Just figured it’d be cool to see what little life hacks you’ve learned about and thought to yourself I wish I knew about this sooner. Kinda like this, if you ever wondered if your remote control was working you can look at it through your phones camera while pressing buttons. You’ll see the infrared light on your screen.
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Not a gadget or anything but Im going to put forward compounding interest. One of the most important concepts you should know about is about compounding interest and the sooner the better, literally - Einstein said “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it … he who doesn’t … pays it.”
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The most valuable and first form of currency is your time and attention. You dont purchase anything before or without “paying attention” to it first. Once you “buy into it” you second by going out and “buying the product” paying with cash. Be careful what you “pay” attention to.
A computer was made to compute and process information like a human brain. A computer is very smart and very powerful. Yet, you can still program bugs and viruses into it… the human mind is just as susceptible. Be careful what you “pay” attention to, it’s programming you. And vice versa, your brain is like a computer hard drive. Its capacity immeasurable by numbers, all our brains have a max capacity. There is a lot of non sense out there in the world strategically placed for your detriment. Once your brain is full with such non sense and at capacity. You can have full desire to learn and flourish but will be unable to retain anything you further attempt to study. Hence the saying “You cannot fill a cup that is already full”
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I’m going to call your compound interest and raise you compound inflation and currency debasement. 
Even with a high-yield savings account, you’re barely breaking even against the official headline inflation rate, and that doesn’t cover the billions of dollars being sucked out of the system and held in offshore accounts to evade taxes. Counting that, we’re all losing money every second we keep it in the form of fiat currency.
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This is true - I had trouble learning socks first, then shoes
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Flip-flops helped me with that issue.
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Good point.
Here’s another informative tidbit… In spite of what they show you in movies, you cannot call, then raise someone’s bet in a real game of poker. It’s called a string bet and it’s not allowed.
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I ended up wearing red rain boots until I was six. Couldn’t tie my laces. Learned to tie them when I became embarrassed because I had to ask the pretty girl next door to tie them.
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My favorite useful gadget is a mult-tool, which I didn’t adopt until later in life.
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Another trick if you have a electric guitar and any controller. Aim at pickups and you’ll hear the infrared digital freqs come out the speakers. Different controllers and buttons sound differnt.
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Tai Chi: once going into a big city, on a bus trip, around 1971 or 72, way off in the distance, I saw this group of folks, all doing some kind of exercise, in unison, all slow, graceful movements, from the very few minutes, I could see them.
That image, always stayed with me.
Years later, as I read about it, as I had also started reading some eastern philosophy, The I Ching (Yijing) simply a book of thought provoking passages, to meditate with.
I found comfort, in the words, I found peace, in contemplation of those words, however it was not until last fall, 25 -30 years later, that I joined a group of other old phukers, interested in knowing what Tai Chi was about.
As a younger man, when I was so full of that stupid macho bullshit attitude, I never would have allowed myself, to participate in this exercise, of mind of body!! NEVER!
I also, never realized how much we would change as we grow older.
We sort of allow ourselves to let gravity hunch us over, shorter steps, less balance, less durable during hard work or exercise, the shorting of breath.
That silly 1 hour class, revives my inner self, relieves so much stress, and reduces much of my old guy frustrations.
It has started to calm my wild beast reactions, I got a LOT of work to do, to keep building my calm state, but it something I wish I had given a few minutes of thought to, as much younger man.
I finally understand the term: Namaste and the strength to submit to it.
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How to play the insurance game. Its a fucking joke of a game where the providers determine whether or not to cover you based on whether or not it’s worth keeping you on board. It has very little to do with what’s right or “making one whole again”.
Learn how to read legal mumbo jumbo
Airplane neck pillows go under your chin not around the back of your neck.
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Instead of buying new appliances when they break…fix them! I paid less than $150 to fix a fridge that would cost $1500+ to replace. I do that with all my appliances. There are appliance repair shops in most places, and many come out to you. I have saved a bunch of money doing this.
#2 Did you just get a new car, or rent and when you arrive at the gas station can’t tell what side to pump? Just look at the gas pump sign on your dash. There is an arrow indicating what side it is on.
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My 1960 VW bus didn’t have one of those arrows. Of course, it didn’t have a gas gauge either. Rather, it had an emergency 1 gallon gas tank that you accessed by way of a valve on the floor. And I’ll tell you this, you only forget one time to close the valve once the tank refilled! Yes, that is the voice of experience.
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Last time I tried to fix my stove, the part was $350 and was going to take 4-6 weeks to arrive. I ended up buying a second hand working stove for $200 that was in as good shape as the one I was trying to fix.
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hmmmm… I wish I new how to make rosin in the early 90’s… I would be a very rich man today LOL
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Along that note - furniture and upholstery.
I’ve had cushions for nice wooden dining room / kitchen chairs replaced as well as fabric on metal patio chairs which were about to be thrown away, reupholstered for a fraction of the cost of replacing the chairs themselves.
Many items can be rebuilt or repaired at a fraction of the cost, not only saving money but saving one more item from rotting at a landfill!
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Yes, very good. As a mechanic with my own shop I fix everything, also shop at scratch and dent appliance stores, who cares if it has a scuff or dent. We had a 30 year old washer and dryer until last year. I got a hell of a deal on scratch and dent new ones for $700 and the scuff buffed out of the washer. There is indeed a little arrow pointing to the side the fill is on.
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