Have you been subscribing to blogs that can help you save money? You know it's worth it right? I know you have to sometimes look at way more information to find the deals, but I find I can quickly skim through and look for anything that catches my eye.
After a while you will know which blogs are working out best for you. Or if some of the blogs seem to always have the same duplicate information you can unsubscribe to the ones you don't need anymore.
Most of the blogs I subscribe to have a heading of all the deals they are talking about, so you don't have to scroll through the entire post unless you need to.
I'm so far behind on reading up on deals I'm sure many of the deals are gone. I just arrange them by sender in my email and then for each one I look at the last two to three days. I hate to not look at every last one, but time does get away from me.
If this happens to you, if your thinking that you just can't handle couponing and looking for deals, don't despair. There are always more deals around the corner.
With that, and playing catch up, I'll list a few that I've found that have caught my eye today in my urge to clean "house" in my email.
7-eleven will be having free coffee on September 29, from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. It says while supplies last, which makes me wonder, do they plan on only making a pot? (it's the skeptic in me) Just click on the link to find out more and see other deals.
bucadibeppo. $10 dollars off your $20 dollar purchase. Go to the link to get the coupon before their gone. It expires on 9/21/11.
deltaco Like del taco on face book for a free carnitas with a purchase.
Free National Parks Entrance Find out with this link which days are free to get in. Cabrillo in San Diego is a great family field trip and the view is great. Many parks never charge a fee, so this is intended for those that do.
Thriving Family is available again as a one year subscription from Focus On the Family.
I'm getting it for the 2nd time, and I really enjoy the helpful articles in this magazine. There always seems to be articles geared to every age group, and marriage and pets. It is a religious publication, non-denominational, but in my opinion I would like the articles helpful information whether it was religious or not.
Teacher Express Free $10 dollars for Scholastic Teacher E-Book downloads. You will have to use a code...10THANKS to get this deal and not put any credit card information. I think I'll run over there right now and start doing some shopping before they run out of stuff.
Now, if I could just get that 7-11 coffee while I'm shopping it would work out great. Oh well, guess that's why I have a lot of coffee mugs, cheaper to make my own.
Well, couldn't stop myself on that one. I went and just got ten books for a dollar each, I put in the code, and it worked. Free e-books. Not as good as the real thing, but I can use all the help I can for this little guy here. He loves doing school. Of course, at 2 1/2 years old, they usually like anything where they're getting all your attention. I did have to put the name of my school, and I listed myself as a home school, which is where I am when I teach school.
Now get out there and find those deals, and don't forget the free kindle books on Amazon, and free apps also for your phones.
Thanks to Save At Home Mommy and Mojo Savings
Do be sure to check out all the deals coming in, links are to the right for many
of the sites for couponing and good deals
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Where Were You When the Lights Went Out?
It sure was an interesting day a week ago. I'd say most everything worked out okay with a few moments of wondering what was "really" going on. We were just glad that we'd made it home just before the power went out. We did have a little bit of daylight left to prepare for the dark night coming. I kept telling myself to go work on the kitchen, clean something. Instead we spent a fair amount of time socializing with a lot of our neighbors that we knew and some that we met for the first time. We even saw what was possibly a roving band of opportunistic looters. I'd heard from someone else that they noticed that in other areas of the city, not necessarily in areas you would assume it would be in.
Despite having those daylight hours to prepare, it seemed such a low priority compared to all the human/personal interest stories that kept coming our way. Some of the stories were bombings in New York which didn't seem to add up for me, severed lines at a hydroelectric plant, only one guy to blame and on and on. The thing that scared me the most was the not knowing exactly what was going on and how long really would this last? It seemed that all the information coming in was different. It felt like we were in some kind of claustrophobic void and I was a bit worried that there was more going on than we knew.
Of course all of you were prepared for such an event right? We were, and we weren't. I had plenty of food, water, candles, and we did finally find some flashlights. We had it all covered and even loaned candles to a neighbor.
So what was the big deal? Having everything and having everything in one place is two different things. Some of the essential items we needed were all in different places or they were hard to reach. Then of course I worried about my garage freezer. I also didn't have a radio, except for the car radio (found out later I did have a sponge bob radio), I didn't have a car charger for my cell phone. I kept meaning to get one, but just never did. Did anyone find themselves hunting around for things you didn't realize you might need until you needed them?
Another thing to think about, what are you going to do with all that food in the frig, and how are you going to cook dinner, and should you even bother to cook? Do you have a grill and does your grill have propane or charcoal? A gas stove will work, but you have to light it yourself. I actually brewed a large pitcher of iced tea since I knew we had a ton of ice and why waste it?
We basically stayed in the family room and kitchen most of the evening, when we weren't outside watching the moving zoo of people driving to who knows where to contribute to what sounded like a mess up on the freeway. We heard more sirens that afternoon and night than we hear in an entire month.
So, if this were to happen again, or worse, a natural disaster, we really do need to have plenty of supplies. We also need to have a lot of our information handy, insurance numbers, police, fire if those are even available, medical supplies and a whole lot more. Basically in a disaster it could be more than 72 hours before you can get help or food or water. This outage was just a nudge to make us a bit more aware of what it could be like in the event of a natural disaster.
I've posted a few links that can help nudge you along in your urge to get ready and where to start. The Real Food Resource was one that I had been following a little bit over the summer. Too bad I didn't actually invest a bit more time into it. She did a series, but has now condensed all her resources onto one page. There is a lot to go through so pick and choose. I especially liked her article on preserving foods which is useful for everyday knowledge.
I noticed there is no lack of information on the internet regarding how to prepare for emergencies and disasters so I'll post a couple.
Real Food Preparedness Resource
Fema/Are You Ready Guide\
Hawaii/gov for my friends on the island, to this day I can still hear that darn siren
Equipped okay, this one just cracked me up. Not to be mean, I'm sure it's all good stuff, but I don't know of anyone who would have all the things this guy has on this list. It basically sounds like he's trying to pack the entire house. If you scroll to the bottom, he does have a 72 hour list.
So Start Preparing...at least take care of the basic needs category.
Despite having those daylight hours to prepare, it seemed such a low priority compared to all the human/personal interest stories that kept coming our way. Some of the stories were bombings in New York which didn't seem to add up for me, severed lines at a hydroelectric plant, only one guy to blame and on and on. The thing that scared me the most was the not knowing exactly what was going on and how long really would this last? It seemed that all the information coming in was different. It felt like we were in some kind of claustrophobic void and I was a bit worried that there was more going on than we knew.
Of course all of you were prepared for such an event right? We were, and we weren't. I had plenty of food, water, candles, and we did finally find some flashlights. We had it all covered and even loaned candles to a neighbor.
So what was the big deal? Having everything and having everything in one place is two different things. Some of the essential items we needed were all in different places or they were hard to reach. Then of course I worried about my garage freezer. I also didn't have a radio, except for the car radio (found out later I did have a sponge bob radio), I didn't have a car charger for my cell phone. I kept meaning to get one, but just never did. Did anyone find themselves hunting around for things you didn't realize you might need until you needed them?
Another thing to think about, what are you going to do with all that food in the frig, and how are you going to cook dinner, and should you even bother to cook? Do you have a grill and does your grill have propane or charcoal? A gas stove will work, but you have to light it yourself. I actually brewed a large pitcher of iced tea since I knew we had a ton of ice and why waste it?
We basically stayed in the family room and kitchen most of the evening, when we weren't outside watching the moving zoo of people driving to who knows where to contribute to what sounded like a mess up on the freeway. We heard more sirens that afternoon and night than we hear in an entire month.
So, if this were to happen again, or worse, a natural disaster, we really do need to have plenty of supplies. We also need to have a lot of our information handy, insurance numbers, police, fire if those are even available, medical supplies and a whole lot more. Basically in a disaster it could be more than 72 hours before you can get help or food or water. This outage was just a nudge to make us a bit more aware of what it could be like in the event of a natural disaster.
I've posted a few links that can help nudge you along in your urge to get ready and where to start. The Real Food Resource was one that I had been following a little bit over the summer. Too bad I didn't actually invest a bit more time into it. She did a series, but has now condensed all her resources onto one page. There is a lot to go through so pick and choose. I especially liked her article on preserving foods which is useful for everyday knowledge.
I noticed there is no lack of information on the internet regarding how to prepare for emergencies and disasters so I'll post a couple.
Real Food Preparedness Resource
Fema/Are You Ready Guide\
Hawaii/gov for my friends on the island, to this day I can still hear that darn siren
Equipped okay, this one just cracked me up. Not to be mean, I'm sure it's all good stuff, but I don't know of anyone who would have all the things this guy has on this list. It basically sounds like he's trying to pack the entire house. If you scroll to the bottom, he does have a 72 hour list.
So Start Preparing...at least take care of the basic needs category.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Restaurant Favorites
Do you ever go to restaurants because you love something they cook? Have you ever wondered if you could save money by just cooking it yourself?
You all know that I do. I very rarely go out, unless I have a great deal from the restaurant website, a groupon, a living social or some other great deal or coupon.
Sometimes I do get a craving for certain things and it just never occurs to me that I can actually make it myself. Plus I can adjust ingredients to please my family.
One of the things I really liked was the Panda Express Orange Chicken. I did make it and we of course ate it up. Another item I made was the chocolate shell for putting on a chocolate dipped ice cream. I of course used that recipe for other things. Okay, just don't tell anyone, but it taste good all by itself.
I used to always search the Internet for recipes to try to duplicate some of our favorites and then stumbled across this website. I won't say it's the end all be all, but it sure has made my life easier by "suggesting" foods that I don't always remember.
It's called Copycat Recipes. I subscribed to the newsletter but I haven't used their recipe box. I'd probably forget about it anyway.
Some of the recipes use ingredients that I don't use such as boxed cake mix. I adjust the recipe for those or make substitutions. I already have a great healthy recipe for pop tarts, and the dough is whole wheat. For that recipe click here It really reminds me of the little tarts we made as kids. Dough with jelly, fold it over and bake. Either way, homemade, in my opinion is always healthier than store bought. You have control over what artificial flavorings, dough conditioners, soy products you don't need to add.
I find Copycat Recipes website a great idea starter to get me going on making a healthier version of some fun foods. I find many of them make for a special treat.
You all know that I do. I very rarely go out, unless I have a great deal from the restaurant website, a groupon, a living social or some other great deal or coupon.
Sometimes I do get a craving for certain things and it just never occurs to me that I can actually make it myself. Plus I can adjust ingredients to please my family.
One of the things I really liked was the Panda Express Orange Chicken. I did make it and we of course ate it up. Another item I made was the chocolate shell for putting on a chocolate dipped ice cream. I of course used that recipe for other things. Okay, just don't tell anyone, but it taste good all by itself.
I used to always search the Internet for recipes to try to duplicate some of our favorites and then stumbled across this website. I won't say it's the end all be all, but it sure has made my life easier by "suggesting" foods that I don't always remember.
It's called Copycat Recipes. I subscribed to the newsletter but I haven't used their recipe box. I'd probably forget about it anyway.
Some of the recipes use ingredients that I don't use such as boxed cake mix. I adjust the recipe for those or make substitutions. I already have a great healthy recipe for pop tarts, and the dough is whole wheat. For that recipe click here It really reminds me of the little tarts we made as kids. Dough with jelly, fold it over and bake. Either way, homemade, in my opinion is always healthier than store bought. You have control over what artificial flavorings, dough conditioners, soy products you don't need to add.
I find Copycat Recipes website a great idea starter to get me going on making a healthier version of some fun foods. I find many of them make for a special treat.
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