Got one of these? Throw it away! via Successfully Underachieving

When it comes to technology, people always want the newest, shiniest things. It makes sense. Technology is the future and the future is supposed to outshine the past with the fury of a thousand suns. Except constantly buying bright, shiny objects gets expensive, and who among us has the money to keep up in the constant race of newness? The folks at Lifehacker exploded a few tech myths for you, to allow you to save money and still exist our glorious future.

You don’t want refurbished goods: Refurbished products are just as good as new ones, except they come in generic packaging. A refurbished item can be one that was defective and then fixed, or even something as simple as an item that was in a damaged box and kept off the shelf. Just like at thrift stores, why pay full price if you don’t need to?

Buy instead of DIY: This is right in our wheelhouse. So OK, sometimes it doesn’t work out. But making something yourself not only comes with the satisfaction of knowing you made something cool, it’s also going to be cheaper. If you’re really not sure, grab a more technologically inclined friend and pay them with a few beers to help you. Then you’re not only making something for cheap, you’re being a social animal. Win win.

You need cable to keep up with TV: Like we’ve said before: you don’t need cable to stay up on the latest TV. And not even because you can just go download everything from a variety of internet back alleys. You can buy seasons of shows you like on Amazon and iTunes and subscribe to Hulu Plus (which is doing just great) to make the dream of a la carte cable almost a reality. And if you have a TV and want to watch network dreck like Whitney, they even show you how to make your own HD antenna.