Have you got any simple, cheap, low-tech ideas that in some small way could improve life? Qualifying suggestions should be genuinely useful even if only occasionally. Ideally they should also be handy and unobtrusive - what is the point of something super-clever if you always leave it at home?
To start off my idea is to have ruler markings printed/engraved/moulded onto the cases of cell phones. Most people now carry their phone with them everywhere and you just never know when you might need to measure something. Manufacturing cost is minimal and cost-of-ownership virtually zero. I do have a ruler app on my phone but this seems to me to be overkill and quite frankly not all that convenient.
If you don’t need to be to exact (and really, how exact can you be trying to use a cell phone case), a dollar bill is six inches. Fold it in half and you have three inches. With those two lengths I can get a pretty good estimate of most things.
No, it’s not exact, but for example just the other day I was replacing a can light and rather than get off the ladder and go down to the basement to grab a tape measure I pulled a dollar bill out of my pocket. Turns out the can was exactly six inches. But even it if was 5 or 7, I still would have been able to tell.
That’s pretty handy, but honestly, don’t you think most people these days are more likely to have a smartphone rather than a dollar bill in their pocket? I know I am.
I have hundreds of small no-tech or low-tech things I do to make life smoother. If you’re looking for technology-based ones that have to be implemented like the cell phone ruler, that’s one class; if simple procedures or shortcuts count, well…
My number one tiny thing that simplifies life is: always shake food cans hard before you open them. That loosens what’s inside, so if it’s soup, it all pours out (without leaving chunks stuck around the bottom) or if it’s solid (like refried beans) it slides right out without having to be scraped. You’ll learn to hear/feel when the goop is loosened.
In principle, I agree. In practice, it’s more of a balance of having (and buying) only things you really need - which, for some people, may be more than a begging bowl and robe.
But yes, having only what you need instead of lots of what you want can simplify your life immensely - and not in just the “where to put it/have to dust it” ways. A simpler economic basis for your life can transform it.
I’ve always wondered whether it was the most-toys crowd or the Buddhists who used self storage facilities. :rolleyes:
Use an O-Cedar dust sweeper instead. It does all that, and is better than a Swiffer because the sweep head has two different sides for different surfaces… and can be washed 100 times or more.
Perusing an article on household hints while in the doctor’s waiting room, I read one that suggested using a pants hanger (the one with the clips one on each end) to hold a recipe while you’re cooking. You can hook the hanger loop over your cabinet knob. Genuis! Keeps the recipe off the counter and out of the cooking spatter, keeps it at eye level, and doesn’t require anything to be assembled or attached.
They’re all variations on a theme. I was thinking mostly of this one, but I just saw the same model at Sam’s with the dual-sides head (cloth and fiber-finger-things) for the same price.
I just can’t get behind products that are 99% marketing and 1% pointless disposability.
Either one sounds better than using a tablet like you always see people doing on TV. I tried that a few times. First off, I have no interest in getting anything from my kitchen on my Tablet or Laptop so I keep it somewhere else in the kitchen. Second, if you use a computer/tablet you’re going to have to touch it to scroll or keep the screen saver from turning on (or screen from turning off). In short, trying to cook with a device…sucks.
We have a cook book holder, a plastic thing you can prop the cookbook open in, and which protects it from splatters. Would work fine with paper recipes also.
The liner for our kitchen trash can would slip down into the trash, making you pull it up before putting more trash in. There was a hole where you were supposed to attach the bag, but it never worked. I saw trash can holder bands in a catalog for like $12. I went to Staples and got large rubber bands for about $2.50, which is enough for a lifetime of losing one every year or so.
I thought my life got slightly better and easier after I got a table saw and drill press. I mean, I sort of get your point, you don’t want to get to the point where your possessions manage you, but austerity is not for everyone. There are already too many monk-ish aspects to my life and I like having the right tool for the job.
Actually, my cheap(ish) low tech way to make life better? If you’re working on a project and there’s an inexpensive tool that you use a lot – buy a couple of them. The time you spend trying to figure out where you dropped the damn tape measure is worth more than the cost of having a spare.
