Tony Brewer

I am amazed by how many television commercials I see nowadays where the sponsor is a company that deals in cash advances of some kind.  Whether it is payday loans or  a loan against a car title, or a bad credit loan, the big business seems to be all about getting fast cash to the consumer.  What I find very irritating about the commercials is that the customers who are bragging about how they needed money and got it so easily, waving the money around.  They just seem to be very uneducated people!

And to be completely honest, those kinds of commercials simply turn me right off!    I don’t know what kind of commercial would entice me to use those services, but the ones that I see are pretty repulsive.  I understand that there are situations in which a consumer might need a quick loan, and that these types of loans are fairly easy to get, but I think that they could be promoted in a less distasteful way.

My sister told me about a blog that is unique and interesting is a strange way. People have been invited to create and submit postcards to a man in Maryland, revealing a personal secret to him. He puts the most interesting postcards on the internet, which in theory relieves the sender of the burden from keeping that secret. the blog is called, Post Secret.

This project has been so successful that he has published two books and is now lecturing all across the country on keeping and telling secrets.

The site changes out the postcards every Sunday, so I’ve bookmarked it and will check back once a week for my peek at other people’s secrets.

What is it with women and their never-ending quest for shoes?  Teri seems to feel the need to have a separate pair of shoes for every outfit that she owns!  And at least two pairs of shoes in every color in the rainbow!  And of course, matching handbags with the shoes!  Me, I have a couple pairs of dress shoes, a couple pair of casual, and a comfy pair of sneakers.  What more could a person need?  

I’m going to have to be talking to Teri soon about how we are supposed to store all of her shoes.  They seem to be taking over the place!  I don’t think she has every thrown a pair of shoes away in her life!  I think I’m going to encourage her to try on her older shoes to see if they still fit, and suggest that if they are too small that maybe it is time to donate them to a charity sponsored thrift store.  Thankfully when Teri decides she needs new shoes, she uses a website that offers online coupons for discount shoes.  The website, bestcouponsonline.com offers good deals on shoes for most of the major shoe retailers that Teri likes to frequent.

I’d like to put a thought “out there” for people who are considering buying a home.  If it is at all possible, I’d like to recommend that you rent the home with the option to buy it BEFORE you commit to buying it.  There is some sound reasoning for this.  First of all, there is the “try it before you buy it” rationality.  If you live in a house for a few months or a year, you will get the feel for what the neighbors are like (which is more important than you realize) and if you have kids you will get a good idea for whether or not the school system meets your needs.  In addiditon you will get to know the house itself - whether or not the roof leaks, how often you might having plumbing issues, how reliable is the heating and cooling system, do the appliances meet your needs?  If, after you have lived there for a few months or a year, you find that it does NOT meet your needs, then you can simply move away without having to try to sell the house!  Yes, try before you buy.  Good advice.