Things You Should Know

There are several pearls of wisdom which one stumbles upon as life happens. I have been far too selfish in the past and the imparting of information by industry professionals on such liberal terms has compelled me to share the awesome things I stumble upon with others. While the other portions of my site are dedicated to tips in photography and video, this part will hopefully help the general populous.

• Don't buy cheap yeast.

• Root your phone and install firmware hacks on all electronics where possible. I spent a few years in irrational trepidation and found the process easier than anticipated with results far outweighing the risks.

• If you are lost in the wilderness without clean water try this: Hollow out a reed, fill the bottom with charcoal from your campfire and the top with grass to keep the charcoal out of your mouth. Use your new straw filter at the nearest water source and let me know if it worked for you.

• You can get quarters for laundry (or other purposes) out of pop machines--not for free, though, this is an honest tip. Put in two dimes and a nickel, push the change return thing and out pops a quarter. Ideal way to rid yourself of small change and get a useful coin.

• Money placed in an IRA isn't as locked as it may seem. Excuses for removing IRA funds without penalty include home purchase, health insurance premiums, higher education and more. Get some o' that tax deferred!

• Send letters of gratitude to your favorite brands thanking them for making a good product. Many times you'll get free coupons in return. If not, you'll at least be showing appreciation for someone's efforts. Make an effort to show appreciation for the dying notion of good customer service.

• It's worth it to pay the price of Glide floss. Just the increased comfort of the flossing experience with that floss leads to more frequent flossing and its associated benefits.

• Make fish (and chicken!) in coconut breading. I'm sure there are more advanced methods, but just cover your tilapia in olive oil and roll it in coconut and crushed crackers for some easy and delicious food.

• Before you buy something online, type in the name of the online vendor and see if there isn't a coupon code somewhere that will get you a discount on checkout. This is hit or miss obviously, but I've done it multiple times and saved a lot of money in the long run.

• Build or buy property you can afford and save yourself several times the asset's value in interest. Haven't really done this one yet, but seems to be a tip people aren't realizing of their own accord. Build in a modular fashion--not a prefab house--but modular in the sense of building something small and paying for it completely and adding on in portions as means allow. (Obviously compare the cost of rent to that of equity in the home to see at what point this tip makes sense. Sometimes renting is the way to go.)

• Rather than paying for an extended camera warranty, schedule your camera with a renters insurance policy and get essentially the same coverage plus international protection against theft or clumsy airlines. The big difference here is that insurance generally doesn't cover the natural death of a camera, so if it's on its way out remember to drop it or spill something on it ;) (just kidding people). The result is more photos and better photos. You won't be as afraid to climb up somewhere and put your camera on the ledge, to take it in a canoe, on a trip to South America, or do whatever else your risk averted self might prevent you from doing this way.

• Learn keyboard shortcuts early on for much greater efficiency in any application.

• Fill out the free Subway survey and get a free cookie! It only takes a minute and you can do it in line while you wait for the sandwich. Then save your receipt for a free cookie the next time.