Business Mommy

Holiday Tech

2010-12-08T18:19:00.000-08:00

I was asked how technology has helped me prepare for the holidays this year. OMG. What in the world would I do without technology? This year in particular has been great. I've been following blogs and printing coupons and catching deals all year long. It's only December 8th, and I've had most of my Christmas shopping done for several weeks now!!! And on top of that, I have a nice little program on my iphone that helps me keep track of the presents that I've bought so I don't forget that I have things stowed away.

On top of that, I use my computer to store all of my cookie recipes. I use facebook to keep in contact with all of my family and friends. I research all of the activities going on in the area to determine if we want to add anything new to the family traditions. And most importantly, what in the world would I do without technology to entertain me and the kids while hubby is watching yet another (eye roll) NCIS marathon? It's crazy how much I depend on technology.

After the holidays are over and everything is calming down, I like to get on my computer and upload all the photos and videos that I've compiled throughout the holiday parties we've attended. Then I order pictures and posters and photo collages and photo mugs to remember the happy times we all shared.

http://bit.ly/BDIntelGive

http://intel.ly/IntelSite

Learning Process

2010-07-01T19:33:00.000-07:00

I've been continuing to do a gazillion mystery shops. I have so many scheduled right now that it's getting a bit difficult to keep track of. It's very important to have a good way to know what you're supposed to be doing and when. If you're just going to casually do one here and there, no biggie. But if you're trying to create a regular source of extra income like I am, it can get complicated. Dozens of companies with different jobs in different areas. Am I supposed to be at the restaurant on this side of town today? Or the other one I signed up for over on the other side of town? Very important to keep track. I use a spreadsheet.

Another thing that you want to focus on as you start to do mystery shops, if you're new to it and kind of excited, you're probably applying for everything under the sun. That's fine to start with. There's a lot to learn. The important thing is to figure out what kind of mystery shops you enjoy doing. Personally, I'm a bit uncomfortable having to make returns. So as a general rule, I don't accept a shop that requires it. There are exceptions. If the pay is right, I'll suck it up and do the return. The other big thing is to be sure to check the out of pocket expense. Yeah, it's nice to do a restaurant shop and get a free meal. But you have to pay for it up front. Then it takes sixty days to get your money back. It isn't always in my budget. I would love to do some of these big upscale restaurant shops. The ones that reimburse your meal for you and a guest up to $130. But I don't want to part with my $130 for sixty days.

Then on the other hand, some of the ones with reimbursements are worth it. For example, it's time to get the oil changed in my car anyway. So rather than just taking it in and getting it done, I'll schedule the mystery shop to do it. Yeah, I still have to put out the $20 to get it done. But it's something I would be paying for anyway. So I might as well get reimbursed for it.

Mystery Shopping Information

2010-06-28T18:41:00.001-07:00

So you want to be a mystery shopper. It sounds like fun, but isn't all a scam? Absolutely not! Mystery shopping is an excellent way to make some extra money. It can even be a full time job if you want it to be. I've been doing it off and on for about a year, and I'm starting to try to find enough shops for it to actually be a source of income for me.

There are some tricks to being successful with mystery shopping that I'm learning. Of course there are all the skill sets you need to actually perform the mystery shops. The important one being attention to detail. When I shop, I used to rush in and out and not pay attention to anything but what I was doing. Now I've learned to slow down my brain and notice things around me. You gotta be in the moment to be able to answer the questions later. Another biggie, you gotta be able to write. Some reports are just multiple choice. Others are just narrative. Most are some of both. But they want you to have good writing skills with good grammer and no spelling mistakes.

So how does it work? Start signing up with different mystery shop companies. You can't do just one. Certain companies have certain shops available based on company or location or industry. If you sign up with just one company you may NEVER find a shop in your area. I'm currently signed up with 29 different companies. And out of those there are 2 that consistantly have open shops in my area, and the other 4 sometimes have stuff in my area. The other 22 rarely have anything in my area. And 1 that I don't like to use because I've had bad experiences with them.

Each company you sign up with, you will have to fill out an application and be accepted as a shopper. The application is for all of your personal information, and usually has a small writing assignment. Something like describing a recent shopping trip. When you complete your essay, be sure to point out details like cleanliness of the store and how you were treated by workers. Also include descriptions of the workers, how long you waited, stuff like that. You want to talk about your personal experience, but try to stick to the facts. Very rarely do they care about your opinion. They only want to know what happened.

Another important point . . . you WILL have to give each company your social security number. The money you earn on mystery shopping is taxable income.

Amazing Medco Offer

2010-06-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

I don't know how long this will last, so act fast if you're interested. I originally got the info at www.hip2save.com. Please follow that blog for up to the minute deal info.

Go to www.medcohealthstore.com. Add $10 or more worth of merchandise to your cart. They have toiletries, OTC medications, baby items, etc. You're sure to find items that you need. Then use the coupon code MHS10 at checkout to take $10 off of your order. And shipping is only 99 cents! My total amounted to 9.98, so I only had to pay 99 cents for the shipping for the entire order!

Even better . . . you can place a second order and use coupon code tenoff and do the same thing all over. I got a ton of stuff that I needed that doesn't usually come on sale with normal coupons and deals. Lots of baby stuff in my case. But look around at the site, find what you need, and get it for next to nothing!

Hello Everyone!

2010-06-03T20:55:00.000-07:00

Well, I had intended to write a goodbye post. I don't have time to be on top of this blog the way I should be if I'm going to do it the right way. I had my second little one. Daelyn Olivia was born on 4/28/10 and weighed 7 lbs, 4 ozs. With Dawson and Daelyn and running Light My Fire Candles, that's about all I can handle. And then some! So I'm not really maintaining this blog anymore.

However . . .

I do still want to post amazing deals that I come across. So if you have an interest in deal shopping or couponing at all, then please enter your email address in the box on the right side to follow me. On the rare occassion that I do write a post about a spectacular deal, you'll get the info in your email. I still do a fair amount of research to save money for my family, and if I'm excited enough about it to come here and post, then trust me, you want to know about it! Although I'm not planning to pretty it up with pictures or anything.

Using Rebates

2010-03-28T13:08:00.000-07:00

Do rebates really work? I know when I send in rebates it seems to take for-ev-er to get anything back. I practically forget that I'm even waiting for them. Then it seems like such a small amount to have even been worth the effort to begin with. So is it even worth messing with it? I say yes. Here's a few things I do to manage my rebates without going crazy.

1. Make a list. If I send a rebate, I add it to the list, along with the date that I mailed it. Ideally I also add a phone number to call if the time goes by and I still haven't received it. Once I receive the check in the mail, I check it off on my list.

2. Read the fine print. How many times have you bought a product, then got home to fill out the rebate form and find out you didn't buy the right thing, or the right quantity? Take a few minutes to read the fine print before you waste your time and money.

3. Get everything together to mail out IMMEDIATELY. If you let the receipt sit in your purse, then you'll forget about it. Most rebates are time sensitive. If it sits, you might miss out on the cash back. A good rule of thumb is to fill out the form and envelope, and get your UPC off of the product as soon as you get home while it's still fresh in your mind. Or if you intend to purchase a product that you have a form for, go ahead and prepare the form and envelope. Then it just takes a couple seconds to get everything else together.

4. Combine rebates. One of my favorite rebate deals to take advantage of is the awesome offers on beer in the summer months. Often you can find rebates for $20 on groceries when you buy a 12 pack of beer. This is great! Buy the beer, then for the groceries, buy other things that have rebates. Last year there was a rebate for a 6 pack of Snapple. And a pack of Pediasure. So I got those products within the same order, made sure the cashier printed me multiple receipts of the same order, then I got a ton of money back on the transaction. It takes planning, but it's so worth it. Transactions like this can usually end up profitable, with a higher cash back than what you spent!

If you track your rebates over the course of a year, you'll see how much money you're saving. It helps if it's on products you need or really want to try. But because of couponing, sometimes I have trouble getting to the total order amount. That's when it really helps to combine rebates, even if I don't really need the product. Last year I probably got over $200 back on different groceries by using rebates. Is it worth the trouble? Absolutely!

Check out this link for a listing of rebate offers that are currently available: http://dealseekingmom.com/tag/mail-in-rebates-roundup/

Pet Savings

2010-03-15T21:44:00.000-07:00

One of the regular expenses in my household that I've had a hard time finding much savings on is pet stuff. With big dogs, we have to use special big dog food. And we can't really change brands because that can be dangerous (ie messy and gross.) Luckily my cats aren't as high maintenance. Here are a few things that I'm working on in order to save money in this category:

1. Food. With the Purina ONE big dog food, I never pay more than $1/pound. I try to have a coupon or find a deal to get it cheaper. And note to self, getting the wet food, even as a treat, is a bad idea that results in big dog gas. Cat food I can usually get about 3 pounds for a dollar. I don't have to stick to one brand, and it comes in smaller bags. Small bag plus a high value coupon equals cheap food.

2. Flea treatments. I haven't done this yet, but I will be just as soon as it comes in the mail. (I use 1800petmeds.com and go through Mr. Rebates to get 10% back.) Instead of buying doses for each animal, I'm getting it in the largest dose available. I will be pouring the medication into a bottle and measuring it out for each animal. Normally this would cost $175 to cover all four animals for 3 months. By buying larger doses and measuring myself, it ends up being about $100 for all for animals. Then after my 10% rebate, only about $90. (I am using the dog medication on the cats too. The dog version seems to be slightly weaker, but my cats stay indoors so I'm not worried about it. If you decide to try this, do so at your own risk.)

3. Dog licenses. Be sure to purchase your license as soon as possible each year. The price doubles after January if you forget!

4. Shots. I'm still researching this aspect. I'm shopping around at local vets and clinics to find a reasonable price. I've also read that it's possible to purchase the medicine and give the shot myself for a cost savings. I used to have a cat with diabetes who I had to give insulin shots twice a day, so I would be comfortable enough doing it myself so long as it all works the same way.

MIA - Preterm Labor Scare

2010-03-15T19:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been away for a bit. I had a preterm labor scare about a week and a half ago. At the time I was only 31 weeks along, so I've been taking it easy from that. They were able to stop it with medicine, so everything is good. But the medicine makes me soooo tired. So I'm just lucky to be out of bed for a couple hours everyday. At my last dr appointment, the medicine was reduced some, and that helps me feel better. We're 32 weeks along now, and I've not had any more problems, so I'm not stressing as badly about it anymore. Just trying to hold out until April. My son was born at 35 weeks, and we'll be at that point on April 2nd, so if I can get that far again, I'm happy enough! Each day that goes by makes me feel better.

Coupon Sunday 2/28/10

2010-02-26T15:15:00.001-08:00

There will be 1 insert in the paper this Sunday. Check out the list at the Taylortown link on my right sidebar. There is a good $3 off of Purina One brand pet food that I will use. That coupon by itself makes it worth buying extra papers for me. However, I will probably look into purchasing these individually through ebay instead of buying the extra papers.

Outlet Malls

2010-02-23T20:48:00.000-08:00

I was out shopping at the outlet malls this past weekend, and wanted to point out a couple tidbits that I came across. I'm used to buying most if not all of my clothes at Walmart or Target. I'm just not that into things like that to spend money on name brand things. If I'm going to put a couple hundred of dollars into a single item, it's going to be an ipod or a steam cleaner, or something that I'll get more use out of. New York and Company is about as high end as I go. And that's only because they have good coupons and sales!

At the outlet mall this weekend, I came across a few really good deals that I want to share. Don't expect to just walk into a designer store and to find anything and everything at good prices. Yeah, good prices if you shop in season, and are up on the latest styles. I don't care about that stuff. I care about getting items I love for good prices. I look for things that are going to last more than one season. I follow the same guidelines I do at regular stores. Head straight to the discount section. Theoretically, the whole stores are discount sections. Not really.

Coach. Super expensive purses and wallets. They often have coupons for 20% off circulating online. Follow Hip 2 Save in my sidebar, you'll be aware when the coupons are available. However, everytime I've gone to the store (not often, but still) they've handed me a coupon when I walked in the door whether the online one was available or not. But here's the trick. Everything in the store is marked down. But in the back corner, they have an extra percentage off the already marked down price. I like the 50% off section. This can take a $500 bag down to $150. Still pretty pricey if you're used to Walmart shopping. But my opinion is, why am I putting all of the time and effort into the deal shopping and couponing if I can't splurge once in a while. Even better . . . after sales and coupons, you can get a nice wallet for about $30. Last time I was in Kohl's looking for a wallet, it was going to be $30. Heck no! I'll get real designer for that price!

Ecco. I wasn't very familiar with Ecco shoes before. They're nice, but kinda boring. I like slutty shoes. But being 7 months pregnant and balance being an issue when the ground is kinda slick, I thought some sensible shoes would be a good plan. Almost every pair is like $130. And I have ginormous size 11 shoes. I never get deals on shoes. Never. But I was pleasantly surprised to come across a pair that I liked, then found out they were marked down to only $30. !!!!! Happy day for me! Again, same price I would pay for a halfway decent pair at Walmart or Target.

Also, found an awesome deal on Diesel cologne for men. I've had my eye on getting my husband a bottle of this stuff for a long time. But it's usually $65 for a bottle. In a store window I came across a gift set marked down to $35. It was a steal that included the cologne, after shave, and some shower gel. All for a cheaper price than a single bottle of cologne would have been.

So when you hit the outlet malls, don't expect to get something for nothing. Everything is still pricey. Especially if you're looking for something very specific. A little research, and an eye for a deal will help you out though. Keep in mind that it's only a deal if you would have bought your normal brand for a comparable price. If a shirt is half price, but still $30, that doesn't help me since I normally get shirts for $20 or less. (Unless it's a specific or special need.) So just because it used to be $60, it's not going to be a good deal for me unless it's less than $20.

Coupons 2/21/10

2010-02-18T21:33:00.000-08:00

There will be three inserts in the paper this Sunday. Check out my link for Taylortown Preview on the right sidebar to see what's available. I will probably buy 3 papers.

Update

2010-02-14T15:07:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm moving slower and slower everyday. Officially 7 months along now. You know that scene from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas where his heart grows three sizes too big? Well, that's the way I feel about my stomach and chest right now. Flip me on my back and I rock back and forth like a turtle trying to get back up. LOL. But even with all of my complaints, this pregnancy is much easier than the last one. Even with all the aches and pains and mood swings and impatience, at least I don't have constant morning sickness. And I'm definitely getting moodier in direct proportion to the size of my belly, I don't just break out crying uncontrollably if someone looks at me the wrong way. So all I can say is that it could be much worse. This baby seems to be much more . . . high maintenance though. She complains and kicks me in painful ways if she doesn't like how I'm sitting or laying. Dawson didn't do that. He kicked me painfully when he got bigger and ran out of space, but it was a space issue. These kicks have been feeling like complaining, not like stretching. Not even born, and already a diva.

So anyway. I've still been working very hard on my website. I'm happy to report that some of my search engine optimization seems to be working. If you do a search for hand painted incense bottle in google, then my site comes up as #1!!! Go ahead, try it! And be sure to actually click that link to go to my page. If you do a search then go to my page, it tells google that my site was the one that you were looking for and it helps my ranking! Still working on getting somewhere with other key words. This stuff ain't easy.

As far as the money saving . . . excellent grocery shopping week. This coming week will be similar. Stocking up on laundry detergent and grands biscuits. And other things, but the Purex laundry detergent is nearly free, so I'm getting as much as I can. I'm ordering some coupons from ebay because I need to at least get enough for the whole year. See www.moneysavingmethods.blogspot.com for some details on the Purex deal.

I've also done some surveys. I qualified for one survey that paid me a dollar, and another product evaluation that will pay me $4 to test a product. So that's pretty cool. I'm also back to trying to find some mystery shopping opportunities. I can't run around much, but if the place is close by, or if it's for something I need, then I'm applying. Right now I want to be able to put as much money as possible into my business, so absolutely anywhere that I can save money or earn a little bit extra is going to help me reach my goals.

Things To Do

2010-02-11T23:17:00.000-08:00

Notice that there is a new list on the right side bar now. These are the major things that I do to earn and/or save money. I'm trying to get myself more organized, and this list will help keep me together. This is just the short list. I will be making some changes to it in the near future. Right now the mystery shopping and survey links will take you to Money Saving Methods. The coupon link will take you to The Grocery Game. And the small business link will take you to my small business website. This will change soon, but this is the quick and dirty way to show how I do things.

I've learnt everything I know about mystery shopping and finding survey sites from Carrie at Money Saving Methods, so until I create my own content, see her info. Even after I create my own content, I will still be directing you to her info. But along with my own two cents too. Same with surveys. And as far as I'm concerned, The Grocery Game is the best way to get coupon matchups. If you haven't tried it yet, sign up for a free trial for a month. It's an excellent service. Well worth the cost.

Coupons 2/14/10

2010-02-11T23:02:00.000-08:00

There is only one insert in this Sunday's paper. I won't be buying any extras. It will be nice to have a break from coupon day. Especially with as stressful as the last one was. I ran all over the place, and none of the papers had all of the inserts. :(

Baking Day!

2010-02-08T21:18:00.000-08:00

I LOVE to bake on cold and snowy days. So I'm gearing up for this big snow storm scheduled to start at any minute now. I despise driving in snow. But since I'm still laid off and doing the stay at home and take care of baby and work on running my own business thing . . . snow storms are beautiful. I hate that hubby has to go out and drive in dangerous conditions. But at least I get to greet him with warm yummies fresh from the oven when he gets home. On Friday I made homemade hot chocolate.

Tomorrow will be more advanced. I'm going to attempt to make homemade yogurt. See the link here if you want to try it out too. http://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2009/10/how-to-make-homemade-yogurt-2/ I'm also planning to make some type of bread. And pudding and jello, and cookies. And we'll see what other concoctions I can come up with too. But the yogurt is the big experiment. If it turns out right then I'll start buying frozen fruit to blend into yogurt smoothies. And I read someone elses post about adding caramel, bananas and brown sugar. Mmmm.

I'm a total sugar addict these days with the pregnancy. I'm sure I'll come up with all sorts of other things too. I was craving peanut butter, jelly and marshmallow sandwiches the other night. Just suddenly at about 2am, peanut butter. But I'm very nearly 7 months along, and so far I've only gained 7 pounds!!!!!!!!! So I'm indulging in the sugar cravings. It should make my baking day interesting.

Coupons 2/7/10

2010-02-05T18:23:00.000-08:00

There will be four inserts in this Sunday's paper.

Google Adwords - Continued

2010-02-04T22:36:00.000-08:00

Well, I think I may have figured out the problem with Google. Mind you, I don't know for sure BECAUSE THEY WON'T TELL ME. But I think I'm too sexy for them. ;) My guess is that when I created the ad, they ran some sort of filter on my entire site, and well, some of my fragrance names probably came up as naughty. Like Butt Naked and Opium. And those are very popular scents specifically requested by many customers, so even Google isn't going to make me get rid of them. I'm going to attempt to appeal the decision. I think if a live person looks at my site and sees that just because Opium is listed, it doesn't mean I'm selling drugs, and Butt Naked doesn't bring up anything naughty, then it will probably be fine. Again, assuming this is actually the reason I got kicked out.

On the plus side, my search engine optimization is working. I have no idea how or why. But I will just smile and pretend like I know what's going on! If you do a search in Google for Light My Fire Candles, my website comes up! Actually, my Light My Fire Candles Blog is in the #1 spot, which is fine because it links to my web page. (I'll make it more seamless when I learn how.) And within the top 30 spots, there are several links to my blog, a couple links to other blogs that have talked about me, and one link straight to my site. So that makes me pretty happy. None of that cost anything. It's something to do with how I set up keywords and stuff.

Google Adwords

2010-02-01T23:21:00.000-08:00

Well, this has become a sensitive topic in my house these days. How odd does that seem? I've been doing a lot of research and work on advertising my new website. I will go into some specific details when I learn more. It's a lot of work since I know so little about it. But one thing I learnt very quickly, don't use Google Adwords. And if you do, don't depend on it. People have lost their entire businesses from depending on Google. It's craziness. One thing that does make me happy though is that I'm reporting about this using Blogger, which is the Google software to write blogs. Neener. Not that I'll make a dent in their bottom line. LOL. If they cared about what little old me had to say, I wouldn't be having to say it.

Ok. What is Google Adwords? It's a PPC advertising vehicle. PPC means pay per click. If you use google to do searches, you probably notice along the right side of the screen that there are little boxes with advertisements that are similar to what you searched for. Anyone (theoretically) can run these types of ads for their business. You just go in and create an account, create your ad, then pay for it. In my case, I had a $50 credit to use from the place that is hosting my new site. You say how much you want to pay per click. I set it up to pay 20 cents per click, and to spend up to $10 a day. I wanted to kind of test the waters with my free credit, then decide how much to spend after that.

Nope. Now before I go further, let me show you the actual ad I created. This is exactly what I created. The only difference is that in the actual ad, the first line would be a link to my website.

Highly Scented Candles
Pillars, Votives, and Tarts
Perfect for Valentine's Day
www.lmfcandles.com

Well, I've never done this sort of thing before. Internet advertising is new to me. So I wasn't real sure if I was reading the reports correctly. I was nervous about the account going over the amount I could spend, and also excited to start getting some traffic to my site. Even if the clicks don't end in sales, at least it gets me some traffic, which helps with my ratings. But maybe I'll even get lucky and get a few sales in the process. Well, a day went by and nothing seemed to be happening. I literally spent hours between setting up the ad, then trying to figure out what was wrong with it. Another day went by, nothing. Meanwhile, an account that I had with Bidvertiser, another PPC site, was working just fine. So after puzzling over it for a couple days, I finally emailed Google. Turns out that my account was under review. They made it sound like it had something to do with the credit card I used. Ok, whatever. Inconvenient, since I had wanted that traffic over the weekend, but if they are working hard to keep my info safe, then I could wait for them to verify it.

Today I got a nice email telling me that my account was suspended due to a violation of the terms and conditions. I've read that entire document three times now, and hubby has read it for me too. I can't find anything that I could possibly be in violation of. It's a little three line ad. None of the stuff I use is copywrited to anyone else. Nothing I sell is illegal. I used valid information when setting up my account. Everything is normal. So I sent an email asking them for more information so I could fix it. The response I got, and let me actually copy and paste this because my jaw dropped when I seen it. I so could not believe it.

"Our support team is unable to provide any further information. Please do not contact us again."

So I'm beyond upset. Trying to get the internet segment of my business up and running, and getting black balled by google before I even have a chance to get started. I've been searching, and it turns out that this is a very common problem. Tons of people have had the same exact experience as I have. Or for those more devastated by the problem, they've been running ads and have built a decent business and depended on being able to run their ads, then suddenly had their accounts suspended for "violating terms and conditions" without being able to get a real reason, and then being told not to contact them again.

I really just wish I could get it fixed. And I'm probably going to be wasting my life all week trying to figure out how to get it fixed. It's obviously a mistake. I know how to read and follow a contract. My last job entailed reading, interpreting and enforcing contracts. I can read and write legalese with the best of them. If there is some term or condition that I'm breaking, then it absolutely isn't obvious.

I'm also going to be filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau, and the Federal Trade Commission. I doubt it will get me anywhere, but I have to do something. I mean, I can't exactly boycott google. But I also don't want to have to sit around for the rest of my life getting pissed off everytime I have to do a search.

But my point, other than venting some of my frustrations . . . this can and does happen to anyone for any or no reason at anytime. If you do decide to use google adwords for your business, be sure to build up other marketing strategies at the same time. If they would give us reasons, it would be easier because you could just read a list and say, ok, I won't do that. But without a reason, who knows why they're shutting people down? It could be because I'm a woman. It could be because a cross referenced search has shown them that I have a mental disorder. It could be because they have an aunt that makes candles and they don't want me competing with her. Who knows? I suspect it's because I have a $50 credit on my account that they don't want to honor.

Coupons 1/31

2010-01-30T19:53:00.001-08:00

There are two inserts in the paper this Sunday.

Some great money maker deals at Walgreens too. So be sure to grab a few papers. Although I'm not sure that it's possible to beat the great deals at Kroger from the past week. I've got enough canned chili and tomato sauce to last the whole year!

Small Business Update

2010-01-27T21:08:00.000-08:00

I've still been working very hard on getting my website together. I think the backbone is finally together. Pictures and all. I'm no good at taking pictures of my products.

Marketing is the big thing I've been working on now. I know very little about it, so I promoted my hubby to vice president of sales and marketing and try to flatter him into helping me out. As luck would have it, he had a chamber event this week where the topic was website marketing. So I'm working on implementing many of the concepts he learned about. I will be detailing some of these things this week.

Stock Up Deal of the Week

2010-01-27T20:58:00.000-08:00

Well, it's a bit more complicated this week. Kroger has a big sale on lots of stuff. I bought $80 worth of groceries for only $26 today. But it took some planning, and then two hours in the store to pull it off without getting confused. It was totally worth it for me. I had 39 coupons!

But if I have to pick just one thing that I recommend stockpiling it would be the cans of Hormel Chili. They end up being free after coupons. Now I actually don't care for the chili straight out of the can. But let me tell you a secret. Add some salsa to it, and it's wonderful. I threw some on a tortilla with cheese yesterday for dinner and called it Tex Mex.

If you want to see the full list, and believe me, it's substantial, go to www.thegrocerygame.com. This is a wonderful time to sign up for your 1 month free trial to try it out.

Where Have I Been?

2010-01-24T06:51:00.000-08:00

I have spent the last several weeks working hard on getting my candle website up and running. Check it out! www.lmfcandles.com. I still have a lot to do. I'm still working on adding pictures and other items. But it's running, and everything works. I even had a good friend from Oklahoma who was nice enough to place an order to help me test it! Thank you Lisa!

If you are in the market for a website with a shopping cart, I'm using www.volusion.com for my hosting. Most of what you see is built in with templates and I could just customize different aspects. If you're trying to do it on the cheap though, it is not easy. I'm so glad I took some computer programming classes in high school. There are many changes I'm wanting to make for it to be prettier, but I just don't know how. I'll learn over time, and you'll see those changes if you frequent my site, but even something seemingly minor like changing the font, is something that I need to look up and figure out, then go in and alter the html code. So if you decide to open up an internet shop too, be forewarned!

Coupons 1/24

2010-01-24T06:49:00.000-08:00

There are two inserts in the paper today. Sorry for the late notice. I'll be buying five papers. At Walgreens where I can use my register rewards from the Pepsi deal to pay for my papers!

Stock Up Deal of the Week

2010-01-17T20:35:00.000-08:00

12 packs of Pepsi products at Walgreens. There is a super amazing deal at Walgreens that runs this week and next week. If your family goes through a lot of soda, then seriously, it doesn't get any better than this. Here's the scoop.

Spend $20 in participating products. I get 5 12 packs for $15, and 2 bags of Tostitos for $5. Then you'll get a $10 Register Reward back for use on your next purchase. That makes it $10. And $10 for just the soda is a great deal. But with this, you also get the two bags of chips!!! Today I used my register rewards to purchase 4 Sunday papers. I'll be doing this deal many times over the next two weeks, and other things I like to use my register rewards on are diapers, cleaning supplies, and other sale items. In particular, Raisin Bran is a good price this week when you combine it with the $1 off 2 boxes coupon from the 1/3 paper. I also found some discounted Bonne Belle lip gloss products that I grabbed today to stick in my box of items to use as gifts throughout the year. I have to admit, they're meant for kids, but I love their things too! It took a bit of will power to tell myself that I already have thirty different flavors of gloss that I'm keeping for myself. I really don't need anymore. LOL.

Working with Baby

2010-01-15T11:10:00.000-08:00

Ok, this is a different sort of post. I have no idea how to get any work done with my 1 year old running around wreaking havoc. Does anyone have any ideas? During the course of looking up bags and boxes at Uline and writing the prior post about it, he has been all over the house, typed random nonsense to a customer service person in live chat, and pushed a button that shut down my computer. Can't do baby gates currently because I'm too pregnant to step over them now. He won't tolerate a play pen anymore. And I use his naps to clean up the mess he just made, so no progress there. HELP! It's helpful when Dave gets home from work because he gets to chase him around. But most of the time, Dawson still prefers to "help" me. I'm thinking maybe I need to be the one in the play pen. He can have the whole house, just give me a 3X3 square that's protected from little fingers. And why does he have to be so cute when he's causing trouble? I need to work harder on my mommy poker face.

ULINE

2010-01-15T10:57:00.000-08:00

I've been working hard on getting my new website together for my candle shop. I'll post info here once it's up and running, and I will also be posting some details about the company I'm using to get it published. So we'll see how it goes.

In the meantime, I happened upon an awesome deal by accident. This is more of a small business post, but if you send a lot of packages to relatives or an out of town college student or something, it could benefit you too. And it might be a little boring, but I'll tell you the whole story.

While working on my new website, I'm also trying to get my inventory organized. I'm starting to run low on bags to package my incense in, so I hopped online to double check the price. Well, the place I bought them at doesn't carry them anymore. So I've been working most of today trying to figure out who does. I ended up at www.uline.com. They sell all sorts of packaging and mailing materials. I was able to find the bags I needed cheaper than the other place anyway. Yay! They're even sending me a sample so I can make sure it's the right kind of thickness that I need.

So I was looking around at some of the other things on their site. I haven't had to do much shipping yet since most of my sales have been at craft shows, but I had to ship a box of things last week. The UPS Store charged me $6 for a box. OMG. I'm not certain of the exact dimensions it was. But the kinds of sizes I would need are less than a dollar each at Uline. I have to buy them in bundles. I can't just buy "a box." But when I can get 25 boxes for $15.25 (plus whatever it will be to ship them to me) it's going to be a huge cost savings.

Meijer Matchups

2010-01-09T19:41:00.000-08:00

It looks like Meijer is the place to be this week. Check out the post at Nickels N Dimes for the coupon matchups. Works for me. I have a Costco trip planned for this coming week and I was planning to get some salad fixins. Free at Meijer is better!

House Party!!!!

2010-01-09T19:19:00.000-08:00

I've been working hard on implementing a new website for my candle business. It's a lot of work. But I think my brain is fried for now, so thinking about this awesome site I've been using is a nice change of pace.

Check out www.houseparty.com. This is a site where different companies give you freebies to have parties for them. I've hosted three parties so far and have gotten some pretty valuable stuff. Basically, a company wants to introduce a new product, and they want to give out some freebies in a more interesting way.

You have to go to the house party website and set up an account. Then fill out an application for anything that you're interested in. The first one I did was for Healthy Choice. They sent me coupons to get a bunch of their new meals for free to feed my guests. Then I was selected for a Windows 7 Launch Party. I got a free copy of the operating system, and some neat favors for my guests. This last one was my favorite though. I received two games for my Nintendo Wii system, and a bunch of coupons for free packs of Jello Mousse. Wonderful! The Wii games were worth over a hundred bucks!!! And what a fun way to spend an evening with family and friends!You get to keep the merchandise they send you, all they ask is that you share it with your guests.

So check out the site and sign up. I don't know if I've been super lucky or what. But it amounts to some pretty nice freebies.

Coupon Sunday 1/10/10

2010-01-08T15:25:00.000-08:00

There will be two inserts in the paper this Sunday. Check out the link on the sidebar for Taylortown Coupon Preview to see what will be included. I plan to get two papers. Mostly for the scrubbing bubble coupons.

Sidetracked

2010-01-06T19:01:00.000-08:00

I don't have a post for you today because I've been chasing my son around the house all day. He's been trying to sneak and eat the dog food. I thought I had the problem cured earlier with a time out. But instead of sitting down next to the dog dish to eat, he has been grabbing handfuls now and hiding to eat it. Yuck!

Stock Up Items of the Week

2010-01-04T20:57:00.001-08:00

This is a new feature that I'm adding to my blog based on my year of experience. Between having an idea of the sales cycles of the stores, and knowing what I've found useful to have stockpiled, there are certain things that I'm excited about when I see them at low prices. So here's the first installment.

At Kroger this week, there are two items that are super stockup worthy.

Betty Crocker Pouch Potatoes - On sale for .91, use the .35 manufacturer coupon from the paper on 12/13, doubles to .70 off, final price, .21 a box! I got a gazillion of these last year at this price. There are usually a bunch of internet printables around too. I thought I was over doing it because I literally had like thirty boxes of them in my pantry. But they don't go bad, and I used every last box over the course of the year. I even ran out a couple months ago and had to pay more than 21 cents a box, which was a bummer. So I'm using every single coupon I come across this time!

At Walgreens I already mentioned the free Electrosol. I have a couple more coupons to get them free and need to head back to use up all of my coupons. I hope they aren't all out.

NOTE: The deal I had in this post about Softsoap at Kroger was not accurate. It happens since coupons and deals can be regional, so be sure to look closely at any sale you are following online. The coupons that I had were for a different size than what was on sale at Kroger.

Mr. Rebates

2010-01-04T18:04:00.000-08:00

I received a check in the mail today for $32.06! This was completely free money!!! How did I do it you ask? Internet shopping through Mr. Rebates. These were all purchases that I was going to make anyway. Instead of going straight to the website I was going to purchase from, I went to Mr. Rebates first. By following a link to the store from their site, you get a percentage of your purchase back. This is wonderful because not only does it include specialty internet shopping, there are also necessity type sites available. 1800petmeds has a 10% rebate. Walmart has a 3% rebate. 1800contacts has a 7% rebate. Even ebay has a 3% rebate. So if you're going to buy something online anyway, go to Mr. Rebates first and you'll get an even better deal.

Target Prescription Coupon and Others

2010-01-04T17:54:00.000-08:00

It's hard to find prescription coupons anymore. Target is the only that I've been able to consistantly find these days. Others are few and far between. It's a bummer because that's a huge way that I saved money on my groceries last year. This year it's probably going to be better for me to use a mail order pharmacy, but I will be detailing that more in a few days.

For now . . . go to Target's site. There are a bunch of printable coupons. You have to install a small program (I've not had any problems with it) and you can print each coupon twice. Right now, the aforementioned prescription coupon which gives you a $10 gift card with any new or transferred prescription. But there are some other good coupons there too. I was happy to see a Pepsi coupon. Good for a dollar off a 12 pack. And the 12 packs are on sale this week for 2.75. Makes for a great price. So scroll through all the coupons and print off any that sound good to you. Also a note, they will say at the top of the coupon once you print it if it is a Target store coupon or a manufacturer coupon. For the ones that are Target coupons, you can combine them with a manufacturer coupon.

Groceries 1/3/10

2010-01-03T15:44:00.000-08:00

Ok, a couple things I want to point out first. Yes, I'm doing a lot of trips. I don't usually shop everyday. But there have been a few things I let run out, and I'm not completely organized yet, so multiple trips. Usually, I think two trips a week is probably what I do. On top of that, my habits seem to be such that I'm able to focus on the stockpiling and deal shopping better at this time of year. Once the nicer weather hits, I'm just not as into it. So for those reasons, my budget will probably appear to be out of whack. There will also be entire weeks, and sometimes months, where I don't have to go grocery shopping at all other than for milk and eggs.

Did you get your papers this morning? Wow! Lots of coupons. I sat in my car pulling out the Electrosol and Carefree pads ones for my Walgreens trip. Super deals and I didn't want to chance that they would be out of them if I waited until later. I had to do three separate transactions, but the total of all three was 7.02. One of the things I got was an after Christmas gift thingy with meat and cheese and a cute little cutting board and cleaver. Hubby likes to eat the snacks, and I like the cute little accessories. It was marked down to $5. I counted it in my grocery budget because it does qualify as a snack, and the only real reason I bought it was because I had some extra register rewards that I needed to use up. So here's the run down:

Total $7.02
meat and cheese
4 packages of carefree pads
3 boxes of electrosol dishwasher soap
and $3 in register rewards to use next time

Kroger $21.08
5 newspapers (Enquirer's marked down to $1.25 each!)
2 gallons of milk (need)
2 cartons of eggs (need)
1 laundry detergent (1.50)
2 chip dips (1.06)
1 pudding cups (free)
1 corn starch (1.08)
1 yogurt (.19)
2 cans water chestnuts (1.36)
2 cans bamboo shoots (.30)
2 bottles of creamer (1.98)

Everything at Kroger except for the papers, milk and eggs had coupons. And I found out just a few minutes ago that the creamer is on sale for free at Meijer this week. However, hubby is going to start eating breakfast at home instead of at McDonalds, so it's still going to be a cost savings.

You may be noticing that there is no real food on my list. LOL. That's because none of those things were on sale at prices I liked, and I have enough on hand in my stockpile. Also, Kroger's new week doesn't start until tomorrow. And I won't have my updated list of sales from The Grocery Game until Tuesday morning.

And just because I have to add it to my list because it's part of the budget . . . hubby went to a drive thru for beer. Spent 12.08. More expensive because it was a drive thru, that's why I'm bummed about it. But he wanted beer with football today, and our car's battery is suddenly having problems, so he didn't want to have to turn off the car. Good enough reason. Just a huge bummer to have a disruption to the budget like that on the third day of the year. But I'm looking forward to all of the beer rebates that should be starting to come out before long.

Grocery Budget

2010-01-02T17:20:00.000-08:00

Ok, I worked pretty hard on this yesterday and I finally have it together. My grocery budget for the entire year of 2010 is $3000. This amount will include everything I spend on cat and dog food, cat litter, diapers, formula, alcohol, health and beauty items, Sunday papers, and my subscription to The Grocery Game. It will be a challenging goal, but I should be able to do it. After a year of practice, I have a much better understanding of the kinds of things my family does well with stocking up on, and the kinds of things that goes to waste if I stock up.

Another thing that is going to help me stay within this budget is the fact that I'm already stocked up on many things. I will only get toothpaste if it's completely free and in the brand that I like. Otherwise, I have it, so even if it's super cheap, I just don't need it. I have enough shampoo to last me the whole year. I will still get more if I come across deals that are great and in brands that I prefer or that I want to try. And it had better be super cheap even for that. I also need more man shampoo. You know how guys don't like to smell flowery, fruity or pretty. There are quite a few other things that we have plenty of too. Toothbrushes, shaving cream, some cleaners, hamburger helper, kool aid, coffee, and other odds and ends. Really, my biggest expenses are dog food, diapers and beer. Everything else, I can find really good sales to keep me well on track.

So follow along with me! I'll be offering tips and showing you how I'm finding the information, and how I'm implementing the plan. I recommend using a speadsheet if you're tracking your own budget. And to get started, be sure to pick up several copies of the Sunday paper tomorrow. It is supposed to be loaded with coupons!

Groceries 1/2/10

2010-01-02T17:13:00.000-08:00

Due to poor planning in the recent past, the cats informed me this morning that they were out of food. I couldn't find any cat food coupons, so I had to actually pay full retail. Not happy about that. However, I still turned it into a good trip.

Total $15.68

14 pound bag of Meow Mix $10.00 (need)
soda and juice $2.98 (need)
pudding (free)
beef filets .68 (after coupon)
tax .94

So this was just a small trip. I usually only pay a dollar for a small bag of cat food. That way it's cheaper to buy the small bags. But since I had no coupons, the large bag was the better deal. And it covers me for a couple weeks while I lay in wait for coupons and sales.

Groceries 1/1/10

2010-01-01T16:01:00.000-08:00

I still need to finish up my grocery budget planning, but I am going to do a post on each transaction as a way to keep myself on my budget, and also to show you how I'm going about staying in my budget. I will do a separate post on the specifics of my budget, and attempt to keep a running total as soon as I have all of that figured out.

Walgreens Transaction 1/1/10 $5.35
2 refill bottles of shower cleaner (need)
2 neosporin chapsticks (moneymaker)
3 packs of mechanical pencils (.19 filler)

I had a coupon for buy one get one on the shower cleaner. I needed it and had the good coupon. The chapsticks were 2 for $8, I had 2 coupons for $3 off, and it got me a $3 register reward to use next time. So they netted a dollar profit. I had a few register rewards to use from last time, and according to Walgreens rules, since I had seven coupons, I needed at least seven items in my transaction. I don't really need the pencils, but I needed something cheap to increase my item number without adding much to my total. So the pencils were what I picked this time.

So I spent only $5.35 for $28.73 worth of products, AND I have $3 worth of register rewards to use the next time I go.

Happy 2010!!!

2009-12-31T18:34:00.000-08:00

It's still a couple hours away, but I'm planning away. I'll be saying good riddance to 2009. It was a tough year in very many ways. I'm super excited about 2010 though! I'm starting it on a good note. From beginning to get my house in order, to getting my finances in order, with baby number 2 on the way, and my optimistic attitude about life refreshed. It's gotta be better than the last year afterall!

For the next few weeks I'm going to be working very hard on this blog, and on following my own advice. Sometimes that's the hardest part. Easy to say what you should be doing. Harder to actually do it. I intend to dust off some old posts and review the information. Sure, we could always just go back and read my old posts. But if I do the work and repost, then I can also add some details that I might not have known or thought about back then.

I'm also going to get back to work on my candle business. The economy made for a tough year last year. I had a couple advertising experiments that didn't work out, and my craft shows didn't go as well as anticipated, so I stepped back from it all for a bit. Now I'm back on track. Maybe not in the same way, but with renewed energy and ideas, and with the small let downs far behind me.

Something I haven't really advertised on this site, but another thing that wasn't working for me so much . . . I'm a Southern Living at Home consultant. My contract comes up for renewal at the end of March, so I'm trying to figure out if it's worth it to try for another year. If anyone is interested in having a party or coming to a party, or anything at all, let me know. I absolutely love their products. I've got to sell the stuff just to support my habit! But we'll see. 1 year old and a baby on the way kind of has me scared about filling out my schedule too much.

I'm also going to start tracking some very specific goals that I will document on here. To keep myself honest and in hopes of getting others to try similar things. I will post details on those specific goals in posts as soon as I have them better defined.

Have fun tonight, and be safe. And let's look forward to a prosperous new year together!

Coupon Sunday 1/3/10

2009-12-31T18:33:00.001-08:00

There will be 5 inserts in this Sunday's paper. Sharpen those scissors, and buy several papers! I'll be buying five papers. The winter months are when I'm able to be the best organized and work on my stockpile most effectively.

Charitible Contributions

2009-12-27T14:49:00.001-08:00

With the end of 2009 fast approaching, now is the time to start getting your tax documents in order. I like to do some year end cleaning and get everything I don't need to Goodwill. This way I'm not as likely to lose my receipts.

The program that I like to use to keep track of my donations is http://www.itsdeductible.com/. This website is done by the makers of Turbo Tax. If you use Turbo Tax, you can even have it import the information straight into the program. Even if you don't use Turbo Tax, it's still a very valuable program.

Most people have a hard time valuing the items that we are donating. Since they are no longer of any use to us, it's tough to imagine that they are worth anything. Most people end up using a garage sale value. The price you would stick to it if you were having a garage sale. Nope. That is waaaaaaaaay low. It's Deductible will let you search for an item, and it has the accepted IRS value automatically assigned to it.

For example, I bundled up all of my magazines. Most of them are even still in the wrapper because I just didn't have time to read them. If I took them to the half price book store to sell them, I would be lucky to get a penny a piece. It's Deductible tells me that if I donate them, the value is 50 cents a piece for new condition, and 25 cents a piece for decent condition. With 120 magazines, that amounts to quite a bit! And it's paper that won't be sitting in the landfill, or even needing to go through the recycling process yet. Clothing has much higher values than you would expect too.

Sign up at http://www.itsdeductible.com/ and start entering your information. It's a free account, and you can track monetary donations too. It's a quick and easy way to keep track of things, and you'll be very happy when you sit down to prepare your taxes because this will be a piece that is already done!

Personal Update

2009-12-27T14:38:00.000-08:00

Well, I've let it slide again. Let me just say that during pregnancy, I'm useless. I don't know how other women keep things together so well. However, I'm now 21 weeks along. All the morning sickness is gone. And I'm just starting to get big. So I'm feeling wonderful right now! I'm sure it will be about two weeks before I start getting the aches and pains from the big belly, but until then, I'm happy! I even have a decent amount of energy.

The other news I have is that from an ultrasound we had on Christmas Eve, IT'S A GIRL!!! The pictures weren't 100% conclusive, but from what we seen, and what I know, we're pretty confident that pink is the color to buy.

That's really about all that's going on in my life. I'm working hard making a baby, and trying to keep up with the other one. Dawson is such a good boy. He had a great Christmas. I tell you, the holidays are so much more fun with a little one. I couldn't sleep on Christmas Eve because I was so excited about Dawson waking up and getting his presents.

Craft Shows

2009-11-10T20:43:00.000-08:00

I set up at the Fairfield High School Craft Show last weekend. I want to detail some of my experiences to give you an idea of what to expect if you decide you want to do craft shows too. After researching the show online to find out who to contact, I called to get an application emailed to me. This one cost $40 to set up at. It was an extra $5 for a table and extra $5 if you needed electric. I had my own tables, and didn't need electric. The application included details that I needed to know for the show. It ran on Saturday from 9 to 4 and I was allowed in to the venue on Friday after 7 to set up. So I got there Friday night with all of my things and got everything set up. As soon as you arrive you will want to locate the people in charge and find out where to go. High school craft shows can be nice because they tend to have teenagers hanging out to help you unload your car and get it to where you need it.

It is relatively safe to leave your things just about anywhere you will be selling at. I just put a tablecloth over the top of my things to keep it hidden. There's always a chance that some things will walk off, but when you are in the situation where you are taking your things somewhere else to sell them, it's just a risk you have to take. I've found that other vendors tend to keep an eye out for suspicious behavior and so do the people that are in charge of the show or festival. This is pretty standard in my experience for all shows I've done.

On the morning of the show I try to get there at least fifteen minutes before it opens to settle myself in. There are almost always a couple things I forget that I have to set up when I get there in the morning. I also bring my cash box with money to make change. This is the one item that you do not leave alone no matter what. Guard it with your life. Also, I don't leave my cash in it when I'm walking back to my car. I have never ever had a problem. But at a really good show, you just don't want to be an easy target. I put the cash in my purse, or send it home with my mom while I'm packing up, or something. Then the cash box is just a piece of furniture like anything else so I don't have to worry about it.

At the show, it's v-e-r-y b-o-r-i-n-g. When you're busy dealing with customers, it's great. But even at some of my best shows, there are times when I'm just sitting around doing nothing. I try to bring a book, or clip my coupons, or something to pass the time.

The other big problem is finding time for potty breaks. Ask another vendor to keep an eye on your booth while you're away, then hurry. Be sure to take your cash box with you.

Once you've done a few shows, you'll have your own routine established, and won't think twice of any of the things I've listed. But having an idea of how the process works can really diminish the stress of getting started.

Small Business Info

2009-10-30T22:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, I haven't done a small business post in a loooong time. And I think we'll go with a topic near and dear to my heart. Rent. The last company I worked for (which will remain nameless as they are a list of dirty words that I don't use in this blog!) They just recently purchased a shopping center by my house, so it has me thinking about rent costs and things that go along with setting up a space for a small business.

If your business is tiny like mine, a space in a shopping center might seem like a far away dream. Having worked for a property management company . . . let's just say to think of it more like a far off nightmare. Please email me if you are thinking of getting a shopping center space so I can give you some more information on what to look at in your lease. I have some very specific and very important information on this.

So if you aren't ready for a shopping center space just yet, where else can you sell what you make? For me, festivals and craft fairs have been a great start. The downside, it's a ton of work. But any level of running your own business is a ton of work.

Festivals have been the most profitable for me. Also the most amount of work, and the highest amount of risk. They range in cost from about $65 on up. The top range of festivals that I'll do is $125. Anything more than that isn't worth it to me. That may not be the same for everyone though. A couple things to look for when you are looking over the application is to see if there are any other requirements that are going to cost you. A couple festivals that I've opted out for require the vendors to have their own liability insurance. There are some that require you to have a business grade fire extinguisher. I opted to make that investment since my craft involves fire. Another large expense for festivals is the tent. A halfway decent tent is usually around $100. The tent is a pain and a half. Take a look at the cute little picture on the side that shows how easy is it to pop it up. Then laugh. I almost always take my hubby with me when I have to set up a tent. It is not a one person job. Even with two people, it's still not easy. If my hubby isn't with me, I play the damsel in distress to get some man help from other vendors. Learn to look stressed out and helpless. Against my principles, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Another big problem with festivals is weather. It's very risky. If the weather is bad, there won't be as many customers. And you have to sign up for the festivals months in advance. So there's no way to know ahead of time. An extra bonus is that if the weather is bad, not only will you have fewer customers, you also run a pretty big risk of losing inventory, and possibly even your tent. Last year I lost two tents in storms. I just love it when the tent loss comes on a Saturday so you have to run out Sunday morning and get a new one and rush to set it up and get things ready before the festival opens on Sunday.

But festivals are not all bad. Far from it. Once your set up is done, it's fun. Most customers are in a good mood. Because they are at the festival to relax and have a good time. They usually have money in their pockets ready to spend. And they are happy to look at new and different things. It's a very laid back atmosphere, and sometimes there's beer. And guess what? It's your business. You're the boss. If you want to drink, drink! Personally, I indulge (when I'm not pregnant) but I am usually very discreet with my cup.

This time of year, craft shows are getting underway. These are great! Not quite as profitable as the festivals, but you don't have to worry about the weather. Most craft shows I've been involved in are around $65 to $100. I've seen some for $25. Setup can still be stressful. But without the problem of the tent, it's not terrible. A lot of the same principles of festivals apply. Customers come in looking for crafts with money in their pockets. The biggest challenge with craft shows is finding ones that are big enough. I've done some that are great. I've done others where no one seems to know about them, so no customers show up. So ask around. Other vendors are a great resource to find out about good shows.

Once you've decided where to sell, the most important tip I have is to just relax and have fun. I've seen vendors get totally stressed out during set up. And I've been one of them too. But if you give yourself plenty of time, have a plan for how set up is going to play out, be prepared for the fact that there will probably be some hiccups, (like finding out that the organizers changed your space as the last minute) and just enjoy yourself. Try not to let things aggravate you too much, and when things don't go as smoothly as you would like, make the most of it. Bad weather is a good opportunity to network with other vendors. You will find that there is a family-like atmosphere among vendors. Most are friendly and willing to share information and experiences. And don't worry, you'll have your own horror stories to share soon too! The horror stories are horrible when they happen, but they turn into bragging rights among vendors! Mine is about how I was out at the Scarecrow Festival in Washington Court House, OH when that freaky hurricane blew though. I had made the hour and a half drive only to find my tent in ruin, and had to hurry up and pack everything into the car while street lights were flying down the street. Even better, it took two trips to get everything there, and I ended up having to leave some things there because not everything would fit in the car in just one trip. But I did have the help of some very nice vendors and people in the community.

Baby's First Picture

2009-10-30T22:04:00.000-07:00

Ok everyone, here s/he is! 13 weeks confirmed, and only one baby in there, so happy day! We'll be getting another ultra sound at 20 weeks. Since Dawson was 5 weeks early, this doctor seems to be wanting to do several ultra sounds to make sure everything goes fine. Everything is great so far. They will be watching pretty close later on. I like having an early baby, just not five weeks early. Let's aim for just 3 weeks early, which is still considered term. You hear that Baby D?

Big Coupon Day this Sunday

2009-10-30T21:51:00.000-07:00

There will be 3 inserts in this Sunday's paper. Lots of good ones too. One of note is that there a .55 cent off coupon on Hormel Pepperoni. At Meijer, the coupon doubles to $1, and they often have the large slices (found in the refrigerated section of the deli/produce dept) on sale for $1. So free after coupon. Just watch out for them to come on sale. There will also be more diaper and wipes coupons. Save those up for a good Walgreens sale.

What Have I Been Up To?

2009-10-29T15:18:00.000-07:00

Not much. LOL. I've mostly been trying to cope with morning sickness and exhaustion still. Knock on wood, it seems to getting better. I'm super excited about my first ultra sound tomorrow. I should be 13 weeks along. I'm somehow convinced that there is more than one tumbling around in there, so we'll see. I think there's something in my brain that's telling me that my past couple months of laziness and sickness will make more sense if there's more than one. But we'll know tomorrow. I'm also hoping that maybe my calculation are off and maybe I'm further along than I think. Please God!!!! I despise being pregnant. Even the actual labor isn't as bad as the 9 months of pregnancy.

Another thing contributing to my increased energy I think, is that I'm back on my anti-depressants! Yay! Happy pills are good! Most people probably aren't quite so open about this, but I've suffered with mild depression since I was a teenager. A few years ago I finally got treatment for it, and I want the whole world to know that if you have a problem, you should get help. It doesn't made you weird or crazy, or unable to handle life. It just means that you have a problem and take a medicine for it. No different than blood pressure medicine or anything else. If you need it to be and feel healthy, then get it. Life is hard enough without suffering needlessly. Without the medicine, I feel pathetic. With it, I feel like me.

Let's see, what else? Dawson is doing great. Some of the new things he's been doing . . . he can use utensils pretty well to eat. He likes spinning around in circles until he falls over dizzy. And he loves watching Sunday football with Daddy. Dave gets so loud and excited (obnoxious) when the Bengals score, and Dawson just loves it. So I've joined in on getting loud and excited over touchdowns too, just so I don't get left out. LOL. He's also got a little football. He throws it at Dave, and then runs to him to get tackled. Adorable. I don't like watching sports on tv, but with Dawson's excitement, I find that I look forward to the games every week now too. Weird, huh? King of bummed that this week is the bi-week. Kind of weirded out that I know what the heck a bi-week is.

So that's my life right now. I will post ultra sound pictures when I have them! And I probably won't get a chance to post again until after the holiday, so I want to remind everyone to go candy shopping on Sunday. Clearanced Halloween Candy can be great for munching on, sticking in lunches, or using to make candy or cookies. Hershey Kisses wrapped in orange foil taste the same on top of a Christmas cookie as what the ones wrapped in red or green do. And if you have a sweet tooth and like to eat candy in general, it's better to have it in a small serving size than to buy a full sized candy bar. Economical and healthier.

Check out this video

2009-10-29T15:15:00.001-07:00

I found a link to this on Hip 2 Save. But this is a neat little video that aired on Good Morning America about how one woman is able to buy groceries for her family of 6 for less than $4 a week. I'm not that organized. But using The Grocery Game does help me keep my bill very low. The highlight for this week for me was free Snuggle fabric softener and 99 cent All detergent at Kroger!

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Parenting/mom-feeds-family-week/story?id=8463295

Dining out with baby

2009-10-26T00:19:00.000-07:00

I came upon this money saver by accident. I've been patting myself on the back ever since because it was PERFECT for my family. We went out to eat on Friday, and had a wonderful time. There was a yummy looking appetizer I wanted to try. It was around about $6.50. Then I noticed that the appetizer I wanted was also part of a larger appetizer sampler that was about $9.50. The sampler came with chicken tenders as one of the sampler items. Then a quick glance at the kids menu showed me that the cheapest thing on the list was about $3.50. So instead of getting the single appetizer, we got the sampler and fed the chicken tenders to Dawson for his meal. So, aside from the fifty cents in savings . . . .

We got the appetizer I wanted, along with potato skins which are always yummy.

We were able to feed Dawson the bulk of his meal while we were at the "just snacking" stage of our meal. He didn't get fussy waiting on food. And he was done and happily playing with his fork when our entrees came out. We were able to enjoy our meals like normal people instead of letting it get cold while figuring out how to feed a toddler and ourselves at the same time.

It was a lot more food than would have been included in a regular kids meal. So we had enough leftovers for an additional meal for him the next day.

And does it annoy anyone else that kids meals are the simplest, most basic foods, tiny portions, and they want to charge you like 4 or 5 bucks for them? I'm sorry, but a grilled cheese sandwich is not worth $4 when you can get a regular sized and quality entree for $8. The standard chicken tender kid meal was $5 and included two tenders. And I'm sure if we had ordered that, it would have been a whole different quality. For just the $3 extra on an appetizer we would have already bought, we got 4 delicious tenders that Dawson just LOVED, and like I said, the four potato skins. He enjoyed one of those too.

I have to say, after doing it this way once, I will ALWAYS do it this way. As he gets bigger, and with another baby on the way that will eventually eat kids meals too, we might need two appetizers. But I found it very enjoyable to have the extra options to munch on. And forget the cost savings. LOL. Having the food there so early and fast to get Dawson fed was spectacular!

Sharpen Your Scissors

2009-10-24T15:56:00.001-07:00

Two inserts in the paper tomorrow. I haven't looked really closely, but I did see that there are a lot of diaper coupons. If you need diapers like I need diapers, you might want to grab a few papers.

Extra Extra

2009-10-24T15:37:00.000-07:00

After stockpiling for almost a year, there are some items in my stockpile that I know I'll never use. All are things I got for next to nothing. Like Head and Shoulders shampoo. Great product, but I prefer the girly and fruity smelling shampoos, and hubby prefers the man smelling stuff. And since I can always find great and/or free deals on those, no sense in having the stuff we don't like take up space in my closets. Or I've found out that hubby will only use the gel deoderant stuff that squeezes through the holes. (Or I have to listen to him complain everyday when he puts on the other stuff.) So I may as well free up the space.

This is actually a really good time of year to go through your cupboards and closets and clear out unwanted items. Many charities are in need of things for the holidays and winter season coming up. Another thing I like to do is put together gift baskets. I may not use the full size St. Ives face wash that I got for 49 cents, but it goes great in a gift basket for a teenager paired with some lotions and makeup. If you've been a super couponer for any time at all, you probably have some things to get rid of. Be creative, and remember, it can do someone else a lot more good than it will ever do you if you have no intention of ever using it.

I actually read earlier today that some person had stockpiled 120 cans of Campbell's Tomato Soup. Wow! Evidently this person got the soup for just pennies after coupons, and took it around to her neighbors. What a great idea! How nice would that be to just grab a package of lunchbags, stick a couple cans of soup in it and maybe a pack of crackers or something, and pass them out to your neighbors, just to be nice? Or stick the can inside a large mug with some decorative packaging filler, then create your own little blend of spices to add to it. Put it in a little bag with a cute little label and one of those cheesy poems about how to make a happy home by adding a cup of love and a dash of kisses, etc. That would be a nice little Christmas gift for teachers, people at church, neighbors, coworkers, whoever. And all you would really have to pay for is the mug. Find a good deal at Oriental Trading Company and buy them by the dozen, and there you go.

Check your car insurance

2009-10-21T14:25:00.000-07:00

I switched companies for my car insurance today and am now paying almost half of what I used to. Huge savings. Better coverage. Crazy that I didn't do it sooner. Check around. I used Progressive this time. I'm going to make it a habit to compare rates about once a year now. It's easy when you can just answer questions online to get a quote. And what does the commercial say? Ten minutes could save you. It's true. Be sure to cancel your old policy after the new one is in effect. And I've seen commercials for Allstate where they'll cancel your old policy for you. Lots of neat benefits out there right now. I like Progressive because they'll cover vet bills for my puppy dogs if they're in the car during an accident too! Costs them very little, but they get huge happy customer points on that one. It's just a nice thing to do.

Prescription Savings

2009-10-19T13:08:00.000-07:00

A good way to reduce your grocery costs is by transferring prescriptions. This past year I've been able to transfer my prescriptions from pharmacy to pharmacy every month in order to take advantage of some free money towards my groceries. My family as a whole has five prescriptions, and we have to spend the money on them every month no matter where we get them. So I choose to transfer and get the free money towards groceries and other necessities. There are some downsides to this. First, it's a pain in the you know what. You can't just call the little number on the bottle and have the prescription ready for you when you get there. You need to take the old bottle to the new pharmacy, then wait around for them to do their thing. Plus, you often get pharmacists that are mad that you're taking advantage of those offers. I used to feel bad about it. Until Meijer Pharmacy had a whole bunch of coupons in the Entertainment Book last year for it. The coupons were valid every other month. So that tells me not only do people do it regularly, Meijer EXPECTS that people do it. They were encouraging people to do it. So after that, I no longer feel bad. So it's just a matter of dealing with the inconvenience to myself. And the snotty pharmacists, who cares? If their company is releasing the coupon, then they have to deal with it. Not my fault. I'm just taking advantage of a good thing.

So, there are a few rules to be aware of when transferring prescriptions. First, be prepared to wait. Also, be sure to go to have it filled when the last pharmacy you used will still be open. The new pharmacy needs to call the old one to transfer it. If you don't want to wait, you should be able to drop it off one day and pick it up the next.

Another big important thing is that you have to be organized. All but one of our prescriptions, if we have to go a day without, then we'll live. So I have a bit of room with that. But it's important to know what you need when you need it and from where you need it. It's easy to get confused. I keep all of my info listed on a calendar.

The last thing to keep track of is the rules for the different stores, and the coupons that are available.

Rite Aid - printable coupon on their website, can only transfer two in a six month period

Target - can transfer as much as you want, but you have to have a valid coupon. The coupons are released regularly, but there is some time between them where the last coupon has expired and the newest coupon hasn't been released yet. It's also difficult to find these coupons in the store. So be sure to save them from your Sunday papers. Sometimes you can ask a cashier, and they will give you one from the ad they keep at their register.

Meijer - their pharmacy coupons print off from the catalinas at the registers. The coupons are readily available if you shop there. It's also nice because you can do your grocery shopping while waiting on your prescription.

CVS - they sometimes have coupons available, but they usually aren't very high value. On the other hand, they do accept competitors coupons. So take in a Meijer or a Target coupon when you transfer. I personally don't like CVS, so I don't go there often. I don't know if there are any rules as to how often you can transfer with a coupon.

Walgreens - Every once in a while they have coupons in their ad. These are great because they have them readily available at the front of the store, and they are usually valid for several months. I try to get enough coupons saved up to last for the entire time period that they are valid. I used to transfer every other month, but I was told once that I could only do it every six months. I'm not sure what the official rule is.

K-mart - There are sometimes coupons available in their ad. I don't so much like using Kmart for this though. All other pharmacies that I've ever used have had a flat amount coupon. No matter what the price of your prescription, you get the certain amount in a coupon or gift card. At Kmart they only let you have the same amount that you paid for your prescription. In reality, it makes sense and I can't blame them. At the same time, Kmart has a pretty high markup on their merchandise, and it's not as beneficial for me when I can go somewhere else and not have that rule.

Kroger - every once in a while I've come across coupons for the Kroger pharmacy. I've usually gotten them in the mail when they send out coupons and things for Kroger card members. Very rare, but I certainly use them when I get them.

Personally, I usually transfer back and forth between Meijer and Target. Just because it's easiest for me. Both Meijer and Target are the only ones that let you use the coupons on NEW prescriptions. But with five prescriptions a month, this usually gets me between $50 and $125 of free money towards groceries each month! This method isn't right for everyone. Sometimes it's cheaper to get the prescription through mail order. Or if you don't have insurance, then your medication may be cheap enough at one place to cancel out whatever savings you would get from the coupon. But my insurance doesn't give me a big enough discount with mail order, and my copays are the same no matter where I go.

10/18 coupons

2009-10-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

There are 2 inserts in this Sunday's paper. I personally will not be buying extra papers because there is only one coupon that I will definitely use. 50 cents off on Super Pretzels. Doubles to $1, does not make sense to spend $1.50 on a paper for 1.00 worth of coupons. However, anyone that wants to send extra Super Pretzel coupons my way, feel free!

If you're wondering how I know exactly what coupons are going to be in the paper . . . they are listed at Taylortown and Coupon Clippers.

Another good site for sneak peek deals is www.iheartwags.com. You can see the Walgreens ads several weeks in advance! This can be very helpful. I knew not to buy soda one week it was on sale because it was going to be priced even better the following week.

Kroger New Gas Rewards

2009-10-16T10:25:00.000-07:00

You can now get up to a dollar off per gallon of gas by shopping at Kroger. The details are here.

Now after puzzling over the fine print, you might be wondering how this is a good deal. After all, you would have to spend $1000 in groceries to equal a dollar off per gallon of gas. There are a couple couponer tricks though. First off, the points are calculated BEFORE COUPONS. So if you have $100 worth of groceries, then your big stack of coupons takes you down to only $20, you still get credit for the full $100. This is awesome! More reason than ever to take advantage of those free after coupon deals. I got a few things at my trip yesterday that I don't need, but they were free, so I got them anyway. They go straight to my donation pile, but counted towards my fuel rewards. So worth the effort, and it helps someone else who will receive the items I donate.

Another tricky way to get more points is to buy gift cards. Let's say you're going out to dinner to Olive Garden with your honey. Instead of just paying at Olive Garden, stop by Kroger and grab a couple gift cards first to cover the cost of your meal. $50 in gift cards is the same as $100 in groceries. This is great for Christmas shopping in the near future too. Give gift cards as gifts, or, if you're shopping at a particular store, buy the card at Kroger and use it yourself. So long as it's stuff you already intend to do, and so long as it doesn't make you feel like a crazy freak, go for it! I admit, sometimes I feel a little weird with the couponing! But it's worth it to me to feel weird for a few minutes at the store so that I have a few more bucks at the end of the day. And saving money on gas is one of the things that's hard to do.

(I'm still trying to figure out the fuel rewards for Biggs. I've heard of people only paying pennies per gallon on their gas by shopping at Biggs, but I'm not a Biggs shopper, and I haven't had any luck finding any good information that makes it easy. If you know of any, please post.)

Coupon Organization

2009-10-15T12:03:00.000-07:00

I've been couponing for almost a year now, and you wouldn't believe the coupon mess around my house. I've tried several different methods of organization, and I just haven't found anything that works for me. The best way is to clip and sort everything. But that takes forever. Then clearing out expireds at the end of the months is a pain. Seems like a lot of work for nothing. In the end I usually go through my ginormous stack of random coupons one by one to find what I'm looking for. Not fun. But I don't know if I'll ever find a good method.

Here's the method I'm trying now. On Sunday when I get my coupons, I clip them, then put all coupons from that date in one envelope. Most coupon sites list coupons by the date they were in the paper, so when I'm looking for one in particular, I can just grab the envelope for the date, and just sort through that small stack. It seems to be working so far. I've also been stapling together like coupons so I only need to find one to have all of them. It makes them easier to clip that way too. I stack the like coupons, staple, then cut them all at once instead of each one separately.

If you have any other methods that you find quick and easy, please post a comment.

Recycling Heat

2009-10-12T20:01:00.001-07:00

As the weather starts getting chilly, I know I'm already starting to dread the high heating bills. There are a few things that I do to reuse and conserve heat. The biggest one . . . reuse my dryer heat. I disconnect the tube thingy that vents it outside, roll up a towel and put it in the hole that leads to the outside, then hang the open end of the tube off of the shelf over the dryer, pointing towards the rest of the house. When I dry my clothes, instead of sending that heat outside, it helps to heat my house. And the best part, it's nice humid heat. It really helps keep the house more comfortable when the air gets dry with the cold. If you have an electric dryer too, try it! Be forewarned though, it may take some experimentation to learn how to place the vent. I just let it lay on the floor to start with (figuring that hot air rises) and then I had a puddle of condensation on my floor.

Another thing that I do is keep the heat turned down at about 60 or 65 degrees. Then I use space heaters to warm the room that I'm in. I always like to be snuggled under a blanket anyway, so it works. At night an electric blanket on the bed helps to warm just the area that I need. I usually set the programmable thermostat at the low level overnight, then have it start warming up a bit more when it's time to get out of bed.

Of course, how you manage your heating is up to your personal comfort goals. For some reason, I really hate having to pay for heat. I don't know. It just seems like one of those things that shouldn't cost an arm and a leg and my first born. Never underestimate some of the old fashioned heat conserving methods too. Light some candles, get a couple big dogs, and snuggle up with your loved ones!

Still Alive

2009-10-11T17:36:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone. Sorry I've been missing in action for the last month. I've been dealing with morning sickness, and keeping busy with my candle business when I'm able to function. It's been crazy. I haven't even had time and energy to do my couponing. Plus, cravings being what they are . . . going to the store with a list isn't exactly working out. I've actually paid full price for a few things. GASP!

But I do have some news. My candles are now available for sale at a new age store in Hamilton!!! Maiden, Mother, Crone on B Street is carrying some of my fragrance oils, candles, tarts and incense on consignment. This is a first for me and I have been very excited and have been working very hard on getting things together for it. I've also gotten back to doing my festivals and craft shows. It's been tough with the sickness and the tiredness. But it also feels really good to be out and working again.

Dawson was also sick for a few days. Just a little bug. No big deal. Enough to freak me out about flu/swine flu. But he's fine. He also had his yearly checkup for his heart. He has a tiny murmur, it's still there, but everything is fine. The doctor expects that it will heal itself, it just has to be checked every year.

If anyone knows of any good craft fairs going on in the Cincinnati/Dayton areas, please leave a comment or email me. I'm still working on my schedule. I will post it here once I've got things lined up. If anyone has any good contacts with the Lakota East High School craft fair that you can set me up with, I would appreciate it. I've heard there's a waiting list to get into that one, but I'm not above bribery. wink wink.

So, I'm trying to get back to normal, so I will be posting more regularly again.

Sharpen Your Scissors

2009-09-11T11:02:00.001-07:00

There are going to be 5 inserts in the paper this Sunday! I recommend grabbing at least 3 papers.

Wednesday Wisdom

2009-09-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

"A well adjusted person is one who makes the same mistake twice without getting nervous."

Alexander Hamilton

I came across this quote on a cobblestone when I was walking in downtown Hamilton. It made me think of how I've been feeling down from having trouble getting my business moving forward. I feel like everything I do ends up yielding nothing but more expense. I know that logically, all of the things I'm doing will add up to a total package that creates my marketing campaign. But I have a lot of emotions wrapped up in my business. On one hand that's good. It makes me passionate about what I do. But on the other hand, it puts a lot of personal stress into it when things don't work out the way I want them to. I need to not fear making mistakes. Mistakes are tools for learning. They are just as important as doing things correctly. I must not be very well adjusted, because they do make me nervous. But this quote reminds me that I'm allowed to make mistakes and it says much more for me if I keep on going rather than shutting down and feeling sorry for myself.

On the topic of Alexander Hamilton, I LOVE this commercial!

Business Marketing

2009-09-09T18:46:00.000-07:00

Ok, just a warning, I'm going to plug Vista Print again. LOL. I swear I don't work for them. It's more like they work for me.

First, a review of some items I recently ordered. I got some flyers. I customized these with a couple pictures of my candles and created tear tabs on the bottom. I intend to hang them on bulletin boards wherever they'll let me, and hopefully people will tear off my little tabs and take them home and visit my website. The flyers are beautiful. A slight gloss finish and brilliant colors. Much nicer than I could have printed myself. I got a set of 25 free. I also got a box of business cards with the glossy finish. They are stunning. I will only order glossy from now on for my business cards. It was a free upgrade this time around, and hopefully I'll be able to continue finding those deals so that I only have to pay shipping. A third item that I got was the two tone bag. I like it. It will suit my purposes. But it isn't as high of quality as I've come to expect from Vista Print. The material is thinner than I expected and the printing is less than amazing. Still good mind you. And still priced fairly for a custom print job on a nice bag. Just not quite as nice as I would have liked.

Another point I want to talk about here is how you can be original with the different products. This picture shows a tag that I made for my incense bottles. It includes instructions about how to use it, along with the ever important disclaimer that says not to leave incense burning unattended. I'm having this printed on note cards. It is normally something I would print myself, but this way I will have a nicer tag, professionally printed, and almost the most important thing . . . it coordinates with my logo and the design that I have on my other marketing materials. Since I consider my incense bottles to be works of art, I also included spaces on the back of the card to write in the title of the bottle and the artist. The artist is usually going to be me or my mom, but it adds to the idea of the hand painted bottle being thought of as art.

So get creative with your Vista Print products. A note card doesn't just have to be a note card. A business card doesn't just have to be a business card. I've used their free business card deal to make coupons. I intend to put coupons for 25% off of an order in every order that I ship. And maybe I'll hand them out when I go to certain events too. I've had post cards printed to use as flyers. Because I won't be mailing them in the near future, but I want to walk around and hand them out to neighbors. So the post cards are a better size for my purpose and I get a larger quantity in the free deal than what I would get with the flyer product. I think I'm going to use the flyer product to create letterhead since their letterhead is expensive. It might not print correctly since it's a slightly glossy paper, but I'm willing to try, and of course I'll report back here. The flyers will also be good to create order forms that would be filled out by hand.

Product Review - Dove Visibly Smooth Deodorant

2009-09-09T09:51:00.000-07:00

Product review on Dove Visibly Smooth deodorant. I received a free sample of this in the mail along with a bunch of coupons. They had included a letter asking me to do a review, and I have been putting it off for a while because it didn't seem to be working. It works fine as a deodorant. Not my favorite in that regard, but certainly effective. However, it took a loooooong time for it to reduce the appearance of my armpit hair. I am a brunette, so it doesn't so much stretch out the time I can go between shaving. But it has made the hair much finer. So it's easier to shave and less likely that I'll miss anything when I'm in a hurry. The scent is nice, but not overpowering. All in all, I like it. It is probably my new favorite. Although I'll still use Degree if I'm working out in the yard or doing something more intense. Note that it takes several months for a noticeable change in the armpit hair category.

I'm Back!

2009-09-07T16:38:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. I'm back from my little vacation. I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend. I'm starting to get more happy little pregnancy symptoms like morning sickness. Baby D is the size of a pea now. And my little guy Dawson was such a perfect little angel all weekend! He handled the car trip wonderfully. He was a little bit shy with his cousing Logan, but got along great with his cousin Lauren and Aunt Linda. He's a ladies man, what can I say? He ate and slept very little over the weekend too, he couldn't be bothered with it, he was too busy. So I'm expecting a grouchy baby tomorrow. Last night he went to sleep at a decent hour, but woke up in the middle of the night and wanted off the bed. We let him get down and we expected him to run around playing. Nope. Like two seconds later, we didn't hear any noise so we peeked to see what he was up to. He was fast asleep on the floor! I'm so proud of what a good boy he was/is though. Everyone kept asking us if he ever cries. Nope. Only when he doesn't feel good. Well, and I got in the pool with him a bit too fast one day and he was scared.

Happy Weekend!

2009-09-04T06:35:00.001-07:00

First off I need to point out that there are no coupon inserts this Sunday. So we all get a break.

Second of all, I will be on vacation until Wednesday, so I probably won't be posting anything until then. There's a chance I might find myself in front of a computer and something to say. I'm just not planning on it. So everyone have a happy weekend and be safe!

Explainer - When Pills Aren't Enough

2009-09-03T22:19:00.000-07:00

The post below is a guest post from a fellow blogger. There are several of us who have traded rants, and so my step kid drama is posted somewhere else out in blog land.

See more from this author at: http://www.3giraffes.net/

When Pills Aren't Enough - Parental Advisory Explicit Lyrics

2009-09-03T22:18:00.000-07:00

IS THIS SHIT REALLY HAPPENING??or...How to win friends and influence people in the office.... Unbelievable. Un-fucking-believable. I swear, the only reason I stay is because I need the job. If I wouldn't lose my house, I'd quit tomorrow. This place is a fucking zoo. I should have known that going to work in a political office was going to be a fucking nightmare. I'm just lucky (or maybe THEY are) that I haven't beat the shit out of someone yet.
So, get this: I've been here for 16 months. I work, ahem, worked for a presidential appointee. When January 21st rolled around, she was unemployed. So, three months later two new appointees come in. The Big Giant Head and his third in charge. The Big Giant Head (heretofore called BGH) brought in his own assistant, so the assistant that had been at that desk for 16 years comes to my desk. I was assisting the third in charge (heretofore called Sneaky Bitch or SB). They moved me to assist the second in charge, who is not here and won't be here until the winter time. I hope you can follow this better than I can....So, for the last eight fucking months, your taxpayer dollars have been hard at work paying me big $$$ to sit at a desk, write a blog, facebook, email, do online courses and basically spin my blonde ass around in a chair until I got dizzy. SB moved me to assist the BGH's assistant Queen Bee (are you following this?) so she could get to know the Who's Who of The Agency. While I sat at a NEW desk, listening to her make phone calls to the wrong people, calling people by the wrong name, telling people the wrong name of the person in the meeting with the BGH I would try to tell her Who's Who during our moments alone. The last time I tried, she put her hand up (think, "talk to the hand") and told me she didn't care. So, I basically told her to fuck herself (but much more politely). I lasted a whole week with her. They moved me back to my old desk from April to July, EXTENDING my working hours to do nothing all day. Well, not nothing. I put the newspapers on our cute table and made copies from 7-8 in the morning. So from 8-4:30, I did nada. Zilch. Nothing. At $30 an hour. Taxpayers' expense.
So, I took a day of leave in July. The next day, I come to work and they tell me in no uncertain terms to "pack your shit, you're moving. You probably shouldn't count on coming back to the Office of the BGH." OK, cool! I've got a new job! One that will keep me busy!! Alright!! So, I moved across the hall to work for, let's see, we'll call her Face with Two-Sides. Seems everything was going great! I was busy, I was keeping her happy, I was planning The Agency stuff, everything. Now, here's where the politics step in. In this particular office, there is a 25 year old boy. Sorry--man. He works here because he was little fetch and tote in the big Capitol building up the street. He's a favor. First job out of college. He's been here two months. He's a fucking little pussy, ass-kissing, brown nosing, power-tripping piece of guano. He is actually junior to me. He wasn't my boss. He isn't ANYBODY'S boss, but he really thinks he is. He and I were working on a couple of projects together. Needless to say, if you can't tell by my description, we didn't get along so well. So, I walk into his office to let him know of a conference call. You know, "Hey Guano, there's a conference call on the mating habits of squirrels in 15 minutes." He gets in my face about "withholding" information from him because I didn't tell him the subject??? WTF???? So, in my best retired Navy drill instructor, Marine Corps wife, aircraft carrier flight deck-running jet mechanic bitch voice, I tell him not to use that tone. Period. Don't EVER talk to me like that again. End of conversation.
But, it wasn't. If only it were that easy. I send him a very detailed email about the project. Now, think "Office Space"...."Ummmm, yeah. I don't get your email" he says as he walks into my cube. "What don't you get, Guano? It's very easy. It has all the required information. Don't you read English?"
His response? "Baby, you need to calm down." That didn't calm me down. I freaked. I flipped the fuck out. Could have probably handled it better, yes. But I freaked. I was completely in his face. It wasn't pretty. "Did you just call me 'baby'? 'Baby???' Are you fucking serious??? I'm a forty something woman, you don't call me 'baby'. Not in the office, not in the hallway, nowhere." Again, I thought that was the end of the conversation. As you guessed, it wasn't.
He went to Mouth with Two-Sides who went to Sneaky Bitch who went to the Big Giant Head. FIVE DAYS LATER, I get called in to THE office (put in soap opera suspense music here). "Do you get along with Guano?" "No sir, I don't." "Have you had a bad week?" "No sir, I haven't." A few questions later, this one is my fave, "Do we need to get you some help?" They didn't even ask my side. What they did was tell me pack my shit and they were transferring me to another division. OH, and if I can find a new job outside The Agency in three weeks? I won't get a letter of reprimand in my personnel file.

So, what's the lesson here? NEVER, EVER, EVER work in a political office. Not office politics, political office. Because if you're just a permanent person with a career here, you don't even match up to the people that are here on a term basis and you certainly won't win against their friends.
How did I handle it??? I got drunk. ALL WEEKEND LONG. A bottle of tequila and a case of beer, all weekend. I was doing shots at some BBQ we were at and I have no idea what they were....it helped. I came back to work with a whole new fuck you attitude...But, I'm keeping it to myself.

Time Out Tuesday - Now Everyone Knows!

2009-09-01T19:54:00.000-07:00

Ok. I'm not the kind of person who is good at waiting. I hate waiting. So it shouldn't surprise you to know that I only found out yesterday, and now I've told everyone and their brother that I'M PREGNANT!!! 4 weeks along. Due date is May 7th, just three days before Dawson's birthday. My hubby, Dave, is hoping that this one will come a bit early too and arrive on his birthday which is April 16th. We'll see. I just hope that this one will wait a little longer than Dawson did so that there are no health concerns or hospital drama.

I've already been going through all of my baby stuff and taking note of what I need. Of course, if it's a girl, I'll need oodles of things. But if I have another boy, then I won't need as much. Which just means that I'll get to spend the money on things that are more fun. The really fun thing is that I can be super prepared this time now that I know how to do the stockpiling thing.

I'm SOOO excited! I'm going to try very hard to eat right this time. My doctor had wanted me to lose weight last time, so I'm going to try really hard to do that this time. Ideally I'll lose five pounds throughout the pregnancy, then have the baby and lose another thirty automagically. But this time I also know what to expect. If I don't follow my doctor's advice and eat properly to lose some weight, then everything aches much more than it needs to once I start getting big. Plus my blood pressure was high last time and I'm hoping that won't be as big of a problem.

Sorry I've Been Away

2009-09-01T11:04:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts this past week. There have been a few things going on. Partially due to the last Time Out Tuesday rant, and other things too. More info to come late tonight in my next Time Out Tuesday post. My computer has also been acting up. Blech. No fun.

So then. It's the first day of the month and there is a little housekeeping to do:

Be sure to go to coupons.com to print your coupons. If you're new to it . . . when you sign up, there will be a small coupon printer application that wants to install on your computer. Then you can go through a list and select coupons to print and use just like any other coupon.

PG esaver, be sure to go through their list and select the coupons you want to add to your Kroger card. These automatically come off your order if you buy the product and can be combined with a paper coupon.

UPromise, login and select the coupons to be added to your card. These are different, instead of giving you money off, they put money into your UPromise account.

Lastly, I suggest going through your coupon stash and get rid of your expireds. Don't forget, these can be sent to military families overseas. They can use them for up to three months past the expired date. If you know someone overseas, share the love and send them your useless coupons.

Wednesday Wisdom

2009-08-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without. - Confuscious

Something I keep having to remind myself is that I'm not perfect. Or more exactly, that I'm not able to be perfect. A lot of times I get hung up because I'm not able to do and be all of the things I want to. I want to be Brie from Desperate Housewives. I want to look tragedy in the eye and polish my silver first because it needs to be done. I want to box up my emotions and put them on a shelf in the closet until I'm ready to deal with them and have time to deal with them. Then take out one small box at a time. I want to be so impeccably dressed that a single stray thread on my clothing draws my attention to fix. How amazing would that be? However, as I've also learnt from Brie is that an image of perfection is not truly perfection. What good is it to appear perfect if you have to hide away from reality? No one is perfect. No one. Even if they appear to be. That's one of the things I disliked about traditional employment. I could work all day as hard as I could, and as smart as I could, and be at the top of my game. But someone was always there to point out the small flaw in my full day of spectacular work. Was the small flaw a major thing? No. Was it unfixable? No. But since it was a mistake, attention was drawn to my flaws rather than my successes. No one is perfect, yet in every job I've ever had, I was expected to be perfect. Then of course, I turn around and deal with people in other jobs that are so bad or uncaring at what they do that it's ridiculous.

On top of all that, we tend to be harder on ourselves than others are on us. Why is that? For me, I keep expecting that I should be able to be perfect. I try to do everything right. I'm mad at myself when I make a mistake. That's part of what makes it even harder to have someone else point out the mistake.

So what can we do about it? First off, if you're running your own small business, whatever stage you are at, don't be so hard on yourself. Set realistic goals. Realize that you will make mistakes. Learn from your mistakes. That's what they are there for. Think about how you would fix that mistake in a normal job. Most likely, the exact same way. Except then you would have seventeen people giving you a hard time for making it, even though it's already fixed. Laugh at yourself. Laugh at the craziness of the world. And remember how wonderful it is to be a great big ole diamond with a flaw.

Vocal Point

2009-08-25T15:59:00.000-07:00

Well, there's nothing like changing your mood like freebies! Not that anything could really cancel out the prior post other than resolution, but you get happiness and distraction where you can.

So, Vocal Point. This has been the number one freebie site that I have signed up with. You just set up a free account, and they randomly send you free things!!! Today I had a sample size box of Kashi cereal waiting for me, which came with a coupon for a free full size box, along with several other coupons for $1.50 off. I have also received coupons for the new Bounce bar, free Rice Krispies, free Frosted Mini Wheats, and those are just the things I can remember offhand while other things are on my mind.

Set up your account at Vocal Point and just wait for the freebies to start rolling in. You never know when or what you'll get. But it sure is a nice surprise when something arrives.

Time Out Tuesday - UGH

2009-08-25T12:41:00.001-07:00

Well, I hesitate to write this post. The thing most on my mind today is causing a lot of anger for me. But it's pretty much the only thing on my mind today, so there it is. And in the pursuit of writing an honest blog and sharing issues with others, I've decided to go ahead and write about it. Any other day I would have let it go. But on Time Out Tuesday, the whole purpose is to share a little bit more about myself and my family rather than just my business and deal shopping. So here goes.

My husband has three kids from another marriage. In the internet world, they are skids. Short for step kids. And their birth mother, although referred to in a multitude of nicknames in my household is abbreviated as BM. I like the double entendre implications there, although I tell you, I would have never named my blog Business Mommy if I had realized that the initials were the same. That is why you will NEVER see it abbreviated!

Anyway. My husband is a wonderful father. Definitely to our little boy, but I seen him in action first hand with his other kids once we were in a serious relationship. We all got along great too. To make a long story short, the same second we announced our engagement was the same second BM started keeping the kids from my husband. And after three years of trying to stop her from her manipulations, and a guardian ad litem (lawyer for the kids appointed in extreme cases) named MARTY HAAS doing what was easy rather than what was right, we've been through family therapy, court orders and everything trying to make her give my husband his kid time, and she has fought it in such extreme ways that my personal therapist (which I needed to help me get through all of this specific craziness) can't even believe what the legal system has let BM do to keep his kids from him. My therapist doesn't humor us either. He tells us how it is. And the court ordered family therapist specifically told us that we needed to play nice because BM was playing dirty and the easiest way through it all was to make her feel ok with things. Well, since I don't curse on this blog, my answer to that is BS. (I originally started the couponing when I was going to be regularly feeding three extra kids a couple times a week.)

So again. I know that I said I would try to make the long story short. Believe me, I am. The point we are at is that it was determined that BM has brain washed the kids so much that it is impossible for the kids to have a real relationship with their dad at this point. So he's allowing the step father to adopt them and stepping back so they don't have to be a part of this battle their entire childhood.

So this woman is crazy. I know. Everyone says that about their spouses ex. I was actually fine with her for the most part in the beginning. My hubby always told me she was crazy. But everyone thinks that about their ex too. So I was operating under the impression that anyone gets away with what they can if you let them. So for the sake of brevity, let's just assume that I'm right when I say that she's crazy. And not in the fun and harmless way that I am. :-) In a way that she is willing to put her children in extreme situations just to keep them from their father.

So here we are. Part of allowing the stepfather to adopt them and my hubby to stand back until they are adults and can make their own decisions, is cutting off child support. The one good thing in all of this. All of this stuff had been decided back in February. And the child support was supposed to stop on August 1st. And guess what, it hasn't. Her lawyer has even sent us mocked up documents (yes, we are filing an ethics violation charge) saying that child support cessation documents had been filed and were in process. Today is when we are finding out about this. Our lawyers were finally able to get ahold of her lawyers who have been putting us off for three weeks now. And now they are "sending a letter." Which means there is some other issue going on. I don't know what the letter entails yet. But odds are that it isn't good. So I'm freaking out in a major way. I'm feeling like an animal backed into a corner. Someone is about to get hurt. But because I'm a nice person, it's most likely going to be me imploding on myself.

I'm sorry to write such a long post about this. Oh, and Marty Haas is in Northern Kentucky. Do not give him your business if you have need of him. He is supposed to be an advocate of the children, but he realized early on that my husband and I are easy to get along with, and BM isn't, so we've been the ones that he argues with because we listen. All therapists have told us that it is in the best interest of the children for the father to be in their lives, even if the father is a loser, which my husband definitely is not. But Marty, although he pretends to be sympathetic and even angry when she does things she isn't supposed to, has never done anything to try to make her stop. He wouldn't even make her take them to the court ordered therapy.

So this is my personal issue of the day. Strike that, week. No wait, FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS. So I'm getting a little cranky. But, even though it doesn't help me at the moment, what it will turn out to do once things are over and I've settled down . . . the lesson here, for life, for business, for whatever, taking the easy way isn't always the easiest way. If my husband and I had been harder to get along with earlier on and had been squeakier wheels, then BM most likely would not have gotten away with the things that she did. Her brain washing of the children would not have been able to go so far, and we would have a normal blended family. Which isn't easy. Even when things were good, it was never easy. But it was still fun, and everyone got along and had a good time. Other than normal kid stuff, along with my own personal problems of having not been around children much, then being in a mother type role to pre teens. Certainly less of a mother role and more just assisting my husband in his parenting role. But before you've had kids, it feels like a mothering role.

So please pray for my family. We've had one disaster after another for three years. Not just in the step kid department. I keep saying, we don't need things to be easy. We just need for everything little thing to not have to be such a struggle. This adoption thing was supposed to be easy once it was decided. Ceritainly not easy emotionally, but everybody has signed their stuff, so it was just to be a waiting for stuff to be finished thing. I'm hoping that our three years of bad luck will be canceled out by winning the 250 million dollar lottery tonight! LOL. If you don't play the lotto, wish us luck. If you do play the lotto, then I understand your conflict of interest!

Competition

2009-08-23T22:14:00.001-07:00

My prior post touched on this a little bit. If you're in business and someone realizes that you're doing good, you will have copy cats. It takes ten minutes tops of opening up shop for someone to come in and think "that's a good idea, but instead of buying it, I'll go home and make it myself." It's frustrating of course. You put the effort into the idea, and someone else is just going to copy it. Or maybe they buy one to take it home and copy it and sell it too. Either way, no fun. But there's nothing you can do about it. I suggest remaining friendly to those types of customers, and realize that theirs won't turn out anywhere near as good as yours. You have much more practice and knowledge. I always have a mental chuckle when people see my hand painted incense bottles and say that they're going to make one themselves instead of buying mine. Yes, sometimes people are rude enough to even tell you outright. It's even funnier when they ask for directions on how to do it. LOL. "Trade Secret" is the phrase to use. Another very infuriating question that I sometimes get from people is "who is your supplier?" Are they serious? I never tell those kinds of things. It's possible to find out. But if they're asking me outright, they most likely don't have the sense to do the research. I'm usually too flabbergasted by the question to have any sort of good comeback. I'm still trying to decide if it's better to make a joke of it with someting along the lines of, "if I tell you, I'll have to kill you," or if I should be a little bit rude right back. The important thing to remember is JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE ASKS, IT DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO ANSWER. I've found it hard to do. But it's necessary. I think our natural inclination is to answer whatever questions others ask. In any part of life. And if you're able, turn the conversation to your advantage. Here's an example that I was able to turn into a sale . . .

Customer: How do you make candles?

Me: (in a vague and summarized way) Melt wax, add scent and color and pour it into a mold.

Customer: Where can I get the scent? (or the ruder version . . . Where do YOU get the scent?)

Me: These fragrance oils over here (theatrical wave of my hand towards my fragrance oil selection) can be used for making candles. They can also be diffused in an oil warmer, . . . (insert entire sales spiel here) and they can even be worn.

Customer: How much do you use to make candles?

Me: Up to an ounce per pound of wax. I have a hundred and sixty different scents . . . here, smell. (I open a popular scent and hold it out.)

By this point the person is usually distracted. I've found that including the ounce per pound figure is complex enough to make them realize there's more to it than they thought. And if the person is truly interested in making their own candles, then they realize that my fragrance oils are wonderful and reasonably priced.

Prepare yourself for these types of customers and have an idea of how you want to respond. If you're like me, then you'll still be taken a bit off your game when you actually have to deal with it, but at least you can pick your chin up off the floor and have your talking points already planned out to fall back on.

No Shopping Time

2009-08-23T21:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I think it's about that time again. I'm taking a small shopping break. Of course, I'll still need to run out for milk and a couple minor necessities (i.e. beer) but with all of the great deals from last week, I'm sick of messing with it for now. I need to take some time to get my coupons back in order. And it's the end of the month, so that means going through everything to get rid of expireds too. But I intend to go about three weeks without any major shopping trips. After doing a soda and snack run at Walgreens anyway. They have good deals on Pepsi products this week. And on Tostitos too. I have tons of salsa from a couple months ago, and it's a fairly healthy snack (comparitively.) And I've got a gazillion boxes of cereal, so I think I'm set for a while.

While I'm on my shopping hiatus, I'm going to focus on organizing what I've got, doing some intense yard and house work, and working on my candle business like crazy. I just got a huge order for my Birthday Cake candles!!! So that has renewed my enthusiasm. . . . and a word from our sponsors . . .

Birthday Cake candles are great for a gift, or for yourself. The scent of freshly baked white cake topped with buttercream icing. The candle is white with confetti colors inside of it. Get them fresh out of the oven at www.lmfcandles.com.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming. Seriously though, I put a lot of love into my candles, and the birthday cake ones are something special. I'm pretty impressed with myself on those. LOL. This is my most popular scent in candle form.

Ok, ok. So this coming week I'm going to be working very hard on my business. I will be researching marketing options and getting the shop in my garage back into shape. I had a minor setback with it due to some leeching. Someone sees your good idea and wants to do it too. Which is fine in some circumstances, but in this one it's just too close for comfort. Took the wind out of my sails a bit. But I'm back, and I'm not going to let it bring me down. All it's going to do is change the way I market.

Product Review - Pledge Mulit Surface Spray

2009-08-22T10:17:00.000-07:00

I got a bottle of this Pledge a few months ago, and finally decided to try it out. I LOVE IT! I almost used the whole bottle in one night because I was trying to find more things to clean. I liked it so much that I might even pay full price for it. With a coupon of course. I didn't fall off the wagon or anything. Just that I won't be waiting around for a sale to get it for a quarter if I need a new bottle right away.

You can use it on practically all surfaces. So I had one rag and one bottle and could wipe down anything in sight. It smells like a light version of regular Pledge. So it's nice not to have the strong chemical smell. It does a great job on everything.

One complaint. On the bottle it says streak free and no residue. Well, you can tell from the photo that there are streaks on my stove. Could be my fault. My rag might not have been optimal for streak free cleaning. But still. There it is.

All in all . . . This is DEFINATELY a product that I find to be worth the money.

A Time To Give

2009-08-21T09:51:00.000-07:00

Part of learning about coupons and building my stockpile has made it more important to me to give to others. I have so much stuff that I get for practically nothing, that I've found myself wanting to share my information and my stockpile with others. I wrote yesterday about how I dug into my stockpile to give my brother bunches of things to help him get started in his new house. I've also taken little things with me to festivals to give out to the kids while their parents are shopping in my booth. Little girls love getting their own bottle of lotion. One other thing that I love to do is put together cute little gift packs with my deal shopping finds. But once the recipient gets all excited about it, I point out that the entire thing cost me about $3.00, and the most expensive part was the cute container I put it in. This tends to get people excited about couponing, and I love getting others addicted to this game.

Inventory

2009-08-20T21:44:00.000-07:00

My pantry and storage closets are bursting at the seams. I've found the need to take an inventory of what I have. I will continue buying things that are free or super cheap to give away or stock pile. My brother moved into a new house a few days ago and I enjoyed having extras to give him so he could get his supplies started out. It's rough when you're starting out and have absolutely nothing in the fridge or pantry. It made his life easier, and I felt good about being able to help him out with my hobby.

The way that I'm going to manage my stockpile is to go through and take an inventory of different items. Then I'll figure an approximate date on when I expect that I'll start running low. Let's say that I have six bottles of body wash. That should last me about four months. So I'm going to put a note on the calendar towards the end of the year that I need to look at body wash and see how my supply is. Maybe I've found more super deals and bought more so I'll just change the date. Or maybe I'm running low and need to start keeping an eye out for good deals. At this point in the year though, I don't want to have to worry about running low during the holiday season. So I want to try to have a six month supply of essentials. My mind will be busy with my business. I won't want to have to think about shopping for normal stuff as much.

More Vista Print Info

2009-08-19T20:19:00.000-07:00

Ok. So if you've been reading my site longer than two days, you know how much I love Vista Print. In my ordering today, I noticed a couple tricks to ordering. First off, they ALWAYS have sales with free or discounted stuff. So if there is something you want, just wait around for a few days and your sure to find a deal. Make sure you're on their email list, and make sure you navigate to their page from the emails they send you. I attempted to fill my cart with free and discounted things, then went to Mr. Rebates and came back to the site. Silly me. That didn't work. The prices all changed. My total had originally been $21. It changed to like $70. So I just went back to the email and followed a link and my cart changed back to what it had been. So getting the rebates definitely isn't always worth it.

Also, there are some things that are kind of pricey. It may be worth it to buy a larger amount at a later date, but for now, my business can't afford it. So every time those things come up free, I grab some. Along with a small order of something else. There's still a processing fee, but if they are things that I truly need and can put to good use, then it's worth the processing fee.

I'm still loving the email marketing too. It's so easy to do. I did come across a small hiccup when I sent an email yesterday. It somehow didn't send to anyone. I know I selected people for my list. But since I checked right away to see if any bounced back, I seen the problem and resent it successfully.

Wednesday Wisdom - Courage

2009-08-19T12:03:00.000-07:00

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" Winston Churchill

I don't think it would have been possible to find a more appropriate quote for me this week. As I'm trying to get myself ramped back up from past failures to be able to face my next plan of attack. Although I don't like to even think of them as failures per se. Things that haven't worked out right are more like learning experiences where I've found out what doesn't work.

Kroger Trip 8/18

2009-08-18T17:40:00.000-07:00

Ok. I'm impressed with myself today. I scored some better than free Chicken Helper. And what's better than free you ask. It was 90 cents for three boxes, and my coupon took off a whole dollar! They paid me to take their food! You can't get much better than that.

So here's the run down. I paid a total of $19.71. Let's see. I got 4 boxes of Total cereal, 3 boxes of fruit snacks, 3 cans of veggies, 2 packs of pillsbury cookie dough, 10 rolls of Grands biscuits, 12 boxes of Chicken Helper, a package of chicken tenderloins, a bottle of terriaki sauce, 4 bars of Neutrogena soap, and a box of raisins.

There's only one type of the Chicken Helper that is on sale for that low price. Not sure why. But it's a type that my family loves, so it works for me. I made up three boxes of it, added three cans of veggies, made some mashed potatoes and Grands, and put it all together. It's like chicken pot pie without the pie. And an easy and painless way to get my family to eat extra veggies. And now I have easy leftovers for lunch for a few days too.

Time Out Tuesday

2009-08-18T13:01:00.000-07:00

Excuse any typos you may find. As I write this, my little guy is napping on my back. What started as a "let's annoy Mommy so she will get off the computer" maneuver turned into a cozy place for a nap spot.

So. What has been going on with me outside the world of small business running and deal shooping? Not a whole bunch. I had been in a bit of a mopey, feeling sorry for myself state for a while. I feel like I've been working so hard with zero results. And with only one working car right now and that one being used by the hubby for work, I've felt trapped inside. True, I rarely went out when I had the car here to use, but just knowing that I was able to if I wanted to made a huge difference.

After spending a few days in the doldrums, I decided that it isn't pretty, so I need to pull myself together and get back into my groove. So I leaped out of bed this morning at the crack of noon and got busy. Even put on a touch of makeup. So I'm feeling pretty good today. I was awake until 4:30 am last night. Thinking about all of the things I wanted to get done today. I should have just gotten up and done a couple of them and I might have fallen asleep earlier. But that would have gone against the procrastinators mantra. Why do it today if you can put it off until tomorrow? Stay up all night worrying about it instead.

Couponers Unite!

2009-08-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

While I was at Kmart today taking advantage of their super double coupon promotion . . . (any coupons up to $2 are doubled) I overheard a woman telling someone about how she never pays for most of the stuff she gets because of coupons. As she walked by, she seen me with my envelope full of coupons and we got to talking for a few minutes.

It's fun to go shopping and run into people that share your hobby. We shared some tips with each other, things that were new to each of us, and we complained about how we couldn't get our friends and family members to join in as much as we would like. (Come on guys. I do the hard part, all you have to do is take the coupons I hand you and go to the store and pay your 15 cents for your toothpaste.)

It was also helpful because she had already scoped out some of the coupon matchups, and so had I. So we were able to save each other time by pointing out if something was already gone, or if we had seen something that was a great deal. We couponers are our own little club. It's easy to become a member. Just start clipping your coupons and reading some blogs. Especially if you can find local ones. Then you may even be able to meet with the writer and get one on one info!

FREE, FREE, FREE

2009-08-14T04:31:00.000-07:00

Several items I will never pay for again . . .

With combining sales and coupons, there are several things that I should never had a need to pay money for ever again.

Toothpaste - I have gotten so much free toothpaste, that I probably have a big enoug stockpile to last for the rest of my natural life. At least for as long as I have teeth. LOL. I still "buy" more when I get it free, and I also give it to friends and family. Not everyone has time to coupon and deal shop, so I feel better knowing that my work can still help them out even if they aren't the ones showing up at the store with coupons in hand themselves.

Deoderant - This one is a bit trickier. I can get a lot of deoderant free, or next to free. But my husband insists on a specific type that usually isn't free. He doesn't so much care which brand, but he has to have the gel type that squeezes through the holes. So I recently had to pay 50 cents each for a dozen deoderants for him. My needs are less specific, so mine is always free, or maybe 9 cents.

Mustard and hot sauce - I think I have a big enough supply of these two condiments to last for the rest of my life! I still "buy" more when I get the coupons that make them free. Although I do usually take a quick look around the aisle to see if anyone else wants my coupon to get a bottle free before I grab it myself. I'm planning to put together some cute gift sets with it. Throw in a cute basket and a cute, inexpensive pot holder from IKEA, and a couple other odds and ends and it will be beautiful.

Celestial Seasonings Tea - around the winter holidays, Kroger marked these down to $1 a box. With a 50 cent off coupon that doubled, these were completely free. I'm not much of a tea drinker, but for free, I'll have it occassionally. Besides, I want to drink more because it's healthy. These are also good for gift sets. Put it in a basket with a mug or two, and you have a wonderful Christmas gift.

Lots of other things - There have recently been a lot of really good beer rebates out there. One that my family did was the 12 pack of Smithwicks. You spend $50 on groceries, buy the 12 pack of beer on top of that, then get $20 back. I've been doubling up on rebates. I just inform the cashier ahead of time that I will need multiple receipts. Then I spend my $50, and I try to include as many other rebate items as possible to lower my total after rebate amount. Recently it's been the $20 back from the beer, $6 back on a case of Snapple, $7 back on a pack of Pediasure, and $10 back on 10 cans of AMP. So out of $50 worth of groceries, I end up getting $44 back. Is that a deal or what?!

Internet Shopping Rebates

2009-08-13T11:58:00.001-07:00

As you can see from my banner, I really like the Mr. Rebates website. I have explained how this works before, but I will touch on it again just a bit. Any shopping that you want to do online, go to the rebate site first, do a search for the store you want to shop at, then click the link to take you to that store. Any purchase you make, you will automatically get cash back on.

Mr. Rebates is my favorite. There are other sites out there too that work the same way. Cashbaq and Ebates are the other ones I'm familiar with. If you have an account at all three sites, just compare the percentage rates at each one to determine which site to use. For example, if I was making a purchase at Brylane Homes, Mr Rebates gives me 5% back, Cashbaq pays 2.5% back, and Ebates pays 3% back. So I would use Mr. Rebates to make the purchase.

Don't forget to do a separate search at Retail Me Not to find a coupon code!

This is especially great for the Vista Print products and services. Mr. Rebates gives you 10% back on Vista Print products.

I heart Vista Print

2009-08-12T10:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I talked about the Vista Print email campaign thing a few days ago. I love it! I've sent my second campaign now, and it is such a useful tool. For all the reasons I stated before. I won't go in to all of the details again since you can just go back and read it. It's fun! It's only been a week and I'm already nearing the limits of the free trial. I have 45 email addresses to use, and I'm going to need to be entering more before my email next Tuesday. So I'm going to have to pay the $10 then I'll be able to have up to 250 email addresses. I anticipate that I'll be needing the $30 package by the end of the year. That allows me to have up to 2500 emails.

Anyone who has looked into advertising at all knows that $30 a month to make that many contacts is a reasonable price. As a comparison, think about how much 2500 stamps would cost. And think about how much time and effort it would take to deliver 2500 flyers door to door. Print advertising is more expensive too. This way you are reaching an audience that wants to hear from you. And if they don't, they can unsubscribe and you can stop messing with them.

Another point I want to make with this . . . I have attempted to send a mass email before. I have a huge list that I got from doing a bridal show. (Very expensive, boring, and a lot of follow up work required to get orders, I don't recommend it.) I had attempted to use that list to send a mass email a couple months ago. A lot of them were invalid email addresses, and a lot of people unsubscribed. With me doing it manually, that means I need to go through my list and delete those people. It's a lot of work. Plus, just sending the emails bogged down the system. I must have reached some sort of limit on outgoing emails because after about 100, they stopped sending. Frustrating and time consuming. And of the people that didn't bounce back or unsubscribe, I have no idea if it's hitting their junk folders and never being seen, or if they're ignoring it, or reading it or what. With Vista Print, if I see that a person isn't opening the emails I send, I can delete them from my list.

Wednesday Wisdom

2009-08-12T10:09:00.000-07:00

Restlessness and discontent are the first necessities of progress. -Thomas Edison

It's nice to think that there's a reason for all of the problems that are going on in my life! I do feel that there's a reason for everything and that our problems and suffering are there for us to learn from. BUT IT'S SUMMER VACATION. I'm supposed to have a break from learning during summer break, right? Oh well. Nothing I can do about it if I'm supposed to learn something from my hardships. I think that these things keep happening to push me forward with my business. If I didn't have so many things that I need money for then I might not work so hard to make my business successful.

One small step for Business Mommy!

2009-08-11T13:35:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all who visited yesterday! I reached my first goal of having 50 visitors in a single day! This is largely due to my muffin tin post that was linked to Her Cup Overfloweth. Thank you Michelle for giving me a fun post to be a part of, and thank you for coming up with the idea that is helping me feed my little guy, Dawson, in a way that he is loving!

Michelle also posts a lot of fun craft ideas for kids. Maybe you can find something fun to do with your little ones too, or maybe she can inspire you towards a new idea for your own crafts.

Band of Barbies

2009-08-11T07:06:00.001-07:00

This is a new blog that I've started reading. Band of Barbies is written about small business issues. Particularly those that face women. The most recent post is about the difference between businessmen, and businesswomen. Most notably, the women are labeled as bitches. I think most women deal with this stereotype, whether you work in the business world, or if you own your own business. The key is to take pride in being called a bitch! All it means is that you've outmaneuvered a man to the point that he has no other recourse to cover for himself other than to call you a name!

Time Out Tuesday - Sometimes Life Sucks

2009-08-11T06:40:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those days where NOTHING goes right? Have you ever had one of those years? I swear, the past three years of my life have felt like that. There have been a couple spectacularly good things. Meeting and marrying my hubby, and having my baby. But everything else just seems neverending. I'll give you the short list. Trees falling in the back yard, breaking a cap on my tooth, hubby breaking a cap, lap top died, other computer died, hubby got laid off, got new job, got laid off again, luckily got new wonderful job, I got laid off, lots of expensive medical fees (happily not for anything life threatening,) dealing with an unpleasant person on an almost daily basis, dealing with a herd of little unpleasant people, and dealing with the side effects that come with being laid off and having lots of medical (and ahem. . . legal) expenses.

And remember, that's the short list. LOL. It's feeling like things are never going to get to a normal level. I certainly don't expect life to be perfect. I'm just ready for it to not be so freaking hard. I feel like I'm in a leaking boat and throwing out bucket after bucket of water to keep from sinking. Most of the time I'm able to just barely stay afloat, then as soon as I start to make some progress, another wave comes along. At least I have my family. And all of these hardships have pointed me in the direction of learning about the saving money websites out there. And my own challenges of finding money leftover to still be able to work on my business when it feels like every penny goes out the door has inspired me to write this blog and hopefully help others in similar situations.

All of this hardship in my life should be ending in the near future. And when it does I'm going to be fortunate to have gone through all of this. I'll already know how to live frugally so that I'll be able to get the most for my money.

Muffin Tin Monday

2009-08-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

Lunchtime!

The muffin pan has turned out to be a spectacular way to feed my son his lunch. I did it three times last week. He loves it! It's easy for me because it allows me to have a better idea of the kinds of serving sizes and variety that I want to be giving him. And he loves sticking his fingers in the holes to find his snacks. I try to pick things that aren't too messy so he doesn't have to get in the high chair for them. His favorite is peanut butter sandwiches made out of eggo waffles. The peanut butter melts into the waffle squares a bit when they're still warm, so it makes it less messy for him to eat. So there's two holes with sandwich sections, then two holes with fruit, then I usually put a dessert in one, and a snack in one. The snack has been Quaker rice cakes. He loves them. And the dessert has been M&Ms. He usually starts with dessert. He takes after his momma. I don't include veggies because he won't eat veggies when he has options. If they are the only thing in front of him, he likes them. Next to anything else, forget it.

I've found that the muffin tin is also good for his memory. I put it on a tv tray and try to get him to sit on the couch with me to eat. Nope. He's too busy for that. But he pays attention to where everything is, and he sticks his hand up to grab and gets exactly what he wants. I realized this when I turned it around once to try to convince him to eat something other than M&Ms first. He got so frustrated and kept looking under his rice cakes trying to figure out why the candy wasn't there when it should have been. So I don't trick him anymore. So long as he's eating other things too, let him start with the candy.

How to tell if you're stressed

2009-08-08T08:30:00.001-07:00

1. You wake up in the morning with sore muscles because you couldn't relax even while you were asleep.

2. You don't wake up in the morning with sore muscles because you didn't sleep.

3. You don't wake up in the morning with sore muscles because you don't wake up until the afternoon.

Vista Print Email Campaigns

2009-08-07T06:07:00.000-07:00

This is the coolest thing in the world! If you like Vista Print like I like Vista Print, then you'll love this new feature. Go ahead and sign up for the free 1 month trial if you have a small business or a blog you want to advertise. It's simple to set up. You can enter email addresses manually, or import a file. I did mine manually, so I don't know how well the import works. Then you can very easily create a snazzy looking email to send to everyone.

A really nice feature that I like is that you can set up your emails to be sent on a certain date, and you can send them to your list up to six times a month. This will be super nice for me because I can sit down and create all of my emails at once, then schedule them to send automatically for the whole month. I will still need to log in throughout the month to add more email addresses (hopefully.)

Another totally awesome feature is that once you've sent an email (called a "campaign,) you can track it. You can see how many of them bounced back to where the email address is wrong or no longer in service. It also tells you who the unbelievers (ie, unsubscribers) are. And it also tells you who has opened your email! Another feature that I think is super nifty is that over time, you can get stats on the people who NEVER open your emails. So you can delete them from your list and only send to the people that care.

The free trial is for an email list of up to 50 contacts. If you do any networking at all, hopefully you're already close to this number. After 1 month, it costs $5 a month. For a list of up to 250 it is $10 a month. I think this is a great price for a valuable marketing tool. And an easy way to track how well your marketing is working. Fingers crossed that I can actually get some sales this way!

One last tidbit. There is also a feature where you can create code to put into your website to allow people to subscribe to your email. You can see the box I added on my website. www.lmfcandles.com. As you can tell from the length of this post, there are a gazillion things that make this a wonderful service to have. Click my link to Vista Print in the side bar to see more!

Everlasting Green Onions?

2009-08-06T14:24:00.000-07:00

I found this post today . . . http://mommy-wise.blogspot.com/2009/08/did-you-know.html Pretty cool for green onions for the rest of your life! LOL.

Time Out Tuesday - My Little Shark

2009-08-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

Those of you in the Cincinnati area . . . did you hear those awesome thunderstorms this morning?!!! Now that all the trees are already down in my backyard, thunderstorms are wonderful again. Although they do usually start with a St. Bernard and Canaan dog on top of me and husband wanting to be snuggled and protected from the mean thunder.

Dawson is in a stage now where he loves to be kissed. He will give kisses, and if he wants a kiss he will lean his head in to mine. Last night I had him with me watching a movie in bed. Dave was downstairs watching his Monday night wrestling. (men.) Dawson kept giving me kisses. After a few, he decided to try it with his mouth wide open and bit my chin. Ouch! He thought my little squeal was hilarious, so he kept doing it. So from my point of view, all I see is a baby mouth wide open and little teeth coming at me. It was so funny and cute, and he wasn't being mean or hurting me, so I let him keep up the game. The little booger chased me all over the bed biting me and giggling while I screamed in pretend outrage.

Kroger Deals

2009-08-04T10:07:00.001-07:00

There are a few really good Kroger deals this week. I'm going to highlight a few, but remember, The Grocery Game has a much more extensive list. And even better, now the trial period is completely free. So try it out!

One other thing to mention before I highlight a couple Kroger deals . . . P&G Esaver. If you aren't using this yet, get with the program!!! All you do is set up a free account, add your Kroger card number, and then go through their list of coupons and select the ones you want. The coupons are added to your card and automatically come off at the register when you purchase those items. Even better, you can combine the esaver coupons with regular manufacturer coupons! Some of the great deals I'll be getting this week have both a paper coupon and an esaver coupon.

Lady Speed Stick on sale for 88 cents, $1 off 2 MQ makes them 38 cents each!

Right Guard Deodorant on sale for $1, $1 off 2 MQ makes them 50 cents each!

Tampax Tampons $1.99 w/ four item purchase, .50 MQ doubles to $1 off, PG esaver .50 makes them 49 cents a pack!
(and speaking of this . . . I'm not pregnant. . . yet.)

Puffs Tissues - Buy 3 boxes, and make sure you buy something else that gets you to the 4 item purchase price which is 79 cents a box. MQ for .25 off 3 and PG esaver for .25 off 3. Equals 54 cents a box.

Mean People vs. Couponers

2009-08-02T21:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I had an interesting experience at Walmart today. It was coupon day, and four inserts in the paper, so I was out grabbing my extra papers. At Walmart there's a great big display of them with four sections. I always go to the back corner section so I'm out of everyone's way. That way, normal paper readers can grab a paper. But I have to flip through and make sure that the papers I'm getting have all of the coupon inserts in them. Tim, my friendly Walmart greeter, was not happy with me at all. I had come across one paper that did not have all the coupons in it, so I put it aside. He felt the need to come over and complain to me about how I was messing up all of his papers. I told him that I was checking to make sure that they had all the inserts. He gave me a huffy, "they all have the same things." As anyone who pays attention to the coupon inserts knows, newspapers are put together by people, who are not perfect and make mistakes. It's pretty common to come across papers that are missing pieces. That said, I bought five papers, all of which had their coupons, but I ended up with only one Kmart, Staples, and Office Depot ad, and did not receive ANY CVS ads.

So anyway. Tim stood there and gave me mean looks the whole time, and I tried to hurry. Not that I care so much about what Tim thought about me, but it did make me uncomfortable to be stared at. And as chance would have it, Tim was not even wearing a name tag, so I asked him specifically what his name was. I checked out then went directly to customer service. Yes, there was a line. But I've had enough run-ins with rude greeters whose very job description is to make customers feel welcome in the store that I feel it's my obligation to say something. Especially when it's on behalf of couponers. Plus, the mystery shopping thing also puts me in that mindset. Places pay me money to let them know if their associates are doing their job. Although Walmart is not one of those places, when it's my personal experience at the store that is suffering, and assuming I have a few minutes to spare, I try to speak up.

So anyway. I stood in line at customer service to complain. The customer service cashier got a manager for me, and was also aggravated because she also buys the Sunday paper just for the coupons, and also checks to make sure it looks like everything is there. So the manager came up and I told her my sad story. She seemed honestly concerned about it and said that she would say something to Tim. She told me to go ahead and check through my papers there at the counter to make sure they had what I needed.

While I was standing there checking the papers, another customer came in with a coupon complaint. One of her coupons wouldn't scan, which again, any couponer knows, this happens. It just does. Maybe the ink didn't print perfectly or something. I don't know. Lots of reasons. It happens. But she was told that it must be a fraudulent coupon. In front of everyone she was accused of committing coupon fraud. She ended up telling the cashier to just take the item off her order and she would use her perfectly good coupon elsewhere. If it was me, I would told the cashier that I would wait while she got a manager and/or called corporate if that was necessary. I figure it's my job to be as big of a pain in the you know what as possible if anyone tries to give me a problem with something that I know should work just fine.

Anyway. My papers were fine, so I left. And on the way out, I noticed that Tim was suddenly wearing a name tag. I tried to give him a mean "neener" stare, but he was working hard to keep from looking at me. LOL.

Printer Update

2009-07-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

It turns out that I'm going to be getting my printer for only $20! That's pretty awesome in my book. Let me tell you how . . .

See my post from last week about how I was able to get the printer for $40 after rebate. My wonderful new used printer was supposed to arrive on Tuesday. Well, I got an email saying it was to be delayed a day. I'm super excited to get my new printer, and I don't want to have to wait longer, so I made sure to stay home all day anxiously awaiting my delivery. And you know how it is. They always show up when you're in the bathroom or getting dressed. So I've been on guard all day long ready to run to the door at any moment. No delivery. No email updating the shipment date or anything. So I called the number from the original email. It was a problem with UPS, they hadn't communicated with me or with Staples, but it was listed on their tracking website as to be delivered on Thursday. Great, another whole day of waiting around. Because we all know they don't come early in the morning. They wait until 4:45 just so you have to stay home all day.

So, the nice customer service woman with Staples took $20 off of my order for the inconvenience! Yay! Although under normal circumstances, a day of staying home would cost more than the savings would be worth, since I'm unemployed and working on building up my business, there wasn't really any opportunity lost. So I get my printer for $20 after rebate. I'm pretty thrilled. And hopefully my printer will be here tomorrow.

Baby Momma with a Business

2009-07-25T00:11:00.000-07:00

One of the difficult things about being a business mommy is allocating time for work. And I don't just mean hopping onto the computer to get a few things done. Or even turning on my wax pots and pouring some candles. I mean the professional aspects. Making phone calls and sales calls. And going to networking events. Those are the types of things that as a business woman, it's hard to have the time and the confidence to jump into that aspect. I can't just wait until my husband is home to take over baby duty to go out on sales calls. Business owners just wouldn't be in the mood to be talking to me at that time of day.

One of the things that I'm trying to transition to is the idea that as a business mommy, there is nothing wrong with taking my baby with me. Dawson is very sociable and well behaved. And a great big flirt. And being a business mommy . . . mommy is half of my title. I really think that most people I will be talking to would be perfectly fine with me having Dawson on one hip and my free samples and promotional package in the other hand. Afterall, I think a big chunk of small business owners are in business for themselves because they want to have control over their own lives to a big enough degree to accomadate personal needs. Although I will say that I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful little monster that can be perfectly happy entertaining himself for a few minutes while I do other things. And I bet inside of a small art gallery, he will be mesmerized looking around at things from the safety of his stroller that he won't even care what I'm up to. And if Dawson isn't quiet while I'm on the phone, I'm not going to stress about that either.

Super Deal on a Laser Printer

2009-07-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, I wanted to make sure I did a test drive on this deal before sharing it. My prior post specifies how it is cheaper to use a laser printer. There is a great deal on a nice laser printer at Staples right now. Here is the link to the printer:

http://www.staples.com/office/supplies/p1_Brother-Remanufactured-HL-2170W-Laser-Printer_259690_Business_Supplies_10051_SEARCH

Notice that it will cost 99.99. I added on a pack of highlighters for $1 just to bring the total over a hundred dollars. That makes me elgible to use a $20 off of a hundred dollar order. Use coupon code 72382. So once you've received your rebate, that makes the actual price only $50. But wait, it gets better. After checking out, you should get an option to enroll in the Staples Identity Theft Program. This will give you an additional $10 back on your order. So a nice laser printer for only $40! Just be sure to cancel your membership in the identity theft program within the 30 day trial period and you won't be billed anything.

Once you have completed your order, there is a link to click that will direct you to the form to fill out for your $30 rebate. The order number is automatically entered! All you have to do is input a rebate code which is listed on your receipt. Two words. E. Z.

Don't forget to go through Mr. Rebates. You'll get 2% back. And that's on the before rebate total! And you should also get points for the Staples Rewards club on the before rebate amount too.

Save Money Printing

2009-07-23T14:20:00.000-07:00

Printing costs are a huge issue if you are a couponer or a small business owner. The cost of paper and ink will kill you if you aren't smart about it. And for small business people, all of the additional types of paper you need for advertising is pretty expensive too.

Probably the cheapest and easiest way to save on printing is to purchase a laser printer. I recommend a basic black and white one for printing coupons, shopping lists from The Grocery Game, personal notes, letters, etc. You can get A LOT more pages out of a laser printer than what you can with a laser jet. My favorite brand of printer is Brother. There are usually really good deals on Brother laser jets. And all it takes is replacing your color and black ink cartridges once to equal the cost of the new printer. I'm looking for one with wireless printing so that I can print to the same printer regardless of what computer I'm on. I would love to have a color laser printer too, but my budget doesn't allow for that right now. One of my favorite things with a laser printer is that you can use highlighters without the ink smearing. One very important thing to note, replacement toner is pricey. But it lasts so much longer that it pays for itself. The printer I'm looking at also has several different capacities for the toner cartridge. The first time I replace it I will probably buy the small one. After that I will be getting the big one. Based on the yields, I bet I could get the large one to last a whole year. And it's still less than a hundred bucks. Add that in with a good deal that includes $20 off a hundred dollar purchase, and that makes it a huge money saver over ink jet replacements.

If you're stuck with an ink jet for now there are still a couple things you can do to save. Set your computer to print in economy mode. Everything will print lighter, but it saves on the ink. One problem is that with coupons, the bar codes don't usually scan, but that's the cashier's problem. If you want your ink jet to last a long time, don't try to save money with refilled cartridges. They aren't good for the printer. But if you have a printer that you're ready to get rid of like I do, go ahead and use the cheap cartridges. I don't care if it breaks, and any additional use I get out of it in the meantime is great.

For small business owners, another huge way to save on printing costs is to use Vista Print. Not everything is cheaper, but a lot of things are. I will never print my own business cards ever again. Between buying the special paper, having half of it get jammed up in the printer, and using all of the ink to print, purchasing them online is truly a much better deal. Then you end up with a much nicer looking, professionally printed card too.

Prescription Problem Update

2009-07-22T19:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I lost this one. Pretty much, I decided that arguing with the insurance company wasn't worth my time. But I do have to give some credit to Meijer Pharmacy. They directed me to a website where I could print out a voucher for a free sample of 14 pills of my prescription. Yay! So that should hold me over well enough until I can get a full month's supply. It's not quite a full supply for this time period, but it's enough that I won't have health problems. So yay! Not an ideal situation, but far from the worst case scenario. Boy was it stressful though. I will always check my prescriptions as soon as they're filled from now on.

Wednesday Wisdom

2009-07-22T10:23:00.000-07:00

If your eyes are blinded with your worries, you cannot see the beauty of the sunset.

--Krishnamurti

This is a new category I decided to start. I find that with as busy as I keep myself, it's easy to forget what's important. Thinking over a saying or quote helps me to think about my life in a slightly different way. This particular one is so true. How many times have I been so lost in my thoughts and even though I'm looking right at it, I don't even see a beautiful sunset? Too many times to count. That was mostly during my commute home from work, so that isn't exactly an issue at this moment. But I do get side tracked with other things and forget to enjoy my son or my husband. Yesterday I had a break during the day while my aunt whisked my little one away for a day of spoiling. I was all over the place trying to get things done while I had the free time. Then when he was home, it was hard to change tracks. I didn't notice until my husband pointed it out that Dawson was being fussy because he hadn't had enough mommy time.