by Texas Homesteader
We like to listen to music at night as we fall asleep. So on our nightstand RancherMan & I had an older-model clock radio.
We were pricing clock radios with digital dials but we were surprised that they were kinda pricey. So we put our heads together and came up with the PERFECT solution.
Use whatcha got is what I always say! Check out this Homestead Hack that worked so well for us.
As our old clock radio unit got older, it became more & more difficult to get the dial to rest exactly on the station where the radio station signal was good & crisp.
We decided perhaps we needed to upgrade to a radio with a digital dial to make getting to the exact position for a radio station just a little easier. But after pricing digital clock radios…
So I was really interested in using what we already had without buying something new if at all possible. Eureka!
Recharging A Tablet
We each own tablets. Each night they’re tucked away charging overnight in the office. That way they’ll be fully charged and ready for our use tomorrow.
But why not bring those tablets into the bedroom to charge instead of the office? That way we can use them for an alarm/clock/radio at the same time!
Using A Tablet For Bedside Clock Radio
There’s already a clock app on our tablets so we just touch the app button to access the clock.
We’d changed the tablet setting to be dim at night so it lets out very little light by our bed overnight. There’s also an alarm feature on our clock app if it’s needed. So RancherMan & I have our own tablet on each of our nightstands.
But what about falling to sleep with the radio? Simple fix – RancherMan downloaded onto his tablet the app for the local radio station that we love. Now it plays softly for us overnight.
When we need our tablets for browsing or for taking to class we simply disconnect the charger cord & return the brightness setting to normal.
I love that we’ve not only avoided buying a specialty item to suite our needs but have also more fully utilized something we already own & love. Our tablets!
~TxH~
This post categorized in 
Other ‘Use Whatcha Got’ Ideas
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- Assuring Safety Around An Underground Cistern
- Repurposing An Empty Parmesan Cheese Container – BRILLIANT!
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- Replacing Our Bedside Clock/Radio
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- Trick Birds Away From Garden Strawberries
- Protecting Tender Seedlings
- Safer Straight-Pin Storage
- Tame Electrical Cords
- Save Your Fingernails When Cleaning
- MYO Chalkboard Labels
- Keeping Boots Stored Neatly
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I have a Sony stereo CD clock radio. The Sony clock radio CD player features a sizable backlit display, an internal speaker, and a socket for attaching external devices, such as earbuds for private listening.
That does makes a nice looking alarm clock. That’s basically what I do with my phone, but I still need Hubby to ditch his alarm clock. He has it set for the radio in the morning and it’s always staticy.
We were having the static problem on the radio too Bonnie, that’s why we were originally looking for a digital alarm clock in the first place. My cell phone has too many audible notifications for me to allow it in our bedroom and still get a good night’s sleep, so by using our tablets (which have not been set up with audible notifications) we get the digital accuracy for our radio-listening pleasure and still have a large dimmed display of the time. It sure worked out perfectly for us!
Simply brilliant!
I love the idea of using what we already have by re-purposing or reorganizing. Great find!
I tried for many years to keep a little alarm clock in my travel bag but between dead batteries and banging around they just never seemed to last very long or be very reliable. Now I use my Ipad as a travel alarm. Nice to wake up to chirping crickets and to have an instant on clock face with big enough numbers that I don’t have to reach for my glasses first.
Stopping in from Nifty Thrifty Sundays – Interesting idea. I feel like one of the only people who doesn’t own a tablet and sticks to my laptop! I do use my cell for a clock though.
Using a cell phone for a bedroom clock works well for many folks Hil – good for you. Use whatcha got! We opted to use our tablets instead of our cell phones for a couple of different reasons: I don’t like to have my cell in my bedroom since we have lots of push notifications set up since we use our phones for business. Of course we could turn notifications off & on but the chance that we’d forget made it not an ideal option for us. Plus our tablets are larger so our sleepy blurry eyes can see the time a little easier in the dark. And of course since we have our tablets charging in the office anyway, we just moved them to charging in the bedroom instead and only have to plug in / unplug them in those instances when we need them with us. Using the tablets just worked better for us!
I like the concept of using what you already have. I was trying to think how this would work for us— we just use our phones at night with the do not disturb setting. So I just now thought how I’ve used what I have technology… I don’t have a SD SLOT on my computer… Not the old one or the new one. But someone had given me a digital picture frame– which I hardly ever used. I got the proper cords and tether it to my computer monitor pop in the SD card and ta-dah! I’m able to transfer pictures! Using what you have is just working smarter not harder!