, high def video, additional motion-detection sensors, easy wall mounting, and off-site recording as an option. If you don’t need those features, though, there’s no point in paying for them – and you can get 3 or 5 of the most basic D-Link cameras for the cost of <em>one</em> Dropcam(!).</p> <p>I didn’t need Dropcam’s bells and whistles, and I’d rather have 3 good enough cameras instead of one overkill camera, so I went with D-Link.</p> <h3>D-Link Camera Features & Advantages</h3> <ul> <li><strong>Inexpensive:</strong> Seriously, the cheapest one is around $35. Dropcams start around $125. (Prices fluctuate, check Amazon for the current price.)</li> <li><strong>Well reviewed: </strong>The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00452V66G/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00452V66G&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20" rel="nofollow">D-Link DCS-930L</a> is <strong>Amazon’s #1 best seller</strong> in the Home Security Systems category</li> <li><strong>Mix and match options to suit your needs</strong>: Day or Day/Night, Wi-Fi repeater, recording to on-camera memory, two-way speakers, remote viewing angle adjustment</li> <li><strong>Adjustable camera head:</strong> It stays put, too.</li> <li><strong>Extend Wi-Fi network range:</strong> Boost your router’s Wi-Fi signal to the furthest corners of your house</li> <li><strong>iOS / Android app:</strong> It’s free and it works great.</li> <li><strong>Easy setup: </strong>Installation details further down</li> </ul> <p><strong>PS:</strong> If you’re just getting started with home monitoring, you’ll want to buy all your cameras in the same “family” so you can use 1 app to check them all. Try to choose a brand family that will meet your needs for years to come.</p> <h2>How does it work?</h2> <p>Once your camera is set up, it streams live video that you can access via the web portal (<a href="https://www.mydlink.com/entrance">http://mydlink.com</a>) and/or via the free iOS/Android app. The video stream looks good and updates every second or so.</p> <p>This 6 minute video by Lon Seidman takes you on a tour of the camera’s features. Most of these features are shared by all D-Link Wi-Fi cameras. (Caution: bad music!)</p> <p><iframe loading="lazy" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/CreyAoWjk3w" width="640" height="390" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <h2>Mix and Match Features</h2> <p>D-Link makes a big variety of cameras, giving you the flexibility to buy only the features you want.</p> <p>For example, if you just want to check on your dog while you’re out during the day the inexpensive DCS-930L is all you need. If you want to set up a full-fledged home surveillance network, you can buy several remotely controllable cameras and use the built-in D-Link software to watch their feeds simultaneously.</p> <p><em>** denotes the models I personally use.</em></p> <table id="tablepress-7" class="tablepress tablepress-id-7"> <thead> <tr class="row-1 odd"> <th class="column-1"><b>Model</b></th><th class="column-2"><b>Night Vision</b></th><th class="column-3"><b>Wi-Fi Repeater</b></th><th class="column-4">Remote Pan/Tilt</th><th class="column-5">Description</th><th class="column-6"><b>Approx. Price</b></th> </tr> </thead> <tbody class="row-hover"> <tr class="row-2 even"> <td class="column-1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://leveluphouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/icon_DCS_930L.jpg" alt="" width="74" height="104" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3175" /></br><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00452V66G/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00452V66G&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20">DCS-930L</a> **</td><td class="column-2">No</td><td class="column-3">No</td><td class="column-4">No</td><td class="column-5">Inexpensive home monitoring</td><td class="column-6">$</td> </tr> <tr class="row-3 odd"> <td class="column-1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://leveluphouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/icon_DCS_931L.jpg" alt="" width="74" height="104" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3182" /></br><br /> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00452V66G/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00452V66G&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20">DCS-931L</a> **<br /> </td><td class="column-2">No</td><td class="column-3"><b>Yes</b></td><td class="column-4">No</td><td class="column-5">Day cam with Wi-Fi range extender</td><td class="column-6">$</td> </tr> <tr class="row-4 even"> <td class="column-1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://leveluphouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/icon_DCS_932L.jpg" alt="" width="74" height="104" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3176" /></br><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004P8K24W/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004P8K24W&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20">DCS-932L</a> **</td><td class="column-2"><b>Yes</b> - 15 feet</td><td class="column-3">No</td><td class="column-4">No</td><td class="column-5">Day/night without Wi-Fi range extension</td><td class="column-6">$$</td> </tr> <tr class="row-5 odd"> <td class="column-1"> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://leveluphouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/icon_DLink_DCS_933L.jpg" alt="" width="74" height="104" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3183" /></br><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00452V66G/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00452V66G&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20">DCS-933L</a></td><td class="column-2"><b>Yes</b> - 15 feet</td><td class="column-3"><b>Yes</b></td><td class="column-4">No</td><td class="column-5">Day/night with Wi-Fi range extension</td><td class="column-6">$$</td> </tr> <tr class="row-6 even"> <td class="column-1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://leveluphouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/icon_DCS_942L.jpg" alt="" width="74" height="104" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3194" /></br><br /> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0061MU0A6/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0061MU0A6&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20">DCS-942L</a></td><td class="column-2"><b>Yes</b> - 15 feet</td><td class="column-3">No</td><td class="column-4">No</td><td class="column-5">Day/night with <b>on-camera microSD video recording</b></td><td class="column-6"></td> </tr> <tr class="row-7 odd"> <td class="column-1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://leveluphouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/icon_DCS_5010L.jpg" alt="" width="74" height="104" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3180" /></br><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CR0JAT8/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00CR0JAT8&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20">DCS-5010L</a></td><td class="column-2"><b>Yes</b> - 26 feet</td><td class="column-3">No</td><td class="column-4"><b>Yes</b></td><td class="column-5">Day/night with app-controlled pan/tilt</td><td class="column-6">$$$</td> </tr> <tr class="row-8 even"> <td class="column-1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://leveluphouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/icon_DCS_5010L_black.jpg" alt="" width="74" height="104" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3179" /></br><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CR0JAT8/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00CR0JAT8&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20">DCS-5010L</a></td><td class="column-2"><b>Yes</b> - 26 feet</td><td class="column-3"><b>Yes</b></td><td class="column-4"><b>Yes</b></td><td class="column-5">Day/night with app-controlled pan/tilt and Wi-Fi range extension</td><td class="column-6">$$$</td> </tr> <tr class="row-9 odd"> <td class="column-1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://leveluphouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/icon_DLink_DCS_2332L.jpg" alt="" width="74" height="104" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3184" /></br><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CKJ2MIM/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00CKJ2MIM&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20">DCS-2332L</a></td><td class="column-2"><b>Yes</b> - 15 feet</td><td class="column-3">No</td><td class="column-4">No</td><td class="column-5">Day/night with rugged casing for outdoor use</td><td class="column-6">$$$</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <!-- #tablepress-7 from cache --> <p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-keywords=DLink%20Wi-FI%20wireless%20camera&linkCode=ur2&rh=n%3A172282%2Ck%3ADLink%20Wi-FI%20wireless%20camera&tag=leveluphouse-20&url=search-alias%3Delectronics" rel="nofollow">Search Amazon for the model(s) you’re interested in</a> to see current prices and stock.</p> <h2>Wireless & Wi-Fi Range Extension</h2> <p>All the D-Link cloud camera models are designed to work with your existing Wi-Fi network. You can use a wired Ethernet connection if you prefer, although the provided cable is very short.</p> <p>Some of D-Link’s cameras offer Wi-Fi range extension. This extends the reach of your home’s existing Wi-Fi network and works for all devices (not just more cameras). I <strong>love</strong> this feature, since my home is rather wide and my Wi-Fi router is in the far end of it.</p> <p>Alas, this also means that if your Internet connection or power goes down, so do your cameras.</p> <h2>Great Image Quality</h2> <p>The DLink Cloud Camera image quality is high enough for my uses. Here’s a few sample shots taken at 640 x 480 (click to see full size):</p> <div id="attachment_3131" style="width: 444px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Wifi_Camera_Outside_image_quality.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3131" class="wp-image-3131" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Wifi_Camera_Outside_image_quality.jpg" alt="DLink Wifi Camera review" width="434" height="325" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Wifi_Camera_Outside_image_quality.jpg 640w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Wifi_Camera_Outside_image_quality-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 434px) 100vw, 434px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3131" class="wp-caption-text">Me in my yard, as seen by a D-Link camera I placed in a second story window.</p></div> <div id="attachment_3146" style="width: 442px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_Watching_Dog.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3146" class="wp-image-3146" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_Watching_Dog.jpg" alt="DLink_Camera_Watching_Dog" width="432" height="324" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_Watching_Dog.jpg 640w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_Watching_Dog-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 432px) 100vw, 432px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3146" class="wp-caption-text">Watching the dog from across the living room with a daylight-only D-Link camera. (Gadget is good at avoiding the protective blankets, it seems.)</p></div> <div id="attachment_3147" style="width: 442px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/dlink_camera_front_yard.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3147" class="wp-image-3147" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/dlink_camera_front_yard.jpg" alt="dlink_camera_front_yard" width="432" height="324" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/dlink_camera_front_yard.jpg 640w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/dlink_camera_front_yard-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 432px) 100vw, 432px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3147" class="wp-caption-text">Watching the driveway and front steps with a D-Link camera placed in the front window.</p></div> <h2>Spy into Darkness</h2> <p>D-Link cloud cameras can see in total darkness up to 15 feet or 26 feet, depending on the model. Cameras that support night vision automatically flip their lens and LEDs as the room’s brightness levels change. The lens changeover is audible, so be careful placing day/night cams into rooms where the clicking sound would annoy you.</p> <p>Here’s how night vision looks in a very dark room:</p> <div id="attachment_3150" style="width: 443px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Night_Camera_Shot.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3150" class="wp-image-3150" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Night_Camera_Shot.jpg" alt="D-Link Wi-Fi Cloud Camera Review Night Vision Test" width="433" height="325" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Night_Camera_Shot.jpg 640w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Night_Camera_Shot-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 433px) 100vw, 433px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3150" class="wp-caption-text">My dog walks past the family room camera in near-darkness.</p></div> <p>The only light is coming from the camera’s LEDs and the dim lamp at the far end of the room. The camera makes the room look MUCH brighter than it was in real life.</p> <h2>Recording Capabilities</h2> <div id="attachment_3186" style="width: 170px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/sandisk_micro_32GB_card.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3186" class="wp-image-3186" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/sandisk_micro_32GB_card.jpg" alt="sandisk_micro_32GB_card" width="160" height="122" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/sandisk_micro_32GB_card.jpg 500w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/sandisk_micro_32GB_card-300x229.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 160px) 100vw, 160px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3186" class="wp-caption-text">Some DLink cameras support recording to a removable <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009QZH7BU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B009QZH7BU&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20" rel="nofollow">SD card</a>.</p></div> <p>I haven’t really felt the need to record what my cameras see for later review (I just watch in realtime), but all the DLink Wi-Fi cameras can be configured via DLink’s software to save footage to a hard drive.</p> <p>Or! You can a model that supports on-camera recording, like the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004P8K24W/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004P8K24W&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20&linkId=A4UZVPEWO23W4AGU" rel="nofollow">DCS-942L model</a>. You can stick a 32GB MicroSD card into this bad boy and record an entire weekend worth of (low frame rate) footage.</p> <h1>101 Uses for Wi-Fi Cameras</h1> <p>At first I was like… “What am I going to do with a camera? I don’t want to sit and watch my yard all day.”</p> <p>Then I realized the power of pointing the camera <em>into</em> the house.</p> <ul> <li><strong>Inside garage:</strong> Check if you left the garage door open! We do this a lot…</li> <li><strong>Kitchen:</strong> Confirm that food and medicine got put away, even if you’re out of the house. Or watch the oven timer. Or see if that pot’s boiling yet. (I also found out my dog likes to inspect the garbage can when I’m not around.)</li> <li><strong>Living room:</strong> Keep an eye on your dog/kids/spouse.</li> <li><strong>Basement:</strong> Is that storm sending water into the basement? Or did you just leave the lights on?</li> <li><strong>Nursery:</strong> Watch baby sleep (I don’t have a baby, but if I did I’d would totally use one to watch said baby.)</li> <li><strong>General peace of mind.</strong> Confirm that the house did not, in fact, burn down while you are away on vacation. Yay!</li> </ul> <p><strong>I found a few outdoor uses, too. </strong>(By <em>“outdoor</em>” I mean <em>“the camera is inside and pointed out a window”</em>. Note that night vision does <strong>not</strong> work when pointed through a window.)</p> <ul> <li><strong>Neighborhood spy cam:</strong> What was that noise? If you’re at your computer, keep a browser tab open to show the live feed. (Spoiler: noise was probably another FedEx truck going by.)</li> <li><strong>Pool:</strong> Keep an eye on your backyard pool</li> <li><strong>Yard surveillance:</strong> Did you leave the gate open? What are the kids doing out there? A camera pointed into the yard makes it easy to check.</li> <li><strong>Pointed out window towards front door:</strong> If your house’s layout allows for it, you can use your cam to see who’s at the door.</li> </ul> <p>I can only imagine how much less crap my sister and I would have gotten away with as kids if my mom had access to a network of these little spy cameras. D-Link cloud cameras would also be great for checking on elderly parents, pets, children, contractors, and babysitters.</p> <h1>myDlink App</h1> <p>The companion viewing app is called “myDlink Lite” (here’s <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mydlink-lite/id372571229?mt=8">a link to the iOS version of the app</a>). The app is great. It’s simply laid out, the layout is easy to navigate, and I’ve been impressed by its ability to stream (very choppy) video over even the crappiest 1-bar 3G.</p> <ul> <li>Works in horizontal or vertical format</li> <li>Manually switch into “night vision” mode</li> <li>Save a snapshot (to your phone) of what you’re currently seeing</li> <li>Access all of your home’s cameras</li> <li>Listen to audio feed (or mute it)</li> </ul> <div id="attachment_3197" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_App.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3197" class="wp-image-3197" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_App.jpg" alt="DLink_Camera_App" width="590" height="437" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_App.jpg 1296w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_App-300x222.jpg 300w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_App-1024x758.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3197" class="wp-caption-text">Access any of your cameras remotely via D-Link’s free smartphone app.</p></div> <h1>What’s in the box?</h1> <p><strong>In the box:</strong> D-Link camera, power adapter with a nice long cord, a short white Ethernet cable, and instruction/advertisement booklets.</p> <div id="attachment_3148" style="width: 527px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Cloud_Camera_Box_Contents.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3148" class="wp-image-3148" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Cloud_Camera_Box_Contents.jpg" alt="DLink_Cloud_Camera_Box_Contents" width="517" height="388" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Cloud_Camera_Box_Contents.jpg 640w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Cloud_Camera_Box_Contents-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 517px) 100vw, 517px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3148" class="wp-caption-text">DLink Cloud Camera 1100 (DCS-932L) box contents.</p></div> <div id="attachment_3132" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3132" class="wp-image-3132 size-full" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_Parts.jpg" alt="DLink Wifi Camera" width="512" height="384" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_Parts.jpg 512w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/DLink_Camera_Parts-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /><p id="caption-attachment-3132" class="wp-caption-text">D-Link camera with power cord and included Ethernet cable.</p></div> <h2>Installation</h2> <p>Trouble with installation is the cause of many (if not most) of the camera’s negative Amazon reviews. My tips for a smooth camera installation:</p> <p>1.<strong> Triple check your Wi-Fi password.</strong> The installation fails silently if the password is entered wrong. Pretty dumb that it can’t say “hey bonehead, your password is wrong!”, so watch out for that.</p> <p>2. <strong>Access the camera directly via its IP address.</strong> Even if you’re having trouble with the installation itself, you might be able to access the camera directly. Go to your router’s control panel (usually accessed via 192.168.0.1) to see a list of connected devices, or start guessing IPs and you might be able to access the camera’s own control panel. My cameras, for example, ended up being something like 192.168.0.7 and 192.168.0.12.</p> <p>3. <strong>Call D-Link’s support line.</strong> They’re actually well-trained and English-speaking. They helped my not-so-technical dad through the installation of his cameras.</p> <p>The only complaint I have about the camera installation process is the requirement to upgrade firmware right away. This only seems to affect some cameras – one of mine needed a firmware upgrade as soon as I got it all set up in the right location. Why couldn’t the firmware update have been part of the installation wizard? Updating the firmware requires bringing the camera back to the router and plugging it in directly, so hang onto that Ethernet cable.</p> <p>Other than that, the installation wasn’t a problem and once it’s done it’s good forever (or until there’s a firmware update, which so far has just been once in two months).</p> <h2>Wi-Fi Camera Limitations</h2> <p>These cameras are awesome, especially for the price, but there are a few things you just can’t do or don’t work as well as you might hope:</p> <p><strong>Night vision works great… unless you’re aiming through a window. </strong>The night vision LEDs (the red lights on the front of the camera) create blown-out white spots on the window glass when it’s dark outside. If you don’t need to see through the window at night, just get a daytime camera and point it out the window.</p> <p>If you want night vision through a window, these cameras can’t do it. You’ll need an outdoor camera like the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CKJ2MIM/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00CKJ2MIM&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20" rel="nofollow">DLink Wireless Day/Night Outdoor (DCS-2332L)</a> which comes in a weatherproof casing .</p> <p><strong>Motion detection is spammy and doesn’t work well.</strong> I fiddled with motion detection regions and sensitivities for a month before I finally just gave up and disabled motion detection. The idea is nice: get emailed a picture whenever there’s significant motion. In reality, I was getting spammed tons of photos every time a branch or the sunlight moved. The tech just isn’t there.</p> <p><strong>Cameras can (on occasion) take a long time to reconnect to D-Link’s servers.</strong> I don’t know what caused it, but one time I moved my cameras and it took them 30 minutes to become available via the app again.</p> <p><strong>Not battery powered.</strong> Your spy network goes down when the power’s out, though I imagine you could hook the camera up to a UPC (and your router, too) for usage during a power outage.</p> <h1>Conclusion</h1> <p>I love these little cameras. The added peace of mind has been completely worth it, and I’ve been expanding my spy network over the past few months to watch more corners of my home. If you have kids or pets, or just worry about your home, you might really love having an extra set of “eyes” watching over your home</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Welcome Home, Gadget</title> <link>/2014/welcome-home-gadget/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mandi]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 09 Jun 2014 17:51:33 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Pets]]></category> <category><![CDATA[chihuahua]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Gadget]]></category> <category><![CDATA[new dog]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">/?p=3242</guid> <description><![CDATA[My husband, Jim, and I have felt the absence of a dog in our lives for years. Part of the reason we got a house in the first place was so that we could have a dog. But there was always something holding us back: the 9 hour workday, the usual uncertainties and worries (what […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My husband, Jim, and I have felt the absence of a dog in our lives for years. Part of the reason we got a house in the first place was so that we could have a dog. But there was always something holding us back: the 9 hour workday, the usual uncertainties and worries (what if the dog is difficult to train, or what if the dog spoils our nice home?), and the general logistics (what happens when we travel?).</p> <p>Since I’m currently unemployed and studying for bootcamp – and after that, who knows? – now seemed like as good a time as any to make good on our promise to someday get a dog. I’d be home to train her and get her situated, and we can ease back into that whole workday routine thing. We’ll figure the rest out as it comes.</p> <p>In late May we went to a local rescue group’s adoption event (<a href="http://www.pupdogrescue.org/">People United for Pets</a> – check ’em out if you’re in the Puget Sound area) intending to just have a look, not really committed to any particular breed/mix. But the moment we saw her, we knew she belonged with us. We applied and four days later, she was ours!</p> <p>Welcome home, Gadget. We waited a long time for you!</p> <p><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14128650038_fa451062cd_k.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-3246 size-large aligncenter" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14128650038_fa451062cd_k-768x1024.jpg" alt="14128650038_fa451062cd_k" width="768" height="1024" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14128650038_fa451062cd_k-768x1024.jpg 768w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14128650038_fa451062cd_k-225x300.jpg 225w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14128650038_fa451062cd_k.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></a></p> <p><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14128698600_ddc46a45ef_o.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-3247 aligncenter" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14128698600_ddc46a45ef_o.jpg" alt="14128698600_ddc46a45ef_o" width="480" height="640" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14128698600_ddc46a45ef_o.jpg 480w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14128698600_ddc46a45ef_o-225x300.jpg 225w" sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px" /></a></p> <p><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14335503883_fdcc5e38e9_b.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-3248 size-full aligncenter" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14335503883_fdcc5e38e9_b.jpg" alt="14335503883_fdcc5e38e9_b" width="600" height="800" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14335503883_fdcc5e38e9_b.jpg 600w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14335503883_fdcc5e38e9_b-225x300.jpg 225w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></a></p> <p><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14469026629_6c9aabeb01_k.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-3249 size-large" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14469026629_6c9aabeb01_k-1024x768.jpg" alt="14469026629_6c9aabeb01_k" width="1024" height="768" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14469026629_6c9aabeb01_k-1024x768.jpg 1024w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14469026629_6c9aabeb01_k-300x225.jpg 300w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14469026629_6c9aabeb01_k.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a></p> <p><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14469195547_2071f697e8_k.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-3250 size-large" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14469195547_2071f697e8_k-768x1024.jpg" alt="14469195547_2071f697e8_k" width="768" height="1024" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14469195547_2071f697e8_k-768x1024.jpg 768w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14469195547_2071f697e8_k-225x300.jpg 225w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/06/14469195547_2071f697e8_k.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /></a></p> <p>She might be a Chi, but she hasn’t lived up to the negative breed stereotypes. Easy to train, rarely provoked to bark, and incredibly playful. She also loves to hump elbows, especially if you play some metal. She’s rad like that.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>DIY Bathroom: Staining a Bathroom Vanity with Gel Stain</title> <link>/2014/diy-bathroom-staining-a-bathroom-vanity-gel-stain/</link> <comments>/2014/diy-bathroom-staining-a-bathroom-vanity-gel-stain/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mandi]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 12 May 2014 08:00:03 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Painting & Staining]]></category> <category><![CDATA[bathroom vanity]]></category> <category><![CDATA[DIY]]></category> <category><![CDATA[stain bathroom vanity]]></category> <category><![CDATA[staining]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">/?p=3066</guid> <description><![CDATA[This post is part of a multi-post series showing off the DIY renovation of our office (“guest”) bathroom. Here’s how I updated a small, dated bathroom vanity for well under a hundred bucks. This is my very first staining project (though I’ve got plenty of experience with painting wood) so I followed the same steps […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/gel_stain_how_to_tutorial.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-3126 aligncenter" src="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/gel_stain_how_to_tutorial.jpg" alt="gel_stain_how_to_tutorial" width="500" height="500" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/gel_stain_how_to_tutorial.jpg 500w, /wp-content/uploads/2015/03/gel_stain_how_to_tutorial-150x150.jpg 150w, /wp-content/uploads/2015/03/gel_stain_how_to_tutorial-300x300.jpg 300w, /wp-content/uploads/2015/03/gel_stain_how_to_tutorial-120x120.jpg 120w" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /></a></p> <p><em>This post is part of a multi-post series showing off the DIY renovation of our office (“guest”) bathroom.<br /> </em></p> <p>Here’s how I updated a small, dated bathroom vanity for well under a hundred bucks. This is my very first staining project (though I’ve got plenty of experience with painting wood) so I followed the same steps demonstrated by Jessie over at <a href="http://imperfectlypolished.com/2012/07/10/stained-master-vanity-a-tutorial/">Imperfectly Polished</a>. I think it turned out pretty good.</p> <h1>Our Vanity “Before”</h1> <p>Here’s our office bathroom’s “Before”, looking pretty much like it has since we moved in 3 years ago.</p> <p>Take it all in: the brass faucet has resisted all attempts to fix its leak, the sink lacquer is chipping, the light fixture is straight out of a 1970’s Hollywood dressing room, and the vinyl floor is from a 1980’s hair salon. Like most of our DIY projects here at Level Up House, this bathroom will evolve over time, starting with the very first step: staining the vanity.</p> <div id="attachment_3068" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_before.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3068" class="size-full wp-image-3068 " src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_before.jpg" alt="stain_bathroom_vanity_before" width="384" height="512" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_before.jpg 384w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_before-225x300.jpg 225w" sizes="(max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3068" class="wp-caption-text">This is not our prettiest bathroom.</p></div> <h1>Vanity Staining Supply List</h1> <p>Staining a bathroom vanity comes with a whole slew of stuff to buy. Here’s a list of everything I used:</p> <ul> <li>Minwax Pre-Stain wood conditioner</li> <li>Minwax Gel Stain in “Walnut” – 16oz can</li> <li>Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane</li> <li>Corner sander with 120 grit sanding paper</li> <li>Painter’s tape</li> <li>Cheesecloth (optional)</li> <li>Old socks</li> <li>Safety goggles & dust mask</li> <li>Plastic gloves</li> <li>Mineral spirits for clean up</li> <li>A roll of paper towels</li> <li>Shop vac + brush attachment</li> <li>Screwdriver/drill for removing the cabinet doors and hardware</li> </ul> <p>I was originally going to buy the smaller size can of stain, but went with the 16oz after realizing it was going to take several coats (and indeed, it took 5 complete coats) to get my vanity’s wood as dark as I wanted. The cheesecloth was recommended to me by the “staining professional” at my local hardware store, but I think it was kind of silly. Any old rag made of thin cloth would have worked fine and would have saved me $7.</p> <div style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_supplies_list.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_supplies_list.jpg" alt="stain_bathroom_vanity_supplies_list" width="512" height="384" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">My local Home Depot doesn’t carry Minwax or much variety in gel stains. I had to hit up McLendon Hardware instead, where I found Minwax and an overwhelming selection of colors to choose from.</p></div> <h1>Step 1: Take it all apart</h1> <p>Use the screwdriver/drill to remove doors and cabinet hardware. If you can get your faux drawers off, do that, too. (I couldn’t get mine off for the life of me.)</p> <div id="attachment_3073" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_before_taken_apart.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3073" class="size-full wp-image-3073 " src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_before_taken_apart.jpg" alt="stain_bathroom_vanity_before_taken_apart" width="384" height="512" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_before_taken_apart.jpg 384w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_before_taken_apart-225x300.jpg 225w" sizes="(max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3073" class="wp-caption-text">Countertop cleared – bathroom is ready to begin its transformation into a work zone.</p></div> <p>Any wood trims around the base of the vanity should come off, too. Oh, and label each one with its location.</p> <div id="attachment_3072" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_remove_wood_trims.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3072" class="size-full wp-image-3072 " src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_remove_wood_trims.jpg" alt="stain_bathroom_vanity_remove_wood_trims" width="512" height="384" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_remove_wood_trims.jpg 512w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_remove_wood_trims-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3072" class="wp-caption-text">Labeling your trim pieces is the <em>best</em> thing you can do for yourself. Don’t ask me how I know this.</p></div> <h1>Step 2: Sanding the vanity</h1> <p>Okay, the first <em>real</em> step here is to put on the goggles, dust mask, and ear plugs. Sanding kicks up a ton of dust and it all goes straight into your eyeballs and lungs if you don’t properly gear up first.</p> <div id="attachment_3071" style="width: 298px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/dust_mask_goggles_staining_a_vanity.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3071" class=" wp-image-3071 " src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/dust_mask_goggles_staining_a_vanity.jpg" alt="dust_mask_goggles_staining_a_vanity" width="288" height="263" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/dust_mask_goggles_staining_a_vanity.jpg 480w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/dust_mask_goggles_staining_a_vanity-300x274.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 288px) 100vw, 288px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3071" class="wp-caption-text">Lookin’ chic!</p></div> <p>My corner sander is equipped with 100 grit sandpaper. It took about an hour to sand off the thin layer of clear shininess that currently covers the vanity. Fortunately, the existing varnish (or whatever it was) wasn’t too thick and sanded right off. Corner sanders are great for small projects and tight corners, but if I do another wood staining project I’m going to invest in a circular sander to speed up this process.</p> <div id="attachment_3069" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_corner_sander.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3069" class="size-full wp-image-3069 " src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_corner_sander.jpg" alt="stain_bathroom_vanity_corner_sander" width="512" height="384" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_corner_sander.jpg 512w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_corner_sander-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3069" class="wp-caption-text">Corner sander ENGAGE!</p></div> <p> </p> <p>Go ’round in circles and get all that shiny layer off. Be sure to get the corners and edges, too. For that narrow area above the faux drawers I rubbed a small roll of sandpaper left/right. The doors were detached and sanded separately (I sat on the floor and sanded them in my lap).</p> <p> </p> <div id="attachment_3070" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_sanding_corner_sander.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3070" class="size-full wp-image-3070 " src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_sanding_corner_sander.jpg" alt="stain_bathroom_sanding_corner_sander" width="512" height="384" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_sanding_corner_sander.jpg 512w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_sanding_corner_sander-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3070" class="wp-caption-text">Sanding my vanity’s faux drawers</p></div> <p> </p> <p>When you’re done sanding vacuum the area clean with a shop vac and the brush attachment. Consider wiping everything down with a wet rag, too. Getting all the dust out of the room is just a good practice – you don’t want the debris getting mixed into your stain.</p> <h1>Step 3: Painter’s tape</h1> <p>If your vanity touches walls or floors that you care about, a few strips of painter’s tape will protect those things. Wipe off any remaining sanding dust before sticking tape to the surrounding walls, interior, and floor.</p> <p><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/painters_tape_staining_vanity.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-3083 aligncenter" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/painters_tape_staining_vanity.jpg" alt="painters_tape_staining_vanity" width="512" height="384" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/painters_tape_staining_vanity.jpg 512w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/painters_tape_staining_vanity-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a></p> <h1>Step 4: Prepping with Pre-Conditioner</h1> <p>I didn’t do a side-by-side to test if this “pre-stain wood conditioner” stuff actually makes a difference, but at $7 a can I figured I’d get it since it was recommended by the how-to guides I consulted before starting this project. Using it is straightforward: open the can, dip a paper towel in, and smear it all over the wood you’ll be staining. You’re supposed to apply stain within 2 hours of applying the pre-stain, so don’t do this step and then go to bed or something.</p> <div id="attachment_3074" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/pre_stain_wood_conditioner.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3074" class="size-full wp-image-3074 " src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/pre_stain_wood_conditioner.jpg" alt="pre_stain_wood_conditioner" width="512" height="384" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/pre_stain_wood_conditioner.jpg 512w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/pre_stain_wood_conditioner-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3074" class="wp-caption-text">This is the only time where “pre-staining” is a good thing.</p></div> <h1>Step 5: Mixing the Gel Stain</h1> <p>Gel stain is disgustingly thick and gelatinous, but it has to be stirred into a smoother consistency before it can be applied. I poured half the can’s contents into another container to make it easier to stir in both containers. A good old paint stick was plenty strong for cutting and stirring this goopy stuff.</p> <div id="attachment_3075" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/gel_stain_walnut.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3075" class="size-full wp-image-3075 " src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/gel_stain_walnut.jpg" alt="gel_stain_walnut" width="512" height="384" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/gel_stain_walnut.jpg 512w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/gel_stain_walnut-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3075" class="wp-caption-text">Gel stain is goopypoopy. Many, <em>many</em> comparisons to other substances were made.</p></div> <h1>Step 6: Actually Staining Things</h1> <p>Are we staining yet? Yes, yes we are. Dip the cheesecloth or rag into the gel stain – get a small amount, no need to go nuts here because most of it’s going to get wiped back off anyway.</p> <div id="attachment_3076" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/gel_stain_on_cheesecloth.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3076" class="size-full wp-image-3076 " src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/gel_stain_on_cheesecloth.jpg" alt="gel_stain_on_cheesecloth" width="512" height="384" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/gel_stain_on_cheesecloth.jpg 512w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/gel_stain_on_cheesecloth-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3076" class="wp-caption-text">Oh, and wear gloves. This was taken 30 seconds before my hands became chocolate colored.</p></div> <div id="attachment_3077" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/gel_stain_smeared_on.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3077" class="size-full wp-image-3077 " src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/gel_stain_smeared_on.jpg" alt="gel_stain_smeared_on" width="512" height="384" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/gel_stain_smeared_on.jpg 512w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/gel_stain_smeared_on-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3077" class="wp-caption-text">Like a big ol’ poopstain. (Seriously, if you don’t make fun of this DIY stuff you’ll never survive it.)</p></div> <p>Go ’round and ’round in circles, then wipe in the direction of the grain.</p> <div id="attachment_3078" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_cabinet_door_technique.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3078" class="wp-image-3078 size-full" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_cabinet_door_technique.jpg" alt="staining a bathroom vanity stain wiping technique" width="512" height="384" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_cabinet_door_technique.jpg 512w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_cabinet_door_technique-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3078" class="wp-caption-text">Gel stain application technique: put it on heavy, smear it around around in circles and then wipe in the direction of the grain. Don’t let it pool too much in the corners and crevices.</p></div> <div id="attachment_3079" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_one_coat.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3079" class="size-full wp-image-3079 " src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_one_coat.jpg" alt="stain_bathroom_vanity_one_coat" width="512" height="384" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_one_coat.jpg 512w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_one_coat-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3079" class="wp-caption-text">Before and after: bare vanity door on the left, one coat of Minwax gel stain in “Walnut” on the right. They look like chocolate squares. I wish they were chocolate squares.</p></div> <p style="text-align: left;">I went inside and did the same to the vanity:</p> <div id="attachment_3080" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_coat_1.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3080" class="size-full wp-image-3080 " src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_coat_1.jpg" alt="stain_bathroom_vanity_coat_1" width="512" height="384" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_coat_1.jpg 512w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/stain_bathroom_vanity_coat_1-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3080" class="wp-caption-text">Wood vanity with one coat of Minwax gel stain in “Walnut”</p></div> <p>And that’s just the first coat. Now it needs 8 hours to dry, so I clean up for the day and take a shower. Most of the clean up is me removing gel stain from my fingers and hands, but that was easy with a little dab of mineral spirits.</p> <div id="attachment_3081" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/mineral_spirits_gel_stain_cleanup.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3081" class="size-full wp-image-3081 " src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/mineral_spirits_gel_stain_cleanup.jpg" alt="mineral_spirits_gel_stain_cleanup" width="512" height="384" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/mineral_spirits_gel_stain_cleanup.jpg 512w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/mineral_spirits_gel_stain_cleanup-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3081" class="wp-caption-text">Mineral spirits nuke gel stain right off your flesh and doesn’t leave you dry or itching.</p></div> <p>At this point, it’s apparent that I’m going to need several coats to reach the level of darkness I desire. It’s also apparent that my wood is resisting the stain more than my paint stick, which turned into 98% dark chocolate in just one coating. I’m no wood expert – in fact, this is the first thing I’ve ever stained, so at this point it’s good to keep realistic expectations. I’m okay with wood grain showing, with a bit of unevenness (isn’t “shabby chic” in style anyway? ugh, that phrase…).</p> <h1>Step 5: Stain coat #2</h1> <p>Second stain coat went on just like the first: rub it in, wipe it off. I have to admit to being a little frustrated at this step: the second coat doesn’t look much darker than the first.</p> <div id="attachment_3082" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/one_coat_vs_two_coats_stain.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3082" class="size-full wp-image-3082 " src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/one_coat_vs_two_coats_stain.jpg" alt="one_coat_vs_two_coats_stain" width="512" height="384" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/one_coat_vs_two_coats_stain.jpg 512w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/one_coat_vs_two_coats_stain-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3082" class="wp-caption-text">Wtf? Each coat makes a minimal difference, at best.</p></div> <h1>Step 6: Stain coats #3-6</h1> <p>A lot of staining tutorials go something like, <em>“Just two coats and you’re done, easy peasey!”</em></p> <p>Uh, yeah, my experience was more like needing <strong>6 coats total</strong>.</p> <p>I also had to wait 24 hours between coats, or else the previous stain started smearing around and wouldn’t “stick”. This project stretched out, ultimately taking me just over two weeks to complete it. Partly to blame was my own ennui and dwindling enthusiasm for the project as each coat hardly looked different than the previous. (Each coat DID make a difference, it was just a barely perceptible difference).</p> <p>I persevered and this is where it ended up after 6 coats of stain:</p> <div id="attachment_3120" style="width: 507px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/vanity_done_staining.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3120" class="wp-image-3120" src="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/vanity_done_staining.jpg" alt="vanity_done_staining" width="497" height="373" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/vanity_done_staining.jpg 1000w, /wp-content/uploads/2015/03/vanity_done_staining-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 497px) 100vw, 497px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3120" class="wp-caption-text">It’s chocolate. Oh my god.</p></div> <h1>Step 7: Polyurethane: 3 coats</h1> <p>Polyurethane is just a protective clear coat that goes on over your dried stain job. I waited a full week between my last coat of stain and my first coat of polyurethane, and 24 hours between each coat of polyurethane. You can probably wait less time if you’re in a big hurry, but I wasn’t (and my Dad was in town). Compared to all those stain coats, the polyurethane step is easy.</p> <p>Just blot it on, wipe it off. I used an old sock foot as my “paintbrush”, because I hate buying brand new brushes for this kind of stuff. My sock worked fine.</p> <div id="attachment_3121" style="width: 518px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/polyurethane_coats.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3121" class="wp-image-3121" src="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/polyurethane_coats.jpg" alt="polyurethane_coats" width="508" height="381" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/polyurethane_coats.jpg 1000w, /wp-content/uploads/2015/03/polyurethane_coats-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 508px) 100vw, 508px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3121" class="wp-caption-text">Polyurethane: wipe on, wipe off</p></div> <h1>Step 8: Reattaching Hardware</h1> <p>Be very careful putting your hardware back on!</p> <p>Your stain and polyurethane coats should be really durable, but it’s easy to scratch things when drills and metal hardware are involved.</p> <div id="attachment_3122" style="width: 525px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/reattach_hardware.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3122" class="wp-image-3122" src="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/reattach_hardware.jpg" alt="reattach_hardware" width="515" height="386" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/reattach_hardware.jpg 1000w, /wp-content/uploads/2015/03/reattach_hardware-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 515px) 100vw, 515px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3122" class="wp-caption-text">Reattaching the cabinet hardware is easy as long as you kept track of the pieces (you put them safely in a ziplock bag, I know you did).</p></div> <h1>All Done!</h1> <p>Here it is: the newly stained bathroom vanity.</p> <div id="attachment_3123" style="width: 465px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/stained_bathroom_vanity.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3123" class="wp-image-3123" src="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/stained_bathroom_vanity.jpg" alt="stained_bathroom_vanity" width="455" height="607" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/stained_bathroom_vanity.jpg 750w, /wp-content/uploads/2015/03/stained_bathroom_vanity-225x300.jpg 225w" sizes="(max-width: 455px) 100vw, 455px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3123" class="wp-caption-text">Staining complete!</p></div> <p>It’s just a humble builder cabinet, so it made for a great First Stain Project Ever.</p> <p>Obviously, there are still a lot of things I would like to update in this room. The sink faucet leaks, the sink is rusting, and the countertop is scruffy/stained, and a tiled ceramic floor would add a lot of appeal.</p> <p>But I had to finish the vanity first to be sure it was worth putting a new countertop onto (vs. replacing the vanity as well). In the spirit of not spending a fortune on this bathroom, I think I’ll be keeping the stained vanity and finding a nice granite remnant to replace the old countertop, along with an undermount sink and new faucet.</p> <h1>Helpful Tips</h1> <p><strong>Cheesecloth was not necessary and too messy. </strong>Everyone’s so excited about cheesecloth but I really hated working with it. It was flimsy and I was going through way too much of it. At $6 a bag, I felt pretty silly wasting perfectly clean and brand new cloth when I had a bin of torn socks upstairs. I switched to paper towels (for staining) and socks (for polyurethane and the last coat of stain) and everything went fine.</p> <p><strong>Carry everything in a box. </strong>Since my bathroom is pretty small, I basically had two workstations: the garage floor (for the vanity doors) and the bathroom itself (the rest of the vanity). Carrying all my supplies in a cardboard box made it easier to move from one workstation to another.</p> <div id="attachment_3119" style="width: 566px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/how_to_stain_a_vanity_supplies.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3119" class="wp-image-3119" src="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/how_to_stain_a_vanity_supplies.jpg" alt="how_to_stain_a_vanity_supplies" width="556" height="417" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/how_to_stain_a_vanity_supplies.jpg 1000w, /wp-content/uploads/2015/03/how_to_stain_a_vanity_supplies-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 556px) 100vw, 556px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3119" class="wp-caption-text">Staining is messy. A box can help.</p></div> <p><strong>Wear a mitt. </strong>Staining is brutally messy and gets into your skin very quickly. I never liked wearing gloves on previous projects, but they were an absolute necessity for this staining project.</p> <div id="attachment_3124" style="width: 567px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/plastic_mitts.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3124" class="wp-image-3124" src="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/plastic_mitts.jpg" alt="plastic_mitts" width="557" height="418" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/plastic_mitts.jpg 1000w, /wp-content/uploads/2015/03/plastic_mitts-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 557px) 100vw, 557px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3124" class="wp-caption-text">Cheap plastic mitts from the dollar store for the win.</p></div> <p><strong>Mineral spirits are essential.</strong> If you don’t know about awesome mineral spirits are, I’m here to tell you: they are awesome. Wiping my fingers and tools down with mineral spirits made cleanup extremely easy and fast. Stain does not come off with soap and water!</p> <p>Okay, that’s it for this staining project! I can’t say I’m eager to rush into another one quite yet, even though there are a half dozen things in my home I’d love to freshen up or change the color of… :)</p> <p>If you found this tutorial helpful, feel free to share your projects or thoughts in the comments! I always love hearing from other DIYers. :)</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>/2014/diy-bathroom-staining-a-bathroom-vanity-gel-stain/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>5</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>Saving Money with Buy Nothing Month</title> <link>/2014/saving-money-with-buy-nothing-month/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mandi]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 09 Mar 2014 17:32:46 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Saving Money]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">/?p=3086</guid> <description><![CDATA[We finished our BUY NOTHING MONTH! What is that, you say? It’s a 4-week period of time in which we reject consumerism, stuff our pockets full of saved cash and fly off into the sunset in our roflcopter (pre-owned and paid off, of course). Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/buy_nothing_month.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-3098 aligncenter" alt="Saving Money with Buy Nothing Month: How we bought nothing but food for an entire month - and loved it." src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/buy_nothing_month.jpg" width="500" height="500" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/buy_nothing_month.jpg 500w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/buy_nothing_month-150x150.jpg 150w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/buy_nothing_month-300x300.jpg 300w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/buy_nothing_month-120x120.jpg 120w" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /></a></p> <p>We finished our <strong>BUY NOTHING MONTH!</strong> <em>What is that,</em> you say? It’s a 4-week period of time in which we reject consumerism, stuff our pockets full of saved cash and fly off into the sunset in our roflcopter (pre-owned and paid off, of course).</p> <blockquote><p>Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need.</p> <p>– Tyler Durden, Fight Club</p></blockquote> <p>Words to live by. Buy Nothing Month resets your spending and makes you question everything you normally mindlessly whip out a credit card for. And, at the end, you have a big pile of money to do whatever you want with. If you’re earning a decent wage but just can’t seem to make ends meet, try this experiment. It’s so easy: you don’t even have to do anything. In fact, <em>not doing</em> things is the whole point.</p> <p><strong>Our Buy Nothing Month budget:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>$50/week budget for groceries</strong> – essentials only, no treats</li> <li><strong>Gasoline fill-ups</strong> – it’s tough to compromise on gasoline, but we went nowhere except to and from the office</li> <li><strong>NOTHING ELSE!</strong></li> </ul> <h1><strong>Saving on Groceries</strong></h1> <p>$50/week for two adults <em>should</em> be reasonable – but our grocery spending had crept into the $75-$100/week range in January. What’s up with that?</p> <p>Turns out, it was mostly mid-winter indulgences like expensive cereals and chocolates (which will, of course, just be weight we wish we could lose come June). We agreed to not buy any of those things in February and stuck with the essentials: fresh vegetables, bread, and eggs. For meat, we cleaned out our freezer.</p> <h2>The Freezer Diet</h2> <p>We also paired “Buy Nothing Month” with what we like to call a <strong>“Freezer Diet” – ie: eat all the stuff in the freezer.</strong> Any time the Safeway prizing wizards decide it’s time to put meat on sale I snap it up like a hungry vulture and stuff it into my freezer to get us through the weeks when Safeway prices the meat high. By thawing and eating our stockpile, our freezer went from overstuffed to half empty. By eating what we had already paid for we saved a bundle on February’s groceries – about $20-25 off each week (we eat a lot of meat).</p> <p>For Valentine’s Day we grilled most of the meats we had stuffed away in the freezer. This gave us about 2 weeks worth of tasty, tasty meats:</p> <div id="attachment_3090" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/chill_grill_meat_haul.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3090" class="size-full wp-image-3090 " alt="For Valentine's Day we barbequed - and cleaned out the freezer, not our wallets." src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/chill_grill_meat_haul.jpg" width="512" height="384" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/chill_grill_meat_haul.jpg 512w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/chill_grill_meat_haul-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3090" class="wp-caption-text">Our Valentine’s Chill Grill tradition cleaned out the freezer – not our wallets</p></div> <h2>Our Grocery Outlet adventure</h2> <p>Our $50 a week food goal also inspired us to seek out a new grocery store. We drove over to Grocery Outlet and discovered that they sell the <em>same 10 lb bag of chicken breasts we buy at Safeway for half the price: $5 instead of $10.</em> Alas, the rest of the store didn’t carry much of what eat on a weekly basis (plenty of treats like Cheez-It and cookies, though). The frozen vegetable selection was lacking, and the fresh stuff didn’t look so hot, so we probably won’t be back except for a few bags of chicken every once in a while.</p> <p>Nonetheless, it was good to take a trip outside of our “comfort zone” and see just how much Safeway marks things up. I really hate Safeway’s arcane pricing: some weeks a thing is $2.50, other weeks it’s $3.50, and there’s no real reason why! It’s not like there’s a supply shortage, it’s just some B.S. they use to milk a few extra dollars out of every shopper. I know what the lowest price is on our regular purchases and I keep enough on hand to skate through the weeks where things aren’t on sale. <strong>Either way, knowing that another store nearby sells the same thing for a few dollars less made me not want to buy it at Safeway – money saved!</strong></p> <h2>Cutting back on treats</h2> <p>As an additional sacrifice, I quit buying fruit for the entire month. I usually buy about $6-$10 worth of fruit every week – mostly strawberries and blueberries, which I eat as snacks. Turns out, I didn’t even miss ’em. Strawberries are crazy expensive in February, and I pocketed about $35 by skipping them for the month. I figure I still get plenty of vitamins through all the veggies I eat, so a month without this treat isn’t exactly going to give me rickets.</p> <p>We also didn’t buy any cereals, chocolate, or other treats. We have some left over from the holidays, and this stuff just makes us fat, anyway – lol.</p> <p>We don’t buy soda, coffee, or booze, but if you’re doing a Buy Nothing Month those are also easy things to cut.</p> <h2>Trying new foods</h2> <p>Beans are like a buck a bag and offer pretty complete nutrition. I wouldn’t make beans the<em> only</em> thing I eat, of course, but an inexpensive protein would be nice to add to the rotation instead of eating pricey meats every day.</p> <p>Well, I never had beans growing up and I assumed I didn’t like them. I was wrong – beans can be pretty good as long as they don’t get overcooked into grainy mush. Jim likes beans, so he and I went on a bean adventure in Buy Nothing Month. I tried lentils, black beans, and red kidney beans – mixed with rice, mixed with vegetables, and as a straight-up side dish. I need some more time to truly develop my love for them, but I could see beans becoming a household staple.</p> <div id="attachment_3096" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/beans_rice.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3096" class="size-full wp-image-3096 " alt="beans_rice" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/beans_rice.jpg" width="512" height="384" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/beans_rice.jpg 512w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/beans_rice-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3096" class="wp-caption-text">Beans mixed with coconut pineapple rice = omg yum</p></div> <h1><strong>Seeking out Savings</strong></h1> <p>Clamping down on spending also inspired us to seek out unnecessary spending. I didn’t expect to find anything – after all, we run a tight financial ship here… or so I thought.</p> <h2>Deleting doubled-up services</h2> <p>We made a huge discovery this month: <strong>Jim was still paying for his own separate web hosting!</strong></p> <p>With both of our hosting accounts offering unlimited storage there was no reason to have two hosting accounts. This was tough to track down because we buy hosting in 2 year blocks from Lunarpages, so the bill only comes around every other year.</p> <p>We both thought it was<em> my</em> hosting being billed every time the bill came around.We canceled his hosting, moved everything to mine, and transferred his domain for $10 over to Dynadot from Lunarpages. Spending $10 to save $250 every other year sounds like a good deal to me, so we bought the domain transfer. We got together like, 8 years ago. <strong>It pains me to think that for over five years we paid for hosting we didn’t need to be paying for.</strong></p> <h2>Alternatives to current services</h2> <p>I also tried <a href="http://www.carbonite.com/">Carbonite</a>, a $60/year alternative to <a href="http://mozy.com/#slide-5">Mozy</a> which is the online backup solution I normally use and pay $250/year for. I’m very happy with Mozy, but I wouldn’t mind paying $60 instead of $250!</p> <p>Unfortunately, Carbonite didn’t work on my system. I’m on Windows 7 and it slowed Windows Explorer down to a crawl. Every time I right clicked the Start button or inside a folder on my hard-drive I had to wait through a 3-4 second pause before the context menu appeared. This slow-down survived restarts, reinstalls, everything. I gave up, uninstalled Carbonite, and my computer returned to the lightning fast speed I built it for. I guess with online backup services you get what you pay for. Failed experiment, but I’m glad I tried.</p> <h2>Itemized our taxes</h2> <p><em>Eyeballs… glazing… over.</em> I know… but it saved us several hundred bucks. In previous years we took the standard deduction and ran, but this year our property tax was enough to force us to itemize. We dug up old receipts and took the nuanced approach to this year’s taxes and pocketed a few hundred bucks.</p> <h2>Switched to a better rewards credit card</h2> <p>As if that wasn’t enough, we dumped our American Express Starwood Preferred Guest card on account of its rewards being too sucky for us (you can <a href="/2014/starwood-preferred-guest-credit-card-from-american-express-review/">read more about that here</a>) and switched to the American Express Fidelity Investment Rewards card. Now we spend money on the card and get 2% cash back deposited <em>directly into an investment account</em>. 2% cash back is nuts – <strong>imagine spending $1,000 and getting $20 IN CASH</strong> – not <em>points</em>, not <em>fancy hotels</em>, not <em>gift cards to exotic boutique stores</em> – <strong>all for doing nothing</strong>.</p> <div id="attachment_3097" style="width: 551px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/american-express-cards"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3097" class="size-full wp-image-3097 " alt="American_Express_Three_Cards" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/American_Express_Three_Cards.png" width="541" height="218" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/American_Express_Three_Cards.png 541w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/American_Express_Three_Cards-300x120.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 541px) 100vw, 541px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3097" class="wp-caption-text">Click <a href="https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/american-express-cards">here to go to Fidelity’s site</a> and learn more about the very awesome 2% cash back Fidelity Investment Rewards card</p></div> <p>I like getting paid for doing nothing. Too bad we didn’t spend much this month – hah.</p> <h2>Cheap entertainment</h2> <p>We’re very lucky to live in the Pacific Northwest where we’re able to walk outside pretty much year round (especially in February while everyone back home in the Midwest was buried under ten feet of snow). If you live somewhere nice, walking is some of the best free entertainment I know of. If you’re lucky you’ll get to see some crazy stuff, too, like a dude practicing yoga on a fountain or a mess of ducks fighting over bread slices thrown into the water by a toddler.</p> <div id="attachment_3091" style="width: 910px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/buy_nothing_walk_outside.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3091" class="wp-image-3091 " alt="buy_nothing_walk_outside" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/buy_nothing_walk_outside.jpg" width="900" height="257" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/buy_nothing_walk_outside.jpg 2500w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/buy_nothing_walk_outside-300x85.jpg 300w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/03/buy_nothing_walk_outside-1024x292.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3091" class="wp-caption-text">Bellevue Park – cheaper than the mall.</p></div> <p>We made a point of not going to the movie theater, not buying the latest issues of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1607066017/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1607066017&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20">Saga</a> (this was actually painful, I love this series and am <em>dying</em> to know what happens next), and not going to any events. In the evenings we worked on our personal projects or watched Doctor Who (I love this show more than is probably considered healthy – you can see <a href="http://majoh.com/blog/2014/as-lost-as-i-get-doctor-who-painting-2/">my Doctor Who fan art here</a>).</p> <p>Jim discovered Kindle <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&docId=1000739811&linkCode=ur2&tag=leveluphouse-20">book borrowing on Amazon</a>, and he’s so enamored with it he’s declared that he never needs to buy another book again (we’ll see ;) ).</p> <p>And, as I said earlier, we spent Valentine’s Day (well, the Saturday after) barbecuing meats we already had instead of eating at a crowded restaurant with jacked-up V-Day prices.</p> <h1>Total Spending</h1> <p>We spent a grand total of $380 in February. This all went into food and a domain transfer. The rest was the usual mortgage, electricity, gas, city garbage, and water. We had a sizable amount of money left over, which was shuttled off into our Vanguard investment funds.</p> <h2>Did we just get lucky?</h2> <p>To some extent, yes. After all, our range oven didn’t start sparking in February (no, it did that in March) and nothing fell off our nearly-90k-mile car (knock on wood). But by aggressively cutting discretionary spending, Buy Nothing Month gave us an above-average amount of savings in February to sock away for some future time when it might be needed.</p> <h2>But this isn’t sustainable!</h2> <p>Of course it’s not – but after four weeks of carefully considering everything you buy (or simply going without), it’s much easier to reject unnecessary purchases in the days and weeks that follow. Just like a diet, it doesn’t work if you diet for 4 weeks and then overeat when the 4 weeks are done.</p> <h2>What can YOU stop buying?</h2> <p>If you only spent $380 plus your usual mortgage/rent/utilities payments, how much would <em>you</em> have left over? Probably more than you usually do. That’s why a Buy Nothing Month is so awesome!</p> <p>Pretend you just lost your job and you’ve only got enough for simple food and your rent/mortgage. That’ll get you in the right mindset for a Buy Nothing Month. You can go a month without:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Meals out</strong></li> <li><strong>Anything from Whole Foods</strong></li> <li><strong>Candy / snacks / soda</strong></li> <li><strong>Movie tickets</strong></li> <li><strong>Traveling anywhere</strong></li> <li><strong>Home decor</strong></li> <li><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Clothing & shoes</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> unless the soles just fell off your very last pair</span></li> <li><strong>Personal appearance stuff</strong> like whatever voodoo happens inside salons</li> <li><strong>Knick-nacks / toys</strong></li> <li><strong>Look for places to cut spending</strong> – phone line, TV service, texting plan, etc</li> </ul> <p>Tell us about your own Buy Nothing experiments – even if it’s just for a day or a week, not buying stuff can have a huge impact!</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Top Gun Plumbing Review (Puget Sound)</title> <link>/2014/top-gun-plumbing-review-puget-sound/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mandi]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 17 Feb 2014 14:00:29 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Puget Sound area]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">/?p=3024</guid> <description><![CDATA[This is my own review of a Puget Sound area business. I was not paid or perked to write this review – I just want to help get the word out about Top Gun! Top Gun Plumbing has fixed my house’s sorry plumbing twice in the last year and a half: When the water line […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>This is my own review of a Puget Sound area business. I was not paid or perked to write this review – I just want to help get the word out about Top Gun!</em></p> <p><a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/top-gun-plumbing-bothell#hrid:WcmMUBmCDTUHk2mTPNF8uQ/src:self">Top Gun Plumbing</a> has fixed my house’s sorry plumbing twice in the last year and a half:</p> <ol> <li><strong>When the water line under our driveway broke</strong>, spilling thousands of dollars worth of water into the ground</li> <li><strong>When my hot water tank blew a leak</strong></li> </ol> <p>We also got a gas line estimate from them – they were the lowest of three separate estimates. We did not move forward with this project, but just throwing it out there – Top Gun also does gas lines.</p> <h1>Top Gun Plumbing Review</h1> <p>Top Gun is basically my go-to plumber. Plumbing emergencies are not fun, but thanks to Top Gun I feel pretty confident that they’ll have me covered next time water starts gushing out of something.</p> <p>Top Gun’s got it all: <strong>fast phone responses</strong>, <strong>knowledgeable and friendly workers</strong>, <strong>same- and next-day work</strong>, <em>and</em> the <strong>best pricing. </strong>For two completely separate projects (a new water line and a new gas line) Top Gun’s pricing beat the two competitors I also got quotes from.</p> <p><strong>Nice extras:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Their paperwork is legible!</li> <li>They arrive exactly when they say they will!</li> <li>They call before they arrive!</li> <li>They get permits for their work when required! (Beacon Plumbing did not even mention a permit, but they were in a hurry to dig up my yard and charge me $7000 for the project Top Gun did for $3500).</li> </ul> <h1>New Water Line</h1> <p>Back in November 2012, our main water line (which runs under the driveway between our water meter and our house) blew a leak. A huge leak. This leak went undetected for a couple days until the water utility came out to tell us to knock it off – <strong>we had racked up over $1100 in water usage.</strong> Holy crap.</p> <p>I got estimates from three companies:</p> <ul> <li>Beacon Plumbing, who wanted to hose me for <strong>$8100</strong> and never mentioned a permit</li> <li>Puget Sound Plumbing and Heating who estimated the job at $5000</li> <li><strong>Top Gun who did the job for $3500</strong> and didn’t tear up my yard like Beacon wanted to. (They also got a permit for the work)</li> </ul> <p>Top Gun’s first day on the job set us up with a temporary water line (it’s basically a hose). They then brought in some fancy digging equipment to tunnel under our driveway, and the new line went in a few days later. Damage to our yard was minimal – they put the grass “chunks” back into place for me and it all healed up in a few months.</p> <div id="attachment_3026" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/top_gun_plumbing_review_yard_dig.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3026" class=" wp-image-3026" alt="Top Gun Plumbing Review. Top Gun did a great job on my water line replacement." src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/top_gun_plumbing_review_yard_dig.jpg" width="512" height="384" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/top_gun_plumbing_review_yard_dig.jpg 1024w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/02/top_gun_plumbing_review_yard_dig-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3026" class="wp-caption-text">This was a huge, messy job, but Top Gun Plumbing did fantastic work.</p></div> <p>Everyone who came out to work on the job was friendly and skilled (they even worked in almost non-stop rain).</p> <h1>New Hot Water Tank</h1> <p>This one’s a shorter story: our hot water tank was old and crappy (and its demise was not unexpected). One day it just started spraying water out the top. <strong>Top Gun came out within hours</strong> and put in a shiny new one for just over a thousand bucks.</p> <div id="attachment_3027" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/top_gun_plumbing_review_new_hot_water_tank.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3027" class="size-full wp-image-3027" alt="top_gun_plumbing_review_new_hot_water_tank" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/top_gun_plumbing_review_new_hot_water_tank.jpg" width="384" height="512" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/top_gun_plumbing_review_new_hot_water_tank.jpg 384w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/02/top_gun_plumbing_review_new_hot_water_tank-225x300.jpg 225w" sizes="(max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3027" class="wp-caption-text">Top Gun Plumbing replaced my hot water tank the same day my old one blew its top. This is a picture of the new hot water tank.</p></div> <p><strong>A+++ </strong></p> <p><strong>I love Top Gun Plumbing. </strong>I wrote this review a full year after both projects were completed, and the work they did has held up perfectly.</p> <p>PS: I know you’re thinking it, so I’ll say it. <strong>DANGER ZONE!</strong></p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Mongolian Grill in Woodinville Review</title> <link>/2014/mongolian-grill-woodinville-review/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mandi]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 16 Feb 2014 17:45:17 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Puget Sound area]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">/?p=3029</guid> <description><![CDATA[Are you craving stir-fry near Woodinville, WA? Look no further than Mongolian Grill at 13780 NE 175th ST. (Between 135th and Garden Way) I’ve tried them all and declared Mongolian Grill in Woodinville the best Mongolian grill on the Seattle eastside. It is so. SO. GOOD. Mongolian Grill in Woodinville Review It’s delicious, what more […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Are you craving stir-fry near Woodinville, WA? Look no further than <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/mongolian-grill-woodinville">Mongolian Grill at 13780 NE 175th ST</a>. (Between 135th and Garden Way)</p> <p>I’ve tried them all and declared <strong>Mongolian Grill in Woodinville the best Mongolian grill on the Seattle eastside</strong>. It is so. SO. GOOD.</p> <h1>Mongolian Grill in Woodinville Review</h1> <p>It’s <strong>delicious</strong>, what more do you want? <strong>Here’s why Mongolian Grill rules:</strong></p> <ul> <li>Servings are <strong>massive</strong></li> <li>Lunch and dinner prices are reasonable</li> <li><strong>You get complete control</strong> over what’s in your bowl<em> (finally, I can get all the veggies I want!!)</em></li> <li><em></em>You can request sauce in a cup instead of poured over your meal</li> <li>Brown rice!!</li> <li>Unlimited fortune cookies!!</li> <li>Double and triple meat options</li> <li>Chicken breast is an option!</li> <li>Clean and nicely decorated</li> </ul> <p><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/mongolian_grill_stir_fry.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3030" alt="mongolian_grill_stir_fry" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/mongolian_grill_stir_fry.jpg" width="512" height="384" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/mongolian_grill_stir_fry.jpg 512w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/02/mongolian_grill_stir_fry-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a></p> <p>Even better? It’s just off the Sammamish River bike trail. Work up an appetite on the trail and then eat a huge lunch at Mongolian Grill. Or walk around Molbak’s and then eat. Or hit a movie. Have dessert at TCBY afterwards.</p> <p>Sheesh, the options are endless. Just don’t crowd up my favorite restaurant too much, okay?</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Low Rate Hauling & Yard Clean Up Review (Puget Sound)</title> <link>/2014/low-rate-hauling-and-yard-clean-review-puget-sound/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mandi]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 13 Feb 2014 08:00:59 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Puget Sound area]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">/?p=3013</guid> <description><![CDATA[This is my own review of a Puget Sound (WA) area business. I was not paid or perked to write this review – I just want to help get the word out! Low Rate Hauling & Yard Clean Up is a Puget Sound area business specializing in – what else? – hauling away debris. I […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>This is my own review of a Puget Sound (WA) area business. I was not paid or perked to write this review – I just want to help get the word out!</em></p> <p><a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/low-rate-hauling-and-yard-clean-up-seattle#hrid:3CEcE9S0oIMAPd1Am-2cyw/src:self">Low Rate Hauling & Yard Clean Up</a> is a Puget Sound area business specializing in – what else? – hauling away debris. I called them at 5:30 in the afternoon just hoping to get a quote, but they were able to come out immediately <em><strong>and the JOB WAS DONE</strong> </em>three hours later. SHOCK AND AWE!</p> <h1>Low Rate Hauling & Yard Clean Up Review</h1> <p>Low Rate Hauling was fast, friendly, and took care of this nasty job so fast I had to look twice to reassure myself it actually happened. These two guys worked very hard and quick and left the job site pristine. <strong>A+!</strong></p> <p><strong>Backstory, in case you’re interested:</strong></p> <p>My home came with a giant mess of broken-up concrete underneath the deck. The pieces were so heavy and the deck so low to the ground, I had no idea how we would haul these blocks of concrete out. I also had no idea how we’d dispose of them.</p> <p><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/deck_debris_before.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3014" alt="Low Rate Hauling & Yard Cleanup Review: All this crap is GONE!" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/deck_debris_before.jpg" width="512" height="384" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/deck_debris_before.jpg 512w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/02/deck_debris_before-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a></p> <p>The debris removal process looked like this – Low Rate Hauling & Yard Clean Up just put the blocks into bins and hauled them to their truck.</p> <p><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/haul_deck_debris_away.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3015" alt="Low Rate Hauling & Yard Clean Up Review: Hard at work removing my deck debris." src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/haul_deck_debris_away.jpg" width="512" height="384" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/haul_deck_debris_away.jpg 512w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/02/haul_deck_debris_away-300x225.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a></p> <p>The price (a few hundred dollars) was beyond reasonable for how hard these guys had to work to remove the concrete, haul it up the hill, and get it out of my backyard.</p> <p><strong>Low Rate Hauling took all of the following:</strong></p> <ul> <li>A ton of broken up concrete from under my back deck</li> <li>A pile of old rotted wood</li> <li>30 or so feet of plastic lawn edging</li> <li>A porcelain toilet</li> </ul> <p>They were totally awesome, I would hire them again in a heartbeat for junk removal in the Puget Sound area. Give ’em a call at (206) 683-6412.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item> <title>Unimpressed with Starwood Preferred Guest credit card from American Express Review</title> <link>/2014/starwood-preferred-guest-credit-card-from-american-express-review/</link> <comments>/2014/starwood-preferred-guest-credit-card-from-american-express-review/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mandi]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 10 Feb 2014 08:00:18 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Credit cards]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Money]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">/?p=2993</guid> <description><![CDATA[We take our credit cards seriously here at LevelUpHouse – we pay our balance in full each month and we love watching rewards pile up. We were Chase Freedom customers for years. Those were good times: a nice, fat $250 cash back check arrived every so often and reinforced our love. Then the nerf hammer […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_3003" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/credit_cards.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3003" class=" wp-image-3003 " alt="We're always on the search for the *best* rewards credit card." src="/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/credit_cards.jpg" width="200" height="292" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/credit_cards.jpg 250w, /wp-content/uploads/2015/02/credit_cards-205x300.jpg 205w" sizes="(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3003" class="wp-caption-text">The weak have fallen.</p></div> <p><strong>We take our credit cards seriously here at LevelUpHouse</strong> – we pay our balance in full each month and we love watching rewards pile up.</p> <p>We were Chase Freedom customers for years. Those were good times: <strong>a nice, fat $250 cash back check arrived every so often</strong> and reinforced our love. Then the nerf hammer fell and Chase began <a href="https://creditcards.chase.com/freedom/calendarreminder">that revolving categories BS</a>.</p> <p><em>Oh, is it finally “gasoline season”? Great, because I’d been holding off on fueling my car… </em></p> <p><strong>But we don’t take credit cards seriously enough to play “the game”.</strong> Lots of people like to get fancy with milking rewards from multiple different cards, but we keep it simpler: one card for “everything”, and another for backup.</p> <p>Three years ago, we selected the <a href="https://www304.americanexpress.com/credit-card/starwood-preferred-guest">Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) American Express card</a> because it kept coming out on top in our research for a new rewards credit card. It’s been three years, and we’ve put nearly $100k worth of purchases onto this card.</p> <p>How’d it do?</p> <h1>Starwood Preferred Guest credit card from American Express Review</h1> <div style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" alt="amex-spg-business" src="http://yeahthatskosher.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/amex-spg-business-300x173.png" width="300" height="173" data-lazy-type="image" data-lazy-src="http://yeahthatskosher.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/amex-spg-business-300x173.png" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Disappointing rewards took forever to accumulate.</p></div> <p><strong></strong>It sucks. There’s no sugar-coating it: the <strong>rewards are disappointing and limited. </strong>The rewards<em> are the whole point of getting the SPG AmEx card</em>. There is <strong>no other advantage</strong> unique to this card – all other perks can be found elsewhere.</p> <p>After three years of commitment to this card it’s pretty disappointing to find that my 94,000 Starpoints aren’t good for anything I actually want to buy. It’s all awkwardly timed flights, expensive hotels, and gift cards to stores I don’t shop at.</p> <p><strong>So we’re giving SPG AmEx the big middle finger this month, and I wrote this review in honor of its eviction from my wallet.</strong> We’ll be switching to the <a href="https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/american-express-cards">Fidelity Investment Rewards</a> card (read more about our new Fidelity card at the end of this review).</p> <p>Here’s why we’re switching from the SPG AmEx to the Fidelity Investment Rewards AmEx:</p> <h2><strong>Poor flight redemption options</strong></h2> <p><strong>SPG’s flight redemption options are a mixed bag.</strong> I’ve tried to use points to book trips a few times in the last three years, but the flights offered all sucked for some reason or another. Poor departure times and stops in other cities are common.</p> <blockquote><p>I don’t travel often, but when I do, I <em>don’t stop in LA on my way to Chicago.</em></p></blockquote> <p>At Starwood’s points:miles conversion rate, <strong>we can get 2 “free” round-trip flights every 3 years</strong>. Flying from Seattle to Chicago costs somewhere between 25,000 and 45,000 Starpoints (depending on which airline I select). Let’s say I fly Alaska Airlines, which is the cheapest non-stop available at 30,000 points. To fly me and my husband to Chicago on points alone would require 60k points –<strong> two-thirds of what we accumulated in three years. </strong></p> <p>That’s a <em>lot</em> of spending for <em>one</em> measly flight each.</p> <h2><strong>Pricey luxury hotels = !savings</strong></h2> <p>The hotels offered by SPG are by and large a huge disappointment. They’re expensive, they’re in cities, and they’re not where I would normally stay.</p> <p><strong>Maybe this one’s my fault:</strong> maybe I should have known that SPG only deals in high-end hotels? I was all excited to book some hotels using points on our <a href="/2012/our-west-coast-road-trip-seattle-to-san-francisco-and-back-part-1/">West Coast Road Trip</a>, but there weren’t any SPG hotels in the little towns we stopped in!</p> <ul> <li><strong>“Fifth night free” doesn’t cut it with me. </strong>In eight years of traveling for vacations, the only time I’ve stayed at one hotel for more than one night was when I went to Disney (and there aren’t any Disney-owned properties in SPG’s hotel offerings).</li> <li><strong>Using points to get 50% off the rack rate of a luxury hotel doesn’t save me money.</strong> It still costs more than staying at a budget hotel!</li> </ul> <h2><strong>Gift card redemption options are lacking</strong></h2> <p>Let’s say you decide to cash in your Starpoints for a gift card to a retailer. Not only do gift cards get the worst Starpoint to dollar conversion rate, the merchants available are almost exclusively high-end retailers. There isn’t much for high level frugalists like me in here – no Home Depot, Safeway, Target – so <strong>forget about using your rewards for everyday necessities.</strong></p> <p><strong>Starpoints conversion rate: </strong></p> <ul> <li>$25 card = 2800 Starpoints</li> <li>$50 card = 5000 Starpoints</li> <li>$100 card = 9500 Starpoints</li> <li>$150 card = 14,000 Starpoints</li> </ul> <p><strong>You can get a gift card to these retailers:</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/">Amazon</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.bananarepublic.com/">Banana Republic</a></li> <li>Blisscertificates (I have no idea who this retailer is)</li> <li><a href="http://www.brookstone.com/">Brookstone</a></li> <li>Chateau Ste. Michelle</li> <li>Conde Nast Publications</li> <li><a href="http://www.gap.com/">GAP</a></li> <li>MPI (I couldn’t identify this retailer)</li> <li><a href="http://shop.nordstrom.com/">Nordstrom</a></li> <li>PCMA (I couldn’t identify this retailer)</li> <li><a href="http://www.potterybarn.com/">Pottery Barn</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.starbucks.com/">Starbucks</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.williams-sonoma.com/">Williams-Sonoma</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.apple.com/itunes/">iTunes</a></li> </ul> <p><strong>SPG’s gift card options are almost exclusively high-end yuppie retailers</strong>. I don’t shop at these places. Going out of my way to shop at these retailers isn’t “saving money”, it’s spending money I wasn’t going to spend in the first place.</p> <div id="attachment_3009" style="width: 432px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/copper_cookware_williams_sonoma1.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3009" class=" wp-image-3009" alt="copper_cookware_williams_sonoma" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/copper_cookware_williams_sonoma1.jpg" width="422" height="245" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/copper_cookware_williams_sonoma1.jpg 703w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/02/copper_cookware_williams_sonoma1-300x174.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 422px) 100vw, 422px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-3009" class="wp-caption-text">3years of points hoarding and I’m <em>only halfway</em> to this $2,000 Williams-Sonoma cookware set. (Now I know why I don’t shop at Williams-Sonoma.)</p></div> <p>The only retailer on this list that I do shop at is Amazon.com, so that’s where my Starpoints went – into a pile of Amazon.com gift cards, at a poor conversion rate. That’s pretty disappointing.</p> <h2><strong>The gift cards get left on your porch!</strong></h2> <p>I cashed in a bunch of my StarPoints and waited a few weeks for them to arrive. Why can’t the SPG gift cards be awarded digitally?</p> <p>The physical cards come in a slim FedEx envelope, which has to be signed for. Do most people with this card have a butler attending to deliveries? Because I don’t. I’m at <strong>work</strong>, earning the money I spend on this card.</p> <p>So I signed the FedEx form and took the gamble of leaving the gift cards out on my porch all day because the alternative is driving 45 minutes out of my way to Issaquah during business hours to pick the cards up at the FedEx distribution point.</p> <p>Hey, SPG – get with the times! <strong>I don’t want hundreds of dollars in gift cards sitting on my front porch, and I don’t want to drive 30 miles out of my way to pick them up, either!</strong></p> <h2>Starpoints Are Just Really F***ing Confusing</h2> <p>Starpoints, miles system, etc are all built to <em>confuse</em> people. When money is abstracted into “points” and “miles”, people can’t rely their sense of what things are worth. Classic example: why does it take 25,000 miles to fly from Seattle to Chicago? That’s more than the distance around the EQUATOR!</p> <p>The upsells to buy more points are everywhere. If the points I have are already borderline useless to me, <strong>why would I want to turn more perfectly good real money into more Starpoints “play money”!?</strong></p> <p>Good riddance, Starwood.</p> <h1>New “Everything” Card: Fidelity Investment Rewards</h1> <div id="attachment_2998" style="width: 246px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/fidelity_american_express_investment_rewards.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2998" class=" wp-image-2998 " alt="fidelity_american_express_investment_rewards" src="/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/fidelity_american_express_investment_rewards.jpg" width="236" height="151" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/fidelity_american_express_investment_rewards.jpg 337w, /wp-content/uploads/2015/02/fidelity_american_express_investment_rewards-300x191.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 236px) 100vw, 236px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-2998" class="wp-caption-text">Our new “everything” credit card: the <a href="https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/american-express-cards">Fidelity Investment Rewards American Express</a> card</p></div> <p>The <a href="https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/american-express-cards">Fidelity American Express rewards card</a> will be our new card henceforth.</p> <p>This card’s premise is simple: spend money as usual, and Fidelity gives you a whopping 2% cash back in the form of a deposit directly into your Fidelity investment account. You don’t even have to do anything once you’ve set your account up. If you spend 2,000 on your credit card, you’ll get $40.</p> <p>I like getting money for doing <em>nothing</em>, don’t you?</p> <p><strong>Behold the Fidelity card’s badassery:</strong></p> <ul> <li><strong>No</strong> <strong>ever-changing categories</strong> (eat it, Chase Freedom)</li> <li><strong>No confusing redemption options</strong> (take that, SPG AmEx)</li> <li><strong>No annual fee</strong> (SWEET!)</li> <li><strong>Cash back money goes into your investment account!! </strong>There it’ll sit just being awesome, earning more money for you without any effort on your part.</li> <li><strong>You’re free to remove the cash</strong>, too, but I think anything that helps put money into savings and investment accounts is a good thing.</li> </ul> <p>There’s a Visa version of the Fidelity Investment Rewards card, but it only offers 1.5% cash back. We’re going AmEx again and keeping our Chase Freedom as a backup for the one-off places that don’t take AmEx.</p> <p><strong>American Express also offers some built-in consumer protections</strong>, which we like but have never actually used:</p> <ol> <li><strong>Purchase Protection: </strong>If something you just bought gets broken or stolen, if you’re still within the 90 days of your purchase AmEx offers some protection. Coverage is limited up to $1,000 per occurrence, up to $50,000 per cardmember account per calendar year.</li> <li><strong>Extended Warranty: </strong>American Express extends the warranties on things bought with the card, up to a value of $10,000 (not to exceed $50,000 per cardmember account per calendar year). One great example: an iPhone comes with a 1-year warranty. <a href="http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1653175-iPhone-4-Applecare-not-needed-if-bought-with-AMEX">Buying it on AmEx gets your phone covered for two years</a>.</li> <li><strong>Car/Roadside Assistance:</strong> Book your U.S. car rental with American Express and the car is insured in event of accident. (Which is why <a href="/2013/scammed-by-dollar-rent-a-car/">we decline coverage at the rental car desk</a>.)</li> </ol> <p>So that’s our new credit card – the Fidelity Investment Rewards card. I’ll update later this year and let you know how it’s going.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>/2014/starwood-preferred-guest-credit-card-from-american-express-review/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>1</slash:comments> </item> <item> <title>12 Home Luxuries that are Totally Worth the Money</title> <link>/2014/12-home-luxuries-that-are-totally-worth-the-money/</link> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Mandi]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 24 Jan 2014 08:00:25 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Money]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">/?p=2787</guid> <description><![CDATA[When I buy something nice, I cross my fingers and hope that it’s not actually a waste of money. After all, a lot of luxury goods are just fluff whose magic wears off after they’ve been around a while. Being frugal doesn’t mean living a bare-bones existence. Instead, it’s all about spending money where it […]]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_2837" style="width: 349px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/12_home_luxuries_totally_worth_it.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2837" class="size-full wp-image-2837 " alt="12_home_luxuries_totally_worth_it" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/12_home_luxuries_totally_worth_it.jpg" width="339" height="525" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/12_home_luxuries_totally_worth_it.jpg 339w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/12_home_luxuries_totally_worth_it-193x300.jpg 193w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/12_home_luxuries_totally_worth_it-185x286.jpg 185w" sizes="(max-width: 339px) 100vw, 339px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-2837" class="wp-caption-text">Don’t waste your money on a gaudy throne – get a <strong>nice mattress</strong> and a <strong>quiet computer case</strong> instead!</p></div> <p>When I buy something nice, I cross my fingers and hope that it’s not actually a waste of money. After all, a lot of luxury goods are just fluff whose magic wears off after they’ve been around a while.</p> <p>Being frugal doesn’t mean living a bare-bones existence. Instead, it’s all about spending money <em>where it counts</em>.</p> <p>So where does it count? Which luxuries are worth the cost?</p> <p>I took stock of everything I own and figured out which things I’ve bought were worth the money spent. Here are <strong>12 home luxuries that are totally worth the money</strong>.</p> <h1>1. Artwork for your walls</h1> <p>You’re an adult now –<strong> time to get some classy art for your walls</strong>! Hanging up artwork that represents your own taste is pretty awesome, and art on the walls does wonders for a space.</p> <p>I’ve had poor luck finding original artwork that both adore <em>and</em> can afford, but there’s a decent selection to be found at home decor shops (even Bed Bath and Beyond supplied a few nice pieces around our abode). Look for art that comes on an actual canvas (probably printed with some embellishments made by hand), preferably with some metal hooks on the frame to assist with hanging.</p> <div id="attachment_2834" style="width: 219px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/real_artwork.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2834" class="wp-image-2834 " alt="real_artwork" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/real_artwork.jpg" width="209" height="299" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/real_artwork.jpg 349w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/real_artwork-209x300.jpg 209w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/real_artwork-185x264.jpg 185w" sizes="(max-width: 209px) 100vw, 209px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-2834" class="wp-caption-text">Art transforms even blah spaces. Have fun choosing!</p></div> <p><strong>The only downside to art? </strong>Pick carefully – there’s virtually no resale value in anything aimed at the mass market, and even inexpensive printed canvases are usually $100+ at home decor shops. Amazing pieces are closer to $300+, even when they’re just prints.</p> <p><strong>Fitting it into your budget: </strong>Shop sales and end-of-season clearance at stores like Bed Bath and Beyond and Fred Meyer. I found some of my favorite artworks at these two stores!</p> <h1>2. Thermal drapery liners</h1> <div id="attachment_2850" style="width: 235px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/eclipse_thermal_liner.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2850" class=" wp-image-2850 " alt="eclipse_thermal_liner" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/eclipse_thermal_liner.jpg" width="225" height="208" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/eclipse_thermal_liner.jpg 375w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/eclipse_thermal_liner-300x277.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-2850" class="wp-caption-text">Action shot of my bedroom’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002LE88FM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002LE88FM&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Eclipse thermal liners</a>.</p></div> <p>Keep heat <em>out</em> in the summer and <em>in</em> in the winter with a set of heavy-duty thermal liners for your existing drapes. Your room will stay dark, even in broad daylight – great for sleeping late in July or <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPfMb50dsOk">napping in the middle of a summer afternoon</a>. Just hook them onto the backs of your existing drapes and enjoy! <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002LE88FM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002LE88FM&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20" rel="nofollow"" target="_blank">Eclipse Thermal Liners</a> the the ones I’ve used in a couple homes and apartments now, and they’ve held up well.</p> <p><strong>The only downside to thermal liners?</strong> They’re a bit heavy, so if your existing drapes are light and wispy they won’t be able to support the weight. Consider full-on thermal drapes instead.</p> <p><strong>Fitting it into your budget:</strong> Get them for your bedroom first, the rest of the house can wait (or doesn’t need them at all, depending on your climate).</p> <h1>3. Great big plushy mattress</h1> <p><strong>You spend 30% of every day on your mattress</strong>, so make it great!</p> <p>You don’t need to splash out on an adjustable $5000+ mattress, a pillow-top can get the job done for around $2000.</p> <div id="attachment_2822" style="width: 242px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/beautyrest_simmons_pillow_top.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2822" class="wp-image-2822 " alt="Home luxuries that are totally worth the the money good mattress" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/beautyrest_simmons_pillow_top.jpg" width="232" height="188" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/beautyrest_simmons_pillow_top.jpg 644w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/beautyrest_simmons_pillow_top-300x244.jpg 300w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/beautyrest_simmons_pillow_top-185x150.jpg 185w" sizes="(max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-2822" class="wp-caption-text">Factory photo of the same mattress I have, a <a href="http://www.simmons.com/">Simmons Beautyrest</a>. So cozy, I just melt right into it.</p></div> <p>Oh, and go big – did you know that sharing a queen size bed with someone else gives you about as much space as sleeping on a twin? My king size bed was worth every penny! I sleep like a sleeping rock.</p> <p><strong>The only downside to a great mattress? </strong>No other mattress will be good enough for you. You’ll be ruined by your luxurious mattress.</p> <p><strong>Fitting it into your budget:</strong> Forego fancy headboards and nightstands if it means you can afford a better mattress. We still don’t have a headboard, but our mattress is <em>amazing</em>.</p> <h1>4. High thread-count sheets</h1> <div id="attachment_2821" style="width: 157px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/high_thread_count_fieldcrest.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2821" class=" wp-image-2821 " alt="high_thread_count_fieldcrest" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/high_thread_count_fieldcrest.jpg" width="147" height="147" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/high_thread_count_fieldcrest.jpg 300w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/high_thread_count_fieldcrest-150x150.jpg 150w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/high_thread_count_fieldcrest-185x185.jpg 185w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/high_thread_count_fieldcrest-120x120.jpg 120w" sizes="(max-width: 147px) 100vw, 147px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-2821" class="wp-caption-text">High thread-count sheets are super luxurious – and not as expensive as you might fear.</p></div> <p>If you’re still sleeping on junky 150 threadcount sheets, it’s time to stop that nonsense right now and get a decent set of sheets. You’ll wonder how you ever slept in anything less.</p> <p>The set I like to recommend is <strong>Fieldcrest Luxury damask sheet set, 450 threadcount 100% cotton</strong>. These sheets come in a bunch of colors and, if you find them on clearance, cost as little as $35 at your <a href="http://www.target.com/" target="_blank">local Target</a>. (They’re normally $70 for a king set, which is still way less than those highfalutin mall stores want for their sheets. I bought expensive $150 set of bamboo sheets from Bed Bath and Beyond once – and they were <em>crap</em>! Wrinkled and baggy!</p> <p>By contrast, my Fieldcrest sheets from 2007 <strong>survived six years</strong> of daily and weekly washes before they started to wear thin. To replace them, I bought another set of Fieldcrest sheets, this time at 500 threadcount. They are like sleeping in a pillow of dreams.</p> <p>If you’d rather shop online, check out these well-reviewed <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NY6OVC/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000NY6OVC&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Pinzon Hemstitch 400 thread-count cotton sheets</a> on Amazon.com. The biggest problems with sheets tend to be wrinkles and pills, and reviewers say these sheets are prone to neither.</p> <p><strong>The only downside to awesome sheets? </strong>They make it hard to leave the bed.</p> <p><strong>Fitting it into your budget:</strong> Look for clearance sales, both in brick and mortar stores and online, especially if you aren’t in a hurry to replace your current sheets.</p> <h1>5. Amazon Prime membership</h1> <p>Amazon sells everything and at great prices, so if you love to shop online you’ll enjoy Amazon Prime! You can even try before you buy: <strong>the first 30 days of Amazon Prime are completely free</strong>.</p> <p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/prime/signup/videos?tag=leveluphouse-20" rel="nofollow"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2825" alt="Amazon Prime membership goodies" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/prime_member.jpg" width="625" height="310" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/prime_member.jpg 625w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/prime_member-300x148.jpg 300w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/prime_member-185x91.jpg 185w" sizes="(max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px" /></a></p> <p> </p> <p>The benefits are great:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Free 2-day shipping</strong> on loads of stuff</li> <li><strong>Access to Amazon video streaming </strong>(and Amazon’s upping their movie and TV game, getting exclusive access to more shows)</li> <li><strong>Book borrowing with Kindle</strong></li> </ul> <p><strong>The only downside to Amazon Prime? </strong>You’ll start buying <em>everything</em> through Amazon!</p> <p><strong>Fitting it into your budget:</strong> If you buy a lot of heavy things, Amazon prime can pay for itself pretty quickly. The free shipping adds up over the course of the year, too. If you make one purchase a month and it costs $5 to ship each purchase, you’re at $60 – almost at the cost of a Prime membership.</p> <h1>6. Smart thermostat</h1> <div id="attachment_2788" style="width: 247px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FLZEQH2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00FLZEQH2&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20" rel="nofollow"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2788" class=" wp-image-2788 " alt="honeywell_wifi_smart_thermostat_review" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/honeywell_wifi_smart_thermostat_review.jpg" width="237" height="194" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/honeywell_wifi_smart_thermostat_review.jpg 296w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/honeywell_wifi_smart_thermostat_review-185x151.jpg 185w" sizes="(max-width: 237px) 100vw, 237px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-2788" class="wp-caption-text"><strong>Smart thermostats:</strong> living in the future is <em>awesome! </em>Thermostat pictured is the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FLZEQH2/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00FLZEQH2&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Honeywell Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat</a>.</p></div> <p>A smart thermostat makes heating and cooling your house a no-brainer by learning your preferences and nudging you towards energy efficiency. Depending on how lazy you were about adjusting your heating temperature, you could save a fortune with a smart thermostat. <strong> </strong>Also: it looks <em>really cool.</em></p> <p>The highest rated smart thermostats are the <a href="http://smartthermostatguide.com/nest-learning-thermostat-review/">Nest Learning Thermostat</a> and the <a href="http://smartthermostatguide.com/honeywell-wi-fi-smart-thermostat-rth9580-review/">Honeywell Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat</a>.</p> <p><strong><strong>The only downside to a smart thermostat?</strong></strong> You might spend a lot of time geeking out over <em>a thermostat</em>.</p> <p><strong>Fitting it into your budget:</strong> Smart thermos are pricey – $200-250 a piece, but a good chunk of the cost might be offset by savings in your heating bill.</p> <h1>7. Space heater</h1> <div id="attachment_2827" style="width: 161px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000TKDQ5C/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000TKDQ5C&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20" rel="nofollow"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2827" class="wp-image-2827 " alt="lasko_space_heater" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/lasko_space_heater.jpg" width="151" height="151" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/lasko_space_heater.jpg 1000w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/lasko_space_heater-150x150.jpg 150w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/lasko_space_heater-300x300.jpg 300w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/lasko_space_heater-185x185.jpg 185w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/lasko_space_heater-120x120.jpg 120w" sizes="(max-width: 151px) 100vw, 151px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-2827" class="wp-caption-text">Warm <em>just the room you’re in</em> for big savings.</p></div> <p>I like being warm, but I don’t like high heating bills. With a space heater, you can have it both ways! It’s much cheaper to keep your house cool and shut yourself into one room and heat it up with a space heater.</p> <p><strong><strong>The only downside to a space heater?</strong></strong> None, space heaters are<em> awesome</em>. Modern models come with temperature regulation, auto-shut off, and safety features that kick in if the heater gets knocked over.</p> <p><strong>Fitting it into your budget:</strong> Most decent space heaters will run you just $40-60. Depending on your climate, a space heater can pay for itself in a matter of months as you run your furnace less.</p> <h1>8. Powerful toilet</h1> <div style="width: 146px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/american_standard_super_flusher.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" " alt="Home luxuries that are totally worth the money a good toilet American Standard Cadet" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/american_standard_super_flusher.jpg" width="136" height="179" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The American Standard Cadet’s slogan should be, “Go ahead, do your worst”.</p></div> <p>It’s an incredible luxury, to just <strong>flush and forget</strong>!</p> <p>When you flush, is your plunger already in hand <em>just in case</em>? It doesn’t have to be that way! Replacing a toilet is easy and <a href="/2013/05/diy-toilet-replacement/">takes about two hours start to finish</a>. Toilets are heavy, but they come in two pieces so as long as you can lift 40 lbs, you can probably replace a toilet yourself.</p> <p>As long as we’re talking about toilets, a heated toilet seat is another luxury well worth the price of admission. Just get one, you’ll see.</p> <p><strong>The only downside to an awesome toilet?</strong> Disposing of the old one can be tricky.</p> <p><strong>Fitting it into your budget:</strong> Toilets are cheaper than you might think. I installed a $140 <a href="http://www.homedepot.com/p/American-Standard-Cadet-3-FloWise-2-Piece-Complete-No-Tools-1-28-GPF-High-Efficiency-Round-Front-Toilet-in-White-2880128ST-020/202963992?N=bzbdZ5aZ1z0vm5f#specifications" rel="nofollow">American Standard Cadet</a> just one year ago and it’s a <em>beast</em>. <strong>Worth every cent!</strong></p> <h1>9. Quiet computer case</h1> <div id="attachment_2790" style="width: 147px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QAVVAM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000QAVVAM&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2790" class=" wp-image-2790 " alt="antec_sonata_quietest_computer_case" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/antec_sonata_quietest_computer_case.jpg" width="137" height="180" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/antec_sonata_quietest_computer_case.jpg 381w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/antec_sonata_quietest_computer_case-228x300.jpg 228w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/antec_sonata_quietest_computer_case-185x242.jpg 185w" sizes="(max-width: 137px) 100vw, 137px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-2790" class="wp-caption-text">What’s that sound? It’s the sound of a QUIET COMPUTER!</p></div> <p>No more noisy computers! I’ve built/maintained a lot of computers, and the <a href="http://store.antec.com/Product/enclosure-sonata_family/sonata-iii-500/0-761345-15137-5.aspx" target="_blank">Antec Sonata</a> is the <em>only</em> case I recommend.</p> <ul> <li><strong>Dead quiet</strong> – Is it even on? You’ll have to <em>touch it</em> to know.</li> <li><strong>Easy to open/close the side panel</strong> – It even has a lock feature.</li> <li><strong>Quiet EarthWatts 500W supply included </strong></li> <li><strong>Removable/washable air filter</strong> – Much easier than trying to stuff the vacuum nozzle into the case</li> <li><strong>Gummy silicone grommets</strong> to cushion and dampen your internal drives.</li> <li><strong>Four hard drive bays, three external bays (CD drives)</strong></li> <li><strong>Front-panel USB</strong> – Because the’s the 2000’s, man.</li> </ul> <p><strong><strong>The only downside to a quiet case?</strong></strong> You might forget your PC is on.</p> <p><strong>Fitting it into your budget:</strong> It’s a good $50 more than junkier cases, but it’ll last you forever. Jim’s Sonata is on its third set of “guts”, mine’s on its second.</p> <h1>10. Uninterrupted power supply</h1> <div id="attachment_2817" style="width: 132px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QZ3UG0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000QZ3UG0&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2817" class=" wp-image-2817 " alt="cyberpower_powersupply" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/cyberpower_powersupply.jpg" width="122" height="187" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-2817" class="wp-caption-text">I own two of these <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QZ3UG0/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000QZ3UG0&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20">CyberPower UPS mini-towers</a>.</p></div> <p>Why didn’t I get one of these a decade ago?! Oh, that’s right – <em>I didn’t even know uninterrupted power supplies were a thing</em>.</p> <p>An uninterrupted power supply is <strong>basically a huge battery</strong> that keeps your computer going through <strong>power dips and outages</strong>. I hear mine click every so often, usually whenever the lights flicker, – and I think, <em>There’s another sudden restart that didn’t happen</em>.</p> <p>Even if the power goes completely out and stays out, the battery gives me a good 10 minutes to finish what I was doing and shut down properly. For maximum benefit, just put the essentials on the battery – the main computer, your monitor(s). Everything else (printer, scanner, speakers) can just go dark when the power goes out.</p> <p><strong><strong>The only downside to a UPS?</strong></strong> It beeps when the power goes out in the middle of the night. You’ll have to get up and silence it.</p> <p><strong>Fitting it into your budget:</strong> Don’t buy more battery than you need – UPS models come in a range of sizes, and the price goes up as the battery gets bigger. Get one that’s a bit more powerful than your power supply and you should be good to go.</p> <h1>11. Heated car seats (or blanket)</h1> <p>Take it from a Midwesterner – if you’re choosing between two otherwise equal vehicles, <em>you want the one with heated seats</em>. What was once a luxury car feature has trickled down into the mainstream as more and more consumers demand this awesome feature in their cars. The seats heat up quickly and winter becomes just a <em>little bit</em> nicer.</p> <p><strong>The only downside to getting heated seats?</strong> Requires you to buy a car.</p> <p><strong>Fitting it into your budget:</strong> No new car on the horizon? That’s okay, just toss a fleece throw blanket over your lap and legs. It’s almost as good as a heated seat, and you get to feel <em>stylish as all get out</em>. My car blanket <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006SR33LW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B006SR33LW&linkCode=as2&tag=leveluphouse-20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">looks kinda like this</a>.</p> <div id="attachment_2818" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/car_blanket.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2818" class="wp-image-2818 " alt="use a car blanket" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/car_blanket.jpg" width="250" height="333" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/car_blanket.jpg 250w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/car_blanket-225x300.jpg 225w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/car_blanket-185x246.jpg 185w" sizes="(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-2818" class="wp-caption-text">Winter? What winter? I feel like <strong>royalty</strong> riding around in my butt-toasting seat and blanket.</p></div> <h1>12. Dual shower head</h1> <div id="attachment_2795" style="width: 188px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/dual_shower_head.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2795" class=" wp-image-2795 " alt="home luxuries that are totally worth the money dual shower head affordable luxury" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/dual_shower_head.jpg" width="178" height="240" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/dual_shower_head.jpg 370w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/dual_shower_head-222x300.jpg 222w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/dual_shower_head-185x250.jpg 185w" sizes="(max-width: 178px) 100vw, 178px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-2795" class="wp-caption-text">Dual shower heads = you won’t want to leave the shower.</p></div> <p>A dual shower head is a cheap way to live in luxury – for under a hundred bucks you too can shower in a <em>warm gentle rainfall</em> – or pounding hail, there’s a bunch of flow settings! Showering with water on your head and back at the same time is <em>amazing</em>.</p> <p>The water flow can be turned off to either head, making it possible to just the detaching head by itself. I use the detachable head to wash large things in the tub (these are great for dogs) and to quickly wash the shower walls themselves.</p> <p><strong><strong>The only downside to a dual shower head?</strong></strong> The shower’s soooo nice, you won’t want to get out.</p> <p><strong><strong>Fitting it into your budget:</strong></strong> Mine was just $70, this luxury is totally within reach!</p> <h1>13. *Bonus* Good TP</h1> <p>You’re worth it!</p> <p><a href="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/quilted_northern.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-2828" alt="quilted_northern" src="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/quilted_northern.jpg" width="280" height="280" srcset="/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/quilted_northern.jpg 400w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/quilted_northern-150x150.jpg 150w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/quilted_northern-300x300.jpg 300w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/quilted_northern-185x185.jpg 185w, /wp-content/uploads/2014/01/quilted_northern-120x120.jpg 120w" sizes="(max-width: 280px) 100vw, 280px" /></a></p> <h1>More Luxurious Upgrades</h1> <ol> <li><a href="http://ask.metafilter.com/108283/Upgrade-Me" target="_blank">Upgrade Me</a> (Ask MetaFilter)</li> <li><a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/life-changing-things-that-are-worth-every-penny" target="_blank">30 Life-Changing Things that are Worth Every Penny</a> (BuzzFeed)</li> <li><a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/1cufcf/" target="_blank">What luxury item is actually worth the money?</a> (Reddit)</li> </ol> ]]></content:encoded> </item> </channel> </rss>