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Hope Everyone is having a wonderful Friday!
Every thing went well with the house! And WE NOW OWN THE HOUSE!
So I am just a little busy so the wonderful Robin is here to talk to you all!!
Here’s Robin!
Hello, everyone! My name is Robin and I blog over at At Four O’Clock (atfouroclock.com). I have never done a guest post before, but I recently stumbled across Kara’s blog and have been enjoying it ever since, so when she asked if anyone was interested, I decided to give it a shot.
A bit of info about me: I am an almost-twenty-five-year-old native South Carolinian. I have a wonderful husband and two dogs. I recently finished my Associate’s degree last year, but am currently working a part-time retail position. Any job is better than none, right?
Although my blog is not usually about advice, I have gathered some various little tips and tricks after two years of marriage. I thought I would share a few with y’all today (yes, “y’all” – I am Southern).
Here are three basic hints that I think everyone – single, in a relationship, engaged, or married – should keep in mind:
~ Coupons and sales are not always great.
Okay, I realize that this topic can actually start arguments. Some people are devoted coupon-clippers. Working in a large “big box” chain store, it isn’t unusual for me to see shoppers with entire binders that contain pages of coupons.
Let me caution you that most of them are not saving you money. They only really help if you use them for the exact items that you were already going to buy. There may be another brand, or a cheap store brand, with a regular price that is cheaper than the discounted coupon price.
Also be aware of the requirements on a coupon. I once saw one that gave fifty cents off on a particular brand of frozen dinner – when you buy three of them. The regular cost of these particular dinners is over three dollars. You would be spending close to ten dollars, just to be able to save fifty cents. Is that worth it when you could buy six or seven dinners of a different brand?
On this same note, avoid buying items just because they are on sale. Check to see if the sale price costs more than the regular price of something else.
~ Re-use what you can.
Thanks to websites like Pinterest, more people are saving glass and plastic bottles, containers, and jars for crafts and do-it-yourself projects, rather than throwing them away. That’s great, but also consider how quickly you are going through other items.
Two things that I don’t always trash right away are paper towels and cardboard boxes. Boxes from pasta, cereal, rice, etc. are great temporary counter-top trash cans. I keep them in a corner of the counter and discard small pieces of paper or plastic trash, then finally throw them into the regular trash can when they are full. Why fill up your can faster with empty boxes?
* Note: I don’t recommend throwing food scraps/pieces into them, as smells might attract bugs and flies during some seasons.
When it comes to paper towels and napkins, hesitate before throwing those out, too. There’s no need to toss an entire paper towel because you wiped up a few drops of water with it. Unless it is especially dirty or gross, keep it on a small plate in a corner, so you can use it to wipe up one or two more little spills.
~ Don’t compare yourself.
I love blogging. I have made several great blog friends. But I realize that blogs, and websites such as Pinterest, occasionally have a way of making us compare our lives and accomplishments to those of others. You might look at pictures of another blogger’s kitchen and then feel a little down about yours. Or you see a gorgeous living room on Pinterest and wish you had it.
This may sound like a dramatic cliché, but it’s true: Be happy with what you have and what you have accomplished. Don’t base your life around those of others. As much as I like my blog friends, I know there is a reason why some of them are teachers and nurses, or why some travel on a monthly basis. They are who they are. I am who I am. We all have different lives, and we must have our own definition of what is “success” and “happiness”.
Keep this in mind when you go shopping. Store displays that show new kitchen, bedroom, or bathroom decorations are created to make a particular group of products look good. They’re pretty on shelves, but would they really work in your home? An occasional re-decorating project is fine – but don’t be easily tempted to re-do something that you are already happy with (and might have put several days or weeks of work into).
Well, this was a little random, but I hope it was helpful to some of you. I appreciate you reading and hope you will visit me over at my blog!