Triple A & Hoffman Beverage Company are offering free New Year’s Eve rides home as a safe alternative to drinking and driving.  The service is available across Hampton Roads until 6:00 a.m. on January 3rd.  You car will also be towed for free.  Cool, isn’t it!

Call 631-1700 for details.

In an effort to scrimp where possible, I scoured the web in search of money saving ideas…I took the liberty of not including ridiculous ideas like “Double Up On Your Mortgage Payment Each Month” … yeah … uhm … people who CAN double up on their mortgage payment aren’t looking to the web for “cutting finanacial corners” … however -

Pay a little extra on your mortgage.You’ll save thousands in the new year. Paying $100 extra a month on a 30-year, $200k mortgage will save you $63,308.63 over the life of the loan, and pay it off over 5 years early!  SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!  That’s pretty cool!

Enroll in your employer’s flexible healthcare spending plan. If you put a set amount into the plan, you can pay expenses like co-pays, prescription costs, over the counter medications, and more, with pre-tax money.   I have this and LOVE it!

Get started on a few small projects to make your home more energy-efficient. You could seal up your doors and windows with new weather stripping, add more insulation to your attic, clean up your a/c condenser, or something as simple as switching out your old light bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs. Check out www.virginianaturalgas.com  for easy, cheap tips!

Become a coupon clipper. Put in the time and effort…it’s not as tedious as you might imagine and you’ll save a ton of money.  Total hassle, it’s true – I don’t do it now, but I need to.  Below you’ll see great ways to not get ‘hosed’ at the grocery store

Try Google Alerts to find out when an item you want is on sale.   This new feature from Google allows you to create up to 1,000 alerts where they will email you when something new that you are searching for shows up on the internet.  You’ll need to do a little research to find the right search terms, but it’s a powerful tool.  For example, if you are waiting for a “no interest” sale at BestBuy, you could use the search term [ site:www.bestbuy.com "no interest" ].  When Google sees the words “no interest” at the BestBuy website, it’ll email you straight away. Head over to http://google.com/alerts to check it out.  SUPER COOL – DON’T BE INTIMIDATED BY IT!  JUST TAKE A FEW MINUTES AND FIGURE IT OUT SO YOU CAN SAVE SOME DOUGH!

Stop ordering soft drinks when you dine out.   Most restaurants will bring you a glass of water with ice for free, and it’s better for you too.   If your kids whine too much about it, bring along a packet of flavoring like Krystal Lite, Kool-Aid, etc.  You might feel a little embarrassed about dumping it in the water, but with the restaurants charging $2 a drink, it means you’re smart.  If you kids complain about it, tell them to get a job and buy they’re own overpriced soda

Here are some grocery store shopping tips I got at www.billeater.com

Food manufacturers and retailers are corporations looking to make money, and they have developed quite a few tricks to get consumers to spend more. Here are 5 tips you can use to be a truly savvy shopper and save some of your hard earned cash:

1. Scrutinize On-Sale Items
Grocery stores are highly organized with the purpose of getting consumers to spend the most money. Large displays of foods “on sale” at the front of the store are often not what they seem. Typically, it’s the manufacturer of the displayed foods that has paid the retailer to showcase their product. Go to the isle the display food is on and compare it to other sizes and brands – 9 times out of 10 there is a much better deal to be won.

2. Beware of Bulk
It used to be that buying in bulk (or even just any larger quantity) saved you money. Well, manufacturers figured out that consumers took advantage of this and decided to sometimes quietly price the food in bulk quantities higher than those in smaller quantities. Most consumers grab the bigger box of cereal assuming it’s a better deal and the manufacturer wins again. Take your calculator with you shopping. Figure out the price per ounce for those two boxes of cereal – You’d be surprised at how often the smaller boxes are priced less per ounce.

3. Look Above and Below
Most consumers buy products that are placed at eye level on the shelves. As a result of this, most grocery stores place their highest priced items at eye level. Scan the entire shelf, high and low, for better bargains.

4. Shop the Perimeter First
Again, grocery stores are organized in such a way to get you to spend the most money. Costlier, prepackaged foods usually sit in the middle of the store, while staple foods, such as milk, eggs and bread line the perimeter. If you buy your staple items first, your cart will already be filled with food and you’ll be less likely to indulge in prepackaged goodies on your way out of the store.

5. Don’t Fall for the Marketing
Food manufacturers spend millions of dollars each year studying you – and what prompts you to buy one brand over another. As a result of all this research, they’ve created some pretty tempting products that are hard to walk away from. However, you have to simply think about what you need versus what you want. Sure those diet snack packs look fun and convenient, but they’re also expensive – incredibly expensive when you consider the amount of calories and nutrients you’re getting for the price. Also, it really does not take that much longer to peel or wash a piece of fruit than it does to open that snack pack. Plus, the piece of fruit is probably even healthier for you anyways!

My parents, oldest brother – and hopefully my sisters 3 teenagers – will be arriving in Va Beach within 48 hours.  With all due respect to Gracie (my mother), yesterday she said “So Jenn, what are we going to do when we’re in town?  What’s going on? I want to spend some time seeing all the beautiful things and places down there.”  And quite frankly I thought, “I dunno what YOU’RE gonna do, but I’ll have a 3 and 6 year old with a house full of new toys – chances are I won’t make it passed the front door for the next week!” … but it’s my mom…and I love and respect her…so I replied “Oh, mom!  So much!  In fact, I’ll send you a list of all the cool stuff in town this week!” … So here are a few things I’ve gathered – if you have more PLEASE email me at jenna@2wd.com  THANKS!

P.S.  Would it be SUPER tacky to have a “honey-do” list prepared for my dad & brother?  ‘Cause I totally do have one ready to go!

Dec. 24: Colonial Williamsburg and the Kiwanis Club of Williamsburg will host more than 2,000 guests as they gather at the steps of the Courthouse to listen to past Christmas tales, remarks from the mayor of Williamsburg and witness the tree lighting. Colonial Williamsburg. 800-HISTORY

New Year’s Eve Celebration at 31st Street Hilton

MacArthur On Ice at Mac Center in Downtown Norfolk

Holiday Lights at the Beach

A Christmas Carol – Va Stage Company – Wells Theater

Symphonicity – Dec 23rd at Sandler Center – Messiah Sing A Long!

VIRGINIA AQUARIUM Restless Planet.
Grand Opening of the newly renovated, 12,000-square-foot area featuring habitats, exhibits and aquariums home to 6,000 new animals.

HUNT CLUB FARM’s Winter Wonderland

It’s time fot the TOP 10 blah, blah, blah of 2009 LISTS!  I love this stuff!  Here are the most viewed (globally) videos on YouTube – David after Dentist is HILARIOUS!!!

Most Watched YouTube videos (Global):
1. Susan Boyle – Britain’s Got Talent (120+ million views)
2. David After Dentist (37+ million views)
3. JK Wedding Entrance Dance (33+ million views)
4. New Moon Movie Trailer (31+ million views)
5. Evian Roller Babies (27+ million views)

Being this is my first year with Christmas lights on my home, it sure would be obnoxious of me to pretend to be an expert on Holiday Yard Art.  HOWEVER…here are a few basics to keep in mind (seriously)…these rules were compiled with your help this morning – and I appreciate your input!

1. More than one Santa on the yard is redundant…and inaccurate.
2. The Baby Jesus doesn’t belong in the manger UNTIL Christmas morning.
3. You can have small colored or white lights adorning your yard, or if absolutely necessary – big, giant, flashing, 1973 multi-colored bulbs…but never the two shall meet.  Come on – make a decision.
4. If one strand of the iscicle lights outlining your home is out – replace it quickly.  No need to spend all that time and effort if neighbors and passers-by just think “Slacker – replace your strand.”  It doesn’t matter that there are 143,500,003 functioning lights on your Christmas extravaganza – people will notice (and criticize) the one dark strand.
5. As Randy pointed out this morning “Halloween pumpkins are not a Christmas color!”.   I laughed so hard coffee came out of my nose when he said that.

Any more rules?  Pass them on!  I’ll add them to the list.  jenna@2wd.com

Wasn’t shocking to learn ALL BUT ONE caller admitted to re-gifting…I suspected it was because he was married so his wife handled all the gift giving (or regifting as the case may be).   We all did a SPECTACULAR job justifying the act of re-gifting and had great reasons WHY we regift. 

Ahhhh…regifting.  It’s universal – like the need for water.  I love it. 

Here are the RULES for regifting – and for the record, I have no idea why I’m randomly CAPITALIZING words…but I digress…again.

1. NEVER regift something used!  EVER.
2. ALWAYS keep track of the (alleged) original gift giver.
3. NEVER regift something from a dufunct store…like Gimbles!
4. Update the wrapping paper, and for the love of God, at least put a card on it.
5. ONLY regift if you are certain the next recipient will actually enjoy the gift you hated.
6. NEVER give a partially used gift card – actually, I’m a little sad that that even made the list…who does that?

Any other rules?  Pass them on to me at jenna@2wd.com – I’ll add them!

Although I’ve always wanted Christmas lights on my house…it never happened…until this year.  Simple white lights across the roof was all I had in mind…simple lights quickly became icicle lights.  Those icicle lights definitely made the two tall bushes at the corner of the house look naked – so I covered them in the small, colored lights.  It looked so sweet…but the other tall bushes looked awkward without any of their own colored lights – so I went back to Wal Mart for more.  Ahhhh…I loved it.  But wait…my kids are 3 & 5!  They need more festive decorations, right?  HELLOOOOOO 15 light up candy-canes to line the walkway! 

Ohhh…I got the itch now!   Sadly, I dropped more cash than I wanted to on this little project, but some more stuff next year, and the year after…and before you know it, my house will be the one with the ‘electrical hum’ … bring it on, Clark Griswald!!

I’ll post pics tomorrow!

This is my daughter Theresa just TEN MINUTES after leaving my parents house … think she had a big weekend?

Long Holiday Weekend

                        GREATEST FUN EVER!!!!