Spring Allergies and How to live with them.

Spring brings wonderful things, such as flowers, Easter, warmer weathers, and also seasonal allergies. You have to just embrace the good and the bad. My sinus acts up badly enough to the point that it feels like having a cold. I used to go to the doctor and get shots every Fall and Spring just to be able to breathe. However, I have not had the money to splurge on Dr. visits lately, so my home remedies have been just been the only thing that I can rely on to ease my allergies. One of things that I do is steep ginger and mix in a bit of honey to make a drink. It seems to help with my throat being sore from the sinus drip. There are some really good home remedies that have a bit of science to back them up, but one must always do a bit of research before trying. Not everything will work with everyone. Whereas, one of the most scary ones that I have heard of, is when people ingest Vick's vapor rub. For anyone who does not know Vick's is only used topically and never meant to be ingested. It contains Camphor which is poisonous to the human body.

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$200 Visa Gift Card Event Signup 6/3 to 6/28

Another Amazing Blogger Opportunity

Event is from June 3 - 28

Come and be part of this awesome giveaway!

We are giving away a Visa gift card of $200

We will have a max. of 200 bloggers for sign up, it will be a big giveaway.

The RC is not long because each co-host has there own RC with their links.

Here are the details to sign up:

FREE LINKS ARE CLOSED

-Free Link (Twitter or Pinterest)  

The first 50 bloggers to sign up will get a link free with announcement. 

Announcement is required or you have to pay a waiver fee of $5.00

Please get your announcement here.

(Please read the sign up form on the top to know if we still have free space available)

-Link/ or extra links $2.00 each (if the free spots are gone, to be part of this giveaway you will need to pay $2.00 for each link you want on the giveaway)

Announcement is required or you have to pay a waiver fee of $5.00.

Please get your announcement here.

-Co-Host $15.00

The co-host get 2 host page.  

10 links on the RC.

No announcement required

Please send payment to melisurveys1978@gmail.com as a gift.

Any question please email me at nysavingspecials@gmail.com

Sign up here

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How to tell if your car needs an alignment.

One of the ways to tell if your car needs an alignment is when your tire treads are wearing on the side.  Another is if you notice that the steering wheel is slightly pulling, and you have to keep turning right or left to keep the car straight.  So why are alignments important for the car?  Well the answer is that alignments are to lengthen the life of your tires.  So let us do the math.  If you spend five hundred dollars or more on tires and do not get an alignment, the front tires will wear down, which will cost you more in the long run on replacing your tires.  Cost of tires can get pricey, and so getting an alignment done is always a good investment.

Did you know that some companies offer lifetime alignments as low as one hundred and fifty dollars, whereas the one-time-alignment service is around seventy dollars or more?  This is a cost effective service, if you live in cities where there are a lot of potholes, and plan on keeping your car for several years.  I have owned many cars, and I have come to the conclusion that the lifetime-alignments saves me money since I would need one every year.

Last, You should also get an alignment if you have been in a car accident.  A year ago, my mother was involved in a slight fender bender, at the front fender.  I spoke with her about doing the alignment after I noticed that the steering wheel tilted more to the right.  It has been a year since, and she just noticed that the tires are wearing.  My mom is rather reactive when it comes to maintenance on cars, which will cost her repairs on a rather simple preventative issue.

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How to Sell A Car and What To Expect

It's that time of the year again, Tax Season.  One of the biggest things that people do during this time of the year is buying and selling goods, such as cars.  So what do you do, when you consider selling your car?  The whole process can be a daunting one, but if you do your homework, it should a breeze.

Here are some things to consider:  Are you going to do a trade-in or are you going to sell it owner-to-owner?  Have you done a checklist of all the things that are wrong with the car, in order to disclose it to potential buyers?  What is the Blue Book Value of the car for trade-in and direct sales?

Trade-in vs. direct sales (owner-to-owner)
It is pretty important to maximize the most out of your used car.  If you are looking to purchase a brand new car after selling, trade-ins may or may not be the best option. Generally, a trade-in value would be less than what you would get if you were to list the car yourself.  On the other hand, you do not have to list your car and it would be an easy transaction to sell your car back to a dealer.  If you choose to do a trade-in make sure that you know what the value of the trade-in before you go to the dealership.

Checklist for all issues
You should make a checklist of all issues with the car.  This would be useful when you are disclosing information on the maintenance, accidents, previous owner history.  Also, this would allow you to make adjustments to the Blue Book value.

Blue Book Value
Kelly's Blue Book will give you an estimate of the value of your trade-in and also your direct sale value.  However, you should also be aware that these figures are just rough estimates.  Based on my experience of selling car, the final price is usually less than KBB value.

Okay so let's put all of this together.  You should know your potential buyer.  I have had an instance when I brought my car to a dealer and gotten a very low trade-in value.  I left rather insulted with their offer, because  the issues had been minor such as dents in the bumper, and the car being dirty. In the end, I decided to paint the bumper and detail the car myself.  It was a smart move, because I sold the car for two thousand more than the trade in value, and I only had to spend about two hundred dollars on materials.
Last, a buyer will always talk you down from what you are asking.  You have to know when to be firm about your price and consider it when you list your car.

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Hormel Natural Review

This month I was lucky enough to win some great products from Hormel, at another blogger's giveaway.  I won a Wii bundle, a game, and an assortment of meats from the Hormel Natural line.   Everything came separately in various packages, and the last to arrive were the Hormel meats.  I was so excited to open the package of Hormel from FedEx, and  It was packed nicely in a Styrofoam container, kept nice and cold for the trip to my house.  I think that we tore open the box and everything felt like Christmas all over again.

All together I think there were twelve different varieties of ham, turkey, and various sausages.   I suspect that our favorites were the sausages.  There were Jalapeno and Cheese, Apple Asiago, and original smoked.  Of the sausages that we had received, the Jalapeno and Cheese hardly made it to the table.  It was almost eaten completely after we took it out of the oven.  I swear to you all It was just that good.  If you like a like cheesy sausages with an extra kick, then this is the one for you.  I found that the Apple Asiago was a bit sweet but still good.  I tried to put it into a homemade Alfredo sauce;  However, I feel that it would go better with a red sauce instead of cream.  One last note about Hormel Natural Choice.  It does not contain any preservatives and 100% all Natural.  This is directly from their package:

• No Nitrates or Nitries added
• No artificial Ingredients
• Minimally Processed
• No MSG added
• Gluten Free.

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How I played tourist in New Orleans

Have you seen New Orleans during the day?  Well, it has been awhile since I had played tourist in my own city, and so I noticed how pretty and quaint it really is.  I have gone to all the parades during Mardi Gras and so it is rather a normal thing to watch the city get really trashed.  However, the beauty of the old buildings still captivates me.  These pictures were taken during a recent errand run downtown, and yet I had never notice the movie theater that was converted to a CVS.  The police officer in this photo must have thought that I was rather strange.  If you look carefully, you will notice long mural of Louis Armstrong in the window with his trumpet.  Music is so endeared to the people of New Orleans, and if you love the series, “Treme”, you will understand why.  It is a part of our heritage. 

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How to eat Vietnamese Food

If you know anything about Vietnamese cooking, you will realize that overall we do not put many herbs into our dishes while it is cooking.  Rather, most herbs are eaten or garnished at the table.  Soups like Pho, Bun Bo Hue, and other hot soups will have basil, cilantro, mung beans, and lime garnishments in another dish.  Simply, the reason is that fresh herbs impart more flavors to the soup before they start to wilt.  Here is a picture of my mother with her usual favorite herbs grown from our backyard.  She will accompany any dish with the garnishments, and sometimes I feel as if the herbs are really the main and the dish is the side.  LOL!

Ciao Kit Kat

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