March 21st, 2008 by admin
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There Is Really Nothing Free
January 31st, 2008 by adminI have a pet peeve!!!!!! I have been searching the library, the books stores and the internet for a couple years trying to find info on how to live for less and for free items. I have found many helpful websites as well as books that give good advice on spending less, how to save and prioritize spending. I am grateful for everything I have learned.
However, when it comes to free items and even coupons, rebates on money off in general I have come up very short. Every “deal” has a catch. To get one thing free there is usually a requirement to buy something either one time or on going. Most of the shipping costs off-set and money off on items that are mail order. The cost of gas is prohibiting actually shopping in person. Most of the coupons I find are for items I don’t use. Also, there is actually little variety in what coupons are available. Dog food, hair supplies and brownies seem to dominate the coupons I have found.
Another problem with coupons is that they are for brand name items and I can usually find an off brand for less without a coupon. For those who don’t know-the off brands are made by the same companies who produce the brand names-it is a bit of smoke and mirrors. Sometimes there is a little bit of quality difference in off brands-because they use the less than perfect product but it is still plenty good enough. For example, if I can peaches myself, I will can the beauties but I will also can the less than perfect ones, the one that are just a little more ripe or ones that are not perfectly shaped. In a pie no one will know any difference. Del-Monte, for instance, will do the same thing except they will separate them by quality into cans with different labels. Same peaches, from the same fields, same processing plant, just different cans. What I do is test different brands for quality and taste after I read the labels for ingredients and determine which ones fit my needs and pocketbook best. I can usually buy off brands for less
I would like to find coupons that I can use that are really a good deal. I would just like money off a particular product instead of a buy one get one free-I’d like to just get a free one!!!!!!! I also would like to find free items that are really free-no required purchases, no shipping/handling and no other hidden costs. I can ususally spend less without the “deals”!!!!!! So I see most of these as ripp offs.
I have found that to spend less money one needs to spend less money. Saving X dollars on one item just to spend that “saved” money on something else still leaves no money in my pocket!!!!! So to really spend less I have to make decisions about my true need versus want, emotion, deal and priority. I have found I need far fewer things than I had thought. I can do without so very much. I don’t need new clothes very often, I can make things instead of buying, I can repair things, I can trade, I can shop in truly discounted stores and thrift shops or even go garage saling. For example: I need a newer washer and dryer-this week I found the exact ones I want, which normally would cost me close to $2000, for $500. The set is one year old, lightly used and in great shape and the color I desire. All I have to do is make a call, get my cash together and have my husband go pick them up!!!!!! Now that is a savings!!!!!!!!
Before purchasing anything I now ask myself several questions:
Can I do without it altogether??
Can I get along one more day without it??
Can I repair what I already have cheaper??
Can I manage with a cheaper brand or something that is similar??
Can I find it in a discount store, thrift shop, garage sale, or trade?
Can I wait until I can find it on sale-a real sale??????
Do I really need the most expensive brand???? For example: just think what toilet paper is used for-now reason-do you really need an excessively expensive paper for that purpose???? Could you possible use a less expensive brand, maybe even less quantity, for such a purpose. Remember you are going to through it away directly after use!!!! So does it have to feel like a cloud????????? I will leave you to ponder!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Home School Tip Of The Week
January 28th, 2008 by adminMy favorite websites.
www.heartofwisdom.com
www.scrapbookingtolearn.com
www.mathworksheetwizard.com
www.chartjungle.com
www.sitesforteachers.com
www.face.net
www.dictionary.com
www.apologia.com
www.classicalastronomy.com
www.homeschoolinthewoods.com
Of course I check out all the sites I come across and visit some of the tried and true standards in curriculum, magazines and specialty sites, but the sites listed above are the ones I glean the most from on a regular basis.
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Sewing and Quilting
January 28th, 2008 by adminI have always liked to sew. I started with 4-H when I was nine. You know the tea towel, apron and pot holder projects!!!!! When I got in high school I dropped 4-H for home economics classes. I then took home economics in college and taught for a few years before beginning home schooling my children.
Lately, I have been cutting out pieces to quilt. I bought some pretty fat quarters. I didn’t buy them with any particular quilt in mind. I just like the colors, prints and textures. I found a great scrap quilting book and came up with a pattern that will work with my various fat quarters. I am excited about getting it going.
I also have been getting ready to sew myself some new clothes. I am a plus size and am limited on funds so I have difficulty with my wardrobe. It is hard to find patterns to fit plus sizes. I found some new patterns by Connie Crawford that are especially made for plus sized women so I will use those. I also found a book “Sewing for Plus Sizes” by Barbara Deckert. Through this book I am learning how to size patterns to fit my body specifically. We all look our best when our clothing fits well. I am as well, re-making or adjusting some of the clothing I now own. I am shortening some hems, mending and altering these items. On some of them I am putting embellishments to give them a “new” look. I hope that by Spring and definitely by Summer I will have a relatively nice wardrobe. This is something I have neglected for several years-shame on me!!! :):):):):)
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Sick, Sick, Sick
January 9th, 2008 by adminWell, after all my good intentions of blogging more regularly and getting a great start on 2008, I end up very sick!!!!!! I started getting a cold a day or two before Christmas and am finally beginning to think I might be well some day!!!!! This has been horrible!!!!! Over the weekend, I thought about going to the emergency room, but what can anyone do about a cold!!!!! I have used five boxes of kleenex and can still only breathe intermitanly!!!!! But praise God, I am gradually doing better. I might even feel human again by the end of the week. So just thought I’d post a note. It makes me feel like I am accomplishing something!!!!!
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2008 New Beginnings
January 2nd, 2008 by adminScripture indicates the number 8 as new beginning. I am excited that 2008 is upon us!!!! I am ready to begin anew!!!!!
The past 7 years have been a trial in my life, a long seemingly unending trial!!!!!! We lost our business and income. We lost our home. We lost all our finances and had to file bankruptcy. We have had to move four times and are now living in an apartment that I find very difficult to adjust to. My health has been up and down-mostly down!!!!! We were kicked out of the church we had attended for nearly 14 years. Most of our relationships were either greatly changed or severed altogether. My mother died in 2006. Just to name a few trials!!!!!
On the other hand there have been some really fantastic, wonderful blessings. Our oldest daughter married and now has four beautiful children. We now attend a wonderful church and have been blessed beyond belief. We have survived, in the face of impossible odds. I was blessed to spend wonderful days with my mother before her death and be with her when she passed. My second daughter has grown in the Lord and is working toward a goal of ministry. My son who is now nearly 13 years old is developing into a tender man of God. My husband and I have added another 7 years to our marriage, making it 31 1/2 years of a great marriage.
So you see, it has been the best of times and the worst of times all rolled into one. However, the pain of this time seemed to over shadow much of the joy-seeming to loom larger!!!! I am ready to move on from this season into a time of greater peace in God. I desire to know and do what He purposes in my life. I feel like I have kind up dragged through the past 7 years, allowing the circumstances to roll over me and consume me. I have had enough. It is time for a new beginning.
I have come to realize that I am just glad 2007 is over. I as well, realize I have victory over Satan because I have just kept breathing, survived 2000-2007. I have not only survived but have grown in my love for Jesus. The times have been hard but God has not abandoned me-he has sustained me!!!!!!! So in this very simple act of survival, I have victory over the enemy!!!!!!! I now take that victory and move forward into a new era. What lies ahead only God knows, but I have survived and will continue to use the strength I have gained in this experience to serve God in years to come. I am 53 years old. I have many years ahead. The adventure of a new time is upon me and I embrace it with gladness.
I have some goals for the new year, not resolutions but rather things I want to focus on and work toward.
1. Read more scripture daily.
2. Intercede in prayer more.
3. Work on caring for my health more through natural means such as diet, exercise and supplements.
4. Seek God’s direction and follow Him in all areas of my life.
5. Stay sweet!!!!!
I do not have unrealistic views of my goals, or think I have failed if I do not accomplish all I hope to, or have any legalistic demands placed on myself. I just see having goals as a vision. The Word says that we perish without vision-this is vision-direction for me.
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Christmas Eve
December 24th, 2007 by adminWe enjoy the Christmas season each year. Each year has some familiar events and some new or different events. Two of our children are now grown, ages 29 and 23, and the other is 12. We have four grandchildren and a son-in-law. Many relatives have passed over the years, many more have been added. So just like life our Christmas celebrations have changed and I assume will continue to. The one constant is Jesus. We are celebrating Jesus. We don’t ignore him the rest of the year but we do like to have some special focus at Christmas time. I know there are all kinds of controversies among Christians as to how to celebrate or whether to celebrate at all. I just do not want to address any of that just now!!!!! I simply want to honor Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. It is because of Him that I live and move and have my being. I put Him above all else in my life. I commit my life to become more like Him daily. I pray He become more and more and I become less and less, daily. I commit to serving Him in the ways set forth in the Word of God. I honor God by worshipping Jesus, I worship God by honoring Jesus!!!!! I pray the knowledge of a personal relationship with Jesus for everyone. I pray today that I might serve Jesus better and love as He loves. I pray I can keep in my mind all that Jesus has done for me so I will not lack love toward anyone. While I was yet a sinner Jesus died for me. (He had to be born before he would be able to die.) I am not special he did the same thing for every person past, present and future. I am special in that if I were the only person to ever have lived He still would have done this awesome thing. He would do the same for each one, so in that sense I still am not special. I know that I love Jesus because He first loved me!!!!!!!! Irregardless, of how the celebration “looks” I am so happy to be celebrating!!!!!!
Merry Christmas.
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Needing to Blog More!!!!!!
December 23rd, 2007 by adminI just have not yet gotten into the swing of blogging daily. I am reading other’s blogs more and am getting more interested in the whole phenominon of blogging. Even though I rarely have anyone read what I write I still believe this is an outlet that will be of benefit to me and any future readers. I need to be more disciplined in many ways in my life, just now. There have been several major upsets in my life in the past couple years and I have been so focused on the circumstances surrounding those issues that I have become lax in some areas that if I were more disciplined would help me be on firmer ground, so to speak, in the areas of issues. Kind of a catch 22 or vicious circle, one thing perpetuates the other!!!!! So we shall see, I intend to begin to pull myself-always in God’s strength, not my own-out of this muck of just surviving day to day. Things such as more reading of the scriptures, more time in prayer, controling eating habits, exercising more, spending more quality time with each of my children, grand children and husband, being more “connected” in my church body, and several other things that will be added in as time proceeds. None of this is from a legalistic point of view but rather for the purpose of improving health, spiritual growth and coping daily. Lord help me in my weaknesses to be more like you.
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Weekly Give Away
December 16th, 2007 by admin
Heart of Wisdom Blog Contest: A Free Book Random Drawing will be held every Monday through the months of December and January at the Heart of Wisdom Blog. Each week one Heart of Wisdom subscriber will be randomly selected o receive one FREE Homeschool Book or Heart of Wisdom Ebook from Homeschool-Books.com. A new title will be given away each week. Click here to enter.
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Christmas 2007
December 13th, 2007 by adminI was thinking about Christmas’s past. I have many fond memories of Grandma’s house as a child. I also have many fond memories of decorating and having Christmas with my own children. In many way, Christmas has been a joy for me. There have also been those events at extended family since being an adult where the atmosphere has been much less than pleasant!!!!!
So what do I think about this year as Christmas approaches. I think Christmas has become a routine. There is this routine of shopping, decorating, parties, and church related activities. I think it has all become kind of stale!!!!!!! Gasp!!!!!!!!!!!!! Actually, Christmas is a lot of work for the Mom/Grandma. Lots of planning, lots of preparation. There’s the cooking, the cleaning, the activities to go to and prepare for, the wrapping, the decorating, the cards, the parties-what to take, what to wear-there is a mountain of work involved in Christmas!!!!!!! Why???? It is because we did have fun filled Christmas’s as children and we want to dulicate this for our children and grandchildren. For me it is a routine of bringing joy and fun into the lives of those I love. Christmas is not about me but about others!!!!!!! The joy for me comes from the joy of those I love.
The question may arise: Why do you do all this when you are supposed to be celebrating Jesus’s birth?????? For me it is a simple thing. God gave because He first loved us. Jesus gave because He loved, enough to give His life in place of ours. I give because I love!!!!! I have evaluated over the years and trimmed out the excess. I have also made a point to emphasize Jesus above the traditional family fun. However, there is no greater joy than to serve and give to others. Christmas just gives us an excuse to serve and give. If we did not have this time each year we just might not remember to serve and give. We have the opportunity to show all those we love just how much we love them. Will they understand the deep meaning behind our service and giving-probably not while they are tackling a gift to unwrap. But someday they will fully comprehend the sacrifice that was made for them. If they have been taught of Jesus’s sacrifice for us, they will understand that we are not being commercial but rather imitating our Lord and Savior.
Merry Christmas
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