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Facebook for fun (free) entertainment

June 21st, 2010 at 03:17 pm

I will admit, I joined Facebook and am really enjoying it! Initially it was to hook up with people from high school before our reunion last year, but it is so much more! I have reconnected with "far away" family, some wonderful old friends and some super SA friends!

The best part, besides the updates and pictures, is the FREE games you can play. Not just the time consuming ones (I try to stay away from most of those! I don't need a Farm or a Fish tank! Smile)But fun ones like Family Feud, Scrabble and even Uno! And it is all free and I can play them with my kids online at the same time with some of them! Nice for connecting with them when I have downtime at work! They have lots of fun word puzzle game too.

Going to talk to DH about him getting a second job. (AGAIN!) Wish me luck!

Gettin stuff done....

October 4th, 2009 at 06:20 am

Well, it has been an interesting week back to work. NOTHING got done at home while I was gone. Geeze! People, do dishes, do laundry, vacuum, UGH! Anyway...

My to do list is not as organized as Househopefuls or Lux's, mine is in my head which is a BAD place to keep it!! Stick Out Tongue

The "new" bathroom: tore out vanity, painted, laid new peel n stick looks like ceramic tile floor. Bought new baseboards at Habitat for Humanity, three 6 foot sections for a big $5!!! Love their prices. Looked for the plumbing lines I needed for the pedestal sink, but they didn't have them there, so went to Walmart and paid $5.87 apiece. Hopefully will get the whole thing wrapped up tomorrow. Looks like the whole project will end up costing me around $60. Will try to post pics soon.

German student arrives on Friday (hence the "new" bathroom). Need to put up Halloween deco and steam clean all the carpets tomorrow too.

Oh, and I want to do the van too.

Roller coaster eye opener

January 19th, 2009 at 04:22 pm

Yes, I need to track my money better. I have been working on financial forms for my husband, so he can get everything together to start the business with my BIL. One year we made $120K, the next we took a bit hit and it was about $70. The next, back to $105, the next two around $85. This past year?? $45. Yikes. I wasn't sure how it would wash out, but no wonder we are scrambling. It was a bit perplexing that we really cut back this year, I just did'nt realize, it should have been WWWWAAAAAAYYYYYY back. My mentality is still too paycheck to paycheck. DH keeps swearing he is going to take over the bill payment. I hope this comes true soon!

How much do you have to live off of each month?

August 20th, 2008 at 07:06 am

If that is too personal, you can ignore it! DH brings home $640 every two weeks, for a total of $1280. DH also pulls out the $1500 for the house payment from our savings account, unless he gets a commission to pay it with. Any extra commission goes to the savings account, not to bills. At my work, on average, I make about $850 per month. So for 5 people, 2 dogs, 1 cat, a hamster, a fish and a 2100sq ft house, I have $2130 a month for everything. Gas, elec, phone, cell, trash, cable, car/life insurance, gasoline, water/sewer, piano lessons, food, credit card payments, medications, babysitting, car payment, misc. kids stuff, home maintainence and church. Whew!

Soooooo..... here is the million dollar question (I wish!) DH says that I should live within my means. I say HELP.THIS.CAN'T.STRETCH.THAT.FAR!! Am I out of line? I just wonder if a few brave folks would share, maybe I could compare???

(ANY NEW READERS ON THIS TOPIC, PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR CLARIFICATION ON OUR BUDGET. I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO KNOW WHAT YOU SPEND PER MONTH!!)

A great article for the people trying to eat healthy on a budget!!

July 11th, 2008 at 04:26 am

This is off Yahoo's home page. Very good info from a website called Divine Caroline. Check it out! Good common sense!

Text is http://www.divinecaroline.com/article/22145/52070-20-healthiest-foods--1 and Link is
http://www.divinecaroline.com/article/22145/52070-20-healthi....

Craigslist Crazy!

July 1st, 2008 at 05:18 am



Before we left on our trip, I hired my nephew to come over and haul a bunch of furniture from all over the house, out to the garage. I then posted it on Craigslist. I like that it is free to post, but people sure string you along. I DID sell this lovely bedroom set and a chair. Then, the day before we left, I held a "quickie" garage sale and sold another chair and the day bed. We gave away a piece of exercise equipment to the people that bought the bedroom set (we just wanted it gone!) and I have to still get a headboard to a lady who says she wants it, but never shows up. I also have to post an entertainment center. Then after the sale, my daughters helped me haul everything to the thrift store. I feel so FREE and PURGED!! Smile I can't say the Craigslist expeience was wildly successful, but it wasn't bad.

Info for unstimulated Turbo Tax users

May 17th, 2008 at 12:37 am

I received this email from Turbotax today. I chose to have the Turbotax fees taken from my tax return, instead of paying with a credit card. This explains why I have'nt received my money yet:



Dear Valued Customer,

We want to provide you with the most up–to–date information about the tax rebate to which you may be entitled.

Recently, you may have received a letter from the IRS advising you when to expect your Economic Stimulus Payment (rebate). That IRS letter may have inadvertently left off some important information. Taxpayers who chose to have their tax preparation fees deducted from their federal tax refund will receive their tax rebate in the mail, not via direct deposit.

Our records show that you chose this payment option in TurboTax. As a result, the IRS has determined that you will receive your tax rebate in the mail. This may result in you receiving your rebate on a date later than expected.


This situation, while not unique to TurboTax, is understandably causing some concern and confusion. To help further clarify the situation, below is the most current IRS rebate payment processing schedule, as well as additional resources about the tax rebates.

I hope you find this information helpful. If you still have questions, the best source for the most up-to-date information is www.irs.gov (see the "Rebate Payment Questions" link).

Sincerely,

Bob Meighan

Vice President, TurboTax Customer Advocacy


If the last two digits
of your Social Security
number are: Payments will be
mailed no later than:
00 – 09 May 16
10 – 18 May 23
19 – 25 May 30
26 – 38 June 6
39 – 51 June 13
52 – 63 June 20
64 – 75 June 27
76 – 87 July 4
88 – 99 July 11

Other sources for current information on the rebate program are.

• http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=182734,00.html
• http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=182735,00.html

For more information on TurboTax and rebates, please visit http://turbotax.intuit.com/support/kb/tax-content/tax-tips/6255.html




Anyone have a spare chicken??

March 16th, 2008 at 09:31 pm



I guess I'm really looking for a laying hen. Hmmmm.... guess the neighborhood association would'nt like that. Maybe I could pay them off in eggs? They are getting as costly as gold!

I have been doing an unscientific study to see who has the cheapest food. I have actually been working on a price book! The eggs at Aldi, as of now, are $1.79 for a dozen. Followed closely by $1.80 at Costco, but they must be bought in bulk of 36 eggs. Walmart came in at $1.92. Our local "nicey-nice" store is $2.67 a dozen!! I almost fainted when I saw the 18 count pack for $4.09!!!!

That is all for the egg report. I will follow up with milk and bread!

Question for Jeffrey!!

August 20th, 2007 at 05:20 pm

Hi ya!
I was wondering if there is a somewhere to gather up our MOMA's and put them in one place. They are so full of good advice!
Thanks!
Boo

Cost of food going UP!! :-(

June 22nd, 2007 at 08:49 pm

I was watching the news yesterday (ugh) and they had a story about the fact that the cost of food will be up another 7% by the end of summer!! Yikes! I told my husband we are just going to have to starve! Smile Really though, they said the costs are rising due to corn being used to make ethanol instead of food. I guess I'm glad for the farmers! Finally they can grown something besides soybeans and make a profit!

On the carb front, I've been watching what I eat, but not necessarily cutting way down on anything.

Listed 10 things on ebay last night. Man that is time consuming!! Going to a garage sale this afternoon that is supposed to be a big hit, will see. Looking for more stuff to list on ebay. Going to try to make some money this way. You can get a debit card from Paypal and use it at any store. I was thinking of using this for FOOD! One less expense from our salaries that we can use for chompin up the debt!!

Signs from above?

June 1st, 2007 at 05:11 am

I have been toying with working more "full time". The last time I applied for a job, I could'nt even get an interview. So the question "Should I work full time?" was answered. "Not now". Another opportunity opened up for a position at the company I am already at. One of the ladies was leaving because her husband took a new job out of state. So my friend mentioned to management that I might be interested in her full time position. The NEXT day his job deal fell apart and they are no longer moving! Holy cow! So now I have to try more than ever to be a better money steward! Obviously, I am not supposed to be looking for something right now. I may investigate going back to substitute teaching when DD3 goes back to school in July. Wonder how that will turn out????

By the way, the first step in managing the money better is to move most of the 12.24%CC to a 0% until May '08. And I am looking for more stuff to ebay!

I am also going to sell DD1's band "kit" to a friend for $100 and then I will use that money to get the girls a little back yard pool for some cheap summertime entertainment!

Front porch posts

May 29th, 2007 at 04:35 am

Wow! Here's an exciting post for you! When DH and I purchased our home 4 years ago, the front porch posts were rotten, splitting, disinigrating. My DH would keep saying "We need to replace those" and because they were kind of hidden by the bushes, we kept "thinking about it" and not "doing it"!
We got 2 bids and they ranged from $1200 to $3200. So DH went to the hardware store and bought 5 posts for $235. He could'nt find the "caps" we needed, so we reused the top ones from the old posts as they had been protected from the elements and had not rotted. It took us less than 4 hours. We did kind of mess up on the first 2 (nothing crucial, just cosmetic) but had it going for the next 3!
So this was our weekend family fun! You should have seen how DD2 and DD3 got into "demo - ing"! They loved smashing the rails with a hammer! Go girls!
Like my friend Contrary said - a little of our time and look at the money we saved!
We still have to replace the railings between the posts, but we are taking our time.
We may try to go to the Habitat for Humanity "Re-Store" tomorrow since DH is off tomorrow too. Will let you know if we go and if we find any deals!

Dollar Store Centerpiece

May 24th, 2007 at 08:00 pm

I needed a red, white and blue centerpiece for my dining room table, to decorate for the next 4 months! So I went to the dollar store and picked up the pot, placemat, flowers and candles. The whole thing was about a whopping $5! God Bless America!



Oh, and here is my naughty kitty trying to eat the artifical flowers!! Smile

Bunko for fun and profit

May 18th, 2007 at 05:31 am

In looking for cheap entertainment, bunko sure has paid off! Getting together with a bunch of friends once a month is good for the soul! And a $5 each time, very cost effective. With the one bunko group, each person takes one month of the year to "hostess". She provides snacks and drinks and her home and once done, your done for the year! The other group I am in has everyone hostessing one month of the year, but everyone takes turn bringing snacks.
The best part is of course WINNING! Many times I have just won my $5 back (making it a FREE evening!), but other times I have won upwards of $40! Great for my garage sale "pin" money!
Good times, dice rolling, chatting, eating - TRY IT!
(For guys, the alternative is poker night! TRY IT!)

Tinapbeana ROCKS!!!

February 24th, 2007 at 02:54 am

I must give credit to where credit is due. Tina heard my cry for help and answered my question to perfection!
Thank you, thank you, Tina!! :-)

Soooo, here is the picture of the girls at the TV station - finally!

What a relief, I can quit tearing my hair out!

Can anyone help me post pictures?

February 22nd, 2007 at 04:28 am

When I enter the img code and go down and enter my add image, when I go look on the forum, all I have is a box with a little red X in it. My pics are in jpg. Anybody know how I am supposed to post pictures?

On the crazy remodel kick!

February 11th, 2007 at 06:13 am

So I have been trying to remodel on the cheap or nothing! We need the extra living space in the basement (figures we finished the basement in the old house - then moved!). We can't afford to have it professionally done or even to start buying 2 x 4's and framing. It is set up with a tv and a rug and a couch and love seat right now, but with only a few bulbs and ONE outlet down there, we don't have much light, so the girls don't like to go down in the dark. So the big plan is: we bought a light bulb addition thing that adds an outlet to the bulb unit and then bought a track light that plugs into it and hung it from the ceiling. With three adjustable bulbs, it sure adds light. I then went to home depot and bought a huge contractor tub of paint for $35. I have been painting those concrete walls with it. It has brightened it up, but wow! Those rough walls are hard to paint! I had a sprayer from the inlaws, but it was missing parts. My favorite part was I bought a huge carpet remnant on clearance from Home Depot. It is a nice beige to keep the floor light and bright in the "family room" section. It was 50% off for a 12' x 7'10" section for 32.00! Hopefully that will make it more warm and snuggly down there. Once we put on a second coat of paint we can put it all together. Hopefully we can get it done by Monday as a snow storm is expected and then we will have extra room to spread around the house. I told DH that he should build the girls a little stage with their karaoke machine and microphone and we could shoot one of the lights from the track lights onto the stage! :-) So hopefully we will have a nice little family room for under $100. There is a play area too, but I am not so worried about that as they are so messy with their toys!
The other remodeling I have planned is the upstairs bathroom (Rainbow Fish is what it will be!) Also our master bedroom has seen better days! Too many dogs/cats/kids on the comforter! They had a sale in one catalog where you could get a full bed set, plus shams and curtains for 99.99! I scooped it up, but is back ordered until April. That is fine so I can get the other projects done!
Sorry so long!

Living with Ed

January 16th, 2007 at 07:54 pm

Has anyone watched this new HGTV show on Sunday evenings? Actor Ed Begley and his wife live in California in a totally GREEN (enviromentally friendly) home. He uses solar panels, solar ovens, and electric cars! He is a vegan too! Now, I admit, I am not a half-way type of green person, but he is fun to watch and many of his ideas are very cost effective as well!

Scored last night at the grocery store! I saved $13 in coupons!! I spent $22 and paid $9! Dog food, coffee, air freshner starter kits (2 for FREE!), milk and biscuits! :-) Happy!

Good news on the tax front

January 14th, 2007 at 08:46 pm

Gee, I can't wait to do my taxes! :-) What? Am I weird. I know we are not supposed to get back money every year, as the government should'nt be controlling that money, WE should. However, with the two jobs that I was working not taking out taxes when I was paid, we thought it best to cut our claiming allowances on DH's checks to cover what we might have to pay from the two jobs. Well the good news is, at the one job I did not even make enough to have to claim it!!! Yeah! And the other job is not going to be that hefty either, so I told DH to go ahead and raise our exemptions to 3 from 1 and hopefully we will see it on this coming check! Yeah! We won't take that big of a hit! As I always say..... it's the little things!

Here is an

Text is interesting link to an inspiring article and Link is http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/LearnToBudget/SurvivingAndThrivingOn12000AYear.aspx
interesting link to an inspiring article I read.

Trip to Chicago was awesome

October 30th, 2006 at 06:43 pm

Wow! We had a fantastic time! The hotel was opulent. Too rich for our blood. It was very old, so you had to take character over amenities, but hey - it was free to us! :-)
We did the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum on Friday. The Shedd was INCREDIBLE, the Sponge Bob Show a hoot and a good time was had by all. I have to agree with Elgin that the Field Museum was boring. The King Tut exhibit was extra, so we did'nt go, but everything was a little disorganized and you could'nt tell where the exhibits were and some cost extra, etc, etc, so not a hit on this one. We ate at the Rainforest Cafe Friday night. What a blast! The kids loved it!
Saturday we headed for the Museum of Science and Industry. FABULOUS! It was awesome. Lots to see and a free Ominmax movie because we bought the Citypass (5 Museums one price- saved money). The movie was boring, but the 2 youngest had never been to the Ominimax, so that was a neat experience for them. Then we went to the American Girl Doll Store. That was like being dropped into the pit of hell. Too many spoiled kids shoved into three tiny levels and the cashiers could'nt even begin to keep up with the demand. It was DD2's dream to go their though. She spent $50 on three outfits. Whatever, it's her dream and her money! Saturday night we went up in the Hancock Building at sunset. (Free audio tour with Citypass). It was GORGEOUS! Then we hit Watertower Plaza to go "shopping". We ate at that food court.
Thursday and Saturday dinner were treated by my BIL!
We were sad not to be at home when the CARDINALS WON THE WORLD SERIES!!! We missed all the excitement back home.
Home now safe and sound. I guess the biggest tip I have, is that if you are on a tight time limit, go ahead and take a taxi. They are plentiful and nothing is THAT expensive to get to. They take you right to the door and drop you off. No finding and paying for parking, looking for entrances. It was great!

Need inspiration

August 20th, 2006 at 03:13 am

Not that all my blogging friends don't give me the best inspiration ever, but when I'm financially down in the dumps, I need success stories to pep me up and get me going! Anyone know of any good sites where financial triumphs are listed on?

********************************
8/17
Dierbergs 59.04
Shop n Save 45.00
8/18
lunch with DD3 2.50
Walgreens 30.17
QT 30.00
Library fine .80
8/19
DD1 soda .50
Lunch w/DH 36.02

I are not dumb?

June 23rd, 2006 at 07:08 am

Just got a mypoints page to visit a website called tickle to get a test to test for my IQ. Happily they tell me I am smart. Too bad those things do'nt judge "street smarts!" I sure got a kick out of it!
Sent DD2 a care package to camp today, then took the other two to the pool with some friends for a few hours. Pretty relaxing day!

Free Bracelet Kit

June 10th, 2006 at 05:05 pm

Merck is sponsering free cervical cancer awareness bracelet kits and they are donating money for each bracelet making kit sent out. It is all free, no shipping or anything. They don't even try to sell you anything!
Heres the link:
https://www.maketheconnection.org/order_beadkit/default.asp
Enjoy!

End of April/Beginning of May

May 1st, 2006 at 06:10 am

April follow up:
*finished up redecorating plans
*had the First Communion celebration
*stocked up the freezer
*did a lot of honest soul searching and communication with DH (ongoing)
*made 50/30/20 budget

May goals:
*start walking 3x's a week
*list some things on ebay or half.com
*follow 50/30/20 budget
*no new debt
*look into new employment
*add SOMETHING to my $20 goal!
*work on a garden or at least a couple of tomato plants

A couple things I did different in April were to send in some rebates and do a cash pay survey (nothing received yet).

Will be receiving $500 bonus from one of the agents at work. Have earmarked this for replacing the front posts on the porch, they are rotten! Got two gc of $50 from Home Depot from Mypoints in case we need to pick up some tools or nails or something. See how cheap this ends up being!

Calling all online booksellers

April 28th, 2006 at 06:02 am

What do you all find that sells well on the internet? Is Half.com better than ebay? Do hardback romance books sell, or money books, or cookbooks? What would you all suggest? Thanks!

Cut em up!

April 18th, 2006 at 03:48 am

Yep, we're talking credit cards. I just got done reading All Your Worth by Elizabeth Warren (suggested by someone on this site, thank you whoever!). It made so much sense! I have worked out a great budget using their 30/20/50 plan. I hope this is a great beginning. After I figured up my plan I cut up two cards, a big player and a little fish. How scary it is. What if....., but then what if not? I am going to try more cash only. I will use any money from extra side jobs to pay ahead on the cc bills. We'll see how it goes. Wish me luck!

Followed advice

April 14th, 2006 at 06:09 am

Followed the advice of some of our friends here on the blog and joined the mypoints insiders club. Some of the local dining places look promising. Up to 7500 points, but I like to lo hold them and savor what I could spend them on. Still have a $165 Costco rebate to use too. Hate to use it on consumables, I'd like to get something we would use like a power washer or pneumatic (sp) nail gun. Who knows!

Laaazzzzyyy!

March 11th, 2006 at 08:27 pm

Okay, not really, but I feel like I have'nt gotten anywhere. Took the DD's to work with me yesterday for an hour, they were very good, but it cost me lunch! We've been delivering Girl Scout cookies all day and now we will be going to volunteer at the GS spaghetti dinner! Tomorrow is church and family. I have gotten some great advice from some nice people here on the blog. Tomorrow night after the kids go to bed I am going to work on the "B" word (budget) and figure out some fun ways to get the girls involved! Thanks guys!

Cat n Mouse and Free Samples?

March 5th, 2006 at 08:56 pm

Cat just knocked the hamster cage to the floor. Told DD2 not to leave it on the edge of her dresser! Me-ow!
I am getting inspired with all of the freebie offers I am hearing about! Where are the best places to go to sign up for freebies?