Best Of Buck, February 2010

At the end of each month I highlight a few of my favorite posts from The Buck List. Here is the February batch.

What We Leave Behind 

Nine Ways to Find Cheap or Free Performances 

Frugal Recipe: Baked Potato Soup 

Clean It Before You Replace It 

The Older You Get the Better the Deals 

Why Do So Many PF Bloggers Start Off as Financial Idiots? 

The Power of Peroxide

Last summer my daughter and I came home to find my year old Black Lab (that’s her in the photo) had chewed open a bottle of Midol and eaten about half the contents, along with a slipper and some other now unrecognizable items. I called the vet immediately and after looking it up he gave me the news: it was a fatal dosage. He said if we wanted to try to save her we would have to drive her to another clinic several miles away that had the antidote, but first we would need to empty her stomach. My first thought was wondering how I was going to stick my finger down that long throat when I asked, “So, how do we do that?” He asked if there was any Hydrogen Peroxide in the house. I grabbed a bottle from the bathroom and, following the doctor’s instructions, my daughter held open the dog’s mouth while I poured a little in and then held her jaws shut to make sure she swallowed it. The vet stayed on the phone, and several long minutes went by while we stood there watching and waiting for the eruption.

At this point I’ll spare you the details except to say it worked, several times. And during the long drive to the clinic it worked a few more times. Once we arrived at the clinic they gave her the antidote, kept her over night for observation, and today she is approaching her second birthday.

While I now knew of two uses for Hydrogen Peroxide I thought I would do a little research into what else it can do. Besides using it as a germicide to treat minor wounds and making your dog barf the following is what I found. All of these tips use household 3% hydrogen peroxide, not the stronger solutions.

Clean and disinfect your house by spraying peroxide and then vinegar on household surfaces then wiping clean.

Take a swig of peroxide once in a while to debride your gums.

Rub it on your face to help clear up acne.

Use a 50/50 mix of peroxide and water to bleach your hair.

Spray your plants with 8 ounces of peroxide mixed with 8 ounces of white sugar and one gallon of water. This can lead to better growth and acts as insecticide.

Use it as a douche or enema solution. Mix 3 tablespoons of peroxide in 1 quart of distilled water. After seeing what it does to cuts and my dog I’m thinking not.

Mix it with baking soda into a paste as an alternative to toothpaste.

Use peroxide in place of bleach to whiten clothes.

Wash your fruits and vegetables with peroxide to kill bacteria.

As a final note there is a lot of information about food grade peroxide being used either orally or intravenously to treat pneumonia, skin disease, polio, emphysema, asthma and cancer, among many other ailments. For more information on these uses search the web for “Educational Concern for Hydrogen Peroxide” and “Bio-Oxidative Medicine.”

Related Reading:

Vinegar: Is There Anything It Can’t Do? 

Other Uses for Alcohol 

Why You Need WD-40

Why Do So Many PF Bloggers Start Off As Financial Idiots?

A while back I wrote a series called Focus On that gave brief reviews of personal finance and frugal websites and blogs. While researching the sites I included in the series, and many others that I didn’t include, I would always look at the profile page to learn more about the site and writer. Most personal finance and frugal living blogs are written by individuals, and as the series progressed and I read more and more bios one rather curious similarity became apparent: around half of these people were deeply in debt.

The usual story given was a lack of financial control early in life, sometimes coupled with huge student loan debt. Then, heroically, came the turning point. A light bulb suddenly went on and the decision was made to climb out of the debt hole they had dug for themselves. That was followed, of course, by blogging about their efforts.

The first few versions of these stories were inspiring, but after a while the frequency and similarities of their tales of woe and redemption struck me as mildly disturbing. Why do so many good personal finance bloggers start off as financial dumb asses?

I think there are a couple of reasons. One is a lack of financial education. Another is there is always a segment of the young, emerging generation that wants everything now, damn the monthly payments, whether they have received an education on how to handle their money properly or not.

I am glad so many of these bloggers had the awakening they did and are now warning and instructing others on how to avoid the bad decisions they made. Maybe the next step could see them banding together and pressing for some kind of financial education at the beginning, at home and in school, before the screw ups happen.

Related Reading:

A Changing Relationship with Money 

Does a Financial Education Matter? 

Best Free Reference Sites, Part Four

I love research, and if in a conversation a question can’t get answered I automatically have to search for it. There is such an amazing amount of information out there, and so many ways to find it, I thought I would dig into my browser favorites and share some of the sites I like to use. The previous three parts of this series listed sites that were in my “research” folder. For this last part of the series I included sites that I had saved in other folders. Here is the final batch.

Artcyclopedia – Find art and artists by name, medium, art movement, title and several other search criteria.

Bankrate – A great site to learn about investing, saving, debt, credit cards, etc. They offer calculators as well as financial product comparisons.

Beliefnet – Includes inspiring quotes and stories, as well as sections for each major religion. While there make sure to try the Belief-O-Matic to find out if you are on the right track. 

Best History Sites – This history portal links to over 1,200 history web sites.

Cyndi’s List – THE site to bookmark and start with if you are interested in family history.

Epicurious – It was really hard to pick just one food and recipe site but this one is pretty well rounded and encourages members to interact and share.

IMDB – As with cooking and recipe sites there are plenty of good movie sites but The Internet Movie Database is the big dog on the block.

Mother Earth News – I have been a subscriber to their newsletter for years and I think I learn something new in every issue. There is much more to this site than gardening and homesteading.

Software Archives – They offer a huge archive of computer, handheld and entertainment software, all for free.

WebMD – I don’t think there is any health issue not covered on this site. From A1AT Deficiency to ZES, it’s in there.

Related Reading:

Best Free Reference Sites, Part Three 

Best Free Reference Sites, Part Two 

Best Free Reference Sites, Part One 

Weekly Roundup

There are plenty of freebie sites out there but a few really stand out. Freebeezndealz provides a constant stream of freebie deals for readers to choose from. Sign up by feed or email and see for yourself. 

Upload your photos and music for free to Animoto to create 30 second videos. To create longer videos requires paid membership.

The extensive foodie site Chow serves up reader boards, recipes, restaurant reviews, how to stories, videos and a blog. This is a fun one to click around on.

Post of the Week – A personal finance post I found to be exceptional.
Here is an interesting and amusing take on wealth, snobbery and taste. 

SparkPeople is a free weight loss site that offers personalized diet & fitness plans, a calorie counter, exercise tracker, fitness demonstrations & videos and message boards that provide answers from their dietitians & trainers.

WIFE.org (Women’s Institute for Financial Education) bills themselves as “the oldest non-profit organization dedicated to providing financial education to women in their quest for financial independence.” While targeted at women there are articles on the site that can benefit anyone. 

Weekly Reminder – A reminder of a useful article you might have missed. 
If you enjoy making crafts you might want to read 10 Craft Selling Options for some ideas on how to make some side cash.

Write for The Buck List – The Buck List is looking for articles, 250 – 500 words long, on making or saving money ideas. To answer your first question, no, I can't pay you, but you might get some traffic for your blog or website from your contribution. The end of the article can include a two or three line bio with a link to your site. If you are trying to sell a product or service or include affiliate links you won't be considered. Drop me a line at BuckWeber@gmail.com and let me know what you have in mind. I look forward to hearing from you!

The Older You Get the Better the Deals

Am I there yet?

We all remember how anxious we were as kids to grow up. You hit the double digits at 10, teen hood at 13, get a driver’s permit at 14, a license to drive at sweet 16, reach adulthood at 18 and finally, the all powerful 21.

What’s next?

Well, usually your car insurance will lower a little at 25. As 30 looms you might quietly reflect on your soon to be forever gone twenties, but once it hits and you start cruising through your thirties you might get to thinking, hey, this aging thing isn’t as bad as it sounded.

The wall.

Personally, what really slammed me into the pondering mortality wall was reaching forty. I’m sure anyone older reading this is snickering, but let me tell you why. It dawned on me that if I doubled my age I would be 80. That is beyond the average life expectancy. Being a fairly average guy I realized I was, truly, middle aged.

Okay, now I’m depressed.

Acceptance becomes the key. Embrace each birthday as another accomplishment, and start looking for the bonuses. There are good deals galore for geezers, and here is a primer on what’s coming your way if you make it long enough.

Show me the deals! Wait; let me get my glasses first…

About.com offers a good Senior Discount Directory listing discounts on everything from Amtrak to Wendy’s.

About also has a comprehensive list of free entertainment activities for seniors.

Senior Discounts offers three levels of membership with basic being free. You get a subscription to their weekly email newsletter and access to their discussion boards, blogs and News & Articles section.

Check out the Senior Discounts section of Senior Journal for news on discounts and deals.

The Rubins has an extensive list of ideas and sites to visit at their senior citizen discounts page.

Finally, go to the AARP website and type “senior discounts” in their site search engine for multiple pages of discount articles.

Related Reading:

Save Money on Meds 

Pumped Up Frugal Tips: Change, Shower Water, Bus and Bike Edition

Once a month I take a different look at some popular but somewhat wimpy frugal tips and try to beef them up. Yeah!

Save Your Change

Wimpy Tip: Save your change in a jar as a rainy day fund. It’s a start, but you can do better.

Tip on Steroids: Forget the jar and carry that change with you in your front pockets or purse until bulging full, THEN take it to the bank. Consider the ever increasing weight as an addition to your exercise routine.

Shower Water

Wimpy Tip: Save cold shower start up water in a container to water your house plants with. Well intentioned, but why not cut out the middle man?

Tip on Steroids: Shower with your plants once a week. A little soap never hurt anything.

Bus or Bike

Wimpy Tip: Save gas money by taking the bus or riding a bike. Seriously, what is the challenge of a bike or the fun of being on a bus?

Tip on Steroids: Get creative and try something like a unicycle or a pogo stick to get around instead.

Related Reading:

Pumped Up Frugal Tips: Full Belly, Spare Room and Financial Advisor Edition 

Best Free Reference Sites, Part Three

I love research, and if in a conversation a question can’t get answered I automatically have to search for it. There is such an amazing amount of information out there, and so many ways to find it, I thought I would dig into my browser favorites and share some of the sites I like to use. I list ten at a time, alphabetically, for this series. Here is the next batch.

Monstropedia – I admit this one might have limited appeal but I just had to include it because of my lifelong interest in the subject. As of this writing they offer 1,873 articles about…monsters!

Museum of Hoaxes – Covers hoaxes from the middle ages to the present. This site offers a hoax museum search engine and extensive archives.

National Archives – The record keeper for the United States holds “approximately 9 billion pages of textual records; 7.2 million maps, charts, and architectural drawings; more than 20 million still photographs; billions of machine-readable data sets; and more than 365,000 reels of film and 110,000 videotapes.”

Netronline – The public records online directory they offer is a portal to tax assessors and recorders offices for all 50 states. 

Nolo – They offer an extensive selection of free legal information, a legal encyclopedia and a lawyer directory.

Online Conversion – Convert anything from acceleration to pressure to weight, and about anything else you can think of. 

Pop Cult – A somewhat obscure but fun site that is cataloging “quality” pop culture. Go click around; I know you’ll find something interesting. 

The Straight Dope – One could argue that this is not exactly a reference site, but Cecil Adams has answered so many strange questions since 1973 that it had to make the cut.

Snopes – A dictionary of urban legends and “common fallacies, misinformation, old wives' tales, strange news stories, rumors, celebrity gossip, and similar items.” 

Wikipedia – While they had a few credibility problems early on Wikipedia has done much to clean up the site. Because of their extensive link love you can’t research just one subject while there. 

Related Reading:

Best Free Reference Sites, Part Two 

Best Free Reference Sites, Part One 

Weekly Roundup

Any Lucky Day – They are “an advertising source for companies looking to promote their products and services through social media.” Join, visit the sponsor and post a comment for a chance to win the product or service. Most contests run for 24 hours.

TeleVets – Join this site for free and you can “email specific health and medical questions to our "Pet Advisory" team of licensed veterinarians, registered nurses, trainers, behaviorists and breeders. These questions are normally answered within 24 hours, as we have advisors online 24/7.”

Coupon Cabin – This site monitors discounts for more than 2,000 online stores and sorts through thousands of e-mails a week to find free coupons, codes and deals. Sign up for their weekly newsletter while you are there.

Post of the Week – A personal finance post I found to be exceptional.
This post asks if you are smarter than the United States government. It also has what I think is the longest reply to a comment I have ever read on a blog.

Heloise – I remember seeing the “Hints from Heloise” column in the newspaper when I was growing up, but to be honest I have not thought of her in years. Her daughter took over the column after the original Heloise died. While her site serves mainly to promote her (nothing wrong with that) she does scatter some hints and recipes here and there. Worth a peek.

My Kids Eat Free – I am pretty sure I have featured this site before, but with around 40 previous Weekly Roundups to go through to find out, it was easier just to put it up here. With the help of their readers this site collects and lists restaurants that offer free and reduced meals for the little varmints.

Weekly Reminder – A reminder of a useful article you might have missed.
I enjoyed writing this one and I still consider it one of my more useful posts. Check out 10 Great Resources for Free Books. If you predate the Internet, like me, isn’t it still kind of amazing that this sort of information is free and available to everyone?

Write for The Buck List – The Buck List is looking for articles, 250 – 500 words long, on making or saving money ideas. To answer your first question, no, I can't pay you, but you might get some traffic for your blog or website from your contribution. The end of the article can include a two or three line bio with a link to your site. If you are trying to sell a product or service or include affiliate links you won't be considered. Drop me a line at BuckWeber@gmail.com and let me know what you have in mind. I look forward to hearing from you!

Clean It Before You Replace It

Several years ago I was reading an article about Cuba (I think it was in National Geographic) and part of it was about how the Cuban people were dealing with the embargo. Few people had automobiles, and most of those who did were driving cars made before the embargo began in 1960. The people who owned the old cars were using them to earn money by making deliveries or acting as taxies. Because spare parts were such a rarity, when a car broke down the driver would simply get out and begin taking the motor apart, cleaning each piece one by one, then reassemble it and hope for the best. If it worked he was on his way again and if not the process was repeated.

Much has been written chastising us Americans for our throwaway culture, most of which I agree with. But rather than take us to task for our wastefulness I was inspired by remembering the Cubans forced industriousness and got to thinking of my own experiences with cleaning before replacing.

Interior walls – Before repainting try filling up a bucket with soapy water and scrubbing them down. That could be all they need to look new again.

Exterior walls – Same applies here. Buy a hose end house wash and spray it down to remove stains, mildew and dirt before you consider painting or siding.

Carpet – Compare the price of installing new carpet versus the cost of having it professionally cleaned. If you are confident enough look into renting a machine and doing it yourself.

Tools – While I try to keep my tools clean and in good shape there are times occasionally when something gets left outside, or rust appears on a tool seldom used. When that happens I clean it up with a wire wheel, or use a mixture of lemon juice and salt and scrub it with steel wool.

Furniture – If your upholstered furniture is looking a little grubby try cleaning it yourself with upholstery cleaner of hire a professional. Many carpet cleaners also clean upholstery. If it cleans up well you will have saved a lot of money by not having to replace it.

Wood Fences and Decks – Treated wood can turn grey eventually because of the elements and green because of mildew. Cleaning products are available from hardware and home improvement stores and a fresh coat of stain can transform weather worn wood. If you decided to pressure wash wood make sure you use a very low pressure setting.

Electronics – There are cleaning kits available for VHS, CD, DVD and Blu-ray players and a can of compressed air is unbeatable to clean the dust out of your computer.

I’m sure I have missed some good ideas…what do you try cleaning before replacing?

Related Reading:

How to Save Money by Salvaging 

Ten Best Home Improvement and DIY Sites 

Frugal Recipes: Baked Potato Soup

“A first rate soup is more creative than a second rate painting.”
- Abraham Maslow -

During the winter my wife and I like to try and have a soup meal once a week. Of all of the soup recipes we like this one has the most variables, and comes out different every time. I list the basic ingredients first and at the end all of the variables I might add, depending on what direction I want it to go.



Basic Ingredients

4 to 6 already baked potatoes (what kind is up to you) 
1 Onion (another personal choice)
2 stalks celery
2 carrots (sometimes I use canned carrots to cut down on cooking time)
1 can chicken broth (I freeze my own to use in recipes)
2 cups ham, bacon or smoked sausage
Salt and pepper to taste
1 can evaporated milk
1 cup mashed potato flakes
½ stick real butter

Directions

Add first seven ingredients, cover with water and boil until done. Add the milk, butter and flakes and simmer for 10 minutes.

Variable Ingredients

Parsley
Thyme
Chives
Cumin
Cayenne pepper
White pepper
Bay leaf
Garlic
Basil
Paprika
Dill weed
Worcestershire sauce
Parmesan cheese
Cheddar cheese
Diced tomatoes
Sour cream
Green chilies

I add the variables at the end with the milk, butter and flakes. What variation you use is the fun part. Get creative!

Related Reading:

Frugal Recipe: Quick and Simple Pork Roast 

Best Free Reference Sites, Part Two

I love research, and if in a conversation a question can’t get answered I automatically have to search for it. There is such an amazing amount of information out there, and so many ways to find it, I thought I would dig into my browser favorites and share some of the sites I like to use. I list ten at a time, alphabetically, for this series. Here is the next batch.


Calculator - If you need to calculate anything from fractions to percentages to…love(?) this site should be able to help you out.

Card Games – Want to learn a new game or look up the rules to one you haven’t played in a while? Most likely it’s here.

CIA – They offer a lot of info. The standout, for me, is the World Factbook.

Directory of Open Access Journals – As of this writing this site links to 4,682 scientific and scholarly journals, and their lofty goal is to cover all subjects and languages. Sound boring? Go to the site and click around a bit, I bet you’ll change your mind.

Handyman USA – Need some DIY tips for home improvement projects and repairs? Start with this one. 

Holt Researcher – As soon as you get to this site just start scrolling down to get an idea of how many subjects they cover.

Internet Archive – Another huge database. This one archives, well, the Internet! Also home of the Wayback Machine.

Internet Public Library – They offer categories for kids and teens, as well as links to newspapers and magazines all over the world. Look for your info by subject matter, use their search engine or ask a librarian by email.

Language to Language – Beware, this language translation site can be addictive. After trying words such as love, monster and hope I suppose it was inevitable that I moved on to dirty words. Yep, they cover those, too.

Library of Congress – The internet presence of the largest library in the world. Make sure to visit the digital collections section.

Look for Part Three next week.

Related Reading:

Best Free Reference Sites, Part One 

Weekly Roundup

AppScout is a great site to keep up on new software, sites, startups and Web apps. While there make sure to visit their free downloads category.

I haven’t stayed in a vacation rental yet, but it sounds like an interesting alternative to hotels and resorts. Check out Zonder where you can search for homes and condos by location and nightly rate.

Mint offers free online money management and budgeting software. They claim to have over one million users and to have identified more than $300 million in potential savings for its users.

Post of the Week – A personal finance post I found to be exceptional.
I liked this one about how to have a no-spend weekend. 

Tonic wants to focus “on the good that happens each day in neighborhoods all around the world.” Instead of making money with ads they have an online store that offers products that have a social benefit, and they donate a portion of the sale price to charity.

I think I’m going to try this one out. Start Sampling is a free on-line sampling company. You join up and receive samples in the mail and can also participate in their Frequent Tryer Miles program. If you like freebies this one is worth a look.

Weekly Reminder – A reminder of a useful article you might have missed.
Here are ten interesting ways to make some side cash. 

Write for The Buck List – The Buck List is looking for articles, 250 – 500 words long, on money making or money saving ideas. To answer your first question, no, I can't pay you, but you might get some traffic for your blog or website from your contribution. The end of the article can include a two or three line bio with a link to your site. If you are trying to sell a product or service or include affiliate links you won't be considered. Drop me a line at BuckWeber@gmail.com and let me know what you have in mind. I look forward to hearing from you!

When Coupons Aren't Enough

The following is a guest post by Gary Foreman with The Dollar Stretcher.com

Question: I am frustrated! I always read about people who have many options in saving money. My husband and I have three children plus child support for his two. I work part time at various jobs. Our combined net income is $2500 per month after his child support. I am currently working on a degree in secondary education with two years left. We do not live in a town that offers double coupons or co-ops for food. There are only two grocery stores. The price of gas lately doesn't even make it efficient for us to go to Costco 180 miles away. Please offer some insight for people who have situations similar to this. Kay

Answer: Kay has a point. Not everyone has the same tools available to them. So let's see if we can't find some ways to reduce grocery bills for folks who don't live in the big city.

We'll begin with an obvious tool that many of us overlook in our busy lives. Don't waste the food that you buy. Timothy Jones at the University of Arizona estimates that 14% of all the food we buy is wasted or about $590 per year per family. Two tools will help you to avoid food waste. First, don't buy perishables that aren't in your menu plan. Second, have a plan for your leftovers. Don't let them spoil in the refrigerator.

Many families have gotten in the habit of freezing meal-sized portions of their leftovers immediately after a meal. Each portion is marked and dated so it's easy for snackers to find what they want. Some even go so far as to keep a running inventory posted on the freezer door listing what's inside. That's especially useful for busy families where not everyone gets to eat at the same time.

Avoid buying prepared and individually packaged foods. That means everything from microwave dinners to prepackaged potato chips and individually wrapped cheese slices. There are exceptions, but typically you pay for convenience. Quite a lot, in fact. Sure it's nice to have those little carrots already sliced. But compare prices to the unprocessed carrots and you'll see just how much it's costing you.

Food preparation doesn't need to be a burden. Your kids can help. Even young ones can learn simple tasks. Not only will you be spending quality time together, but also you'll be teaching them money-saving skills.

The third technique is to shop like a professional buyer. A pro always wants to know when and where they last bought an item and how much they paid for it. You can do the same thing by creating something called a price book.

This simple tool can cut your bills by 10% or more. Most families have between 10 and 20 recipes that they make regularly. And, those recipes contain 40 or so different ingredients. So you end up buying the same things over and over. You'll also find that a large portion of your grocery bill is spent on less than one third of the items that you buy.

A price book helps you keep track of those items. You can buy a price book (search online) or make your own. All you need is a loose-leaf or spiral notebook of any size. Each item has its own page. Keep track of information on those frequently bought, expensive items. List the date, price, package size and which store you were shopping at. That way, when you're shopping, it's easy to identify the real bargains. Stock up when you find a particularly good sale of one of your regularly purchased items. After awhile, you'll have a well-stocked pantry and the only items that you "must buy" will be the perishables. The savings can be significant.

Use your slow cooker to help avoid the "what's for dinner" dilemma. They're a great tool to keep you from picking up dinner on the way home from work. And, also a great way to make cheap cuts of meat more edible.

Next, learn more about what you buy. Don't buy low fat, low carb, all-natural or any other specialty foods without reading the whole label first. It's all too common for the expensive version to be the same as the regular product, but at a higher price. Only thing low-cal is the label.

Eat healthy. Make use of in-season fruits and vegetables. Reduce the amount of meat in your diet. Not only will you lower your grocery bill, but you'll probably also reduce your doctor bills.

Finally, don't buy a lot of different cleaning supplies at the grocery store. You can make all the cleansers you need for your home from a few simple, inexpensive ingredients. You do need to watch which chemicals you put together, but there's no need to buy expensive name brand cleansers. You can find all kinds of cleaning recipes on the web or at your library.

Kay is right. It is easier to save money on groceries when they double coupons, you have a choice of grocery stores and a warehouse club is just down the road. But, even without those tools, it is possible to keep your food bills to a minimum without sacrificing your diet.

Gary Foreman is a former financial planner and purchasing manager who currently edits The Dollar Stretcher.com website and newsletters. 

Related Reading:

Coupons! 

What Does Money Follow?

I like the following quote because it’s bold and it makes you think. While pondering the meaning of it various names came to mind, such as Henry Ford, Thomas J. Watson and Bill Gates. Paul Hawken could have been describing any of their careers when he said:

“Money follows ideas. Money does not create anything at all, much less ideas. Money goes where ideas are.”

Best Free Reference Sites, Part One

I have become, over the years, somewhat of a go to guy among friends and family for finding people and information. I had a pretty intense genealogy phase a few years ago, which I hope to return to someday. I love research, and if in a conversation a question can’t get answered I automatically have to search for it.

One of my most recent searches was for a good friend looking to find his mother. They had not seen each other for years and he wanted to make contact again. After several days of looking the mothers trail went cold, but I did find his only sibling, his sister. He had lost track of her as well and he thought it would be better for me to call her, as they did not part on good terms. She answered and we spoke for about half an hour. She did not want any contact with her brother and she confirmed my suspicion about their mother; she had died several years ago. I would have preferred to give my friend this heartbreaking news in person rather than on the phone but he lives in Florida and I’m in Iowa. That was one of the hardest phone calls I have ever made, as was it for him to receive.

While sad, that example illustrates the power of the internet today. There is such an amazing amount of information out there, and so many ways to find it, I thought I would dig into my browser favorites and share some of the sites I like to use. I got to looking at all of the reference sites I have saved over the years and it looks like I have around 350. I will narrow those down and list ten at a time, alphabetically, for this series. Here are the first ten.

50 States – What would you like to know about any of the fifty states, as well as commonwealths and territories? Visit this site to find it.

About – I don’t so much go to this site to search as come upon About pages while searching. I like their tagline: “Guidance. Not Guesswork.”

AIM Manufacturing Videos – Stanford University offers videos on how over 40 different things are made. If you ever hear “I wonder how they make that” again make sure to check this site.

All Experts – The “oldest and largest free Q&A service on the Internet.” Go ahead, ask them.

Ask – If this is a site you like make sure to sign up and use their custom settings.

Ask Oxford – There is WAY more to this site than dictionaries.

Birthday Database – Not always accurate but it’s a starting place when trying to locate someone.

BJ Pinchbeck – Not just a homework helper! There are plenty of reference links here to keep a researcher busy for a long time.

Bureau of Prisons – Having a hard time finding someone? Maybe they are doing hard time. Try the Inmate Locator on this site. 

BRB Publications – If you are looking for public records go to their Free Resources section.

The following ten are coming up next week.