Okay, so you know I love to share and I found another great giveaway—
You will find a super, cool
at
from now until the 13th!
Take a look at this adorable bag that she has filled with some shweet goodies.
And don’t forget, that the Dining on a Dime Giveaway ends on the 7th! That’s TODAY!
John Paul over at Vitamin eBay is hosting a $25 eBAy Gift Card GiveAway. The contest is valid between Jan. 5 and Jan. 11, 2009. John Paul owns www.asapsellsit.com, a NYC eBay consignment and is offering the gift certificate to one lucky person…ME! I hope!
Here are the specifics as posted on his blog–
“To Enter:
*Leave your e-mail address in the comment section below. Please note to use this gift card you must have an eBay account and a PayPal account.
*For Bonus Entries*
-Post the giveaway on Twitter.
-Post the giveaway on your blog.
-Post the giveaway on a group or forum discussion board.
-Post the giveaway anywhere that someone other than yourself might see it. (keep it clean)
**Bonus entries will be given for each extra that you do. Just be sure to include in your comment if you did any of the extras and which ones.**
-Gift Card winner will be posted & e-mailed on Monday Jan. 12th 2009!!!
-Giveaway starts Monday Jan. 5th 2009 at 12:00am and ends Sunday night Jan. 11th 2009 @ 11:59pm (Pacific Time).
-This is a random drawing. Winner will be selected by random.org “
About this time every year, it seems as though many of us begin looking toward setting those New Year’s goals. In those goals often comes the regulars of losing weight, paying off bills, and reducing clutter/getting organized. Jill Cooper brings us some great reminders for getting organized in the home…..
10 Easy Ways to Get Organized
by Jill Cooper
http://www.LivingOnADime.com/
. Hang up your keys. (Preferably by the door.)
. Find a place for your purse, coat, gloves and other frequently used items and always keep them there.
. Make your bed each day as soon as you crawl out of it.
. Get dressed. Even if you are a stay at home mom or your job is at home, get dressed. Clothes really do make the man or woman. You’ll be just as productive as you are dressed which means if you are dressed for sleep (pajamas, sweats or a robe) then you will get about as much work done as you would when you are sleeping. That may be stretching it, but you get my point.
. Wash the dishes and wipe the counters after each meal. No matter how large or small the meal or how tired and in a hurry you are, do the dishes. Even if you are hurried or late in the morning you wouldn’t dream of leaving the house half dressed. Make leaving your kitchen clean as important a priority as getting dressed for work. This may seem impossible at first but once you are on top of things it should only take five or ten minutes to clean your kitchen.
. Get rid of trash. About 50% of what unorganized people have in their homes is trash or stuff they will never use again. Stop wasting time taking care of it, moving it or stepping over it. As you walk through the house, pick up garbage and toss it.
. Control your laundry. Don’t let it control you. Follow these simple steps to help keep your laundry from taking over your home and you.
Place a hamper or basket for dirty clothes in each bedroom and/or bath. Make sure that everyone’s dirty clothes are put in the hamper before bed and in the morning.
The laundry isn’t done until it is put away. Get out of the mind set that if it is washed and dried it is done. Folding and putting it away is equally as important.
Some of us think that if we get the laundry washed and dried that’s all we need to do and it’s okay for the family to just pull stuff out of a pile. That makes as much sense as cooking a meal and expecting everyone to stand at the stove and take turns scooping the food out of the pan and eating it one spoonful at a time. You wouldn’t dream of doing that. Yes the food is cooked, but the meal is not complete until the table is set and the food is put on plates. Do the same for your laundry. Put it away.
. Pick up continually. This may seem like a pain to do at first but if you stick with it, it will become a habit. I didn’t realize how much of a habit it had become for me until I was visiting my daughter’s the other day. As I was walking into the kitchen, I picked up empty glasses and odds and ends on my way. Then when I walked from the kitchen to the bedroom I picked up toys as I went in there. It wasn’t even my house but I had seen something out of place and out of habit picked it up. Every sock or glass that you walk past is a spore waiting to flourish into a vortex of debris. Catch it while it is small! _
. Read and dispose of newspapers and magazines. There are usually two reasons people have stacks of newspapers and magazines piled around:
They want to save an article in it. If that is the case then cut the article out as you are reading the magazine and file it. Trust me, you not only won’t cut that article out at a later time, but you probably won’t remember what or where it is.
They don’t have time to read them. If you aren’t going to read them the why are you subscribing to them? Stop your subscriptions. This doesn’t have to be an all or nothing thing. If you can’t keep up with the daily newspaper then just get the Sunday paper. Most people usually have more leisure time Sunday to read it. Pick out one or two of your favorite magazines and stop subscribing to the rest.
With any item, if it is broken or you don’t use it anymore get rid of it. That includes clothes, toys, furniture, decorations, dishes and exercise equipment. If it’s not important enough to fix right now, you don’t need it!
Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam are frugal living experts and the editors of http://www.LivingOnADime.com/. As a single mother of two, Jill Cooper started her own business without any capital and paid off $35,000 debt in 5 years on $1,000 a month income. Tawra and her husband paid off $20,000 debt in 5 years on $22,000 a year income.
NOTE: Remember the 7th is the last day to add your name to the hat for the drawing for Dining on a Dime from Tawra and Jill. Leave your comment HERE for one chance and check out how to get up to three chances for your opportunity to win.
Okay, so here I was cutting articles from the newspaper for Hais’ senior scrapbook and what did I find? A API story written by Jeff Karoub titled Discouraged words: One sees red over “green”! The title caught my attention, then I perused to find an inset titled ENOUGH ALREADY! with this:
Lake Superior State University’s 2009 list of bannished words:
–The Associated Press
Looking for the actual story online (so I could link to it) only provided me with LSSU’s actual release on their website. LSSU issues 34th annual List of Words to be Bannished was released online on December 31 under the university’s Campus News. Though I consider this a parody of sorts, I am disappointed at some of the environment/ecological choices added.
{snip}
“Environmental buzzwords are getting the axe this year.
“Green” and “going green” received the most nominations.
GREEN – The ubiquitous ‘Green’ and all of its variables, such as ‘going green,’ ‘building green,’ ‘greening,’ ‘green technology,’ ‘green solutions’ and more, drew the most attention from those who sent in nominations this year.
“This phrase makes me go green every time I hear it.” Danielle Brunin, Lawrence, Kansas.
“I’m all for being environmentally responsible, but this ‘green’ needs to be nipped in the bud.” Valerie Gilson, Gales Ferry, Conn.
“Companies are less ‘green’ than ever, advertising the fact they are ‘green.’ Is anyone buying this nonsense?” Mark Etchason, Denver, Colo.
“If something is good for the environment, just say so. As Kermit would say, ‘It isn’t easy being green.’” Kevin Sherlock, Hiawatha, Iowa.
“If I see one more corporation declare itself ‘green,’ I’m going to start burning tires in my backyard.” Ed Hardiman, Bristow, Va.
“This spawned ‘green solutions,’ ‘green technology,’ and the horrible use of the word as a verb, as in, ‘We really need to think about greening our office.’” Mike McDermott, Philadelphia, Penn.
CARBON FOOTPRINT or CARBON OFFSETTING – “It is now considered fashionable for everyone, tree hugger or lumberjack alike, to pay money to questionable companies to ‘offset’ their own ‘carbon footprint.’ What a scam! Get rid of it immediately!” Ginger Hunt, London, England.
Mike of Chicago says that when he hears the phrase ‘carbon footprint,’ “I envision microscopic impressions on the surface of the earth where an atom of carbon forgot to wear its shoes.”
Christy Loop of Woodbridge, Va., says that ‘leaving a carbon footprint’ has become the new ‘politically incorrect.’ “How can we not, in one way or another, affect our natural environment?”
Presidential election years are always ripe for language abuse. This year, the electorate grew weary of ‘mavericks’ and ’super delegates.’ As Michael W. Casby of Haslett, Mich. said, when he suggested banning all of the candidates’ names, “Come on, it’s been another too-long campaign season.”"
{snip}
“STAYCATION – “Occurrences of this word are going up with gas prices.’Vacation’ does not mean ‘travel,’ nor does travel always involve vacation. Let’s send this word on a slow boat to nowhere.” Dan Muldoon, Omaha, Neb.
“The cost of petrol forces many families to curtail their summer voyages and a new word has sprung, idiotic and rootless…” Michele Mooney, Los Angeles, Calif.”
Can you say “Bozo”?
ENOUGH SAID!
Tawra Kellam at Living on a Dime has graciously offered her book, Dining on a Dime, as a great giveaway to kick the year off right. Living on a Dime is having a 50% off sale on all their books and 63% on sets. Dining On A Dime has never been on sale for more than 25% off so this is a great deal.
I personally have three of the Living on a Dime books and cannot believe the amount of information packed into one book, especially for such a reasonable price.
So here’s the technical stuff.
The contest will run from January 1-7 and is open to United States residents only. Tawra will send the Dining on a Dime book directly to the winner.
Visit the Living on a Dime website at http://www.livingonadime.com/books/nys.html and take a look at all of the money saving books offered, then come back here and post a comment about your favorite. One first comment entry per person.
Receive a second entry for writing a post on your blog and include a direct link back to this post, then come back here to let me know by leaving the link in another comment.
You can get a third entry by posting the following widget into the sidebar of your blog.
Hurry! The week will be over before you know it!
♥
