Why continuously check a site for updates when an RSS reader can do that for you? Make do the heavy lifting. Simply set up the search you want to run constantly--personal-assistant gigs in Los Angeles, for example--and click the orange RSS button located on the far-right side of the URL bar. Google Reader will do the rest of the work, and all you need to do is check your Reader page, which you can do in any browser and on most mobile devices. If you're really motivated, you can also have RSS .

6. Get the Lay of the Land When Apartment Hunting

People who are picky about where they live will love , a great tool for apartment hunting. It uses the familiar Google Maps interface to show precise apartment locations. PadMapper works outside of Craigslist but is integrated with the site via Google Maps word balloons that open the respective Craigslist page--using it is like seamlessly flicking between two sites that have the same goal in mind. You can filter your search results, too, so you don't waste your time gaping at $3000 one-bedroom apartments. The one flaw of PadMapper is that it ignores Craigslist apartment postings that do not list an address, which can be a sizable number.

7. Search It All

Not satisfied with Google Advanced Search? Try a dedicated Craigslist search engine such as , which scours hundreds of thousands of listings and displays them in a Google-style format. You can't specify search terms as categorically as you can with Google Advanced Search; but if your inquiry is general enough, or if you're comfortable using quotation marks to narrow down your desires, it won't matter. Search All Craig's is great for anyone with a devil-may-care attitude as to what city and state in which their results appear--it's especially useful for job hunters unafraid of relocating.