My 10 yo HP Pavilion is dying and it makes no sense to upgrade the hard drive imo. I'm looking for recommendations for a PC not a Mac. For reference - I'm retired and our homeschooling days are long over. This would be for just personal use. I do edit photos fromy dslr camera so nice graphics are a plus (the HP wasn't really the best choice for that but maybe they've improved). I'm not loyal to a particular brand but I don't think I want something like a Chrome Book. I'd prefer a fully functional laptop that's not tied to a particular ecosystem other than Windows. Any recommendations? Of course I'll be doing some research and reading tech reviews but The Hive is always my go-to for recs from real people. Most of my IRL friends either use Apple products or are still working and need more computer than I do. Oh, and I definitely want a laptop. I have neither the room nor the need for a desktop.

I haven't used a commercial bank since the 1980s. Dh and I were each using credit unions when we we met. When we got married I switched over from what was then the teachers credit union to his credit union for space center workers. We're still at that same credit union though of course it's open to anybody now like most credit unions are these days. No fees, free checks though we rarely use them.

I definitely agree.

I live in a town where short term rentals such as VRBO and Airbnb are prohibited and affordable housing is still an issue. Housing prices here are starting to come down but are still way overinflated. Young people are priced out of either renting or owning.

I have an older (discontinued) entry level DSLR and I love it. It's a Nikon D5600 and has more features than I use but it's great for learning. I mostly like amateur nature photography and am not good at taking photos of people. My phone has an amazing camera but the DSLR lets me do more when I'm on a nature walk. It has a crop sensor rather than full frame but I'm okay with that at least for now. I have a friend who started with a model a bit earlier than mine (D5500 I think). She eventually went to a full frame Nikon and recently bought a mirrorless. AFAIK she uses both depending on what she's photographing. She's way better at photography than I am.

Same

I heard about the comment but this thread is the first I've heard of the boycott. We occasionally buy Eggo waffles when they go on a BOGO sale but that's all we buy from Kellogg.

I haven't moved with a teen but I moved as a teen. Twice, actually. First when I was 13 we moved from NJ to Florida. A year later we relocated within Florida. It wasn't easy especially since I was painfully shy back then. We also didn't have money for me to be in any activities and they didn't have scholarships or other ways for low income kids to be involved in things. That made it harder to be involved with other teens right away. For the first move I was dragged figuratively kicking and screaming. I swore that as soon as I turned 18 I was moving back to Jersey. I made a few friends but still had that move to "back home" in my mind. When we moved again a year later it wasn't so hard because I wasn't leaving lifelong friends. It took me quite a while in our new Florida location (3 hours north of where we first moved) to make friends but I did. By the time I turned 18 I was a Floridian and had no desire to leave. It's hard to move away at any age, even as an adult. For teens I think it's especially hard because that's a tricky stage of life. But humans are resilient. It might - probably will - be hard on them at first, but I think in the end it will be okay. At least at that age they're better able to understand why you'd have to relocate.

I had to laugh at this. My friends and I often exchange cuttings for each other to kill. 😂 I actually prefer my own but I use a lot of spices. I use them up either on their own or as mixes before they lose potency.

I'll bet I'm not the only one who sang that in my head as I read it. 😀 I loved that show! I watched it several years ago when it was on Acorn TV.

I could too but our house (and the previous one) already had a dishwasher. We've done the math and running it costs less than washing by hand. We don't need to run ours everyday though so it might not add up the same for those with larger families who need to run the dishwasher. Still, if ours broke and we needed to cut back somewhere, I could easily live without it. That's why I said look carefully. I know people who belong to clubs for the convenience and aren't really saving money. We save with Costco. Between the gas prices and the rewards we get more than our membership fee back. Agreed. And the OP said she didn't want to hunker down. She just wants some ideas where to cut back on the "nice to have" conveniences or splurges.

I'd look at cutting some streaming services and only keep those you watch frequently. We don't have cable so streaming is our choice - we'd have to make cuts there first. If you have membership in any wholesale clubs like Sams or Costco, consider whether the annual fee is actually cost effective. Are you really saving money there? On that note, look at groceries and meal planning. Stop or drastically cut down on eating out.

My oldest grandson is 12 today and celebrates his 3rd actual birthday (4th I guess if you count the day he was born). He went a fancy dress party last month. All the boys wore suits and the girls wore fancy dresses. This is him at that party. I periodically share photos of my granddaughter Emma who has Down Syndrome, but I'm equally proud of and in love with her two big brothers. This time I'm sharing a photo of the Leap Day kiddo. We'll have a big family/friend celebration on Saturday but today he's special. It will be four years before he gets another true birthday. Anyone here a Leap Day baby? Any Leap Day babies in your circle?

I usually toss them in the dishwasher.

I tried Swedish dish cloths and wasn't impressed. I just use regular dish cloths with the occasional Dobie sponge when I need extra scrubbing. For non stick and enamel pans I use these Scotch Brite non-scratch scrubbies. If I need something stiffer I use scouring pads such as these - whatever brand I happen to grab. I find bar rags to be too big and a bit cumbersome when washing dishes. Most of our dishes go in the dishwasher but with the exception of pots and pans, the items that don't go in are usually small - good knives, delicate glasses, etc. A bar mop is overkill for those items and a dish cloth is just the right size. What I didn't like about Swedish dish cloths is that when wiping my quartz countertops the cloth leaves a lot of water behind. It doesn't matter how well I squeeze it out, the countertop is very wet when I'm done wiping. Not just normal wet but beads of water wet. Maybe the countertop material makes a difference when using Swedish dish cloths.

Thanks. I just ordered the 2 pack.

This is the one I have. I paid $69 for it back in 2016 on a Cyber Monday deal. It collected dust for almost a year before I decided I was going to try and use it. I might love it or might give it away but first I needed to try it. Now I use it almost every week. It's the only way I cook rice or quinoa anymore. I found a number of websites with IP recipes and just started trying the ones that sounded good. I use it for soups and stews, pasta dishes (I was worried because we like our pasta firm to al dente but it works), egg bites, cheesecake, yogurt, pulled pork and beef, country ribs. I love it for cooking dried beans or dishes that include them. Not everything is quicker than stovetop cooking but like a slow cooker, it's hands off. I also think it lets different flavors come through, unlike slow cookers which can tend to run all the flavors together.

It seems the outage was indeed caused by AT&T itself and was supposedly a technical error. We got an email from them apologizing and saying we'll get a credit on our bill. When I looked it up I found that customers will get a whopping $5. Gee, I can't decide what to do with all that extra money. 🙄 The cause Credit

Ugh! I'm sorry. I'm left handed and anytime they come at me with a needle for a shot or blood draw I always ask for it to be done in my right arm. You're right about the Covid booster not hurting. The only time I got a sore arm was the initial two vaccines - not boosters. Have a wonderful visit home. It will be bittersweet but it sounds like you'll enjoy being there with everyone and showing them around.

We should all come back to this thread in about two weeks and report on whether/how well it's working.

I just had to drop this here. We have AT&T for both our cell service and internet. It's obviously from yesterday but I didn't see it until right before I went to bed last night.