Tips for value added use on items we already have

**PrairieRose** · 01-09-2008, 11:24 AM

When I posted about tips for utilization of a cell phone it got me thinking. What other things do we have that we don't take full advantage of the capabilities of? Are there programs that you use on your computer that make your life less complicated? What about your vcr?

I have a birthday/holiday reminder service that I get reminders via email that keeps me on top of things like that but are there other services that I could be using that I'm not even aware of? Ofcourse I want all the free things I can get like this but I want things to make my life easier not more complicated.

Got any tips about products that we already have that we don't use like they are intended?

**Jskell911** · 01-09-2008, 04:27 PM

We use our bank's online service often to keep the checking balanced.

**PrairieRose** · 01-09-2008, 04:38 PM

I still balance mine the old fashioned way but check balances often, even while keeping a running total in my computer checkbook. It's a great feature though

**Jskell911** · 01-09-2008, 05:01 PM

There are also great sites for keeping an online cookbook! In addition to those, I keep mine in a file on my hard drive. Just label each according to type of food. This way when I want to try something new, it's only a click away.

Kraft Foods has their own recipe binder feature. Great recipes too!

**inneedofhope** · 01-09-2008, 09:39 PM

i'm sure there are alot of features I don't really use. I have a food processor, mixer, etc. but I prefer to chop and mix by hand! I'm curious to hear what others have to add.

**bumplett** · 01-09-2008, 09:47 PM

I use my cell phone as an alarm clock when not at home.

that's all I can think of -

**karone** · 01-11-2008, 06:02 AM

if u have the right parts u can use ur tv as a computer monitor. for that u would have to pm jason b/c i know a little bit about it but not enough. use computer speakers as speakers for a tape/cd/or mp3 player (did this a few times outside this past summer). if u have a coffee maker but only like tea then put the water in the in the coffee machine and keep water hot enough to make several cups of tea with.

**karone** · 01-11-2008, 06:07 AM

forgot to add that if u get dvds from another region then u can play them in ur computer (if u dont have a region free dvd player) but u have to set it to the region that the dvd comes from and it can be done only a few times. after the few times is up it will stay to whatever region u put it to the last time. reason i know this is b/c i have a series set on dvd that are for the uk and not here.

**Dutchie** · 01-11-2008, 08:04 AM

You can probably not use this service in the US but here in Holland we have it as part of our banking/insurance. It is a free service but one could argue that we pay for it via our insurance payment/banking charges.
Anyhow when we started our insurance/banking with this company/bank, we got a large form to fill in with the entire family's pasport numbers, driving license numbers, credit card numbers, bank card numbers etc.
There are two advantages to this. One, if anything gets stolen we have a central number which we call and everything is blocked right away. Secondly we get a reminder about when our driving licenses/pasports etc. are about to expire so that we can get new ones.
This has helped us out more than a couple of times.

**Dutchie** · 01-11-2008, 08:07 AM

Originally Posted by karone

forgot to add that if u get dvds from another region then u can play them in ur computer (if u dont have a region free dvd player) but u have to set it to the region that the dvd comes from and it can be done only a few times. after the few times is up it will stay to whatever region u put it to the last time. reason i know this is b/c i have a series set on dvd that are for the uk and not here.

This explains why our last DVD player stopped working on our European DVD's.
Thank you - I thought that there were no restrictions.

**McD** · 01-11-2008, 09:08 AM

I use my cell phone as my alarm clock.

I use my bank's online service as a way of tracking my spending--I can catergorize every check, every atm withdrawal, debit card transaction and it puts it into a little spiffy report for me to view.

**Jskell911** · 01-11-2008, 10:13 AM

We hook my laptop up to the TV to watch burned DVDs that our DVD player won't play. This way we can take advantage of the larger screen and surround sound.

I'm sure many of you already do this, but after we cook in the oven we leave the oven door open for the heat. Why let it go to waste?