Those Old Standbys, The Coupons, Still The Best Way To Save Money

Let's face it: the economy isn't getting better fast enough for most Americans. Even though the Stimulus Bill passed, it's going to take a while for us to see results. In the meantime, most of us have to find ways to get through.

One of the ways I have found to get more "bang for the buck" is coupons. I've always clipped coupons, but even more so now. You have to be careful, however, and make sure the coupon is really the best deal. Stores have their own products, so be a little flexible and make sure to take advantage of the best deal possible. I've noticed no difference in taste or quality, for instance, in a Meijer-brand product versus a name brand product.

Every week in the mail I receive flyers from five to six different grocery stores. Try to take time and go through these and see where you can find the best deal. Sometimes it's worth it. You may find several things on sale to make it worth a trip. If you have a coupon PLUS the sale price, you can really save quite a bit of money.

Another way to save money is with coupons online. Almost everyone has a website now so before you make a trip or go out to dinner check the websites for coupons or special offers. You will be surprised what you can find out there.

You can even find coupons in junk mail. So make sure to go through your mail carefully; you may be throwing out money!




I receive most of my coupons in my Saturday newspaper. I go through and clip them right away. Don't be ashamed to go out and buy two or three more papers if there are a lot of good coupons. You can save even more money. You'll also be doing a good thing for your local newspaper. Let's try to keep all the American jobs we can. Especially now that newspapers are having such a hard time too.

One more way to save money is discount cards. Make sure you have them where you need them. Even the movie theaters have discount cards. Every time you go to a movie give them the card and you get points. They give you things such as a free popcorn, soda, or even a free movie pass. Discount cards are free and it pays to ask if you don't know. I have a card for our movie theater and have already gotten free popcorn by only using it twice.

There are hundreds of coupons in circulation. Make sure you take advantage of every one you can. Everyone has to do what they can to get by and clipping coupons is still the best way to make your dollar stretch.

One thing you must remember, however, is to check the dates on these coupons. Make sure they haven't run out. What I do every week after I clip my new coupons is to go through the old ones. Pitch out the ones that have expired. I keep them in order of date so the oldest ones are on top. You can figure out your own system and what works best for you.

Have a great weekend and start clipping those coupons!

Keeping Yourself Soft And Fragrant Doesn't Have To Be Expensive

I'm a typical female when it comes to feeling good about myself. One way I can still do that on a budget that is very tight is with shower gels, lotions and bath spray.

The good thing about these products is that you can find them in just about every store -- Target and corner drug stores like CVS, etc. However, my favorite place to purchase these products is at Bath and Body Works. You can find great sales most of the time and the fragrances are wonderful, and the stores are located in most malls. You can also check them out online.

I love all their products, but my favorites are Japanese Cherry Blossom and Dancing Waters. My daughter loves Sweet Pea. Personally I think they all smell great and it just depends on your preference.

I signed up in the store and gave them my e-mail and I'm always alerted regarding sales, etc. The products range from bath products, including shampoos and conditioners, to candles.





The other good thing is that most of these products will last a very long time. With shower gel you need only about a nickel-sized amount on a bath sponge or puff and it lathers up very nicely. It smells great and is refreshing. After a long, stressful day what's better than a nice bath or shower? Light a candle and enjoy!

I still believe that a nice hot bath with products like these will do anyone a world of good. With the terrible economy now, we especially need time once in awhile for ourselves. A bath with wonderful products such as this is a very inexpensive way to accomplish this and not feel guilty.

The other thing is you don't have to spend a lot of money. Maybe one shower gel, one body spray and one lotion. It really won't cost much and you can always add items when you have a little money. That way, you shouldn't feel guility to spend a little cash on yourself.

Again, I believe these products are made in the USA, in Ohio. So feel good about that too! One compaint I have is I wish companies would start proudly displaying on their packages "Made in the USA". I pay attention to these labels and try to buy everything that is made in this country. We need to start taking care of our own people here in America. Making sure everyone who wants a job has a job. One way to accomplish this is make sure to read the labels carefully. I think it's worth the extra effort, and so will that American family who can keep their job.

Another great American pastime is baseball and I'm proud to announce that my husband is now writing for TheBaseballPage.com. If you or someone in your family loves baseball this is the place for you. Great articles and lots of historical information. Check it out, you'll be glad you did.

Have a great and stress-free day!

Old Standby Noxzema Still A Cost Efficient Way To Having Great-Looking Skin

With an enconomy that continues to be terrible, I keep trying to find new ways to save money and cut corners.

I am 47 now, a mother of a teenager and married to the same man for almost 17 years. I have never been one during the course of our marriage to spend too much money, but now I have even cut back more.

I hope my husband appreciates this about me. I don't believe I am cheap, but I try to stretch our money as far as I possibly can.

I used to use facial products, eye creams, etc. If you're like me, you know these products can run into a lot of money. Well, I obviously ran out of these products and I refuse to spend anywhere near the amount of money these products can cost today. However, being a woman, wife and mother, I want to feel good about myself. After 17 years of marriage I still want my husband to be attracted to me. I also want my daughter to think her mother looks younger than her age.

Now how do you do this on a tight budget without breaking the bank? I found the perfect product and it has been around for ages. Now I bought this product and as far as I know it's made in the USA. It's distributed by Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, Ohio.

What is this product you ask? Good ole Noxzema. I have been using this every morning when I wake up and every evening before I go to bed. It is refreshing and the best part is that it only cost me $3.99 for a 14 oz. jar. I've been using Noxzema daily since last October and have found no difference in my skin whatsoever. In fact, I may like Noxzema more than the other products I have tried over the years.





My skin looks and feels good. My budget is in tact. I can still feel good about myself. Now I feel even better because it's saving my family the precious money we need so badly in these hard economic times. We've had one of the worst winters in Michigan in a long time and it isn't over yet. However, my skin looked great through it all!

If there is any silver lining to this economy it's that we have all learned to appreciate the small things in life. The other thing I have learned is that my family and I are a tough bunch. Over the last couple of years I have learned to cut costs and this is one area where I have made a significant cost cut. However, I am happy with the product and the results, and that is the most valuable and important part.

I am going to dedicate my next few blogs to products that can make a woman feel good about herself without breaking the budget. Especially now, we need to do things that make us feel good about ourselves. If we feel good about ourselves it can only help our family. I have done that without the expense of products that I really don't need.

Most of us have familes to feed and children to put through college. However, taking care of your skin for pennies a day won't make you feel guility. On top of that maybe I and others like me can help keep someone in Ohio from losing their job at Procter and Gamble. I hope so!

Be Thankful For Whatever You May Have: Health, JOBS, Etc.

My blog has taken many twists and turns. For the past several days I have been just slamming the Bush administration, Congress, and everyone else in between.

This blog has given me a voice, although some people may not agree with everything I say. It has relieved some frustration for me and I hope for others. For that I am thankful.

As we approach Christmas and with my husband still without full-time employment it will be a dismal time for my family. However, that being said I am a person who will persevere no matter what obstacles have been thrown in my way.

My husband and I will never give up hope or stop looking for employment because our child is counting on us and we are not going to let her down.

Even though we won't have Christmas presents this year, I am determined to make my daughter's Christmas a happy one. I have been focusing on maybe just baking a few cookies. Trying to focus on being thankful that I have a family and everyone is healthy.

I write this not for pity, but because this is what this economy has done to many families in the state of Michigan, as well as other places in our country. Yet the government has sat by and done absolutely nothing.

My husband and I are both educated and all we want are jobs that will allow us to survive and support our family. However, that seems to be too much to ask for right now. The job market is terrible and we simply cannot find a job in the state of Michigan.

My husband and I sat down at the kitchen table this morning and are seriously thinking of trying to get work outside of Michigan. We were born here (in Michigan) and so was our daughter, but we need to be able to survive. Leaving Michigan may be our only answer right now.

As scary as that is for us, it's something I think we are coming to terms with. I love Michigan and my heart will always be here, but it just isn't possible to make a living in this state. I know the rest of the country is hard hit too, but with giving other states a possiblity maybe we can make a living again and provide what our child needs.

The whole being without employment leaves you stripped of everything including your pride. No family should have to go through what we have. I hope people who have jobs truly appreciate them.

Again, I am not saying any of this for pity because that is not who I am. Who I am is a fighter and I think we all need to have a little more fight in us to protect what we hold so dear to us -- that is, our families.

The government has allowed Big Business to strip many of us of our homes, our pride, and our jobs. I'm not just mad for my family, but for every family who is going through this type of situation. For this to happen in our country is an outrage and every American family should be mad.


Don't let outside stress turn your family against each other

Whatever you do this holiday give thanks for what you have. Especially if you are fortunate enough to have a job and a roof over your head. Say a prayer for all of us who don't have jobs that we may all find one soon.

All any of us want is a job to allow us to survive and take care of our families. I don't think that is too much to ask for.

This administration and Big Business have allowed jobs to be eliminated from our country. People want jobs that will pay enough to allow us to live and support our families. We also want our pride and dignity that has been stripped away from so many American families. We deserve at least that much. We the people have nothing and those who caused it need to be held accountable!

For others in our situation, don't let your family fall apart. Keep together and be strong. Don't allow a bad situation to ruin your marriage. Because in the end the only people you have that will stand by you is your family. Don't lose sight of that; if you do then they really have stripped us of everything!

Stress and strain can tear a family apart; please don't give anyone or anything that much power!!

It's Not Hard To Do Better Than Nothing

The Bush Administration should be known and remembered as not only the most stubborn administration in history, but also as the "do nothing" administration.

First of all let's begin with the revolving door at the U.S.-Mexico border. For years people have been raped, killed, and just plain dumped into shallow graves in Cludad Juarez, the Mexican city across the border from El Paso, TX.

These perpetrators have gone unpunished by an inept Mexican justice system.

The law enforcement records in Texas and New Mexico reveal that Jose Francisco Granados de la Paz was repeatedly jailed in the U.S. What happened? He was sent back to Mexico time after time. Only to return to the United States and commit more crimes.

On Monday, the U.S. Border Patrol discovered a secret tunnel that I am sure has been used to transport drugs into the United States.

Why am I so sure? Not so surprisingly a Border Patrol agent heard noise Monday from a 30-foot trailer that had been parked 360 yards north of Tecate, California.

What was in the trailer? It was half-full of packages containing marijuana.

There have been dozens of tunnels found along the U.S.-Mexican border yet the border still remains open to this day.


What kind of country are we leaving for our children?

What has the Bush Administration and Congress done about this? NOTHING!!

Decent American families are losing their homes to foreclosure. What has been done so far?
NOTHING!

Credit card companies are raising interest rates even if you've been a good customer and paid your bills on time. What is being done so far? NOTHING!

Dangerous imports of food and toys come into this country consistently. What has been done thus far? NOTHING!

Detroit public school graduation rate is 24.9 percent. Nationwide, 1.23 million high school seniors will not graduate this year. What is being done? NOTHING!

The Michigan jobless rate in May was 6.9 percent, which by the way is the highest in the nation. Michigan lost 28,700 jobs from March through May alone. What has been done? NOTHING!

Detroit has the highest poverty rate among 20 of the largest American cities. The average household income in Detroit is $28,069 and is the lowest among those 20 cities. Can you live on that? No, of course not. What is being done? NOTHING!

Medical care for illegal immigrants in 2004 was $2.2 billion and for their children $2.5 billion, which can only have increased over the past several years. What is being done? Oh gee, let's see -- leave the borders open. So what's been done? NOTHING!

Our wonderful men and women in the front lines are losing their lives every day. What is being done? NOTHING!

Big business and special interest groups are enriching themselves at our expense. What is being done? NOTHING!

We, the middle class, are at the mercy of individuals and companies that provide goods and services and control jobs. What is being done? NOTHING!

The American people are drowning and no one is lifting a finger to help. The country is on a one-way trip downward and not one person in the government is doing a thing to help.

There needs to be changes and quick. Not many of us can hang on much longer.

What can you do? For one thing write your Congressman. Also write the Senate. Let them know we as Americans aren't taking this any longer! We deserve better and we need to fight harder to make change.

Here is where to go and speak up for your rights as an American citizen:

www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

www.house.gov/writerep/

Give em' hell America. OUR FAMILIES DESERVE BETTER!!!!!

MEAP Test Retaken; Another Waste Of Our Tax Dollars

I recently mentioned the other day about the MEAP testing and the stress it puts on children -- at least on my child, and I assume on other children as well. Apparently a reporter who was allowed in an elementary school in Jackson, basically divulged what the fifth and sixth grade prompts were on the MEAP. Now all the fifth and sixth grade students in the state of Michigan must retake a portion of the MEAPS test. This doesn't affect my daughter as far as the test because she is in 8th grade, but financially we are all going to pay again in the state of Michigan.

This is the sort of story that just makes me absolutely crazy and mad. My husband is currently out of work, and believe me he has a lot of company in the state of Michigan. Yet these people who have jobs are allowed to have major screw ups that cost people in this state money and stress. These MEAP test questions were printed Tuesday in an article in the newspaper, as well as, on the newspaper's Web site on Thursday. Where was the editor and where is the common sense of this reporter?

This is going to cost our state hundreds of thousands of dollars. Not to mention the stress these kids are going to have to go through all over again. This state is in a terrible financial mess as it is and now it is going to cost us more money that we just don't have. The governor just raised our taxes in Michigan, plus added lots of new taxes. Who does this hurt? The middle class and poor of course, which has no voice. The rich certainly don't feel it!

CHOOL

Right now the middle class and poor are stretched as far as we can go. Rising prices on gasoline, natural gas, and electricity, a lack of health insurance, and the list goes on and on. People in the state of Michigan are losing their homes to foreclosure at an average rate of 1 in 6. That statistic scares me. Everything goes up in price except our paychecks. How do they expect us to survive?

I keep hearing from President Bush how great the economy is right now. Who does he think he is fooling? The middle class are slowly being eliminated, and we pay the majority of the taxes in this country. We know what is going on; we are not ignorant peasants!

I stretch my food budget every day just to keep my family fed, and with my husband out of work it is nearly impossible. If the middle class are going through this, I can't imagine how the poor can even survive. Don't we have a voice in this society any more? Congress sure doesn't hear our cries.

I am a middle class housewife who has worked outside of her home most of my marriage. The sad part is now with all the hard work over the years on the part of both my husband and myself we may become just part of another statistic. We are becoming a society of the Haves and Have nots! Can you guess which category most of us will fall under?

Right now I don't see much difference in the Republican or Democratic Parties. No one is helping the middle class or the poor. We're too busy fighting a war we were lied to about! It costs so much money to keep this war running yet people's families are being torn apart. Isn't anyone willing to fight for the middle class and the poor in this country? I am sure there are many children going to bed hungry in our country and that is shameful!

My grandparents and great-grandparents came to this country from Italy and Poland to make a better life for future generations, but I feel like it was all for nothing.