Psycho41 said:jayK said:zmre2b9 said:One time someone left a message in spanish and they transcribed the spanish properly too (suggests that they don't use india).Because people in India are incapable of learning foreign languages?

Of course they're capable, but it's unlikely. How many Mexicans and Spaniards do you think there are living in India?People other than Mexicans and Spaniards are capable of learning Spanish. After all, the US is not the only country where companies are outsourcing non-value-added jobs.

My company uses a multilingual call center based in India (English, Dutch, and German), we've had no problems. Of course, we did some research on the quality of the call center instead of just going with the lowest bidder.

Get a iRoomba robot vacuum cleaner (or similar item), get 45 minutes of your floor cleaning chores done.

Well past one month its working like a charm, in fact I really like the small rotating brush feature that cleans the edges of furniture and walls. Yea I noticed now I am spending 5 minutes after every clean to clean the brushes and wheels but overall for the money spent and time saved not personally cleaning the house would definitely recommend it.

DesiTechie said:gargamel51 said:JaneiR36 said:If you live in an apt complex and/or have one of those outside locked mailboxes for packages, use USPS rather than ups because the former will deposit the mail right at your home where you can pick it up whenever you want, whereas you have to drive to the UPS store when they're open to pick up mail shipped using UPS. One time this cost me about $10 more but it was totally worth it because I frequently come home well after dark and have no interest in rearranging my schedule just to receive a piece of mail.
It's the opposite for me. UPS drops packages at my door, USPS requires me to drive to the post office.

If the package requires signature, USPS and UPS both would not leave it at the door.
Also not true. I've sent packages via UPS explicitly requesting/paying for signature confirmation and they still left it with no signature.

Pet Feeder with synchronization for multiple pets: http://www.super-feed.com/
Litter Robot: http://www.litter-robot.com/
Roomba: http://www.roomba.com/ Edit: this worked better before pets. pet hair kinda messes it up.
Mint.com: http://www.mint.com/ and online banking
Self-cleaning Razor: http://www.consumer.philips.com/
At-Home Services (laundry pickup/dropoff, safeway.com)

Do not sign up for any credit card or mortgage that won't let you auto-debit.
Do not sign up for any bill that won't let you autopay. (Alas, I'm stuck with non-autopay utilities, trash, and property tax)
Do not do any mail-in-rebates or any promotions that require you to follow-up weeks/months later.
Pay for a gardener/house cleaners. Find a friend of a family that has earned their trust.
Do not do any home improvement yourself that requires you to buy tools you will only use once. There are no cost savings if you only use that wet tile cutter once.

Generally, you'll get a better ROI if you invest your time into your education or your job than you will if you invest your time into coupon clipping / AOR scheming. No knock on those who do that, but if you've got a choice between, say, working late to impress your boss or doing an AOR for a day, go with the first option.

rigor said:jayK said:vkva said:I am guessing you are asking why they made remote starting illegal: to discourage car theft.With my remote starter (Viper 550), the key must be in the ignition to switch the car out of park. If you remotely start the car and step on the brake (required to switch out of park) without putting the key in the ignition, the engine shuts down.

starting your car causes the MOST wear and POLLUTION on the planet. there is a RTFM here. When safe; you should always start your car for 30-60s in cold climates; ensure your windows are sufficiently safe to travel(duh); and then drive lightly. This means do not lug the car and do not rev it. Lay off the boost. This will warm up the engine the fastest possible and reduce pollutants in your oil (gas in oil is not a good lube).

We have these lovely things called heated seats and steering wheels; on decent cars they can reach full temp in less than a minute.

i'm not a tree hugger but hurting your car by letting it idle to warm-up is not the best intention.

I used to have the remote car starter and it was awesome. I didn't care about the environment at all then. Now that I've become a tree hugger and am obsessed with my gas mileage, I do think they should be illegal. Letting your car idle is horrendous for both the environment and your wallet.

bump

Not to mention 5 minutes of idling uses hardly any gas at all!

This thread is dead.

/me throws some more dirt on top.

Bill paying ahead. I have a bill at my apartment for water, sewage, and trash of about $20 month. It used to be by mail only. Then they started an online service but they charge several dollars just to use it. I calculated the costs, including stamps, and decided to pay ahead by mail as much as $60-$80. I save more on time, trouble and even stamps then I would keeping the money in a savings account. Thus, I write checks every 3-4 times a year rather than 12 times a year. I save on stamps, envelopes, checks, and time by doing this.

My wife and I save time by assigning our kids to do some work around the house:

Take out the garbage
Clean Bathrooms
Clean Bedrooms
Vacuum Bedrooms & common areas
Mow Lawn
Clean Baseboards & doors
Vacuum Car
Load & Clear dishes
Wipe counters & table
Sweep
Bring laundry to & from washer/dryer
Dusting/Polishing

It took about a month to get them to the point where we didn't have to clean after them and they could do a good job by themselves and now it's a timesaving breeze!

The best side effect is that my wife has more energy at the end of the day - after the kids go to bed.