Julie Driver

I was excited to see that we had received a yearly calendar in the mail from my husband’s employer.  I thought, how nice!  You really do not see a lot of companies handing out yearly calendars any more.  Maybe it’s because so many people have gone to online or electronic calendars and they feel it is a waste of their money.  I like to keep a calendar near my desk that I can put things on quickly then add to my online calendar later.  Plus it helps to have the visual reminder in my face.

This is what I found when I pulled the calendar out of the envelope. 

So, I’m thinking this is a good sized calendar.  Might not be pretty inside but a good size to jot appointments and bill due dates on.  Then I opened it….

Seriously????   That huge thing to insert a tiny calendar like that???  It’s useless!  It’s going in the garbage.  It’s a waste of paper, of company money and it killed some trees! 

So much for companies doing a nice thing for the employees. 

A friend had this on her pinterest.

It's scary that most of it is so true...

There is a place here that you can get a whole large pizza for $5.00.  Not bad.  Cheaper than many frozen ones.  However, we are a 35 min. drive from town.

There are many nights when I don’t feel like cooking.  So,  hubby will pick us up 2 of the $5.00 pizzas about once a month.   You might be thinking 2 pizza’s for two people…that’s a lot.  What I do, however, is take two pieces at a time (after completely cool) and wrap in foil and pop in the freezer.  On those night I don’t want to cook or I want a quick lunch.  I pull out a package open the foil and pop on a baking sheet to heat up.

My hubby will pop his in the microwave but I like my crust crunchy so it’s oven all the way.  It’s so much better than the frozen pizza’s from the store and freezing it in 2 piece packages allows us to just fix what we want instead of making a whole pizza. 

This came in handy last night. 

After a long day playing fetch with the boy you can find Shuie here, in the corner of the breakfast nook on the A/C vent catching a few winks.  Keeping up with little boys can be exhausting you know.

Last night I discovered someone from my hometown had created this great site on Facebook called “You know you’re from Canisteo When…”  It kept me up into the wee hours of the morning remembering with friends.  Such great memories of growing up in a very small town in Western New York State.

I finally went to bed a little after 2:30 in the a.m. While I had been on the computer I had Design Star on.  So, when I got into bed I HAD to turn on the last twenty minutes or so because it’s a crime if you don’t see the “after’s”.

I was lying there all comfy when what do I see… a mouse!  He scurried right past my bed and into the master bath!!  I literally screamed!!  I had to right?  There’s a law that says if a woman sees a mouse she MUST scream.  I’m not sure what the punishment is for not complying but I wasn’t going to take any chances.  I screamed a real good scream if I do say so myself.  It worked too because my hubby, who has a back injury, literally jumped out of bed!  (ok, that part wasn’t so good, thankfully he didn’t hurt himself any more than he already is).   After explaining why I had screamed and getting yelled at he went right into the bathroom to find the culprit. 

Only he couldn’t.

He wasn’t there.

Even though I hadn’t taken my eyes off the door.

He.  Was.  Gone.

Yup.  Not only do we have a mouse in the house but his name is Houdini.  There are absolutely no holes in the bathroom walls.   None.  There is no place he could have went.  But he was not there.

Hubby said while I was panicking I obviously had taken my eyes from the door and he was probably under our bed.   Well, thanks, honey, that is reassuring.

However, being the smart woman I am, I immediately seized upon this wonderful opportunity that Houdini had given me.

“I am definitely getting a cat.   Or two.”

Hubby has been fighting me on having a cat for the last couple years after our last cat disappeared never to be seen again.

Now I NEED a cat.  The house is big.  I NEED two cats.  They can patrol at opposite ends of the house.  Then, I can feel safe.

My husband didn’t say anything to my declaration about “needing” a cat, or two.  He might have resigned himself to the idea…

Thank you Houdini.  But, could you not come in my house again please.  I hear the neighbors have much more refined tastes then us.  We have Velveeta.  They eat brie. 

First thing you NEED is this wonderful seasoning I found a few years ago.  I don't even remember where I got it, more than likely Big Lots and never could find it anywhere again.  Was glad when I found I could find it on Amazon.  (it's amazing on baked fish)  I'm sure there is something similar you could use this is just what I use in everything.  It's great on pork chops and grill them.

My son is saying new things daily.  Sometimes it catches me off guard lol.

I'm going to put a few of the things he has told me in the last week so I don't forget.

I came out of the bedroom one day last week and he was in his high chair.  He pointed to the kitchen and said "get in there and cook".  (he's two and already being a "man")

Daily I now get "i lud you" and it melts my heart and makes my day.

He'll be playing and tell me "mommy hug"  :)

Today his daddy "tooted" to put it nicely... Aiden came running to me and said "he farded ...baaad" and hid his nose in his shirt.

If you burp, sneeze or cough he asks "you aw right?"  you'll tell him "i'm ok" he say "k".   If you ask him if he's alright (after he trips or something) he'll say "I fine".

He is getting so big so fast.

This weeks writer's workshop from MamaKat is:
Prompt 1:  A list of 10 old TV shows you’d like to make a comeback.




Shows I miss the most are family shows that we can watch as a family together.  Much like MamKat mentioned in her post. 
Some of my fondest memories growing up were of my grandfather.  He worked out of town and would come home on Thursday nights.  He would take us to the store to buy "pop" and chips and we would go home and all watch the Walton's together.  When he retired we added Monday to our tradition to watch Little House together.  So ingrained in my memory that I even remember the days of the week they were on. 




So, here is my list, in no specific order.


No Ordinary Family


I was excited when I first say this show as it was a fun show we could watch together.  TV exec's don't think much of family shows these days I guess.

Yesterday the two kids I babysit, ages 8 and 5 and my son Aiden 2 were all in is tiny room playing.  In his room is a bed and a book case.  There are a few toys in the closet.  I heard tons of laughter and thumps so I popped my head in the door to see what they were doing.  I asked the oldest, Kate, what they were doing. "Oh, we are playing hide and seek."

Recently I have sent out e-cards and facebook updates to let every one know I am once again selling and using Nature’s Sunshine Products.  I have been exposed to and/or used these since high school as my dear friend’s mom, Anita Fryzel, has sold them  and used for 30+ years.  She is 78 so that must say something for the quality of the products sold.

I want to post this as a tutorial of how to save on shipping.  Upon ordering my first order I mentioned to Dena, Anita’s daughter, that I found it odd that there was no cheaper shipping than 7.50.  UPS and USPS were the same.  She said “we only pay $4 for shipping.”  She proceeded to show me how to save on shipping my next order.

Once you have placed items in your cart @ www.mynsp.com/juliedriver you can click the link below the shipping drop down box that says VIEW OTHER SHIPPING METHODS.

You will then get the option for MAIL INNOVATIONS for only $4.00.  This may take a day or so longer but if you are in no hurry saving $3.50 on shipping is well worth it!

To answer another question:  JOINING NATURE’S SUNSHINE WHY WOULD I WANT TO?  Will be answered in a separate post.

Have a great day!

I have followed this blog for years now.  So many I’ve lost track.  When I first started blogging in 2003 I started blogging at xanga.com.  That is where I found Copperswife aka Cheryl Linebarger.

Just from reading her blog all these years I have learned that she is a very faithful woman and that her family is truly blessed to have her.  She recently moved her blog to it’s own site and I immediately subscribed so her posts will come to my email and I won’t miss a thing. 

Today’s post and many to follow will help teach people how to menu plan and the benefits.  I love menu planning and have “fallen off the wagon” so to speak.  When I was working full time I had a plan made out a whole month in advance.  This was a great help to the whole family as our teens could see what was there and get a head start and if hubby was home before me he could get dinner started.  Now that it’s just me, hubby and our two year old I’ve gotten bad about having my plan in my head and not writing it down.  This leads to failure as my head doesn’t keep information like it used to. 

Needless to say I am looking forward to her series.  Maybe I’ll learn something that will help me get back up on the wagon.

Check out her first post in the series here:  Meal Planning Intro

You can also follow her blog via Facebook HERE so you are sure not to miss a post.  I am following her on Facebook too just in case my email has issues, one can never be too careful when it comes to a favorite blog!

She gives great information on housekeeping, recipes, recommends great books to read.  Head over to her blog and enjoy!  Thanks Cheryl for years of enjoyable, wonderful posts.  Thanks for all the great photographs and for sharing your family and life with everyone.  You truly are an inspiration to many.

P.S.  Her daughters also blog and yes I follow them too.  You’ll find links on Cheryl's site and throughout her posts to great stories from her daughters. My favorite from one daughter are  her posts on their annual Peep Wars.  You HAVE to check those out on her site Peep Wars 2010 Post

Wow!  It's been almost three months since I have posted here!  In three months we have packed up the household and moved to an entirely new state.  We are now in Georgia and I love it here.  We have a large five bedroom, 3 bath home on an acre of land in the boonies.  :)   Even though we are in the boonies we have a small grocery/gas station and cafe less than a mile from us in case we NEED them.  Generally I make a once a week trek to Publix for my huge shopping trips.  I have found I can save a ton of money shopping at Publix and I never would have thought that before!

I am sharing this for others that might have not had this illuminating moment on Facebook yet.

I have been trying to figure out how to filter my newsfeed. (for those that already know how, don’t laugh… some things take me awhile to catch on to…k?)  Anyways, I’d like to be able to click a button and find all the games my friends have updated recently, or at some times just see status updates and not the game things…   do you know there is a way to do this??????   AND it’s simple.

See that most recent… see there is an arrow after it…. well if you click it you get a drop down menu that looks like this:

See I put an arrow next to games…. if I click there I will only see my Farmville friends game posts…. how cool is that? (as my dear friend would say and you know who you are).   ---yes, I play Farmville, don’t judge me.

If I click on the status updates.. it filters out all the other stuff.. pages and game updates etc.

Now, when I am on there to see what my friends are up to.. I can click on status and not have to scroll through all the game play stuff. 

I block all the games I don’t play.  Recently the came out with Cityville.  That really doesn’t interest me so when they started popping up if you hit the ‘x’ in the upper right corner of the post you get the option to block the person sending them or block the application.  Just block the application and you will never have to deal with one of them again. 

Finally, the semester has ended.  Final grades are not posted yet but pretty sure I passed everything.  Didn’t pass with the grades I would have wanted, however, as tough as those classes are I’m happy to have passed.  Especially with the memory issues I have been having lately.

The last month I pondered over it, talked with my professor and a dear friend (you know who you are) and made the tough decision to just go back to my business major.  Taking general businesses classes next semester and then may cross on into Human Resources Management.  All the classes I take will apply to that degree and the basic medical terminology and other classes I took this past semester won’t hurt in my future if I wanted to apply at a hospital or such.  I guess the semester was not entirely wasted.  

I have a month off (basically) before classes start again.  How am I going to use my time? 

Well, if I can get my little guy to slow down a bit I’ll cuddle with him, spend some time outside on the warmer days maybe blowing bubbles and start to pack.  It looks like we are going to end up moving to GA.  Probably mid-semester next semester so I made sure to have all online classes just in case.  I am going to start with packing books, knick knacks, photos etc.  This place will look barren but it’ll be a jump start on getting things done.  I have done four other long distance moves in the past, well, ok three, one of them the Navy did and that was NICE.  They pack and move everything for you!!!  I know that it has to be much more organized and together than if you are moving a few miles across town and can make trips back and forth.

I am also going to get a jump start on getting my coupons more organized to my standards.  More on that in an upcoming blog post, including pros and cons of coupon binders vs. filing the weekly flyers whole….

I am excited to move. To see a new part of our country.  Finally be able to spend time with my bestest friend in the whole world.  (we have been friends since second grade… a VERY long time).  Excited to start on a new adventure.  However,  I am not excited to leave my older kids in another state.  I think there should be some rule that no matter what decision you make in your life, what decisions you are FORCED to make you kids ALWAYS have to go with you. 

Thinking about that for a second that would never work.  We would all be living with parents/grandparents/great grandparents forever.  I guess that wouldn’t be a BAD thing. lol

So, my 18 year old daughter moved out a week ago.  Tough day for me.  She had been threatening since she turned 18 as all kids do and I’m sure we did as kids.  She was 18, she was an ‘adult’ she didn’t need rules.  Well, I called and told her to come home I had cooked dinner.  She called her sister and had her sister call me to tell me that she was moving out and not coming home.  Nice huh?

So, I am down to two boys at home.  My 19 year old and my 19 month old.    The 19 year old does not want to move to GA but finances may force him to have to move with us.  I don’t want him to be unhappy moving with us but I can’t say that it won’t be nice to have him with us.

I spent this evening clipping some coupons.  At a little after 11 we ran to wally for diapers.  My older son was home from work so he kept an eye on the little guy so we could go and not have to fight crazy people. (Not that the people out in the middle of the night aren’t crazy… some of them were quite questionable… but the holiday crowds.. not my cup o’ tea). 

Well, it’s almost 3 a.m.!  I’m going to try to sleep.  Was up till 3:30 last night. Not sure why.  Guess it’s time to break out the melatonin again. 

Since everyone seemed to enjoy my last post on savings I am going to add more links and videos here that I have found since making that post.

We are in the process of getting organized to move to GA.  Big plus:  DOUBLE COUPONS>>>  so I have been watching videos by other super savers to learn how to stack coupons.  Which stores are best and different policies. 

www.southernsavers.com    great for links to stores in the south and lists of match ups.

www.afullcup.com  awesome forum to find deals and share deals with others.

For those near a Kroger: 

This one is just for sheer inspiration:

http://dealseekingmom.com/

http://www.couponing101.com/

This website I just love.  She is more on simplifying your life than on couponing BUT if we simplify couponing will be easier. 

http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/

Ok I’ll keep searching… for now enjoy these sites and videos. 

As some of you already know we have struggled financially since I lost my job, however, recently an unexpected loss of almost 900/month has put us struggling more than we ever have before.  Not knowing how we are going to pay upcoming bills is so very stressful but I try to find even more ways to save money.  It helps keep me occupied and my mind on a more positive note.

I also had a friend message me recently and tell me she loved some of the savings sites I had posted in the past and that she is without work for awhile and would love to have more sites and money savings ideas so here it goes.   This might end up being quite lengthy but I’m sure you’ll appreciate it.

I am going to list links to other sites, some of my previous blog posts that you may have missed that can help your family same some money. 

One thing that saves me a major hunk of change is making my own laundry soap. (click link to go to how to page) Don’t knock it till you try it.  The stuff works great, takes less than 10 minutes to make and saves probably $30 bucks a month if you have a good sized family that does a lot of laundry.  I used to go through 3 containers of soap a month that could cost upwards of $15/container.  (I had a child that couldn’t use just any soap – but the home made stuff doesn’t bother her skin so win win)  My new laundry soap looks much different than the first few batches.  I now use Zote soap which you can buy at Save A Lot for a dollar or under.  (one bar makes two five gal buckets) – Zote is pink so I have pretty soap!   I also make a 5 gallon batch at a time in a large bucket I purchased for $3 @ Gander Mtn. This bucket will last us MONTHS and Months.  One box of borax and washing POWDER (not baking soda) will easily make enough soap for a year! With three – four bars of soap… how cheap is that!

If you have problems in your area finding washing powder or borax you can purchase online (sometimes cheaper than at your local store) from Alice.com   This site has great savings on many everyday household items, many times cheaper than walmart (and you don’t have to pay gas for the trip)  If you buy over 6 items shipping is absolutely FREE.  I try to check Alice @ least once a month for sales.  They also have coupons available on site.

Using coupons is a GREAT way to save.  Especially if you live in an area where they double or even on certain days triple coupons.  Some great links to learn couponing AND where they give you FREE match ups to save you time.  (the person posts the sale and links to where to find matching coupons).

One of my favorite sites is www.couponmom.com she also has a great Youtube channel with how to videos for couponing @ http://www.youtube.com/user/CouponMom

Great video on using cvs http://www.youtube.com/user/CouponMom#p/a/8008CBA64662E85E/2/7xdGVhnm-so

www.weusecoupons.com  forums where ppl post the deals they have found.

www.hotcouponworld.com  more forums with match ups

http://dealseekingmom.com/

http://www.couponing101.com/

http://proudtobecheap.blogspot.com/

http://www.centsible-sawyer.com/   great links for match ups also at the top you will see a link for cvs 101.  If you have a cvs in your area combining sales, coupons and extra bucks can get your shampoos and everyday items for super cheap or even free.

Couponing may seem like a lot of work but when you weigh out how much you save it’s well worth an hour or two of work.  Where I live in central FL I have not found any stores that double coupons.  So, many times I end up doing most of my shopping at Aldis or Save A Lot and save the most that way.  Taking the time to make a PRICE BOOK will also help you get the most for your money.  This book will let you know the best price you have paid for an item and where it is at.  Eventually you will get to where you can see a trend on sales for each store and can help plan that way.

One tip I learned after a few months… I don’t clip all the coupons at once.  I file them in a box with the date of the insert written in sharpie marker on the front of each insert.  Each type of insert has a folder.  I have one for RedPlum, One for P&G, One for Smartsource and so on.  I put the newest in the front of each folder.  As I go to the forums and websites to find weekly match ups they give you the source of the coupon either a link to a printable coupon or will say s/s 5/11 meaning it’s from the 5/11 paper.  So all I have to do is pull that one out and clip and put back.

http://jane4girls800dollarannualbudget.blogspot.com/   this mom went extreme.  She feeds her and her three daughters on $800 a year!!!!   Great tips.  Daily links to $ savings.

www.hillbillyhousewife.com has some great free money savings e-books and recipes/menus.

http://www.5dollardinners.com/   great meals to feed your whole family of 4 for $5 or under.  She has just added a great recipe tool that you can click on ingredients to add to a printable shopping list.

From the above sites you can also find the importance of menu planning to save money.  Menu planning is one of the top priorities when you are trying to save on groceries.  You plan your menu, make a list of what you do not have on hand, and go to the store and BUY WHAT IS ON THE LIST.  When you are really trying to save using the sales fliers for the stores weekly sales and what you have on hand to plan your menu will save you the greatest amount of moo-lah.

Another great website/tool that I enjoy using is ZIP LIST it allows you to make grocery lists and save recipes and make lists from it.  It’s a quick and easy way to help you organize your shopping especially if you need to hit several stores in the same area to make the most of their sales.

http://mealplanningmommies.blogspot.com/

http://blog.plantoeat.com/  some great tips but also has a subscription service.  I stick with the free stuff.

http://savingdinner.com/   great free tips she also has a service you can subscribe to to give you weekly menus/shopping lists.  This is great if you are working a lot and do not have time to do this on your own.

I’ll end my post now since you already have a ton to look at.  I will add more later on as I think of them.  Please feel free to comment me and leave any questions you might have.  Use google and YOUTUBE to learn more on couponing and saving.  They have both been an WONDERFUL resource to help me.

For many of the blog sites you can subscribe to the blogs daily RSS feed in order to have it sent to you in a feed reader or email so you don’t miss any posts about great savings!  I do this with most money savings blogs I belong to.

Ok, my chief complaints when I went to the doctor were my memory issues and concentration.  He gave me sample meds and none of the side effect info so last night I googled it.  In the list of side effects:  memory issues and confusion.   What gives?

These are the two symptoms I want gone yesterday!!  I am a patient but I am not patient....