Tag: ‘hacks’
I built my own tiny home out of a tricked-out Greyhound bus – my decluttering hacks made it feel so roomy inside
A HOMEOWNER has revealed how she transformed a worn out Greyhound bus into a tiny house – using a few simple tricks to make it more roomy.
Brenda Mason Parmelee created her miniature traveling home of dreams after living in a mansion.
Tiny homeowner Brenda Mason Parmelee said decluttering was the key to converting a Greyhound bus into her miniature house[/caption]
The space inside the Greyhound was close to the size of the walk-in closet in Brenda’s former living space[/caption]
The author and speaker wanted to free herself from the financial pressures of modern life and adjusted her space accordingly.
Speaking to The U.S. Sun, she urged anyone looking to start their tiny home journey to first get rid of unneeded items.
“For me, it’s the foundational steps of decluttering,” Brenda explained.
“If you know you want to go to a bus or a van, if you kind of know the size that you’re going to, that’s what you’re going to be downsizing toward.”
Brenda, who shares her tips in a 31-day guide, continued that “figuring out resources” and discovering what you don’t need is a big step, as it was for her Greyhound bus project in Virginia.
Items could be sold at an estate sale or through other avenues to help get extra cash amidst the downsizing process.
“I knew I was going to the bus,” the tiny home owner explained.
She added that the walk-in closet at her former home was as big or bigger than how much space she would have in the Greyhound, so it provided a template for what she needed moving forward.
“I didn’t need to have 20 pairs of jeans,” Brenda explained.
“I could have three pairs of jeans…and I had a coat that could handle like a light, breezy day that would also go to freezing temperatures, so I wanted items that would serve me for the one function — and that saves space a lot.”
Brenda said moving to the Greyhound bus, therefore, gave her perspective on the essential clothing items required for the space.
“I was coming into a different lifestyle,” the tiny homeowner told The U.S. Sun.
As to why she made that seemingly drastic lifestyle change, Brenda said that the tiny mobile house offered her less stress regarding money along with the ease of keeping a small space clean more often.
“I wanted financial freedom, I wanted to be able to breathe and just have space around me,” she explained.
“I didn’t want to spend all of my time in America — in America, we tend to clean and dust — I could go through my entire house and have it spick and span in 15 minutes, leave to go travel or do whatever, and when I came back home, it’s like walking into a model home.”
The builder continued: “I always dreamed of that.
“People have paid an awful lot of money on rent and on a mortgage, and for 30 years or 45, and then they refinance, and I didn’t want all of my money going to that.”
“I wanted to be able to buy the groceries I wanted to buy, I wanted to travel — but I still wanted a home base,” Brenda noted.
I didn’t want to spend all of my time in America — in America, we tend to clean and dust — I could go through my entire house and have it spick and span in 15 minutes, leave to go travel or do whatever, and when I came back home, it’s like walking into a model home.
Brenda Mason Parmelee
Not to mention, that home base was only recently moved from Utah to Virginia, according to the tiny homeowner, which is roughly a 32-hour drive, spanning over 2,000 miles.
She explained that if she were moving from her mansion to another larger house, it could cost her up to $30,000.
At the time, she was only getting checks for around $700 per month as guaranteed income, which negated similar high costs.
“It was a very small pension that I knew I had,” she said.
The author and speaker also wasn’t working and had no desire to do so to pursue other passions.
“I didn’t want to have to work to put a roof over my head and still not have money to do anything else,” Brenda told The U.S. Sun.
Growing up as an only child, Brenda said she also was inclined to feel as though she didn’t need to have a lot of material items with her anyways, which only drew her closer to a tiny home and focus on making money to live the way she desired.
However, the Greyhound bus still needed utilities and other accessories to function like a house.
For those necessities, Brenda says she mostly uses solar panels and brings her own water that she brings to the Greyhound.
Solar provides most of what she needs, but she still recommends that people have more than one power source just in case.
When utilities are covered, lastly, ensuring that your tiny home is in the right location for what you desire is crucial, according to Brenda.
“You need to look and see, and you can’t just say, ‘Virginia or Florida,’ each county has its own zoning rules,” the author and speaker explained.
“You have to really pay attention to codes.”
In the Greyhound, because it can appear to act as an RV, Brenda says she “flies under the radar” at times.
Despite the benefits, the tiny homeowner still received judgment over her lifestyle change.
“People used to think I was nuts,” she said of her pursuits.
“But at the same time, they were envious of the lifestyle… I don’t have another 20 years of mortgage payment left.”
“Yeah, it’s a big deal right now, a lot of people are living under the radar or smack out in front letting everybody know,” Brenda said.
For more related content, check out The U.S. Sun’s coverage of a builder who crafter a tiny home for under $2,000.
The U.S. Sun also has the exclusive story of a tiny home builder who makes affordable housing for others after living in a shipping container with over 20 people.
Brenda trekked in the Greyhound across the United States from Utah to Virginia[/caption]
The downsizing was a major lifestyle change, according to the tiny homeowner, but it allowed her to be wherever she wanted[/caption]
Using mostly solar power, Brenda is able to maintain a nearly full kitchen[/caption]
She also has plenty of space for a bedroom, despite the entire Greyhound’s floor space being the size of the walk-in closet in her former Utah mansion[/caption]
Microsoft Paint hacks take it a step closer to being Photoshop
: ‘I’m flying first class most of the time’: 5 travel hacks to beat the summer crowds and high prices
What We Can Learn from the Ongoing YouTube Channel Hacks
Cryptocurrency scammers regularly impersonate public figures on social media. It’s an easy trick; change your name to Joe Rogan, open a sweepstakes or investment opportunity, and run off with the cash. But if you want to make a killing on crypto scams, you need to hack someone’s account.
Read This Article on Review Geek ›
Feds arrest alleged BreachForums owner linked to FBI hacks
The FBI has arrested the person allegedly in charge of the BreachForums online hacking community, as reported earlier by Krebs on Security and Bleeping Computer. Conor Brian Fitzpatrick, also known online as “Pompompurin,” was arrested at his New York home on Wednesday and charged with conspiracy to commit access device fraud, according to a pair of court filings.
In a sworn statement, the FBI agent involved in the case claims Fitzpatrick admitted to owning BreachForums at the time of his arrest and identified himself as Pompompurin. Pompompurin created BreachForums after the FBI seized RaidForums, a similar hacking site that also sold leaked information.
The hacker is implicated in a number of breaches, with many of them targeting the…
Police take down ChipMixer service tied to stolen crypto from FTX, Axie Infinity hacks
ChipMixer, a cryptocurrency mixing service with ties to the hacks targeting FTX and Axie Infinity, has been pulled offline by the FBI, Europol, and other international authorities. In a press release published Wednesday, the Justice Department says authorities seized $46 million worth of cryptocurrency along with the service’s domains and GitHub account.
Crypto mixing services like ChipMixer make it more difficult for third parties, such as law enforcement, to trace crypto transactions, as they funnel different payments into a single pool of crypto before splitting up each amount and sending them to designated recipients. According to law enforcement, unlike crypto services registered to operate in the US, it naturally didn’t collect…
I’m a server – I tried three different TikTok hacks at once and got $207 in tips in a single night
WORKING in the service industry can be a tiring, thankless endeavor.
One server said she’s relying on viral hacks from TikTok to increase her income, and so far, it’s working wonders.
The savvy server, whose name is Chelsea (@champagnemamichels), credited other food industry influencers for a particularly good night.
In a video, she revealed the result of her campaign for more gratuities.
She asked viewers to imagine themselves in her position for the duration of the clip.
“POV: You’re a server and you used TikTok tips to make more money,” she wrote in the caption.
Chelsea recorded herself getting ready for a shift, then reapplying her beauty products throughout the evening.
First, she twirled her hair into “space buns” – two loose spirals positioned at the backside of her head – and secured one at either side.
Then, she applied a plumping lip gloss, giving her pout an extra boost.
Her final trick was to spritz her pressure points with perfume, so she’d cast a lovely scent everywhere she went all evening.
The fragrance Chelsea picked was Very Good Girl by Carolina Herrera, $119, a mixture of vanilla and berries that would have any customer craving another drink.
At the end of the evening, Chelsea counted her tips on camera. She was satisfied with her take-home pay.
She paired a celebratory emoji with the caption, “$207 for just the night shift.”
In the video description, she theorized that one hack in particular was to thank for her increased tips.
“The space buns worked,” the victorious server wrote.
Chelsea’s fans were quick to compliment her ingenuity and her beauty.
One insisted she earned those tips with her good looks, comparing her beautiful smile to Drew Barrymore’s.
Another commenter agreed and said, “Being absolutely gorgeous probably helps too.”
“You’re too sweet. Thank you, gorgeous,” Chelsea wrote in response.
She stayed humble and waved off any compliments. “Mine is the makeup,” she insisted.
Another server said she also used the lip plumper to get more tips, and had good luck with a pheromone-based fragrance, too.
“I’m ordering the pheromone oil,” Chelsea commented back.
Meta hacks 30% off the price of its Meta Quest Pro VR headset
VR is about to become slightly more affordable as of March 5, says Meta. The company will drop the retail price of its 256 GB Meta Quest 2 headset by $70, from $499.99 to $429.99. And the Meta Quest Pro headset will take an even more significant dive — around 33 percent — from $1,499.99 to $999.99.
That means there will be only $30 separating the price of a 128GB Meta Quest 2 ($399) and a 256 GB one ($429.99 as of March 5). So I am left scratching my head a bit. It seem like Meta wants to make the 256 GB model too good of a deal to pass up. Do they plan to sell any 128GB models at all this year?
Meta explained the cuts in an email to Mashable by noting “We’ve learned a lot of lessons about price elasticity and as a company we’ve adapted quickly,” and adding that “being nimble and flexible enough to update plans over time is a critical part of building good products.”
But these kind of drastic pricing updates are also an indication of just how inchoate the VR industry remains. Less than a year ago, in July 2022, Meta hiked up the price of both the 128 GB and 256 GB models of their Quest 2 headset by $100 each.
And while the Meta Quest Pro is visually impressive, its value within the market is still unclear. When Meta released the device in October 2022, it marketed the headset as the future of work. The company says cuts to the price of the Pro will further that aim, “makes industry-leading Meta Reality technology available to even more businesses and professionals around the world.”
The pricing changes for the 256GB Meta Quest 2 will apply to Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the UK, and the US on March 5.
The Meta Quest Pro price drop will apply in the US and Canada on March 5, and in other countries where the Meta Quest Pro is supported on March 15.