Project Gutenberg is well-known as a volunteer-driven, non-profit project that digitizes free public-domain books, mostly those whose copyright has expired. However, their eBooks were often uncomfortable to read as plain text. Standard eBooks took the most popular ones and improved the typography and device-specific formatting, such that they look as modern as other retail eBooks.

The Project Gutenberg Open Audiobook Collection is a new collaboration between Project Gutenberg, Microsoft AI, and MIT to create audiobooks with natural-sounding speech using neural text-to-speech technology. I wouldn’t say it perfectly matches that of a trained voice actor, but it is certainly a huge improvement over the old robotic voice. I recently read Call of the Wild by Jack London as it was on my kid’s summer reading list, and you can compare the different versions yourself.

• Call of the Wild (original .mp3)
• Call of the Wild (Microsoft AI-generated .mp3)
• Call of the Wild (Gutenberg.org eBook files)
• Call of the Wild (Standard eBooks version)

Here is the current full list of available audiobooks. You can also find them on Google Podcats, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. This makes it much easier to listen to classic books during your commute and also for the visually-impaired.

For some title ideas, check out this list of the most downloaded Project Gutenburg eBooks. Here are the top 10 right now:

• Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley
• Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
• The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
• The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• A Doll’s House : a play by Henrik Ibsen
• Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Updated 2023. You can save hundreds of dollars per year by shopping around and using a lesser-known plan. Every major network sells wholesale minutes and data to MVNOs (Mobile Network Virtual Operators), which they in turn sell at a significant discount to individuals. Most recently, the major networks themselves have either entered the game and/or bought out competitors. You can now get “unlimited” data for just $25 a month on most networks.

The drawbacks are that the customer service may be more lean, and the data speeds may be slower as the MVNO data is usually at a lower prioritization than if you had a direct plan. If you’re at a Taylor Swift concert, the MVNO plan users will be the ones with slow uploads to TikTok. But once I was set up, it was pretty smooth sailing and worth the savings given my needs (I also can’t afford to go to Taylor Swift concerts).

This list includes unlimited talk and text plans that include 5G and 4G LTE data. Many of these advertise “unlimited data”, which actually means they throttle speeds down the 128 kbps (2G) after your LTE allotment runs out. Here are the best options by network below (Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile). I sort by network because that usually makes it easier to Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), though every MVNO will have a form where you can check compatibility via your phone’s specific identification number (IMEI or MEID).

Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links where available. If you make a purchase through the links below, I may be compensated.

T-Mobile Network – T-Mobile Network Color: Hot Pink

• Unlimited Talk & Text + 5 GB 5G/LTE Data. Mint Mobile has an unlimited talk, text, and 5 GB 5G/LTE data plan from $15 per month. Their intro offer is 3 months at $15 per month for all plans. After that, you’ll have to buy 12 months of airtime upfront to get the $15 per month price. After your 5G/LTE data runs out, you still get data included at slower 2G data speeds until your month resets. 15 GB for $20/month ($240/yr), or 40 GB for $30/month.
• Less value, but direct from T-Mobile. T-Mobile Connect has an unlimited talk, text, and 1 GB data plan for $10 a month. 3.5 GB for $15/mo. 6.5 GB for $25/mo.
• Unlimited Talk & Text + “Unlimited” 5G/LTE Data (30 GB full speed). Boost Infinite offers unlimited talk, text, and “unlimited” data for $25 a month + taxes. 30 GB of high speed data before “lower speeds”. Use all 30GB as mobile hotspot for additional $10/mo.

Note: I personally use Mint Mobile – see my Mint Mobile review for tips and details based on my experiences.

AT&T Network – AT&T Network Color: Blue

• Unlimited Talk & Text + 1 GB 5G/LTE Data. Boost Mobile offers unlimited talk, text, and 1 GB data for $8.33 a month. To find this plan option, you must click on “12 months” on the Plans page. You must prepay $100 + taxes/fees upfront for 12 months of service. After your 5G/LTE data runs out, you still get data included at slower 2G data speeds until your month resets. You can choose the AT&T network (GSMA) when you sign up. You can also upgrade to 15 GB of data for $20/month ($240/yr).
• Unlimited Talk & Text + “Unlimited” Data (16 GB full speed). AT&T Prepaid offers unlimited talk, text, and “unlimited” data for $25 a month. You must prepay $300 + taxes/fees upfront for 12 months of service. After 16GB of data each month, speeds are slowed to max 1.5 Mbps for the month… 16GB is a relatively low cap for “unlimited” data.

Verizon Network – Verizon Network Color: Red

• Unlimited Talk & Text + 2 GB 5G/LTE Data. Twigby runs on the Verizon network and offers unlimited talk, text, and 2 GB data for $15 a month (Intro offer is $5/mo for 3 months). 5 GB for $20 a month (Intro offer is $10/mo for 3 months).
• Unlimited Talk & Text + Unlimited 5G/LTE Data. Visible Wireless has an unlimited talk and text plan with unlimited 5G/LTE data that recently dropped their pricing to a flat $25 per month, tax and fees included, no annual prepayment required. Data speed will be lower (5-12 Mbps for LTE) compared to Visible+ plan. No group buy required. Visible is owned by Verizon. Unlimited hotspot included (5 Mbps cap). Ability to add a smartwatch Apple Watch for $5/mo.

The Groupon deal for a new Costco Gold Star Membership is back, where for the regular price of $60 you can get the following:

• 1-year Gold Star membership ($60 normally by itself)
• Membership card for the Primary Cardholder and one additional Household Card for anyone living at the same address, over the age of 16.
• $45 Digital Costco gift card (valid at Costco locations and Costco.com)
• $40 off $250 order (before tax and shipping) on Costco.com. Expires October 31, 2023.
• $100 Travel coupon. Promo Code to receive a $100 Digital Costco Shop Card with the purchase of a vacation package of $2,500 or more with Costco Travel. Valid for travel through 4/30/24, book by 10/31/23.

Valid only for new members and those whose memberships (Primary and Household) expired prior to March 31, 2023. Automatically comes with auto-renewal of the Costco membership using a Visa® credit or debit card. However, auto-renewal can be turned off at any time by logging into your account online.

Save even more on your Groupon with a cashback shopping portal. Many offer new customers bonuses if you make a qualifying purchase, including Rakuten (formerly eBates) ($30 bonus), TopCashBack (varies), and BeFrugal ($10 bonus). I have cashed out of all of these in the last 12 months.

Consumer Reports compared several name brand products against generic store brands to see which private label products get the closest to the name brand for the lowest cost. I have never found any other ketchup that tastes like Heinz, but I could be probably be persuaded for other things. (Actually, I have found Whole Foods’ generic “healthy” versions of popular cereals to be pretty bad as well.)

They also bought a range of products from each store and calculated the overall savings you’d get as compared to name-brand products (on a per serving basis). Costco, Aldi, and Walmart are clearly at the top. I personally think Costco has the best quality store-brand stuff, although you usually have to buy a lot of it. I don’t have much experience with Aldi. I’d also have thought Whole Foods 365 would be better than just a 5% savings, but I suppose it just seems cheaper next to the regular price stuff at Whole Foods. 💰

After a delay of two years, my family finally used up our flight credits and stash of hotel points to travel internationally to Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia for some snow-filled fun. I was a bit worried about how well my “budget” cellular service Mint Mobile would work in Canada. (I’ve used them for years now to keep my monthly bill under $20 a month – see my Mint Mobile review.) Hopefully this information along with my personal experiences will be helpful to other cost-conscious travelers.

Mint Mobile has an international roaming page with some basic “official” information:

• You can add prepaid funds to your international roaming balance in $5, $10 or $20 increments. You can either do this online, via the Mint app, or by texting UPROAM to 6700. You should probably do this in advance, as you need internet access or cell service in the first place.
• For Canada, the rates are: 6 cents per minute voice, 2 cents per SMS text, and 6 cents per MB of data. This means 1 GB of data costs $60!
• You can check your balance by texting ROAM to 6700.
• Note: While in the US, you can make free voice calls from the US to Canada and Mexico. Handy for trip planning!

Additional tips to activate voice and data roaming on your phone. Mint says the above is all you need, but I dug up following additional steps to try after reading about user difficulties on the Reddit forum which seemed to make sense (i.e. make sure you enable cellular voice network roaming and cellular data roaming). I did all this upfront and both voice calls and texts worked fine for me, but I’m not sure if it was critical. Try the following on your phone:

– Before leaving the US, enable airplane mode.
– Once you arrive at your destination’s, disable airplane mode.
– Dial (#766#) from your phone’s keypad to activate roaming.
– Activate roaming and data roaming on your device.

No data? Check your APN settings. Again, my cellular data roaming worked fine without changing my APN settings, but if it doesn’t for you, changing them to one of the settings either at Mint Mobile (try the Android settings even if you have an iPhone) or Ultra Mobile (same owner) has worked for other users. I might even print these out beforehand, or copy them onto an offline doc on your phone. After changing your APN settings, you may be allowed to pick a specific local network provider in Canada like TELUS.

Tips to minimize costs. Due to the high cost of cellular data, we pretended we were back in 2010.

• Cellular coverage was quite adequate in Vancouver and Whistler, BC. My wife and I communicated primarily by SMS text message. At 2 cents each, it was very efficient and economical. We did have a few voice calls when text was too cumbersome.
• We turned off cellular data for 95% of the time, only really using it when we needed Uber/Lyft or additional Google Maps guidance.
• When cellular data was turned on, it was on “Low Data” mode to prevent too much automatic background usage.
• We did all our iMessage, emails, and other activities when we were back on hotel WiFi, free restaurant/coffee shop WiFi, or other free public/airport WiFi.
• While on WiFi, we also downloaded offline maps onto the Google Maps app for all the areas we knew we’d be going. GPS worked fine using offline maps. We also *gasp* used physical maps too! Felt strange.

Before we left, we loaded $20 each ($40 total) to our Mint international roaming balance. After about 10 days of running around Canada, we ended up using about $10 each ($20 total). The balance supposedly never expires, so we can use the rest later. Overall, I felt it was a very reasonable price for the flexibility provided. Again, some other users do report having trouble with initially connecting to cellular data in Canada, but we had no such issues. Hopefully, with all the troubleshooting tips above, you can also use Mint Mobile while on a short trip to Canada.

Here are a few of my favorite things, sorted roughly with the most recent purchases on top. I enjoy reading about other folks’ favorite things much more than those generic gift guides. These are my answer to the question “If all your possessions disappeared, which high-quality things would you buy again?” If something comes to mind, that means the price was worth and you probably use it all the time. (Note: If you are reading this in an email/RSS reader, I am not allowed to include any Amazon affiliate links in e-mails, so they have been removed. Please click on the post title above to view the links in a browser. Thanks!)

High-quality, AA/14500 LED Pocket flashlight – $20

I am not a flashlight geek, but I have been slowly accumulating these little, powerful flashlights. I used to love those hefty Maglite flashlights, but the 4 D-cell version only put out 151 lumens, with even the baton-like 6 D-cell version putting out 178 lumens. This Lumintop pocket flashlight puts out 270 lumens with a single AA battery and up to a 650 lumens with a 14500 Li-ion battery (you can swap them out as they are the same size). It costs a little under $20 and there are other high-quality brands out there, but I think $20 is a good price point. (For under $30 you get a rechargeable 14500 w/ built-in charging port included.) I don’t want to depend on a low-quality $2 LED flashlight in an emergency situation. I use this multiple times a day – when taking out the dog, looking for lost toys underneath furniture, and so on.

Lodge Enameled Cast Iron Skillet – $80

Confession time… after writing many compliments to my Lodge cast-iron skillet, but it’s now a rusty mess. We used it 3x as much during 2020/2021, but despite a couple of re-seasoning stints in the oven, eventually our sub-par maintenance willpower got the better of us. We started using our Le Creuset and Staub enameled cast-iron pots as a substitute, and eventually decided we wanted something the shape of our old black skillet, but with the enamel finish. This lodge “casserole dish” works perfectly in that regard, as it can go on the stove and straight to the oven. (We love one-dish dinners.) For about $80, we can finally use dish soap on this daily driver.

Dyson V8/V10/V11 Cordless Stick Vacuum – $300+

We have owned one of the earlier heavy-duty, corded Dyson vacuums for over 10 years now and it has worked wonderfully. I had been eyeing these cordless versions for a while, but finally bought one when I saw refurbished ones at a discount at the Dyson Official eBay Store. Although refurbished, it came well-packaged directly from Dyson and I could not tell that it wasn’t brand new. This thing lives in our kitchen/dining area and the convenience and power is amazing, much to our dog’s dismay. I don’t know all off the differences between all the flavors; I bought the V10 because it was powerful while only a bit more expensive than the V8 at that time, but the pricing and inventory varies.

Thermapen food thermometer by Thermoworks – $80 to $100

There are many imitators, but as someone who has wasted money buying cheaper stuff, the frequent home cook should just go straight to Thermworks.com. They don’t sell anywhere on Amazon, so don’t look there. Thermoworks has clearly thought obsessively about how to make a precise, reliable, easy-to-use food thermometer. I expect it to last 10 years easy. It turns on when you need it, it turns off when you don’t, and simply feels high quality. It just makes home cooking easier and more foolproof. I have the classic Thermapen, which apparently was so good that they still sell it (at nearly zero discount) despite creating this newer improved version. However, I also suspect that most people (including myself) could get away with the $35 Thermopop.

Osprey Packs Farpoint 40 Travel Backpack – $160

After doing a lot of research on travel/hiking backpacks, I went with an Osprey Pack. They have an All Mighty Guarantee that will repair any damage for any reason free of charge, no matter when you bought it. So far, I have not been disappointed. Quality materials and construction. Just wish I could have used it more… it still looks far too new!

Zeroll Original Ice Cream Scoop – $20

If you walk into an ice cream parlor, this is probably the brand that they use. Once you try it, you will wonder why all the other ice cream scoops in the world are so bad in comparison. Made of aluminum plus a conductive fluid inside that makes it easier to get through rock-hard ice cream. It creates the perfect ball shape for placing on cones. The 2-ounce size makes a small/medium scoop (good for kids) but other sizes are available. We go though a lot of ice cream in my house. Aluminum won’t rust and there are no moving parts, so it should last forever. Why not own the best ice cream scoop in the world for $20?

Patagonia Houdini Jacket – Men’s and Women’s – $100

This ultra-lightweight jacket (3.4-3.7 oz) packs into it’s own chest pocket (so there’s no extra bag to lose). This means you can throw it anywhere, from your cargo shorts pocket to your purse to your travel carry-on. It’s good for wind and light rain (not fully waterproof though) and just those times when you’re a bit chilly. It’s relatively expensive but the quality is high and it has traveled with me everywhere for several years.

Darn Tough Full Cushion Wool Socks – Men’s and Women’s – $25+

You wouldn’t think socks would come with an unconditional lifetime warranty, but they do from Darn Tough. If you wear a a hole in them a decade later, they will still replace them for free. Made in Vermont and comes in different thicknesses for use in both the heat and cold. High-quality wool keeps your feet dry and comfortable (and doesn’t stink). I also have decent wool socks from Costco, but I always pick these first. These are pricey, but I am slowly collecting them as part of my minimalist wardrobe.

KitchenAid Artisan 5-Quart Stand Mixer – $400

This was bought shortly after we got married, and we’ve been using it regularly without any issues for now 15 years. We use it to beat eggs and knead dough for pizza, pasta, cookies, and bread. It’s got some “character” now (dings and scratches), but is definitely something where the cost is amortized over decades.

Wusthof Classic/Gourmet Knives – 16-pc set for $450

These were on our wedding registry. I was amazed someone actually bought them at the time, but we proceeded to use them nearly every day for over 15 years! (Yup, I’m old.) They have been professionally sharpened a couple of times (less often than recommended), but they still work perfectly with no chips or rust spots. I bought a $40 Asian cleaver from a shop in Chinatown a couple years ago, and it only lasted a few months before large rust spots appeared. My mom told me I didn’t treat it right. Probably. I told her I’d rather spend $100 on a knife and have it last decades even after not treating it right. So I bought this Henckels version and never regretted it. Good knives are worth it.

Time magazine has announced their Best Inventions of 2021. In addition to offering a hopeful look at the future each year (which we can all use these days), I always find a few useful products and services that can save you money and/or effort as compared to the traditional option. Warning: The annoying thing is that every individual item with short description counts as an “article” against their paywall limit. Here are a few potentially-useful inventions that caught my eye:

Capitalize – Easy 401(k) Rollovers (Are they really that hard?)

Millennials change jobs often, and when they do, many neglect to bring along their 401(k)s, put off by the hassle of long phone queues and locating obscure documents. […] Simply enter the names of former employers or retirement-account providers, and Capitalize does the rest—unearthing accounts, handling paperwork and suggesting IRAs where old money can make new gains.

Realm – Optimize Home Remodels (for property value, not personal enjoyment)

Homeowners often struggle to decide which upgrades will offer the biggest property-value boost. Realm helps out by analyzing real estate, tax, zoning and other data to offer recommendations—assessing the impact of different designs, materials and financing options to calculate the return on, say, a kitchen renovation.

Amira and the StoryCraft – AI Reading Tutor App (1-on-1 tutoring is not affordable for everyone)

Research shows that the best remedy for reading disorders is early intervention. Unfortunately, there are not nearly enough teachers and tutors for one-on-one instruction. Amira and the StoryCraft was developed to help. Using speech-recognition software, the app ($7.99) listens to students read aloud, pausing when a child stalls or makes a mistake on a word. Then, the app teaches them how the word is pronounced. A Carnegie Mellon University study found that students using the software for 20 minutes posted twice the gains as those using traditional methods.

JetKids BedBox – Convert airplane seat to bed for small kids 3-7

It costs $199 but if my kids would have reliably fallen asleep on it, I’d have bought it for sure… Approved my many major airlines including American, Delta, Southwest and actually sold by others like Cathay and Singapore. (I did notice that United is not on their approved list.)

OXO Spoon Rest with Lid Holder

I like the overall quality of OXO products (their tongs have lasted forever compared to cheaper alternatives) and while this invention won’t change the world, it does solve a problem with my drippy lids resting on random things in my kitchen. *clicks “Add to Wish List”*