Yes, it's true. My name is Angela and I'm a free-aholic, in case you couldn't tell from my FREE Birthday Extravaganza post. As a stay-at-home mom, I don't find I have much expendable income, and even if I did, free beats cheap any day. Thus, I spend parts of my days signing up for free samples (that's free stuff, plus something in the mailbox other than bills, what could be better?), taking surveys for money (surveyspot.com, check it out if you have free time to take surveys), and generally signing up for free programs to earn, you got it, free stuff.
My new faves:
swagbucks.com (if you sign up following this link, you help me out, but don't feel obligated, please!) - a search engine powered by Google and Yahoo which gives you the opportunity to earn points (called swagbucks, hence the website) for free things, most excitingly, amazon.com gift cards (plus if you get friends to sign up, you get a buck for every buck they earn) - if you want to be even more swag savvy, you can download their swidget, which I check obsessively for codes to get more bucks. Also, you can download their toolbar, or if you use firefox, designate swagbucks as your search engine of choice in your upper right search bar, and you'll use it automatically any time you need to find something - free money, people, can't be beat!
mypoints.com - ok, so it's not new to me, really, but they send e-mails (about 2 or 3 a day) for junk I don't usually want, or offer points for buying things at their partner sites, which I don't usually do, BUT what I DO do is click on the links in the e-mails. Each clicked e-mail gives an automatic 5 points, and does NOT cause more spam to you or your computer. I simply click, close the tab that opens, because I honestly don't care about the site, usually, then delete the e-mail. Takes 3 seconds, 5 points. BAM! I've earned much money in free clothes (I think my total is up to $70 to date - now that's over two years, but $70 is $70). If you're interested and want to help me out, let me know and I'll e-mail you a referral link. Or if you're impatient you can sign up without my link, just don't tell me, or I'll cry.
Finally, Disney Movie Rewards, which gives you points with each code you enter from qualified titles on Disney DVD. Also, you can get 50 points right away by entering the code "GOOFY" and another 100 points by taking a one-time survey. From that and going through my own collection of Disney movies, which always had the codes and I always ignored them, I already have 850 points, which means I already do qualify for some rewards (most of them, to be sure, are pretty lame, unless you like mini-posters or High School Musical, but as can be imagined, there are some things worth saving up for).
So, yep, those are some of my recent free faves. Hope I was able to welcome at least a few into the wonderful world of free (since I referenced Disney earlier, you think they'd let me borrow their phrase just this once? I sure hope so - I can't afford a lawsuit - unless I can pay for it with my Movie Rewards).
And as my Wal-Mart cashier said last night when I bought Hairspray on DVD for $3.26 after tax, "You can't beat that with a stick!"
09 July 2009
08 July 2009
Come again?
Our credit card company called us today. Turns out they were concerned because we had not been using our card. How sweet. When I informed the polite woman on the phone that they had not done anything wrong, rather, we had just made the choice not to use credit cards anymore, she, in turn, out of the concern from her heart, I'm sure, replied:
"Well, in light of the economic downturn, we are encouraging our customers to use their cards for everyday items so they can avoid going into debt."
Now, I know I'm no financial guru, but last time I checked with Dave Ramsey (and my common sense) using a credit card was not the most efficient way to avoid going into debt. Call me crazy, but I do think there's a reason it's called credit card debt.
Rather than invite logic into the conversation, I simply stated, "We're fine, thanks." They are so thoughtful.
"Well, in light of the economic downturn, we are encouraging our customers to use their cards for everyday items so they can avoid going into debt."
Now, I know I'm no financial guru, but last time I checked with Dave Ramsey (and my common sense) using a credit card was not the most efficient way to avoid going into debt. Call me crazy, but I do think there's a reason it's called credit card debt.
Rather than invite logic into the conversation, I simply stated, "We're fine, thanks." They are so thoughtful.
27 June 2009
The Best Things in Life are . . .
Here I thought I was too old for themed birthdays - I presumed such coordinated celebration went out with my coincidentally themed Little Mermaid Birthday when I turned nine - but alas, I have re-discovered the concept of categorically similar birthday activities. The theme for this year = FREE!!!
Yes, everyone likes free, especially when it comes to organizing one's own birthday activities, being that the day of live-in party planners (ie, Mom and Dad) are long gone (and, let's be honest, I never really had any party planning of any sort - you can feel sorry for me later, right now I'm relishing in my frugality). Free is the 25 year-old's Elmo.
Technically, you're right, my birthday isn't until tomorrow - still nearly a long hour and a half away - and yet, the majority of my FREE birthday extravaganza is well behind me - placed in my store of very good memories.
It all started with my gift to me: maid service for a day. Unfortunately, the only maid I know is me, but goody for me: I happen to like myself very much, so I gave myself a good deal (FREE!). And now my house is beautiful, clean, and shiny. A clean it hasn't seen in many a moon. Not perfect (please don't check my closet), but vacuumed, which is a big step, with clean counters, an empty(ish) fridge and a spotless, well-stocked pantry. (Taking a big sigh of relief as I picture it now.)
Today was a glorious continuation of the FREE theme. As no one has provided us with any, no hats were involved, but there was ice cream (yes, FREE ice cream!). Thanks to the oh-so-generous birthday clubs of Red Robin and Cold Stone Creamery, Philip and I enjoyed a wonderfully FREE dinner and dessert (ok, we did buy beverages and tip our waiter, we're cheap, not heartless). Yes, we BOTH enjoyed free meals because, in case you were unaware, our birthdays are separated by a mere three days - thus we both reveled in (okay, I reveled, Philip accompanied and ate his bacon cheeseburger and ice cream, declaring it was, in fact, good) the FREEness of checking another year into our past.
The one treat we enjoyed that wasn't quite free was Philip's arcade adventure - but you'd be surprised how far $5 can go in the land of shoot-em-up entertainment.
Wow. I'm still giddy. Yes, I'm a cheapskate. I know it, I own it.
Yes, everyone likes free, especially when it comes to organizing one's own birthday activities, being that the day of live-in party planners (ie, Mom and Dad) are long gone (and, let's be honest, I never really had any party planning of any sort - you can feel sorry for me later, right now I'm relishing in my frugality). Free is the 25 year-old's Elmo.
Technically, you're right, my birthday isn't until tomorrow - still nearly a long hour and a half away - and yet, the majority of my FREE birthday extravaganza is well behind me - placed in my store of very good memories.
It all started with my gift to me: maid service for a day. Unfortunately, the only maid I know is me, but goody for me: I happen to like myself very much, so I gave myself a good deal (FREE!). And now my house is beautiful, clean, and shiny. A clean it hasn't seen in many a moon. Not perfect (please don't check my closet), but vacuumed, which is a big step, with clean counters, an empty(ish) fridge and a spotless, well-stocked pantry. (Taking a big sigh of relief as I picture it now.)
Today was a glorious continuation of the FREE theme. As no one has provided us with any, no hats were involved, but there was ice cream (yes, FREE ice cream!). Thanks to the oh-so-generous birthday clubs of Red Robin and Cold Stone Creamery, Philip and I enjoyed a wonderfully FREE dinner and dessert (ok, we did buy beverages and tip our waiter, we're cheap, not heartless). Yes, we BOTH enjoyed free meals because, in case you were unaware, our birthdays are separated by a mere three days - thus we both reveled in (okay, I reveled, Philip accompanied and ate his bacon cheeseburger and ice cream, declaring it was, in fact, good) the FREEness of checking another year into our past.
The one treat we enjoyed that wasn't quite free was Philip's arcade adventure - but you'd be surprised how far $5 can go in the land of shoot-em-up entertainment.
Wow. I'm still giddy. Yes, I'm a cheapskate. I know it, I own it.
22 June 2009
Best Birthday Present!
Alright, I know I already asked, but the voting is now officially open for the photo contest I entered. Remember, if I win, the photo will be published in a cute little gift book, which would be pretty great. Of course, you don't have to vote for my photo - I'll never know if you give someone else your ballot - BUT the voting DOES end this coming Sunday, June 28 - and that DOES happen to be my birthday, so who wouldn't want to give me the best birthday present ever by making me a winner?! ;)
Anyway, the photo I'm really pulling for is this cutie of my daughter, Micaiah, and her BFF Addison just chattin' it up. But I do have three other entries (here, here and here). Each voter is technically only allowed three votes (cast by clicking on the star under the picture). There is no tracking system, so you'll just have to be honest - and remember, cheaters never prosper!
Thanks, y'all and happy voting!
Anyway, the photo I'm really pulling for is this cutie of my daughter, Micaiah, and her BFF Addison just chattin' it up. But I do have three other entries (here, here and here). Each voter is technically only allowed three votes (cast by clicking on the star under the picture). There is no tracking system, so you'll just have to be honest - and remember, cheaters never prosper!
Thanks, y'all and happy voting!
28 May 2009
Vote for Me!
I've entered a photo contest. Far as I can tell the only prize is being published in a gift book, but, really, that's pretty cool, too! So, when voting opens in a week and a half, it will be your job to vote often and, preferably, vote for me, but, frankly, I won't know, so if you want to break my heart and vote for someone else, well, fine, have it your way.
I'm photo number 83!
PS I'm also numbers 123, 124 & 125. So feel free to vote for any of those, also!
I'm photo number 83!
PS I'm also numbers 123, 124 & 125. So feel free to vote for any of those, also!
22 May 2009
Where's my certificate, report card, anything?!
I'm disappointed in today's educational system. I was led to believe that if I worked hard, put in the effort, wrote the papers, took the tests and, all around, spilled my brains out on paper, I would be rewarded and all around me would have no doubt of my overwhelming intelligence. I was duped.
I have now been out of college for three years, out of the work force for two - and in that time I have yet to receive one report card, a certificate of achievement, a cord to wear around my neck at graduation, heck, I haven't even heard about a graduation - near as I can tell this stage of life just keeps going and going with no kind of accolades at all. What the heck was I working toward for the past twenty-five(ish) years?!
In fact, these days are now spent washing clothes that get dirty again, emptying the dishwasher that gets filled before I can turn around, cleaning floors that are perpetually dirty, changing diapers that always seem to be wet and grasping, in vain, for some way to prove to somebody, anybody, usually myself, that once upon a time I was regarded as a highly intelligent human being, complete with straight A's, a high ACT score and a title following my name at graduation. If only that mattered now.
Now I'm relegated to the knowledge that even though I'm spreading out a bedspread that I dried, against my better judgment, in our non-industrial-sized dryer, thus breaking said dryer and semi-melting said comforter, there really was once a time that I could kick the mean tail out of a calculus equation or two - heck, I could even write one smokin' book report.
Take that, world.
"And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 'Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.'" - Revelation 4:9-11
I have now been out of college for three years, out of the work force for two - and in that time I have yet to receive one report card, a certificate of achievement, a cord to wear around my neck at graduation, heck, I haven't even heard about a graduation - near as I can tell this stage of life just keeps going and going with no kind of accolades at all. What the heck was I working toward for the past twenty-five(ish) years?!
In fact, these days are now spent washing clothes that get dirty again, emptying the dishwasher that gets filled before I can turn around, cleaning floors that are perpetually dirty, changing diapers that always seem to be wet and grasping, in vain, for some way to prove to somebody, anybody, usually myself, that once upon a time I was regarded as a highly intelligent human being, complete with straight A's, a high ACT score and a title following my name at graduation. If only that mattered now.
Now I'm relegated to the knowledge that even though I'm spreading out a bedspread that I dried, against my better judgment, in our non-industrial-sized dryer, thus breaking said dryer and semi-melting said comforter, there really was once a time that I could kick the mean tail out of a calculus equation or two - heck, I could even write one smokin' book report.
Take that, world.
"And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 'Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.'" - Revelation 4:9-11
04 May 2009
Oh So Glamorous
"I feel oh so glamorous, looking super fabulous"
If you don't recognize the above lyrics, it probably means you're not a thirteen year-old girl - so that's a good thing. I will have to admit, I have suffered every once in awhile from the guilty pleasure of imbibing in the toxic tonic that is tween pop - Ashley Tisdale, Miley Cyrus - I'm a closet Disney pop-star fan. Yes, I've DVR'd Hannah Montana, even repeats I've seen before. Yes, I've watched High School Musical . . . by choice . . . more than once.
However, this embarrassing self-revelation has nothing to do with the what I came here to tell you, except for the fact that due to my recent cosmetic enhancements I find myself belting lyrics to Ashley Tisdale tunes in my head (if you're singing in your head anyway, might as well sing it loud and sing it proud). What have I done to cause such a reveling in pre-teen glamour? I have painted my fingernails. Yes, for the first time since dressing as a rock star in third grade with red tips or participating in blue and silver spirit days in high school, I have a color on my nails other than clear (or French tips - which haven't even appeared on my nails in a good five years).
Now, it's not just having a hue on my fingertips that is so impressive, it's the particular shade that I'm sporting this morning that has added this extra zest of peppiness. You see, it's amazing how glamourous simple tasks, such as changing a diaper while wearing an oversized "I Heart New York" t-shirt and American flag boxers, can feel when decorated in jazzy pink. Yes, pink. For those who don't know me, pink is not exactly my signature color. I absolutely refused to wear it during my high school years and only recently have begun to branch out. In dressing my daughter in varying tints of the girly pigment, I have begun to open up a little more.
Thus, when I had to paint my nails to keep one from peeling painfully mid-nail, I allowed my dearest husband to select a shade. Pink, interestingly enough, was his color of choice. So, I embraced the dare, and here I sit, happily clacking away with nails that are much more bubbly than I (which, if they could talk, would probably interject a high-pitched squeal every now and again) and I, suprisingly, maybe, kind of, like it. Shh. Don't tell.
And, at least until the shade wears off, I will enjoy reaching to tickle my tiny bundle of joy with fingertips that match her p.j.'s - at least they're shiny.
If you don't recognize the above lyrics, it probably means you're not a thirteen year-old girl - so that's a good thing. I will have to admit, I have suffered every once in awhile from the guilty pleasure of imbibing in the toxic tonic that is tween pop - Ashley Tisdale, Miley Cyrus - I'm a closet Disney pop-star fan. Yes, I've DVR'd Hannah Montana, even repeats I've seen before. Yes, I've watched High School Musical . . . by choice . . . more than once.
However, this embarrassing self-revelation has nothing to do with the what I came here to tell you, except for the fact that due to my recent cosmetic enhancements I find myself belting lyrics to Ashley Tisdale tunes in my head (if you're singing in your head anyway, might as well sing it loud and sing it proud). What have I done to cause such a reveling in pre-teen glamour? I have painted my fingernails. Yes, for the first time since dressing as a rock star in third grade with red tips or participating in blue and silver spirit days in high school, I have a color on my nails other than clear (or French tips - which haven't even appeared on my nails in a good five years).
Now, it's not just having a hue on my fingertips that is so impressive, it's the particular shade that I'm sporting this morning that has added this extra zest of peppiness. You see, it's amazing how glamourous simple tasks, such as changing a diaper while wearing an oversized "I Heart New York" t-shirt and American flag boxers, can feel when decorated in jazzy pink. Yes, pink. For those who don't know me, pink is not exactly my signature color. I absolutely refused to wear it during my high school years and only recently have begun to branch out. In dressing my daughter in varying tints of the girly pigment, I have begun to open up a little more.
Thus, when I had to paint my nails to keep one from peeling painfully mid-nail, I allowed my dearest husband to select a shade. Pink, interestingly enough, was his color of choice. So, I embraced the dare, and here I sit, happily clacking away with nails that are much more bubbly than I (which, if they could talk, would probably interject a high-pitched squeal every now and again) and I, suprisingly, maybe, kind of, like it. Shh. Don't tell.
And, at least until the shade wears off, I will enjoy reaching to tickle my tiny bundle of joy with fingertips that match her p.j.'s - at least they're shiny.
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