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Free 411 calls

Monday, June 22nd, 2009 | Misc | Permalink | No Comments |

Free directory assistance is available from both Google and Microsoft (under the Bing brand):Free directory assistance is available from both Google and Microsoft (under the Bing brand):

1-800-GOOG-411
1-800-BING-411 (also 1-800-CALL-411)
1-800-FREE-411 (requires listening to a short ad)

Tags: frugality, This Here De-pression

Best steak cuts for the least money

Thursday, May 28th, 2009 | Food & Drink | Permalink | 1 Comment |

Washington Post - Affordable Steaks That Make the Cut

There are bargains to be had in the meat case, for $5 to $7 per pound. Affordable cuts of beef tend to fall into three groups: hanger and flatiron steaks, long prized by chefs; flank, flap, tri-tip and skirt steaks, which used to be even cheaper when they were less popular; and gems such as chuck eye, chuck shoulder and top sirloin steaks, which are, for the moment, the least expensive of the lot (less than $5 per pound).

There are some good grilling tips there, too. One I’ve gotten in the habit of is pulling meat out of the fridge before grilling so it can warm up a bit. That makes it easier to get the inside and outside of the meat cooked to the right levels. It’s especially helpful with thick cuts.

When I grill or sear marinated meat I use paper towels to remove excess marinade before cooking. If you don’t the outside of the meat gets boiled and doesn’t develop the texture it should get from the heat of grilling or pan searing.

P.S. I’ve added a grilling tag to older posts for easier browsing. Have I mentioned how much I like keyword tags?

Previously

Tags: grilling, This Here De-pression

De-pression eyeglasses and contact lenses

Thursday, March 19th, 2009 | Economics, Health Care | Permalink | No Comments |

Reuters - Wal-Mart cuts prices on contacts, kids’ eyeglasses:

The world’s biggest retailer said on Thursday that it had teamed with 1-800 CONTACTS to reduce the price of a yearly supply of contact lenses by 12 percent to 50 percent.

Wal-Mart also said it had cut the prices of glasses and eyeglass frames for children and teenagers. It is selling full sets of eyeglasses for as low as $39 in its nearly 3,000 U.S. Wal-Mart vision centers, down from the previous price of $59.

Those are great prices for a brick and mortar store. You can find eyeglasses even cheaper online.

Tags: This Here De-pression

De-pression electronics buying advice

Sunday, March 1st, 2009 | Economics, Tech | Permalink | 3 Comments |

I was pointing Marko to this brilliant rant about bleeding-edge electronic gadgets from former Gizmodo editor Joel Johnson. When I re-read Johnson’s jeremiad I realized it had useful advice for these tough economic times:

Stop buying this crap. Just stop it. You don’t need it. Wait a year until the reviews come out and the other suckers too addicted to having the very latest and greatest buy it, put up a review, and have moved on to something else. Stop buying broken products and then shrugging your shoulders when it doesn’t do what it is supposed to. Stop buying products that serve any other master than you. Use older stuff that works. Make it yourself. Only buy new stuff from companies that have proven themselves good servants of their customers in the past. Complaining online about this stuff helps, but really, just stop buying it.

You want to know the punchline? The average Joe that makes up the market is smarter than you saps. The market-at-large waits until a clear leader emerges, then takes a modest plunge. You may think you’re making up the “bleeding edge” of “gadget pimpatude” but you’re really just a loose confederation of marks the consumer electronics industry uses as free market research and easy money. “Give me the latest version,” you coo, hiking up your skirt another inch over your exposed wallet. “Point Oh One upgrades make me so hot.”

I remember reading one of those futurist authors years ago predicing the accelerating surge of electronics. One of his conclusions was that technology would bring a lot of expensive temptations.

Tags: This Here De-pression

De-pression tax preparation: free tax prep at Wal-Mart

Saturday, February 14th, 2009 | Economics | Permalink | No Comments |

Wal-Mart in co-operation with The United Way is offering free tax preparation for people making less than $56,000 per year. To find out where and when the mobile tax vans will be in your area, visit myfreetaxes.com.

Tags: This Here De-pression, wal-mart

De-pression Valentine’s music: free MP3 of Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On”

Saturday, February 14th, 2009 | A&E | Permalink | No Comments |

Free at Amazon on Valentine’s Day.

Tags: This Here De-pression

De-pression entertainment: free admission to the Knoxville Museum of Art for 2009

Thursday, January 15th, 2009 | East Tennessee | Permalink | No Comments |

The KMA announces free admission for all of 2009.

Tags: This Here De-pression

De-pression anti-virus software: Avast Home Edition free AV

Thursday, January 15th, 2009 | Tech | Permalink | 2 Comments |

My McAfee anti-virus subscription was due to lapse in December. Instead of renewing it I decided to save a little money with Avast Home Edition, which is free for personal use. I’ve been running Avast for a month now and so far, so good.

By default Avast plays an annoying “Database updated” sound when it downloads virus signature updates. To change that right-click on its taskbar icon, select Program Settings, go into Sounds, and put a check next to “Disable Avast sounds.”

Previously