12-foot Christmas tree at A True Inn
Just had to show y’all this Christmas-y image of the 12-foot tree at A True Inn. Her secret to make it look so glowy? She wraps each branch (and branches of branches) individually in strands of lights, instead of just stringing the lights around the perimeter of the tree.
I hope one of those presents is for me!
Have you ever gotten up to the cash register, pulled out the plastic, and had the cashier say to you, “that’ll be an extra dollar to put it on your card?” I sure have, and it frustrates the livin’ daylights out of me, because that’s just the cost of running a business.
Well, pay no more! If the store tries to add a surcharge to your total for paying with plastic, politely refuse to pay it. Credit card companies like MasterCard, Visa, and American Express do not allow vendors to add a charge to credit card purchases.
Check with your card of choice, but those little $1 additions add up, and no need to add any extra to our balance, right responsible spending Southerners?
Image courtesy of EveryoneEats.org
These days, everyone is trying to save money (and Southeners have always been pros at being thrifty nifty). In a recent foray into the world of grocery shopping instead of eating out every meal, husband and I were trying to save money by buying many items in the store-brand version, instead of the name brand. And most of the time, this is a great way to save a few pennies–and most of the time, no taste or quality is sacrificed.
However, it’s not always the case. For instance, I was about to sacrifice and buy my favorite cereal in the generic brand, and got a few complaints about the taste quality, so in looking at the Price Per Unit, instead of just the price (I don’t do math too well), I discovered the family sized box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch was actually less than the price of the smaller Toasty Cinnamon Crispies. And goodness knows I can go through me a family sized box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch!
So, if you’re not familiar with this part of the price tag (I only just discovered this nifty trick recently), take notice next time you’re shoping. And don’t be fooled by just those sale prices. Sometimes the cheaper the price, the larger the packaging. So the Price Per Unit is an easy way to save money.
We’ve all heard the funny story about the man whose town installed cameras above traffic lights to catch red-light runners. When the man received a ticket, with a picture of his license plate, he sent back a picture of the check for the cost of the ticket.
Well, this Tuesday Tip isn’t quite that vindictive, but it runs in the same vein. If (IF?) you get unwanted credit card offers in the mail, unsolicited, cut it up in a few pieces, thrown away half, and mail the other half back in the pre-paid envelope that came with the offer.
This may sound just plain fun, but it really serves another purpose. In the world we live in, thieves aren’t above dumpster diving these days to steal your identity. No matter how many pieces you tear it into, they’re all in the same general vicinity in your trash can on garbage day. All it takes is a few pieces of tape and a copy machine for someone to fill out an application addressed to you. But if they can only get their hands on half, it’s impossible.
These days, we can’t protect our credit or identity too carefully from watching eyes.
I love my morning coffee, but not the stains it leaves after a while in my shiny coffee pot. Rather than dashing off to the store for a replacement pot every year or two, fill your stained coffeepot with water, toss in an Alka-Seltzer tablet, let it fizz for five minutes, then rinse it out. Gets ride of burnt coffee and it will look like brand new!
If there’s one thing Southerners are known for, it’s their hospitality. If there’s a second thing we’re known for, it’s our patriotism.
So this week’s Tuesday Tip is something that can bring a smile to our Veteran’s (and a smile to our own)! Who doesn’t love the feeling you get when you do something nice for someone? It relieves stress, warms your heart, and doesn’t make the other person feel too bad either.
So today, on this day before Veteran’s Day, where we take the time to honor our Veteran’s, and think about so many others who have risked, and daily risk their lives and their freedoms to give us ours, why not spend a few minutes baking up a batch of your favorite cookies, make up a batch of your best homemade soup, or those last blooms from your garden and taking them to a nearby military base (call ahead and see what the requirements are for getting a visitor’s pass), Vet’s hospital or shelter, or even to a fire station. Just honor someone in our community who serves us while we think about those who sacrifice so much so we can have the freedoms we enjoy every day. And if you’re lucky enough to know a current service member (love you, honey!), make sure you do something extra special for him or her.
Warm a Veteran’s heart. And your own!
Mmm… there’s nothing better than baking up a nice fresh batch of [insert your favorite baked goodie here]. But most of those [favorite goodies] aren’t usually that low in fat.
You can cut down, or entirely omit the inevitable butter in your recipe by substituting applesauce. Play around with the proportions in your [favorite Southern recipe], but a good rule of thumb is no more than one tablespoon per cup of flour.
If you’re in the market to buy a new car, think long and hard before getting swept away with extra dealer add-ons. If they come straight from the factory, installed options such as stereos, cruise control, or sunroofs are great, but instead, take your new ride to a specialty shop to get the work done for half the cost, and probably a whole lot better.
Fresh flowers are expensive. But so beautiful and often worth their price if you’re decorating for a party or event. But if you are on a tight flower budget, you can use real leaves and fake flowers. If you select your faux flowers carefully you can pull it off.
Admit it, every family has, somewhere stored deep within the basement-turned-rec-room an avocado shade refrigerator. It otherwise runs well, but is just not the color of your new, modern kitchen.
Well, lament no more! Have your old appliances repainted at an auto body shop. This finish will hold up great on appliances, if it can on your car, and it looks great. Best of all — so much cheaper than a new one!
