The Frugal Bookworm

Free Flag Highlighters from Post-Its!

2008-08-16T08:45:00.002-04:00

In my e-mail yesterday, I got a nice little update from 3M, the makers of Post-It Notes. If you go here, you can get a form to send in for a free three-pack of their flag highlighters after a $15 Post-It flag purchase. If you've got kids starting back to school, or if you use a lot of post-it flags yourself, you will want to take advantage of this offer!

Blogger Advice

2008-08-15T13:31:00.001-04:00

I have recently discovered the need to e-mail some of my posts to the Frugal Bookworm. This is a test post to see how the formatting will look and how well the process works. With e-mail posting, I'll be able to post more often, especially from my phone! Stay tuned for more changes coming to the Frugal Bookworm!

Updated: I tried to enter html into my post, but it didn't work. Does anyone have any ideas about how I can use html with e-mailing my posts? Thanks!

10 Events that Should Be Included in the Olympics

2008-08-15T13:23:00.001-04:00

I had originally written this post for a "10 on a Tuesday" blog. With our recent family chaos, however, I didn't get to post it. Here it is, delayed almost two weeks, but I hope you enjoy it!

Ten Events that Should be in the Olympics:

Slip n’ Slide (see who has the best time on a slip n’ slide)
Belly Flop (have the judges score people making belly flops in the pool)
Guitar Hero (definitely requires finger dexterity)
Wii Fit (if you’ve tried the balance games, you know why it should be an Olympic sport!)
The Psycho Bunny game (ask my dog for more details)
The Black Friday Mad Dash (you know what I mean!)
Coupon Cutting Dash (who can cut out all the Sunday coupons the fastest)
The Office Chair Spin-a-Thon (who can spin the most & the fastest without puking)
The Pooper Scooper/ Pee Cleaner Award (again, ask my dog for details…after last week, I am so tired of cleaning up pee!)
The Massage-a-Thon (an award for the best masseur…I volunteer to be a judge!)

10 on a Tuesday: 10 Favorite Movie Villains

2008-08-12T18:20:00.003-04:00

This week's 10 on a Tuesday is "10 Favorite Villains from the Movies". You'll either get the giggles or the shivers reading this list!

1. Darth Vader-- Star Wars
2. Cinderella's stepsisters (just cause they're dorky...haha)
3. John Malkovich in Portrait of a Lady (he creeps me out in anything he's in)
4. The Joker (either Jack Nicholson or Heath Ledger)
5. Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin (Ah-nald, silly but crazy too)
6. Dr. Evil in Austin Powers
7. Fat Man of Questionable Lineage in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me ("Just keep yah money and give me the ba-bee")
8. Al the Toy Barn Owner in Toy Story 2
9. "He Who Must Not be Named" aka Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
10. Lucius Malfoy--from Harry Potter

Restaurant Coupons Giveaway! (Updated)

2008-08-12T18:18:00.000-04:00

Thanks for all the interest...the coupons are now gone! Keep reading The Frugal Bookworm as I have some more giveaways planned!

I have some restaurant coupons to giveaway! I have two sets of Red Lobster coupons ($3/ two lunch entrees and $4/ two dinner entrees), which expire on September 4. I also have an Olive Garden coupon for $4/ two dinner entrees that expires August 31. If you are interested, please let me know. You can send me your address via e-mail, and I will get them out in the mail as soon as possible.

The 30-Day Declutter Challenge

2008-08-12T18:08:00.001-04:00

Thanks to the wisdom of my friend Niki at Free 2 Be Frugal, I found the 30 -Day Declutter Challenge at My Simpler Life. With the recent chaos at our house, I haven't been able to hit the group running (or rather, decluttering) from day one. I did make a list of thirty projects, however, and I'm going to commit to having those thirty projects done by the end of the month. This means I'll have to tackle ten projects a week for the rest of the month! I've only got four done, so I've got six more to do before I post my first entry this week! Yikes! I'd better go get to it! I hope you'll join me this Friday as I reveal how I did!

Coupons & Contests: Wet Ones

2008-08-12T17:49:00.002-04:00

From the desk of the Frugal Bookworm...

In my e-mail today, I got an e-mail from Wet Ones. They're having a photo contest with a grand prize of $500 for gas and a portable GPS system! They want you to show them how to "Go Places. Cleaner." They also have a new coupon for $0.75 off Wet Ones. If you hit your back button, you can print twice!

Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Yard Sale Report

2008-08-10T13:27:00.000-04:00

I promised to give you a follow-up report about our yard sale that we held a couple of weeks ago, and I forgot! Thanks to my cousin, Susan, I’m back on track, and here I am with a full report! We got everything out the night before, covering the tables with old blankets and tarps. The next morning, although we advertised starting at eight, we had people showing up at 6:30 a.m.! I didn’t even have everything out yet! It was a steady stream of people all day, with things finally slowing down in the late afternoon. I was ready to quit by 4:00 p.m., and I only had two bags and two small boxes of items that did not sell. It wasn’t worth the trouble of setting up the next day. Overall, I made $500! I’m so glad…that’s a nice little chunk of change to pay on my credit card as the snowball gets a little bigger toward paying off my debt!

Tag! You're it!

2008-08-10T12:17:00.003-04:00

I’ve been tagged! (Sorry I’m just now getting to it, Niki!) Niki at Free 2 Be Frugal tagged me last week.

But first, here are the rules:

Link back to the person who tagged you
Mention the rules on your blog
Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them
Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

Six Unspectacular Things About Me...(aka things you might not know about me)

I love all things about tea! As an early American historian, it all started with the “No Stamp Act” tea pot I had coveted at Colonial Williamsburg. Now I’ve got tea cups, miniature tea sets, and tea stuff everywhere! My mom and I love going to the tea parlor in our town to have afternoon tea.
Around the house, I am known as “Sis” or “Sissy” to the Princess, the young man we do respite care for, the cats, and the dog. Nine times out of ten, I will wind up referring to myself in the third person as “Sis.”
I love Winnie the Pooh and friends! I’ve got a small collection in our guest room. In fact, our guestroom looks like the Cabbage Patch Kids and Pooh & friends threw up in there. I’m going to do some paintings to hang over the bed of Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet and we’re going with a Hundred Acre Wood theme. If you are anti-toys, you might not want to stay away from our house.
I am a huge sports fan. Most of my friends already know this, but some of you blog readers (my new friends!) may not. It all started at family reunions when I was a little girl. I would go from t.v. to t.v. and my older cousins would explain things to me. I remember how proud my great Uncle Barnes was when I finally grasped the concept of four quarters in a game. Now if he only knew the monster I am on college football Saturdays (go Vols!)
I am addicted to forensic science shows. You name it, CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Bones, I’m addicted. You can actually learn a lot from the shows. For example, did you know that the blood thinner Coumadin, or Warfarin, is rat poison? Don’t you want to try holistic medicine now?
When I get stressed, I clean. After my dad took my mom to the hospital last week, I cleaned the whole downstairs (except for the vacuuming) in less than two hours!

And tag! You're it!

Brooke at Smart + Strong = Sexy
Susan (my cousin!) at Susan’s Blog
Kim at Neatokimmo
Rachel's Blog
Holly's Blog
You!

An Update on My Mom

2008-08-10T11:04:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to thank each and every one of you for your prayers and good thoughts sent our family’s way this week. It has been beyond hectic. On Monday night, only 20 minutes after an elder from our church came to pray with her, my mom’s heart went back into normal rhythm. The doctor discharged her on Tuesday afternoon. We went to see our family physician on Thursday. No farther than she had to walk to get into the doctor’s office, she started having shortness of breath and chest pains. Our doctor thought she might be having a heart attack and sent her to the emergency room in an ambulance. She was in the hospital Thursday evening and yesterday morning, they ordered a stress test. The stress test came back negative, so we’re supposing there are no blockages. Although she was still experiencing shortness of breath and a terrible headache, the doctor dismissed her. I’m not really happy with that doctor’s decision, but as our family doctor doesn’t have admitting privileges, there wasn’t a whole lot we can do. Mom goes back to our family doctor on Monday and will see the cardiologist next Friday. Please continue to keep her and us in your thoughts and prayers. It’s been a tough week! I can honestly say that I have been living on prayer this week as I’m trying to take care of everyone! I love you all!

Family Emergency

2008-08-04T11:16:00.002-04:00

My posts are going to be on hold for a bit today due to a family emergency. Please keep my mom in your prayers. She started having chest pains last night and felt like her heart was running away with her. My dad took her to the emergency room and they admitted her. The doctor told her it is atrial fribulation (her heart rhythm isn't normal). They're trying to get it back into a normal rhythm with medication, but if it doesn't, they will have to give her a slight shock tomorrow to get it back into a normal rhythm. I'm going to go to the hospital this afternoon after my dad gets home to relieve me with my little sister. I will keep you all updated.

Thanks and God bless!

Amy

Friday: The Financial Costs of Obesity, Part III—Eating Healthy, Frugally

2008-08-02T08:47:00.001-04:00

Welcome back to another edition of Frugal Fridays! If you’ve joined us in the past few weeks, I’ve been doing a series on “The Financial Costs of Obesity.” In our first week, we talked about some general financial costs of obesity. And if you joined me last week, I talked about how we can develop a healthy eating philosophy. I will be the first to admit that this week has been a struggle. My mother and I (the head chef and junior chef) have not felt well thanks to a combination of fibromyalgia and struggles with depression, so we have not eaten healthy as much as we could have (which has probably contributed to how we feel). If there’s one thing I want to emphasize with this series, it is this: we can and will continue to fall off the weight wagon. Each day, however, God gives us a chance to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and get right back on track! So I look forward to tomorrow being another day, and I pray that I will feel better, eat right, and get back on the Wii to do my exercises!

One of the biggest battles in battling our obesity is deciding how we should eat. There are so many diet and eating plans out there: Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, the South Beach Diet, the Six Weeks Body Makeover just to name a few. Believe me, we’ve tried them all! The only bad thing about any of these programs, however, is that they cost money. Ultimately, it depends on what works best for you and how much you can afford to spend/ invest. Although Jenny Craig has great food, who has over $400 a month to pay for it? Not me! If I were to sit down and sketch out a rough draft of my eating philosophy and what I’ve learned about eating healthy, I would say that Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, and the Six Weeks Body Makeover have all been the most influential to our family.

In choosing to eat healthier, there are several ways you and your family can eat better frugally. The following suggestions are simple steps you can take at home to promote healthier eating habits for you and your family! I also hope you will take the time in the comments to share how you and your family eat healthier on a budget too!

Portion size! As I’ve come to learn through several diets and eating plans, portion size is really the way to control your diet. If you’ve joined me on Menu Plan Monday, you’ve noticed that we weigh our chicken and tuna. We also measure our potatoes and berries. As our doctor told my mom and I, the problem was not what we were eating but how much of it. If you buy snack foods or cereals, measure them out by the suggested serving size. Don’t sit down and eat half a bag of potato chips, measure out an ounce.

Add more fruits and vegetables to your diet. Aim to get your recommended five servings a day of fruits and vegetables. Remember, canned fruits and vegetables count. If you are going to eat canned fruits, look for labels that say “No Sugar Added”, and in purchasing canned vegetables, I would recommend that you look for “No Sodium Added” or “Reduced Sodium.” Be careful though! Make sure you read the labels! Sometimes “Reduced Sodium” actually has as much sodium in it but is at a higher price.

Speaking of sodium, cut down on it! I read a magazine article a while ago that talked about how much sodium we’re getting in our diets…it’s far beyond the recommended daily allowance! So many things have sodium in them…even diet soda! We’ve been cutting down on our sodium drastically. I drink flavored carbonated waters (like Sam’s Choice from Wal-Mart) instead of drinking diet sodas now because they don’t have any sodium in them. We don’t use as much salad dressing (even the fat-free kind), but use flavored vinegars, a squeeze of lemon, or Mrs. Dash! I highly recommend Mrs. Dash…there are several varieties. In the sliced potatoes we bake, I usually put on some Garlic & Herb Mrs. Dash, or some of the Tomato & Basil. Thinly slice your potatoes, add some “No Salt” and some flavor of Mrs. Dash, and you’ve got a great alternative to chips! I also like dicing up my tomatoes, putting them in a bowl with some Mrs. Dash and tossing them to coat the tomatoes…it makes a healthy alternative to using any kind of salad dressing.

Another way you can add more fruits and vegetables to your diet is by growing your own. Next year, we’re planning on growing a much larger garden in our backyard and planting potatoes, green beans, and melons. I’ve always wanted to grow a larger garden, but it’s taken me a few years to get my dad on board. Although I messed up this year (first year gardener mistakes!), I’m going to do a lot of reading this fall and winter online and off to see how I can improve next year.

Little changes add to big changes in your eating philosophy and lifestyle. And some of these changes are relatively frugal! What are your frugal ideas about a healthy eating philosophy? How do you and your family eat healthy on the cheap? Please share your ideas in the comments!

"Thinking Ahead Thursday": Christmas in July, Part 3--Cooking up a Storm!

2008-07-31T06:30:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to another edition of “Thinking Ahead Thursday”! I have to say that I love writing these blog articles. It’s helped me so much to “think ahead” and start planning for Christmas! If you’ve joined us the past couple of weeks for our “Christmas in July” series, we’ve talked about setting up a gift list and crafts calendar, as well as some checklists of chores we can start in October and November. Today, let’s talk about one of the biggest tasks facing many of us in the holiday season: cooking!

Planning ahead for your Christmas cooking and baking will hopefully help your holiday season run a little smoother. Do you have any Christmas parties or special dinners? What do you usually serve? You can start planning now! Plan your menus now, far in advance. Check your pantry and make store lists. (If you joined me for “Tackle it Tuesday”, you know that I’ve already cleaned out our pantry!) If there are canned items and dry goods (cranberry sauce and stuffing mix, for example), start stocking up now, far in advance! Use those coupons and deals to start strategizing your meal plans now! Many of the news shows are reporting that food prices will continue to rise, so by stocking up now, you might save yourself some money this holiday season!

If you’re throwing a Christmas party and use disposable plates, napkins, and cups (not environmentally friendly but convenient!), then you might want to think about how many of each you will need. Pick a decoration theme or color scheme and start stocking up now! Since it’s the end of July and after the Independence Day holiday, you might be able to find red plates, cups, or napkins on sale. If you prefer to use ceramic plates, glasses, and silverware, take stock of what you have and what you will need before your party. You can start looking for sales now as stores put end-of-season housewares on sale.

What about Christmas baking? We usually bake for our doctor’s office and some of our neighbors. First, make a master list of everyone you will bake for, what you will bake or cook for them, and how much of that recipe you will need. Then, get out your recipes. From your master list, you will be able to do a little math and figure out how much you will need of each ingredient.

What special food traditions does your family keep during the Christmas season? To me, I get a warm and fuzzy feeling just thinking about hot chocolate (I add whipped cream and red sprinkles for effect) and sugar cookies. Again, you can start stocking up on some of these items now. As you get the coupons and find the sales, stock up! This would be a great gift idea as well…if you’re able to score free or nearly free hot chocolate, think about making a little basket for someone with some hot chocolate mix, a pretty mug, and maybe a pretty Christmas dishtowel or some home-baked cookies.

If you start planning a little here and a little there, you’ll have a lot of your “footwork” out of the way before the Christmas holiday season gets here! How do you prepare for your Christmas baking and cooking in advance? What do you do to “plan ahead”? Please share your comments and links below! Please join me again next week as we conclude our “Christmas in July” series in August! Next week, we’ll talk about how we can use our skills as bargain shoppers to stuff our stockings now!

Works for Me Wednesday: Home Remedies, Pt. I--Summer Ailments!

2008-07-30T05:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the first installment in the Frugal Bookworm’s series on “Home Remedies.” Going to see the doctor is expensive, especially for the uninsured (like me!). And as many of us have become more environmentally aware and try to live greener lifestyles, the rates of people turning to home treatments and homeopathic medicine are on the rise. As I turn to more homeopathic and natural remedies, I’d like to share a few of our favorite home remedies! Today, in our first installment, we’re going to tackle some common summertime ailments!

Before we get into the advice, let me offer a little legal disclaimer. If you have questions about any of these home remedies, please talk to your doctor! I am not a medical professional, so I am not responsible in any way for this advice. I’m just offering what’s worked in the past for our family. By no means am I saying you should rush out and try any of this at home. If you don’t feel comfortable with a remedy recommended here by myself or another reader, then don’t try it!

Bug bites: Make sure you clean the area with soap and water. I use alcohol so that it helps dry out the bug bite a little. Calamine lotion, anti-itch gel, or hydrocortisone cream all help control the itching. If you scratch at the bug bite, you will want to regularly use hydrogen peroxide to help boil the infection out. Ugh…I get the creeps just talking about that. If your kids like to swim, time in a chlorinated pool will also help dry up the bug bites.

Chiggers: Again, make sure you clean the area with soap and water. My mom has always recommended using bleach on chigger bites to dry them up quickly. After watching an episode of “CSI”, however, I found another solution…clear nail polish! It really works! It keeps the chigger bite from getting any air. I had a chigger bite on my leg and tried it out…it dried it right up. Let me warn you, however. If you do this on a leg, like I did, do not shave that area, ladies! I cut that chigger bite wide open and now I have a lovely purple-ish speckled scar from all the tiny cuts that I had from that incident. Yuck!

Poison ivy/ Poison oak: TipNut.com did a great article on this last week. Just as I did with bug bites, I would also recommend you use Benadryl to relieve the itching, or hydrocortisone ointment or gel as well. Calamine is great, and I would also recommend a bath in oatmeal…not a whole tub full of oatmeal, mind you, but add a cup or two to warm bathwater and soak. This is also a great idea for kids with chicken pox!

Sunburn: Aloe vera is your friend! We use aloe vera gel for sunburns, but I know several people that have aloe vera plants, and when there is a burn or sunburn, they will cut off the leaves and squeeze them out on the burn. If you or your child have a severe sunburn, you also might want to take some kind of pain reliever, either Tylenol or ibuprofen. If the sunburn is really bad, don’t pick at the peeling skin…it makes it much more painful!

Swimmer’s ear: There are some over-the-counter medications available to treat swimmer’s ear. You might want to give the affected person a pain reliever such as Tylenol or Ibuprofen to help the soreness. It’s a pretty good rule of thumb not to stick anything in your ear that’s smaller than your elbow! If the case doesn’t clear up, please go see a doctor…treatment with antibiotic ear drops might be necessary.

Dehydration: The best thing you can do to treat dehydration is prevention! When you’re outside or inside, for that matter, please make sure you drink plenty of fluids, especially water! If you don’t like plain water, try adding some true lemon (lime, or orange) packs…check out Heather’s Freebies 4 Mom to see if there are any current sample offers! If you have animals, keep them hydrated as well and give them an ice cube as a great treat! Whenever my dad gets ice out of the freezer (and inevitably spills some on the floor), our dog is right there to chase after the stray ice cubes! Most importantly, know your limits! If you're outside and you think you're getting overheated, then go inside!

I hope you've enjoyed some of these home remedies for common summertime ailments! What are some of your recommendations to treat the summertime yucks? Please share in the comments below! Join me again next week, as we continue our "Home Remedies" series and discuss headaches!

Menu Plan Monday: Under the Weather = Off the Wagon

2008-07-29T10:14:00.002-04:00

Menu Plan Monday is late! Late last week and over the weekend, we were a little under the weather. Needless to say, these are the times that try men’s…pocketbooks! Neither mom nor I felt like cooking, so we ordered out. I also hit a snag in my exercise plans…I strained a ligament in my right ankle, which I have a sneaking suspicion came from some of my work in our garden. This week, we’re doing our best to try to get back on track. There’s a lesson to be learned though…if you do “fall off the [diet] wagon”, you can pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get back on track! Although I’ve gained two or three pounds, I’m going to do my best to get back on track and drag my family along, even if they’re kicking and screaming!

Breakfast:
Special K protein meal bar

Mid-Morning Snack:
Special K protein snack bar

Lunch:
2 oz. chicken breast, ½ cup potato, and 1 cup greens or steamed veggies

Mid-Afternoon snack:
1-2 oz. chicken breast & ¼ cup. Cantaloupe or Special K protein snack bar

Dinner:
2 oz. grilled ground turkey, 1 cup. baked sweet potato, and 1-2 cups steamed veggies or green salad

P.M. Snack: (This is optional, and we usually don’t do it)
2 oz. chicken breast and ½ cup mixed berries

Tackle it Tuesday: Organizing the Garage Pantry!

2008-07-29T09:17:00.000-04:00

Since we had our yard sale on Thursday, our garage has a lot more space now! The only bad thing about our house is that our kitchen doesn’t have a lot of space, so our pantry is in the garage. Today’s “Tackle it Tuesday” is organizing our garage pantry. I’m going to organize the giant cabinet where we keep our dry goods and organize the shelves with our canned goods as well. For weeks, as I’ve been organizing everywhere else, I’ve been saving my extra boxes and baskets just for this occasion! I think this will really help us take stock of what we have, especially as I do some of the tasks for Thursday’s “Christmas in July” series as a part of “Thinking Ahead Thursday”. Be sure to stop back by on Thursday and check it out!

10 on a Tuesday: 10 Things to Do When It's Too Hot to Go Outside

2008-07-29T07:00:00.000-04:00

I don’t know about you, but when it’s too hot to go outside, I’m really lazy! It’s been in the 90s here the past couple of weeks, so today’s “10 on a Tuesday” is great! Now presenting… “10 Things to Do When It’s Too Hot to Go Outside”!

10 Things to Do When It’s Too Hot to Go Outside:

Have an indoor picnic.
Camp indoors. (Throw some sheets over the dining room table and “camp” with your kids)
Take Barbie or GI Joe to the pool. (Fill up the tub and let your little one have a blast!)
Read a good book.
What would Martha do? Craft, of course!
Work on a scrapbook.
Take a nap.
Give yourself a pedicure or manicure.
Make “cool” treats (your own Crystal Light popsicles, frozen grapes or banana slices, etc.)
Mattress slide (Take a small mattress…maybe a crib mattress would be good, and slide down the stairs. Now you know what we did during exams in college!)

Have fun!

Scrapbooking on a Budget, Part V: Setting up a Budget

2008-07-26T07:00:00.000-04:00

We’ve raided our houses and found some free supplies, so what else do we need? First, for those of you who didn’t have any of the scavenger hunt items or just want to start fresh, let’s talk about basic supplies. If you want the best value on basic supplies, I recommend you go to your local Dollar Tree store. If you don’t have either of those stores, then try Dollar General or Wal-Mart. As school supplies are on sale at CVS, Walgreens, Office Depot, and Office Max right now, you’ll be able to get some great deals on scrapbooking items like glue sticks, scissors, rulers, pencils, and so forth!

$10 + tax
Scissors
Garden pruners (make great small needle nosed scissors)
2 packs scrapbooking or gel pens
Glue sticks (acid-free)
Ruler
Compass
Pencils
1 pack plain paper
Tape (double-stick if they have it) or photo mounting squires

I’m not sure if the Dollar Tree stores have photo squares or acid-free double-stick tape. You might have to get them elsewhere. I have seen mounting squares at our Dollar General Store.

Now, decide what kind of page or album you’re going to do. As we continue this series, I will work on pages for three albums: my parents’ wedding (a gift for their 30th anniversary), a tea party album (featuring the tea we held for my cousin’s wife last year), and a sister’s album for my foster sister for Christmas.

Next, set a budget. How much do you want to spend on this album? In the series, I’m going to include two budgets--$15 and $25. If you would like to see another amount for a budget, please e-mail me. I’ll be happy to include it in our series. I will spend different amounts on each of the albums. I’m going to use albums and materials previously purchased, so I don’t expect to pay much more. If I do spend any more, here’s my budget:

$10 Tea Party
$15 Sisters
$25-30 Anniversary

These amounts are probably more than I should spend, and I will do my best to avoid spending any more on scrapbooking. I’m making it my goal to use supplies that I already have and repurpose other things I can find at home in order to save money.

Now that we’ve talked a little bit about setting up a budget, I wanted to give you a few tips and warnings before you go shopping. I’ve made a list of the stores where I purchase most of my scrapbooking supplies.

Big Lots
Big Lots is really one of my favorite places to find scrapbooking supplies. I don’t get to go very often, but when I do, I try to set aside some of my spending money just to use on scrapbooking supplies. The last time I was there, I found 12 x 12 in. scrapbooks for $4-$7 each. I’ve also found name brands such as Making Memories, Mrs. Grossman’s, and Jolee’s there before! If I say this once in this article, I’ll probably say it a million times… “you just never know what you’re going to find!” Make sure you have plenty of time when you hit the Big Lots crafting/ scrapbooking section. More than likely, you’ll have to search through piles to see what they have!

Dollar Tree
Most of their scrapbooking stuff is on the stationery aisle. You might also want to check out their crafts section too. I’ve found foam stickers to use in scrapbooks before, as well as beading kits. You could glue the small beads on a page with something like Aleene’s Tacky Glue (I’m pretty sure it’s acid free). In the gardening section, I found little handheld pruning shears which are perfect to use as scissors to cut out small details! This is one of those stores that you never know what you’re going to find! If you buy your scissors at the Dollar Tree, you won’t feel so bad if they get gummed up. This is also a great place to stock up on scrapbooking paper packs!

Dollar General
Check out their stationery aisle for acid free gel pens, glue sticks, etc. Scrapbooking items, however, are found with picture frames and picture albums. In our local Dollar General, these are on opposite sides of the store!

Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart now has a scrapbooking aisle, but also make sure you go through the entire craft section. You’ll find foam stickers with the kid-friendly projects, and most of the time, an aisle end-cap might have clearance items from the scrapbooking section. Make sure you also check out the stationary products…I’ve found acid free glue sticks, gel pens, and so forth at a much cheaper price in this section than in the crafts section. Right now, with all the school supplies on sale, you can get acid free glue sticks dirt cheap! My recommendation of a must-have item is “Undu, the Scrapper’s Solution.” You can squirt a little of that on a sticker, remove the sticker from your page with the scraper on the bottle, and the sticker will retain its adhesiveness…that way you can reposition the sticker on the page or on another page! It’s also great about removing price tags from items! Our local Wal-Mart has marked down the prices on a lot of items in the scrapbooking aisle, so I’ve stocked up on some things I’ll need for the Disney scrapbooks I’ll be working on in the future.

Sam’s Club
If you’re just starting out and you want to do a lot of scrapbooking, Sam’s Club is a great way to stock up. I’ve bought glue sticks in large packages there before. I’ve also found large packs of gel pens, crafting scissors, and some scrapbooking supplies there before. I don’t buy as many scrapbooking items there as I used to, but you never know what you’re going to find!

Now that I’ve made recommendations about a few of my favorite places to buy scrapbooking supplies, let me just say that it’s hard to stay on budget. It can be really hard sometimes! When I went and saw that sale in the Wal-Mart scrapbooking aisle, I’ll admit it…I got a little crazy and bought three cricut cartridges that were on sale. That being said, I knew if I didn’t get the Disney cricut cartridges for $45 that I would regret it later on, and I consider it an investment in future scrapbooks.

For the purposes of this series, however, I’m going to do my best to stick to the budgets I’ve set for myself. By setting a budget for your scrapbooking project, and forcing yourself to stick to it, you’re also ensuring that your creativity will be at its peak. You’ll have to do more with the supplies you do buy and hopefully we’ll find more things around the house we can use! Good luck! I can’t wait to start scrappin’ with you! Please join me again next week, as we conclude the first section of our “Scrapbooking on a Budget” series, with a blog about frugally organizing our supplies and setting up a special area where we can scrapbook!

Cheap Web Hosting!

2008-07-25T08:02:00.000-04:00

I found a new site this morning that I wanted to tell you about. If you’re looking for cheap web hosting, you might want to check out WebHostingGeeks.com. They have reviews of the top 10 web host sites. They also have sections for free domain names, free Google AdWords, and free Yahoo marketing. If you have a blog or a website, you will definitely want to check this out! If you’re looking to just get started with a website of some kind (including a blog), you will probably want to check out their 2007 Webhosting Awards. I’ve been looking for a domain host for the small business I want to start, and the Web Hosting Geeks site has really given me a lot of information to consider! I will definitely be using their site as I move forward in starting my small business, and I hope you’ll considering using it too!

Financial Costs of Obesity: Part II, Developing a Healthy Eating Philosophy

2008-07-25T07:33:00.000-04:00

Good Morning, it's time for another edition of "Frugal Fridays." This week, we'll pick up where we left off before a bit of the stomach flu last week! In the second installment of "The Financial Costs of Obesity,” we’ll talk a little bit about frugal options for healthier eating. Today, I want you to ask yourself some questions and develop your own healthy eating philosophy, a mission statement to post on your fridge or in your cabinet to help you win “the battle of the bulge”. By developing a mission statement to guide us as we battle obesity, we’ll be able to conquer come of the costs of obesity, financially, physically, and mentally.

What in the world is a healthy eating philosophy? Let me begin with a caveat…our family has realized that continuous dieting does not work. The Weight Watchers commercial has it pretty dead on when they say “diets don’t work”. Our healthy eating philosophy is basically a combination of a realization and acceptance. Our realization is that we are basically food addicts, who have tried many diets as forms of “rehab” for our problem.

The first question you should ask yourself is, “What is my relationship with food?”. I will be the first to admit that I have a great relationship with food. I love it! But that’s the problem. Instead of using food as a fuel for my body, I am an emotional eater. I would say that’s probably my biggest problem when it comes to food. If I get bored, I tend to eat. If I’m sad or stressed, I like to eat. Growing up in the South, I’ve come to associate foods with funerals, baby showers, weddings, and other important events. I’ve used food as a reward to motivate myself or congratulate myself for doing something. It’s an unhealthy perspective on my relationship with food, and I need to change my outlook.

Next, ask yourself, “What purpose does food serve in my life?” As I mentioned, as an emotional eater, food has been a source of comfort to me. I’ve gained the most weight after bad breakups, when I was struggling to find a job, or after tragedies. I actually decided to take the time to really examine what the definition of “food” is and what it should be used for. I think Merriman-Webster’s site puts it great, defining food as “material consisting essentially of protein, carbohydrate, and fat used in the body of an organism to sustain growth, repair, and vital processes and to furnish energy” or “something that nourishes, sustains, or supplies”. Now, my challenge is to look at food as a source of fuel for my mind and body, instead of as a source of comfort. I’m going to post that definition of food on our refrigerator and in other prominent places, so that I can remind myself of the true purpose of food in my life.

Our third question in our quest to develop a healthy eating philosophy, asks, “What steps do I need to take to change my perspective?” As I’ve realized in step two that I need to change my perspective, how must I do that? As I mentioned, I’m going to post the reality about food, that Merriman-Webster definition, in places where I can read it multiple times a day. I’m also going to make time in my weekly planning session to review how I did over the previous week while I also look ahead. Setting goals for myself will be an integral part of changing my perspective about food.

Finally, I want you to ask yourself, “What is my ultimate goal? How do I want to look/ feel/ think about myself?” In this step, I really hesitate to have you ask yourself how you want to “look” after you lose weight. Although many people do choose to lose weight based on their appearance (and often because they want to “look good for person X”), I hope you will choose to lose weight or change your eating habits based on how you feel, physically and mentally. I feel like I can say this because I was the queen of the “Oh, I’m going to make Mr. X regret he lost me, because I’m going to look like the finest thing since sliced bread.” Yeah, that’s not really healthy for my self-esteem, is it? My ultimate goal is to improve my health. I have fibromyalgia and some other health problems, and I know my body would benefit from a healthier lifestyle including a healthy diet and exercise. I have to make my health my top priority. My goal is to conquer my obesity physically and mentally so that I can build a healthier “me”.

So, what is my healthy eating philosophy? Let’s combine the answers from those five questions into my philosophy: “I, Amy, realize that I am an emotional eater. My relationship with food has not been healthy, as I have looked to food to fill emotional needs. Food serves a purpose in my life. Food is a fuel which sustains and repairs my body and gives it energy. I need to focus on the real purpose of food in my life and set goals for myself which reflect my greatest goal—to be healthy, energetic, and fit so that I can better serve God, my family, and my friends.”

I would encourage you to develop your own healthy eating philosophy. We’re challenging ourselves to battle obesity financially, physically, and mentally. By conquering the physical and mental aspects of ourselves which have contributed to our obesity, we’ll be able to save ourselves money in the long run. Please join me next week on “Frugal Friday” for the third part of our “Financial Costs of Obesity” series, as we look at how we can choose to eat healthier and save ourselves some money!

"Thinking Ahead Thursday"

2008-07-24T07:00:00.001-04:00

Welcome to the second installment of our “Thinking Ahead Thursday” series on “Christmas in July”! I’ve been sharing some of my tips to get organized and plan ahead for the Christmas holiday season. It’s such a busy time of year that, by planning ahead, we can save ourselves some time and be able to spend more time with our families and loved ones this holiday season!

If you joined us last week, I talked about the gift list and crafts calendar. Today, we’re going to do some more list making, shopping, and other preparations for the holiday season. By strategizing early, we can get many of our chores done in October and November, right before the Christmas season really kicks into high gear!

Make your list and check it twice (a month, that is). Check your gift list and crafts calendar twice a month in order to check your progress. This will help keep your gift buying and making organized and hopefully help keep you sane! You will want to include any birthdays, anniversaries, and other occasions that are before Christmas as well…this will keep you from forgetting someone’s birthday because you were totally focused on Christmas!

List all the rooms you decorate during the holiday season. If you’re super-organized, make a list of all the chores you will need to do to prepare each room for guests and decorations. (At the beginning of the holiday season, our cleaning and organizing is very similar to spring cleaning!) Let’s use our kitchen as an example.

Late October / Early November:

Clean out and organize kitchen cabinets.
Box up food we won’t be using for Second Harvest Food Bank.
Wipe down & clean kitchen cabinets.
Clean out & organize refrigerator.
Clean out & organize freezer.

Mid-November:

Unpack Christmas dishes & glasses.
Wash Christmas dishes & mugs in dishwasher.
Take everyday plates & mugs out of the cabinets.
Pack everyday plates & mugs in boxes & store in garage.
Put clean Christmas dishes & mugs in the cabinets.
Clean oven.
Wipe down kitchen countertops.
Sweep & mop kitchen.

List any special decorations /projects you do during the holiday season. I have a Christmas village, but because we’ve travelled over Christmas the past few years, I haven’t gotten it out in three or four years. I’ve added to my village, so there are miscellaneous pieces in different Christmas boxes, but I haven’t actually set up the village. In October, I’ll be going through all our Christmas boxes in the garage, and hunting out my village pieces. I’ll gather them in one place and take stock of what I have. I’m even going to try to make a master list of the pieces I have in my village. Who knows? If I feel really spunky, I might draw a sketch of how I’m going to lay everything out!

There’s so much you can think about and do now to help you prepare for Christmas! If we keep at it and “think ahead” now, we’ll have much more time to spend with our families this holiday season! What are some things you do in October and November to ready for the holiday season?Please join me again next week, as I share my checklists for our home, and we talk about how we can start preparing in advance for our Christmas menus!

Works for Me Wednesday: Repurposing Link Round-up!

2008-07-23T07:00:00.002-04:00

I hope you’ve joined us the past few weeks for our “Repurposing” series as a part of “Works for me Wednesday”. If you’re new to the series, please feel free to revisit our previous articles on repurposing bags, boxes, baskets, and bottles. Please join me today as we celebrate repurposing with a link love fest!

Deputy HeadMistress at Frugal Hacks wrote a great article on “The Lowly Envelope”! I can’t wait to start trying some of these great tips!

TipNut.com is a great resource of all kinds of repurposing and recycling projects! Here’s an article on 25 Things to Do with Old Jeans. Be sure to check out their section on Green Living and a special section within their crafts all about Repurposing. This article on Household Tips also has some great ideas for repurposing!

I found this great article on a Magazine Bowl through TipNut.com! Be sure to check out Patricia’s site, A Little Hut and all her recycling projects!

Lifehacker did a special round-up on Repurposing…make sure to check it out!

Rachel Ray has highlighted repurposing in several segments on her show. This segment shows you how to repurpose clothes! Last week, I saw a rerun with the Threadbangers! Rachel has several clips with the Threadbangers on her site, and you can also visit their site directly. If you’re a visual learner, you’ll want to check out their videos on their site.

I think one of the greatest ways to find things to repurpose or recycle is Freecycle. Although this falls a little more into the recycling category, you might find something you can repurpose!

If you’re thinking about Christmas presents, why not repurpose an outgrown sweatshirt into a pair of mittens? This site from HGTV.com shows you how!

What are your favorite sites to learn about repurposing? Have you repurposed any items that you would like to share? Please post a link below!

Tackle it Tuesday: Preparing for the Big Yard Sale!

2008-07-22T08:00:00.003-04:00

We’re having a yard sale this Thursday and Friday! It’s been two months in coming, so you would think I would be ready, wouldn’t you? So today’s “Tackle it Tuesday” is a list of things to do to prepare for our yard sale. I’ll edit this post later and cross things out as I get the list whittled down.

Get all items for the yard sale gathered into the living room. (Yikes! I know this will be a mess!)
Sort items by “department” (kitchen, household, toys, clothes, etc.)
Price items.
Put priced items back in garage.
Make signs to post with directions.

This weekend, I’ll write a full report about how our yard sale goes! My goal is to have a significant amount to pay on my credit card! Look forward for that report this weekend!

10 Least Favorite Celebrities

2008-07-22T07:24:00.003-04:00

I'm trying something new today! I've joined the 10 on Tuesday list! So every Tuesday, I'll be bringing you two blog entries, my regular "Tackle it Tuesday" and a "10 on Tuesday" themed list. Today's theme is "10 Least Favorite Celebrities". I'm not sure I can think of 10, but I'll give it my best shot!

Ann Coulter--I just don't think you should say such nasty things about people. If she was three, she would get a major time out!
Denise Richards--Somehow, I just really feel sorry for Charlie Sheen. I've seen interviews about her cursing around her children...not good, not good at all!
Michael Savage--If you've seen the news, Michael Savage said on his radio show that kids with autism are "brats" who don't have fathers around to tell them to "sit up and stop being an idiot." As the foster sister of a child with autism, I would really like to tell him a head full! I would love for him to be around when my sister's having a meltdown.
Don Imus--While we're on the topic of radio hosts, let me add Don Imus to this list. What he said about the Rutgers women's basketball team was atrocious! How do people expect us to reach healing in this country if people like Imus continue to spout bigotry?
Eddie Murphy--What he did to his then wife and then denying that Mel B.'s child was his...grr! I don't care if he is Donkey in the Shrek movies, be a man and accept responsibility for your actions!
Dog the Bounty Hunter--I just don't like him, and I can't understand why A&E would give him a show.
Perez Hilton--I used to read his site all the time, but he's just so mean! When he started attacking John Mayer, I stopped reading his site. Perez is crass and rude, definitely someone I would not want to be around.

That's all I can think of at the moment! I almost feel guilty confessing to my "10 least favorite celebrities". What celebrities really irritate you?

Trusted Tours and Attractions: Saving Money & Having Fun!

2008-07-21T08:17:00.001-04:00

Ahh…August is nearing and school supplies are on sale everywhere. It starts to make me think about that annual essay, “What I Did on My Summer Vacation”. What has been one of your best summer vacations? This year, I had the opportunity to go to Atlanta with a group from my alma mater and visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the King Center, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. It was an amazing trip!

My family wants to go back to Atlanta with me sometime, so I’ve been looking for us to get a good tour of Atlanta. I found a site about a company called Trusted Tours & Attractions. They cover a lot of cities including Atlanta, Boston, Las Vegas, Memphis, Miami, New Orleans, and Philadelphia, all places I want to go. I checked out their things to do in Atlanta. They’re running some great specials right now, including a sale on the Atlanta City Pass. Although it’s not on sale, I was excited to see the Segway tour of Atlanta…I think that sounds like a lot of fun! They have a lot of online travel guides, and I also spent some time checking out their things to do in Boston (as an early American historian, I’m so anxious to go there!). And of course, someday, I’d love to go back to the Kennedy Space Center!

So are you planning your next vacation? Looking for ideas on what to do? Sign up for the Trusted Travels eNewsletter and you can enter to win a $150 iTunes gift card! I’m definitely signing up…the chance to win a free iTunes gift card and travel ideas? I’m so there!