I shop the day after Valentines Day for the following year's gifts. It's a great time to buy valentines stuffed animals,pens etc for the kids and red ties and shirts for my husband. I put them away for the year and then add the candy etc before the actual day to complete the gift.
I actually own a pawn shop and I have a website in which we conduct gold parties around the country but we work off of referrals instead of spending millions on advertising. I am not here to promote our company but I thought maybe I could add some insight to the discussion.
Pawn Shops have to do a tremendous amount of paper work to prevent us from taking in stolen material. We have to put in full descriptions of the items and in some cases we even take a picture of the item. We also have to have the persons id and all the information from it and we finger print each person.
We then download that information to a database for the police department so they can search all of our transactions for anything that might have been stolen. We have to hold items for a minimum of 30 days so the police have time to find anything that may be stolen. If something ends up in our store a victim has a chance to get their property back. If it is sent to some of these companies they are not following the law and probably melt it within days. With our company we have strict guidelines in place to hold everything and do the same paper work as a pawn shop is required to do because I have dealt with victims of theft and have been one myself so I make sure we do everything the right way without cutting corners.
I know some have said that pawn shops don't pay fairly but that is not true. We have to wait 30 days until we can do anything so we have to make sure we account for fluctuations in the spot gold price. Gold prices can rise or fall a considerable amount within 30 days. With that in mind I know we pay more in our store than any of the online places because we did tests when they first started becoming popular. We sent in packages to 5 different online companies and we were paying about 6 dollars more per (dwt) penny weight than they were. For the most infamous company that is all over TV we were paying about $10 more per dwt.
We started doing gold parties locally for a few friends and family and it started growing and now we do them all over the country because we treat people fairly and test it right in front of them and agree on a price. We added the capability for referrals to send in gold because people asked for it. We only work off of referrals for our gold parties and online so we can pay more because we don't spend millions on advertising like some do.
I know some people may think I am advertising our company but I haven't even mentioned the name of our company. I just wanted people to know there are people who are fair and treat people with respect. I think that it is important to have companies that are able to help individuals in these tough economic times but I think many are just taking advantage of desperate people. If someone is thinking of selling their gold they should do their home work and get a few offers from different sources and see which one would best fit their specific needs.
I've generally found that the coupons in the local book are for restaurants that are located some distance from me, and not many for local establishments. But, 2 for 1 at a non-local place is still cheaper than full price at a local place, even with fuel costs included.
for most recipes that call for fish sauce you can substitute any wheat free soy sauce and the outcome will be pretty close to the same, you can also add some seaweed if you prefer a fishy flavor without any fish!
hey there is actually a veg worcestershire sauce. Annies makes it and it's delicious, i use it a lot for making bloody marys! it's a great substitute. you can find it at most health food stores and now usually anywhere that carrys Annies dressing will carry the vegetarian Worcestershire. good luck! and enjoy.
this year i'm taking advantage of our church's free babysitting night! we hardly ever pay for a babysitter and go out, so this is a real treat! I also am designing a wallhanging/digital scrapbook layout for me and my husband with our wedding picture and a love song on it for our new bedroom.
I have Netflix (one disc at a time plan $9.99 month), and recently bought a Roku box from rokudotcom (www.roku.com)
It is the greatest!! It connects to your TV (cable or DSL broadband 256kbs or better) and you stream many online 'view instantly' movies and Documentaries directly from Netflix. I pay $10 a month and can watch all the movies I can handle directly to my widescreen TV. Plus the DVD's they mail to my home.
The "Browse Selection" section on www.netflix.com shows you pretty much all their movies etc. There is NO central point to see exactly what they have, they change too often to keep it up to date...
Go for the Roku box ($99.00) that's it!! You can't beat that deal, and NO commercials!!
A coworker of mine took a diamond ring to a jewelry shop. They appraised it at $250, but they don't buy jewelry. She took it to a jewelry shop that buys old jewelry. They offered her $25. She took it to a pawn shop. They offered her $20. She's still got the ring.
I think it's pretty easy to lose hope when the US government is spending every dime of whatever we produce plus whatever our kids and grandkids produce. The entire culture has to change.
The point makes sense. It saddens me, but it makes sense. Some people can't see past tomorrow no less worry about making a budget or set a long term goal. How can you offer someone hope? I think hope is the worse thing you could lose. You can lose freedom, and hope can pull you through, but if you lose hope, what else do you have?? I'm pretty sure Victor Frankl mentions this in his book. hmm. thought provoking.
Yes, depression is certainly a cause of hopeless feelings.
I've seen, though, people who aren't depressed--people who aren't even hopeless in general, just hopeless about their finances--make really awful decisions. If you have so much debt that you'll never be able to pay it off, and so little cash that you can't even hire a lawyer to declare bankruptcy, why not spend whatever you luck into on shoes or toys or beer? What difference could it possibly make?
Someone with hope for the future might well be able to see a path out--spend the money on a suit of interview clothes or at least groceries. But that requires feeling, at some basic level, that there is a way out.
I remember the look of surprise on my guy's face when I told him that I still got butterflies when we were together. So, when trying to come up with an inexpensive but innovative way of showing him just how much I cared for him.....I found all sorts of scraps of paper laying around the house, from decorative hand-made paper to Sunday's newspaper, found a butterfly template, and cut out lots (and I mean lots) of paper butterflies. I put them in a large manila envelope and mailed them to him at his office, with a note that said, "Yes, I DO still get butterflies everytime I see you." He was quite surprised to open the envelope and have dozens of these little critters fall out. By sending it to his office, I also avoided the potential "what the heck is this?" look that can come from a misinterpreted or misplaced show of affection, although in this case, I heard it wasn't necessary!
I shop the day after Valentines Day for the following year's gifts. It's a great time to buy valentines stuffed animals,pens etc for the kids and red ties and shirts for my husband. I put them away for the year and then add the candy etc before the actual day to complete the gift.
we like to buy a bottle of wine, rent a movie and snuggle on the couch
We always rent the first movie we ever saw together and then pair it with one of the latest newer romantic movies....then snuggle away.
I really love your blog and all of the new things that have been added.
I actually own a pawn shop and I have a website in which we conduct gold parties around the country but we work off of referrals instead of spending millions on advertising. I am not here to promote our company but I thought maybe I could add some insight to the discussion.
Pawn Shops have to do a tremendous amount of paper work to prevent us from taking in stolen material. We have to put in full descriptions of the items and in some cases we even take a picture of the item. We also have to have the persons id and all the information from it and we finger print each person.
We then download that information to a database for the police department so they can search all of our transactions for anything that might have been stolen. We have to hold items for a minimum of 30 days so the police have time to find anything that may be stolen. If something ends up in our store a victim has a chance to get their property back. If it is sent to some of these companies they are not following the law and probably melt it within days. With our company we have strict guidelines in place to hold everything and do the same paper work as a pawn shop is required to do because I have dealt with victims of theft and have been one myself so I make sure we do everything the right way without cutting corners.
I know some have said that pawn shops don't pay fairly but that is not true. We have to wait 30 days until we can do anything so we have to make sure we account for fluctuations in the spot gold price. Gold prices can rise or fall a considerable amount within 30 days. With that in mind I know we pay more in our store than any of the online places because we did tests when they first started becoming popular. We sent in packages to 5 different online companies and we were paying about 6 dollars more per (dwt) penny weight than they were. For the most infamous company that is all over TV we were paying about $10 more per dwt.
We started doing gold parties locally for a few friends and family and it started growing and now we do them all over the country because we treat people fairly and test it right in front of them and agree on a price. We added the capability for referrals to send in gold because people asked for it. We only work off of referrals for our gold parties and online so we can pay more because we don't spend millions on advertising like some do.
I know some people may think I am advertising our company but I haven't even mentioned the name of our company. I just wanted people to know there are people who are fair and treat people with respect. I think that it is important to have companies that are able to help individuals in these tough economic times but I think many are just taking advantage of desperate people. If someone is thinking of selling their gold they should do their home work and get a few offers from different sources and see which one would best fit their specific needs.
Thanks for letting me add my two cents
small box of chocolates
I've generally found that the coupons in the local book are for restaurants that are located some distance from me, and not many for local establishments. But, 2 for 1 at a non-local place is still cheaper than full price at a local place, even with fuel costs included.
One of my wife's favorite things is when I relieve her of household responsibilities for an evening.
for most recipes that call for fish sauce you can substitute any wheat free soy sauce and the outcome will be pretty close to the same, you can also add some seaweed if you prefer a fishy flavor without any fish!
hey there is actually a veg worcestershire sauce. Annies makes it and it's delicious, i use it a lot for making bloody marys! it's a great substitute. you can find it at most health food stores and now usually anywhere that carrys Annies dressing will carry the vegetarian Worcestershire. good luck! and enjoy.
The best gifts are always personal, like stuff you make or relating to an inside joke. Even if it's lame, you're bound to score points :)
Excellent post I love your way of writing.
this year i'm taking advantage of our church's free babysitting night! we hardly ever pay for a babysitter and go out, so this is a real treat! I also am designing a wallhanging/digital scrapbook layout for me and my husband with our wedding picture and a love song on it for our new bedroom.
I have Netflix (one disc at a time plan $9.99 month), and recently bought a Roku box from rokudotcom (www.roku.com)
It is the greatest!! It connects to your TV (cable or DSL broadband 256kbs or better) and you stream many online 'view instantly' movies and Documentaries directly from Netflix. I pay $10 a month and can watch all the movies I can handle directly to my widescreen TV. Plus the DVD's they mail to my home.
The "Browse Selection" section on www.netflix.com shows you pretty much all their movies etc. There is NO central point to see exactly what they have, they change too often to keep it up to date...
Go for the Roku box ($99.00) that's it!! You can't beat that deal, and NO commercials!!
I LOVE IT!
Enjoy...
Yes, MANS SEARCH FOR MEANING. Good reminder Nate.
many reasons for hopelessness but sometimes there's nothing we can do about or for others. they have to do it themselves.
A coworker of mine took a diamond ring to a jewelry shop. They appraised it at $250, but they don't buy jewelry. She took it to a jewelry shop that buys old jewelry. They offered her $25. She took it to a pawn shop. They offered her $20. She's still got the ring.
Personally, I'd just stick it on eBay.
I think it's pretty easy to lose hope when the US government is spending every dime of whatever we produce plus whatever our kids and grandkids produce. The entire culture has to change.
Bake a special treat and print your own card.
The point makes sense. It saddens me, but it makes sense. Some people can't see past tomorrow no less worry about making a budget or set a long term goal. How can you offer someone hope? I think hope is the worse thing you could lose. You can lose freedom, and hope can pull you through, but if you lose hope, what else do you have?? I'm pretty sure Victor Frankl mentions this in his book. hmm. thought provoking.
-Nate
The best ever were hotel rooms at 1/2 of the normal rate. Great for businesses, too!
Yes, depression is certainly a cause of hopeless feelings.
I've seen, though, people who aren't depressed--people who aren't even hopeless in general, just hopeless about their finances--make really awful decisions. If you have so much debt that you'll never be able to pay it off, and so little cash that you can't even hire a lawyer to declare bankruptcy, why not spend whatever you luck into on shoes or toys or beer? What difference could it possibly make?
Someone with hope for the future might well be able to see a path out--spend the money on a suit of interview clothes or at least groceries. But that requires feeling, at some basic level, that there is a way out.
a puppy from the pound
We use the buy one get one free restaurant coupons all the time from the Entertainment book. Good way to try new local restaurants
I remember the look of surprise on my guy's face when I told him that I still got butterflies when we were together. So, when trying to come up with an inexpensive but innovative way of showing him just how much I cared for him.....I found all sorts of scraps of paper laying around the house, from decorative hand-made paper to Sunday's newspaper, found a butterfly template, and cut out lots (and I mean lots) of paper butterflies. I put them in a large manila envelope and mailed them to him at his office, with a note that said, "Yes, I DO still get butterflies everytime I see you." He was quite surprised to open the envelope and have dozens of these little critters fall out. By sending it to his office, I also avoided the potential "what the heck is this?" look that can come from a misinterpreted or misplaced show of affection, although in this case, I heard it wasn't necessary!
A romantic at home dinner followed by a bubblebath and message