Free Online Resources

One of the things that I love about the web is the access to so many tools that I find useful, many for no or very low cost.  In fact, many times I wonder what it would have been like if there had been internet tools like this when i was in grade school, instead of puzzling over questions, or wallowing in ignorance we could look things up on Wikipedia.  And instead of driving around lost, map programs like mapquest and Google maps would have been very useful.  In addition to the mapping programs here are some additional resources that I like:

–Nutritiondata.com — for nutrition data on a really large database of foods.  Since I’m learning so much about foods, I’ve really made good use of the information in nutrition data.  It’s also helped me to understand the wide variation of nutrients in foods that may seem similar (like different cuts of chicken or beef), or to correct fallacies in my nutritional understanding.  They have tools that allow you to track your food, macronutrients, micronutrients, and comparisons as well. Highly recommended if  you are making big dietary changes or finding yourself allergic to certain foods.

–Free foreign language instruction — have  you wanted to pick up a few words of Spanish or perhaps Chinese.  Obviously not a substitute for an in-depth course, or a trip to a locale, but there are an increasing number of resources that help with foreign languages.  My current favorite is BBC languages which uses audio and video resources to augment the lesson.

–Turbo tax — yes, April is just around the corner (ugh) — if you file a simple tax return, such as a 1040EZ without most of the schedules, you can use turbo tax at no cost for the Federal version.  Although I don’t qualify for the 1040EZ, I do use turbotax and there’s an online community that offers helpful suggestions and tips if you run into problems or are confused.

additional online resources can be found here.

shared at Works for Me Wednesday and Frugal Friday