Lifehacker

Millions of college students will be released from their college careers and into the real world soon, and while it’s such a promising time, there are ways to ride that wave of enthusiasm into a more practical set of plans to launch your new life. Here are 10 tips for making the most of it.

Buying groceries is one of those universal chores most of us could probably do better at, whether it’s saving money on food or spending less time shopping. Here are ten common mistakes we tend to make at the grocery store—and how to avoid them.

At some point, you may notice a few signs that suggest your teen needs help. Maybe their grades are starting to slip, they’re going through a rocky break-up with their first love, or they’ve become withdrawn for a significant amount of time. You think it might be helpful for them to speak to a therapist, but you’re…Read more...

I try my best to keep an open mind when reading new and creative food hacks from around this world-wide web of ours. I mean, just imagine if I’d never given popcorn salad a chance. How sad would that be? (Moderately sad.) But even still, there are a few “hacks” I have avoided for years, and we’re testing one of them…Read more...

According to the 2019 American Time Use Survey, people are spending anywhere from one and a half to two and a half hours in their gardens. Unfortunately, no matter what your plans are for the day, the weeds will keep growing and flowers still need watering. So how do you regularly tend to your garden and make time for…Read more...

You might need to hire a home appraiser to set up your estate for inheritance, qualify for insurance, reduce property taxes, or to help you determine future improvements to your home. But what does an appraiser actually do, and what should you be looking for?Read more...

After all the time and effort you’ve put into your search, you’ve finally found the home of your dreams (or at least one in your price range that you’re mildly excited about). You’ve made an offer, had the home inspected, and soon it’ll be time to close.Read more...

Pets are lucky they’re (usually) cute, because humans will go to all kinds of lengths to keep them happy, healthy and comfortable. Sure, that’s your favorite chair, but it’s also your dog’s favorite chair, and once she looked you in the eyes and sighed, you gave in and let her have it. That kind of thing.Read more...

Visiting a ghost town is one of the closest things we have to time travel. If left undisturbed, the town remains suspended in time; perpetually stuck in the year it was abandoned. Fortunately, some ghost towns have been incorporated into state and national parks, which tend to leave them in their state of natural…Read more...

While some gardeners enjoy spending time with and caring for their plants every day, others are looking for more of a hands-off approach. It’s one thing to take some time in the spring or early summer to plant some flowers, for example, but that doesn’t guarantee you’ll have a consistent carpet of colorful buds all…Read more...

Everyone has their own goals in life. For some, it’s climbing a mountain or writing a novel. For others, it’s taking a photo of extreme weather that is subsequently featured on their local weather report. The problem is, snapping a decent-quality picture of an incoming storm or cloud formation isn’t as easy as it…Read more...

After a year of being cooped up inside without the escape of non-essential travel, we’re more than ready to hit the road. Sure, it’d be nice to venture off to far-flung destinations, but there’s also (probably) so much to see right there in your home state.Read more...

Quibi was the largest backed streaming service you never heard of (or maybe never cared about) in early 2020. The hopeful streaming rival featured over 75 new programs starring some A-list celebrities, including Anna Kendrick in Dummy, Kevin Hart and John Travolta in Die Hart, and Laurence Fishburne in #FreeRayshawn,…Read more...

Your home is one of the most expensive things you’ll ever pay for, so whether you’re renting or buying, you should take good care of it. While you may be tempted to call a professional when something breaks, you can take care of many minor repairs yourself.Read more...

I’ve been thinking about my return-on-investment with sports, and I have to say—I think it’s a bad deal. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with being a sports fan, of course, but if you consider the costs—combined with the limited emotional payoff of your team never quite winning anything—your loyalty might…Read more...

United States copyright law is a real beast. There was a time, not so long ago, when any creative work would fall into the public domain—meaning the original rights to the work had lapsed, allowing anyone to make use of the characters and ideas within it—after 42 years. Then, in the 1970s, the Walt Disney company…Read more...

Last night, I had some vaccinated co-workers over to drink wine, eat pork, and shoot some arrows with my new compound bow. It went well (with only one slight injury), but I am very tired today. So tired, in fact, that the idea of squeezing citrus fruit amongst the dirty dishes and empty wine bottles is far too much…Read more...

It sounds like a headline ripped from an ‘80s cyberpunk novel, but the U.S. is facing a sudden gas shortage after a ransomware attack against Colonial Pipeline resulted in many Americans panic-buying (and in many cases panic-overbuying) gasoline.

Hydroponics was synonymous with growing copious amounts of weed in your apartment without much work, but these days hydroponic gardening is simply cutting-edge technology for sustainable farming. And while it seems that farming in a test tube is a bit out of touch with nature, it’s actually touted as a convenient way…Read more...

New kitchen toys always get me excited about cooking—sometimes a little too excited. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the novelty of it all and want to immediately dive into challenging recipes and elaborate projects, but every new method and appliance has a learning curve, which is why it’s usually best to start small…Read more...

This week we’re looking at the dark, scary side of youth culture, including Russian trash-streaming, deadly TikTok dangers, and, most frightening of all, Elon Musk doing comedy.

The CDC said Thursday the masks can come off, so we’re about to see a lot of cute faces out there after months of isolation. Faces that you didn’t think were cute before lockdown are probably pretty appealing to you now, and people all over the country are preparing for a slutty summer.Read more...

Battle royale-style “one vs. many” games like Apex Legends and Call of Duty: Warzone have colonized the online space over the past couple of years, with hundreds of thousands of gamers logged in at any given time. But some parents are uneasy with the level of violence in the most popular titles in the genre; even in a…Read more...

As I embarked on the second week of my monthlong goal to actually like running, I was not expecting miracles to happen. Despite being a fairly active person overall, that first run was a bit of a disaster. But I did learn a few things that I was able to tweak to get me to the point where I can say that while I don’t…Read more...

By now we all know the importance of a long, secure password. With every new data breach in the news, we know we should change them. And if you can remember each unique password for each unique site, then good for you; but for the rest of us, we’ll need a little help keeping our passwords organized and secure, and for…Read more...

Store-bought cleaning products are known for using lemon. We’ve already talked about how easy it is to clean with lemons, making it a popular alternative to chemical-based products, but what makes lemons and grapefruits such an effective cleaner is the same citric acid that you can get as a powerful cleaning powder.Read more...

One of the worst problems of losing your job is having to deal with finding healthcare coverage. Fortunately, you have some options, although there are trade-offs with quality and price. Here’s a look at what you can do.Read more...

Encryption is a wonderful thing. While I don’t run full-drive encryption on my Windows desktop at home—courtesy of BitLocker—that’s only because I’m the only one who ever uses my system and I don’t really keep anything of value on it. (All my personal documents and anything I would otherwise encrypt live on a NAS box…Read more...

The CDC has updated their guidelines for people who are fully vaccinated. Vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask, even indoors, unless specific rules require it, the CDC announced today. A business can still require you to wear a mask, for example, and you still need to mask up on public transportation and in…Read more...

Amazon recently announced new versions of its Echo Show 5 and Echo Show 8 smart displays. Each of the model refreshes includes an upgraded camera and the latest Alexa features, but the hardware specifications—and intended user bases—differ. Let’s take a look at the changes.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, but if there is a shortage of gasoline in your area, that is not a good reason to fill water bottles or, god forbid, plastic bags with gas. Hoard gasoline if you must, but hoard your gasoline in proper gas cans.Read more...

Cabbage-based slaws—cole or otherwise—are transcendent when properly executed, but so easy to mess up completely. No one wants a bowl of cabbage shreds swimming in overly-sweetened, watered-down mayo, and—luckily—no one has to resign themself to that fate. To keep your slaw from sogging out, you just need a little…Read more...

You might not begrudge your Edge Chromium browser for trying to help you save money, but it can be annoying when prompt after prompt pops up about cash-back programs and coupon savings. Sometimes the deals are great; other times they’re more of an annoyance than useful.Read more...

Loofahs are great for exfoliating the skin, and though one of them is my regular shower companion, I had no idea what they are. I assumed the coarse tubes were either natural sponges from the sea, or perhaps manufactured in a factory somehow. But it turns out they are actually a plant from the gourd family, and you…Read more...

Strong-willed children are challenging to raise. They can turn even the most basic and routine of situations into a battle of the wills. They don’t just want to be right; they know they are right. They cannot stand to be told what to do all the time, so they will defy you at every turn, and the more obedience you…Read more...

You don’t have to go to an expensive spa to relax and achieve momentary bliss. The same luxurious bath experience can be had in your own home, on your own terms, without spending a fortune or going somewhere public to get it.Read more...

One of the perks of living alone is the freedom to interpret the phrase “proper meal” however the heck you want. Even if your cohabiter’s diet preferences are in line with yours, their presence can repress your more feral tendencies, like making a bowl of ganache in the microwave and eating it with a spoon (just as an…Read more...

If you’ve had the fortune of coming across SMART goal setting, you’ll know the acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Assignable (changed into “Attainable”), Realistic, and Time-related. In particular, specificity makes goals easier to plan for and track. For example, “eat less takeout,” isn’t as good as, “eat…Read more...

Even if you’ve never purchased a Sara Lee product, you’re probably familiar with their long-running jingle, which makes the bold claim that “nobody doesn’t like” their line of frozen desserts and other tasty carbohydrates. But it looks like they may need to take people with peanut allergies off that list, following a…Read more...

Renting an apartment comes without the commitment of a mortgage, but often without the luxury of customization, too. Generally, the owner or landlord sets the rules on what can and cannot be changed, with some stricter ones even banning holes in the walls for pictures.Read more...

Given how much destruction droughts can cause, it can be easy to forget the fact that having too much water is also a problem. And not only when a massive, area-wide flood drowns a town—just one heavy rainstorm can do a surprising amount of damage to a garden.

Hearing your wireless devices are vulnerable to something called “FragAttacks” doesn’t exactly inspire joy. However, the word is scarier than the risk; there’s no evidence that anyone is actively exploiting wireless devices via these vulnerabilities, even given the millions that could be susceptible to…Read more...

WhatsApp’s controversial new privacy policy goes into effect May 15, 2021. The updated agreement gives Facebook permission to collect your WhatsApp data, and lots of people aren’t happy about it. That said, users are not forced to accept the new terms automatically—but those who don’t agree to them will experience…Read more...

I grew up in a rural town in Michigan with several relatives who are avid hunters and, therefore, had guns in their homes. (In one case, those guns were probably stashed in random ceiling tiles and hollowed-out books, in preparation for an imagined future government raid.) Today, I live in Flint, Mich., a city with…Read more...

Microsoft is rolling out an Outlook update to fix a strange bug for Microsoft 365 users that’s causing email text to disappear as it’s typed and incoming messages to show up blank. In other words: a productivity-killing nightmare, whether you rely on Outlook for work or for fun.Read more...

The CDC’s advisory panel on vaccines has now recommended the Pfizer COVID vaccine for everyone age 12 and up, in a 14-0 vote. This follows an FDA decision on Monday to extend the vaccine’s authorization to this age group. The vaccine appears to be as safe and effective in this age group as in young adults, according…Read more...

Just two days after the Food and Drug Administration authorized Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in children ages 12 and up, parents of adolescents got more good news: It can be given at the same time (or close to the same time) as any other vaccines they may be due to receive.Read more...

You can now add your preferred pronouns to Instagram, and I highly encourage you to do so even if you feel like you don’t really need. The more people that do, the more we can normalize this behavior and make the process of sharing and accepting pronouns better for all.

The IRS says that over $1.3 billion in 2017 tax refunds is still up for grabs—money that belongs to an estimated 1.3 million people who have yet to file their tax returns for that year. However, if you’re owed money, you’ll have to move fast—there’s only one week left to claim it, as the IRS will stop holding on to…Read more...

All signs indicate Americans are ready to get back into their regular vacation routines this summer, and airlines are doing what they can to lure customers back into the air. Airline staff, pilots, and flight attendants traveled a difficult road over the past 15 months, from figuring out how to operate with limited…Read more...