TIL my old phone can still save me money

I dusted off my ancient smartphone to use as a dedicated grocery list and coupon scanner, and it somehow made me spend $30 less this week just by being slow and annoying to use. Has anyone else found a weird trick that forces you to stick to your budget?

Changed my mind about using a laser level for every plank

I was laying a wide plank oak floor in a big living room in Springfield last month, about 800 square feet. I started each row with my laser level, thinking it was the only way to keep things perfect. Halfway through, I hit a wall that was out of square by almost an inch over 20 feet. The laser line was now making the planks run into the wall at a bad angle. I shut the laser off, snapped a chalk line off the longest straight wall instead, and just followed that. The floor went in way faster and the gap at the problem wall looked planned. Anyone else run into a wall that just won't cooperate and have to ditch their usual setup?

I finally got the last plank to fit on a herringbone job that took me three days to figure out

Just wasted 4 hours on a weird power cycling issue in a Dell OptiPlex 3080

Client brought it in saying it would turn on for 3 seconds then die. I swapped the PSU, RAM, even the CMOS battery. Turns out it was a single bent pin on the front panel power button connector from the case. Had to pull the whole mobo to see it. Anyone else had a simple hardware fault eat up a whole morning?

Showerthought: My old voltage tester nearly got me zapped on a Reno job last month

It failed to detect a live neutral on a 240V dryer circuit because the internal fuse was blown, which I only found after a second check with my meter. Anyone have a favorite brand for a reliable non-contact tester that won't ghost you like that?

Spent $40 on a fancy fermentation weight set and it was a complete waste

I got a set of glass weights that were supposed to fit my wide-mouth jars perfectly. They were too small and kept sliding sideways, letting my kraut float up. After two batches got moldy, I went back to using a ziploc bag filled with brine, which costs maybe a penny. The weights are now sitting in a drawer. Has anyone else had better luck with a specific brand or style of weight that actually stays put?