KnowYard Community

HEB for meat and produce, Aldi for everything else. Kroger only if I forgot something and it's 9pm.

The merge thing is the real danger. Who taught people to merge at 40mph onto a 75mph highway? That's how accidents happen.

Chick-fil-A is the gold standard and I'm tired of people trying to find something better. It's sweet tea. They perfected it. Move on.

Kroger digital coupons are annoying but I save $15-20 a trip when I actually clip them. It takes 3 minutes on the app.

Any southern home cooking restaurant. The ones with the big plastic pitchers on the table. That's where the real sweet tea lives.

Enforcement is basically nonexistent unless you're going 95+ or visibly drunk. I drive the same highway every day and haven't seen a speed trap in months.

Compared to where I moved from in the northeast, this is still a bargain. But yeah the trajectory is not great.

McDonald's sweet tea for $1 is the best value in fast food beverages and I will die on this hill. They put an absurd amount of sugar in it.

Just wait for your first blue norther. 80 degrees at lunch, 35 degrees by dinner. You will learn to check the weather every morning.

Pool membership was the best $200 I ever spent. June through September I'm there 4 days a week after work.

The no turn signal thing drives me INSANE. It's a lever. Right there. On the steering column. Takes zero effort.

Paper plates = no insurance and possibly no registration. And they drive like it because they know they can't be traced. Biggest problem on Texas roads right now.

Brace for the first time someone invites you to a backyard BBQ and it turns into a 7 hour event with 40 people you've never met.

The grocery store conversation thing is real. My neighbor once told me her entire life story in the cereal aisle. Welcome to Texas.

Wait until someone waves you through a 4-way stop when they got there first. Texas politeness actually slows down traffic lol

The driving thing never stops being true. I live half a mile from a CVS and still drive there. It's 105 outside man I'm not walking.

The key is never letting your house get hot in the first place. Blackout curtains, good insulation, and never open the doors more than necessary. Treat it like winter in reverse.

Tinted windows, remote start, and a good sunshade for the windshield. That's the holy trinity of surviving Texas car heat.

Year 8 here. You don't stop hating it. You just hate it quietly and then enjoy October through April knowing you earned it.

You get used to it in the sense that you learn to work around it. You go outside before 10am or after 7pm. You accept that June through September is indoor season.

I used one of those companies that does it for you — they take 25-30% of savings. Got my value knocked down $40K. Worth it because I hate doing paperwork.

Pro tip: photograph every flaw in your house. Cracked foundation, old roof, stained carpet, outdated kitchen. Bring photos to the hearing. Condition matters.

The unequal appraisal argument is your best weapon. If your neighbor's identical house is appraised at $50K less than yours, that's hard for them to justify. Use their own data against them.

The "no income tax" thing is a trap. They get you with property tax, sales tax, and toll roads. You end up paying the same or more than a lot of income tax states.

It's not theater. Something like 60-70% of people who protest get a reduction. The appraisal district overshoots on purpose because they know most people won't protest. Don't be most people.