Quiet Time

A peaceful bit of quiet time has caught me by surprise this morning. It was like Jesus tip-toed in behind me, tapped me on the shoulder, and then whisked me away for some alone time with Him. Don't you love when He does that? In the middle of chores and work and bills to pay and laundry, the Lover of our souls says, "Come away, My beloved..."?

It never ceases to be a sweet surprise to me!

Anyhoo, I just had to share with you from a little booklet that one of my friends gave each of her baby shower guests. During her darkest years, she clung to the Word like no one's business. (And still does in this time of happier years.) From her journals of those years, she and her daughters made us a little booklet of the verses and then added a handwritten comment. It was the best party favor I've ever received! (It's written like a devotional, and I think it should be published!)

This day's verse is Psalm 34:18 ~

     ~ The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. ~

Her note says ~

~ I can't tell you how many times I 'claimed' this verse. 

I would remind God,  

I am brokenhearted and my spirit is crushed, 

so I know You will be close to me!

I qualify! ~

What do you think about that? (If I shared this in a previous blog, then rejoice that we just got a fresh reminder!)    :) 

Perhaps you, too, qualify. Crawl onto the jumbo lap of God and find comfort!

Let, I pray, your merciful kindness be for my comfort, 

according to Your word to Your servant. 

(That's us!!!)

Psalm 119:75

Aren't you glad the Lord whisked me away this morning, so that you would be assured that you qualify and that the Lord is near? 

Yay!!!

Once again....

It has been since Mother's Day that I've blogged! A travesty!! I tell ya!

Not only have I not written, I've not read any blogs either. Not good!

But, when work steps in, fun goes out!

I've been working at the library, substituting for my BFF while she is up, up, and away, waiting for her first granddaughters!!!! Sooon, pretty sooon!!!

So, it's gonna be sketchy till summer arrives and school is out. Then, I hope to be more consistent again!

Missing your comments!!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

This note, 

that Superman made and taped onto the kitchen counter, 

says it all.......

I'm finding bargains and free samples...and even a freeeeeeeee pair of women's undies at Macy's.

So, go here for free undies...    Macy's
For a free sample kit, you get to choose 1 of 3 (and I've been told some include full-size products).. kraft
Also, on their kraft site they mention that if you buy $30 of Kraft food products between 5/23/10 - 6/13/10, you'll get a $10 check in the mail. Check the Kraft site for details. Go here for Oscar Mayer coupons.
Create a mom's day card here and get a free Denny's $2 Pancake Puppies Sundae, valid 5/9/10 - 5/16/10.

If I find more, I'll add them later. :)

Happy Mother's Day Gift Idea

Mom's are going to be celebrated and blessed and waited on in just one more flip of the daily calendar. Can't wait, 'cuz I'm one of them!!!

Her children rise up and bless her; Her husband also, 

and he praises her, saying:

"Many daughters have done nobly,

But you excel them all."

Proverbs 31:28-29

(a beautiful symphony to the heart)

One of my friends is making this dahhhhhling gift 

for her mom and mom-in-love.

Just in case you are still stumped what to get your Mommy Dearest, here is your answer!

The picture was borrowed from this blog...Instructions are there!

Under the Table and Dreaming

I've never made it, but since my hands are like dinosaur skin, 

I'm going to make one as a gift to myself!  

Yes!  

 BE GOOD TO YOURSELF - YOU ARE THE LORD'S TREASURED POSSESSION! 

(Israel, too! Pray for them!)

 Deuteronomy 7:6

Happy Mother's Day to us all (tomorrow)!!!

Savings....

So... yesterday I gave you lots of info on saving money. For the first time, I used my Vons card with e-coupons. I wasn't quite sure what I was doing, but let me tell you - it's awesome how easy and wonderful they are!!! Mix paper coupons with them and you double the savings! 

JUST LOOK...

Everything in this picture totaled $82.00...

but the actual money out of my pocket was $13.45.

Had I used my head and used my $10 worth of CVS bucks, the entire total would have only been $7.15 (I'll use it on Sunday, when the new coupons and ads come out).

So, I saved $68.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can do it, too!!! 

{I normally do not buy all those desserts, but when they are free, well, who would resist? They'll be great for taking dessert to home studies and etc!}
 

Coupons, Deals, & More... OH MY!

Okay,in today's earlier post I promised that I'd return with some ideas and deals for ya, for saving money. Take warning, though, this is not for the faint of heart. It takes time to learn the lingo, to search the websites, to clip coupons, and to shop with various ways and means to get the best deals. But, take heart.... in a short time you will have it down and be a money-saving-pro!

Let's begin...

* If you go HERE, you can sign up for Del Tacos' Raving Fam eClub. After signing up, they send you an email for two free chicken tacos. Then, I guess more coupons and deals are to come throughout the months. I just signed up, so will find out soon enough! Anything free like this is fun.

Also, on their site they show all kinds of deals and specials, and even a coupon for a FREE chicken soft taco when you buy any other item, if you're a Facebook Fan, which means you just have to click the "I like" thumbs-up icon and then print your coupon. Now, if you buy anything from their dollar menu, you and a friend can have lunch out and stay on budget. Your wallet will barely miss that $1!

Or... another special is Tuesday night Tacos - 3 regular tacos for $1.09 & Thursday night Tacos - 3 chicken soft tacos for $2.09. Bargain Central; you can't hardly make 'em at home for that! Ole!

* Right now, through May 10th, as long as the supply lasts (hope they had more than three!), LaneBryant is giving away a FREE CAMI, valued at $19.99. I'm going to get mine later today. Just click on the "Free Cami" box on the upper right and follow instructions and print your coupon.

*If you often purchase supplies from Office Depot, then you might want to go HERE and sign up for their Work Rewards Card. It's totally FREE to sign up (but they will send you emails with coupons and specials, unless you opt out of that part), and what happens is this: Every time you purchase from them, in store or online, you swipe your card (or if you're like me - forgetful - they'll get it from your phone number), and each dollar spent earns you a 'reward'. Every quarter (I think) if you have purchased enough to earn at least a $10 gift card, then they'll send you what you've earned. My biggest reward was $75 and smallest was $10.04. This, just for purchasing supplies and office equipment from them!

Also, if you have a Work Reward Card, then they will add $3 for each and every empty ink cartridge you bring in (no, not ink pen cartridges lol), up to 10 a month. I've already taken in four this month, so my next rewards card will be at least $12. Beats throwing them away!!!

*Swagbucks.com.  It's a newish search engine (2+ years-old, maybe) and to lure Googlers to join them, they offer you rewards called Swag Bucks (sb). It's all random, but as you search, sometimes a picture of SwagBucks will appear and you'll see how many bucks you got. All of these add up for prizes you can buy. For 140 sb I purchased a $5 gift card to Red Envelope, and a $5 Amazon gift card. There are tons of prizes to choose, some cost in the thousands, though, and I am much too impatient to gather that many. Yep, instant gratifications...ya know? You can also earn sb by finding codes on their blog, twitter, etc., or by taking their one-second polls, etc. To sign up for this (and you can still have Google as your homepage and have their toolbar), scroll allllllllllll the way down to the bottom of my posts (fastest if you hold your left-click on scroll bar and take it to the bottom; I had to put it on bottom because the SwagBucks icon was too huge),  and  click on the SwagBucks box, where it says "sign up". Easy peasy.

*Movie rewards. If you watch movies at any Regal Theater (like Edwards, etc), then sign up for their FREE card HERE. Every time you go to the movies, purcahse gift cards or concession stand items, hand them your card and they will swipe it, earning you free movies, sodas, popcorn, or discounts on concession stand items. I think I've heard about 4 free movie tickets, and tons of sodas and popcorn. Every little bit helps!

*Your local library!!! Did you know that you can request any book they have - online, using your library card and pin number (initially, you have to go in person and let them put that info into their system), and they will haul it in to a library of your choice??? I have had one brand new book on request for @4 months. I was #86. I am now #5. I'm not always this patient, but with our new budget, waiting is an important thing to learn! Most books take only 1-5 days to get. At @ $25 per book these days, it's sooooo worth it! And, if you didn't like the book, yay, no money down the drain!!!

*Your local stores! CVS pharmacy has a card for you, FREE. In certain towns, like mine, you take this card in, scan it in their little machine, and poof - a coupon... usually for $5 if you spend $20 (which I do). Also, they have in-store CVS bucks they give you instantly for certain items of the week (in their ads). So, for instance. Today I am going there armed with $10 CVS I earned a couple of weeks ago for buying whitening strips (which I haven't yet used........). I have manufacturers coupons for many of the items on sale, like Listerine, that my husband loves. It's on sale for $3.99. Buy it, and they instantly give you $2 for your next purchase. I have a $1 manufacturers coupon. So... that will end up being .99c. Then, with that $2- just-earned CVS bucks I will buy their on-sale Colgate toothpast for 2.99 + a manufacturer's coupon for .75c, so the total deal costs me .24c...and when I buy that, I get another $2 instant CVS coupon. Is this making any sense at all???? Then, with my new $2 CVS bucks + my old $10 gift bucks + more manufacturer's coupons, I will get the following totally FREE - wisk detergent, dawn dish soap, 2 bottle Pace picante salsa, 5 Betty Crocker Warm Delights bowls. all total, everything I purchased today cost me out of pocket $3.23 + taxes.

Walgreens and Rite-Aid stores do this similar rewards system. Rite-Aid now makes the rewards come in checks in the mail. They are kind of a pain, but still, it's money!

*IfVons Grocery Store has a deal where you can get electronic coupons sent right to your Vons card. When you swipe the card, the coupons are automatically deducted (if you buy those products). The beauty of this right now (till they change it) is that you can also still use manufacturer's coupons on those same products, often getting them FREE. On some products, Vons offers Vons bucks to use on next purchase. Check those ads! To get the e-coupons on your card, sign up HERE and click "select" under the products you want coupons for, then click "get selected coupons", which will pull up a little box where you can register and then print your coupons. Also go HERE, or HERE, HERE.

*IfRight now, and I don't know how long this is going to last, you can get Taste of Home magazine (1 year subscription), normally 17.99, for 3.99. Go HERE and click on "buy now". Fill in what needs to be filled in, BUT BE SURE TO TYPE TASTE IN THE COUPON CODE BOX. If you skip this part, the price will not be reduced to $3.99.

*Now... There are tons of money-saving/coupon-giving blogs and website. I strongly suggest you visit HERE first. This gal is from my hometown, she has tabs at the top with everything you need to know about couponing. She walks you through step-by-step, links you to the most important sites, and even has a tab for different stores, so you can look up the best deals and she even tells you what to do! She is amazing. If you have questions, ask her in her comment box and she'll answer you!!!

 Feeling completely overwhelmed? Overjoyed? Ready to dip your toe into this vast ocean of savings? All of this will give you a start. Then, as you learn, send your info over and teach me!!!

PS. Someday, maybe soon, I'll list a lot of the sites I visit. C ya then!

Life Is a Vapor!

Our church as been going through the book of James, and James 4:14 says, "...you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away."

Even Job remembered that his "life is a breath" (Job 7:7a).

The Pastor of our church quoted Jonathon Edwards (I think that's who he said) as saying, upon awakening each morning, "It was God's will that I live."

God knows the plans He has for us... we do not. We don't even know what the very next second holds, whether the breath we just inhaled will become our final exhale. 

Not to be morbid or anything, but for me, it gave me that fresh perspective that God is in control, that we are to live our days in wisdom, making the most of them, living with an eternal mindset, and set our hearts steadfastly on eternal things.

As a visual aid, Pastor pointed a spray bottle at us, and with one push of the trigger sent a spray of fine mist in the air - it vaporized in a mere second!

"So teach us to number our days, that we might present to you a heart of wisdom."

Psalm 90:12

A bit later today, I hope to tell you about some deals here and there... so, see ya then!