Category Archives: How-To

Ritchey Breakaway 1x Gravel Bike Build

ritchey breakaway 1x gravel bike build

After years of road riding, I finally decided gravel biking just looked too darn fun to pass up. Below, you’ll find the lowdown and step-by-step video walkthroughs for my Ritchey Breakaway 1x gravel bike build!

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1982 Trek 412 Vintage Bike Restoration

1982 trek 412 vintage bike restoration

Since cobbling together my Ritchey Road Logic, I’ve taken the next step and undertaken fixing up old bikes. Check out my latest project, a 1982 Trek 412 vintage bike restoration!

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Build Your Own DIY Hardwood Bed Frame

diy hardwood bed frame

If you’re going to spend every night on a bed for the rest of your life, it should be something you can take pride in – something you built with your own two hands.

Store-bought furniture is either expensive, low quality, or both. Only hardwood furniture can be expected to last more than a year or two, especially if it sees as much daily use as a bed. But a decent hardwood bed can easily cost over a thousand bucks!

So I built my own DIY hardwood bed frame for a fraction of the cost. After we published our Tuft & Needle mattress review, we received numerous requests for the frame design.

At the time, I hadn’t thought of documenting the process, and I built it sort of on the fly, so it took me a while to compile all the necessary steps into a comprehensive tutorial. But here it is at last!

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Review: Tuft and Needle Mattress and DIY Oak Bed Frame

I was really hoping to provide a photo of a pristine, model bedroom. Instead, you get the mess you see here. I’ll explain later but you have to keep reading.

Following up on my earlier post: After a lot of deliberation and discussion with Yoselin from 6 Mono Media, I settled on purchasing the Tuft and Needle mattress, and dropped it into the brand new, solid oak bed frame that I designed and built!

So how is it? Keep reading!

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New Mattress Decisions – Tuft and Needle, Casper, or Leesa?

EDIT: Settled on the Tuft and Needle. See my review here, or watch my video review below.

In preparation for my upcoming marriage to Yoselin from 6 Mono Media, one of the projects I am working on is the construction of a new bed. That’s right, I am designing and building my own bed. (Instructions and/or progress on the project will be posted on this site soon.)




Most exciting for me is the fact that I’ll be able to toss the old innerspring mattress that I’ve been using since childhood. I want our future mattress to be awesome, so I’ve been doing a lot of research on the subject, especially foam mattresses, since I am tired of the creakiness and unevenness of springs.

I’ve come across a few different online mattress startups that have captured my interest: Tuft and Needle, Casper, and Leesa. All three feature American-made foam mattresses, generous risk-free trial periods, and what appear to be high-end materials and construction.

There is plenty of info about the different layers of proprietary foam that each mattress uses. You can check out the links to get more details, but the main takeaway I get from the research I’ve done is: Tuft and Needle is the firmest (which I like) and least expensive (which I also like); Leesa is the best “all-around” mattress, and also the most expensive; and Casper is the softest (not sure I like that) and priced somewhere between the other two.

You might have noticed from this site that I am all about value and saving money, but at the same time I am willing to invest in certain products that are worthwhile. People spend a third of their lives in bed, and the previous night’s sleep can greatly affect the rest of your day! All three options seem good, but if I’m going to be stuck with a mattress for 10 or more years, I want it to be INCREDIBLE!

I’ll most likely make my decision in a few weeks, when I finish building the bed frame, and I’ll be sure to post a review and photos here! In the meantime, if you have experience yourself with any of these products, leave a comment below!

EDIT: Settled on the Tuft and Needle. See my review here.

UDPATE: Also have a new review for the Liberty Bed mattress from Amerisleep – check it out here!

Also – if you want to build your own hardwood bed like I did, check out our step-by-step tutorial here!

How to: DIY Oil Change for 2012 Subaru Impreza 2.0i (Or Really Any Car)

My car, back in the day.

Changing your engine oil is probably the single most important form of maintenance you can do for your car, so it’s a good idea to learn how to do it yourself.

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How to Choose Good Dress Shoes

Hideous, no? Tragically, this kind of junk was my “dressy” footwear for the better part of three decades.

For most of my life I have been buying the wrong dress shoes. As I noted in an earlier post, I have been on a quest to find dress shoes that aren’t total garbage (see the above image). This search has turned out to be quite educational for me.

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How to Save Money on Eating Out

OMG. Oh my gouda. (Gouda not pictured.)

Dining out at restaurants is expensive. Like really expensive. Even if you go with “cheap” options like fast food, you are still spending at least 99 cents on a drink that costs less than a penny to make (about five-thousandths of a cent, to be exact). If you opt for more expensive offerings at dine-in restaurants, you can easily drop ten or twenty bucks (or more – especially if you order alcoholic beverages – more on that later).

The best way to save money on eating out is by… eating at home! Surprise! No really, wait, there’s more to this strategy.

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