Cents To Save

Making Valentine's Day Special

2012-01-27T14:54:00.001-05:00

I saw this idea over at The Frugal Girl

14 Days of Valentines

A Valentine's Day That Requires Some Planning. It’s really fun if you’ve got a spouse who likes to get gifts, but it does require some advance planning. And since I’ve only got a week before February hits, I need to get on this!

After reading this, I thought what a sweet gesture. My husband's birthday is on Valentine's Day. He enjoys the fact that his birthday is on Valentine's Day. In fact, his favorite line is " Wouldn't it figure a sweet guy like me would be born on Valentine's Day?" So modest, right?

He is always doing special things for me all year and I would like to return the favor and surprise him and let him know how much he means to me.

I will keep costs down and try not to go overboard with it. When I get my ideas together, I will share them with you. At least most of them.

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photo credit.

Debt SnowFlake Challenge Week 4

2012-01-27T07:15:00.002-05:00

To help keep my on track with my debt elimination progress, I have joined Melissa at Mom's Plans in her Debt Snowflake Challenge. To the best of my ability, I will update my own debt snowflake progress every Friday.

Our Progress:   The advertising that I mentioned last week, payment was received for a total of $231.00. That was a nice surprise, to be sure.   Next month, I am expecting a payout from Adsense, ( that happens about once a year) so that will be a nice snowflake to add to the mix.

The items I listed on Amazon last week, ( Christmas CD's) have not sold, but that is okay. When you least expect it, a sale will occur and will motive me to list more. In fact, I will be searching for more Christmas CD's at the thrift stores next month.

The items I listed on Craigslist have not produced any interest yet. Actually these vintage Christmas items would probably do better on Ebay, but I will wait until I get back to my home before I start Ebaying again.

Total SnowFlakes for January (so far):
Loose Change: $47.00
Virtual Asst. :    $10.00
Amazon:           $37.00
Advertising:    $230.00
                              $321.00

Debt Update will be at the end of the month. I still use my credit card for my mom and dad's purchases and they pay reimburse me once a month. Upside to this: I am using my Marriott Rewards card, so more points. Downside to this: The card is still in my wallet.   It is not quite the end of the month yet, so no reimbursements have been made. Soon. Very Soon.

Week three of SnowFlake Challenge

Week two of SnowFlake Challenge

Week one of SnowFlake Challenge

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Food Waste Friday: The Jig is Up

2012-01-26T22:52:00.000-05:00

Here we go, time for some food waste show and tell. This is what happens when you dig deep into your fridge........reaching the places that have gone unnoticed and untouched.

Why untouched and unnoticed? Hidden. Hidden behind the 12 pack of diet coke, that is why.

First culprit: a lonely can of jellied cranberry sauce. Lonely and old.

Expiration date of May 2011. Oh yeah.... this is the can that got away. How did my mom or myself miss that one? Oh yes.... it was hidden. Behind the 12 pack of diet coke.

Next on the chopping block is the following: A little but of yogurt. Sugar free no less.

And now the reveal:

Yep. Expired. But you knew that was coming, didn't ya?

~Check out my $500 Holiday Challenge~

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Linking up to The Frugal Girl

$500 HOLIDAY CHALLENGE 2012

2012-01-25T07:21:00.000-05:00

Is there room in your life for another challenge? This is definitely a worthwhile challenge that will help you prepare for the upcoming Holidays. Yes, I know that December is a looong way away, but Christmas is coming. January is almost over, I figured you (and myself) needed time to recover from the Holidays. But as of today, January 25th, there will be exactly 11 months to prepare for Christmas.

Granted, $500 for gift giving and such may or may not meet your needs. Some can swing a great Christmas for around $100, and others will spend more. But what is important is that you have a spending goal in mind and work with that all year long.

I borrowed the concept and from Penny, at The Saved Quarter
and decided my own budget. I chose to spend $500.00 for Christmas on all my family members and last year (2011) I did pretty darn good.

And by keeping track on my blog, I was able to refer back to the items I already purchased and was able to NOT buy duplicate gifts for the same person.
Here are some ideas to help with your gift giving:
Something you want
Something you need
Something to wear
Something to read
Something from Santa
Stocking

You can also keep track of gifts that you are making for others, or that you want to make for others. This is a good time of year (at least where I live) to get some great deals on knitted scarves, gloves and other winter wear and stock up for next year's gift giving.

I realize that family members read your blogs and you may not be able to post exactly what you have bought for them, but you can definitely share your ideas for gifts. I will be making this a weekly post. Check back often to share and see the ideas of others

I invite you to share your budget in a post and link it below:

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Tying Up Loose Ends Tuesday

2012-01-24T16:20:00.001-05:00

So far it has been an easy day around here. Dinner is done, I changed up the menu and made spaghetti casserole. Mom had her radiation therapy this morning and came home and took a three hour nap. She hates to admit that she is tired, but the nap is certainly a giveaway.   Tomorrow mom will be going to her first outpatient rehab appointment. It took this long as there was not an opening, but she is looking forward to getting back to rehab again. The week after she will be going to occupational rehab as well. This is where she will be evaluated to see if she can again drive. That is what she is hoping for.

Mom is claiming her independence, and by that I mean she is not wanting to move in with me and my husband. At least not right now. She feels she is strong enough to take care of my dad and herself and she is hoping to drive again. Well, that is fine. I totally understand not wanting to give up your independence, at least not until you absolutely have to.

We have come up with a somewhat feasible solution.   That is to set up house for everyone at both of our houses. We will have a king size bed here and at out home. And they will still have their bedrooms here and we will set up the same out there at our home. This way, it is not necessarily such a final move for anyone. There will always be an out. And this will be easier in that we won't be moving furniture every couple of months.

Cricket,our Papillion

Princess our bulldog

My husband and I will be probably moving back out to our home in mid February. We are going to wait for the end of the radiation treatments and see how mom is feeling. I am looking forward to going home and seeing my "girls" again. My daughter is taking care of them, and she is ready for me to take them home too.

On a side note, I am starting a new challenge tomorrow...... please check back tomorrow and see what it is all about :)

Have a great rest of the day!

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Traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall Visit

2012-01-23T21:10:00.002-05:00

Last night, my husband and I had the opportunity to go out for dinner and a walk afterwards. For our walk, we went downtown to Lake Eola. Lake Eola is a beautiful picturesque area that has been a landmark of sorts for many, many years. The focal point of the lake is the fountain in the center of the lake.

link

It just so happens that The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall was at the park too. Surprisingly, it was open for view even after dark. Wayne and I walked around the lake and then we visited the memorial.

Solitary Moment

A single Carnation left at the wall

Is this not the most moving note you have seen?

Peaceful and Quiet

The night reflecting on the wall

Another note at the wall

It was a beautiful evening, relaxing and thoughtful.

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Menu Plan Monday ~ Jan 23

2012-01-23T09:12:00.000-05:00

This is going to be a super easy week for menu planning. Again. My mom's church family wants to bring dinner to my mom during her radiation treatments. I have to say, her church family has really been super duper wonderful throughout this process. You can see below in green were I will have the night off. Woot! Woot!
I am very excited and am looking forward to all the great food that is coming.

Monday: Church member is bringing dinner
Tuesday: Left over black bean soup and Cuban bread
Wednesday: Church member is bringing dinner
Thursday: Grilled pork chops, broccoli, brown rice
Friday: Church member is bringing dinner
Saturday: Grits and Eggs (Breakfast for Dinner)
Sunday: Dinner out with family

We are blessed to have the support of my mom's friends :)

For further menu plan ideas please visit I'm an Organizing Junkie

Debt SnowFlake Challenge Week 3

2012-01-20T12:47:00.002-05:00

To help keep my on track with my debt elimination progress, I have joined Melissa at Mom's Plans in her Debt Snowflake Challenge. To the best of my ability, I will update my own debt snowflake progress every Friday.

Our Progress: Slow and steady wins the race. That is what I am going with anyway. Yesterday I did get a payment from Amazon for $37.00 for sale of several make up items.
To tell you the truth, I forgot all about the items I had listed on Amazon, so it was a pleasant surprise to say the least. I listed a few more items today on Amazon (Christmas CD's) and hope for a quick sale.

The items I listed on Craigslist have not produced any interest yet. Actually these vintage Christmas items would probably do better on Ebay, but I will wait until I get back to my home before I start Ebaying again.

There is some advertising that I accepted this week. The funds have not yet been released yet, so that will help this month's totals.

Total SnowFlakes for January (so far):
Loose Change: $47.00
Virtual Asst. :    $10.00
Amazon:           $37.00
                          $94.00

Debt Update will be at the end of the month. I still use my credit card for my mom and dad's purchases and they pay reimburse me once a month. Upside to this: I am using my Marriott Rewards card, so more points. Downside to this: The card is still in my wallet.

Visit my new blog: Count Down To 60

Week two of SnowFlake Challenge

Week one of SnowFlake Challenge

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Food Waste Friday: Salmon Surprise( Or The One That Got Away)

2012-01-20T06:11:00.002-05:00

During my mom's post brain surgery recovery, we have been blessed by her church family. They have

signed up to bring our family meals and the variety of tasty food has been absolutely wonderful.

For the most part, there has been little or no food waste with these wonderful meals. The casserole below was very tasty. It is a salmon noodle casserole and what makes it extra special, the couple that brought it over actually caught the salmon in Alaska.

Somehow, this dish got pushed back into never-never land of our fridge. That is too bad, because it really was good.

Just in case you needed to see it up close.................

Low and behold, there was another sleeper in the left over department. The remnants of a homemade coleslaw.

Overall, it was a pretty good week! How was your week?

Visit my new Blog: Count Down To 60

Linking up to The Frugal Girl

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Finding the Right Credit Card

2012-01-19T21:57:00.000-05:00

The following is a sponsored post

Finding the Right Credit Card

If you are thinking about getting a new credit card, it is essential that you find the right card. This means finding the best credit card deals available. But given there are so many cards out there, how do you know if you are getting the best credit card deal? Here are some options you should look at when thinking about a credit card.

Your Lifestyle

Surprised to see that as the first thing to consider? Well, it shouldn't be - because the rewards program you choose for your credit card should reflect your lifestyle. If you love to travel, think about getting a credit card that offers great travel rewards (including airfare, hotel, car rental, and more). Maybe you have trouble saving - there are cards that deposit cash back into an account for you. And finally, there are the traditional point-based cards, where you can redeem your points for various items, including the above mentioned ones.

The trouble with point based cards used for other things - such as travel and cash - is that they don't yield as good of a rewards. So, think about your lifestyle, and see what card would work for you.

The Cost

Second, after you know what kind of reward structure you want, you can look for a card that achieves that. However, make sure that you pay close attention to the costs you would incur with the card. These costs could include annual fees, charges, and even interest.

When looking at your card choices, you should avoid card with annual fees at all costs. There are a lot of great cards out there that offer generous rewards without any annual fees. Some cards may try to entice you with higher rewards, but you usually won't make more net by paying an annual fee.

Finally, think about your interest rates. If you are using these cards and paying them off each month, you are probably coming out ahead. However, these cards are able to offer these rewards because individuals are paying interest on their balances - and it is enough to cover the rewards and more.

So, be caution when finding the best rewards card, and use your card wisely.

Thursday Notes and Challenges

2012-01-19T13:41:00.000-05:00

Lantern Festival Auckland Feb 2011

It is hard to believe that there is less than two weeks left in January. Time is definitely flying by too darn fast. Mom did start her radiation treatments yesterday, so for the next 15 days (Mon through Friday) she will go every day to receive her treatment. Again, her church family is stepping up to help out by lining up volunteers to take her to the appointments. Her church family rocks!

This weekend, my husband and sons will be out at our house getting some of the remodeling started. The bathroom has been completely tore out. We are putting a shower in where the tub was as this will make it easier on my parents to get in and out of. Also, there is still the painting of their two bedrooms. My oldest was going to get it done this week, but he has been sick. There will also be installation of new patio door slider, new front door and a new storm door. Yep, things are definitely getting updated!

And yes, it will cost money, but it has to be done. Especially the bathroom renovation. Mom is helping out with that. We are switching money out of savings to cover the new doors. There is always changes with the budget, isn't there?

I don't know about you, but I have signed up for a bunch of challenges this year! Here are some great ones for you in case you need an extra one to sign up for! :)

Newlyweds on a Budget is offering this 10 Pound Challenge to help you lose weight and improve your health.

Mom's Plan is offering the Debt Snowflake Challenge to help you get out of debt faster,

The Saved Quarter is offering The Saved Quarter Challenge, 2012,

The Single Saver is offering the Decluttering Challenge

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Works For Me Wednesday: Vinegar and Your Auto

2012-01-17T23:31:00.000-05:00

Keep car windows frost-free overnight in winter by coating them with a solution of 3 parts white distilled vinegar to 1 part water.

Polish car chrome with full-strength white distilled vinegar on a soft cloth.

Remove unwanted decals and bumper stickers by covering them with a cloth soaked in white distilled vinegar, or by repeatedly spraying them with full-strength white distilled vinegar. They should peel off in a couple of hours.

Rid the windshield wipers of road grime by wiping them with a white distilled vinegar-soaked cloth.

Remove the leftover odor after a rider has been carsick by leaving a bowl of white distilled vinegar overnight on the floor.

Get rid of hard water stains on your car with a rinse made from 3 parts soft water to one part white distilled vinegar.

Wipe vinyl upholstery with a mixture of equal parts white distilled vinegar and water.

Remove winter road salt residue on car carpeting by spraying with a mixture of equal parts white distilled vinegar and water, then blot with a soft towel.

Remove the hazy film that builds up on inside windows by spraying with white distilled vinegar.

When doing car maintenance, soak rusty bolts and screws with white distilled vinegar to make them easier to remove.

Loosen chewing gum stuck to carpeting or upholstery by soaking it in white distilled vinegar.

linked to Works for me Wednesday

The Saved Quarter Challenge~ 2012~ #2

2012-01-17T12:58:00.001-05:00

It is already week 2 of "The Saved Quarter Challenge" and time to update. Things are always changing around here. We are living with my mom and dad since the recent discovery of brain/skull cancer for my mom. She needs help with dad and she will definitely need help as she undergoes radiation treatment. I am a full time caregiver for both and my husband helps when he is home from work.

Our income is strictly what my husband makes. For now. My parents and I did reach an agreement that they would pay me when we moved out to our house, but I am re-thinking that. Depending on how long we are here at their house, I still think I need to be paid something. What do you think? Family and money can be a
sticky subject!

I have been striving to build an online income with blogging and Virtual Assisting jobs. But.... that has been a challenge with the care of my parents. I am not giving up on it, as blogging keeps me sane!

Income Update Week 2: $53.00

Week one of Saved Quarter Challenge

How about you? Do you have any earning goals for your blog? Join along with Penny at The Save Quarter with her challenge.

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Tying Up Loose Ends Tuesday

2012-01-17T09:26:00.000-05:00

lantern festival

We are working on getting back to normal, or at least or new normal. Everyday is different around here, with an array of doctor's appointments for both my mom and dad. Mom is definitely getting stronger and is able to do more around the house. She starts her radiation treatments tomorrow so we shall see how much that is going to affect her strength.   We see her primary oncologist today and I a few questions written down to ask her. We also see her radiation oncologist tomorrow and I will be asking him the same questions too.    I think tomorrow I will post the questions I asked and their answers.... might be interesting.

Yesterday marks the start of yet another challenge. I have joined Erika at Newlyweds On A Budget Weight Loss Challenge. The goal is too lose at least 10 pounds in 12 weeks. In order to help me keep track of my calories I have started using LiveStrong Calorie Tracker. There is also an app for your phone ($2.99) that helps you to figure out and track your calories, water consumption and calories burned with exercise. It is a great way to keep track, and easy to use.

Yesterday I did list some items on Craigslist to sell. Mostly vintage Christmas decorations....

You never know what people will buy..... and hopefully someone will want these items.

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photo credit: cJowers

Menu Plan Monday ~ Jan 16

2012-01-16T09:29:00.000-05:00

Looking forward to having the opportunity to cook a little bit this week. Mom's church is bringing meals two days this week so that does lighten up the load a bit. And starting off this week with a pot roast in the crock pot makes it easy to get back in the groove of cooking again.

Monday: Pot Roast in the Crock Pot,

Tuesday: Baked Fish, Seasoned Broccoli

Wednesday: Dinner provided by mom's church

Thursday: Dinner provided by mom's church

Friday: Meatloaf, baked potatoes, Lemon cupcakes

For further menu plan ideas please visit I'm an Organizing Junkie

Debt SnowFlake Challenge Week 2

2012-01-14T23:05:00.000-05:00

To help keep my on track with my debt elimination progress, I have joined Melissa at Mom's Plans in her Debt Snowflake Challenge. To the best of my ability, I will update my own debt snowflake progress every Friday.

Progress: This week has been super busy with a variety of family events and appointments. In fact, this week has been pretty crazy.
I finally did turn in my bag of loose change that has been in my car's backseat since December 5th. The total amount was $47.00.   Not too bad for a bag of change.

My income this week from Virtual Assisting is $6.00.    It is growing and I am looking forward to growing this avenue of income.

This week, I was a featured contributor/challenger at OnlineMoneyBloggers. This will definitely keep me motivated to stay on task. Looking forward to learning from others in this challenge!

Goals for up coming week: Until we can move back to our home with parents, (after mom's radiation treatments) I am limited in getting back into Ebay. All my stuff is out there. But, I do have a few things here and so does my mom. We are going to try Craigslist to sell a few things.

I am also working on a staff writing job. When that comes to fruition I will share more about it. It is a "paid" position so to speak, and am excited to try it out.

Week one of Snow Flake Challenge

How are you doing with the Debt Snowflake Challenge?

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ER Adventure

2012-01-14T10:43:00.000-05:00

Last night was another long evening. It all started yesterday afternoon when my husband told me he was not feeling well. This was after he left my parents house and went out to our house to get some of the remodeling done.   He then said that when he finished the clean up, that he was going to take himself to the ER near the house....

My husband avoids going to the doctor like the plague. When he says he is taking himself   to the ER, well... he really does not feel well. Needless to say, I was concerned. But here I am at my parents house 30 miles away and I can't leave them alone.    My mind was going a hundred miles an hour trying to figure out a way to get me out to my husband and someone here to watch my parents.

I called J, my oldest. He was working nearby and filled him in on the situation. He was willing to come over, but he needed someone to pick up his step daughter after school and watch her. So, I called my daughter and son-in law and they offered to pick up the step daughter and bring her to their house so J could come to my parents.

As soon as everyone had a place to be and my parents were covered I took off to my house to meet my husband. It takes about 30 minutes to get there, but I think I shaved a few minutes off my normal time.

Come to find out, he had been monitoring his blood pressure for the last few days and it has been elevated. (How did I miss this?) When I took it at the house, it was 160/101. Yeah.... so off to the ER we went. They checked him in and evaluated him and in about 30 minutes he was in a room.

They did blood work, EKG, checked his sugar, and monitored his vitals. His BP stayed elevated, but everything else was perfect.    My husband has had issues with his BP in the past, but did not take his meds as directed. And this is what happens when you don't..... it gets all wacky and you start to feel like crap.

After about 2 hours in the ER, they decided that there was nothing critically wrong and that he should follow up with his primary doctor. I will be calling to make an appt for him next week. We will both be getting more exercise in because right now we just sit around my parents house waiting on them.

It was a long evening, and I hope we don't have to do that again for a long time.

Photo credit: taberandrew
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Food Waste Friday: The Hidden Soup

2012-01-13T08:04:00.001-05:00

There has not been much cooking going on here this week. Members from my mom's church have been bringing over meals about every other day. The dinners that they are providing are so delicious. You can definitely "taste" the love in their food. Luckily enough, they are providing enough food that we have leftovers for the next day.

But..... deep in the refrigerator there was a rouge container of leftover homemade chicken noodle soup from last week. How did we miss that?

Oh well. We are looking forward to another week of meals provided by the members of the church. That sure makes my job a little easier around here. We appreciate all that her church is doing for our family.

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Tying Up Loose Ends Tuesday

2012-01-10T09:18:00.000-05:00

flea market flowers

This is a busy week for mom. She has a week full of appointments, four of them in fact. This morning she is at an appointment at MD Anderson cancer hospital getting fitted for her radiation mask. One of her golfing buddies is taking her. The radiation therapist should be scheduling her sessions as well, so we can better plan the next few weeks.


retrieved from NCI

This mask will keep her head stable during treatment. It will
also help the radiation therapist direct the radiation to the proper area. Luckily she is not claustrophobic. I don't know if I could do it, this mask kinda freaks me out. We have three other appointments this week, her primary physician, her neurosurgeon, and then her annual mammo,dexascan and chest xray.

Tomorrow, my daughter and her family will be coming down to stay with my dad while we go to the neurosurgeon. My daughter has the night off from work so she has offered to stay the evening while my husband and I have a night out. We are going to try to get to the movies and a late dinner. I am very excited about this!

Yesterday, my husband was out at out house ripping out the old bathroom (tub, toilet, vanity) and getting it ready to put a shower in that is user friendly for my parents. With my son's help he was able to get all the old fixtures and stuff out of there. He has a friend at work that does tile work, and we are hoping he has time to put our shower in. My husband could do this but he really has NO time since we are living with my parents now. My husband can put in the toilet and vanity, so we won't have to hire that out.

The dinner that one of the church members brought last night was absolutely delicious! A lovely salad, Chicken Tetrazzinni and a tasty spice cake. I love her church family!!

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The Saved Quarter Challenge~ 2012~ #1

2012-01-09T19:43:00.001-05:00

Once again, Penny at the Saved Quarter is starting up her "Saved Quarter Challenge". I did participate in Saved Quarter Challenge last year and was successful in planning and saving for my $500 Holiday Challenge. This year the focus of her 2012 Challenge is more Goal Oriented. Decide what you want to accomplish and set the objectives and work the plan to succeed.

Here are my objectives for this year's challenge.

1. Eliminate our Credit Card Debt which is currently hovering around $11,000.00.

    This will require at least an additional 1,000.00 dollars a month in earnings to accomplish this goal. My current situation is that of a full time caregiver for both my parents. I put my career as a sonographer (ultrasound tech) on hold for the duration. My husband's income covers our current bills, and not much else. For now we are living at my parents until mom is finished with radiation therapy. Our plans will be to move both my parents out to our home so we can care for them until my mom regains her strength.   Mom is in agreement to contribute to the household income while she and dad are living with us. It will be tight, but doable.

2. This year I joined the Online Money Bloggers 30k challenge. In order to successfully complete the challenge I will have to earn $2500.00 EACH month via my blog ad revenue or Virtual Assisting jobs. I currently have a small client base that I provide proofreading/editing for. Right now, I am not on track to see that $2500.00 this month, but it is still early yet. I am excited to learn from others in the 30k challenge.

3. Travel.   This year I(we) want to travel to San Francisco. We have an abnormal obsession with Alcatraz and cannot wait to take a tour of it..... among the other attractions that San Francisco has to offer. There is also FinCon12    The Financial Blogger Conference that is a three day conference designed to bring together the best of the personal finance community so that we can network and learn. This sounds like fun!!    The travel may have to wait, depending on my parents health status. But I am still planning for it.

Report of income for week 1:   $4.00.   Pretty sad, right?    Sure is room for improvement here. I will wait till the end of the month and provide the income total and actually apply it to the debt.

How about you? Do you have any earning goals for your blog? Join along with Penny at The Save Quarter with her challenge.

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Menu Plan Monday ~ Jan 9

2012-01-09T13:42:00.002-05:00

This is going to be a super easy week for menu planning. My mom's church family wants to bring dinner to my mom during her radiation treatments. I have to say, her church family has really been super duper wonderful throughout this process. You can see below in green were I will have the night off. Woot! Woot!
I am very excited and am looking forward to all the great food that is coming.

Monday: Church member is bringing dinner
Tuesday: Left over chicken soup and Cuban bread
Wednesday: Church member is bringing dinner
Thursday: Grilled pork chops, broccoli, brown rice
Friday: Church member is bringing dinner
Saturday: Grits and Eggs (Breakfast for Dinner)
Sunday: ~~Pot Roast in Crock Pot~~ we ate out

For further menu plan ideas please visit I'm an Organizing Junkie

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I Get To Sleep In My Own Bed Tonight

2012-01-08T06:24:00.001-05:00

Front Yard with our Dogs

This is a happy day for me and my husband. Today, my son and my son-in-law will be bringing my bed over to my mom's house. I.cannot.wait. For the last 5 weeks my husband and I have been sleeping on the couches, and spare beds. It has sucked.    Our quality of sleep has definitely been less than spectacular.

We decided to bring our bed over to my mom's house because her oncologist has decided to move forward with her radiation treatments this month. Currently, mom lives just about 5 minutes from the hospital and since she will be going every day for 15 consecutive visits it makes more sense to stay here. Also, her church family will be helping out taking mom to and from her radiation appointments. ( I cannot say enough wonderful things about her church family, they have been awesome to our family!) This is good in two ways. She can visit with her friends and I don't have to find a sitter for my dad so I can take her.

The plan is still to move my parents out to our house ( 30 minutes away) after her treatments. She is excited about the move, but is in agreement about staying here for now. This is working to our advantage as my kids and husband still have to get their rooms ready at my house. There is painting to be done on two bedrooms and we are remodeling a bathroom to make it more user friendly (taking out tub and installing shower) for mom and dad. These are the projects that are to be completed within the next few weeks. Fingers crossed!

Tomorrow is the first day of the 10 pound weight loss challenge
at Newlyweds On a Budget. Yes, I have joined yet another challenge. Stop on over and check it out. Lots of great prizes for the winner(s)!



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Five Reasons Why I Use Facebook

2012-01-07T12:05:00.000-05:00

Connect with the Past

When I first signed up for Facebook several years ago, I do so with the intent to catch up with friends from High School. Many a evening was spent looking ( some could call it ~~stalking~~ lurking) for friends and acquaintances from over thirty years ago. I was fortunate enough to find friends from High School, Junior High and Elementary school as well. In fact, I started a Page for my Junior High School and have been able to connect with even more people from the past.

Connect with Family

I like keeping up with family and my extended family is all over the United States. A great deal of my extended family is in Wisconsin (Go Pack!) but those crazy Norwegians are sprinkled all over the place. There are some relatives that I communicate with more than others, but over time I have built up relationships with most of my extended family. No surprise, but I have set up a "family" facebook page that only family members can see. Interactions there involve upcoming family events such as family reunions. It is also a place to share personal family pictures.

Connecting with Friends

Is it possible to be an introvert that loves to be around people and be involved in what is going on in their lives? Maybe that makes me a busybody. ( I can admit it, I like to know things ) Either way, I like having the chance to see what friends are up to. These include friends from work, school, and my neighborhood. When friends post what is going on in their lives, I like being able to comment and interact with them. Sometimes life gets in the way, and I don't have the ability to "see" my friends, and Facebook allows me the opportunity to connect and catch up.

Connecting with Fellow Bloggers

I have a Facebook page for Cents To Save which provides the opportunity to keep abreast of the latest posts from many of the blogs I follow. Since I am not that active on Twitter I will use Facebook to communicate to other bloggers. I consider many of my fellow bloggers my "friends" even though we have never met. Through our blogs, we have all shared our lives and our experiences. I feel bonded to many of you in that respect.

Because I Want To

I use Facebook because I like it. Am I addicted to it? Well.... I do rely on it quite a bit to keep in touch with just about everyone. Some may consider that an "addiction", and others may be able to relate totally. Will I change my ways? Probably not. But, everyone has to decide for themselves the benefits or disadvantages of activities that take may take up too much time.

What are your thoughts on Facebook? Do you find it helpful or harmful?

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Debt SnowFlake Challenge Week 1

2012-01-06T23:42:00.001-05:00

2012 is definitely the year of challenges. Wikitionary defines challenge as "A difficult task, especially one that the person making the attempt finds more enjoyable because of that difficulty". Yes, accomplishing the task at hand is definitely more enjoyable because of the the journey. My primary task this year (financially speaking) is to eliminate my credit card debt. I have other goals this year, but getting rid of the debt is my main focus.

To help keep my on track with my debt elimination progress, I have joined Melissa at Mom's Plans in her Debt Snowflake Challenge. To the best of my ability, I will update my own debt snowflake progress every Friday.

Our Progress:
Blog income from advertising was $110.00. This revenue was from the last week in December, and when it arrives in the bank from PayPal, I will apply it to the Credit card.

I still have a bag of loose change in the back of my car to turn in. I was going to do this about a month ago, but that same day my mom was taken to the ER, and things have been crazy since.

I have just started offering services as a Virtual Assistant for fellow bloggers. My client base is growing, ( I have one, with the possibility of another).    Working from home is a way for me to add to our family's income and by offering services as a Virtual Assistant I can easily do this. Thanks to Melissa for all your help and guidance too!

I have recently started another website "Count Down to Sixty" using wordpress. It is designed to help other baby boomers like myself with the obstacles and challenges of getting older. The website is in the early stages, ( I am very new to wordpress) and is less personal, more informational. My goal is to monetize it and grow it to become a passive stream of income. As I said before, it is definitely in the early stages.

Our Debt:

Chase Credit Card: $10. 659.00

This is where we stand for now with the debt. So close to getting under $10,000.00!!

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A College Student’s Guide to Getting Free Food

2012-01-06T06:24:00.001-05:00

Paid guest post from Alternative Media

A College Student’s Guide to Getting Free Food is a guest post by Kelly @ Life Insurance Comparison, bringing you tips and information on insuring your future.

College students are known for being the skimpiest spenders when it comes to essentials, and for good reason: with rising tuition costs (as well as unemployment among non-graduates and graduates alike), expensive books, and other necessary supplies, who has money leftover to pay for things like food anymore? If you fall into this boat, or are simply looking for ways to cut back on your meal expenses, then the following guide will help you find the best ways to get food without paying a dime.

Local Businesses
Restaurants and beverage places—bars, smoothie joints, tea houses, etc.—are always looking to attract new customers, and when they are located in a college town, they’re going to take full advantage of the power of word-of-mouth marketing. They often offer huge discounts or even free food coupons to students on campus to entice them to come try their menus. With any luck, the student will love it and proceed to tell their friends about the place and possibly return in the future as a paying customer. It’s a win-win marketing ploy: business gets customers and college student gets free food.

There are also free food days at restaurants, such as free cone days at ice cream places or free burritos from Chipotle on rare occasions.

Clubs
To attract members, clubs often offer food at their introductory meetings (almost guaranteed to be pizza). Some clubs continue to offer free food to its members throughout the year, making it doubly beneficial to join a club in that it looks great on a resume and you won’t starve on days you have a meeting. As a current member of my college’s speech and debate team, I not only get pizza at our Friday meetings, but I get invitations to our holiday potlucks and get meal money to pay for all of my food expenses during travel tournaments. Many other clubs do the same.

Associated Students’ Activities
Events on campus, organized by the ASB, often have free food for attendees. This can include club promotion days, holiday celebrations, spirit weeks, etc. Schools specifically allocate a certain amount of money for this organization to use on their events, and to attract more interest from the general student population, they know food will do the trick. I recently got a free hamburger, fry, and chocolate shake from In & Out just for participating in my college’s Meet and Greet Day for potential high school applicants.

Free Samples Scouting
If you are fortunate enough to live near a grocery store that offers free samples to its shoppers, then you may want to consider dropping by every once in a while. Costco stores are especially known for this, although you will need a membership to get in first (they also have ridiculously cheap food, such as a full hotdog meal for $1.50 or two huge slices of pizza for only $2). This may be frowned upon by wealthier or older shoppers who don’t understand the predicament of a starving college student, but this can be an excellent way to replace an entire meal without paying for it. Many of the food choices are even good lifestyle choices - not junk food!

So, if you’re struggling to keep the costs down while in college, finding free food opportunities can be a tremendous budget-saver. It’ll likely be a sporadic occurrence, but when you find yourself with a free meal, that’s $5-10 less you’ll be taking out of your food budget for the month.