Penny Pinching Mom

Free Stuff Is Good

I think I mentioned that I finally got an oven that works well. But did I mention that it was free? That’s the best part.

A guy who Hubby knows is fixing up a rental house, and he put new appliances in. He gave us the old oven, and although it is really old, it works much better than the one I had. So now I can bake cakes and other goodies, and it didn’t cost us anything. Yay!

The guy also offered us a kitchen sink and a couple of bathroom vanities. But I don’t need a new sink. And I probably could have done something with the vanities, but I’m not sure what. And we really don’t need anything else to clutter things up around here.

Did You Ever Notice…

That you always run out of all of your cleaning stuff at once? Or is it just me?

Over the past week, I’ve run out of carpet stain remover, the all-purpose stuff I use in the kitchen, bathroom cleaner, furniture polish, the wipes I use for quick bathroom cleanups, and glass cleaner.

I hate the thoughts of buying all of those things in one trip to the store, especially as delicate as our financial situation is right now. I guess I could go to the dollar store and get the cheap stuff. Or I could buy spray bottles and make some of the stuff myself. Now there’s an idea.

I just might give that a try. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Extra Holiday Pounds

Maybe it’s just a hormonal thing, or maybe I’m just in denial. But I put a pair of pants on this morning that are normally loose on me, and they are not loose any more.

I didn’t think I was doing too bad on my holiday eating this year. My mom didn’t cook a holiday dinner, so I didn’t have to worry about all of the tempting dishes she always makes. But I fixed two ham dinners in as many weeks, and we ate dinner on Christmas day with my mother-in-law. Then last night I made lots of baked goodies to take to my mom and siblings. But they didn’t all make it up there.

So I guess my New Year’s resolutions will have a lot to do with working out and diet pills. Oh boy.

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful Christmas, and that your wallets are still fairly intact.

I ended up getting some money that I wasn’t expecting until later this week late last week, so I had a little Christmas cash to spend. I should have put it all toward the bills, but I had to get Pumpkin a couple of things. We picked up small gifts for the kids on the list, and everyone else will be getting baked goodies later this week. So I was still reasonably frugal.

I’m still cautiously optimistic about the New Year. If I can just hang in there for another week, things should begin to improve.

A Good Night’s Sleep

Hubby and I didn’t have much money for Christmas shopping this year, so we agreed not to get each other anything until later. I wouldn’t have even been concerned with doing something later, but that’s the only way I could get him to agree to not buying me something right now.

If I had plenty of money to burn, one thing I would consider getting him is a new mattress. Specifically, a memory foam mattress. You see, he has a lot of trouble sleeping, and I think if we had a better mattress it wouldn’t be so bad. Those memory foam ones look so comfy!

Here’s a little commercial I put together about memory foam mattresses from Bed in a Box. I don’t have fancy equipment to work with or anything, but I did the best I could. Enjoy!

Get Your Computer Something for Christmas

I never got around to searching for the best Christmas deals, and I apologize. I just didn’t have the time to sort through the bull and find the best stuff, and if I can’t do that I’m just not going to bother. But I did just catch wind of a holiday promotion that McAfee has going on, and I thought it was good enough to share.

I have McAfee Internet Security Suite on my computer, and I’m quite happy with it. Unfortunately the virus scanner on the old version I have is incompatible with my hardware, so I can’t use it. But its firewall in particular is awesome, and it also comes with a spam guard and privacy service.

For a limited time, you can get Internet Security Suite or Total Protection and save $30. That makes them $39.99 and $49.99, respectively. How’s that for reliable, affordable protection? Click the link below to grab yours while the gettin’s good.

Limited Time Offer! Save $30 instantly on McAfee Total Protection and Internet Security Suite!

Decorating for Christmas

I got my Christmas decorating done yesterday. We put up the artificial tree, which has seen its better days but maybe it has a year or two left in it. And I got out some little Christmasy knick-knacks that I had packed away and sat them around. But I think my shelf is my favorite part of it all.

I have one of those little cheap tv stands that somebody gave me. The top is all scratched up, but otherwise it’s in good shape. I keep some books on the lower shelves, and cover the top with a lace throw and set things on it. For Christmas, I put all of my little things that light up on it, along with some of my other favorite decorations. It’s quite stunning when it’s all lit up.

I’ll try to get around to taking a picture of it and posting it. It might not be much, but I can’t help but get into the Christmas spirit a little when I look at it.

Haven’t Been Much Help

I had planned on posting lots of great Christmas deals here during shopping season. But I’ve been staying so busy that I just haven’t gotten around to posting much. I did post about some deals for teens, but I didn’t manage to get anything up about gifts for boys, girls, or grownups. I’m such a slacker.

I suppose there’s still time to post last-minute deals. I’m not going to make any promises or anything, because my plate is pretty full this week as well. But I’ll try.

Playing Catch-Up

I’m buried in work, as usual. But I’m in a little deeper this time. I have two reports that were due yesterday that I need to get finished. I’m about halfway through the first one right now. They’re not about anything complicated like mesothelioma treatment or anything. They’re actually on subjects that I have a reasonable amount of knowledge about. But I’m experiencing a little bit of writer’s block.

Once I get those done, I have ten articles I need to finish by tomorrow. Plus a new project that I all but forgot about that I’m supposed to have a portion of completed by tomorrow. But the guy I’m working for is pretty reasonable, and he already said that he would understand if I got behind because of Christmas shopping. If only that were the reason.

I need to have that stuff done before the weekend’s out at the latest, and sooner if possible. I’m supposed to be getting more work when the reports and articles are done, plus I still have a batch of the college descriptions left to do. And I need to find some videos to do a feature post on for WebTVHub. At least next month should be a little better on the financial front.

A Nice Thought

I took Hubby’s truck to town the other day, and it was warm, so I got an idea. He hasn’t been feeling up to doing much lately, so it has been a while since he washed his truck. So I thought that after I got groceries, I would wash it for him. I may not be able to get him the truck accessories I had thought about getting him for Christmas, or anything else for that matter, so I figured I could do that instead.

I went in the store and got groceries, and came back out and was loading them into the truck. I happened to look in the bed, and was dismayed to see a bunch of junk back there. Shovels, chains, all kinds of stuff. Too much to unload at the car wash, and I would have worried about someone swiping them anyway.

Back to the drawing board…