KnowYard Community

Smart thermostat was a game changer for me. Bumps up to 80 when nobody is home, drops back to 76 an hour before we get back. Saved about $40/month in summer.

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

Bacon egg and cheese on flour with green salsa. That's the order. Every time. Don't overthink it.

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.

Ceiling fans in every room. They don't cool the room but they cool YOU and let you bump the thermostat up 3-4 degrees without noticing.

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

$387 for 1600 sqft sounds high even for summer. What rate are you paying per kWh? Anything over 14 cents and you need to shop around when your contract is up.

Skip the places with "Mexican Grill" in the name. Find the places with handwritten specials on the whiteboard. That's where the real food is.

I moved here from California and I think Whataburger is great but the cult following is disproportionate to the food. It's an A- burger with an S tier fanbase.

I just accept that summer electric bills are $300+ and budget accordingly. It's the Texas tax nobody mentions.

Check your insulation. Seriously. Had an energy audit done and found out my attic insulation was garbage. Got it blown in for $1,200 and my summer bills dropped about $80/month.

Whataburger loyalty is not a meme. People here will defend that place with their lives. I said it was mid ONE TIME and almost got run out of the office.

Counterpoint: standards are what make Texas BBQ great. If we stop caring about quality we end up like every other state's mid BBQ. Gatekeeping has a purpose.

The freedom is worth every extra dollar though. I can paint walls, have a dog, play music at midnight. After 6 years of apartment living the privacy alone is priceless.

The best BBQ I ever had was at a family reunion where my uncle cooked it in a homemade smoker made from a oil drum. No thermometer. No YouTube education. Just vibes.

Texas pride. I've never lived anywhere where people fly the state flag more than the US flag. And they're not being ironic about it.

My Mexican friends refuse to eat at most Tex-Mex places. But they also admit that queso (which doesn't exist in Mexico) is addictive. Cultural exchange works both ways.

Old school Tex-Mex places are the best example of this. The ones where the enchilada plate is $9.99 and it comes with rice beans and chips. No substitutions. Perfection.

My church potluck sweet tea made in a 5 gallon cooler with approximately 4 pounds of sugar. Nothing in a restaurant comes close.

Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. I waited 2 years for prices to drop and they went up $40K instead. Timing the market is a myth. Buy when you can afford to.

I use a pellet grill and I'm tired of pretending I'm sorry about it. The brisket is good. My family loves it. I don't care about your offset smoker opinions.

Brisket gatekeepers are the worst. My dad has been smoking brisket for 30 years and some guy who watched one YouTube video tried to tell him he's doing it wrong.

The weather changing 40 degrees in one day. I've worn shorts and a jacket in the same 12 hour period. Multiple times.

The friendliness is real. People wave at strangers, hold doors, and make small talk in checkout lines. Moved from the northeast and this took months to get used to.

There's a burger joint near me that's been cash only for 30 years. No website. No social media. Packed every day at lunch. That's the ultimate endorsement.