Where's the Television?

Okay, so you remember how I mentioned in a blog a couple weeks ago that we were getting a new TV? Well, we were supposed to have received it on December 23rd - but we still have nothing. I called the store and was told they have a shipment coming in tomorrow but are releasing them to the people that ordered first - which I completely agree with. When I asked about how many were expected to come in and what number "in line" we were I was told by the gal that she doesn't know anything - only the owner has that information. I understand backorders happen, I also understand that the weather doesn't always cooperate. I guess I'm just irritated. Last week - if we had gotten it on schedule - my husband was off work and could have picked it up (because they charge $60 for delivery!!! We live about 5 miles from the store - go figure!) If it comes in tomorrow we have a dilemma because my husband works long hours and probably won't get off till the store is closed for most of the week. That means we have to try to go over the weekend to pick it up. I think - that if the store values its customers - it should deliver the TV for free. I actually think I will suggest that. Okay, I am done ranting now. : )

It's so hard to believe we are coming up on 2009 now. Where does the time go? Every year I come up with resolutions that I can't or don't keep. This year my resolution is to not collect any more clutter. That one is probably more do-able. This past weekend Layne and I started cleaning out our closet. We got rid of 4 garbage bags (and not even the small kitchen ones - we are talking the big 33 gallon black ones!) of stuff. And you know what it doesn't even look like we've done anything in there!! We have a really big closet and the plan is to get it cleaned out and then I can set-up an area to scrapbook in there. That would free up our spare room to actually make into a room instead of our catch-all area that has my scrapbooking supplies spread all over in it.

I don't have a tip for right now. Mostly just wanted to drop in and say hi. I will try to remember to post a link to another blog that I came across that has fantastic coupon links tomorrow when I post.

Merry Christmas!!!

Happy Birthday, Jesus!! And Merry Christmas to everyone!! It's hard to believe that today is finally here.

April was so excited for it this year. She came up and climbed in bed with us about 3:30 in the morning. She asked us if we had heard Santa's bells & then told us that she say a big box with all the presents. She got so many nice things and it's funny cause its the things you think she won't be into that she spends the most time playing with. She got a rock tumbler which is right up her alley. She loves to collect rocks everywhere we go and she probably has 50 or more of them. Now she can polish them and even make jewlery out of her favorites.

Today we will spend the day with my husband's family. Just relaxing and eating. My favorite things!

Today's tip: For lunch we had a box of generic mac and cheeese. Instead of the normal skim milk that we drink I used some half &half. Let me tell you that made the difference. The generic mac and cheese was just as good as the Kraft! Our local grocer sells the store brand for $0.19 per box and the Kraft for $0.69 per box. If you eat 1 box of mac and cheese a week that is a yearly savings of $26.00!!

Have a Merry Christmas and be safe! God bless you all!!

Guess who's getting a new TV???

That's right, we are!! A 52" flat panel LCD television. Actually I am only excited because my husband is excited. He's wanted a new TV for longer than I can remember. I'm really indifferent about it for myself. The TV we have now is 30-some inches and is a huge contraption. It's almost 13 years old and still works great so we'll just move it into another room for those occasions when football is on and I feel like watching something that makes sense to me. : )

Can you believe that it is less than 3 days till Christmas? How does it sneak up so quickly on us? Thankfully we are done with our Christmas shopping - well pretty much done. We do have to go pick up a few groceries, by I'm designating my husband to go do that since he has this week off from work. See how nice I am?!?!

For Christmas Eve at my in-laws house I am bringing a vegetable pizza & cheese ball. The vegetable pizza recipe I got here. The cheese ball is a made up recipe containing cream cheese, dried beef, green olives, pineapple, and green onion. For Christmas day at their house I am taking a veggie and dip tray & a broccoli salad. The dip will be store bought. For Christmas with my family I am making some crock-pot augratin potatoes.

Today's tip: When holidays are coming make it easy on yourself, bring dishes that contain many of the same ingredients. A few of the dishes (veggie pizza, veggie tray, & broccoli salad) require many of the same items. I can buy the veggies and use them in multiple dishes. Broccoli is the only item I will have to buy more than 1 of. For the pizza I am replacing the tomatoes with radishes, because they last longer and because I can use the radishes on the veggie tray also.

Whirlpools and bananas.....

This was the best weekend ever! Saturday I cleaned the kitchen and dining room. It looks so nice. I've been tossing or giving away lots of stuff to free up some space. I don't know why I hold on to so much junk!! Anyway, the kitchen and dining room were spotless - which was a great feeling.

Saturday night my husband & I had a little get-a-way at a local hotel. We had a whirlpool suite, which was wonderful. After we checked in & took our bags up to our room we decided to go gamble a little to pass some time. Let me just tell you I am not a gambler. I will put in a dollar and try to finish as soon as possible. Yesterday must have been my lucky day. I put in a total of $3 in 2 different machines and won $55. How awesome is that!!! I think we were there for about 10 minutes before I won, then we left right away & went back to the hotel. We sat in the whirlpool and watched movies. It was so relaxing!

Today we picked up our December Angel Food package. As I was putting things away I noticed that we didn't have room for some of the items - my husband received a ham last week and a turkey the week of Thanksgiving from his work - so those items are taking up a lot of room in our little chest freezer. I had some bananas in there so I decided to use them up instead of wasting them. I made a loaf of banana bread and 1 1/2 dozen muffins for our breakfasts/snacks this week. Yum!! I used new recipes, the bread recipe uses sour cream. We haven't tried them yet, but if they are good I will post the recipes.

Today's tip: Do you have fruit that is ripe and may go bad before you can use it? Pop it in the freezer to use later in breads, muffins, or desserts. You can do this with any fruit, except for citrus fruit. It's a great way to stretch your dollar and not waste food!

Christmas Gift Bags

Last night we completed the gift bags for my husband's workers. They turned out pretty good. They were inexpensive, but a little time consuming. The cd's turned out great, we put classic Christmas songs on them by Elvis, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, etc. The chocolates we rolled up in wrapping paper and we tied the ends with string, like those "cracker" packages you can buy. The homemade potpourri we put in snack sized ziploc bags, along with the instructions for simmering it. Of course the candle, candle holder, hot chocolate, & candy cane we didn't have to do anything with. Here are a couple pictures of the bag & contents:

My husband also has some temp workers that we are giving mugs to. The mugs each have a packet of hot chocolate, a candy cane, and some chocolate candies (mini twix and m&m's packets). Here is a picture of the mugs:

Overall things turned out pretty good. It's always a scramble to get them something because it's hard to get or make anything nice when you have a budget of $5 or less per gift. We were able to assemble these gifts for just under $2 each. Now we need to start getting ideas for next year!

13 things you may or may not know about me

1. I love lists. Ask my husband - he thinks it's crazy and makes fun of it. I don't know why I love them. I just do. I have lists in probably about every notebook in the house, on my desk at work, scribbled on papers in my purses. I sometimes make lists just for the sake of making lists. I like the way they look.

2. I love and collect old books. My prized possession is a 1st English edition of 'Les Miserables' that I picked up at a yard sale 12 years ago (approximately) for a quarter.

3. I like the art made by Michael Parkes. It's dark but hopeful. We have 2 of his prints framed in our house - 'Gargoyles' and 'Rock Dove'. You can see his work at www.michaelparkes.com.

4. One of my favorite bands is Aerosmith.

5. I love to play Guitar Hero - and I hate to brag, but I am pretty darn good. (Unfortunately we don't own this so I can only play when we go to my brother-in-law's house.

6. My favorite food is sauerkraut. Honestly, I love it so much that sometimes I sip on the juice. I know that may gross many people out - but it is really THAT good.

7. I am that student that sits in front of the class and raises there hand all the time to answer the questions. Yes, I am a bit of a nerd.

8. I am addicted to reading books and websites that give tips about organizing your home, but for some reason I can't accomplish it myself. I am a pack-rat and hate it, but can't seem to get over that. Is there a 12-step program or support group for people like this???

9. I love musicals and stupid-comedy type shows. My favorite all-time musical is 'Sound of Music'. I watch it every year around New Years. My favorite comedies are 'Spaceballs', 'Weather Man', 'Napoleon Dynamite', and I'm sure countless others that I'm forgetting about.

10. I hate watching tv. Once Layne went out of town on a fishing trip for over a week (don't remember exactly how long cause it was 8-10 years ago) and when Layne came home the tv was still on ESPN because I hadn't even turned it on while he was gone. I really would love to get rid of the tv altogether. Don't need it. It turns your brain to mush.

11. I am a news junkie. I crave news. My honest-to-goodness favorite magazine is 'Time'. Does it get any better? I love coming home on Fridays to a new 'Time' in the mailbox. And I seriously read it cover to cover.

12. I HATE fashion magazines. Weird? Yeah, maybe. They are really kind of pointless. If there is nothing to read in a magazine then why bother? Plus they stink. There's usually so many perfume samples in there that the magazine smells like a whore. Sorry, but it's true.

13. I love to play jokes on people. A couple examples: #1 A guy I used to work with irritated me. He was always trying to pass work onto me. I didn't want to do anything really mean or that would make him know I did anything so a girlfriend and I went into work late one night with about 30 rolls of aluminum foil and wrapped his desk, phone, chair, computer, headset, etc in foil. Not joking- everything was wrapped in foil. I even have pictures somewhere to prove it. #2 One year for Christmas I went to a second hand store and found some of the ugliest sweater vests known to man. I bought 3 of them and gave one to my husband and each of his 2 brothers from "Santa". They came complete with an old man smell to them. I love to do little things like that. It's what keeps me going.

Whew. I'm sure some of you think I'm nuts. I may have offended a few people, which I am sorry for - that was not my intention. Hopefully you'll keep coming back to my blog!

A lot about nothing

Tonight we had breakfast for supper. French toast and bacon. It was very good. Actually I'm not sure why we don't have that more often. I'm very peculiar about the way I eat French toast. Which I guess I never thought about till tonight, even though I've done it as long as I can remember eating French toast. I always cut it into 9 pieces, 9 squares to be exact. There is always one piece (from the center) that has no crust. I eat all the others and then eat the crustless piece last. It tastes better that way - probably not really, but to me it seems to. Perhaps I'm just a little obsessive/compulsive about it.


Can you believe there are only 9 days until Christmas?!? Tonight we worked on putting together the gift bags for Layne to take to work and pass out. I have the items for the potpourri drying in the dehydrator right now. Tomorrow night I will post pictures of everything.


The weather here has been crazy cold and full of snow. It's getting a bit old to be honest. It's not that I hate winter, cause I actually prefer it over summer, it's just that I'm tired of scraping the windows of my car. And since my car is old it also takes FOREVER to heat up! But it's paid off, so I guess I can put up with the inconveniences for now.


Another financial bonus is that I paid off a credit card! Several years ago I got myself into some credit card trouble. It started innocently enough - as it usually does - then I was put on complete bedrest during my 26th week of pregnancy. That meant no income which meant my bills were being put on a credit card. Not cool. I had every intention of paying it off when I went back to work - but that didn't happen. It never crossed my mind how much daycare, diapers, etc were. Then I lost my job due to an outsourcing, blah, blah, blah. To cut to the chase I ended up with credit card debt and no way to keep up with compounding interest. It was an expensive lesson but it will forever change the way I look at credit cards and spending money! It could have been worse - at least I am able to get it paid off. In less than a year I will have no debt. That will be a terrific feeling!

Remember the tip from the other night? About the candles in the freezer? Well today's tip is also about candles. You see all those pretty candles at the stores full of sparkly glitter and then you see the price tag and find they are almost double the cost of a plain colored candle. You can jazz up those plain colored candles with nothing but a hot towel and some glitter - seriously! Get a towel nice and hot and then wrap it around your candle for 30-60 seconds. This will make the candle pliable. Take the candle out of the towel roll it in some glitter. The candle will cool down in a minute and you will have a beautiful candle! Place in your favorite candle holder and put it on display.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

Brrrr. That sums up the weather today in one word. The temperature here right now is -1, feels like -25 with the wind. Gotta love that - well, not really. The worst part is that I haven't gotten groceries yet and we don't have much here in terms of food. Looks like supper is probably coming from a can - unless I can get super creative with what I have on hand. (Praying for a miracle here!) I also have to finish my Christmas shopping. I guess Liz is going to be doing some shopping this week after work!

Friday the school called me at work and said we needed to pick April up from school because she was running a fever. Luckily for me Layne had taken the day off. So he picked her up and brought her home where she slept for 2 hours and then was up playing for the rest of the night. You could tell by the way she looked that she was sick, even the though she said she felt good. Saturday morning she was still sick looking so we decided to take her in to the doctor just to play it safe. Guess what she has? Strep throat. This is the 3rd time since October - at least I think if was October when she had it before.

Today's tip: I don't know about you, but it seems like this time of year we burn candles a lot more than during any other time. Did you know that if you place your candles in the freezer for a few hours prior to burning they will burn longer? And that if you have wax melted inside a candle holder that you want to get out by placing it in the freezer for a couple hours it will come out much easier! (Supposedly it will just fall out if you turn the candle holder upside down. I haven't tried it because I usually buy jar candles so I don't have to mess with the wax in the bottom of the candle holder.) : )

Christmas Cards

Pretty much anyone who is a grandparent expects to get a picture of their grandchildren for one of their Christmas presents. Well last week I was looking for the envelope that contained April's picture cd that I had ordered so that I could print what I needed for relatives and Christmas cards. I finally located the folder, but unfortunately there was no cd in it! When we got the envelope I had opened it and saw the proof of April with the reorder information on it but failed to check the entire contents. So imagine my moment of panic, I mean surprise, when I have no CD and no copyright release to have the pictures printed. I promptly contacted the customer service line with the check number that I wrote, the date it cleared, the package I ordered, etc because I was anticipating having to argue to get a back-up. God must have known I was in no mood because I got the most helpful and pleasant gal on the phone who said they would send me out a new cd and a new copyright release at no charge, they didn't even charge me postage. I still have no idea where the originals went, I only saw one envelope come home from school. Today when I got home from work the replacement cd and copyright release were waiting for me! Now I just need to make out the Christmas cards.

I can't believe Christmas is less than 2 weeks away. I have so much to do yet!! I do have a couple pairs of barrettes made. But still have to finish the other 3 pairs, make a tutu, and crochet a Christmas blanket - all for April. Oh - and I can't forget to make Christmas cookies!

Today's tip: Want a cool idea for Christmas tags? Instead of writing the persons name on them cut out pictures of them from extra pictures you have laying around the house. You know you have tons of pictures that are piled somewhere that you HAD to get doubles of or printed off and then never used. If you scrapbook you can get really creative and use a shape maker to cut the picture out and then put some adhesive on it and stick it to a slightly larger piece of cardstock. Ta da! A personalized tag without having to spend any money!

The Children

Today I received an email from April's teacher that she didn't think April was feeling well because she had dark circles under her eyes (April has the kind of eyes that you just know when you look at her if she feels okay or not. When they get dark underneath she is typically coming down with something.) and she had said she had a sore throat. She said that she emailed me because strep was going around in the event that we needed to take her in. I replied that if she thought April was miserable in class I would come and get her to take her home to rest and told her how much I appreciated that she took a few minutes out of her day to let me know how April was doing. Her teacher replied back and in her email she stated that it's wonderful to work with parents that care so much about their children. At first the way it was worded made me feel proud and I even kind of giggled. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. She was saying that because she had obviously had children whose parents didn't care. And that honestly breaks my heart and makes me want to cry.

Every day we read stories on online or hear news reports of horrible monstrosities happening to children. Each one is more horrible than the next. Parents who beat their children, starve them, abuse them (in any way), or even kill them. WHY???? I don't understand how an innocent child can do something so terrible to warrant any of those behaviors. Withholding love is just as big of a crime as any of the others I mentioned. How can you create a child and then decide that you no longer care? How can you not hold that child in your arms when they are hurt or upset and tell them you love them? Some people should not be parents. Unfortunately it's often those very people who are reproducing like it's a sport of some kind. Instead of giving them up for adoption to a couple that could love them and provide them with a stable home they keep them to get a little more in aid from the government.

While I don't think people should be told how many children they should have I do think that the government should have the right to come in and say "enough is enough". (Yes I do realize I am opening a can of worms right now.) But lets say you have a couple who is unmarried. The woman pretty automatically gets WIC and possibly healthcare provided to her. If you have someone or a couple that is already getting assistance and they continue to create more children and continue to get handouts from the government I think that is abuse. It's abuse of the system and it's abuse to those children who are not able to provide for. I'm not talking about the people who fall onto hard times for a couple years, but people who basically make a career out of this - and you know they exist. You see them in front of you in the grocery line buying all the name brand foods with their EBT card/food stamps that even you can't afford to buy.

Something needs to change with this world. I don't know how to do it or even exactly what to do. I guess all we can do right now is pray that God helps these children to make it through whatever they are suffering and that he helps them to grow up to be better adults than their parents are.

I realize that tonight was full of ranting and I apologize. I just needed to get this off my chest. Thanks for listening/reading.

Delicious Cornbread Muffins

When it gets cold outside there is nothing better than a warm bowl of homemade soup. One of our favorite things to eat with soup with soup are cornbread muffins. I used to just make the cheap box of Jiffy corn muffins, but once I tried this recipe I was sold. No more dry muffins for us!! These muffins are sweet, moist, and stay yummy for a couple days. (Also unlike the boxed muffins!) There are quite a few ingredients, but they really are very easy to make and are ready to eat in about 35 minutes.

Cornbread Muffins
1 cup softened butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup honey
4 eggs
1 tsp salt
3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups cornmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups corn kernels (either frozen kernels that are thawed or canned kernels that are drained).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin cups (or use liners). In a large bowl, mix together butter, sugar, honey, eggs, and salt. Add flour, cornmeal, and baking powder. Stir till blended. Stir in milk and corn kernels. Pour batter into muffin cups. Bake for about 20 minutes (or till a toothpick inserted into muffins comes out clean). Makes approximately 24 muffins.

These muffins are absolutely fabulous. For other super recipes check out the Recipe Swap over at The Grocery Cart Challenge.

I'd exercise more if I wasn't so lazy!

For the second night this week I walked/ran on the treadmill. Tonight I even added 5 pound weights that I carried. I don't know why I put off exercising so much. I always feel amazingly good after I do it. I guess I'm just too lazy to do it most nights and find tons of excuses to get out of it. That is no longer an option. I don't like the way I look, I don't like the way I feel most of the time, and I certainly don't like the way my clothes fit (don't fit is more like it!). I'm not obese, but I am certainly overweight. I know I will probably never get down to the weight I was before I had April and I am fine with that. I would be happy if I lost 15 pounds, if I lost 25 I would be ecstatic. So that my friends is my goal - that would put me at 125 pounds. So if you can do basic math you would now know that I weigh a whopping 150 pounds. While that may not be much for some people, it is if you are only 5'1". So my goal is to lose 20 pounds (we'll say 20 cause that's halfway between my realistic weight and my dream weight) by the end of May. Every week I am going to post my current weight because if I own up to it and have to make it public maybe that will encourage me to continue excercising.

Tomorrow night April has a birthday party to go to for one of her good friends. With any luck Layne and I will be able to do a little Christmas shopping. We have tons of it to do yet.

I finally got a call about my appointment at the University. February 4th is the first appointment they have open. I keep thinking that if my family physician's office would have followed up on the fax they supposedly sent with my medical records on November 12 they could have resent them when they found out they didn't go through and I could have my appointment in January. But I guess for whatever reason this is the way its supposed to be.

Today's tip: Have you ever noticed that when you are looking for a receipt you can never seem to find it? I've been putting my receipts in a clear sandwich size ziploc bag for months now. Some people put them in an envelope, the problem with that is that envelopes can be easily misplaced or lost among a pile of papers. A ziploc bag makes it easy to see the contents. No more opening dozens or envelopes or unzipping several purse pockets looking for a receipt! (It also helps if you put the ziploc bag in the same place all the time!)

Angel Food Ministries & Christmas Gifts

Today I placed my order for the December Angel Food. I ordered the regular box (which includes a beef roast, chicken tenders, chicken breasts, pork chops, hamburger patties, a saulsbury steak meal, hot dogs, frozen carrots, frozen green beans, rice, steak fries, shelf stable milk, a box of mac & cheese, chicken broth, corn muffin mix, a dozen eggs, & a dessert item - which is usually a box of cookies), the #3 box (10 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts), and the #4 box (3 lb red rome apples, 3 lb sweet potatoes, 2 lb bag of onions, 1 sleeve of celery, 1 lb of carrots, 4 lb oranges, 2 lb lemons, 2 grapefruit, 1/2 lb raisins, & 4 lb of new potatoes). The cost for everything was $71. This will be the 3rd month that we've participated. The food so far has been great for the most part. The saulsbury steak meal will probably get tossed or given away - last time we got that it was pretty yucky. Since July about the only meat that we have gotten has been from Angel Food. There are 3 of us in the house and you get enough of each food item for 4 people. Since April doesn't eat much eat at all it lasts us twice as long. The steaks and roasts have honestly been better than the stuff we buy at the store. This program has truly been a God-send for us. And it's so nice to have a program that is not just for the poverty-stricken, and that there are no income requirements for.

Layne and I have been trying for weeks to figure out what to get for the workers that report to him at his job. We were going to pick up mugs and put a packet of cocoa and other goodies inside. Well, we decided not to because we did something similar just a few years ago. Instead we decided to make some "Pamper Me" gift bags. The bags cost $0.75 each, which is the biggest expense for these. But the bags would easily cost you $3 or more at Target. Inside the bag we will put a packet of cocoa ($0.04 each), some chocolate (approximately $0.10 per person), 1 candy cane ($0.10 each), a candle ($0.20 each), a candle holder ($0.50 each), a Christmas CD (CD & Jewel cases were given to us - so free!!!), homemade potpourri (about $0.25 per bag) tied inside some pretty fabric (fabric was free off freecycle). Total cost per bag will be $1.94!!! Not too bad at all. The chocolate was so cheap cause I bought a huge bag of it on sale at Kmart and I had a $1 off coupon that was doubled! After we make the bag up I will make sure to take a picture and post it, along with a picture of all the items in the bag.

Tip of the Day: Click on the following link and get a coupon for a free regular roast beef sandwich from Arby's with the purchase of any menu item.
http://arbys.fbmta.com/members/ViewMailing.aspx?MailingID=27917288257&StoreCode=7097&MemberID=27919504443
Enjoy!! The coupon is printable and there is no limit to the number of times you can print it. Yippee!

I just want to sleep... seriously

My sore throat is a little better. But still not great. Hopefully it isn't the start of something worse. I really can't afford to get sick right now. I'm really looking forward to crawling into bed. Of course Layne thinks the sore throat is just because I was snoring LOUDLY all night. : )

Yesterday I had stopped at the store to pick up some ground beef. I was lucky enough to find some perfectly good produce marked down (lettuce for $0.25 and a couple pounds of grapes for $0.75) so I snagged them up. God must know how broke I am lately and he is taking mercy on me by letting me come across some terrific deals. The only downfall was that the store was one that I don't normally frequent and I swear half the store was on crack. And I'm not kidding. It was the quickest trip into a store I've ever made.

I have to admit that when I am not feeling good I get irritated a bit easier than normal. I swear today every demanded person in the tri-state area called work and I was lucky enough to answer the phone when they did. I hate having days like that. I don't like to be in a bad mood, I try to just let things go if they bother me and most the time am pretty successful, but when I'm in a mood like today everything just seems to compound. Luckily days like that are few and far between.

Tip of the day: Last year around this time I saw a review of a website that was great for ordering cosmetics and was a great value. So I decided to check it out last night and went to www.eyeslipsface.com to check out their selection and see what I could find. They have tons of makeup and bath/body selections that would be great for gift-giving. The best part? A lot of the makeup is only $1!! And right now shipping is $2 for any order of $25 or more. You can also get a one year subscription to W magazine with any order of $20.

Exercise, Money, and Surveys

This morning I woke up with a sore throat. I'm really hoping it gets better as the day goes on. I'm guessing it's because I spent almost 30 minutes on the treadmill yesterday and the sore throat is an allergic reaction to exercise. Just a guess though. : ) I did sleep really good though last night.

I don't know about all of you but I am really having a hard time with Christmas presents this year. I am working with a VERY limited budget but don't think that is it at all. I just truly cannot think of anything to get for anyone. I'm just hoping to get some ideas in the next week so I can get my shopping done.

Lately it has been kind of slow at work. Which I hate because then I spend a good portion of the day thinking of how much I could accomplish if I was home. Of course since my paid time off has been used up it would be unpaid - which is not good when Christmas is coming and I have $1,600 (after insurance) in medical bills that should start showing up any day now!

Todays tip: Looking for a little pocket cash? Check out http://www.myview.com/ you can sign up to take surveys and earn money. You do have to have a paypal account that is tied into your email address. You can earn $1 - 3 typically per survey. After you earn $30 you can request to have the money put into your account. I have earned about $50 in the last several months and am working on a survey now (trying 4 different cans of soups for a national brand) that will pay me $45 after I take surveys on the cans of soup. They even sent me the soup so I didn't have to pay for it. You won't make money quickly, but it is nice just to get that little amount to sit in your Paypal account for online buying! I would like to do a little more of it next year to do my Christmas shopping.