Good Deal on Hallmark cards

http://f.chtah.com/i/5/474648236/20081219_v2c_landingpage_01.HTML

Oh my where has the time gone. Been a month since my last post! Busy with work, school, Thanksgiving, sickness in household, my Christmas baby's family birthday party, black friday shopping adventure, and holiday shopping.

NEED FREE SHIPPING?

Stores that are offering free shipping on Thurs. and you'll get your gifts by Christmas.

www.freeshippingday.com OR www.freeshipping.org


FREE Budget Calculator
Walmart has a great budget calculator right on their website. You can manage your food and drink, gifts, and much more. All you do is type in the number of guests and your dollar amount. It will post your needed budget and you can print it and keep it with you on all times to keep from over spending.

http://instoresnow.walmart.com/Community.aspx?id=107


Spread holiday cheer with Office Max's Elf Yourself. This is so funny. Your family will be laughing for hours. Just download a picture and crop it. You'll be transformed into a dancing elf! This year, there's more dances, elves, and ears.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards at:

http://www.elfyourself.com/?cm_re=ElfYourself-_-LSBan1-_-Wk51


Here's a great way to stock up on batteries for free. Print this Rayovac coupon and go to Target. They usually have these batteries in their dollar section. Just print.

http://www.rayovac.com/alkaline/pdf/AlkalineHAB_Online_Rebate.pdf


Amazon is giving a free Christmas song download everyday until Christmas.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001HVG1HM/ref=amb_link_82903171_2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1MN4S494PSFAX8FNZBDW&pf_rd_t=1401&pf_rd_p=465024611&pf_rd_i=1000314901

What to do with your Old, Ripped, Stained clothing? I found this to be interesting

The answer is to take your nonservicable clothing to the Goodwill or Salvation Army.

When they get donations of clothes that are too worn to re-sell in their shops, these organizations send the clothing to "rag sorters" that specialize in recycling fabrics of all types and sizes. About half the clothing gets sold in developing countries, while garments like cotton t-shirts are turned into wiping and polishing clothes and sold to industries and consumers. Some textiles are shredded into fibers used to make new products, such as fine quality "rag" paper, and blankets." http://dld123. com/q&a/index.php? category= Textiles

Why Choose LED Holiday lights?

Light emitting diodes, or LEDs are small light sources that are exceptionally energy-efficient when producing individual colors, many using up to 90% less energy to produce the same amount of light.

Nov 8 & 9 ONLY, HOME DEPOT is offering $3 off the purchase of LED holiday lights/products for every used/broken incandescent string of lights you turn it.

L@@K at all I purchased for $4.28!!!

If you are on the Bath & Body emailing list they will forward you coupons. This particular coupon was to receive a Wallflowers or Scentport Starter set for FREE with ANY purchase. I purchased 4 wallflower starter sets & 4 gift bags all for $4.28.

A base has been stolen in the World Series

On Tuesday October 28,2008 go to participating Taco Bell between 2 pm & 6 pm local time to get 1 FREE Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco!

2008 World Series & FREE Tacos at Taco Bell

Taco Bell will make an announcement through selected media channels, including a press release and its Web site (www.tacobell.com), that eligible consumers can obtain their FREE Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco on Tuesday, October 28, 2008 (if base is stolen in Games 1-4 on October 22, 23, 25 or 26), OR Monday, November 3, 2008 (if base is stolen in Games 5-7, October 27, 29 or 30), ("Redemption Date") only.

To obtain the Free Taco, consumers must visit any participating Taco Bell® restaurant in one of the fifty (50) United States or the District of Columbia between 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. (local time) on the Redemption Date only and request a Free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco. Free Tacos will not be offered on any other date or time, regardless of circumstance.

Limit one (1) Free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco per person.

Participating Taco Bell restaurant manager reserves the right to deny Free Taco to any person he/she reasonably believes has already received a Free Taco or has engaged in any other fraudulent activity.

Plastic bags crocheted gives the phrase "reduce, reuse and recycle" a whole new meaning

Plastic bags crochet is a technique used to make a variety of items by crocheting together strips or loops of plastic grocery or similar bags. This style of crocheting has been around for decades, but with an increased awareness in recycling, more crafters are coming up with designs and patterns for everyday household items using these bags.

Check out these sites:

http://crafts.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Plastic_Bags_Crochet

http://www.needlepointers.com/displaypage.aspx?ArticleID=34463&URL=http%3a%2f%2fthepartyworks.com%2farticle_info.php%2fcArticlePath%2f25%2farticles_id%2f130

October is Fire Safety/Carbon Monoxide month

Fire Safety Checklist:

Install and maintain a working smoke alarm outside of every sleep area and remember to change the battery at least once a year.

Designate two escape routes from each bedroom and practice them regularly.

Teach everyone the "Stop, Drop, and Roll" technique in case clothing catches on fire.

Teach kids that matches, lighters and candles are tools, not toys. Matches and lighters should be stored in a secure drawer or cabinet.

Carbon monoxide is the leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths in America. This odorless, tasteless, and colorless gas is known as the "Silent Killer." The Centers for Disease Control estimates that carbon monoxide poisoning claims nearly 500 lives, and causes more than 15,000 visits to hospital emergency departments annually.

Install a carbon monoxide detector/alarm.

Save $10.00** on Scrubbing Bubbles® Automatic Shower Cleaner Starter Kit & others

http://www.rightathome.com/offers/OctCoupons/



Save $10.00** on Scrubbing Bubbles® Automatic Shower Cleaner Starter Kit
Save $2.00** on Scrubbing Bubbles® Toilet Cleaning Gel
Save $2.00** on Scrubbing Bubbles® Mega Shower Foamer
Save $2.00** on Scrubbing Bubbles® bathroom cleaner
Save $2.00** on any Scrubbing Bubbles® Fresh Brush® Toilet Cleaning System
Save $2.00** on any Pledge® product
Save $2.00** on Pledge® Multi Surface Duster
Save $1.50** on any Pledge® wipes product
Save $2.00** on any Windex® product
Save $1.50** on Windex® Original Glass & Surface wipes
Save $1.50** on any Shout® product
Save $1.50** on any fantastik® product

$10 off $50 ONLY online at Walgreens.com 10/8-10/10

http://www.walgreens.com/hotbuys/default.jsp?ec=hn603_getcoupon

Black Friday Ads start today

www.bfads.net

Go to the links below for good savings

Holiday StationStores for a FREE hot beverage with any purchase

http://pd.startribune.com/shoppingportal/coupons_popup.jsp?adId=1298572


Walgreens $5 off $20 purchase GOOD only Friday 10/4 & Saturday 10/5

http:///www.walgreens.com/hotbuys/default.jsp?ec=hn601_getcoupon

Culver's $1 burgers TUESDAY - October 7, 2008

$1 for a butterburger single

up to five can be purchased for $1 each

GREAT grocery shopping snag!

A local chain store had Malt O Meal bag cereal 4/$10, then they had an IN store coupon for $5 off when you buy the 4/$10, bringing it down to 4/$5 then I had internet printed coupons 4-$1's making it 4 bags of cereal for $1 !!! WOO HOO. Although I have been doing pretty good with sales & coupons (ex: saving $40-$50 on $100) per week or two this is by far the best deal- especially when my teenager can eat 1/2 bag in one sitting.

Hope you can benefit from some of these deals with my blog. Enjoy!

A favorite site of mine

http://"

Babies and toddlers aren't getting enough vitamin D

Babies and toddlers aren't getting enough vitamin D, study says
Tue, Jun 3, 2008 (HealthDay News) — At least 40 percent of American infants and toddlers aren't getting enough vitamin D, according to researchers from Children's Hospital in Boston .

Twelve percent of the youngest children in the United States are already deficient in vitamin D, and another 28 percent are at risk for vitamin D deficiency, according to the study, which appears in the June issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Because human breast milk lacks sufficient vitamin D, the number of babies in the research sample being breast-fed were important to the findings.

"These data underscore the fact that breast-fed infants should be supplemented with vitamin D," said study author Dr. Catherine Gordon, director of the bone health program at Children's Hospital in Boston . She added that mothers who are breast-feeding often need vitamin D supplements as well.

Breast-feeding is a known risk factor for low vitamin D levels in infants, which is why many pediatricians routinely recommend vitamin D supplementation for breast-fed infants. Other factors that may contribute to low levels of vitamin D include not drinking enough vitamin D-fortified milk (for toddlers), staying out of the sun or using sunscreen.

Vitamin D, also known as the sunshine vitamin, is produced naturally when the body reacts to sunlight. However, the use of sunscreen and advice to stay out of the sun — which is important for preventing skin cancer — may also be reducing levels of vitamin D in people. Few foods naturally contain vitamin D, which is essential for strong bones because it helps the body absorb calcium.

In addition to helping maintain bone health, Gordon said that vitamin D also appears to play a role in maintaining the immune system and that people with low levels of vitamin D may be more susceptible to autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis, and to certain cancers.

Previously, Gordon and her colleagues studied vitamin D levels in adolescents and found very high levels — about 42 percent — of vitamin D deficiency in teens. That finding made them interested in assessing levels in younger children.

The current study included 380 children between 8 and 24 months old. About 80 percent were from urban areas, and the majority of the youngsters were black or Hispanic, according to the study. However, the study made no association between skin pigmentation and vitamin D levels.

For this study, the researchers defined severe vitamin D deficiency as blood levels of less than 8 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL), vitamin D deficiency as less than 20 ng/mL and suboptimal as less than 30 ng/mL. Gordon said there is some debate within the medical community about what truly signifies vitamin D deficiency, but that they felt current evidence supports the levels they used, and less than 20 ng/mL is the level her hospital uses as a cut-off point.

In an accompanying editorial, Dr. James Taylor, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington , said that although he believed the study was well done, Gordon and her colleagues used a "higher cut-off" than what has been used by other researchers.

But, he added, because Gordon's team found X-ray evidence of low bone density in children who fell into their category of low levels of vitamin D, "it might be that this might be an indication of long-term problems. If this is the case, then Gordon and colleagues might have picked the right definition. However, it might be that for many of the children with osteopenia [low bone density], the changes are transient and not indicative of disease. Time and more research will tell."

The key findings from the study, according to Gordon are:

• Breast-feeding without vitamin D supplementation is a risk factor for vitamin D deficiency.

• A higher body- mass index was associated with a risk of vitamin D deficiency.

• There was no association between the seasons — an indication of possible sun exposure — and vitamin D deficiency.

• There was no association between skin pigmentation and vitamin D deficiency.

• Consumption of vitamin D-fortified milk confers protection against deficiency.

Gordon said it's very difficult to consume too much vitamin D, so she recommends vitamin D supplements for breast-feeding infants and lactating mothers. She also recommends a multivitamin containing vitamin D for older children.

Taylor wasn't as convinced about the need for routine supplementation, however. "I think that more research is needed before routine vitamin D supplementation is recommended for all children," he said.


-- Serena Gordon

Rising Prices, shrinking packages

Buyer Beware. Info about Product Packing Shrinkage.

Here are some new changes in packaging.

Honey Nut Cheerios Shrank by 1.5oz.
Scott 1000 went down 0.3 inch per square
Shedd's Country Crock Butter shrank 3 ounces
Goldfish weigh 0.75 ounce so packets won't exceed 100 calories
Breyer's and Dreyer's Ice Cream reduced the size of a carton of ice cream from 1.75 quarts to 1.5 quarts.
Shamrock Farms replacing their largest jug of organic milk to three quarters of a gallon.
Wrigleys will gradually replace Doublement, Juicy Fruit and others from 17 sticks to 15 sticks.
Coco-Cola, Pepsico, Shamrock Farms and Kroger (Fry's) have plans to start packaging soda in 16oz bottles and 3/4 gallon jugs.

What is it with outside company phone call charges.

Phone call charges using an outside company .89 a minute plus a connection fee of 11.65 per call plus tax and all these other fees they charge for the total of 87.37 for 2 phone calls! These calls were placed from a hospital room phone. How can this be? I remember back in 1988 & 1990 when I delivered both my older sons and there were no cell phone options for us back then so to spread the news we used the in room phone & I remember that the insurance covered their medical part but we were stuck with the phone charge & I believe it was a $5 per call fee. Luckily most of us now have cell phones, however they are not allowed to be used inside so one has to go outside the facility to use it but it is better than getting raked for these charges. And why can’t it be posted on the phone before use!

Congressional hearings with Oil Company CEO's - Does it do any good?

Does anyone know what good it does to have congressional hearings with the CEO's of oil companies?

Were they ordered to be there or were they there out of the kindness of their heart?

Isn't this just a waste of time and tax payers money?

They can't tell dairy farmers how much they can sell milk for so why allow oil companies this option!

Common-"cents" does make a difference

Looking to cut down on your expenses? Here are a few simple ways to squeeze out more money from even the tightest budget.

Grow your savings account. Some major credit-card providers help you save with programs that round up purchase totals to the next dollar. So if you spend $39.17 on new sneakers for your child, 83¢ goes into your savings account. Savings limits vary by card and accrue according to how much you use that card — but even one dollar’s worth of rounding up on most days of the year could net you $300.

Make your own lattes. Instead of buying $3 lattes every weekday morning at a pricey café, purchase an espresso machine for around $40 and make your own. Even after your $40 investment, you’ll save around $740.

Consolidate credit-card debt. You can save money by getting a card with zero interest for the first year and paying it off before the 12 months expire. On a $5,000 balance, with an annual rate of 18%, you’ll save $900 in interest expense.

Enjoy drinks at home. Restaurants make a lot of money on alcohol sales. Outsmart them by having a glass of wine (about $8) or bottle of beer (about $4) before you go out or when you get home. Or choose a Bring Your Own Bottle (BYOB) restaurant, where you supply the drinks and pay a nominal corking fee. Do this once a week and save $624.

Consider carpooling. With gas prices hovering around $3 per gallon, scale back on unnecessary trips. Do you drive your child five miles to gymnastics class three times a week? Carpool with other parents and cut out two of those round trips. If you get around 10 miles a gallon, your yearly savings will be $312.

Cut cell-phone costs. Got teens? Texting costs an average of 10¢ per message. Some companies offer a $40 per month plan that offers unlimited texting. If your teen sends 200 messages a week — and this is conservative for most — that’s a whopping $20 per week, or $1,040 a year. After paying, say, an extra $60 per year (including the additional $5 a month for the unlimited texting) on the plan, you save $980.

Hop online for coupons. Look for two-for-one dinner coupons or check out www.restaurants.com to get $25 coupons for only $10. That’s a net savings of $15 on your meal. Do this every week and save $780.

Use a programmable thermostat. If you’re typically out during the day, your home doesn’t need to be maintained at a comfortable 72°. A programmable thermostat allows you to pre-program temperature settings. You can buy a basic model at most hardware stores for about $33. According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Website, using this technology can save you about $150 a year in energy costs, for a net savings of $117.

Read newspapers online. Here’s a way to save both money and trees: Cancel your newspaper subscription and read the paper online for free. For a major paper, you would save $143.

Raise your homeowners insurance deductible. If you have a low deductible, consider bumping it up to $1,000. You’ll save as much as 24% on premiums. According to the Insurance Information Institute, the average annual premium for homewoners insurance is $764. Increase your deductible and save $191.

Have you heard about the partnership between Shaw's & Irving Oil?

Shaw's, Irving up the ante.

Have you heard about the partnership between Shaw’s and Irving Oil? The companies are running a promotion that allows consumers to save money on gas by shopping at Shaw's and redeeming gas discounts at Irving Oil and Blue Canoe gas stations.

Better yet, they’ve upped the ante – both companies announced last week that they have expanded the program to reward shoppers with double the discounts. Starting last Friday, Shaw’s and Irving have doubled the gas points you can earn until May 22.

“We’ve had such an amazing reaction to our program that we thought we’d bump it up a notch. We wanted to express our appreciation for the enthusiasm people all across New England have shown the program,” Mike Goulart, Shaw’s vice president of operations, said in a statement released last week. “Now that the warm weather has arrived and people are beginning to travel more, we thought this was an excellent time to introduce this new level of savings.”

According to both companies, customers can spend the same amount to earn the doubled gas discounts at a participating Irving location. Coupons once worth a maximum discount of 60 cents off each gallon of gas at the pump will now have a value of $1.20 off each gallon up to a maximum of 20 gallons for each gas purchase. The coupon looks the same, only its value has doubled.

I think this is a fantastic promotion, especially with the recent rise of gas prices. I will definitely find myself shopping more at Shaw’s and pumping my gas at Irving.

To find out more about this promotion, visit Shaw's Web site at www.shaws.com/save/promotions/index.html


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Never again will I buy CHEAP T.P!

That is it, I will NEVER buy CHEAP toilet paper again. My usual brand is Northern, however, with all prices of things going up and T.P. being high priced anyway I opted to purchase Angel Soft 2 24pks for $12 but never again will I. It is so cheap & thin that you have to use twice as much then normal otherwise it is all over your hand. Anyway whatever brand you buy stick with it because it is a waste of money to purchase the cheap.

With gas price out of reach - Gas Out for today!

A GAS OUT has been organized. Don't pump gas on May 15th.
In April 1997, there was a 'gas out' conducted nationwide in protest of
gas prices. Gasoline prices dropped 30 cents a gallon overnight. On May
15th 2008, all internet users are to not go to a gas station in protest
of high gas prices. Gas is now over $3.50 - $4.00 a gallon in most
places. There are 73,000,000+ American members currently on the internet
network, and the average car takes about 30 to 50 dollars to fill up.
If all users did not go to the pump on the 15th, it would take
$2,292,000,000. 00 (that's almost 3 BILLION ) out of the oil companies
pockets for just one day, so please do not go to the gas station on May 15th
and let's try to put a dent in the oil industry for at least one.

Uncounted-- Interesting email on Voting

Dear Friends,

If you have not seen the documentary, "Uncounted," about the current
state of the election process in our country, then you really need
to. Every American needs to see this movie (and then call their
representatives in Congress). We saw this movie at the Ashland
Independent Film Festival in April and then purchased the DVD to
share with friends. Check out the You-Tube trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nJz09T0HME and then let us know if
you'd like to borrow the DVD for a night. As many people as possible
need to see this film before the next election. We are looking into
renting a movie theater to show the film to more people, let us know
if you'd be interested in that, as well.

Thanks,

And this was attached to it:

Tonight, my family watched "Uncounted," the documentary that exposes the systematic infiltration of voting precincts by voting machines that have no paper trail and cannot be audited for accuracy. This plus sworn testimony before Congress of individuals who have since left the suspect companies they worked for -- that they were involved in an intentional effort to provide voting machines and software that enabled votes to be 'adjusted' or 'flipped' so that the candidates with less votes would receive 'certified' votes that reflected just the opposite.

The State of California and other jurisdictions pulled such voting machines from service in the 2006 election.

This story is available online and in the video documentary. Here is a link from the Clarksville, TN newspaper that is a good place to start to review the situation:


http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2007/11/11/uncounted-uncovers-new-math-of-american-elections-voting-machines/


And a 'trailer' for the video is available online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nJz09T0HME. Watch it now.

It is so alarming that it makes one wonder what can be done in the six months remaining before Election Day 2008 to guarantee that the votes of U.S. citizens will counted and recorded in a timely and accurate manner. There have been many suggestions with investigation of the reliability and verifiability of computerized voting machines leading the list.

While this is ESSENTIAL in order ti maintain the integrity of the voting system and restore public confidence, which is now badly eroded, I have also thought that there needs to be some action-oriented procedure that ordinary citizens can participate in at the local level -- indeed, in every city, county, and local precinct in the country.

Here is what I have come up with:

Public interest groups (such as the League of Women Voters) could organize groups of volunteers who would conduct supervised exit polls in key precincts and publish the results alongside the official election results in their local papers. This could involve a number of volunteer organizations, but the League has a respected track record of advocating for 'get out the vote' campaigns and providing of non-partisan information to voters prior to the elections.

This plan would preserve the non-partisan position of this or other participating organizations. They would simply act to record and report exit interviews with voters leaving the polls in order to verify that the official results (however they might turn out) are generally consistent with the voluntary information collected in exit polls.

This could be especially valuable in areas where the voting registration is known to be preponderantly of one party, so that apparent 'undervoting' or 'overvoting' by one party or another could readily be detected and, if necessary, recounts or other corrective actions taken.

I am interested in the reaction of others to such a plan. In my opinion, it would work best if supported by a wide portion of the community, with endorsement of the effort by city governments and various public interest groups. The stealing of votes or tampering with the voting process is NOT a partisan issue. It IS a crime and should be prosecuted. But the most important thing is to act together with other citizens to PREVENT it from occurring in the first place.

ANY election is too important to leave the detection of such skulduggery to chance -- but especially this election, after two notoriously suspicious elections in 2000 and 2004.

-- A concerned citizen.

Digital TV convertor box price gouging

I received my $40 coupon so I headed to Walmart, where I had previously seen a pile of these boxes for $49.99. This would be after my $40 coupon discount I would only have to pay $9.99. Not a big deal. Upon arrival I find none, zero, zip. So I preceeded to ask the sales clerk about them and was told that they were out and not sure if and when they would get any more. So my next stop was Best Buy to find 4 left on the shelf. Their price was $59.99! So after my $40 coupon discount I paid $19.99. Now is this price gouging? I have emailed the governments website for this but have yet to hear back.

Another way for the Government to rip us off!!!

Today I received from the Dept of Treasury IRS the "Understanding Your Economic Stimulus Payment" sheet. Under "Qualifying Children" it states a child is generally considered a qualifying child IF the child was born AFTER 12/31/1990. Well I have 2 children claimed on my taxes but one (1) whom was born 12/20/1990. Nice, just another way to rip us off!

Mother's are the magical glue that holds a family together. Happy Mother's Day!

TAKE TIME

Take time to hold us on your lap, to joke with us
and make us laugh. Take time mommy, this time will go so fast.
Take time to give us extra hugs, to teach us a nursery rhyme or song.
Take time mommy, we won't be little long. Take time to tuck us into bed,
to read that story you know by heart. Take time mommy,
soon these days will part. Take time to exclaim over what we color,
to admire things we make from clay. Take time mommy, we're growing
up and away. Take time to imagine or make believe,
to play some childish or silly game. Take time mommy,
soon it won't be the same. Take time to let us help
you work, to teach us the many things you know.
Take time mommy, enjoy us as we grow.

Author unknown

I like this way of thinking!

Subject: Water

As Ben Franklin said: In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom,
in water there is bacteria. In a number of carefully controlled trials,
scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 liter of water each day,
at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of
Escherichia coli, (E. coli) - bacteria found in feces. In other words,
we are consuming 1 kilo of poop.

However, we do NOT run that risk when drinking wine & beer (or tequila,
rum, whiskey or other liquor) because alcohol has to go through a
purification process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting.

Therefore: Water = Poop, Wine = Health

Therefore, it's better to drink wine and talk stupid, than to drink
water and be full of crap.

Another way to spend your stimulus check

Most stores are offering a FREE gift card for every $100 you spend in their store so keep your eye out for the best deal.


Today I am posting some coupons and samples for you to indulge in :o)


Free YoMommy Yogurt 4-pack, just sign up

http://www.yobabyyogurt.com/yomommy/freetrial

Snuggle sample for 2 loads

http://www.snuggle.com/promotions/blue-sparkle-with-fresh-release-sample.aspx

Viva towel coupon

http://www.vivatowels.com/offers/coupon2.asp

Live Active cereal $3 coupon

http://www.kraftfoods.com/liveactivefoods/whatsNew/index.aspx

Digiorno pizza for one $1 off

http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?tqnm=refmfbz30814602&bt=vi&o=52525&c=DG&p=TjoBqapO

SAVE $1 on any one (1) package of Butterball Ground Turkey & SAVE $1 on any one (1) package of Butterball Turkey Bacon

http://coupons.smartsource.com//index.aspx?Link=5S2ZUA6PWPEPO

Aunt Jemima Frozen Breakfast products $1/2

http://www.auntjemimafrozen.com/index.html

$1 off Bertolli Pasta sauce Microwaveable pouch

http://www.bertolli.us/registration_pastasauce.aspx

$4.00 Claritin

http://www.claritin.com/claritin/global/savings

The best and most beautiful things of this world can't be seen or touched, they must be felt by the heart.

The following is a poem I received today via email. Made me stop and think and maybe it will you too.

CRABBY OLD MAN

When an old man died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near Tampa , Florida , it was believed that he had nothing left of any value.

Later, when the nurses were going through his meager possessions, They found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital.

One nurse took her copy to Missouri . The old man's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the St. Louis Association for Mental Health. A slide presentation has also been made based on his simple, but eloquent, poem.

And this little old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this 'anonymous' poem winging across the Internet.


Crabby Old Man

What do you see nurses? .What do you see?
What are you thinking..... when you're looking at me?
A crabby old man, ... not very wise,
Uncertain of habit ........ with faraway eyes?

Who dribbles his food....... and makes no reply.
When you say in a loud voice.....'I do wish you'd try!'
Who seems not to notice .the things that you do.
And forever is losing .......... A sock or shoe?

Who, resisting or not........... lets you do as you will,
With bathing and feeding ... The long day to fill?
Is that what you're thinking? Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse... .. you're not looking at me.

I'll tell you who I am ......... As I sit here so still,
As I do at your bidding, ..... as I eat at your will.
I'm a small child of Ten....... with a father and mother,
Brothers and sisters ........ who love one another

A young boy of Sixteen .with wings on his feet
Dreaming that soon now. ....... a lover he'll meet.
A groom soon at Twenty ...... my heart gives a leap.
Remembering, the vows...... that I promised to keep.

At Twenty-Five, now ......... I have young of my own.
Who need me to guide .... And a secure happy home.
A man of Thirty ........ My young now grown fast,
Bound to each other ....... With ties that should last.

At Forty, my young sons ... have grown and are gone,
But my woman's beside me....... to see I don't mourn.
At Fifty, once more, ......... Babies play 'round my knee,
Again, we know children ..... My loved one and me.

Dark days are upon me ............ ... My wife is now dead.
I look at the future .............. I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing...... young of their own.
And I think of the years....... And the love that I've known.

I'm now an old man........ and nature is cruel.
Tis jest to make old age ...... look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles.......... grace and vigor, depart.
There is now a stone........ where I once had a heart.

But inside this old carcass ...... A young guy still dwells,
And now and again ....... my battered heart swells
I remember the joys........... I remember the pain.
And I'm loving and living............. life over again.

I think of the years .. all too few...... gone too fast.
And accept the stark fact........ that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people .......... open and see..
Not a crabby old man. Look closer.... see........ ME!!


Remember this poem when you next meet an older person who you might brush aside without looking at the young soul within..... we will all, one day, be there, too!

PLEASE SHARE THIS POEM The best and most beautiful things of this world can't be seen or touched, they must be felt by the heart.

God Bless.

Lowering the drinking age isn't so cool now...

For a brief time when I was 18 & a senior in high school they did lower the drinking age to 18. Yes it was cool then but now that I have 2 teenagers & 2 small children it isn't so cool. It just came to my attention this morning on the radio that this is yet again a debate. It was said that Wisconsin is surely going to lower their drinking age, therefore if the surrounding states do not "go with the flow" the younger will just go across the borders to drink. Sorry to say this is not a new dilemma! My brother, whom is now 24, but when he was 18, he and his friends use to head to the Canada border to drink because of the lowered drinking age. Is there a way around this? I think not. The following is an article about the debate. Let me know what you think.

Debate: lowering the drinking age
Catalina Boneo
Issue date: 4/10/08 Section: Health & Lifestyles
Do you ever imagine what it would be like if the drinking age was lowered to 18? Recently many states have considered lowering the drinking age.

According to USA Today, various state legislators are fighting to lower the drinking age because they argue that men and women who are old enough to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan are responsible enough to legally buy alcohol. In the USA Today article, it states that there are seven states considering lowering the legal drinking age. These states include: Kentucky, Missouri, Minnesota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Vermont. However, these various states have different terms in which they want to lower the bar. According to USA Today, legislation introduced in Kentucky, Wisconsin and South Carolina would lower the drinking age for military personnel only. In Vermont, a task force is being considered to study the issue. In Minnesota, a bill would allow anyone 18 and older to buy alcohol in bars and restaurants, but not in liquor stores until they are 21-years-old.

People fighting to lower the drinking age may face a hard time from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), which could end up being an expensive obstacle.

According to the USA Today article, Congress voted in 1984 to penalize states that set the drinking age below 21 with a penalty of taking away 10 percent of their federal highway funds. Aside from taking away states highway funds, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says laws setting the drinking age at 21 have cut traffic fatalities involving drivers ages 18 to 20 by 13 percent.

The heart of the issue, however, tends to surround the question about whether military personnel should be able to drink legally. Some state senators tend to agree that if you have the responsibility to fight in the war and, most likely take a life, one should be able to enjoy a beer legally.

At the same time many people disagree with that notion.

Thomas Barret, a retired Coast Guard, interviewed by USA Today, said "I hear this bandied about that if you are old enough to fight for your country, you are old enough to have a beer…I don't think it is the same type of maturity."

Junior Kristen Divine agrees.

"I do not think that the two ideas correlate," Divine said.

On the other hand senior Lauren Sherman disagrees.

"I think that the drinking age should be lowered because fighting in the military requires just as much maturity and responsibility that comes with being able to purchase alcohol," Sherman said.

Here at Lynchburg College a large portion of the campus is not legally allowed to drink yet still do so every weekend and sometimes with heavy repercussions. Would lowering the drinking age prevent this from happening or would it make things worse? This is a topic that will probably be debated for some time. It is hard to decide what is the best thing to do when it comes to issues like these.

At 43 is a Tantrum allowed?

43 year old, 4 kids (2 teens, 2 small), 2 divorces, 4 jobs so if something goes arye is a temper tantrum allowed?

My thought is it is OK and necessary to vent once in while. A tantrum is OK if it doesn't happened on an every day basis.

Anyone else ever have a tantrum?

To keep Landline or not, just what is the best suggestion

I have a landline with long distance & dial up internet for which I pay about $65 per month and do not use very often, except for the internet. I pay $15 per month to internet provider, Cell phone bill of $55 per month and cable tv for $50. But is it feasible to drop the landline? I have children at home and do have babysitters once in a while therefore if there was an emergency the cell phone nor vonage or something similar would not have the exact address of the home. As far as bundling we live in a rural area therefore there is not much choice as to bundling. Any other suggestions, experiences, ideas?

Do you know what a Loan Shark Is?

Here is a prime example.


Here are CashCall's current rates. Please be aware that not all applicants will qualify for every loan product or the lowest interest rate for a particular loan product. Some applicants will not qualify for any of our products. Our lowest rates and higher loan products are reserved for customers with excellent credit. CashCall reserves the right to change the rates and loan products listed below without notice.

What state do you live in?

Loan Product Borrower Proceeds Loan Fee APR Number of Payments Payment Amount
$10,000 Loan* $9,925 $75 29.26% 120 $256.26
$10,000 Loan $9,925 $75 59.46% 120 $493.22
$5,075 Loan $5,000 $75 70.08% 84 $294.50
$2,600 Loan $2,525 $75 99.25% 42 $216.55
*Exceptionally qualified applicants only

Loans made to residents of California, Idaho, New Mexico, and Utah will be underwritten and funded by CashCall. Loans made to residents of all other states (excluding Iowa, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, New Jersey and West Virginia) will be underwritten and funded by First Bank of Delaware (Member FDIC).


STAY AWAY FROM THESE LOAN SHARKS!

Have you ever noticed delayed gas pumping but price still registers?

I notice this all the time but never really thought much of it until I read the following article. Guess it's just another way to "RIP OFF" the customer!


Common glitch at pump adds to gas costs, also cheats station
By Michael Gormley, Associated Press Writer

Common glitch in gas pumps can give consumers less gas, can also cheat gas stations

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Angry about the price of gas? Just imagine paying for gas you don't get. Some alert consumers have noticed it over the years: A pump that seems to hesitate a second when the lever is squeezed. Anywhere from 2 to 6 cents tick off before the rush of gasoline starts. That's what happens with a common, hard to diagnose and mostly ignored problem with the "check valve," which is supposed to make sure gas flows at the same time the price meter starts.
But even if your gas pump works, it can still be off as much as $5 for every fill up. Tests by local regulators allow a pump to charge as much as 6 cents more than the gas delivered in a five-gallon test.

Don't blame the gas guys. Even consumer advocates say retailers may be losing as often as consumers and no one appears able to rig the meters. But the small "check valve" at the end of the multibillion dollar industry just wears out, and often goes unnoticed for months.

Regulators' records show short staffing, particularly for financially struggling counties that try to inspect pumps every six months, but too often don't even meet the one-year requirement in states like New York.

Federal standards require all gas pumps to start pumping gas as soon as the price meter starts, said Ken Butcher of the National Institute of Standards of Technology, part of the U.S. Commerce Department.

Bob Wolfram knew something was wrong when the pump he used in Davenport, Iowa, showed he put two more gallons of gas into his tank than the tank holds.

"I was low, but it wasn't negative," said Wolfram, a 54-year-old engineer.

He reported it to a consumer Web site then took it to the government regulators, who acted promptly. But even then, the test showed the pump was only off a quart.

"I just kind of said, `What will they do next?'" Wolfram said.

Correcting the problem depends on alert, well-informed consumers like Wolfram. It also depends on honest retailers who choose to pass along reports to regulators who must confirm the problem before an authorized repair company is called to fix it.

"There's one Mobil owner, he tells clerks that if there's a discrepancy within $5 to reimburse the customer," said C. Todd Godlewski, director of the Schenectady County Bureau of Weights and Measures in upstate New York, the agency that inspects pumps.

"Yes, it can be that much," he said.

A bad valve can also work against retailers, freezing the price gauge for an instant after gas starts. No one's sure who gets gored more, or how deeply.

"Even one penny on the amount of petroleum pumped annually or weekly at a station would be several thousand gallons of fuel, and add that up," Godlewski said. "If you have a meter that is costing a customer, it adds up quite a bit."

The problem compounds the aggravation of record high gas prices. On Tuesday, the national average hit a record $3.51 per gallon, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. That's nearly 66 cents higher than last year, and rising.

"We'll hear complaints about this quite regularly, usually several each week," said Jason Toews, co-founder of the independent nationwide Web site GasBuddy.com that tracks prices and complaints.

"It's mostly about the principle of it," he said. He said the problem usually only costs a consumer pennies per fill-up, but that's more than enough these days.

Toews discounts the conspiracy theories that blame the problem on retailers or the oil industry. Most retailers, he said, wouldn't know how to alter the pumps to their benefit.

A New York Comptroller's Office audit in 2000 found "many municipalities" statewide failed to inspect their pumps once a year as required (the best practice is two inspections every year) and that meters were corrected during testing, which could mask overcharging. Four years later, a follow-up audit found only partial resolution, partly because of too little staffing.

Bob Renkes of the Petroleum Equipment Institute based in Tulsa, Okla., has heard about complaints, "mostly when gas prices are high." He said meters "get looser over time," which could make them malfunction and start to count pennies before fuel starts pumping.

"I think our industry would love to replace anything that wears down," Renkes said. But the check valves aren't a high priority when the industry is dealing with issues such as preventing identity theft when swipe cards are used, static electricity discharges and the 5 percent of retailers whose old mechanical equipment can't register a price of $4 a gallon.

State and local regulators doubt any but the most ambitious consumers would contact them in case of a problem, even though the phone numbers are on inspection stickers. More likely, consumers fume and wonder if they were cheated, or report it to the manager of the gas station or convenience store.

"That's what's tough about this," said Jessica Chittenden, spokeswoman for New York's weights and measures office that oversees local inspectors. "The two cents or whatever would go to the retailer."

Even when a report is made, and a local inspector is dispatched, the problem might not be fixed.

Chittenden said a faulty valve would likely work sporadically: "It's very difficult to find it unless you are there every day several times a day."

Godlewski, the upstate New York inspector, said he's found pumps off by as much as three times the 6-cent threshold. Because of it, his county this year is tracking pump problems and hopes to quantify it for the first time.

"You ask yourself," he said, "`If nobody said anything ... and it's run like that for six months, how many were taken?'"

A Job In Direct Sales

My #3 & #4 jobs are in direct sales. I sell Tastefully Simple easy to prepare gourmet foods and also sell Avon products both which can be ordered and shipped directly to your home. These I have found to be the better of direct sales. You can make 36% from both with little to no selling. Both products sell themselves and very little at home party shows. I don't know about anyone else but me and my group of friends are "partied" out! In the last 2 to 3 months we have been to or hosted Tupperware, Lia Sophia jewelry, Sensario spa products, Uppercase living, Southern Home living, At Home America, Partylite, Home and garden, and adult pleasure parties. Is there any other kind of party left out there that we haven't ordered from, arrr.

Food Rationing! Oh My Geez, What Next?!?!?!

Last night on the news I was stated that Sam's Club are limiting rice purchases to 4 bags per person. I could not believe what I was hearing. Here are 2 articles from this week about food rationing.

Load Up the Pantry
R.O.I.
By BRETT ARENDS

I don't want to alarm anybody, but maybe it's time for Americans to start stockpiling food.

No, this is not a drill.

You've seen the TV footage of food riots in parts of the developing world. Yes, they're a long way away from the U.S. But most foodstuffs operate in a global market. When the cost of wheat soars in Asia, it will do the same here.

Reality: Food prices are already rising here much faster than the returns you are likely to get from keeping your money in a bank or money-market fund. And there are very good reasons to believe prices on the shelves are about to start rising a lot faster.

"Load up the pantry," says Manu Daftary, one of Wall Street's top investors and the manager of the Quaker Strategic Growth mutual fund. "I think prices are going higher. People are too complacent. They think it isn't going to happen here. But I don't know how the food companies can absorb higher costs." (Full disclosure: I am an investor in Quaker Strategic)

Stocking up on food may not replace your long-term investments, but it may make a sensible home for some of your shorter-term cash. Do the math. If you keep your standby cash in a money-market fund you'll be lucky to get a 2.5% interest rate. Even the best one-year certificate of deposit you can find is only going to pay you about 4.1%, according to Bankrate.com. And those yields are before tax.

Meanwhile the most recent government data shows food inflation for the average American household is now running at 4.5% a year.

And some prices are rising even more quickly. The latest data show cereal prices rising by more than 8% a year. Both flour and rice are up more than 13%. Milk, cheese, bananas and even peanut butter: They're all up by more than 10%. Eggs have rocketed up 30% in a year. Ground beef prices are up 4.8% and chicken by 5.4%.

These are trends that have been in place for some time.

And if you are hoping they will pass, here's the bad news: They may actually accelerate.

The reason? The prices of many underlying raw materials have risen much more quickly still. Wheat prices, for example, have roughly tripled in the past three years.

Sooner or later, the food companies are going to have to pass those costs on. Kraft saw its raw material costs soar by about $1.25 billion last year, squeezing profit margins. The company recently warned that higher prices are here to stay. Last month the chief executive of General Mills, Kendall Powell, made a similar point.

The main reason for rising prices, of course, is the surge in demand from China and India. Hundreds of millions of people are joining the middle class each year, and that means they want to eat more and better food.

A secondary reason has been the growing demand for ethanol as a fuel additive. That's soaking up some of the corn supply.

You can't easily stock up on perishables like eggs or milk. But other products will keep. Among them: Dried pasta, rice, cereals, and cans of everything from tuna fish to fruit and vegetables. The kicker: You should also save money by buying them in bulk.

If this seems a stretch, ponder this: The emerging bull market in agricultural products is following in the footsteps of oil. A few years ago, many Americans hoped $2 gas was a temporary spike. Now it's the rosy memory of a bygone age.

The good news is that it's easier to store Cap'n Crunch or cans of Starkist in your home than it is to store lots of gasoline. Safer, too.

Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World
By JOSH GERSTEIN, Staff Reporter of the Sun
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Many parts of America, long considered the breadbasket of the world, are now confronting a once unthinkable phenomenon: food rationing.
Major retailers in New York, in areas of New England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and cooking oil as demand outstrips supply. There are also anecdotal reports that some consumers are hoarding grain stocks.

At a Costco Warehouse in Mountain View, Calif., yesterday, shoppers grew frustrated and occasionally uttered expletives as they searched in vain for the large sacks of rice they usually buy.

“Where’s the rice?” an engineer from Palo Alto, Calif., Yajun Liu, said. “You should be able to buy something like rice. This is ridiculous.”

The bustling store in the heart of Silicon Valley usually sells four or five varieties of rice to a clientele largely of Asian immigrants, but only about half a pallet of Indian-grown Basmati rice was left in stock. A 20-pound bag was selling for $15.99.

“You can’t eat this every day. It’s too heavy,” a health care executive from Palo Alto, Sharad Patel, grumbled as his son loaded two sacks of the Basmati into a shopping cart. “We only need one bag but I’m getting two in case a neighbor or a friend needs it,” the elder man said.

The Patels seemed headed for disappointment, as most Costco members were being allowed to buy only one bag. Moments earlier, a clerk dropped two sacks back on the stack after taking them from another customer who tried to exceed the one-bag cap.

“Due to the limited availability of rice, we are limiting rice purchases based on your prior purchasing history,” a sign above the dwindling supply said.

Shoppers said the limits had been in place for a few days, and that rice supplies had been spotty for a few weeks. A store manager referred questions to officials at Costco headquarters near Seattle, who did not return calls or e-mail messages yesterday.

An employee at the Costco store in Queens said there were no restrictions on rice buying, but limits were being imposed on purchases of oil and flour. Internet postings attributed some of the shortage at the retail level to bakery owners who flocked to warehouse stores when the price of flour from commercial suppliers doubled.

The curbs and shortages are being tracked with concern by survivalists who view the phenomenon as a harbinger of more serious trouble to come.

“It’s sporadic. It’s not every store, but it’s becoming more commonplace,” the editor of SurvivalBlog.com, James Rawles, said. “The number of reports I’ve been getting from readers who have seen signs posted with limits has increased almost exponentially, I’d say in the last three to five weeks.”

Spiking food prices have led to riots in recent weeks in Haiti, Indonesia, and several African nations. India recently banned export of all but the highest quality rice, and Vietnam blocked the signing of a new contract for foreign rice sales.

“I’m surprised the Bush administration hasn’t slapped export controls on wheat,” Mr. Rawles said. “The Asian countries are here buying every kind of wheat.”

Mr. Rawles said it is hard to know how much of the shortages are due to lagging supply and how much is caused by consumers hedging against future price hikes or a total lack of product.

“There have been so many stories about worldwide shortages that it encourages people to stock up. What most people don’t realize is that supply chains have changed, so inventories are very short,” Mr. Rawles, a former Army intelligence officer, said. “Even if people increased their purchasing by 20%, all the store shelves would be wiped out.”

At the moment, large chain retailers seem more prone to shortages and limits than do smaller chains and mom-and-pop stores, perhaps because store managers at the larger companies have less discretion to increase prices locally.

Mr. Rawles said the spot shortages seemed to be most frequent in the Northeast and all the way along the West Coast. He said he had heard reports of buying limits at Sam’s Club warehouses, which are owned by Wal-Mart Stores, but a spokesman for the company, Kory Lundberg, said he was not aware of any shortages or limits.

An anonymous high-tech professional writing on an investment Web site, Seeking Alpha, said he recently bought 10 50-pound bags of rice at Costco. “I am concerned that when the news of rice shortage spreads, there will be panic buying and the shelves will be empty in no time. I do not intend to cause a panic, and I am not speculating on rice to make profit. I am just hoarding some for my own consumption,” he wrote.

For now, rice is available at Asian markets in California, though consumers have fewer choices when buying the largest bags. “At our neighborhood store, it’s very expensive, more than $30” for a 25-pound bag, a housewife from Mountain View, Theresa Esquerra, said. “I’m not going to pay $30. Maybe we’ll just eat bread.”

The differance between Woman and Men....

I received this in an email and thought how true it is. What's the guys fascination?

Part I: HOW TO SHOWER LIKE A WOMAN

Take off clothing and place it in sectioned laundry hamper according
to lights and darks.

Walk to bathroom wearing a long dressing gown. If you see husband
along the way, cover up any exposed areas.

Look at your womanly physique in the mirror and make mental note to do
more sit ups, leg lifts, etc.

Get in the shower. Use face cloth, arm cloth, leg cloth, long loofah,
wide loofah and pumice stone.

Wash your hair once with cucumber and sage shampoo with 43 added
vitamins.

Wash your hair again to make sure it's clean.

Condition your hair with grapefruit mint conditioner.

Wash your face with crushed apricot facial scrub for 10 minutes until
red.

Wash entire rest of body with ginger nut and jaffa cake body wash.

Shave armpits and legs.

Rinse conditioner off hair.

Turn off shower.

Squeegee all wet surfaces in the shower.

Spray mold spots with Tilex.

Get out of shower.

Dry with towel the size of a small country.

Wrap hair in super absorbent towel.

Return to bedroom wearing long dressing gown and towel on head.

If you see husband along the way, cover up any exposed areas.



Part II: HOW TO SHOWER LIKE A MAN

Take off clothes while sitting on the edge of the bed and leave them
in a pile.

Walk naked to the bathroom. If you see wife along with way, shake
wiener at her while making the woo-woo sound.

Look at your manly physique in the mirror. Admire the size of your
wiener and scratch your ass.

Get in the shower.

Wash your face.

Wash your armpits.

Blow your nose in your hands and let the water rinse the snot off.

Fart and laugh at how loud it sounds in the shower.

Spend majority of time washing privates and surrounding area.

Wash your butt, leaving those coarse butt hairs stuck on the soap.

Wash your hair. Make a shampoo mohawk.

Pee.

Rinse off and get out of the shower.

Partially dry off.

Fail to notice water on floor because the curtain was hanging out of
the tub the whole time.

Admire wiener size in mirror again.

Leave shower curtain open, wet mat on the floor, light and fan on.

Return to bedroom with towel around the waist.

If you pass wife, pull off towel, shake wiener at her and make the
woo-woo sound again.

Throw wet towel on her pillow.


***If there is anyone among you who did not laugh at some of the truth
behind this, there is something SO very wrong with you. Have a great
day!

Oh, and .... woo-woo!!!

How Are You Going To Spend Your Stimulus Check?

The following gives a good insight of what is happening in America. I thought this was a topic since I visited my hometown swappers meet this past weekend. This was the first open weekend of the season although the weather was just OK there were more sellers and buyers than I expected. This was exciting for me since it has been about 12 years since I last attended.

As you may have heard, the Administration said each of us would get a rebate check to stimulate the economy.

If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China. If we spend it on gasoline it will go to the Arabs, if we purchase a computer it will go to India, if we purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala, if we purchase a good car it will go to Japan, if we purchase useless crap it will go to Taiwan and none of it will help the American economy.

We need to keep that money here in America. The only way to keep that money here at home is to spend it at yard sales, since those are the only businesses still in the U.S.

Prices UP in general

Not only are gas prices up to $3.39 here in Minnesota but so is a gallon of Milk. For Kemps 2% I paid $4.59. Eggs are also up, guess $1.00 for a dozen farm fresh eggs isn't so bad. Can not imagine what the prices are going to be in the summer. I notice I have been using more & more coupons & doing the B1G1 Free deals. Here are some coupons and deals to help you out.

Land O Lakes 1/2 sticks of butter, 1lb refund
http://www.landolakes.com/pdf/trymefree-08.pdf

$1/1 Hungry Man Dinner
http://www.hungry-man.com

$1 off Vlasic
http://www.crunchinthefastlane.com

Target coupons
http://sites.target.com/site/en/supertarget/page.jsp?title=coupons_specials

$.50 off any T. Marzetti dip, hummus or croutons
http://bricks.coupons.com/Start.asp?qnm=rdodbsy88568994&bt=wi&o=52022&c=TM&p=K3HIYXVL

Will try and post more later. Have a good day.

The death of the coupon

Article listed in MSN Money Central
By Melinda Fulmer
If you still clip to save -- and increasingly fewer of us do -- you'll soon be able to stop. Instead, you'll get discounts electronically. Here's how that will work. Paper coupons appear to be headed the way of the VCR. Grocery chains, food and drug manufacturers, and even coupon marketers themselves are going electronic. The concept is almost as simple as scissors and the Sunday paper: Visit a Web site, type in your loyalty codes, and find all the coupons waiting for you, electronically, at a store's cash register or on your cell phone.
The hope is that these electronic discounts will revive the dying coupon business. Only 0.5% of the 285 billion coupons issued last year were redeemed, according to coupon processor NCH, down from an average of 1% a decade ago.
Part of the problem is that newspaper readership is declining, so fewer people are looking at the Sunday circulars. The younger shoppers sought by marketers read their news online. And fewer people these days have time to clip, organize and sort coupons each week.
But apparently, we all seem to make time to surf the Net and talk on our cell phones, so these areas are where the industry is casting its net for savers.
"We are committed to reaching our customers when and where they are most receptive," says Jenifer Nunnelley, a Procter & Gamble spokeswoman.
Should you ditch the Sunday paper? Not yet. At least 75% of the coupons issued are still in the old Sunday circular, said Stephanie Nelson of the coupon mom, a site that helps shoppers combine these coupons with sale items to get the biggest discounts.
And grocery chains and food and drug companies have no plans to cut out these paper coupons until they see that enough people have migrated to the Web for discounts.

What are your thoughts on this? Mine is that there should be many ways to be able to save whether it be paper, electronic, online whatever it may be. I remember a time that my grocery store issued a plastic card lie a credit card and every time you checked out they would swipe it and you would get additional savings. Whatever happened to that techique.

Anyone else nickel and dimed to death?

I guess there are several ways to get nickeled and dimed to death. For example used or older vehicles, kids, etc.... Today, however, for me it is my kids' school. Seems like they need you to provide money for everything. Today they sent home an invitation for "Granparent/special friend day" where you pay for them to come eat with your kids, then the year end Zoo trip cost and cost for t-shirts to be tie-dyed for the kids to wear for the trip so they all match, then comes the registration slips for summer swim lessons, etc.... Anyone else out there in the same boat?

Are you the CEO of housework?

This past Friday we were snowed in and schools closed so what a better day to do my "Spring Cleaning". I washed down all the walls in my house, pulled out all furniture and vacuumed it all down and vacuumed all the carpeting. I have yet to do the windows, those are the worst! Yes it does make one feel good that it is done but does the cleaning ever END? So I busted butt to do all that cleaning Friday and left for the weekend and today there is dusting, laundry and dishes to do, arrrrrr. Why is it that the "Mom" is the only person that is capable of housework? I certainly would like any comments on that question. Sincerely, CEO of Housework :o)

When will spring arrive?!?!?!?

Am so tired of 50 degrees one day & a blizzard the next. No wonder why we are constantly sick with one thing or another. C'mon SPRING :o) We Minnesotans put up with winter enough months so please quit torturing us.

Anybody else ready for SPRING?