Good Advice from the Interwebs

So you think the Internet is just for misdiagnosing your kid’s runny nose, finding a substitute for rice vinegar, or mapping the best route to Costco? Wrong. We all know it’s for email, Facebook, celebrity gossip, and Pinterest! (Which I have not gotten into yet but will. Someday.)

But seriously. There’s a reason I rarely have fewer than 6 browser tabs open at any given time. It’s because the Internet is a treasure trove of useful info on a huge variety of topics. You do a Google search, scroll through your Twitter feed, and before you know it, you’ve clicked on a half-dozen interesting links. Of course, sometimes it’s pictures of a cat that looks like Anderson Cooper. But other times, you can stumble across great advice on such topics as:

How to Spend Less. On Baby Products and Everything Else. I love this site. I love that she freely gives advice on what to buy, and what NOT to buy, along with reviews, coupon codes, and deal alerts. And I totally took her advice on the “cooling off period” before making a purchase. I was about to buy something because it was 70% off and I just had to snap it up that second, but then I waited and found something else I liked even better that was 1/3 the price.

How to Deal with Naysayers. We ALL know someone like this – whether it’s a boss, a frenemy, or your mother-in-law (not mine!). “That one person who makes it his or her personal mission to tear the people around them down. Whether it’s a comment about your clothes, your hair, a new job or accomplishment; to the naysayer, something will always be either off or outright incredulous about your life. These comments could be overtly critical, but most times they’re just subtle enough of a dig to make you doubt yourself without seeming directly rude on their part.” There’s some good advice in this post. Read it, then go listen to Taylor Swift’s song, “Mean.” Take that, haters!

25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing. WARNING: The language is a little, um, “salty.” But the advice from this novelist and screenwriter is spot-on.

Why I Haven’t Made a Dime From My Blog—and How You Can. If that’s the sort of thing you want to do, here are 6 specific ways to get started. Helpful, no?

And last but not least* is this tutorial on How to Wash a Pillow Pet. Kids’ bedding that is not machine washable? Are you kidding me?! My husband likes to call them “Petri Pets.” Needless to say, we have had to wash ours more than once. And thanks to these tips, they’re still intact. BTW, my 5yo’s penguin is named Penguino and my 2yo’s dog is named Chick-fil-A. He named it himself.

So how about you, readers? Any great advice you’ve found online?

*LAUGH O’ THE DAY: Miles is learning about patterns and sequences in kindergarten. He informed me that the second-to-last item in a series is called the “least.” …Oh, I get it now.