I’m not gonna lie, I don’t even know what that orange thing is. I want to say turmeric in artful bomb form but who knows.

Today we’re here to talk about one thing and one thing only: ice cubes. What are they? Which kind’s the best? And why shouldn’t I waste my money on an ice machine?

Well let’s start with what they are. Webster Dictionary defines ice cubes as a small — I’m kidding. We all know what they are. But did you enjoy that flashback to writing essays in high school? I know I didn't. Let’s move on to which kind’s the best.

First I want you to think about a pixel. Think about how many pixels make up the imagery on the screen you’re reading this on right now. These tiny little guys are the reason we can see the vast beauty and vast difference between each and every part of the internet. If a pixel was 5 inches by 5 inches, you wouldn’t be able to differentiate between your favorite YouTuber and the reply from the guy you’re beefing with on Twitter. We’d be forced to touch grass, in that case, and what a damning thought.

How does this relate to ice cubes? Well ice cubes are the same way. The smaller, the better. Let’s say you have a cup of limoncello — (STREAM ME ON SPOTIFY) — and you want some ice in it, isn’t it better to be able to decide exactly how much ice you want? You can do that with small ice cubes. What are you going to do if you want that perfect 2:1 ratio of limoncello:ice and you’re stuck with 3" x 3" whisky cubes? Because your friend Angelo thinks he’s cooler than he is and only has whisky cubes in his freezer?

My point exactly.

Moving on.

Why shouldn’t you waste your money on a fancy fridge with an ice machine?

To put it simply: you can do it yourself. Grabbing a tupperware from your cupboard and filling it with the ice from your ice cube trays takes about 10–20 seconds. After you dispense the ice yourself, you now have even more ice you can make.

I didn’t do too much research because this is honestly a joke article but at-home ice machines are $99 at the cheapest rate. For 10 seconds a day you could save that $99. Think about all the things you could do with $99…

You could buy a sick hoodie.

You could put it towards bills.

Or! You could buy a bottle of nice whisky to make up with your friend Angelo after you told him to go fuck himself because of the ice cube incident.

Thank you friends and have a wonderful day.

1. Today you ate exactly 1,645.12 calories.

2. You’re going to lose one pound by the end of this week.

Which one is more useful?

Whether you’re using a financial planning service, a calorie-counting app, or an exercise-tracking device, the point is not so much the exactness of your numbers, but the larger context of who you are and what you’re doing.

Very often, tracking-oriented services treat exact numbers and calculations as if they’re as necessary as the program itself.

Overly complicated apps and services often end up overwhelming their users. At first, the beautiful graphs, stats, and data points can feel inspiring, and will give you a “new app high.” However, this quickly turns into information overload. The data becomes a burden. Suddenly taking control of your body, nutrition, or finances seems like the last thing you want to do.

Let’s take the case of calorie-counting apps. Two in particular are “Lose It!” and “Simple Calorie Count.” Lose It! Is a classic example of the complicated app. At first, it’s exhilarating. It’s friendly, it’s well designed, it’s got loads of graphs and statistics for you to become excited about, and it puts positive, promising images in the user’s mind. Then, anywhere from a week to even a few months later, most users will become tired of the app and perhaps even build a bad association with healthy foods, exercising, and keeping track of what they eat. Even if they’ve lost the weight, they may delete the app out of exhaustion, become frustrated and feel weak for doing so, not continue with a sustainable form of tracking their calorie intake, and end up right back where they started: at a weight they don’t like eating foods that are bad for them.

Of course, these apps work for many people. There’s nothing inherently wrong with getting as much information as possible! However — services that contain many potentially unnecessary, and yet obligatory, features will often cause app-exhaustion.

So what’s the solution? How does one sustain that inertia after the excitement of a new app wears off?

Let’s look at Simple Calorie Count. There are no crazy graphs, there is no clutter, there is no obligation to plug in every gram and milligram of proteins/fats/carbs/sugars etc. There is no “new app high,” therefore no comedown, and therefore no getting tired of the app. Besides plugging in what you ate and the caloric amount, it has options to track a specific calorie goal and an option to make your background black or white. That’s it: simple, easy, and sustainable.

Long term, you want a sidekick — not a burden.

Goldhat’s budgeting system works in the same way. It’s simple, easy to use, and it’s not gonna wear you out. Plus, you don’t need to know every little thing you spend, as long as you plug in the gist, you’re good. More importantly, though, it’s there for you, both figuratively and right in your pocket.

So how do we know you’re gonna love it? We’re always progressing based on you. It’s our mission to observe the way that you use the app to deliver the best possible user experience. That’s our goal, and we’re constantly in the process of it.

Thanks for reading, feel free to let us know your thoughts!

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How Is Losing Weight Like Saving Money?! was originally published in Goldhat on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

It’s a set of rules designed to keep you from going broke:

I need to make enough money to cover my rent.

I must curb my Frappuccino addiction if I want to buy that blazer.

I will not buy two $1000 hypoallergenic cats.

Technically, these are budgets.

Most of the time, we come up with these rules and keep them in our heads until they are no longer useful, or simply forgotten. Especially those of us with irregular income and spending patterns: freelancers, artists, people working for tips or cash.

But what keeps so many of us from transcending the vaguely unpleasant sensation of “being on a budget” to actual, productive BUDGETING?

First of all, let’s step back from the idea of “perfection.” You’re never really going to perfect your budget — unless you’re an accountant, or 70 years old. There are so many budgeting systems out there! But Goldhat is special:

It’s simple. If punching in a few buttons a day as you would on a calculator doesn’t stress you out, neither will Goldhat.

Think of Goldhat as a magic notepad: we’ve got multiple organization options, options for quick data-entry, useful calculations at the ready — all without the dogmatic prescription of what to do (or why) with your cash.

The beauty of a blank sheet of paper, paired with an awesome, budgeting-oriented toolbox.

You know your money, and yourself, best. Make what you want to happen, happen.

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Who Needs a Perfect Budget? was originally published in Goldhat on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.