Cars are expensive—even used cars are no longer a cheap option. So it’s not too surprising that folks who live in areas where a car isn’t a total necessity might choose not to own one. Aside from the cost of buying, maintaining, and fueling a car, there’s also the car insurance, which costs anywhere from $53 to $192 per month on average, depending on the coverage you select.

But we live in a car-centric society, and not owning a car doesn’t mean you’ll never need a car. Luckily there are a lot of options when it comes to getting access to a vehicle for a short period of time, ranging from traditional car rentals to car-sharing apps to borrowing your friend’s car in a pinch. And you might assume that when you’re just using a car temporarily you don’t need your own liability insurance—but that’s not always true. Sometimes it’s a very good idea to buy something called Non-Owner Car Insurance.

Non-owner car insurance

Non-owner car insurance is secondary insurance—additional coverage that kicks in after primary insurance hits its limit. When you borrow or rent a car owned by someone else, their insurance covers the car even if you’re not officially listed on the policy. So why would you need your own policy? Because of liability: If you’re in an accident while driving someone else’s car and the damages exceed the base policy’s limits—or if the base policy denies the claim altogether—you’ll be on the hook for the extra costs.

Let’s say you borrow your friend’s car and their liability insurance has a $20,000 cap on bodily injury. You get into an accident and the other driver suffers $30,000 in medical bills as a result. If you don’t have any extra insurance, your friend’s insurance will pay out the $20,000—and you will have to come up with the rest. Considering the average cost of “evident” injury in a motor vehicle accident is $42,000 and “disabling” injuries can run to $162,000, it’s easy to see how getting into an accident without your own insurance can be problematic.

Like regular car insurance, non-owner car insurance starts off with basic liability and often includes the option to add on coverage for personal injury, medical payments, or uninsured motorist coverage. You’ll want to check with your insurer to make sure you know exactly what your policy covers.

Aside from the financial risk of driving any vehicle, there’s one other big reason you might consider non-owner car insurance if you borrow or rent cars regularly: your rates. If you’re temporarily without your own vehicle, buying non-owner car insurance can help keep your rates steady. If you go without car insurance for more than 31 days, your rates can jump up to 35%. Non-owner car insurance keeps your coverage current, which can pay off if you plan to own your own vehicle again soon.

Who needs it?

Just because you don’t currently own a car and occasionally have to borrow or rent one doesn’t mean you need non-owner car insurance. Here’s a guide to who needs it and who doesn’t:

• Frequent rent or share. If you’re renting cars or using a car-sharing platform several times a month, you should probably carry non-owner insurance. If you rent a car once or twice a year when traveling or for a special need, it’s probably not necessary.

• Occasional borrowing. If you borrow your friend’s car constantly, they should probably list you on their insurance as a driver, which means you don’t need non-owner insurance. If you borrow different cars from different people on a regular basis, however, you should probably get your own coverage as your use probably doesn’t qualify you as a listed driver.

• Company car. If you drive a company car, check the terms of its insurance. Not all company cars are covered for personal use. If you’re driving the company-owned car on the weekends or when doing your weekly errands, you might need non-owner insurance to protect yourself in case of an accident.

It’s easy to love your roof when it’s relatively new and doing its job. How long that honeymoon period of roofing affection lasts depends a lot on the type of roof you have over your head—while some roofing systems, like metal roofs or slate tile roofs, can last for more than 50 years with proper maintenance, those of us who have flat or low-slope roofs on our homes aren’t so lucky. While flat-roof systems have an official lifespan of about 25 years, anyone who actually has a flat roof knows you’re lucky if you get a decade out of them before they start to leak and otherwise show their age. There’s a reason roofing companies always offer a 10-year warranty on these roofs, after all.

Even on a flat roof, the most common sources of leaks are the seams—spots where there are changes in plane, flashing, skylights, or vent pipes. If your roof starts leaking those are the places where you begin your inspection, so it makes sense that if you eliminate the seams, you eliminate the problem. If you have a flat roof on your house that needs to be repaired or replaced, it’s worth it to consider what’s known as a seamless roof system or a monolithic roof.

What is a seamless roof systems?

A seamless roof system (sometimes called a “monolithic” roof) is just what it sounds like: A roofing membrane that is one continuous layer without any seams. These systems are self-flashing, meaning they don’t require any additional seals around vents or chimneys. It’s typically applied in one of two ways:

• Liquid. Many seamless roofing systems are applied as a liquid (silicone, acrylic, or urethane), often using reinforcing materials made from fiberglass to increase strength. The liquid is rolled or sprayed onto the roof surface and worked into all seams and gaps, then dries to a seamless and waterproof finish.

• Spray foam. Another approach is sprayed-on polyurethane foam, which expands into all voids and seams, sealing them off, then dries to form a sturdy, waterproof layer.

It’s important to note that these aren’t just the roof coatings you can buy at a hardware store that can help extend the life of your flat roof, which are applied like paint. While the application process can be superficially similar, they’re complex systems that need to be installed precisely in order to get a truly seamless and waterproof result.

When installed as new, many seamless roofing systems involve layers of reinforcing membrane that are sandwiched between liquid applications. But these roof systems can also be applied over an existing flat roof, if the roof is still in decent shape, including shingled roofs, metal roofs, or rubber roofs—as long as they’re low-slope or flat. Roofs with a lot of pitch can still have a seamless system applied, but the results are usually less than ideal, as these systems are designed for flat areas. Companies like Kemper System and Everseal have roofing systems that involve repairing and reinforcing an existing flat roof and then applying a monolithic coating that seals everything into a seamless installation, typically with a warranty between 20 and 50 years.

Benefits

Seamless roofing systems offer a lot of advantages over traditional roofs:

• Durability. As noted, warranties for seamless roof systems can be as long as 50 years, and typically last at least 20 years without the need for notable maintenance or repair. Seamless roofing systems are flexible—they expand and contract in the heat and cold along with your roof, which reduces the chances of cracking or other leaky damage.

• Energy efficiency. These roofing systems act as reflective barriers that keep your roof cool and protect the roofing deck from damaging solar radiation. This extends the life of the roof and also helps keep the house cooler, reducing energy costs.

• Costs. The low maintenance and long life of a seamless roofing system usually translates to a lower cost over time, since you won’t need to have roofers come by every few years to fix up leaks, or replace the roof every decade or so.

When you buy something, you can do what you like with it—within reason. When it comes to our property, we might assume that “within reason” generally covers anything that doesn’t impact someone else’s property or safety, so when you get the urge to go digging around in the dirt, it’s no one’s business but ours. But whether you’re establishing a garden, trying to remember where you buried the ransom money, or launching a spectacular landscaping project, you shouldn’t just run out there and start digging. And, legally, you can’t. The reasons you should think twice about digging on your own property go beyond your local laws and involve your health, your safety, and your insurance premiums.

It’s harder than you think

First of all, digging is very hard physical labor. Sure, TV shows make it seem like digging a 6x6 hole in the ground to hide bodies is something one person can accomplish in a few sweaty hours, but the truth is very different. Just like shoveling snow, digging is a workout; in fact, digging a hole in your yard can be even harder than shoveling snow because your yard is not just a big cube of uniform dirt. It’s laced with roots, rocks, and man-made infrastructure (more on that below), which means you’re likely to hit something more challenging than mere dirt. You should learn about proper digging technique while also making sure you hydrate, wear protective gear (e.g., gloves and a breathing mask), and protect yourself from direct sunlight while you work.

You probably need a permit

Laws vary from area to area, but chances are really high that you’ll need to get a permit before you dig—even if you’re digging on your own property. Most local governments require digging permits for the same reasons they require permits for a lot of other projects. The permitting process not only alerts the local authorities that you’re doing work with the potential to impact the rest of the community, it also triggers the inspection process that ensures you’ve done the work to the correct standard.

Utility lines

One of the main reasons you shouldn’t just go digging on your property, though, is because of buried utilities. Gas lines, water lines, and even electrical lines may crisscross under your property, and if you hit one with your spade, auger, or other tool, you could cause a lot of damage, disruption, and even injury.

Just about every area of the country legally requires you to “call before you dig,” usually by calling 811 (or using an online equivalent). The utility companies will send out an inspector who will mark the location of utility lines with different paint colors so you can avoid them when you actually commence your digging project.

Even if you think you can get away without checking on this, you shouldn’t. Many utility lines are just a few feet underground, which makes them very easy to hit accidentally. If you flood your neighborhood or cause a gas leak, you might be held liable for damages, and if you failed to call 811 before digging, your own insurance probably won’t cover the claim.

Other buried stuff

It’s not just utility lines you have to worry about, either. At least when you call 811 those lines get marked for you—there can be a lot of stuff under the ground on your property that you may or may not be aware of, like:

• Storage tanks

• Septic systems

• Irrigation or sprinkler systems

• Swimming pool pipes or wiring

• Old oil tanks

If you aren’t the original owner of the property, you may not be aware of old stuff like this, especially if the home was switched to community sewer or went from oil to gas heat at some point. You can try to do some research to find out what might be out there, but regardless, you should proceed with caution and never assume you’re just digging into dirt.

Another potential danger you might encounter when digging on your property is pet graves. Laws vary, but people often bury beloved pets on their property, but over time, grave markers can get washed away, leaving you to stumble on a gruesome surprise. Few people will disclose a pet cemetery on their property, so if you’re not the original owner, you should take the possibility into account before you break ground.

Shifting and subsidence

Finally, digging always carries a risk of ground shifting or subsidence. If you’re digging a hole that’s deep enough to stand in, you’re digging a hole that might collapse and entomb you. Again, the movies make digging deep holes look stable and straightforward, but the fact is you have no idea how the ground on your property will react to having a large portion of it removed.

Brick is some seriously durable stuff—clay bricks commonly endure for a century or longer, and there are plenty of examples of brick structures that are much older than that. If you have a brick home or a brick facade, you can expect decades of service without much worry.

But nothing lasts forever, and everything has a weakness. In the case of your brick walls, that weakness is the mortar—the cement-like “glue,” visible in the joints between the bricks, that keeps your bricks together. Mortar has a much shorter lifespan—20-30 years, on average—because it’s much more susceptible to weather, especially moisture. Over time, water seeps into the mortar and freezes, cracking the mortar with its expansion. Eventually, the mortar starts to fail, and allows moisture to penetrate behind the brick, leading to eventual failure of the entire system.

If you have a brick wall that is starting to look pretty janky, the good news is that the fix is probably pretty easy and inexpensive: You just need to repoint.

Repointing

When masons refer to “pointing,” they’re talking about the mortar laid between the bricks. “Repointing” is just what it sounds like: removing damaged mortar and putting in fresh mortar to replace it. The process is pretty straightforward, and can be a pretty easy DIY project if you’ve ever worked with masonry tools before.

1. Determine the type of mortar you need. Modern mortars use portland cement, resulting in an extremely hard cure. That’s fine for modern bricks, which are similarly hard. But older bricks are softer and require a softer mortar that “gives” a little. You can make a good guess using the age of your home—if it’s 50 years old or less, you can go with a standard modern mortar for your repointing project. If it’s older than that you might need to do some research or consult a real mason.

2. Scrape out the old mortar. Using a cold chisel, a grout saw, or a joint raker, remove a layer of the old mortar. You should remove about twice the width of the vertical brick joint, typically about half an inch. You don’t want to remove too much or you can undermine the structural integrity of the brick.

3. Push in fresh mortar. Now you refill the joints with fresh mortar and tool it until it’s tamped in well and fills all the voids. Finish the exposed face of the fresh mortar so it looks good.

That’s it—while it takes some patience and a little skill, it’s not a difficult job. Note that you might also hear the term “tuckpointing,” which is a similar process—in fact, the term is often used interchangeably with “repointing,” although they are slightly different. Tuckpointing involves using two mortars of different colors to achieve an aesthetic effect. If all you’re worried about is maintaining your brick, you probably don’t need to worry about tuckpointing.

When to repoint

Even though repointing is relatively easy and inexpensive, you still don’t want to go through the trouble unless you have to. Here are some basic ways to tell if your brick needs to be repointed:

• Age. If your brick is a few decades old, it very likely needs repointing—or an inspection, at the very least.

• Crumbling mortar. Look at the mortar joints. Have they eroded noticeably (more than a quarter inch)? Are they crumbling into a dry, sandy mess? They need to be scraped out and repointed.

• Cracks. If you can see noticeable cracking in the mortar and the brick, it indicates moisture penetration, so repairing the mortar is likely necessary.

• Gaps. Can you see spots where the mortar has totally separated from the brick? If so, it needs repairing.

If you’re uncertain, you can perform a quick test: Take a knife or similar tool and scrape the mortar joints. If you can easily remove some of the mortar, it needs repointing, even if it looks superficially okay.

Houseplants spark joy. They add a splash of life and color to any indoor space, and if properly chosen and cared for, they can thrive just about anywhere. Anyone who’s ever started an indoor garden knows that tending to houseplants can quickly become a way of life, if not an addiction. Caring for living things is meditative and therapeutic, and the design aspect they bring to your living space drives you to keep growing your plant collection.

There are a lot of apps and gadgets that can help you care for your plants, but eventually, you’ll probably want to go full mad scientist and make your own plant babies. Propagating plants is not only cost-effective, it’s also a lot of fun—and will help you steps up your indoor gardening game significantly. While it might seem intimidating at first, growing new plants from cuttings, buds, or roots is a lot easier than you think, especially if you choose the right plants to work with. Here are 15 of the easiest houseplants to propagate.

Identity theft is a real threat worth worrying about. Not only is someone stealing from you and committing fraud in your name, but the negative impacts of identity theft can take months or even years to recover from.

Worst of all is the sense of helplessness: Not only are most “identity theft protection” services kind of useless, the very nature of the crime means you likely won’t be aware that you’ve been compromised until it starts affecting your finances and reputation—at which point quick action is necessary, including contacting a seemingly endless list of businesses, financial institutions, credit bureaus, and government agencies.

While you can't always prevent identity theft, you can look for the earliest and most subtle signs that it might be happening to you. Sometimes the first ripples can seem like one-off oddities or simple mistakes you can just ignore—but acting promptly when confronted with these subtle signs of identity theft can go a long way towards limiting the damage you’ll suffer.

Unrecognized 2FA logins

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a powerful security tool, and you’re likely pretty used to having to type in a code you received via email, authenticator app, or text when you access your online accounts. So used to it, in fact, that you might be tempted to ignore a stray 2FA notice, especially if it’s from a service or business you don’t actually use.

The opposite is true: If you start seeing 2FA alerts that you didn’t initiate, it could be a sign that someone is at least partway through the process of stealing your identity. They may have most of the information they need to access your accounts, or they may have taken over some but not others, or simply made a mistake. If you see a 2FA you don’t recognize, check in on your online accounts, change your passwords, and check your credit reports.

Weirdness with your streaming accounts

If you launch Spotify and some strange music that’s 100% not in your wheelhouse starts playing, or if weird shows and films starts showing up in your Netflix queue, it could be a sign that someone is at chipping away at your identity. A hijacked Spotify account doesn’t necessarily mean a criminal has completely stolen your life, but it could be an early warning sign that someone is at least trying to do so, and that at least one of your passwords has been compromised.

Test charges on your credit cards

Similar to unexpected 2FA alerts, unrecognized test charges on your credit cards are a warning sign. Companies sometimes place a tiny charge on your card when you first sign up for a service—often just a penny—to test that you’ve given them a real form of payment; they then quickly refund the charge. If you don’t check your accounts regularly, you might even miss a test charge, because it probably never actually posts to your account. Alternatively, some fraudsters often apply small test charges to accounts to ensure they’re active.

In either case, test charges for accounts you’re unfamiliar with are often a sign that someone has your identity in hand and is setting up a whole separate financial identity, and they should be investigated immediately.

Credit score fluctuations

Do you check your credit score and credit reports regularly? You really ought to. Not only will it give you a general idea of your overall financial health, these tools serve as early warning signs that you’ve been compromised. Checking your credit reports will show the obvious signs, like lines of credit that you never applied for and don’t control that are nonetheless listed under your name.

But your credit score can be an even better tool, because it’s easier to track. Your credit score will naturally fluctuate a little over time, but dramatic changes are often a sign that a third party is monkeying with your credit. Even if your credit score temporarily goes up, it could be a sign that someone is opening new lines of credit, because they’re unintentionally improving your debt ratio—which makes your score jump. Then, of course, they tank your credit score when they max out those credit lines and fail to make payments.

Weird junk mail

If you have started to receive advertisements for stuff that’s far from your usual interests—or way out of your financial league—be wary. If folks are spending money you don’t have in your name, you can land on purchased mailing lists that send out all that glorious junk mail. If you’re suddenly being asked about your recent interest in luxury furniture, it’s time to do a little investigating.

The other sign someone’s playing fast and loose with your identity, oddly, is receiving mail in someone else’s name. If you start getting mail with your address but someone else’s name, it could be a sign of what’s known as “synthetic identity theft.” This is when thieves mix your personal data with other pieces of information (some real, some invented) to create a wholly artificial identity. This can still be a huge problem for you, so it’s a good idea to review those credit reports.

Missing bank and credit card statements

Another way your mail can warn you that you’re the victim of identity theft? A lack of mail (and email). If you suddenly stop receiving statements, bills, and other correspondence from your banks or credit card issuers, it could be because someone has taken over the accounts and switched all your mailing info to hide it from you.

If you realize you haven’t seen a statement or bill in the physical mail or your email inbox in a while, take the following steps:

• Log into your account. Make sure you still have access. If you do, change your passwords and add any security layers you can, like 2FA.

• Review payments and charges. See if you’ve missed any payments or if there are any charges you don’t recognize. If so, notify the business’ fraud department.

• Check the address. See if your mail address and email preferences are correct. If so, the glitch might be with the post office. Also check that you’re supposed to get paper statements—this might have been switched to digital statements. If the address on file is not your address, assume your identity has been stolen and take all the steps.

Credit card problems

One of the most subtle signs of identity theft is the sudden onset of problems using your credit cards. If you get unexpected denials when trying to buy things with your cards, it may be because your bank or financial institution has placed a hold on them. If the card starts working again some time later, that doesn’t necessarily mean it was just a random glitch—you should contact the card issuer and get to the bottom of the problem. Your card could be physically damaged, or it could just be a weird coincidence—but why take the chance?

Tax issues

Identity theft usually conjured up an image of criminals running up big credit card bills or taking out huge loans in your name, but one common strategy no one thinks about is tax fraud: Criminals steal your identity and actually file your taxes, claiming a much higher income in order to get a plump refund. Some signs this is happening include:

• Rejected filing. If you try to file your taxes and the IRS tells you that you’ve already filed, take action immediately.

• Unexpected refund. You got a refund check in the mail and you didn’t even file your taxes yet? Don’t assume it’s just the federal government being weirdly efficient for once. It may be the result of identity chicanery.

• Any unexpected records from the IRS. Fraudsters sometimes mess up when trying to steal your tax identity, and the IRS suddenly sends you information you “requested,” like tax transcripts. If you get something like that in the mail you didn’t ask for, contact the IRS immediately.

When you think of farming or gardening for food, you think of the great outdoors. If you want to squeeze a fresh orange or lemon in the morning, you’ll need a certain amount of outdoor space for those trees, after all.

Except sometimes you don’t. In addition to the houseplants you're familiar with (and the more unusual plants, like wasabi, that you probably aren't) a wide variety of fruit trees also grow well inside. This means you can combine the decorative beauty of indoor plants with the practical benefit of being able to reach over from wherever you’re sitting and grab a delicious, healthy snack.

There are two things to keep in mind if this sounds like your next indoor gardening project: One, in almost every case you should be looking for the “dwarf” varieties of the fruits plants you’re targeting, as they don’t require the space their full-size cousins need. Two, buying a mature tree and transplanting it to your home will always increase your odds of actually getting viable fruit. Planting from seed can work, but it will usually take longer to produce less.

That all said, here are your best choices when it comes to growing fruit trees inside—but be aware that, as with all plants, some varieties may be toxic to your pets, so make sure to consider that before getting started.

Fig Tree

The ficus carica “Petite Negra” fig tree will start producing fruit relatively quickly (usually when it’s still less than a foot tall). As a dwarf plant, it only gets to about 4-6 feet tall at most (the size of the pot you put it in will determine how large it eventually grows), and the figs it produces will be a rich purple color, and delicious. It’s an easy plant to care for, as it’s naturally pest-resistant and drought-tolerant, so forgetting to water it for a few days won’t kill it. An alternative variant is the “Brown Turkey” fig tree, though you may have to aggressively prune to keep it from taking over your space. Misting either variety regularly is a good idea, as figs typically thrive in humid climates.

Citrus (lemons, limes, oranges)

Dwarf versions of most citrus plants will grow well indoors—the challenge isn’t getting them to grow, but rather to produce fruit. You’ll have your best luck with calamondin oranges (citrofortunella mitis), Meyer lemons, and Key Limes, all dwarf varieties that tolerate the indoors really well. Keep in mind that while calamondin oranges grow best indoors, they’re not particularly sweet fruits—though they can be used in a wide variety of recipes. Citrus in general like humid conditions, so mist them regularly unless you want to turn your house into a moldy jungle. They also need a lot of sunlight, so position their pots someplace where they’ll get exposure all day long.

Apricots

Dwarf Moorpark apricots are easy to grow indoors. Like a lot of “pit” or “stone” fruit trees, you can grow one from the pit, but if you do, you can expect to wait a few years to get actual fruit from it. A better idea is to buy a young tree and simply transplant it to a pot. Moorparks need to be pruned regularly or they will get too big—but even when pruned, they will reach about six feet in height, so make sure you have the room before you commit. Keep the soil damp and make sure it gets a lot of sunlight; a tree that’s two years or older should begin fruiting within the first year.

Bananas

Be careful when selecting a banana tree variety, as many will grow well indoors, but not all of them produce fruit you can eat. If a sweet snack is your endgame, choose the dwarf Cavendish variety. These banana trees are easy to grow and will produce bananas within a year or two if grown from seed, and buying a mature plant will skip that part. Banana trees like a lot of water—like, a lot—so you need to water regularly and thoroughly. But you also need to let the soil dry out between waterings, so don’t overdo it. They also like a bit of misting since they’re tropical plants, and you’ll want to place your tree in a spot that gets a lot of sun.

Mulberries

Dwarf Mulberry trees can be “trained” to be more like bushes or hedges, making them a good choice for indoor growing. Look for dwarf varieties; the Everbearing Mulberry and the Issai Mulberry are good choices that won’t get too large. Both require aggressive pruning, however—left to its own devices, for example, the Everbearing variety can grow to be 15 feet tall. Make sure they get a lot of sun, and water them regularly at first. When they’re established, you can slack off on the watering and they won’t mind a bit.

Coffee

Yes, coffee is a fruit—the beans we roast and grind to make our life-saving Go Go Juice is the stone of the coffee cherry, actually. And you can grow coffee indoors and even make coffee from it—assuming you are able to go through the process of skinning, soaking, drying, roasting, and grinding your beans once harvested (there’s a reason most people just stumble to the local coffee shop or Keurig machine). The coffea arabica plant is easy to grow (just avoid direct sunlight, which can burn the leaves) and will produce fruit within the first year, along with pretty white flowers and a beautiful fragrance.

Kumquat

Kumquats are citrus plants, but they’re generally easier to grow than lemons or oranges, and several varieties are more or less designed for container living. If you want a kumquat similar to what you find in the grocery store, grow a “Nagami” variant, which will give you small, olive-sized fruits. If you want larger fruit, choose a “Meiwa” variety. But you won’t go far wrong with any kumquat tree—when grown in a container they won’t get too large, and all they need is a lot of sunlight and moderate watering.

Ground cherries

These are sometimes called Cape Gooseberries, and they aren’t at all like the standard cherries you think of when you hear the name—they’re more closely related to peppers. The taste is actually kind of hard to describe; it's not bad at all, but...unique. Ground cherries actually do well when started from seeds, for a change: Give them full sunlight and moderate watering and you’ll soon have a large-leafed plant that will gift you plenty of delicious fruit. These plants are annuals, so you’ll need to replant every year if you want more.

Miracle berry

If you want an indoor fruit tree that doubles as a party trick, grow synsepalum dulcificum, aka Miracle Berries. The party trick is that after you eat some Miracle Berries, anything you eat afterward will taste sweet, no matter how sour or bitter the food actually is. The effects last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, so be careful, as mistiming your snack could ruin your next meal. They grow easily indoors; all they need is lots of indirect sunlight and plenty of misting, as they thrive in humidity. If your plant looks a bit wan, you can wrap it in clear plastic for a bit to raise its humidity levels.

Avocados

Avocados will sprout from their pits if you follow the famous “toothpick in a glass” technique, but there’s a caveat: Avocado plants grown from pits will almost never fruit. In other words, you’ll get a nice, healthy plant, but you will die of old age before it gives you a single avocado. Your best bet is to get a starter plant. The “Day” variety is the easiest type of avocado to fruit in a pot, so look for one of those in your local nursery or garden section. It still may take some time before you get an avocado or two, but it will happen a lot faster than never, which is how long it will likely take if you start from the pit.

Though you probably don't think about yours often, a chimney is a vital part of keeping your home safe and healthy to live in. A house produces a lot of dangerous stuff, from fireplace smoke to exhaust from gas appliances, and the chimney is how they leave the building (and your breathable airspace). A failing chimney isn’t just an eyesore, it’s a danger to your health—every year more than 400 people die from carbon monoxide poisoning, and many of those deaths are attributable to a chimney in need of repair.

That makes chimney maintenance an absolute priority, including periodic inspections and seasonal preparation. But even if you do everything right, there’s a good chance your chimney will eventually fail—and knowing the warning signs could possibly save your life. Here are the signs that your chimney needs attention.

Bad smells

Your chimney is where a lot of the bad gases produced by your house are supposed to go. They rise up and out, so you aren't bothered with bad odors or smothered you in your sleep. If you have a wood-burning fireplace, a smokey smell is pretty normal (and kind of nice), but if you’re smelling smoke all the time, or if you smell sulfur or a more “chemical” smell like burning plastic, your chimney might be blocked or your liner might be cracked. That means dangerous gases and fumes are leaking into the house, and your chimney needs attention.

A more subtle sign that your chimney might need repair or maintenance comes when you dry your clothes. Your dryer should be vented separately from your chimney because of the danger of lint buildup and fires, but if that vent is located close to your chimney and your house fills with the damp scent of dryer sheets every time you dry your clothes, it might indicate a cracked flue or liner that is allowing those fumes to infiltrate back into the house.

Moisture

Your chimney is obviously located on your roof, and is open to the elements to some extent. It should have a cap on top that keeps rain from pouring down into your home, so any signs of water infiltration around the area is a sign that your chimney is in trouble. There are a few ways this can manifest:

• Peeling wallpaper: If wallpaper in an area below your chimney starts to peel away from the wall, it might indicate that your chimney isn’t venting properly and moisture is getting trapped in your walls. This can be a lot more subtle than a full-on water leak but can still damage your walls, cause mold—and absolutely indicates your chimney needs an inspection pronto.

• Water stains or leaks: If you see water stains or leaks below your chimney, the problem could be as simple as repairing the flashing on your roof, or it could mean that your chimney is cooked and is letting water penetrate. Getting a professional roofer to inspect the area is your best bet.

• White staining on chimney masonry: If you look at your chimney’s exterior and see what staining, it’s probably efflorescence, which is a deposit left behind when moisture evaporates. Efflorescence by itself is pretty harmless, but it usually indicates a problem with your chimney’s seal—water is seeping into the brick. This needs to be addressed before the water seepage does real damage.

Crumbling masonry

Another sign that your chimney is going to betray you—or already has—is its physical integrity. If you take a look at your chimney and can see any of the following signs, you should schedule an inspection immediately:

• Spalling. Spalling bricks are never a good sign. Spalling occurs when moisture is getting into the chimney bricks, freezes, and expands. Large sections of the brick then turn to dust and crumble away, leaving behind visible damage.

• Shaling. If your chimney has a clay flue liner, one sign of a serious problem is finding thin slices of the liner in your fireplace or anywhere around the chimney base. This indicates that the liner is cracked and deteriorating, so it’s no longer doing its job to protect your chimney and may be leaking fumes into the house.

• Mortar damage. If the mortar—the cement-like stuff between the bricks—on your chimney is missing or crumbling, the structure of your chimney has been compromised and it needs immediate repair and possible replacement.

Rust

Another clear sign of chimney problems is rust anywhere in your fireplace, especially the damper (the mechanism that opens and closes the chimney to your fireplace). Rusted components indicate that moisture is getting in where it shouldn’t, which means some aspect of your chimney has been compromised. It might be that it needs a new cap, or it might mean the masonry is leaking and needs to be repaired and sealed. Whatever the cause, it’s time to call for an inspection.

Animals

If you’ve ever had an adventure with an animal getting into your fireplace or inside your walls—a squirrel, raccoon, or possum, for example—you might be tempted to write it off as a one-time incident. But you should stop and ask yourself how the critter got in there in the first place. If the animal was discovered inside the chimney, or if there’s no other possible entry point that you can identify, then your chimney’s cap may be damaged or missing, or the structure of the chimney may have degraded to the point where your animal friends can find their way inside. Either way, it’s a serious problem and your chimney needs some serious attention.

Every mattress has a useful lifespan, and if you’ve ever kept an old mattress around for too long, you know the consequences: an aching back, sleepless nights, and an overall grungy feeling. A fresh memory foam mattress is a life-changing experience, but it leaves you with a fresh problem, too: What to do with your old mattress?

Just throwing away memory foam so it can sit in a landfill forever is a terrible idea—especially because that old foam still has a lot of use left in it even if it’s no longer up to the task of being a mattress. You can donate or recycle your old mattresses, of course—but if you’ve got an old mattress or topper that you’re replacing, there are a lot of ways to upcycle it, even if you’re not particularly crafty and have zero sewing skills. All you really need is a serrated knife of some sort (a bread knife will do the trick, or you can pick up an insulation knife). If you’re feeling fancy, an electric knife or a hot knife will make the work very easy.

Once you’ve got your tool, it’s time to get creative. Here are some easy ways to upcycle your memory foam mattress.

Pet bed

One of the easiest ways to upcycle old memory foam is to turn that old mattress into pet beds. This doesn’t have to involve major sewing skills—just cut your foam into an appropriate size for your pet and cover with a small fitted sheet, large pillow case, old sofa cushion cover, or any other material you have on hand. You can also shred your foam into small pieces by hand to stuff inside your covering material if you’d rather not take the time to measure and cut.

Freshen cushions

If you have old throw pillows, couch cushions, outdoor pillows, or other cushion-y things that have seen better days, your old memory foam mattress will make them feel like new. The old mattress might not have the support you need for a good night’s sleep, but it almost certainly has enough support left in it to make your old cushions feel like plump, brand-new replacements. All you need to do is cut the old foam to size, yank out the old stuffing, and push it into place. As with the pet bed, shredding your memory foam might make it easier to stuff inside.

Headboard

If you have some plywood, spray adhesive, extra fabric, and a staple gun, you can create a cool custom headboard for your bed. Just cut the foam and plywood to your desired shape and size, glue the foam to the plywood, cover with your fabric, pull tight, and staple in place. Then just mount your new headboard to the wall behind your bed and enjoy a slightly fancier bedtime.

Camping pad

If you like to head out to the wilderness and camp out, sleeping in a tent with a sleeping bag (or drive out in your camper), you know that one of the biggest drawbacks of the outdoor lifestyle is the ground: It’s just not meant to be slept on comfortably. Cutting your old foam mattress into camping pads that slide under your sleeping bag will make an enormous difference in your comfort when you’re out enjoying nature. Your new camping pad can be rolled up inside your sleeping bags, too, making them super easy to transport and deploy.

Garden kneelers

If you love to garden, your knees are probably suffering. You can buy garden kneelers, sure, but why spend the money when your old memory foam mattress can be fashioned into garden kneelers with just a few minutes work? The old foam might not be up to the task of keeping you comfortable all night, but it can definitely give your knees some respite and make your gardening—or any chore or DIY project) that requires a lot of kneeling a little more pleasant.

Packing materials

If you need to ship or store some delicate stuff—holiday ornaments, unused glassware, or your grandmother’s china, for example—you can cut your old memory foam mattress into strips to protect it all. Cut a section to go in the bottom of a box, place your delicates on it, then layer another section of foam over them. Repeat until the box is full—and now your fragile treasures will survive just about anything short of a tornado or earthquake—even the United States Postal Service.

Travel seat cushion

Travel is educational, healing, and a lot of fun—but sitting in cars, buses, vans, planes, and trains for hours on end isn’t. Sitting for long periods can cause back pain, neck pain, and circulation problems, You can turn your old memory foam into a neck pillow, and some memory foam inside a pillow case makes an excellent low-effort seat cushion for long flights or car trips. After thirteen hours in basic economy right next to the bathroom, you’ll be glad you didn’t throw your old mattress away.

Memory foam is some amazing stuff, and has a plethora of uses. If your old mattress is done for, a little time and creativity can give it a useful second life.

When you buy something, you expect to have complete ownership over that object. If you buy a book at a bookstore, you can read it, tear the pages out and make paper airplanes with it, or use it to balance a wobbly table—and no one can stop you. If you buy a house with some property around it you expect to be able to do what you like with the walls of your home (within legal boundaries, of course)—but if your home is attached to someone else’s house (a condo or rowhouse situation), things can get a little complicated because some of the walls you just bought might be party walls.

A “party wall” isn’t a festive barrier designed for fun, but rather a wall that’s owned by two parties—you and your neighbor. As with any property owned by more than one person, things can get weird fast if you have a disagreement about how to use that property. That’s why you should consider negotiating a Party Wall Agreement (PWA) with your neighbor.

What's a Party Wall Agreement?

A Party Wall Agreement is pretty much what it sounds like: It defines how your shared wall can be used and the shared responsibilities of the mutual owners. Why do you need one? A PWA can cover a wide range of potential scenarios between you and your neighbor:

• Access to the other side of the wall (known as an easement) for necessary repairs and maintenance to the wall or other areas of your property that can only be accessed via the wall

• Allowed use of the wall (in case your neighbor wants to use your bedroom wall as a handball court)

• Defining required maintenance each owner must perform

• Defining what happens if one owner damages the party wall in some way

• How renovations that might remove, move, or otherwise transform the shared wall will be handled or negotiated

• Defining what happens if one owner fails to observe the agreement—for example, a PWA can limit monetary damages, or require arbitration instead of litigation

Once you think about it, the need for a formal agreement becomes obvious. And working one out before there are any conflicts or disagreements is a very good idea. Another benefit to having a formal agreement covering the party wall is that these agreements are filed with your local county clerk or other land-use office, so potential buyers can be reassured that there will be no nasty surprises if they buy your home (generally, these agreements remain in effect with future owners until both parties adjust or dissolve the agreement).

If you live in a home governed by a homeowners association (HOA) or other entity, it’s likely that Party Wall Agreements are baked into the HOA rules, so it’s worth investigating before deciding to try and work out your own.

Creating the agreement

If you have a shared wall, it’s a pretty simple process to create a PWA:

1. Discuss. Talk to your neighbor and work out the broad outlines of what the agreement should say. You can’t unilaterally impose a Party Wall Agreement, so you’re going to need your neighbor’s participation.

2. Create the agreement. It’s best to engage a real estate attorney with knowledge of your local laws to create the agreement, but you can find free agreements you can modify and download online. If you use a downloaded form, however, it’s still a good idea to have a lawyer review it.

3. File it. Once you and your neighbor have agreed on the terms and signed the agreement, it needs to be filed with the proper office. This will vary from municipality to municipality, but most often this will be done at the county clerk’s office, where it will be associated with the deed for the two properties.

Owning a home can be quite a learning experience. All kinds of things you never had to know about during your carefree days of paying rent suddenly become crucial knowledge, like what a roof system is, or how to identify lead pipes. Another fun term you might have to learn, especially if you have nightmarish neighbors? Something called “external obsolescence.”

External obsolescence is when the value of your property is negatively impacted by someone else’s property—like a dramatically overgrown or junky yard, or obvious damage to the roof or exterior of the home. As irritating as a slowly collapsing house is visually, it can also lower your home’s value by 5 to 10%, which can be a huge amount of money.

Worse, if your neighbor is ignoring any aspect of their home’s upkeep, it could even damage your property—a tree that should have been trimmed or removed falling on your roof, for example. You could easily lose sleep over the potential impact of a neighbor’s neglected home, but there’s one obvious problem: It’s not your property, so what can you do about it?

Gather info

Your first step in any dispute with your neighbors is to talk to your neighbors. It’s easy to imagine that someone who’s letting their house fall apart around them is doing it out of some weird malice towards you specifically—or perhaps the human race more generally—but you don’t actually know why your neighbor has decided to allow an advanced civilization of mosquitoes to breed in their green, sludgy, neglected pool, or why they’re not worried that their obviously dilapidated chimney is about to crash down on your roof. So your first step is to check in and politely ask. It’s possible that your neighbor is suffering health or financial difficulties that prevent them from doing the required maintenance, or perhaps weren’t aware of its impact on you.

If your neighbor isn’t forthcoming, or you conclude that they are unwilling to improve the situation for some reason, your next step is to research your local laws. If your neighborhood has a Homeowners Association (HOA) or other governing organization, check the bylaws to see if your neighbor is in violation. If there’s no HOA, check local laws to see if your neighbor is breaking any—for example, some areas may require a perimeter fence, so a neighbor who has allowed their fence to collapse into a rotting mess would be in violation of the law.

Finally, document any deferred maintenance that threatens your property—take photos and make notes. Hopefully, you won’t need this material, but if you wind up having to sue or make a formal complaint it will be invaluable.

Offer to help

If your neighbor is unable to make repairs or maintain their property due to physical, financial, or other limitations, you could offer to assist. You could try to rally everyone else in the neighborhood to tackle some repairs or landscaping, for example, or you could work out an arrangement with your neighbor wherein they let you perform or pay for some repairs—which might be worth it to you if it keeps your property values higher, or prevents damage to your home.

You should make any offers of assistance in writing, keep all correspondence between you and your neighbor, and make notes of any in-person discussions, however—if you wind up having to make a formal complaint or file a lawsuit, these records will be vital.

Contact authorities

If you can’t resolve the situation by being helpful or via social pressure, use the information you gathered. Start by informing your neighbor (in writing) that if they don’t resolve the problems promptly, you’ll be making a complaint to the HOA or the city—give them a clear deadline, and then follow through. An HOA will fine them, and may even have the maintenance done and then assess the costs from your neighbor. Local governments can also force your neighbor to make repairs under certain circumstances and your neighbor could be fined if they don’t comply.

Again: Know your neighbor’s deal before you potentially ruin their lives by raining down official complaints.

Legal action

If all else fails, you may have to sue your neighbor. If you’ve suffered actual damage to your property as a result of your neighbor’s lack of maintenance you can sue them in small claims court to recover the cost of the repairs.

Keep in mind that to be successful in your suit you will probably need to demonstrate that you attempted to resolve the situation amicably. That’s where all your record-keeping of your attempts to discuss the problem with your neighbor will come into play.

If you haven’t suffered actual damage to your property, you can still sue your neighbor under nuisance laws. There are two kinds of legal nuisance: Private nuisance prevents you from enjoying your property—a neighbor who throws loud parties every night and prevents you from sleeping, for example—and public nuisance, in which a group of people are affected (e.g., you and your other neighbors). You probably won’t get damages for winning a nuisance case—rather, a court might issue an injunction ordering your neighbor to resolve the problem. But to win a nuisance case you need more than just an eyesore of a house or difficult-to-prove claims of lower property values. You will usually have to demonstrate a threat to your safety or health—a dead tree that could potentially smash into your house if it falls during a storm, for example, or the aforementioned mosquito farm.

As the cost of water, power, and internet services rise, it's understandable to want to find a way to get them for less, or even free—but that doesn't mean you have to excuse a neighbor or other nefarious individual leeching off of your utilities to their benefit.

The most challenging aspect of utilities theft is how easy it is to not even notice that it’s happening, as most of us have only a fuzzy idea of how much utilities cost in the first place, let alone what our normal usage looks like. Whether you have reason to suspect you're funding someone else's lifestyle or not, here's how to tell if someone is stealing your utilities.

Check your billing history

The easiest and most obvious sign that someone is stealing any utility is a sudden, inexplicable spike in your bill. If your behavior hasn’t changed and your power or water bill is suddenly much higher than usual, you either have a problem with the infrastructure (such as a leaking pipe) or an unscrupulous neighbor tapping into your supply. Always pay close attention to your bills, especially if you have automatic payments set up.

While water and power spikes show up as increased volume, internet bills won’t be very useful in detecting a freeloader unless they’re sucking up so much data that you blow past your Internet Service Provider’s (ISP) data cap.

Otherwise, look for these signs, specific to each resource:

How to tell if someone is stealing your electricity

Electricity is actually pretty easy to steal—it’s estimated that close to $100 billion worth of electricity theft occurs worldwide every year. If you see a spike in your electricity bill that you can’t explain based on your own usage (for example, you haven’t started a crypto mining operation in your basement), inspect your home for some obvious signs of power theft:

• Exterior outlets. The simplest, dumbest way people can steal your power is to just plug an extension cord into an exterior outlet and run it to their home.

• Splices. Take a look at the spot where the power runs from the street into your home. Any odd-looking splices, clamps, or amateurish wiring is a potential sign of theft, especially if that janky connection then runs into a neighbor’s home. Don’t touch anything during your inspection, as electricity can 100% kill you. If you see something that looks off, call your utility provider.

• Check your meter. A final check you can safely perform yourself is to go to your meter and turn off all the circuit breakers. Then watch the meter—if it continues to go up, something is still pulling power from your connection.

If someone’s using your exterior outlets, consider installing a locking outlet cover to stop it, or figure out which circuit breaker controls those outlets and cut the power until you need it yourself. For any other suspected power theft, call your utility—and consider notifying the police as well, as documenting the problem will help you dispute any overbilling.

How to tell if someone is stealing your water

You don't think much about the miracle of having potable water piped into your home...until your bill is suddenly twice as much as it was last month—or you come home from vacation to find your neighbors have filled their pool and your water bill has mysteriously tripled.

Even if the theft is less dramatic, there are a few hints to look for to spot water theft:

• Low pressure. If your formerly robust water pressure suddenly becomes anemic, you should have a plumbing professional check your pipes. If they can’t find any cause, it’s time to get suspicious.

• Unexplained digging. Have you noticed mysterious signs of digging on your property? It’s time to investigate those spots and see if someone has tied into a water line.

• Sprinklers and hoses. If you have a sprinkler system or an outdoor hose spigot, take a close look to see if someone has patched into the hose or the sprinkler line.

As with electricity, the easiest way to steal someone’s water is to hook up a hose to an outdoor spigot. Turning off the outdoor water supply unless you’re actively using it and/or installing a spigot lock can help defend against those tactics. For more sophisticated thefts, call your utility.

How to tell if someone is stealing your internet

The Federal Communications Commission recently reclassified internet service as a public utility (again), which makes sense: These days you can’t function well in society without a usable internet connection. Of course, your wifi network is just, you know, out there, in the air, and that means people can glom onto your signal and steal the internet you’re paying for.

There are some signs to look for that can hint that someone is stealing your connection:

• Slow speeds. You know the internet speeds you’re paying for. If there’s been a recent, noticeable drop in speeds (lots of buffering, stuttering video, or lag), confirm this with a speed test, then contact your provider. If there’s nothing wrong on their end, it could be your router or modem—or it could be a thief soaking up your bandwidth.

• Exceeded data cap. If your ISP has a data cap on your account and you receive a notice that you’ve exceeded it for the first time ever, this could be a sign that someone is leeching off your connection. Change your wifi password (or set one up) to keep them off your network.

• Unknown devices on your network. You can see all the devices connected to your WiFi network either by logging into your router’s administration panel or by using an app like Fing or WiFi Guard. First, count up all the devices that you use—computers, phones, laptops, tablets, smart devices—and match them to the list on your router. If you find any that you don’t recognize, boot them off—and change your password, pronto.

How to tell if someone is stealing your streaming services

A related form of theft involves your streaming services. While this is getting harder to do as the age of password sharing ends, it’s still possible—especially if the thief has infiltrated your wifi and is watching your streamers on your network. There are a few subtle signs that this might be happening:

• The algorithm. If you start seeing unfamiliar titles under “continue watching” or your recommended titles list starts to include stuff you’d never watch in a million years, it’s time to check the account.

• Unknown profiles. It’s easy to get into the habit of blowing through the “who’s watching” page on your streaming service, but it’s a good practice to track the profiles you see. If there are any you don’t remember creating, it’s time to investigate.

• Bill changes. If you have your streamer set to autopay, you might not even notice if someone has gone in and upgraded your account in order to allow multiple profiles or to eliminate advertising on your dime.

If you find someone piggybacking on your hard-earned streaming money, you’ll obviously need to log out of all devices, change your password, delete those profiles, and then log back in everywhere.

When it comes to home upgrades there are always a lot of obvious targets—whether you’re looking for affordable changes with a big impact, DIY renos that don’t require a lifetime of construction experience, or energy-smart changes that will save you money (and, possibly, the world). But there are some home upgrades that aren’t commonly thought of, that can nonethless have a huge impact on your enjoyment of your property.

Flapperless toilets

Your standard toilet—no matter how fancy—most likely uses a flapper-style mechanism. If you look inside the tank, you’ll see a chain running from the handle to a rubber or plastic disc-shaped flap that covers the egress valve. When you push the handle, the chain lifts the flapper, and water rushes into the bowl, initiating the flush. The flapper is one of the most common points of failure in a toilet—they get old and crack or warp and your toilet starts to leak and run all the time.

A flapperless toilet is exactly what it sounds like: It doesn’t use a flapper. Instead, it has a container in the tank that’s filled with water. When you push the handle, the container tips and starts the flushing process, then refills. It’s quieter. uses less water, and eliminates the failure-prone flapper from your life.

Tandem showerheads

Whether you’re a couple who always finds showering together much more romantic—and comfortable—in your head than in reality or you just want the luxury of multiple showerheads without the major plumbing project, a tandem shower head attachment will instantly upgrade your shower from blah to spa. You can find these in different configurations and different styles to match your design preferences, but the end result is the sort of shower you find yourself wanting to live in.

Tandem Shower by Boona

$249.00 at Amazon

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Shop Now

$249.00 at Amazon

Under-bed nightlights

Nightlights are nothing new, and these days you can get some fancy (and cheap!) motion-activated ones that make stubbed toes and that uncanny sense you’re being followed to the bathroom a thing of the past. But here’s what you’re missing: a motion-activated night light under the bed. Not only will this mark the end of barking shins as you creep into bed hours after your partner, it also means that if you wake up in the middle of the night for a bathroom break or glass of water you won’t have to fumble in the dark until you make it to your first nightlight. Also, again: monsters. Why not ensure none are under there without even having to look? It’s just common sense.

TV backlights

If you’ve never installed a backlight behind your TV or computer monitor, your life is about to change. Screen backlights reduce eyestrain and improve picture quality—and just looks cool. Plus, they’re pretty cheap and easy to install, although you can get fancy and choose a system that actually syncs up the colors with whatever’s on your screen at the moment for a truly spectacular effect. As more and more of us prefer watching movies at home instead of in loud, uncomfortable theaters surrounded by sociopaths and influencers, a subtle upgrade like this pays off big time.

Power Practical LED Strip Lights Backlight

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Get Deal

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Soft-close toilet seats

Sure, everyone likes soft-close cabinetry—it’s easy and cheap and eliminates noise from your life. But why stop there? There’s another room where every interaction is punctuated by a loud, startling, soul-shattering banging noise: the bathroom. At least, in my house that was the case, because my wife would slam that seat down with a vengeance every time she went in there.

That’s why a soft-close toilet seat is so great. It does exactly the same job, is just as easy to install, and looks just like any other toilet seat—it’s just quieter, providing you with a more peaceful home life.

Hidden storm door closer

If you have a storm door on your home (and you definitely should), you know the torture of the pneumatic door closer. Calibrating those things is tricky, and you’ll spend a few weeks or months getting spanked by your storm door as the closer seems to randomly decide when to transition from a slow, graceful closing to a SUDDEN AND ALARMING speed.

The worst part is how ugly they are. That’s where a hidden door closer comes in. You can buy a storm door model with one built in (like this one from Larson), or you can add one that sits above the door (and thus can be added to most existing doors) like this one. Either way, you’ve just made your life a little nicer.

Double drawer dishwasher

At first thought, having two dishwashers or a double-drawer dishwasher like this one might seem unnecessary. But the upgrade here is efficiency, because you can load one drawer as you use dishes at all times, then extract clean dishes from the other as you need them. And if you frequently have small loads because you’re living alone or just don’t use a lot of dishes, you can run just one drawer without feeling like a monster.

Hidden kitchen step stool

Step stools are often a necessity in your kitchen, because for some reason wall cabinets are often completely unreachable by normal-sized humans. If that’s you and you have room in your cabinet layout for a pull-out spice rack (like this), then you also have room for a hidden step stool like this or this. Now you can reach everything up high without having to find a place to keep a clunky step stool. plus, it’s like a magic trick when you pull it out in front of guests.

Everything is more expensive these days, but the rising cost of electricity is especially irritating because it’s so fundamental to modern life. When energy costs spike it can feel like just existing has become too expensive, and when you have to pause to calculate the cost of basic necessities, life can feel kind of exhausting.

The kitchen is a prime suspect when it comes to your rising electricity bill; it costs between $391 and $1,777 annually to run your kitchen, depending on where you live—and about 75% of appliance energy use happens when they’re turned off, so you can try to reduce your electricity usage by unplugging them when they’re not in use. But if you want to reduce that bill even further, you can take the extra step and get rid of some of the most common electric appliances altogether, replacing them with hand-powered alternatives (or, in some cases, foot-powered).

Your own hands

Dishwashers are much better than hand-washing dishes in just about every way, especially if you choose one with a solid energy rating—but if you’re looking to save money on your utilities, hand-washing your dishes in cold water will save you about $45 a year. Is that a lot? Not by itself—but if it’s part of an overall hand-powered plan it can add up.

Hand-cranked washing machine

Washing machines and dryers have become so prevalent we forget that you can easily wash and dry your clothes without any electricity or natural gas at all. Hand-cranked or foot-powered washing machines combined with air-drying your laundry on a drying rack or a clothesline can save you about $115 annually and will do just as good of a job of keeping your clothes clean.

The Laundry Alternative Wonderwash Portable Washing Machine

$69.99 at Amazon

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$69.99 at Amazon

Pour-over coffee maker

By unplugging your at-home coffee making, you can save yourself about $14 annually. A fancy manual espresso maker like this one from Rok makes excellent espresso shots with zero electricity, and a simple pour-over coffee maker will brew plenty of java with zero electricity (though you’ll have to heat up the water somehow, admittedly). Combine them with a hand-powered coffee grinder and you can remove the electric tax from your morning cuppa altogether.

A foot-cranked blender

You’re not going to hand-crank a blender, no—but you can foot-crank a blender. A Fender Blender is designed to attach to a stationary bicycle, using your leg power to blend whatever you need blended. It actually works much better than you might imagine, as you can see here—and you get a little exercise to justify whatever treat you’re mixing up for yourself.

The cost to run a blender depends on how often you use it (and your local cost for electricity, of course), but if you use your blender once a day for a year you could save about $15 by going with the hand-powered version.

A good old whisk

Using a mixer every day will cost you about $12 annually, and using an electric egg beater daily offers a similar cost savings, so substituting a hand-powered whisk and mixer can save you about $24 a year.

Newness Whizzy Whisk

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Get Deal

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Hand-powered foot chopper

Using a food processor only costs you about $2 a year unless you’re running your processor constantly. Still, that’s $2 you don’t have to spend if you use a hand-powered food chopper/processor instead.

Total savings

On average, you’d save about $215 every year by using these hand-powered tools instead of their electric versions—although that number might grow if the price of electricity keeps going up. Plus, of course, having a hand-powered kitchen and laundry means power outages, blackouts, and societal collapse won’t slow you down—throw in a hand-cranked generator and radio and you’ll ride out the apocalypse in style.

Credit card points and airline miles are strange aspects of the modern economy. On the one hand, they’re not really worth all that much—airline miles, hotel points, and credit card reward points max out at about 1.5 cents per point, with most valued significantly less than a penny. On the other hand, they’re basically free money—you get them whenever you use the card, so as long as you’re traveling places you need to go to and buying stuff you need anyway (and not paying interest on those purchases), those points will eventually add up to something of value you wouldn’t otherwise have.

If you’ve got an airline-affiliated credit card like the United MileagePlus card or something similar, you’ve probably used the points you accrue mainly to offset the costs of travel. Points can be pretty easily used to pay for flights, hotels, and rental cars, and if the exchange rate is awful it’s still essentially free. But hotels and flights aren’t the only ways to cash in those points.

Donations

The points and miles you earn via credit card purchases or airline loyalty programs may not have much cash value, but they have some cash value. If you want to make the world a slightly better place without actually taking a hit in your bank account, you can probably donate your miles or points to charity. Most loyalty programs already have built-in relationships with charities that make this pretty easy. Keep in mind that these donations are probably not tax-deductible; the IRS views points and miles as discounts, not income.

Magazines

Your loyalty program or credit card website might have a built-in option to subscribe to magazines or newspapers, or you can check out MagsForMiles to see if you can trade those points for reading material. If you’ve got nothing else to do with your miles and you will actually get something out of the periodical, this could make sense—especially because points and miles are often high-value when used this way, for some reason. For example, with MileagePlus miles you can get a 15-issue subscription to Wine Spectator for 1,000 miles; that sub costs about $72 annually if you bought it directly, which values your point at about 7 cents each, which is not bad at all.

Gift cards

If you want to convert your miles or points into something a little more flexible, a solution most people overlook is a gift card. Most of these programs will happily sell you a gift card (you can also sometimes exchange your unwanted gift cards for points—United’s MileagePlus program does this—creating a weird kind of circular economy of craptastic gift cards). As with all points/miles transactions, you have to dig in to see if you’re getting any sort of value. A $5.00 Starbucks card through MileagePlus will cost you 1,666 points, making those points worth about 3 cents each. On the other hand, a gift card makes it a lot easier to actually buy things at Starbucks, so it might make sense. Plus, it’s a way to give someone a gift without spending any real money, you cheap weirdo.

Experiences

Yeah, the word “experiences” is kind of silly, but if you’ve got a stash of miles or points sitting in an account somewhere, you should look into the “experiences” you can either buy or bid on. MileagePlus offers a bunch of sporting experiences you can bid on with your miles, and Hilton Honors members can bid on a wide range of special events, like concerts, sporting events, or special dinners. Since these are usually auctions of some kind, you might get tempted into using more points or miles than you want—but since those miles and points are more or less free, it might be fun to just yeet them into an adventure you might otherwise never pay for.

Cash

While it’s generally legal to sell your points or miles to a third party like MilesBuyer, it’s not a great idea because most airlines and credit cards prohibit the practice. If you’re caught, you could lose your account and all your accrued points or miles.

But there are some options. Many rewards programs have options to cash out your points—Citi, for example, makes it pretty easy to convert your ThankYou points into a direct deposit into your bank account, a credit to your credit card balance, or even a check in the mail. That transforms your difficult-to-redeem points into actual cash, so it’s worth checking into the details of your program to see what your options are. But do the math before you jump on it—generally speaking, you want to get at least a penny a point before you convert to cash; otherwise waiting to redeem them for other goods or services might make more sense. For example, Citi’s ThankYou points are worth exactly one penny each when you turn them into cash, so 5,000 points becomes a $50 deposit in your account.

Sometimes it feels like privacy, as a concept, has vanished from the world. Advertisers certainly seem to know everything about you, serving up frighteningly accurate ads that make you think your phone’s microphone has been turned on and marketers are actively listening to your every mumble.

They’re not—yet. But they are engaged in something called “data mining,” which is the process of collecting enormous amounts of anonymous data from your every connected activity and then analyzing that data to infiltrate your life with advertisements and other influences. And it’s not just corporate America—criminals can mine your data in order to rip you off.

If that bugs you—and it should—you can take some steps to minimize data mining in your life. You can’t completely escape it unless you plan to live off-grid with zero Internet connection, but you can reduce your exposure. After all, it’s your data, you’re not being compensated for it, and it’s creepy that some anonymous marketing team knows you’re really into RPGs and craft beer.

Read those EULAs

One of the biggest vectors for mining your data is your smartphone, especially the apps you’ve installed on it. Every time you install an app you agree to its terms—the end user license agreement (EULA) and other requirements.

A first line of defense against data mining is to take the time to review those EULAs. You can’t negotiate, but if you see you’re being asked for blanket permission to send data back to the mothership, you might at least look for an alternative. The key warning signs that the app is just a data-mining vessel are granting permission to monitor your Internet activity, to explicitly collect personal information, or to use your computer or device for their own purposes. If you see anything that gives you pause, think twice before agreeing.

Check settings

When you install an app on your device, you probably click through a series of permissions that grant that app access to everything it needs to gather data about you. This is a data-mining goldmine.

A few years ago, for example, an investigation found that about 5,400 apps were siphoning data from just one person’s smartphone—1.5 gigs of data in all. And back in 2017, an app maker called Alphonso was caught tracking what people were watching on TV by activating the microphone on their smartphones.

If an app requires a lot of unnecessary permissions—does a game really need access to your microphone, location, and camera?—you should assume it’s more of a data-mining app than anything else. Your next line of defense: Stop installing garbage free apps and spend that dollar. Every app wants to make money from you, and if you’re not paying up front, you’re paying in some other way, most likely by having your data stripmined.

Be boring on social

Social media is very obviously a dumpster fire when it comes to privacy. You’re literally posting a photo of you at the store with the hashtag #LiveToShop, so you shouldn’t be surprised when that store’s ads start popping up all over your life.

If you’re concerned about data mining, you can take a few simple steps to reduce the access that data miners have to your social media:

• Set your profile to private. If your main goal on social media is to connect with friends or colleagues, restrict the reach of your posts to just those folks.

• Be a snob. Don’t accept every request you receive to connect—if you don’t know that person, they don’t need to be let in to your inner circle.

• Discretion. Don’t blast your travel plans, spending habits, or product reviews out into the universe.

Using social media compromises your privacy, but if you’re mindful of the information data miners want, you can at least refuse to make it easy.

Log out

When you log into platforms like Google or Facebook, that platform can pretty easily track what you’re doing. And as long as you’re signed in, that ability persists—even if you leave the site. These companies are really data mining companies, and they have perfected the art of following you around.

It’s a pain in the butt, but logging out of those services when you’re not actively using them (and clearing cookies and browsing history regularly) can slow down the vacuuming of data. It’s inconvenient to do so by design, but it has a real impact on how much information is being mined from your online activities.

Avoid memes

Data mining isn’t just about advertisers selling your stuff. It can also be weaponized by scammers to get personal info they can use to rob you blind, steal your identity, or steal your identity and then rob you blind.

One easy way they can do this is to just wait for you to respond to a phishing meme. These memes look like innocent fun quizzes where you supply some seemingly innocuous bits of personal information and receive a chuckle in response. Common examples include posting your “porn name” (a combination of common security question answers like your middle name or the model of your first car or something similar) or using the last digits of your phone number to do some math magic.

Luckily, there’s an easy way to avoid data mining via phishing memes: Ignore the memes. Your life will actually be incrementally better anyway.

Tech solutions

One of the most effective ways to cut down your exposure to data mining requires a bit more effort. Various privacy tools exist that can really stem the flow of your data to the unappeasable black hole of marketing:

• VPNs. Virtual Private Networks are useful for privacy because they obscure your location and IP address, which makes it a lot harder for data miners to collate the data they get. Since your data appears to come from a wide range of random locations, it’s impossible to build a coherent profile of your preferences and habits. Installing a VPN on your computer, phone, and devices will go a long way towards cutting off the flow of private information.

• Tor. The Tor Browser routes your web surfing traffic through many encrypted nodes, making it basically impossible to track your travels on the Internet. If you really want to go dark, combine Tor with a VPN and you’ll be practically invisible. If you’re not ready to use Tor as your everyday browser, use a privacy-focused browser like DuckDuckGo or Brave, or at least adjust the privacy settings in your browser to make it as secure as possible.

• Ad blockers. Almost every single website you visit tracks your activities and gathers data about you. While using a privacy browser is an effective way to stifle that, ad-blocking plugins can go the extra mile by denying intrusive access to your browsing experience altogether.

If you own a home, you’ve probably at least contemplated making major, dramatic changes to it; having control over your shelter is important psychologically, and one way we exert that control is by changing it to better meet our needs. And we increasingly treat our homes as reflections of our emotional and mental state, often turning to renovation projects when we feel stuck or unhappy in other areas of our lives (for better or for worse).

We usually discuss home renovation projects in terms of return on investment (ROI) or the practical impact the change will have on our daily lives and our families. But there’s a crucial aspect of home remodeling that we should prioritize more: happiness. How happy will that home renovation project make you? The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has quantified this to some extent with their “Joy Score,” which asks homeowners to rate how happy a home renovation has made them. Combined with some other factors, it’s possible to come up with a list of the home renovation projects that will make you the happiest—and they’re not always the most expensive or ambitious.

Happiness-inducing indoor projects

Unsurprisingly, one of the key factors in any home renovation project is how well the end result meets the need that inspired it. If your kitchen is barely functional before the renovation and does everything you need after, you’re probably going to be pretty happy with the project (assuming no soul-killing problems like massive cost overruns or your contractor dropping an uber-expensive countertop just inches away from installation).

But the renovation projects that will make you happiest in the house are often the simplest. All of these renovations received a perfect Joy Score of 10, for example:

• Painting. Painting the whole interior of your home or even just one room can be very, very satisfying. There’s some evidence that color has an explicit impact on your mental state, and many people subjectively experience a boost in mood with the right paint colors. Plus, painting is like literally erasing mistakes. Throw in the relatively low cost, speed, and ease of this project and the happiness factor is obvious.

• Home office addition. This is all about solving problems. If you’re working from home and find yourself balancing your laptop on your knees in the bathroom, creating a dedicated office space can make you feel like you’re a professional.

• New or refinished wood floors. Like paint on the walls, that new floor shine feels like shedding the mistakes of the past (like the time you dragged the couch to a new spot and left deep gouges in your floor). Plus the durability of the final result—an improvement that will last years—is very satisfying.

• Closet renovation. Our closets are like a personal Portrait of Dorian Gray—the public-facing parts of our home might be neat and tidy while our closets are overflowing nightmares. Organizing always feels good, so it’s little wonder that creating order out of chaos in our closets makes us happy.

• Attic conversion. Conquering an area of your house currently ruled by spiders is always going to make you feel better. Not only do you turn a dark and slightly dangerous place (where you can easily misstep and fall through the ceiling) into a functional and useful space, you gain square footage and increase your home’s value.

• New insulation. This might be a surprising one, but not if you think about it: Not only does new or upgraded insulation improve your home’s energy efficiency, which feels good, it also makes your home more comfortable—which makes people want to spend more time there.

Happiness-inducing outdoor projects

Home renovations outside the house hit a little different, but access to outdoor spaces can have a huge positive impact on your overall happiness, so it’s not surprising that some of these projects score really high on the joy scale:

• In-ground pool. A pool makes people want to spend more time in their homes, and gives them a higher sense of enjoyment of the property. Not only can you cool off and get some good exercise in a pool, you can also throw some pretty epic parties around one.

• Landscape lighting. Another perfect Joy Score involves adding light to your outdoor spaces. Solid lighting design outside can turn a dark, foreboding yard into a beautiful spot you want to spend time in. It also increases a sense of security, since you can actually see what’s going on. Plus, it doesn’t have to be a complicated project—some solar lights, used thoughtfully, is all you need.

• New patio or deck. Like the pool, a new patio area or deck makes people want to use their outdoor spaces more, because they provide comfortable areas to relax. A new patio or deck turns a blank canvas into an entertaining space or a spot for decompression, cocktails, and enjoying the fresh air.

• Fire feature. Fire can have a positive psychological impact—it can be relaxing and meditative. It manages a Joy Score of 9.7 because it makes our outdoor spaces more inviting, gives them more “personality,” and increases the amount of time you can enjoy your yard, patio, or deck because it allows us to use those spaces even when it’s a little colder than we’d like.

There are a lot of reasons people take on roommates, but one of the most common is simple economics: Rent keeps rising, half of all tenants in the U.S. are paying more rent than they can actually afford, and they can defray those costs significantly by splitting the rent and other bills with someone else.

All of those benefits are predicated on one assumption, however: That your roommate will keep up their end of the bargain and, you know, actually pay their share of everything. When considering a roommate, you have to consider how it will impact you both personally and financially—and be prepared for the possibility that your roommate turns deadbeat and stops paying their rent or share of the bills. Whether it’s due to their own personal financial hardship or because you accidentally let a sociopath into your home, a deadbeat roommate can be a disaster. If your roommate stops paying their share, here’s what you can do about it.

Gather data showing they aren't paying rent

Your first step when dealing with this situation is to get the facts. If your roommate is on the lease as a cotenant, has a separate rental agreement, or if you at least have a roommate agreement of some sort in writing, review the document to see what their financial responsibilities are and what consequences, if any, are spelled out.

Next, establish evidence. Gather records of missed payments and your attempts to collect the overdue rent. If you haven’t sent your roommate any requests for overdue payments, start doing so in a way that leaves a trail—emails or written requests.

Keep paying the rent. If your roommate is a cotenant or otherwise officially on the lease you might assume they are responsible for their share of the rent, but most lease and rental agreements specify that all tenants are “jointly and severally” liable, which means the landlord can seek the full rent amount from any tenant. If you only pay your share of the rent, you can get into serious financial difficulties if the landlord goes after you for the balance.

If you don’t have any sort of written agreement (if your roommate isn’t officially listed anywhere on the lease), you can’t just kick them out. You can ask them to leave, sure, but most states grant homestead rights to anyone who has occupied a home for a period of time, meaning they often have a specific grace period before you can legally make them leave. Check the laws in your state so you know how you have to proceed.

Try a (mediated) negotiation with your roommate

Once you know where you stand in terms of a written agreement, your next step is to open a dialogue. Note the financial burden they’re putting on you, and see if you can’t come up with a way for them to contribute at least some of what they owe. Calling in a professional mediator can keep things civil and offer a neutral way to discuss your issues; many cities offer mediation services for landlords and tenants to resolve conflicts—for example, in New York, the New York Peace Institute offers mediation services. If your city doesn’t, you can contact the American Arbitration Association for mediator referrals in your area. You can also try to negotiate a portion of the back rent—sometimes half of what you’re owed is better than zero.

If talks go nowhere, you can warn your roommate that your next step is legal action. At this point you could decide to cut your losses and try to negotiate a timeline for them to leave the apartment, using the possibility of a lawsuit as motivation. You might never get your money back this way, but at least you can stem the bleeding and remove this source of stress from your life.

If necessary, exercise your legal options

If all else fails, you might need to sue your roommate to try and collect the money. This isn’t actually all that difficult, but you will need to prepare:

• Agreements. Have copies of all written agreements with your roommate—a lease, sublease, or roommate contract are best, but any sort of written agreement that spells out their financial responsibilities should be acquired. If your roommate is on a separate sublease or rental agreement, ask your landlord for a copy.

• Demand letter. Next, send your roommate a letter detailing what they owe, called a demand letter. This should lay out in detail all the payments they’ve missed and your attempts to collect, including dates when you asked for the rent or other bills to be paid. It should also include a formal request for the money by a certain date. Send the letter registered mail or through any service that provides proof of delivery.

• Sue. You can usually bring a suit like this in small claims court, which means you won’t necessarily need a lawyer. As long as you can prove that a) you had an agreement with the roommate wherein they paid rent and/or a share of the bills, b) they broke the agreement by not paying, and c) you suffered a financial loss as a result (because you had to pay all the rent), you have a very good chance of winning. This is where all the data you gathered comes in handy: If you can show a written agreement, prove that your roommate didn’t pay as agreed and that you tried to collect, prove that you gave them notice, and show that you paid the rent on their behalf, you’ll have a solid case.

Eviction is tough, but possible

If you go through all of these steps and your roommate still won’t pay—or move out—you can consider trying to evict them. This can be a much more difficult process, and you’ll likely need to hire a lawyer to navigate your state’s laws around tenancy and homestead rights. It’s not a fast process (it can take up to a year), so going this route can cost you a lot of money while your roommate remains in your home, still not paying rent.

If you have a good relationship with your landlord and the roommate is on the lease, you can enlist their help in an eviction process. Keep in mind that if you’ve violated your lease by having an off-book roommate, you might find yourself being evicted right alongside them, so proceed with caution.

And, no, you can’t engage in what’s known as a “self-help eviction,” doing things like changing the locks, throwing their stuff into the street, or making their room unlivable in some way. Even if their tenancy is off the books, these tactics are illegal and will just put you in a worse position.

In the end, if your roommate turns deadbeat, your best bet is to negotiate with them, then try to recover your money through small claims court. Whatever you decide to do, be patient, keep records, and think about how you’ll avoid this situation next time.