July 3rd, 2008 in Featured, Resource

80 How-To Sites Worth Bookmarking

Sitting on my dining room table, I currently have half a dozen projects in various states of doneness. Some involve vivisected computer parts, others will eventually be wearable and a few are just cool things I’ve ran across on the internet. I like doing things myself — I think the DIY bug is one of the best communicable diseases in the lifehack community.

These eighty sites are the places I turn to when I’m trying to figure out how to accomplish any particular goal. Any time I’m facing a new project, I start searching for how-tos that will help me figure out how other people did similar things and how likely I am to finish the project with all ten fingers still intact. I’ve broken them up into a few different categories, just to help you narrow down what you might be looking for. Some are simply archives full of tutorials. Some are blogs that publish how-tos fairly regularly. Some are just great resource sites. But they all have provided me with the information necessary to carry through on a project.

Every How-To They Can Get Their Hands On

These ten sites are more than happy to host any how-to around. I’ve seen everything from computer hardware hacks to instructions for brewing beer on these sites. This is the place to start — you can narrow down your search as you get a better idea of your project.

Become a Technophile in Ten Easy Steps

Each of these sites focuses primarily on providing the hacks you need to make sure that you have the best hardware and software around. One word of warning: you might run across some obsolete answers to your questions in the archives. Software how-tos don’t age as well as tips on building new furniture

Habitat Hacks You Can Live With

If you’re ready to make your home a little more customized, these sites will walk you through projects ranging from building furniture to home theaters for beginners. Remember, when it comes to your landlord, begging forgiveness is probably easier than asking for permission.

Dining on a DIY Diet

Frugality gurus and health nuts alike advocate making your own food. Very few of us have access to either Grandma or a professional chef willing to walk us through the steps of homemade food, though. It’s time to turn to a few how-tos and recipes that can help us out.

Sewing and Other ‘Feminine Arts’

It seems like most crafters are have two X chromosomes, but there’s no reason to count out knitting just because you have a Y chromosome. Heck, even Rosey Grier, defensive linebacker for the LA Rams, knitted some nice scarves.

Doing Business Your Way

Looking for some instructions on getting your business going a little faster? These sites have all sorts of tips, how-tos and ideas for getting your business up to speed. Keep in mind, though, that not every business is the same. Different businesses have different needs when if comes to growing.

Hack Your Wallet and What’s In It

No matter how you earn your money, keeping those dollars in your hands can be a struggle. Plenty of sites offer tips, tricks and tutorials to help you do just that — beyond improving your earning power, these sites can help you keep what you already have.

Get Your Brain to the Optimal Level

Not all projects have a clear end result. There are plenty of opportunities to improve how you approach new tasks, study for tests and generally use your brain. Personally, these projects are often my favorites: I don’t need lots of tools to carry them out and I can often use them to help my approach to other projects entirely.

There are millions of sites out on the web with tutorials, instructions and tips for just about every project you dream up — not necessarily a site that can tell you how to do what you have planned, but definitely one that can give you a starting point. These eighty sites are just that — a starting point. These are places worth looking when you have a specific project in mind, sites that can get you started on your plans. Oh, and there’s one more that’s worth checking: LifeHack. I’d be horribly remiss if I didn’t mention this site: it’s an amazing resource when you’re trying to decide how to tackle a new project.

Thursday Bram

Thursday Bram blogs about a variety of topics, from personal finance to small business. She is the author of an upcoming book on the tools and tricks you need to build a career you can take with you during long-term travel. More information about Thursday and her book, Working Your Way Around the World, is available on her personal site, ThursdayBram.com.

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Denny says on July 3rd, 2008 at 11:10 am
Nice article! Can’t wait to explore the sites I haven’t seen yet. Who knows, maybe I can actually learn something! :-D
Mark - Productivity501 says on July 3rd, 2008 at 11:22 am
Nice organization of different helpful sites out there. Thanks for including Productivity501.
Scott Whigham says on July 3rd, 2008 at 12:22 pm
What about training videos? Sites like YouTube, LearnItFirst.com, TotalTraining.com are really awesome for How-To on video.
Emanuele says on July 3rd, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Another How-To website electronics related,
for engineers and diy
dev.emcelettronica.com
Google Tutor says on July 3rd, 2008 at 2:35 pm
nice list, but what about how-to sites for Google? ;)
Marelisa says on July 3rd, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Another great how-to site is http://www.quamut.com. Thanks for this, I’m going to visit these sites and bookmark the ones I like.
mike egan says on July 3rd, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Great List. Any site ideas with Video?
NewWorldOrder says on July 3rd, 2008 at 11:35 pm
The lifedev link should be a .net (not a .com)
mbhunter says on July 4th, 2008 at 2:06 am
Wow! Thanks so much for including Mighty Bargain Hunter!
Ramesh | The Geek Stuff says on July 4th, 2008 at 3:16 am
Excellent collection of sites. I’ve bookmarked it and will be referring to this quite frequently.
Ramesh
The Geek Stuff
sanjay srikanth says on July 4th, 2008 at 6:52 am
hey really nice stuff….gr8 collection
thank u
Travis Wright | Cultivate Greatness says on July 4th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Great list. Thanks so much for including CultivateGreatness.com
There are so many great resources here… where to begin!
VT says on July 4th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
I bookmarked this page itself! :)
Bill says on July 4th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Wow! Thanks for including my site in your list! I am truly blessed to be included here.
Dhane Diesil says on July 4th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
Excellent article!!!
These resources will definitely help.
Thanks a billion.
Mike Smith - Bootstrapping Blog says on July 5th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Thank you for the mention, and awesome article! I’ve checked out most of the sites and am about to finish checking them out now.
Aaron says on July 6th, 2008 at 12:57 am
Great list. Thanks very much.
Kelly Sutton says on July 7th, 2008 at 1:15 am
Thanks for the link!
meh says on July 7th, 2008 at 6:39 am
nice sites..infact i bookmarked this page as we..good work..
http://www.ntarokz.co.cc
francetales.com says on July 9th, 2008 at 1:54 am
This is a great list, I’m adding a link to my own page of links. It’s the page I start with when I have a project to begin with. The following is not related to me in any way but for any web design or development project, it is a must start at page
http://www.devlisting.com/
The Handyguys says on July 9th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Here is another one
http://www.handyguyspodcast.com/
The Handyguys are two avid DIYers sharing their experiences working around the house. The podcasts feature answers to your questions, head-to-head tool tests and other DIY and home improvement topics. If you have a question regarding your home, let The Handyguys know using the ‘contact’ tab on the site or call them at (615) 676-0877. They respond to all questions and may use your question on-the-air in a future broadcast. The weekly podcasts are posted every Thursday at 5PM Eastern Time.The Handyguys look forward to answering your questions and helping you around the home!
CPU Solutions says on July 28th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Thanks for the great resources. I already had several of the site under “Become a Technophile in Ten Easy Steps” bookmarked but I had now added those I did not. I also enjoyed some of the site listed under the wallet hacks.
Rachel says on September 29th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
I have to add my site to the mix! My blog features The Daily DIY: a link list of all the crafty how-tos and tutorials that show up on the internet each day.
yuppmarks says on October 13th, 2008 at 7:23 am
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Dave says on January 1st, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Awesome list! I’m definitely going to go through and check out a lot of these!
hazed says on February 15th, 2009 at 7:59 am
HackThisSite is a slowly dying site. It’s mostly irrelevant material, that has been outdated for a few years. There are better sites around than HTS. The other “technophile” sites are seemingly pretty good.
Amit says on April 2nd, 2009 at 2:15 am
Great List. Nice compilation and something which need to be referred many times.
David says on May 28th, 2009 at 3:36 am
Wow what an awesome list. I love running across lists of sites like this when playing on StumbleUpon… unfortunately I hardly ever get to go through them much. Anyway I’ve bookmarked it… I know it took a lot of time to put this list together. Thanks for posting it. Looks like some awesome stuff to check out (when I can) :-)
sanna says on June 20th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
I have added a tag against this page I am sure most of the links will be helful in this world of ours
Avery says on August 7th, 2009 at 1:23 am
Awesome list!
wrought iron furniture says on August 20th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Great article, thanks for sharing it!
Nolan says on September 4th, 2009 at 9:48 am
You might add eHelpfultips.com. Off beat how to’s including subjects like “how to get better cell phone reception in a metal framed home” and “how to take a four wheel drive trip in Big Bend Park.”