Can we talk about paying for a pricing template that was basically useless?

I spent $40 on a 'freelance rate calculator' sheet from a big name online, but the numbers it gave me for my first logo job were so high I almost lost the gig... has anyone found a better way to get a starting point that doesn't scare off new customers?

I finally gave up on my old way of watering the lawn

For years I just ran the sprinkler for an hour every other evening, but my water bill in July hit $180 and the grass still looked patchy. I switched to a cheap timer from the hardware store and now water for 20 minutes at 5am, three days a week, and it's already greener. What's your watering schedule like for a healthy yard?

PSA: I finally figured out why my grocery bill was always so high

I was looking at my bank statement from three years ago and saw I was spending over $800 a month on food for just me. The tip-off was a single receipt from the store that had three different kinds of fancy cheese and a bag of pre-cut fruit. I realized I was buying a lot of small, expensive convenience items without even thinking about it. Now I make a list and stick to it, no more wandering the aisles. Anyone else catch themselves doing this and have a good way to stop?

Remember when you had to go to the library for a house plan?

I spent a whole Saturday in 2005 at the main branch pulling books to sketch a porch addition. Now I just scroll through a free app on my phone and find ten ideas before my coffee gets cold. What's the first project you did where the internet totally changed your process?

So I just spent 8 hours on a free 'consultation' for a guy who kept saying 'money's no object'

Reading a history book and found a fact that made me put it down

I was reading a biography of Louisa May Alcott last month and learned she wrote 'Little Women' in only six weeks. I found this in the book's introduction. It just seems impossible for such a classic novel. I always pictured authors taking years to write a book like that. Do you think a tight deadline helps or hurts a story's quality?

Why does nobody talk about how wrong I was about my miter saw fence?

For three years I just accepted the factory setting, but a guy in Omaha last month showed me his dead-on 90-degree test cut and my whole approach was off. Anyone have a good method for dialing that in besides just a square?

Can we talk about the week I had to replace 14 identical blown capacitors on a single production run of monitors

Every single unit from that batch had the same cheap 1000uF cap fail in the exact same way, which meant my whole Thursday was just the same 20-minute repair on repeat while the owner complained about the 'downtime'.

Update: My bean prep debate: dry for savings or canned for speed?

I started cooking dry beans to save money, but it takes forever compared to just opening a can. My buddy says the extra time is worth the cash saved, but my sister thinks time is too precious to spend on soaking and boiling. How do you balance time and cost in your kitchen?