Life Hacks – Spoken Edition

Last summer my parent’s home had a rodent infestation. “Just set mouse traps,” people told me. If only it were that easy. It turns out there are better and improved methods to bait and set traps to increase the odds of catching those gross, slippery critters.

If you’ve made resolutions, you don’t want to forget about them when the novelty of the new year has worn off. Nagbot is a fun texting app that helps you stick to your goals by texting you regular reminders.

Ground meats such as beef and lamb are the stars of many culinary delights such as tacos, meat sauces, and larb, but there is nothing worse than grey, steamed bits of sadness that never had a chance to brown. Luckily, there’s an easy way to prevent this: leave the meat alone. Obtaining perfectly browned and crispy ground meat is easy, you just need some patience.

Whether or not you make resolutions, the new year can make you want to shake things up a bit. If you want to breathe new life into your bedroom without spending any money, consider shifting the bed slightly.

You probably already have a morning routine, where you get up, clean up, get ready for the day, and head out the door. What you may be missing is a morning ritual, or something you do to set the stage for the day and start yourself off on a positive note. Here’s what we mean.

Windows/Mac/Linux: Google’s ADB and fastboot are incredibly powerful command line tools for customizing your Android phone. Up until now, these tiny tools have been bundled in the gigantic Android SDK, but Google will finally let you download these tools on their own.

scruffycoxendale’s home office is more than just one desk with a computer on it, although it’s definitely nice. A quick look around the room shows off some other great gear, including a lovely record collection, a media server for the house, and more.

If you’re looking for a great gift idea, or you’re tired of your roommates using your stuff, get some etching cream. It’s super easy to make custom mugs, plates, glasses, and more with it. As Caylin Harris explains at The Kitchn, items personalized with sharpie or paint pens may not last forever if the items aren’t properly taken care of. But with etching cream, you can make a permanent mark on items in any design you like.

Redditor zbeegniev just finished updating his workspace, and the results look pretty sharp. It’s clean, that monitor is well mounted to the wall, and oh hey—the PC is actually built into the desk. Here are some more photos. The Dell U3415W ultrawide being mounted to the wall is already a great start, but beyond that the desk is made from reclaimed wood, and a completely DIY job.

You know how your hair always looks absolutely fabulous after you step out of a salon, but as soon as you get home any chance of replicating it feels hopeless? Me, too. So here’s a way to blow dry your long, wet hair and look like you just had it professionally done.

iOS: There’s no shortage of alarm clock apps to choose from, and many of them have creative ways of making sure you get out of bed. UHP Alarm Clock forces you to get out of bed by tracking your path. The Most Sadistic Apps That Force You to Get Stuff Done The Most Sadistic Apps That Force You to Get Stuff Done The Most Sadistic Apps That Force You to Get… Sometimes willpower is hard to muster up without a little poking from exterior sources.

When you take breaks, you come back to your work with a fresh perspective, and if you’re stuck, that perspective can often help you figure out a solution. The Genius Deck helps with this by asking random questions to help you switch gears.

Every year, the contribution limits and other details about 401(k)s change. A few of those changes this year can be particularly useful for low-income families. Here are the changes to watch for. First, the contribution limit is still set at $18,000. That part remains unchanged. However, the Saver’s Credit gives an extra incentive to low-income families.

A traditional shoe shine can take anywhere from five to15 minutes, but if you don’t have the time to spare, this method gets your leather looking fresh in about a minute. As Antonio Centeno at the Real Men Real Style YouTube channel demonstrates, all you need is a horsehair brush (or very soft bristled brush), some wax shoe polish that matches the color of your shoes, and a soft rag (an old t-shirt works great.

The snowball method is the best way to pay down your debt. If you’re skeptical and want to see how it will work, this spreadsheet will calculate exactly how long it will take to be debt free. When you’re paying off debt with the snowball method, you start by focusing on the smallest debt balance, then moving on to the larger ones. This spreadsheet, from personal finance site Life and My Finances lets you add all of your debts to one sheet.