Japan is not the cheapest place to live, and it can be frustratingly confusing, even for long-timers. Fortunately, there is NihonHacks.com, the blog devoted to tips for stretching your yen and saving time, courtesy of American-born, Japan-based blogger Thomas Hjelm (with some input from his wife and his readers). The topics of the tips (or "hacks," in computer-programmer parlance) have value for both veteran and newbie residents, and range from where to find a 300-yen steak and how to make yourself a soap dish out of a plastic tofu container. Who knows? Japanese might even learn something new here . . .

How did NihonHacks begin?

I wish there was an interesting story for this, but there wasn't much to it really. One day I decided I wanted to start a blog for fun. I had a little brainstorming session where I wrote down some ideas on a piece of paper and "tips for living in Japan" was one of them. Then I looked around at other Japan blogs to make sure the idea hadn't been done yet. I didn't find anything so I decided to go ahead with it.