Penny Pinching Mom

Not Getting Any Younger

I’m in my very early thirties. According to most people’s standards (with the possible exception of MTV), that’s not very old. But I’m starting to feel old.

A lot of it is due to stress. I’ve been horribly stressed out most of the time for a couple of years now, and it has certainly taken its toll on my psyche. It also appears that I’m getting a little gray around the temples. Yikes.

I still have the oily skin of a hormonal 16-year-old, so wrinkles aren’t a huge concern yet. But my face does get rather dry in the winter, so I’m sure it’s just around the corner. Pretty soon I’ll have to start comparing eye creams. I’m not looking forward to that.

I know, aging is a natural process that we all have to deal with. But that doesn’t make it any more pleasant.

Get Your Masters Without Setting Foot on Campus

The job market is getting tougher and tougher these days. If you are looking for a minimum wage job, you know that there just aren’t any to be had. Even professionals are having a difficult time finding work, but there is hope for them.

Those who have experienced job loss have few options any more. But going back to school seems to be the best option for many. If you have only a high school education, getting an associates or bachelors degree can increase your prospects. And if you already have a college degree, getting your masters could open some doors for you.

If you are interested in obtaining a masters degrees online, you might want to check out Gonzaga University Online. The school is ranked among the best in the country by U.S. News and World Report, The Princeton Review and Forbes. It’s one of the few top-ranked schools that offers online programs.

Gonzaga Online currently offers masters degrees in Organizational Leadership, Communication and Leadership and Nursing. If you’re looking to further your education but don’t want to disrupt your life to do so, Gonzaga Online is well worth considering.

How Are We Gonna Sell This Stuff?

Hubby has sold some of the stuff that was in the garage that we needed to get rid of. But there’s still a bunch out there. Trouble is, there’s a lot of it that we’d be hard pressed to sell at a yard sale. Things like air filters and oil filters and such. They’re brand new, but we would be really lucky if someone were to come by and need one and happen to know which one would fit their vehicle and we would happen to have it. Not a likely scenario.

My best bet would probably be to try putting them on one of those sites that has free online auctions. Then they would be out there for anyone in the country to see. And the chances of someone who could use them finding them that way would be much better than someone who could use them stumbling upon our little yard sale out here in the middle of nowhere.

It’s still a long shot. After all, there aren’t too many people who go looking anywhere except an auto parts store or mass merchandiser for things like that. But maybe, just maybe, if we try putting them online, we could get them off our hands.

Up With the Chickens

Productivity has not been my strong suit for the past several months. But this week, it’s taking on a new level of importance. I’m up to my ears in writing work, which is a wonderful thing, if I can just get it all done on schedule. And I’m also way behind on the housekeeping, which wouldn’t be such a big deal if it weren’t for the fact that I’ve got a Bumblebee Tuna House Party coming up this weekend!

But I’ve got a lot to do, and not a lot of time to do it. So today, I did something that does not at all come naturally: I stayed up after putting Pumpkin on the bus. I was dying to go back to bed, but I fought it. I’ve been up for nearly 3 hours now, and I’m still groggy, but I’m fighting it with all I’ve got.

I’ve gotten a couple of things done online that needed doing, but it’s been slow going. If I can’t pick up the pace, I guess I’ll have to go do some housework. That doesn’t require full use of my brain, so maybe I can handle it. Too bad I don’t have any good, energy-boosting weight loss pills in the medicine cabinet, because I could really use them right now.

The week is nearly half over, and I haven’t gotten nearly as much accomplished as I need to. It’s times like these when I need someone standing over my shoulder, cracking a proverbial whip, pushing me to get things done. I hate that thought with a passion, but maybe it would help.

Where Are My Photos?

A couple of days ago, I found out something that really upset me: Some of my photos (a lot of them, actually) didn’t make it to my new computer. And I reimaged the hard drive on my old one, so there’s no way to recover them.

I’m not sure what went wrong. I used a flash drive to transfer them, and I didn’t get any error messages. Maybe I didn’t highlight all of the folders when I dragged and dropped them. But whatever happened, it seriously sucks.

All of the missing photos are from when Pumpkin was very young. The earliest ones that made it to my new machine are from 2005, when she was three years old. I got my digital camera in 2003, so that means I lost two years worth of photos. At least I printed some of them out, and have some from other sources. But I know I had some great pictures from that time frame that are now lost forever.

I’ve really got to do something so that nothing like that happens again. Maybe I should consider online data backup. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about making boneheaded mistakes like that again, because there would always be another copy.

Now Is the Time to Buy Clothes

If my family wasn’t having such a budget crunch right now, I would most definitely be stocking up on clothes for us all. This is a great time of year for clearance sales on summer clothes!

If I were 10 years younger and several sizes smaller, I would be looking for dELiA*s Coupons. When I was in high school and college, I looked forward to getting their catalogs in the mail. I would sit and browse them for hours, because they had so much cool stuff. If you have a teenage daughter, check them out!

Old Navy is one of my current favorites. They’ve got nice prices on great clothes in all sizes. Add some Old Navy coupon codes to the mix, and you’ve got a recipe for looking great on a budget.

It doesn’t look like I’ll be doing any clothes shopping right now, thanks to the Husband’s hours being cut. But maybe I’ll get to take advantage of some of the clearance sales before they’re history. They usually go on until around Labor Day or a while after.

Not Having Health Insurance Sucks

I need to go to the doctor, but I can’t afford it right now. I have no health insurance. I was able to sign up for a program at my doctor’s office that allows me to pay only $15 for an office visit, but that’s not much help for a couple of reasons.

For one, I don’t even have $15 right now. And for another, I would still have to pay full price (or very close to it, even with a pharmacy discount card) for any prescriptions I would need. And rest assured, I would need a prescription. I’ve got a raging sinus infection.

I’ve also got some kind of mysterious rash/hives thing going on with my belly and back. The first thing I noticed was my belly itching. And my first thought was that I needed to ramp up my efforts to find the best diet pill, because I was getting more stretch marks. But upon inspection, I found a couple of clusters of bumps. I thought they were bug bites, but they haven’t gone away and now my back is itching too.

I’m seriously considering taking a round of antibiotics that is in the medicine cabinet. It’s a whole round, prescribed for Hubby a couple of months ago, but the doctor told him not to take them before he got started on them. I hate to do that, but at least then I would have a chance of getting rid of the worst of my troubles.

Something really needs to be done about health care in this country. I haven’t really been following the plans the prez and congress are proposing, so I don’t know if that’s the right thing or not. But I do know one thing: there’s no reason that people should have to choose between eating and having a roof over their heads and health.

Watch for Deals on Amazon

I’ve been shopping with Amazon.com for about a year now. They have a little bit of everything, which is what first attracted me to them. Then I was selected to join a small business community that rewards members with Amazon gift certificates, and that made me like them even more. And when I found out I could earn more gift certificates through Swagbucks, I was over the moon!

They have truly awesome deals all the time. You’ve just got to watch for them. Those emails they send you based on your recent browsing and purchases are quite helpful. I delete most stuff like that, but I’ve found some awesome stuff through Amazon’s mailings. Great marketing, guys!

But the latest deal I found was rather by accident. I had been browsing digital video cameras, and I added two to my cart just so I would remember what they were. I forgot to click the little “save for later” button. When I added something else to my cart to remember it the other day, I saw that one of my favorites was on sale for $49.99! I had enough gift certificates saved up to cover that and the shipping, so I pounced on it.

Another way to find great deals from Amazon is to use Coupon Trunk’s Amazon Discount Matrix. Just choose your category and the discount you want, and you’ll see all products that match. Cool, huh?

I’m keeping an eye on Amazon’s sales right now in anticipation of Pumpkin’s birthday, and will continue to do so for Christmas. Last year I found her a Hannah Montana guitar video game marked down from about $60 to $11, and that made me very happy. The only problem was that the free Super Saver shipping didn’t get it here until after Christmas. That upset me, but I got over it. I’m still an avid Amazon shopper.

Hungry Cats

A couple of weeks ago, we ended up with a couple of stray kittens. It appears that someone dropped them off down the road. I checked all the missing pet reports, and no one was missing any kittens, so it looks like they’re staying here.

As much as I’m not a cat person, I can’t help but like them. They are good about keeping one another entertained, and they always use the litter box. I’ve had to be vigilant about keeping them off the coffee table and out of the trash can, but other than that we’ve had no trouble out of them.

But boy, can those suckers eat! They went through a whole box of cat food in 3 or 4 days! I bought a larger bag when the first box was gone, and it has lasted longer. But I never dreamed that such tiny animals could eat so much. Maybe I should ask the vet if he can give them the animal equivalent of Fastin.

Well, they are growing kitties. One has a little bit of a belly on her, but I don’t think it’s anything to worry about at this point. I will be keeping an eye on them, though, because I know how bad it is for them to become obese.