What I’ve Been Up To

Frugal Friday: Back it Up

When was the last time you backed up your computer? According to a recent piece of research, only about 10% of people back up their data regularly. I admit, I’m not so good at it myself. But these days, some of our most prized possessions — photos, work notes, tax returns, important documents and account information — live on our computers (though, as you probably know, the really important documents should also be stored as hard copies, in a safe deposit box or fire-proof safe). And if you’ve ever suffered through a hard drive crash, you know it can be devastating.

What does all this have to do with Frugal Friday? Well, to help my above nag go down a bit easier, we asked BackBlaze, an online backup company, to cut our readers a deal. They were happy to oblige: Through the weekend (which means this deal ends Sunday at midnight ET) they’re offering 20% off their backup services with the coupon code frugalfriday. You can use the service to backup additional copies of your photos, music, movies, documents, and any other important pieces of data you have stored on your computer. It will continually run in the background of your computer, automatically updating files and data as you do. And if your machine crashes — or is lost or stolen, a real possibility when you’re a laptop user like myself — Backblaze sends you a USB drive with everything on it.

The service costs $5 a month, with discounts if you make a year or two year commitment.