By David Freeze
For the Salisbury Post
Like most of us, I am still looking for ways to save some money. Several things have happened over the last few weeks that are worth mentioning. Not that I mean to replace any of those newspaper frugal advice columns, and maybe nobody else will use my ideas. But they work for me.
The other day, I saw Susan Burrell at the Mahaley Food Lion Deli, where she works. We always talk running before I leave the store. Somehow she knows when I enter that store, just as she did on this day. She offered a tip on eating pb&j sandwiches. That is peanut butter and jelly to you non-texters. Long, long ago, I loved them. Susan told me how great her running was going while eating multiple pb&js. I bought the store brand crunchy peanut butter, some good quality blackberry jam, and the cheap whole wheat bread. That evening, I ate three, then two more the next morning, another later in the day. My running responded. My process evolved by switching to Smucker’s blackberry preserves. 15 or more sandwiches for about $6, plus added protein and good carbs for my running. There is peanut butter and jelly left over for the next loaf of bread.
A day or two later, I discovered the Merita Bread Store on Statesville Boulevard. There are some really good deals, but none better than the high quality oat and multigrain breads. All for about $1.50 a loaf, less than half the store price. They have blackberry preserves in a much bigger size for about the same money. I have progressed to toasting my high quality bread, before spreading the crunchy peanut butter on half of one slice. After initially putting the jelly on top of the peanut butter, I have found it much easier to spread by putting it on the virgin half of the toast. Then simply fold it over and eat. Do it one more time and it makes a filling meal. The Merita Bread store is now high on my list to help save money. My previous wives and girlfriends might not agree, but my only real vice is eating too many brownies. The store has them for 3 for $1. Hard to beat, but I do realize that if too many brownies are purchased, there will be less cost savings.
Biggest on my list of cost savings is my recent decision to not attend Kate and William’s wedding. In 2008, I visited England for the purpose of running the London Marathon. My visit consisted of a fabulous week of sightseeing, and a realization that I liked the British people. They do some strange things, but some say I do too. They like to drive on the wrong side of the road. Good thing they all got together and planned it, otherwise there would be some bad wrecks. They sell gas in liters, not gallons. It sounds cheap, but isn’t. Londoners like to walk, run, bike, and seem more active than Americans. All their cars are really small, so maybe that is why so many are walking. There just wasn’t room in the car. Regardless of all these attributes, I still will stay home. Westminster Abbey seems a beautiful venue for a wedding, but I felt strange walking on the cement covered burial plots from a thousand years of Royals. I’m not sure exactly where I would get to sit, but rest assured we’ll see the wedding much better on TV than in person. The Abbey has terrible sight lines.
Kate is really attractive, and looks like a runner. I am sure that she’ll be upset that I won’t make it. I called one of my past girlfriends “Her Highness,” but at least she never made me address her as “Your Highness.” That is the closest that I ever got to royalty. Kate will be called both. Like many of you, I will get up to see the wedding very early on Friday. Buckingham Palace is beautiful and the Royal Guards will put on a great show while on horseback. The double decker sightseeing buses, the Thames (pronounced Tims) River, Big Ben, the Tube (subway) and so much more remind me of all the great sights I saw on that trip.
Come Friday morning, I will be frugal by watching the wedding at home on TV and I’ll have a PB&J or two. Maybe a brownie too. I’ve just saved enough money to splurge a little! And someone else can use my seat in Westminster Abbey.