Build Your Own Garage Door Indicator Light [DIY]

A very useful function of my home automation system is that there's a little light inside my house, on a light switch, that tells me whether or not my garage door is open. This is useful because the light is on the second floor and the garage door is on the ground floor, and not having to walk down two flights of stairs every night before bed is rather handy. Instructables user Steve Moseley shows you how to make this without having a home automation system.

The short of it is that you need an LED for displaying your garage door's status, a switch that detects whether or not the door's open, and enough materials to mount both in place. If you wanted to get fancy, you could add some sort of wireless system so you can have this switch in any part of the house as well, though the instructables doesn't cover that.

Garage Door Open Indicator Light | Instructables

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Build a Paper Towel Holder from an Old Wire Coat Hanger [Macgyver Tips]

It may not look good enough for the kitchen, but if you have a workbench or garage that can get a little messy and a few paper towels are in order, this easy trick to transform an old wire coat hanger into a paper towel holder may fit the bill. The only thing you need is the coat hanger, a roll of paper towels, and a set of pliers or multi-tool you can use to bend the hanger.

Perhaps the best thing about this hack is that it costs no money, and you can use an old wire hanger you have lying around, that's headed for the trash, or that you might get from a dry cleaner. Just snip the bottom of the hanger, bend it into a square shape with strong corners, and make the cut ends into a pair of hooks that can attach to one another. Then, just unhook the holder, slide on the paper towels, then close the hooks so the roll doesn't fall off. The result is a paper towel holder that's great for a corner of the garage, a workshop, or anywhere else paper towels are needed but form matters less than function.

It's not the prettiest solution, but if your hands are covered in grease and you need a few paper towels without dirtying the whole roll, it gets the job done. Have you tried this in the past? Have a better solution? Share your tips in the comments below.

Paper Towel Hanger | Instructables

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Build Credit by Using the Right Prepaid Credit Cards [Personal Finance]

By Melanie Pinola Oct 18, 2011 7:30 AM 13,815 23

Recent regulations have made it harder for credit card companies to prey on people with no credit history (like college students and immigrants)—a good thing. But what if you do want a credit card and to establish a credit history?

Forbes suggests applying for a prepaid card, which offers several benefits: no credit history requirements, possible cash-back incentives, and no late fees or worries about exceeding your credit limits (because you're limited to the prepaid amount). However, you'll want to check that the specific prepaid card builds credit by reporting to the credit bureaus; some like the Capital One Reloadable Prepaid MasterCard do not, while the Bancorp Bank Purple Diamond Prepaid Visa RushCard does (though it charges an activation fee). Check the chart at Credit Land for the ones that say build credit. You'll note that most of these cards have high APRs, so make sure you pay off the balance in full each month.

There are other ways to build good credit without credit cards and credit scores aren't everything, but, like it or not, your credit history does influence your financial future, so it pays to understand and build your credit as best you can. Photo by Phil Campbell.

Perfect Ways to Obtain a Credit Card with No Credit | Forbes

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