Since starting LivingWithBeth almost three years ago, I’ve spent surprisingly little to keep it going, at least in terms of money. I’ve devoted many hours of my time, but my main monetary expenses have consisted of blog hosting fees and registering the domain, plus a subscription to Buffer for scheduling social media posts.
Last year was phenomenally successfully for LivingWithBeth.…
From the time LivingWithBeth.com was born, how-to posts have proven extremely popular. If you look at LivingWithBeth’s sidebar list of popular posts on any given day, you’ll likely see several posts that tell you how to do something or how to fix something.
For this post, I’ve put together a list of some of LivingWithBeth’s most popular help and how-to posts of all time.…
My husband bought me an Amazon Echo Dot for Christmas, and I LOVE it. The Echo Dot must have been a big hit for Christmas since it was sold out from Amazon well ahead of the big day.
Many of us have been using devices with built-in artificial intelligence (or AI for short) for years, particular in smartphones and tablets.…
I’ll bet plumbers make a lot of money from clogged toilets, but with some research and experience, I’ve discovered ways of fixing a clogged toilet that have always worked so far, with no plumber calls needed.
For these toilet hacks, you’ll need a good plunger, some shampoo or other sudsy liquid soap, a small bucket and a toilet cleaning brush.
How about you?…
Amazon’s Alexa technology is simply amazing. You can use Alexa-enabled devices such as the Amazon Echo and Amazon Echo Dot for a number of fun and educational purposes.
Grown-ups aren’t the only ones who can enjoy Alexa, though. Kids love Alexa, and here’s a list of fun and educational things kids can ask Alexa. They include kid-friendly music, plus learning and even homework help.…
You’ve probably already heard about that little girl who used her parents’ Alexa-enabled device to order toys and cookies. Personally, I wonder how the parents didn’t notice the email order confirmations from Amazon.
Amazon always sends emails when someone places an order on your account. There’s a big yellow button in each email that says “View or Manage Order.” If you act quickly, you should be able to cancel an unwanted delivery.…
Five years ago, I’d have never thought that I’d write about vacuum repair, or fixing anything other than computers, for that matter.
For some reason, I spent most of my life not knowing that I could actually fix household appliances and perform other household DIY tasks on my own. Since learning otherwise, I’ve fixed my squeaky dryer, repaired my own dishwasher, fixed a stripped door hinge screw, repainted my front porch and back deck and more.…
When I asked for an Amazon Echo Dot for Christmas, I thought it seemed like a cool thing for a geek like me to have. I didn’t know that much about it, but soon after I set it up, I was blown away with what Alexa can do.
Alexa’s basic commands are pretty straightforward. For help, say “Alexa, help.” To stop, say “Alexa, stop.” To mute or unmute, “Alexa, mute” or “Alexa, unmute.” Alexa will even change the volume by command instead of using the buttons – “Alexa, louder,” “Alexa, set volume to 3,” or “Alexa, turn down the volume.”
Amazon has also added the ability to change Echo’s “wake word” in the Alexa app, so you can pretend you’re in Star Trek and say “Computer” instead of “Alexa.”
Alexa offers a bunch of smart home commands that I won’t cover here since I don’t have smart home devices to control with Alexa.…
It seemed to start when my beloved cat Mimi passed away on Christmas Eve 2015, and I wrote a post about her called 10 Life Lessons From an Amazing Gray Cat. The Mimi post went viral, at least by my definition at the time.
Views of that particular post faded quickly, but traffic to other posts, new and old, surged way beyond my expectations.…
Many of us have way too much stuff. Until we start cleaning out closets and the garage, attic or basement, we might not even realize just what we have that we’re no longer using.
For the past few weeks, I’ve been cleaning out my closets and garage to get rid of everything I possibly can. I’ve made so much money from this endeavor that I effectively get paid for cleaning out drawers, closets and other storage space.…