A Birthday Outing

My sister Mary Evelyn's birthday was the Friday before last and she, our Mom and I went on an outing to Clarksville.  We spent the morning and into the afternoon at Miss Lucille's which is a fantastic antique mall there.  Also my niece Lacey lives and goes to school in Clarksville so she met us and spent the day with us there.  Despite the cold and spitting snow and sleet we had a wonderful day with a yummy lunch there at the deli in Miss Lucille's followed by a tour of Lacey's new apartment and a stop and a couple of more shops.  What a wonderful way to spend a birthday!

 

This I bought.

The Birthday Girl!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Our family has a plethora of birthdays during the first months of the year and then again in the Fall.  We are always getting together! 

cute little planters

From Terrain.  I love the look of these little planters.  I wish they came in larger sizes.  Then again, their price tag would reflect the larger size as well.  Aren't they precious!  

Take a look around at  shopterrain.com

Small Business Saturday

Yesterday, my sister and I decided to venture out to support Small Business Saturday.  We were mainly in search of holiday decorating inspiration.  It seemed that not many businesses had Christmas decorations out, at least the shops that we visited.  But we did happen upon an area or two that were new to ours eyes.  Places that supported local artists and places, like antique stores, that showed small businesses inside of non-chain businesses.  All in all we had a great sunny day of shopping in Nashville. 

I like going to places that leave a lasting imprint of the day well in to the next day.  That's what I picked up when we visited the Shoppes on Fatherland in East Nashville.  An area that was drowning several years back that has been revamped into a thriving area.  The houses are beautiful and the shopping is just plain neato.  There are also other shops on Woodland, one of which is one of my new favorite antique shops.  We hadn't started in this area of town first but if we had we may not have gone much further.

Support local shops any time!  Not just on Small Business Saturday.

***And here comes the sad part.  Apparently, after blogging for three years here, I have reached some sort of storage limit for photos.  So until I decide what I am going to do, e.i. stop blogging or purchase storage so that you and I both can enjoy pictures that I take accompanying my blog posts, I will be posting a link to my flickr account so you can look at pictures.  This sucks.  I love sharing what I am doing but I don't make money at it so there is no support to pay for the info I share here.  Not that it is a ton of money to purchase space but what's the sense if it only amuses me?

Please let me know what you think. 

I have thought of including a paypal button to the side incase anyone wants to donate.  But alas, for me, everything comes with a price eventually.  I do so want to keep sharing with you. 

Here's where they are for now.  Sorry! :(

 

**Update: this is my sister and she is very happy that I upgraded so I could share pictures on this here blog.  I hope you are too.  If you are ever feeling friendly and would like to support my efforts here, you can donate using the button on the right. 

 

I have considered and probably will go with using advertisments on my blog but I promise they will be a select few and more than likely will be from sites that I already have an interest in.

 

If you would like to talk to me about advertising your local business or online business on my blog please shoot me an email.  I'm not the biggest blog out there by any means but I do generate quite a bit of traffic here from friends and family that could definately benefit your business as well.

Grocery Shopping on a Budget

After being a single gal for - - - ever and having only myself to depend on monetarily I had to come up with a way to grocery shop on a budget. Keeping in mind that I love to cook and make things I really had to gain control of my spending. I allotted myself a certain amount each week. Some weeks it might have only been a little. I had to learn to only buy the necessities or what I called my necessities. However, I still allowed myself to have fun with my list such as buying a small bunch of flowers for my table or a certain loaf of brie. In that respect I simply shopped where I could spoil myself cheaply :).

My tip today for grocery shopping on a budget goes like this...
First figure out exactly how much money you have to spend. Let's say you have $45.00. Create your list of what you need and want at the store this week. Try and shop for "a week's worth" of living. When you have your list together, next to each item write in it's average estimated cost. Such as a half gallon of milk $2.50. Then add up the estimated total. If it is more than your allotted grocery amount either take something off or adjust the price to buying the generic of what you may normally buy. Example instead of buying your normal favorite white bread at $2.60 buy the grocery store brand that costs $1.00.

I have shopped using this method for years. Most of the time it works. The key is sticking to your list. When you get into trouble with your budget money is when your eyes are bigger than your wallet and things go into your cart that aren't on your list. Don't give in! If it's not on your list then you can't have it this week. Or you need to sacrifice something else at the same price. It takes some discipline but only you can control your spending. I still get excited to see exactly how close I've gotten at the register with my estimated prices. And I must say I've gotten pretty good at it!

*Don't forget to allow for taxes when adding up your list. One good way to do this is to round up your estimated prices.