Advice, Freely Given

 

Tip Of The Day:  Just like opinions and certain body parts, everyone has advice they feel an insistent need to give unto others.  Best of all?  This outpouring of suggestion and guidance is usually free for the listener.  The result of taking said advice, however, is on occasion HUGELY expensive for both the giver and the receiver…

 

Tip For Tomorrow:  Reader Tips, store sale announcements, and other important news.  It will be a regular smorgasbord of frugal fabulocity up in here.

 

Further Elucidation Of My Cheap Deal:  During my cheap and fabulous time here on Earth, I’ve received countless nuggets of advice passed on by well-meaning family and friends.  Some of it has been wise, some has been warranted, and some of it has been downright weird.  (Note: never follow drunken sex tips given by loaded friends at 4 in the morning.  I’m just saying.)

 

All of the advice has come free of charge, and for the most part, the advisor has had my best interest at heart.  Or, you know, their own agenda whole unrelated to me and my well-being.  Potato, potaaahhhhto.

 

Here are just a few of the best (and worst) pieces of advice I’ve received throughout the years.  Follow them or ignore them at your own peril:

 

From my Ma.  Ma is not one to foist her opinions off on others, even her own children.  On occasion, though, she will proclaim salient wisdom that all walks of life can benefit from knowing.  Such as the following tidbit she let fly during an early morning rush hour back in my formative teen years:

“Honk first before you flick someone off.”

Truer words have never been spoken.  To ensure that the wrong-doing driver is made fully aware of your displeasure, honk your horn so they glance your way, and THEN extend The Middle Finger Of You Suck, Jerk.  Otherwise, the offender might miss it.

 

From my Dad.  Dad, unlike Ma, has no problem giving advice to any and all he deems worthy to receive it.  And as his baby-doll daughter, you can imagine, I am VERY worthy.  Here are a few of my favorites:

“Don’t take (high school) German.  You’ll hate it, it will be too difficult, you won’t like the teacher, and your bad grades will lower your GPA.”  As it turns out, I got straight A’s, and Mr. Marticnacco LOVED me, and I him.  Dad still hasn’t lived that one down.

“Don’t write a blog.  Blog writing is the absolute LOWEST form of writing.  If you want to be a writer, then write.”  Yes, once he actually READ my blog (and I got a TV gig because of it), he changed his tune.  Now he likes to advise me on what to blog about.

“Always work on filling your pipeline.”  This pertains to selling – always be prospecting for your next client, whether they want to work with you tomorrow, next week, or next year.  I try to follow this piece of advice every day, because it’s GOOD.

 

From my college roommate:

“You can’t drop a class just because you’re getting a C.  What are you, a quitter?”  She was right – I stuck it out and got an A.  Because quitters never win, and all that happy hoo-hah.

 

From my hairstylist, Lynn:

“Stop coloring your hair yourself.  You keep turning it orange, and that is NOT a natural look for you.”  If you ever wonder why I have such good hair, it’s all because of Lynn and her magical partial foils – cheaper than a full head of foils, and just as fabulous.

 

From my three BFFs.  They’ve all offered up excellent advice during our many years together, but these are my favorites:

Lou, “Never finish your beer.  Especially if it’s homemade beer, with all the yeast and by-products settled on the bottom of the bottle.”  Ignore this tip, and your bathroom experiences in the near future will be VERY unpleasant.

HaC, “You get what you receive.”  This is the sagest, most undisputable piece of advice ever uttered.  Yes, you ALWAYS get EXACTLY what you receive – nothing more, nothing less.  My other favorite HaCisms are: “She represents everything that’s wrong with everything,” and “You know I hate symbolism.”

Larue, “You should write a blog.”  And three years after she said this, I did.  Thanks honey, I owe you one.

 

Question Of The Day:  What is the best or worst piece of advice you’ve ever been given? 

Comments

[Tashi]

Best advice I've gotten? That's a toughie for me. I, too was advised to have a professional color my hair, after I had been doing it myself for a few years. Now, for over 10 years, my short curly brunette hair's been looking smashing, not trashy. I just couldn't do it well enough to justify the savings. I get foils and tints, whatever they call it, every 6 weeks when I get a cut. Thank God for "my" salon. My stylist is great at advising me on hair issues. She gets mad props from me.

[Larue]

Hmm. I think you were the one who told me to wear nude colored bras under white shirts. Of course you neglected to tell me this till I was 32.

Also, you were the one who said, "Honey, you need to wear mascara on your top AND bottom lashes, or don't wear it at all." So true for me.

And my favorite from my Grandpa, that was on a sign in his garage and now hangs in my office: "DO SOMETHING. Lead, follow or get OUT OF THE WAY." I love that.

[HaC]

Yes, I am a font of wisdom.

Anyway, some sage advice from my Schma, "Life is too short to date sick men." (Note that she meant mentally sick not physically sick.)

A wise and wonderful woman, Marilyn Sharpe, runs a group called Parent Share. Parent Share saved my life in LooLoo's earliest years (and some of my most sleep-, food- and hygiene-deprived days). Marilyn always encouraged us to focus on the gift of a particularly challenging personality trait. For example, if you have a particularly tenacious child, the gift of that is that he or she is likely to buckle down and raise a C to an A (kind of sounds like our Cheap Chick, doesn't it?).

[standing still]

Worst advice has been erased from my memory. Best advice? Follow your heart, but listen to your head. Don't know who said it.