Things We Love
Only the things we've used, tested, and kept in our lives because we can't do without them.
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Castor Oil
Who Loves It: Ed and Erin both love this castor oil, but for different reasons.
Why We Love It: Ed loves it because it takes the pain away from his knees when he rubs it on his knees every night. Erin loves it because of the wonders it does on her cuticles and feet, and she uses it on her face and loose skin. Plus, whenever someone is visiting and complains about something on their body, we bring out the castor oil for them to use. They are always impressed! It's truly magical shiz!
How We Use It: Well. We put it on our bodies wherever they are dry, inflamed, wrinkly, or dull. :) Consistency is always best, just with most things in life.
What To Know: There are specific parameters to look for when buying castor oil: hexane-free, organic, cold-pressed, amber glass bottle... You can find the brand we trust at the link below.
Where To Get It: They have it at more health-conscious stores, or you can get it on Amazon.
Chase IHG Credit Card
Who Loves It: Ed and Erin both love this card!
Why We Love It: This card is wonderful because it gets us points for free hotel nights! We're finally able to travel and having discounted costs on hotels makes it to where we can travel more often. We have the version of this credit card that has an annual $99 fee. To us, it's totally worth it because (at the very least) each year you earn a free night, and a night at a hotel is over $99, so it pays for itself. But that's not the only perk - it's just proof it pays for itself.
How We Use It: We rarely carry a balance on our credit cards month-to-month because of, well, interest. We do use this card a lot though by charging monthly bills on there, buying our groceries/gas, and eating out. We pay off the card 2x a month. We use the Amtrak credit card (below) until we get enough points to pay for our train travel, and then we switch over to this credit card to rack up our hotel points.
What To Know: Of course, we are not financial people and don't know your financial situation, so these recommendations are only what works for us, personally. Also, with this card, know that the redeemable points are only for certain hotels including, but not limited to: Regent, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites, and more.
Where To Get It: You can apply for this credit card here: https://www.referyourchasecard.com/210u/2MTKWQOXTU
Amtrak Credit Card
Who Loves It: Ed and Erin both love this card!
Why We Love It: We are taking a cross-country, two week, train trip. It would have cost about $5,000, but because of this card, it was only $1,000 out of pocket! So... almost free travel. Plus, we booked roomettes. If we would have booked coach, it would have been completely free.
How We Use It: Just like with the IHG, we rarely carry a balance on this card, and pay it off 2x a month. We charged everything we could on this card so we could rack up the points.
What To Know: We have the card where you pay $99 annually so you get more perks. Also, make sure to watch for the sales that happen so you can buy points. The $1000 we spent out of pocket on our trip was spent buying points. We got a LOT more free travel by purchasing points up front during the sale. Also, if you're not in a hurry, wait until you get 50,000 bonus points for signing up. They have that deal at least once a year. If that deal isn't going on, you still get 20,000 free points for signing up for the card with the annual fee.
Where To Get It: You can apply for this credit card here.
What We Use For YouTube
Who Loves It: Ed and Erin both love this simple setup!
Why We Love It: These things are completely user-friendly and inexpensive too.
How We Use It: We simply set them up and record the videos. The phone sits on our tripod on a table we sit at when we film. The light is on a spider-type, flexible tripod that we attach to our phone tripod. The microphones have a transmitter that we plug into our phone's USB and connects to the lapel mics via bluetooth.
What To Know: There are a TON of other options out there when it comes to gear you can use. We didn't want to go crazy spending money until we knew we were going to absolutely love making videos. We now know that we do love making videos, but have realized we don't need to upgrade. Maybe we will in the future, but it's definitely not necessary. At the time of writing, all of these cost about $83 (without using the coupons) not including the phone. We really want to upgrade to an iPhone 15, but that's not necessary either. We currently have iPhone 11's.
Where To Get It:
iPhone - I think you know where to get a phone. ;)
Phone (camera) tripod - here.
Light - here.
Spider Tripod - here.
Mics - here.