Author Archives: gloria green entertainment

About gloria green entertainment

Since my undergraduate years in college, I've worked as a Social Worker for the Department of Social Services, a Graduate Assistant in the College of Mass Communication, a University Sports Information Office Intern, an Assistant to the Lieutenant Governor's press secretary, a Public Information Officer for a state agency, a Talent Agent for a large entertainment agency, and now I am the Owner of my own faith-based entertainment company where I am a Consultant, a Speaker, and an Entertainment Executive working in Publicity and Artist Development. Oh and according to an article in Fast Company, I appear to be a part of Generation Flux! {Look it up, you'll enjoy reading the article} In 2012 I started teaching full-time in the Recording Industry department of Middle Tennessee State University, and in 2014 officially became a tenure-track Assistant Professor. I like to tell people who work in the Music Industry "I teach your future employees!" What else can I say?

Catching Raindrops in Water Barrels

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I love hearing from people who have made changes in their lives because of something I’ve shared here, and on our Facebook page, or challenges I’ve made to encourage others on ways to take control over their own financial future. It’s not always possibly for someone to take on a second job; or even in some cases, working outside the home at all. But there are lots of ways we can all make changes to help save and stretch the use of the money that IS coming in to the home. So I was really excited to hear from a friend of mine who had not only done just that…but utilized one avenue quite literally, by catching raindrops in her water (buckets) barrels!

Meet Erica Manly, a stay at home mom, who previously worked full-time outside the home. Much has changed in Erica’s life over the past five years, including marriage, quitting her day job, having a baby, and moving three hours away from her family for her husband’s job. Erica’s life changed…so Erica had to learn how to adjust her lifestyle to her new normal. Let me let her tell you more about that.

My name is Erica and I’m a wife and stay at home mom to the cutest and busiest little three year old you’ve ever seen. In order to make it possible to stay with her full-time and to save for our future (and hers), I am always looking for ways for our family to save wherever we can. We became even more serious about saving last year after reviewing exactly how much money was going out every month. I started serious couponing first, because most of our budget was going to the grocery store. I wouldn’t call what I do “extreme couponing”, but we are definitely saving about $400 per month in comparison to two years ago between the grocery and other big box store spending. And as a bonus, our cupboards and closets are full of food and toiletries!

I also took up gardening last year with one raised bed garden of vegetables. Whenever I decide to start a project like this, I’m sure my husband cringes as this means work for him. He built a nice raised bed for me and filled it with a truck load of dirt. Our friend had started extra tomato plants and had other extra seeds, so we actually spent absolutely nothing on our plants!

As a new gardener, I noticed how much more everything grew when it rained in comparison to my usual watering from the hose. Our friend calls it “magic water”.

Partly inspired by our Catching Raindrops friend, Gloria, I told my husband that I needed a rain barrel. The way I remember it, he rolled his eyes and sighed. A couple days later, my man was researching rain barrels and told me he found some 55 gallon drums for sale nearby and had found a way to tie them into our downspout under the back porch. Within a week, the project was complete – three 55 gallon drums filled with water after one good rain.

I can’t break down exactly how much money it is saving us, but I was watering our new landscaping on the front of the house and/or the veggie garden almost everyday. Since installing the rain collection system, I have only pulled the garden hose back out a few times. I am looking forward to expanding my garden this spring to two raised beds of vegetables and using my good and bad experiences from last year to improve. My husband will also add another rain barrel or two to be sure we never run out of rain water.

While my ways may be extreme to some, and my reasons to save money may be different from yours, there are almost always ways to spend less and save more for a rainy (or even not rainy) day!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go follow my child around while turning off lights and try to explain (again) that just because you can flip all the light switches now doesn’t mean you need to turn all the lights on!

Why You Should Make a Plan to Get Prepared this Year

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Last month I started seeing commercials from a popular grocery store chain advertising several non-perishable items. It wasn’t a standard store advertisement about the latest promotion, sale, or couponing opportunity. To paraphrase the tagline for this campaign, it was about stocking up the pantry with essential items (canned goods, bottled water, etc.) to remain prepared. I think one of the line was “Winter’s coming. Be prepared.” It caught my attention because it’s the same thing I’ve been saying for years. Last year’s unexpected winter ice storm that hit the South, definitely caught many of my college students off guard and unprepared. Some people, however, feel that if they don’t live in tornado alley, along a hurricane coastline, have a house at the lake, or live in the upper Midwest during the winter months, then they don’t have to worry about weather related issues. The truth is that a natural disaster can strike at any time, almost anywhere. But it still surprises me how many people don’t take that reality very seriously; some just refusing to take the time to plan ahead.

So as I’ve been watching the news coverage of the flooding in Missouri over the Christmas holidays, I was reminded of the Nashville floods of 2010, and watching the creeks around my neighborhood flowing over and covering streets and highways. And hearing of people trapped in their homes; some calling out for help because they had children in the home, but no groceries in the house. Who knew that just five years later, I’d be watching the same thing happening to my hometown of Columbia, SC, including my college alma mater (University of SC). Two days into the flooding they were on a boil water advisory due to contamination of their water supply. After checking up on several friends, I learned some were without both water and electricity.

My sister woke up to discover her house completely surrounded by water, with both streets into the neighborhood flooded over. She and her boys were trapped for a few days. But because of our upbringing, she was prepared, having gone shopping the day before after hearing of the possibility of excessive rainfall and flash flooding. She was fortunate to have only lost power for a couple of hours, and not a couple of days, as some did. I wasn’t surprised at her level of readiness.

I contacted a high school friend of mine after the worst part of the flooding event was over, and asked her to share with me her family’s story of how she prepared for that October event.

I’m typing this on my tablet as I sit under the hair dryer at my beautician, which is where I was when I really started paying attention to the weather reports.

My husband and I had talked earlier in the day and he told me he would go to the grocery store and pick up some things. When I got home late that evening, I found he had picked up a few things, but not enough to be stuck inside for a couple of days. So by the time we went back to the store that Saturday morning, the only bread left were a few packs of hamburger buns. The checkout lines were down the aisles; but we got what we needed.

Since our water supply comes from a well and not the city we made sure we had enough bottled water, because we knew if the power went out, the pump wouldn’t be able to pump water for us. So I also filled up one of the bathtubs, along with some jugs with water to be able to flush toilets. You gotta be able to use the bathroom, right?

While I was never a girl scout, my daughter was, and her troop leader had taught them a lot of survival skills. Having to prepare for this weather was kind of like preparing to go camping; primitive camping. You have a checklist of things you need: sleeping bags, tent, snacks, flashlight, lanterns (the wind up, battery-operated kind) oil, and a Coleman.

By Sunday morning, when I heard church services were cancelled, I realized how bad it was in some places. Although we were blocked in due to streams and creeks flowing over the bridges we needed to cross to get out, our area of town was basically ok. We experienced no loss of power, had safe water supply, and our house did not flood. The only ting we need was some roof work.

We were truly blessed. We had everything we needed. My philosophy is that it is always best to be prepared even if the predictions don’t come to pass. I know there were many people who weren’t, and unfortunately, suffered as a result of it.

My New Year’s wish for everyone reading this is that you make a resolution to make a plan for your life this year. That plan should include things to do to remain prepared in life; prepare for those things which we can do, since there’s certainly many other things that happen that we can not control. Increase your chance to truly have a Happy New Year!

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” Benjamin Franklin

Thanksgiving 2015

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It was another typical morning for my niece. Once again, she was running behind, having spent way too much time getting ready. So out of the door she got ready to run, without eating breakfast. When I insisted she grab a breakfast bar, she said they were out. Of course, I’d already looked through my sister’s pantry the night before, just checking out what was there. So I’d already seen a brand new box of my new favorite, BelVita breakfast bars. She admitted she’d forgotten they had just purchased some, and grabbed one before leaving. As she did, my final words to her “It would be too ironic for you to be serving a meal to those who don’t have any food; and then you pass out from not eating, even though you DO have food!”

You see, my 17 year old niece was doing something I was very proud of — spending her Thanksgiving morning, along with her mom, serving meals at her church to those who didn’t have the means to buy, prepare and enjoy their own. They do more than just serve the food; they also spend time with those families and others who stop by.

Sometimes, I think my nieces and nephews don’t consciously think about what they have available to them every single day. I suppose it’s something we all can be guilty of at one time or another. Just last night, a nephew who had been visiting that evening, wanted my sister to stop by McDonalds on the way back home. Yes, it was way past dinnertime, and she should have prepared him something to eat. But, the fact that she had already told him she didn’t have any money on her, AND that they had plenty of food back at home where they were heading, didn’t phase him. He still wanted to stop and get something from a fast food restaurant; inspire of the fact that he didn’t have any money on him either.

I don’t know what decision she made once she got into the car and headed home. But I really hope she drove straight there and made him eat something they already had in the house.

I thought also about how many times we give in to the “easy,” with no thought of the practical. We go to fast food restaurants, order take out, have pizza delivered (one of the first things my nephew wanted earlier in the day) — all while our pantries are full; refrigerators well-stocked; and cabinets hold all of the extra snacks for those movie nights and drop by friend moments, without giving it a second thought. I would argue that unless one of “those” commercials come on during our favorite sitcom, we don’t regularly think about how many families aren’t warm and sitting in front of TV enjoying the latest episode of anything. Or how many are going to bed at night just as hungry as they were that morning?

Thanksgiving is a time when we can sometimes feel guilty about all of the things we have — the food, the family, our time with family and friends — especially as we’re reminded about how little others may have. I don’t want to walk around beating myself or anyone else up over the head, feeling bad about blessings that may have been bestowed upon us. But I do wish that we all could work harder to appreciate what we have; remember to thank Who it is who gave it to us, and allows us to have it; and be more open to share our blessings with others. I include myself in that group.

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Why Sometimes the Best Blessings Come in the Smallest Ways

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So while stopping by a grocery store today, my purpose was to pick up some milk, find something for dinner, and keep moving. I didn’t really have time to do a complete shopping trip, but had forgotten to thaw some meat. I figured about $5.00 for my two cartons of almond milk, and up to another $5.00 tops for whatever I was going to pick up for dinner. But the moment I walked into the store, there in front of me was a display of fresh, whole pineapple for only 99 cents. So of course, I grabbed several of those, and also three of the bags of salad mix that had been marked down to 99 cents — all because they’re set to expire AUG 21. Sometimes, you’re just in the right place at the right time.

After grabbing the milk I came for, and deciding to try a bag of black bean chips (really hoping it tasted better than it sound), I headed to the check out. Lucky for me, I was watching the register and noticed that the cashier double rang the pineapples, and at the original price and not the sale price. He caught the mistake, and subtracted it out and off the bill. Once my bill was totaled and I paid, I walked away slowly, a little confused by how little the amount was. I had 10 items, and yet my bill came to less than $10.00. I knew six of the items were 99 cents each, but I also had milk, chips, and a cucumber.

Confused, I went back to the cashier, who seemed surprised when I said “I think your computer took too much off the bill.” He just looked at me, laughed a little, and said, “I don’t know anything if you don’t.”

I stood there a bit longer, so he pointed me to the customer service and said, “but if you really want to do something about it, she can help you out.”

I’m sure he thought I’d call it a day, put the receipt into my purse and leave. But I didn’t. I went over to customer service, and repeated to her, “I’m not really sure how, because I can’t find the mistake on the receipt, but I know I underpaid for my groceries.” As we went over it, she took the receipt from me, went section by section, and finally just said, “well, I can’t find it,” and so she handed it back to me.

My response to her?

“Oh well, I guess it’s just my day to be blessed!” I laughed, looked back at the receipt, knowing that this $8.98 total should have been almost twice that. Then I put it down into my purse and headed out the door.

With payday still being two weeks away (bad part about only getting paid once a month), I decided, oh okay, I’ll take it!

Why Patience is Worth the Wait

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I have a friend who loves to garden. Most of what she grows is intended to give away to others. I’ve never been one to enjoy working in the sun; being eaten up by insects, with sweat dripping in my eyes, and dirt gathering under my finger nails. None of that seems to bother her. She gets a lot of joy out of having a garden full of vegetables, bordered by sunflowers on one side, and zinnias on the other; “to give the birds something else to eat,” she insists.

Gardening takes a lot of hard work and is time-consuming. That’s why I’m sometimes humorously surprised at how impatient she can get at times. When some vegetables start to slow their growth, she’s ready to pull them out of the garden and plant something else. If others are off to a slow start, she re-tills the area and plants something else. But this summer, she learned a lesson about being patient. It was an accidental lesson, but maybe it’ll spill over into how she handles things in the future.

Two weeks ago, when her eggplant bush didn’t have any new blooms, and only one piece of fruit hanging, she was ready to yank it out of the ground. Time, and other commitments kept her from doing it. And then came the rains. Not just some rain, but days of rain. A week later, there were multiple blooms on that bush. Then a week after that — egg plants. Not just one or two, but a half dozen of the fruit had appeared. When I took note of it, I asked, “wasn’t this the bush you were going to pull up a couple of weeks ago?”

You see, even though it was still early in the growing season, the fact that because she didn’t see continued evidence of fruit, she was ready to pull it out and throw it away. But all it took was a few days of a good soaking rain to yield the kind of results she was looking for. Not only did she have the visible fruit, but there were more blooms waiting to become future eggplants as well.

Patience, albeit, not planned by her, but as a result of being forced to wait for the rain to end, was worth the wait.

How often are we so ready to throw in the towel on something, because we get tired of waiting for it to happen? When instead, a little patience is all we need. And at times, we get way more than we were waiting for in the first place.

That happened to me recently. I’d been meaning to get some new profile shots for work, and for my various online platforms. But I never found a good photographer who also had the kind of pricing that I was interested in paying, and who was available at the same time I was. At one time, I thought I had found someone, but he wasn’t flexible in any way — not on price or poses or number of photos that would be mine. And because he never added me to his emailing list, I never found out when he would run a special until oftentimes just days before it ended. I’m not a vain person, but I also want to make sure that if I’m going to spend money for a photo shoot, that I have my hair done, and the right clothes for the image I want portrayed.

Once, he finally ran a special I could get behind. His special was for a specific price for two people. It was a “Friends” promo. Since I didn’t know anyone who wanted a photo shoot done during the same time period, I tried to get him to agree to take just me — even offering to pay the same price that his promo was advertising. But he insisted on it being the two people for that one price. I’m assuming it was because he wanted that second person through the doors of his studio. But what he got instead was not getting the first person — ME — to his studio at all. I marked him off the list, and told the friend who referred him to me, that her guy would never grow his business into anything significant with the way he did business.

Just weeks after I’d missed another one of his “specials,” an email popped in my inbox. A women’s organization I was a member of was offering profile pictures for their membership. I did a double-take looking at the pricing. A photographer who was also a member of our organization, had agreed to do the photo shoots for an incredibly discounted price. I kept waiting for the catch — like not being able to have full use of the photos, or something else. But that wasn’t the case. If I was willing to wait another six weeks for it, I’d have the opportunity to get what I was looking for — multiple poses, multiple choices, and full use of the chosen shots!

My patience had paid off in more ways than one. I had plenty of notice. I was able to make the proper arrangements to take advantage of it. I was going to get a number of shots to choose from…AND I was only paying about 1/6th the price of the other guy’s going rate; and less than a third of the amount he ran for his specials!

Patience was Worth the Wait!

Me, hanging out and having some fun shortly after the shoot!

Why Shopping this Weekend Could Save You Lots of Money

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Tomorrow is our nation’s 239th birthday anniversary. Happy Independence Day! Celebrate the importance of the day. Hang out with friends and family, and enjoy cookouts and outdoor games in the neighborhood.

But after you get that electric ice cream maker going, and before you throw those hamburgers on the grill — GO SHOPPING!

This 4th of July weekend kicks off one of, if not THE, best times to shop for summer.

Why wait until July to shop for summer items? That’s easy. Because our retailers have become so obsessed with what I call “season jumping” that they put seasonal items on sale in the middle of the actual season the items are intended for, desperate to make space for items of the next season! For those of us in the South, that means summer’s out, and Fall’s Back to School items are in. The commercials have already started running!

You need more sunscreen, citronella candles, tiki torches, planters, lawn and patio furniture, outdoor fans and even grills? Head over to your Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart and other stores like that. Want some colorful outdoor pillows, unique outdoor lanterns, lighting, and picnic items like plastic plates, utensils, and cups? Go check out places like Target, Pier 1, and even a grocery store like Kroger. Remember, those red, white, and blue napkins aren’t just be for the holidays. Grab on-sale red today, use for a Christmas or Valentine’s gathering later. Blue? White? Anytime!

But maybe you don’t need any more outdoor living supplies. This weekend is also great for buying summer clothing and shoes. Tank tops, shorts, sundresses and sandles have to go to make room for the more school-appropriate pants, skirts, tops and even sweaters. Yes, some retailers rack sweaters in their stores in August!

For the South, although our kids return to school by the second week of August, we still have three more months of hot-to-warm outdoor living. So that retailer rush that traditionally kicks off over the Independence Day weekend, is a great time for you to take advantage of the often 50%-75% off for things you need anyway, or can buy now and use next summer!

And don’t forget your gift closet. Grab some items now to give as gifts later — birthdays, Christmas, weddings, hostess, coaches, and babysitter gifts. Or just treat yourself. I did during the Bath and Body Semi-Annual Sale (still going on now), with bath, body, and home items up to 75% off. Why not send some of those wallflowers off to college with your coed for their dorm room? They’ll probably appreciate it. Or get a new calming candle for your office? Or hand lotion for your purse.

No, I don’t own stock in any of these companies (but maybe I should). I just want to make sure my friends spend wisely. And there’s nothing like catching sales today for something you might need tomorrow and saving money in the process because of your advance planning for it all!

Three Reasons Why You Should Join Rewards Programs

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I’m sitting in a Starbucks, back in my SC hometown where I like to visit during the first weeks of summer. I just enjoyed lunch on Starbucks, including a Turkey Rustico Panini and sweet tea. Yes, I said lunch ON Starbucks, not just “in” Starbucks.

It’s been almost a year since I signed up for their Rewards program. And while I’m still trying to figure out exactly how their Bonus Stars program works, one thing that works for me is the birthday gift they load onto the card each year! So today, I had a FREE sandwich and a discounted drink to accompany my hang time at the restaurant, catching up on email and social media stuff.

I have often talked about the “rewards” that come with signing up for Loyalty and Rewards Programs; especially with places that you already support. But even with places you don’t normally shop, receiving a freebie just for having a birthday is a great excuse to try something new, or just enjoy a treat at a place you perhaps would otherwise never have visited.

Monday was my birthday. But my celebration started a week earlier. Though I’m a huge supporter of certain rewards programs, it was one of my sisters who turned me on to a number of restaurant programs I’d been missing out on. Two years ago I signed up for Red Robin’s birthday club and started enjoying a FREE burger (which comes with fries) for my birthday each year. I love their program because I don’t have to eat-in to take advantage of it. Not so with Applebees, whose free dessert I have missed two years in a row. But I did take advantage of a FREE Honeybaked Ham sandwich I grabbed on my way to the movies (aren’t large purses the best?), and went to Buffalo Wings after church last weekend, enjoying a FREE Shareable, their fancy word for Appetizer. An yeah, they did make money on us for lunch, but you don’t have to give in to that. Just go with some friends after work and enjoy an appetizer for FREE! Plus, shortly after that visit, they sent me another email offering me free wings to complete a survey about my previous visit. Who wouldn’t want to take advantage of that??

I had a meeting at Panera a week ago, and took advantage of the FREE birthday pastry that day. But I missed signing up for Jersey Mike’s Subs in time (they require two weeks in advance of your birthday), so my FREE sub sandwich treat will have to wait until next year. Again, you don’t have to make the same mistake. Sign up today! What still awaits me in my email is a FREE breakfast at IHOP, a FREE scoop of ice cream at Marble Slab Creamery, and an email from another organization listing other deals I didn’t even know about, including a FREE burger at Ruby Tuesdays and a complimentary steak dinner at Ponderosa Steakhouse.

Lest you think it’s all about the food (though I make no apologies for having various lunches and dinners taken care of during this vacation time period), there are also numerous other stores where you can take advantage of their birthday club program. My favorite place to get gas near where I live is Thornton’s, where I regularly enjoy a three cent savings on gas each time I fill up (ditto with Kroger). But for my birthday, Thornton’s sent to my card a 10 cents off per gallon special discount. Perfect timing to use for my long my drive back to TN. And earlier today, I picked up a tea kettle from World Market that was similar to a more expensive one I’d wanted on an online site; only today I not only paid less for it, but was able to use my 15% birthday discount for the purchase. Now to be honest, I didn’t really consider this to be that great of a deal, since up until this year, World Market gave a TEN DOLLAR birthday coupon, which made going by there worth the trip. But now they’ve changed it, which will likely negatively impact the number of people they drive to their stores, since it’s hardly worth the special trip given compared to what they offered before. I only stopped because I was in the area.

I also discovered several websites that list a number of the places offering free or discounted items, meals, and services for your birthday. this time next year, my list will at least double with all that I’ve uncovered during this birthday celebration!

So why bother with loyalty and reward programs just for your birthday week?

First, most of them offer discounts on their products, meals and services year-round. If it’s something you would use, eat, or buy for a friend, why not save money on it?

Second, the majority of them have worthwhile Freebies to take advantage of during your birthday week; some up to a month to redeem.

Third, if you’re saving money on that overpriced, but still hugely popular Mocha Frappucino, you can spend that money on something else instead — like, say an extra gallon of gas or half of next month’s water bill!

I’m just saying!

Welcome Back!

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Yes. Welcome Back to Catching Raindrops in Water Buckets. That’s what I tell myself every winter and summer break when I actually have the time to devote more attention than just a Facebook post (find us and join our group on Facebook — catchingraindropsinwaterbuckets) or make a Pinterest share(https://www.pinterest.com/ggproverbs31/catching-raindrops-in-water-buckets/). The conversation doesn’t end when I’m not here. I’m just having it multiple other places too; places where I can drop in briefly, share a tip or two; give out a challenge to those ladies who are, like me, still trying to find, secure, and grow our place in this world amidst the changes, and sometimes, challenges of our “new normal.”

My New Normal included transitioning from a Talent Agent, to starting my own business (gloriagreenentertaiment.com) to now being a full-time college Professor. My job requires more of my time than I at first imagined, as well as much of my physical and mental energy — as working with older teens and young adults often does. And as much as I love what I do and the impact I’m having on college students interested in the Recording Industry, I strive to be careful to take my own advice, from personal experiences and the experiences of other women I’ve watched having to transition in their jobs, martial status, and other life changes. I don’t ever want to be in “that place” again where I rely soley on another entity or someone else’s financial ups and downs.

In the sporting world, a team’s Offense often gets most of the glory when they win a game. But the truth of the matter is that it doesn’t matter how many points the team puts on the scoreboard, if the Defense isn’t keeping the other team from scoring just as many (or more) points, then there would not be a win. As is often said, “the best offense is a good defense!” That’s how we have to approach our life…our jobs, our finances, our relationships…It’s not just about how well you’re doing what you do but also, how well you prepare for what you may end up having to do, even if it wasn’t originally in your playbook of where you saw yourself coming into the “game.” As I’ve said many times before,

Life is full of unexpected surprises and unplanned stops in the middle of places you never imagined yourself ending up. And while we can’t control all of the circumstances that may happen to us, we can control how well prepared we are to take them on when they happen.

So with that reminder to myself, as well as all of you, I now go back to working on the other parts of who I am. I’ve dusted off the water buckets, and put them back out around the “yard,” ready to catch the raindrops during this rainy season so that I am prepared, and able to survive the next dry spell, when/if it comes again.

What about you? Do you even own any water buckets?

Heeding the Warnings

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I started this off with what I think is a statement photograph. I love the way the battle of the grayish-blue and orange sunrise above looks against the deadness of the tree in the foreground, and the light of the snow below. It’s times like what we’ve experienced over the past few days that I wish I owned a “real” camera. There’s only “so” much that a smart phone camera can truly capture. In spite of that, the beauty carved out of the weather systems we’ve had this past week was definitely worth capturing the every changing moments of snow, ice, and rain that alternated their covered of our city this February.

But in spite of its beauty, snow, and especially ice, can be dangerous, and also wreak havoc on things like overhead power lines and underground water pipes. That’s why I believe it’s so important to heed the warnings by making plans to prepare accordingly.

Okay, yeah, our local meteorologists are known for over-stating storm predictions; especially winter storms. But once I heard the weather forecast also from the national weather service, I knew I needed to take it seriously. Yep, I’m one of those people who takes a survey of my kitchen’s pantry and refrigerator, and makes a mental list of what kind of things I would want in my house should one of two things happen — and heaven forbid they both do. First, if the forecast turned out to be true…then there would be driving issues, not to mention the cold temperatures that would both make me want to stay in the house. And second, if the forecast proved worse, then there might be other complications, such as the loss of power.

Such was the case for many parts of Nashville this week. The only thing the locals were wrong about was the snow, because instead of snow, we got ice — lots of ice! And then, down went some power lines. I was one of the people who lost power — in the middle of temperatures in the low 20s, with projections of decreasing down to the single digits. Fortunately for me, mine was out for less than two hours. Also fortunately, despite the social media (and even traditional media) jokes about raiding the grocery store aisles, I’d done just that. I’d purchased items that didn’t require electricity to prepare and eat. Judging by comments on Facebook, there were those who didn’t; and they were miserable by day three of this mess.

The other thing I was prepared for was the loss of power. I try to stay prepared for that year-round — making sure there’s blankets, flashlights, candles and matches in every bedroom. I didn’t have to worry about running through the house, bumping in to things trying to find a flashlight. I even keep one in the kitchen. I also already had a plan in place for my devices. I kept my laptop plugged up at all times, so it was fully charged when the lights went out. And I had a car charger for my phone, so a trip to the garage if needed, was not out of the question; especially since I made sure my car was fully gassed up beforehand as well.

Within hours of regaining my power, I read a friend’s post that they had just lost theirs. What surprised me was her second statement after announcing in disbelief that they were without power: “Oh no, we weren’t prepared for something like this!” is what she said. My first thought was, “How can you not be prepared? We were warned days out that it was coming!” I felt for her though, and her family; and was glad to learn that hers came back on within hours as well.

But it made me think again, how weird it is that people seem almost apologetically embarrassed to prepare for things such as this. A week out, the snow storm was projected; days out, the radar showed it was coming. But once it got here, and it was as bad as projected, there were those people who still “weren’t prepared for something like this.”

The way I look at it, I don’t care if I go shopping and nothing happens. I figure I win either way. If the weather service is correct, then I’m stocked up and prepared to be stuck in the house for days — even ready for the loss of power, should it happen. If they’re wrong, what’s the worse? So you have a fully stocked pantry and won’t need to go shopping for another week. It’s a win-win!

So my advice is, as it has always been. Being prepared for something you don’t need is way better than needing something you’re not prepared for. And it can oftentimes be a lot more costly waiting and having to play catch up later.

One last thing. A different facebook friend made fun of my reposting the mayor’s office suggestion of leaving the water faucet dripping to avoid possible pipe freezing. Actually, he was making fun of the water department and suggested a conspiracy in them getting more money by everyone running their faucets all week. Of course, my snarky remark back is that it’s far cheaper to drip the faucet now than to have to replace the water pipes later; not to mention any damage that water may cause inside the home.

So yeah. I believe warnings are made for a reason. And I don’t mind heeding the ones that make sense and don’t cost me anything more to accomplish.

The Cost of Laziness

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On the way to work earlier this week, I stopped at a gas station and filled my tank for $1.74/gallon. The actual price of the gas at this Thorntons station was $1.77, but I had a rewards card which gave me an additional three cents per gallon off. Now for you West coasters and Northeasterners, I’m sure your jaw has dropped at the thought of gas prices being this low. But down South, we’ve been significantly under $2.00 since before the holidays; albeit, that was only a few weeks ago. But given that the average gas price where I live is about $1.86, with bargains like I found at other stations for those willing to look, I’m completely dumbfounded whenever I pass a gas station these days with prices starting above $2.00 and people actually at the pumps filling their tanks. What gives me more of a “scratching my head, I don’t get it,” moment is when I see other stations mere blocks away with prices 10, 20, even 30 cents cheaper than the one where some people are stopping. So I can’t help but wonder, how lazy can you be that in today’s economy, you wouldn’t do just a little homework to find the best gas prices in your community or near your workplace? Certainly not “that” many people could possibly have been on empty and forced to pull in to the first gas station they saw, when a half mile down the road, they could have saved 20 cents a gallon.

Now I know, there are people who think 20 cents is nothing; not worth the extra drive. Those are people I call too lazy for their own good. They don’t completely understand the cost of laziness. You see, it’s not just 20 cents; it’s the cumulative effect of paying more for the same thing, just to avoid taking the time to find something better — and it adds up. Let’s take a vehicle that has a 20 gallon tank. Assuming you’re filling up because you’re on or near empty, that 20 cent difference that doesn’t seem like a big deal right now, actually comes out to be $4.00 more you spent filling up your car, than what the woman down the street saved. What’s $4.00, you say? Well one way you can look at it is this. Let’s assume, regardless of the price of gas, you continue to shop at a station that charges, on average, 20 cents more per gallon. Filling your tank once a week would mean that you just paid $16.00 more that month than you could have saved. If you continue that pattern all year long, then you just spent (better known as wasted) a total of $192.00 that year! Now, I don’t know about you, but I can think of several things I could do with an additional $192. That’s the cost of a carefully selected airline ticket back to my hometown. It’s also about what I paid for my last electric bill, and more than double the cost of my current home gas bill. What’s more, if you take into consideration there are 52 weeks in a year (of course, only one month has exactly four weeks in it), then really, you’ve just spent $208 more that year than I did…all because you’d either prefer maintaining your habit of getting your gas at the same station every time, regardless of the price (yes, there are those people who won’t let anything get in the way of their routine, even when that routine stops making sense). Or, it’s not a matter of routine, but rather laziness — “see station, pull in, gas up, go!”

Interestingly, just this morning a devotional popped in my email. It’s one of those I subscribe to for only weekend delivery, so I thought how fitting and timely that today it would actually be about this very topic that I had already planned to write about.

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. Proverbs 6:6-8

For most of us who don’t have the luxury of a lottery win, a trust fund, generously rich relatives, or even hard work, high earning generated income, we have to seek out ways to save the money we have and use it wisely. For me, that means, not going out of my way to find the best gas prices, but rather, making it a point to find out which ones offer the best deals along the routes I’m already taking — to work, to church, to home, even to friend’s houses on a different part of town. It means yes, I shop during Buy One, Get One Free sales; and then only select one of the products (most stores allow that now), which means a 50% savings on something I planned to purchase anyway. It means I try not to run out to do any one errand, but rather hit most places up in between the other destinations I have to do. That means that on my way to my doctor’s appointment, I drop my recycles off at the center going, and stop by the Home Depot to pick up the floodlights I need, on the return. And it also means using coupons – not just for groceries, but for any and everything that’s available. Recently, that meant saving $40.00 on a brake job at a national chain. While I waited for my car repair, I went online and found the savings of $20.00 per brake service. Since I had to have two new brake pads installed, the $40.00 was a huge and welcomed savings (thank you smartphones and wifi!).

The devotional I read, which was from Charles Stanley’s In Touch Ministries, went on to say: consider how many characteristics of the ant people would be smart to adopt: preparation, cooperation, perseverance, diligence, and unity.

My ongoing challenge to anyway reading this, is to think about the bigger picture with even the smaller things you do. If you’re a regular visitor to this blog, you’re probably one who is looking for ideas on how to save money, or perhaps how to generate more. I hope we have provided some of those ideas for you in the past, and we certainly plan to share much more in the future. But remember, no matter how much money you make, win or inherit, if you spend more than you have, you will be back to living in debt!

Learn instead, how to adjust your lifestyle to a life with your new normal.