Cents To Save

I Am Re-Joining The Workforce

2012-02-11T08:32:00.000-05:00

Happy Dance!

Well, how do you like that? Yesterday morning I received a call from the HR director at the potential new job. She greeted me and then began to explain the company benefits. After a few minutes of going over the benefits, she said " What are your financial requirements for the position?" I told her. ( I went a little high on the advice of a coworker) She said that number was "fine!"    That "number" is about $2.00 higher than the position I was laid of from in August and $4.50 higher than the job I had before that.   I did not have to go back for a scanning interview, I was hired over the phone!

This tells me that God's hand was definitely in this. The process was easy, short and very rewarding. All praises go to Him! Thanks to all of you for your support during these last few crazy months!    I am thrilled to be employed again!!

With the good news yesterday, I was again very motivated to work on decluttering my stuff.    Great progress is being made and I will post pictures tonight. Since I will be working again, I have gone through my EBay stuff and decided to donate it back to the Thrift Store. Yes, I could have a garage sale, but I just am not feeling that. I so much to do and finish right now. But.... there is about a truckload of stuff ready to go!

Frozen Yogurt is Crack! @ Budgeting In The Fun Stuff

Pinterest: Harmless Fun or Enabler @ So Over Debt

Sh*t My Tenants Say @ Your Finances Simplified

Is It Worth Having A FSA Account @ Ultimate Smart Money

Amazon 25.00 Gift Card Giveaway @ Retire By Forty

8 Ways To Justify Buying Anything @ Cult of Money

How Realism and Creativity can Get you Out of Debt @ My Broken Coin

3 Tips For Staying On Task @ Black Freelancer

End World Hunger: 5 Ways You Can Make A Difference @ Prairie Eco Thrifter

Time to get back to the work at hand. Lots of stuff to go through and ~~pitch~~ donate!

Have a great Saturday!

photo credit

Update on Job Interview

2012-02-10T08:29:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I went to a job interview. It is a radiologist owned imaging center about 30 miles away. Okay.... everything is about 30 miles away from where I live job-wise. The imaging center is beautiful and has modern state of the art equipment.   I arrived 10 minutes early and checked in with the receptionist.   Of course I had extra resumes and a letter of recommendation from the imaging center that mis-hired me in August. My interview was with the Radiologist assistant and she was busy helping with a biopsy.

I took a seat in the lobby and waited. And waited. Yep, I was in the lobby for about an hour. I actually thought it might be a test :)   But I know from experience that when you are helping with a biopsy, things do not always go as planned.

Eventually I was called back and met with supervisor. We talked for about an hour and I shared my employment history and she asked me a bunch of questions. I enjoyed talking to her and I kinda hope I didn't talk to much. Anyway, I got to meet the other ultrasound techs, in fact one of them is a previous co-worker from about 9 years ago. I think the interview went well!

In fact, my previous co-worker texted me later on in the day that she heard I did well on the interview and things might be going my way. I will probably go back for a scanning interview, ( so they can evaluate my scanning skills) next week. So, today I will be waiting on a call back. Either way, the interview was a good experience.   If by chance this does not work out, I as suppose to have an interview next week at another outpatient center.

image credit

Food Waste Friday: Brrrrrrrrrrrr! A Little Frosty!

2012-02-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

linked to the Frugal Girl

It is that time again, time to search out the refrigerator and see what is lurking in the deep dark recesses. The refrigerator is actually okay, but the Freezer..... well, that is another story all together.

My freezer is pretty full, so full in fact you can;t really tell what is in there. I dumped most of the stuff on the counter this morning and discovered a few frosty items that need to go.

These meatballs are left over from a birthday party in June.

Here they are up close......

And this hunk of frozen ham bone, well I had good intentions to make homemade bean soup, but instead I will be throwing it away. Boo!!

Next week is another week! How did you do with your food waste?

Thursday Notes,Updates and Changes

2012-02-09T06:25:00.001-05:00

Everyday is different around here. We have moved back home from my parent's house. Mom's recovery has been quite remarkable and she and dad are ready to be back on their own. The last two days, mom's blood pressure has been steadily climbing. It has been running around 150/106, sometimes less, sometimes more. I emailed her primary doctor with the info and she has an appt with him today.

I don't have to take her, she has a neighbor that will take her to that appointment. She also has another friend taking her to physical therapy in the afternoon at 1:00 PM. My husband will be picking her up at 4:00PM and dropping her off at her house. I understand being independent and wanting to do things on your own. She and my dad have always been fiercely independent.

So, I still have lots to do around the house. The painting continues. In fact, the formally brown bedroom has had THREE coats of yellow paint plus primer and that darn brown is still bleeding through. Seriously, I want to scream. Oh crap, I just remembered it left the lid off of the white trim paint. Great.

Another change, I have a job interview today at 11:00. Yep, I am attempting to step back into the workforce again. It is a full time position, four 10 hour days with Wednesday off. Talk about a big change! How does this affect mom and dad? Well, my husband and I both feel as if mom wants us to move forward in our life. I have offered to stay at her house, to regularly check in on them, but she pushes me away. Fine.

So, If I do get the opportunity to get back into the workforce I will not quit my job again to take care of them. There will have to be other arrangements in place besides me and my husband. So there you go. Everyday is different around here.

$500 HOLIDAY CHALLENGE 2012 week 3

2012-02-08T05:10:00.004-05:00

There are some ways to earn a little extra spending cash that are easy and won't cost you anything. One of the tools I used last year was SwagBucks. Swagbucks is something that is 100% free and you can make money on the site every day. It truly is easy money and I wish I had found them earlier.

The difference between this rewards site and others is that you get paid to use their search engine which gives you most of the same results you would get if you use Google. Rather than go to Google for my surfing, I use the Swagbucks search engine that randomly rewards me with Swagbucks that I can then redeem for all sorts of things like iTunes gift cards, Amazon.com gift cards, cash and so much more. Everything is free so it really is a no brainer.

What I did learn last year is that you cannot use your Amazon.com cards to redeem for other gift cards.

The things you can do for free include take surveys, watch ads, trade in electronics, play games, and of course surf the Web. All those things pay you in Swagbucks which you then take to the Swag Store to turn in for the things you really want.

If you are super dedicated to getting as many SwagBucks as possible, After you have downloaded the Swagbucks toolbar, you can go to the earn category and select SwagBucks TV. When you watch the selected videos(lots of categories to choose from) you earn points. Here is a hint, when you are surfing the net, you can run the SwagBucks TV with the volume on low while you are reading blogs and catching up.

What ways have you found to earn extra spending money online?

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2012 Financial Goals Progress Report #1

2012-02-07T15:18:00.000-05:00

I am borrowing this format from Laura at NoMoreSpending to help me stay accountable to my 2012 goals.

1.   Pay off credit card debt this year. Yep, it has got to go. We have about $11,5000 in stupid credit card debt. With our current living arrangements (we moved in with my sick parents to become their caregivers) our expenses are low(er).   No Change. In fact, due to remodeling... it is going up. :(

2. Increase Emergency Savings from $1000.00 to $3000.00. Right now our emergency fund carries about $1200.00, but by the end of the year we would like to increase that to $3000.00 for a little more piece of mind. Same.

3. Building online income.   My work situation has changes totally. I am now a fulltime care giver for my dad, and soon for my mom. I will be able to (hopefully) find time during the day and night to learn more about HOW to successfully do that. You know I did join the $30,000 Online Income Challenge, right? Situation as caregiver has changed. Online income is small, but I am grateful. For January, it was about $300.00

4. Christmas 2012.   I again will be working my $500 Holiday Challenge. I was able to stay pretty close to the spending/ shopping budget this year, so I am pretty happy about that.   Acquiring gifts all year round at deep savings really helped the bottom line.   No shopping yet, but I am auto-transferring to my Christmas ING account.

5. Have more fun! Life is short and I know that saving money, budgeting, and being frugal is important. But....   having fun and enjoying life is just as important!   Living in Central Florida provides many opportunities to visit theme parks and be a kid again. We have not yet decided which park we are going to get a year long pass for, but I am leaning towards SeaWorld. And next year.... Disney World. I will be getting passes for me, my husband and my grandson. Money well spent.   Nope, not yet.

6. Plan a Trip out West. We want to go to San Francisco, visit Alcatraz ( I find that place to be very fascinating), Cross the Golden Gate Bridge, to name a few. It may not happen this year, but it will happen. I plan to save at leat $4000.00 dollars towards this goal. No change, BUT I might include FINCON12 into this.

7. Roth IRA..... hello.... you remember me, don't you? My retirement planning has taken a BACK seat lately. Time to get all that back under control. I have a 401k with a previous employer that I need to do something with..... and I do recall a Roth IRA too. I am a huge slacker when it comes to this stuff. Help please. Fail. There is the rest of February to get it changed.

11. Get our wills done.   Enough said. This has been on my goals list for the last two years. Nope, not yet.

So, there you go. Not much progress, but that is okay. These last few months have definitely been different. Looking forward to normal again.

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Six Ways to Re-Purpose Common Household Items

2012-02-07T06:37:00.001-05:00

One of the greenest things you can do is purchase long-lasting products and then find ways to re-purpose them once they’ve served their usefulness. After re-purposing, there’s recycling. However, if you’re creative, you can first find new uses for almost anything before recycling. Here are some ideas…

[image via Sprig]

Re-purpose coffee cans: Use old larger cans to make amazingly lovely planters. See how! See even more Recycled Garden Containers at Mother Earth’s Garden.

Re-purpose that old spice rack: You know those sit-on-the-counter spinning spice racks? Most folks don’t want those anymore because they take up valuable kitchen real estate. I know that many folks have switched to in-cupboard or wall mounted spice storage which means there’s a ton of these spinning spice racks hanging around. You can re-purpose yours to hold beads, sewing odds and ends, stickers for the kiddos, rock collections, little kid hair supplies (barrettes, rubber bands), and more.

Re-purpose bubble wrap: Obviously, you can reuse bubble wrap to send new packages, but you can also use it in your fridge veggie and fruit drawers as a liner to prevent tossed in produce from becoming bruised.

Re-purpose a tablecloth: Vinyl or oilcloth tablecloths aren’t so eco-friendly, but if you’ve moved to cloth tablecloths, how do you re-purpose your old ones? By making a lunch bag of course. Or make three or four for the whole family – also makes a great gift.

Re-purpose a leaky old garden hose: Into a much better, more eco-friendly, soaker hose.

Re-purpose old bedsheets: I like the idea of making a body pillow, because they’re cozy, but you can also use them to save energy in the summer if you live in a humid area. Take your old sheet, dip the whole thing in water, wring out so it’s not drippy, and hang across your window in the early morning. The air coming through the cool, damp sheet will take the sting out of summer heat and maybe allow you to turn down the AC. See 20 more ways to use old bedsheets.

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Menu Plan Monday ~ Feb 6~

2012-02-06T06:33:00.000-05:00

We are getting back to normal around here. We moved back into our own home this weekend. Now we will go and check up on mom and dad a couple of times a week, and if they need more we will adjust. Mom is doing great since her brain surgery and we are thankful for her almost complete recovery.

Monday: Grilled Pork Chops, Grilled Zucchini, Brown Rice
Tuesday: Slow Cooker Pot Roast, Salad
Wednesday: Easy Quiche
Thursday: Chili, Cornbread
Friday: Leftover Chili over rice
Saturday: Pizza
Sunday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, broccoli

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This post is linked to Organizing Junkie

Sunday Night Chit Chat

2012-02-05T23:17:00.003-05:00

The Fort at St. Augustine at night.

Joining Carla for her Sunday Night Chit Chat!

Reading? I have not read a book in a long, long time. I read a lot of blogs.

Watching? Opera Presents Master Class with Jane Fonda.

Listening to? Pandora: The "Iz" channel

Cooking/Baking? Ooey Gooey Strawberry Butter Cake

Happy you accomplished this week? We moved back home from my mom's. She has made a miraculous recovery.

Looking forward to next week? The decluttering is still waiting on me.... and maybe look for a job.

Thankful for today? My mom's recovery, my family and especially my husband.

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Happy Saturday Morning and Links

2012-02-04T07:11:00.022-05:00

stop and take time to visit the blogs below

Happy Saturday Everyone! We are making progress on the painting and decluttering. Pictures are coming soon with the progress. There is lots to do so this will be brief. But, do check out the links below... Great reading and a chance to win some money!

Joe at Retire by 40 is sponsoring a $25.00 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

Andrea at So Over Debt explains why hating your bank may be your fault.

Elise at Black Freelancer shares her progress on her 2012 SMART goals

Aloysa at My Broken Coin shares her no spend January. Well almost no spend.

Karl at Cult of Money shares his earnings with Prosper.

USM at Ultimate Smart Money shares his 6 tips for winterizing your home

YFS at Your Finances Simplified shares 10 tips for saving on Car Insurance.

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Food Waste Friday: All Clear Around Here

2012-02-03T07:54:00.003-05:00

linked to the Frugal Girl

Today I am happy to report that we have no food waste to report. Our grocery shopping consists mostly of the few necessities like bread, milk and eggs. My mom's church family has been so generous with bringing food and the meals are enough for two days.

The curvy road home

Today we get to go home for a weekend. We are having a new bed delivered to the house today. This is part of our plan to set up two households to take care of my parents. This is the first time we have been home together for a weekend in 9 weeks. It sure does not seem that long....... okay, maybe it does.

We have many projects to complete. The painting, the Decluttering of the garage..... Or we may do nothing at all and just take a break. Some habits I just can't break. The evidence is in this post at my other blog. (Maybe I am a "hoarder" at heart! )

Have a great weekend!

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Debt SnowFlake Challenge Week 5

2012-02-03T06:07:00.002-05:00

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.

Progress: This week I did receive a payout from AdSense for $103.00. That was a nice little chunk of change. But that was it for the week. It has been a little slow to say the least.

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 t~~o my home before I start Ebaying again~~. I already started list some items on Ebay. I think we will be able to be home more so on a smaller scale I am getting back into Ebay again.

Total SnowFlakes for 2012

$424.00

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~~. Ahh........ NO payments yet. Still some more purchases for the transition upcoming.

Join in my $500 Holiday Challenge!

Week four of the SnowFlake Challenge

Week three of SnowFlake Challenge

Week two of SnowFlake Challenge

Week one of SnowFlake Challenge

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February Declutter Challenge Update #1

2012-02-02T21:26:00.000-05:00

I'm taking part in the February Declutter Challenge being run by Carla from My 1/2 Dozen Daily.

Tomorrow I will be going out to my home and this is what will be waiting for me in the garage. Not a new car, but stacks of stuff that came out of the two bedrooms we are repainting. I will be working on ~~this~~ these piles of stuff all weekend. In between the rest of the painting. It is going to be a busy weekend.

I was looking for the dog crate for days....... who knew it was in the garage...

This stack has plastic container of holiday decorations that I thought I could not live without. Obviously I can. I have not even opened a box of them in a year.

My mom's computer is hiding behind the decorations.....

This wheelbarrow is holding the totes that hold my Christmas decorations. Yep, I haul the totes from the back shed... in a wheelbarrow. I think a golf cart would be more fun. (we live on an acre)

This wheelbarrow has a flat tire.

Oh.... you might be curious as to why I still have the Christmas decoration totes in the garage and not in the storage shed...

This should answer your question. Yes, the Christmas is still up. I suppose I could use it for Valentine's Day. Hoping to get this boxed up.

I never got to finish decorating it.....

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Yakezie Team for Spring 2012

2012-02-02T06:18:00.001-05:00

As a long time member of the Yakezie challenge, ( I am hoping to become a full fledged member soon!) I am excited to share my small group Yakezie Spring team with you! Usually every quarter, members and challengers alike are invited to participate in small group teams. This is a great opportunity to build relationships with other bloggers. It is also a wonderful opportunity to expand your knowledge in different financial areas like stock, real estate and investing. (All areas I am weak in)

I invite you to visit each of these sites and make them regulars on your blogroll!

So Over Debt
Your Finances Simplified
Ultimate Smart Money
Retire By 40
Cult Of Money
My Broken Coin
Black Freelancer

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Day 1 Of "Making Valentine's Special"

2012-02-01T21:21:00.000-05:00

Thought I would share Day 1 of my

"Making Valentine's Day Special"

I saw this idea on Pinterest ( of course!) So after a little bit of time on Picnik I was able to send this pic to Walgreen's ( wonder what the photo girl thought) and picked it up in 30 minutes. The card was on my husband's lunchbox this morning....

He thought it was a hoot!

idea borrowed from The Frugal Girl

$500 HOLIDAY CHALLENGE 2012 week # 2

2012-02-01T05:48:00.002-05:00

In order to survive the holidays financially, it is important to have your plan of action. This plan of action should include a list of who you will be buying for. We have a long list, it come to about 15-20 people. This list includes family members, friends, and a couple of business associates.
Christmas Dinner is another cost that we factor in to the picture. As in previous years we will cater Christmas with Italian food from a local restaurant. Mom and I split the cost. For us, it is just easier to be able to eat and enjoy each other with out the hassle of planning a menu, food shopping, cooking and cleaning up.

Will you be traveling to visit relatives during the holiday season? This may be another cost to factor in to the Holiday budget. If you do plan to travel, it definitely would be easier to put money aside for that now.
Here are a couple of web sites that can help with your holiday planning!

Here is a Free Christmas Present Planner offered by My Money Design

Ann's Amazing Holiday Planner

Free Christmas Planner at Organizing Junkie

Visit here to see the participants that have joined so far.

Holiday Challenge 2012 Week #1

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Tying Up Loose Ends Tuesday Challenges

2012-01-31T09:22:00.001-05:00

We have been painting at our house most of the weekend and yesterday. A lot has been accomplished, but there is a lot more to do. Tonight, we will be shopping for a bed that will be going to our house. If you remember, we are setting up two households. One at my house, and one at my mom's. This way when she becomes too weak or is not feeling that great, we can come down and stay with her or she and dad can pack a bag and come out to the house.

On to the challenges............

February is going to be a busy month so I am starting my De-clutter challenge early.Carla is holding a double challenge; a Low (No) Spend Challenge and a De-Clutter Challenge. I'm taking part in the De-Clutter Challenge only.

Reviewing my Goals for February:

Paint rooms: working on it.... and here are the pictures to prove it and keep me honest.....

This is mom's room, which was my grandson's room. The walls were a chocolate brown. We primed them and painted them the yellow my mom picked. We still need to go back and paint a third coat, that brown is just not going away. You can see the brown bleeding through the yellow....

This is my dad's room. It was the super bright canary yellow. Super bright. Mom picked a soothing bluish green color for his room. I really like this color. This room is almost done. Just have to finish painting the closet doors.....

Below is the rest of my February list of things to do for the De-clutter challenge:

Go through the stuff in garage and reduce the stuff
Donate the party decor that I won't use
Organize important papers for both houses ( stuff is everywhere)
Decide on whether to keep golf clubs or sell them
Go through grandson's toys and decide what to donate

Tomorrow I will post the weekly link up for the $500 Holiday Challenge!

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Menu Plan Monday ~ Jan 30 With the Help of Pinterest

2012-01-30T08:58:00.001-05:00

This is going to be another super easy week for menu planning. Again. My mom's church family wants to bring dinner to my mom during her radiation treatments.

But, I wanted to change things up a bit. So I found some great recipes via Pinterest. If you have yet to venture out and explore Pinterest, you should give it a try. But make sure you have lots of free time, because before you know it..... 2 hours are gone just like that!

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: Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings
Wednesday: Church member is bringing dinner
Thursday: Garbanzo Burger
Friday: Church member is bringing dinner
Saturday: Baked Ziti
Sunday: Parmesean Crusted Tilapia

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

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

February Challenges... Here We Go

2012-01-29T06:39:00.004-05:00

February is going to be a busy month. Okay we're off again for February and this time Carla is holding a double challenge; a Low (No) Spend Challenge and a De-Clutter Challenge. I'm taking part in the De-Clutter Challenge only and so I need to set my goals and my rules. This month I will be going back to my home and this will give me the opportunity to start getting rid of stuff. I have two of the bedrooms completely empty and primed, ready to paint. All that "stuff" is in the garage, living room and my bedroom.

Goals for February:

Paint rooms
Go through the stuff in garage and reduce the stuff
Donate the party decor that I won't use
Organize important papers for both houses ( stuff is everywhere)
Decide on whether to keep golf clubs or sell them
Go through grandson's toys and decide what to donate

That is it for now. As the month progresses, I will add to this list and I will document with pictures.
( Hopefully the producers for "Hoarders" don't see the pictures!)

My fellow blogger saving for travel started the sealed pot challenge back in December and because I love a challenge I had to join in. I'll let sft explain the aim of the challenge;

Little bits and bobs of money are squirrelled away in an assortment of SEALED POTS and the result is....A NICE CHUNK OF MONEY JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS, OR TO PUT TOWARDS HOLIDAYS... OR A TREAT, OR LOTS OF FUN when we open them in DEC 2012!Following the CHALLENGE couldn't be easier as you simply get a pot (mine is an old gravy tub but others have posher types), make a hole for cash (if not provided), make sure it's sealed so you can't open it, chuck your spare cash in it and then ON THE 3RD DEC WE WILL OPEN THEM TOGETHER! It's not a competition, we just will support each other here to keep going with ANOTHER CRAZY SCHEME TO SAVE MONEY!

I am late in starting this challenge, but hey.....better late than never. I have been stashing change away in a Ziploc bag, but will definitely get a sturdier container in place...... pictures to follow.

And to help everyone to get ready for the Holidays... I have started the $500 Holiday Challenge. You don't necessarily have to limit your Holiday spending to just $500 dollars, but this challenge is to motive, inspire and help you stay within in YOUR budget.
I hope you will join in too!!

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What Do You Think of My New Look?

2012-01-28T06:20:00.003-05:00

Today has been a day of BIG changes for my Blog. It all started with this post at Online Money Bloggers, "How Nikki Plans to Make $30,000 in 2012". Nikki stated "The last idea I have for bringing in some mo’ money encompasses my amateur fascination with graphics and site design. I have received quite a few emails asking me about how I create the graphics and the designs for Debt Free by Thirty. I might possibly be able to expand that interest into a decent profit."

Now if you have been blogging in the same circles that I have been then you know just how talented Niki is. She has transformed her blog into a beautiful work of art. I am a big fan of her blog and have been a regular pest with questions on how to change things on my blog. Maybe frequent would be a better word.

After reading her post I expressed an interest ( more like a strong desire) in having Niki design my blog. And that is where it started....She emailed me and asked me what colors I like and what blogs I liked.

I found this picture. It had the colors I really liked and it has flowers. I love flowers. Now.... you can see the resmebleance can't you?

Niki worked on my blog design all day. She would email when she wanted me to have a look at what she was doing... and ask for suggestions or changes. I would let her know what I did like and what I didn't. And then she would change it and after a flurry of emails back and forth.... more changes...

Finally. The finished product. The new Cents To Save. I LOVE IT NIKKI!! It was my pleasure to be your first client. I am honored.

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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

2012-01-27T07:15:00.004-05:00

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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