I’ve gotten a number of questions about the tools I use for everything from cooking to investing.
I’m happy to share my favorites, and I’ll keep updating this page as I discover more.
You’ll find a mix of free resources (who doesn’t love free!) and cheap and not-so-cheap items. I believe that part of spending your money wisely is knowing when to invest in high-quality, durable products with good warranties. I’ve listed the ones that have been worth it to me.
(This page is a work in progress. I’ll keep adding more resources.)
Kitchen essentials
Vitamix blender
You’ve probably already heard how powerful these blenders are. It’s true! I never want to go back to a regular blender that leaves little chunks of stuff in my smoothie. I wavered between Vitamix and a Blendtec. A sale decided the matter, but judging from friends’ experiences, I would have been happy either way. My only gripe: the container is too tall to clean easily, so next time I’d opt for the low profile container.
Blender spatula
This is about as single-purpose as a gadget gets, but it makes cleanup of the tall Vitamix container a lot easier. It does help with scraping out large peanut butter jars, too.
Instant Pot
I love my IPs so much, I have two of them: a 6-quart and an 8-quart. I’ve experimented a bunch with cooking different foods with them, and I’ve found this to be true: Just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you should. For the most part, I still prefer my cakes from the oven, thank you very much.
My favorite applications for the IP: bone broth, soups and stews, legumes, cooking meat straight from the freezer, steamed broccoli, easy-to-peel hardboiled eggs, yogurt.
Personal Finance
Lots of free money to be had here! Read on…
Personal Capital
I love seeing all our accounts and investments in one place. Personal Capital is my favorite net worth tracker, and it’s free! (They will try to upsell you on their services, but it’s easy to say no. I get too much value out of the free tracking tools to mind.) Click here to try it out (link at least one investment account) and we’ll each get $20.
Ebates
Among the many cashback sites for online shopping, this is one of my favorites. Add the extension to your browser and get alerted immediately if cashback is available for websites you visit. If you choose to activate Ebates for that site, it automatically tries out currently active coupons, too. Free money for shopping you’d do anyway – what’s not to love? Try it here and get a $10 bonus after you spend $25+ on your first purchase.
TopCashback
Another great cashback site, same idea as Ebates. I usually compare to see which one has the better cashback % at a given time. Check it out here.
Blogging
One of the best investments I’ve made in my blog so far has been joining Blogger U. Pete McPherson offers a host of helpful courses and course bundles, as well as a fun and supportive blogging community.
Here’s his free, definitive guide on how to start a blog.
KeySearch is my go-to keyword tool. I love the rank tracking option, competitor analysis suite, and many other great features. Worth every penny. Save 20% by clicking this link and using discount code KSDISC.