Thursday 13 # 4

Ways To Save Money


I've been dreading to watch the news for these past few days and with good reason. It's all about how the world's economy is slowing down and how the financial markets are taking a dive.

Of course, this affects the common folk like me even if I'm thousands of miles away from Wall Street. As they say, (and I've heard from different sources many times this week) when Uncle Sam sneezes, the world will get a cold.

So, here are thirteen ways I'm saving money and stocking up on vitamin C.

13. Recycle.

12. Cook at home.

11. Shop on Ebay.

10. Sell my clutter on Ebay.

9. Stick to it -- the budget, the grocery list.

8. Leave credit cards at home.

7. Cut fuel expenses by scheduling errands and appointments.

6. Improve my DIY skills.

5. Cancel cable. (Or I'm considering it.)

4. Plan, plan, plan ahead.

3. Use compact fluorescent lamps.

2. Learn to say NO -- to designer brands, to whiny kids at the mall and to keeping up with the current trends.

1. Simplify.

Good luck to all of us.

Tina Fey is Dead On

I've been watching clips of Saturday Night Live (SNL) and their spoofs on the current U.S. Presidential campaign.

Tina Fey's return on SNL this season has everyone raving. Her dead on impersonation of Gov. Sarah Palin is so funny, it's actually disturbing. In fact, there are times when I can't even tell which is which anymore, especially when the TV's on mute.

The VP debate episode in the recent SNL was so hilarious. Queen Latifah was so good as PBS journalist Gwen Iffil. Kudos also to Jason Sudeikis who played Sen. Joe Biden. However, I must say that the spotlight belonged to the two ladies.

I'm sure SNL is on a roll this campaign season. They definitely have a lot of material to work on. I can't wait to see what they come up with this Saturday.

Second Attempt Crashed And Burned

In my 32 years of life, I have sampled my Dad's cooking only once. I guess it was with good reason. His first attempt to cook was a nutritionist's nightmare--and he was just cooking hotdogs.

If you think no one can flub pan-frying hotdogs, you're wrong. My Dad did. He fried them with the individual plastic wrapper still intact. And served the blackened, plastic-wrapped hotdogs to us, his precious children! The funny thing was that he insisted that plastic had nutritional value.

His second attempt to cook last Saturday literally crashed and burned. He was frying tapa, which is tasty dried beef, and had a senior moment. He left the tapa cooking in the pan while he went to his room to watch Harold and Kumar with my brother!

Good thing my brother went out and smelled something burning. He immediately ran to the kitchen to see the it almost half-filled with smoke and turned off the stove. When my Mom learned about it, she was livid and ignored my Dad the whole night.

My Dad officially has AAADD (Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder). And I think he's entitled to it as long as he stays away from the kitchen.

Finding People For The Reunion

Time really flies. By December, my batch mates and I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary after college. And we'll be celebrating with a big reunion.

After graduation, I’ve kept in touch with a select group of friends. And they’re all going. However, there are a few classmates and friends that I've lost contact with over the years. Hopefully, they’ll attend. It’ll be fun to see how we've all changed and reminisce with them again.

A few friends already living in the U.S. and Canada are flying in for the holidays. The mastermind behind the reunion got hold of them through a free people locator online service, which is so great. She just typed in the name and state, and viola, an address and phone number was provided. It was that easy.

Now the difficult part is figuring out what to wear. I have a few weeks to find something. Hopefully, that’ll be enough.

Starting To Simplify

Since becoming a stay-at-home mom, I have experienced the difficulty of managing the house and the kids alone and all on a budget of a military wife. And I will not trade it for anything else. However, I must admit that I am still finding the groove.

I read in an article somewhere online that one thing a stay-at-home mom should know is how to get organized and start to simplify. In other words, get rid of stuff. With almost eight years of marriage, accumulations of life pile up and I find that we own a lot of things that we no longer need or use.

Yes, I confess, we still have a VHS, a laser disc and VCD player in the attic somewhere. I'm pretty sure there are other obsolete gadgets like my college beeper in there, too. Not to mention Betamax, VHS tapes and sets of encyclopedia just waiting to be rediscovered.

Now, I'm making a deal with myself to get rid of stuff before new stuff comes via gifts this Christmas. I'm starting to make a mental list of things give away like the encyclopedia set and a couple of books to the local elementary school, old clothes and shoes to the church. The rest I'm selling on EBay. And most will end up my planned yard sale that is a year overdue. (Yes, Hubby, it will take place his month!)

My watch tells me that it's 12:27 in the morning. Hopefully I'll remember this deal when I wake up later.