In addition to the formal articles I post here, I also have a What Betty Knows Facebook Page where I sometimes post quick tips that don’t warrant writing an entire blog entry. So occasionally I will round those up and post here for future reference:
Tag Archives: buying
Friday Faves 02-15-13
Firstly, some sad news for sewing and knitting folks in the Boston area: the venerable Windsor Button shop is closing its last remaining store, on Temple Pl. in downtown Boston, due to lease non-renewal. Read about it here, and stop by to pick up sale items as they liquidate their inventory.
Secondly, some more sad news that can be helped: the “fiercely independent” bookstore Longfellow Books in Portland ME suffered massive water damage during last week’s storm due to frozen pipes in the building over their store. You can help them out by buying ebooks from their website, gift certificates (which give them cash now and you/your giftees books later), and/or donating directly. See this letter from the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance for more information.
Thirdly, you may recall that I recently recommended a Kickstarter project by ThinkMusicTechnology for an iPad app with musical note handwriting recognition for creating scores. They’ve now canceled the KS project as it wasn’t going to reach their (very ambitious) goal despite much interest. But they are looking for other funding resources and still plan to develop the app – so if you are interested, sign up for their mailing list at their website.
Don’t Use A Debit Card As A Credit Card
If you have a debit (aka “ATM”) card associated with your checking account chances are that it sports a MasterCard or Visa logo. You may use it to pay for purchases as if it is a credit card when the merchant does not use a debit keypad for entering your PIN to authenticate the transaction. You may also use it for most other transactions that require a credit card online.
This is very convenient, especially if you only want to spend real money in your checking account rather than accumulate debt on a credit card. But there’s a very good reason NOT to use your debit card as a credit card.
Easier Pet Medication with Compounding
We have four cats, and none of them are easy to trick into taking medicine. That was especially difficult when one needed to go on twice-daily doses of thyroid medication. Rather than trying various pill pouches, rolling it in cheese, or grinding pills to powder for food mixing, consider having your pet’s prescription filled by a compounding pharmacy who will professionally mix the medicine with other ingredients to make it more appealing to your pet.