Tennessee will be having their next sales tax free holiday this coming weekend, from Friday, August 1 - Sunday, August 3, 2008.

What does this mean?  It means that you can shop for back to school clothing, school supplies and computers before school starts (which is August 11, 2008 for Knox Co., TN) and not have to pay a sales tax.  So we can save a little money!

The quick breakdown is clothing (any one item) $100 or less, school supplies $100 or less and computers $1,500 or less is exempt from a sales tax.

Go here for a complete overview of exempt items.  Happy shopping!

If you ever saw the Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet movie "The Holiday", this is one concept of house swapping.  If you want to vacation a week in a cabin in Tennessee or a chateau in the Swiss Alps but can't afford peak season prices charged by holiday companies?  Then house swapping may be for you.

All you need to do is register with an agency, which costs between $60 to $150 a year.

Another new reason to house swap is if a homeowner is moving to another state, and is having trouble selling their home, there is potentially someone in the state they are moving to that may be in the same predicament, and is trying to move to their state.   Channel 9 News recently aired a report on a new creative approach to selling homes called house swapping.  Check it out:  http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=90963

Here are a few sites that list homes for trade or swapping:

• Online House Trading
• House 4 Trade
• Go Swap
• CraigsList

So whether you want to exchange homes for a cheaper vacation or swap homes because you are relocating to a new area or state, house swapping may be just what you need.

Have you ever swapped your home?  If so let us know how it works!  Hope to hear from you.  Enjoy life!!!

Have you heard about the new web site from Peoplefinders that enables you to search for criminals in your own neighborhood.  CriminalSearches.com is a free criminal search site that equips consumers with up-to-date information on criminals and sex offenders in their own communities.

In theory, this web site is a wonderful thing.  Especially for single women and families with children.  It provides you with the opportunity to check out a neighborhood before purchasing a home to make sure it is safe.

I checked out criminalsearches.com and plugged in my address, as well as everyone else's address I know, to see if there are any criminals living amongst us.  The thing you have to be aware of is that not "all criminals are alike".  What I mean is that they list criminals with V (violent) records, S (Sexual) crimes and O (other) all together.  And O (other) can be, and most likely is, a traffic violation, such as speeding.

When you go to the site, click on Neighborhood Watch, then type in the address you want to check out.  A map of that neighborhood pops up with letters representing what type a crime that person has committed.  There is a  legend above the map to tell you what each letter represents.

As I said I think that this site can be very beneficial in finding a neighborhood that is safe (or safer) to live in.  If you have children you can check to see if there are any sex offenders nearby that you need to be aware of.

However, I think that this site could be harmful if not used with common sense.  Just remember that you could find your name on there if you have had a speeding ticket. 

So just don't jump to the conclusion that your neighborhood, or potential neighborhood is a cesspool of evil crime doers. 

What do you think of criminal searches?  If you have an opinion, we would love to hear it!

What is Stacation, you ask?  It is the new hot word to describe doing things in your own community or area for vacation.  Simply put, a stay a home vacation.  With the ever growing high prices of gas (and everything it effects), people are opting to find things to do in their own hometowns.

In fact, that is what we did this Memorial Day weekend.  We found this wonderful little treasure of fun.  It is called the Little Ponderosa Zoo.  The Little Ponderosa Zoo is a hands on zoo, that the whole family will enjoy!  They also have a mobile zoo where they can bring a zoo to you for your children's parties.  You can have birthday parties there onsite as well. 

Our son loves animals and at the Little Ponderosa Zoo he could get up close and personal with many different animals.  Once he got the hang of how to feed them he loved it, even if he did say "that was gross" a few times (especially with the camel).

Another thing of interest is that they have pony camp the first of June each year.  It is for 5 to 10 year olds and we plan on letting our son go to pony camp next year.

If you live in eastern Tennessee or will be visiting, I highly recommend stopping by Little Ponderosa Zoo.  Their web site gives directions.

If you have ever visited Little Ponderosa Zoo let us know what you thought of it or if you have any questions about the zoo feel free to leave a comment.  We would also love to hear about your hometown's great 'Staycations'.  Hope to hear from you!  Enjoy Life!!