tips Archives | A Thought and a Half | Southern Food & Lifestyle Blog

5 Tips for Adulting (That Everyone Needs)

June 6, 2016 By Kate 2 Comments

Adulting ain’t easy. And it seems to happen so fast: you graduate college (or grad school, in my case) and suddenly, boom, you’re not a student anymore and you have to be a real adult. And now there’s bills and a 9-5 and other payments and surprise expenses and all kinds of other things.

The struggle is so real.

I’m certainly no expert at adulting–is anyone, really?–but I have learned some valuable lessons in my adult life. The struggle will always be there, but there are some things to remember that make adult life a little easier.

How to Conquer Writer’s Block as a Blogger

November 9, 2015 By Kate 13 Comments

As bloggers and writers, we are responsible for producing quality content as often as we can (or have to). When the creative juices are running, content seems to flow from our fingers like magic. The perfect words form the perfect thoughts, thus creating the perfect posts that our readers are bound to love and share all over the Internet.

But sometimes, the magic just doesn’t happen. Writer’s block is the bane of our existences, and it always seems to strike at the worst possible times. Nothing comes out. The fingers don’t move, or if they do, you delete whatever you just wrote because it sounded awful. The brain brakes screech to a stop and it’s over.

Real talk, though: writer’s block is the worst. If only there were things we could do to combat the plague of writer’s block… oh wait, there ARE ways to get past it and get the creativity flowing again!

Surviving Your First Week at Your Job

July 23, 2015 By Kate 3 Comments

I’m back with the second installment of the Post-Grad Summer series! If you missed it last week, my friend Gina Alyse and I have teamed up to share our thoughts on varying aspects of your post-grad summer. Catch up with Gina’s post on traveling post-grad, and mine on making the most of your post-grad summer.

One of the biggest steps into post-grad life is finding a job and starting work. This first job looks different for each person, depending on her chosen career path. While it’s perfectly normal to be nervous or anxious, it’s also super exciting – you’re a working girl now!

Last week, I started my job at a social media agency. I wouldn’t go straight to “overwhelming,” but there was definitely a lot going on, and a lot of information to take in! Since the office I’m at is a new location for the company, a lot of the orientation process was done via video chat with people in their main office.

Post-Travel Recovery

January 15, 2015 By Kate Leave a Comment

My week in the Dominican Republic was amazing. Spending time with my classmates and professors, and seeing another culture was an experience I will always remember. The Dominican people are so humble and happy, and always welcomed us with open arms and fresh fruit (fresh pineapple is amazing, by the way). This trip taught me so much about myself, life, my professional goals, and so much more.However, travel always comes with the chance of catching the travel bug, and not the kind that makes you want to travel more! Between the diet differences, lack of sleep, all of our activities, and spending lots of time on airplanes and in airports, I came back with a nasty, flu-like bug. I don’t think it was a full-fledged flu, but it definitely wasn’t fun. Everything from the week caught up with me in the end, as it usually does.

5 tips for post-travel rest and recovery

Live Frugally: Use Coupons!

August 6, 2014 By Kate Leave a Comment

My mama has clipped and saved coupons for as long as I can remember. I don’t know when she started, but at least since I was a toddler, I remember sitting at the kitchen table with her while she flipped through pages of coupons and cut out useful ones. She stored them in a small accordion file and every time we needed to go to the grocery store, the coupons came with us. So why it took me until now–being in grad school–to start imitating that routine, I don’t know. But last weekend I bought a Sunday newspaper solely for the coupons and cut them out, just like my mama does.

It’s easiest to organize your coupons by category: dairy, pasta/rice, produce, cleaning, beverages, snacks, etc. That’s how I’ve done mine, as seen above.

All coupons have expiration dates and they are strictly enforced, except at Bed Bath & Beyond. I use expiration dates as my guide when deciding which ones to cut out and save. That, and need of the item. If I find a coupon for an item that I’m likely to buy or already buy regularly, and its expiration date is within the month, I cut it out and save it.

The hardest part of clipping coupons is battling the “Oh! That looks good! I may or may not buy that sometime!” sensation that comes with it. The thought of saving money and being frugal is exciting, sure, but you can’t get too carried away. Remember to only save coupons for things you’re likely to buy, not things you maybe might buy. It makes organization easier and more expedient.

Pay attention to the fine print, too. A lot of coupons will say “SAVE $2.00” in big bold letters at the top to fool you into thinking you’ll save $2 on one item. In reality, you’re saving $2 on two items. For example, “Save $2.00 on any two boxes” of a certain product.

Couponing can be extremely beneficial and fun when done right. I don’t claim to be an expert; I’m certainly learning as I go along. But I will continue to share my coupon wisdom and any tips I figure out here so we can all learn to be expert couponers together. I just have to remember to buy my Sunday paper this coming weekend, too.

My mama would be so proud of me.
What are your best coupon habits and tips?

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