Penny Pinching Mom

Glad It’s Over

Christmas, that is. I didn’t dread it quite as badly this year as I have for the past few, maybe because everything else was going pretty badly and I had hope that Christmas would provide some relief. In a way it did I guess, but it also brought some new stresses with it.

We weren’t able to get as much as we had hoped to for Pumpkin. I know it’s not about the gifts, but try telling that to a kid in this day and age. She enjoyed the gifts she got and had a good day, even though, according to her, Santa didn’t bring her much. So I suppose that’s a good thing. I’ll be kind of glad when she asks if Santa exists again, because next time she’s going to get the whole story and that will be over with.

Hubby went and spent more money on me than we had agreed to, which rather upset me. He said he wouldn’t spend more than $10 on my gift, and then he turned around and bought me a massage mat. I knew all along that was what he was going to get me, because he is bad about dropping hints. But they were supposed to have one on sale for $9, and they sold out or something, but he went ahead and paid full price for a different one. I know because Pumpkin let it slip.

So I felt kind of bad because I spent less than half of that on a new cell phone case for him. But it was something he really needed, so maybe I should just get over it. At least he didn’t go out and buy me something really expensive. And I can certainly use that massage mat, because my back has been giving me a lot of trouble lately.

Oh yeah, and the basement flooded on Christmas Day. How’s that for a nice gift? We had to get out in the pouring rain and dig the snow out of our trenches so that it wouldn’t get any worse, then Hubby got his brothers to help dip some of the water out and pumped out the rest. At least we have our little pump. If we didn’t, there would probably still be water down there.

I’m just rather relieved that the whole thing is over. It could have been worse, but it most definitely could have been better, too. Now we’ve got the New Year to contend with. As far as that goes, I’m just not interested. I might watch the countdown to New Year’s Day if I happen to be somewhere that I can, or I might treat it like what it really is: just another day.

A Different Kind of Online University

Back when I was in college, going to school online was practically unheard of. There were some teleclasses that students could take, and some courses had limited online components, but other than that, you had to be physically present in a bricks and mortar school for the most part. Or at least that’s how most students (and schools) did things.

If I had known about Western Governors University back then, I might have done things much differently. They were founded in 1997, when I was in the second year of my associate’s degree program. But even then, they weren’t your typical online university. WGU was founded by the governors of 19 states as a non-profit school. That meant that tuition was much lower than most schools, including other online universities. Even today, tuition is around $3,000 per semester. Try going to school anywhere else, online or off, for that!

WGU is nationally and regionally accredited, and they offer programs in several in-demand fields. You can get an online nursing degree, IT degree, business degree or teaching degree through them. And for those who are trying to work in an education around job or family responsibilities, their competency-based education model provides the ultimate in flexibility. Each student works at his own pace under the advisement of a mentor, and each course is completed when he demonstrates competency, whether that happens in a week or a year.

With such low prices and flexibility, WGU puts a degree within reach for anyone. I’ll certainly be keeping it in mind if I decide to go back to school!

He Can’t Sleep

I rarely have any trouble sleeping. But Hubby rarely gets a good night’s sleep. If I got as little sleep as he does, I would need to start using dark circle cream. You can’t tell it by looking at him at all, but every morning he complains about lying awake for hours at a time.

The doctor gave him some pills to try, but they didn’t help and had some undesirable side effects. So she told him to try Dramamine. He hasn’t bought any yet, but I’m going to see to it that he either tries that or Benadryl. Benadryl always knocks me out and makes me have funky dreams, but when I wake up I feel fine and dandy. So I figure maybe it will have the same effect on him.

If neither of those work, I guess he’ll have to try a more expensive prescription. I hope it doesn’t come to that, because between the two of us, we’ve racked up a ridiculous amount of medical bills this month. But whatever it takes, he needs to start getting more sleep.

Christmas: So Far, Not So Good

I got an early start on my Christmas shopping, and was hoping that this holiday season would be less stressful than the past few. But it’s just not working out that way.

I’ve been dealing with a lot of family crap, and it’s really taking its toll. I don’t want to go into details out of respect for the privacy of the person it concerns, but someone close to me is having some serious problems that are affecting everyone that cares about him. And I’m the one who it’s hitting the hardest. If it goes on much longer I’m going to need a truckload of wrinkle treatment and hair dye, because I already feel a few years older and will probably start looking it, too.

There have been a few bright spots, so I’m hopeful that things will work out for the best. But money is going to be tighter than we thought it would be, so we won’t be able to do all the shopping we had hoped to do. But whatever. I suppose I’ll feel lucky to make it into the new year with my sanity intact.

More Free Christmas Music

I’m not normally much on Christmas music, except for the occasional rockin’ tune. But I’ve found lots of free stuff online this year, and I’ve been snagging most of it. Partly because I’ve found quite a few songs that suit my discriminating tastes, and partly because I need all the help I can get getting in the Christmas spirit.

At any rate, I just found out about a bunch more songs that are free for the taking that I thought I would share. iTunes is giving away an entire free Christmas sampler album. Not just one of those 5-song deals, but a whole 20 songs by a variety of popular artists. There are songs in all genres, so there’s something for everyone. Get yours here!

Christmas Supplies

Today I went shopping for Christmas supplies. Paper, tape, cards and all that stuff. I was planning to go to Dollar Tree and get everything, but as it turned out, I had to go to Walmart, so I decided to see how much everything was there. I’m glad I did, because their wrapping paper turned out to be cheaper by the square foot than Dollar Tree’s.

I also went ahead and picked up some Christmas cards there, even though they were slightly cheaper at Family Dollar when I checked. I picked up some tape, too, although at a dollar a roll it seemed a little pricier than I remembered it. At least it was the good stuff. Those cheap rolls have a tendency to fall apart and not stick very well.

Now I just need some name tags and maybe some more bows (I already have some of those). And some gifts to wrap. So far I’ve got a couple of things for Pumpkin that are ready to be wrapped, and a picture for my mom that I need to frame first. I got an early start on my Christmas shopping this year, but I still have a long way to go before I’m done.

The holidays can be rather stressful, especially when you’re working on a tight budget. But as much as I would love to wake up on Christmas morning and find that Santa had left a Sony VAIO under the tree for me, that’s not what it’s all about. The best thing about Christmas for me is having a good time with my family.

Free Christmas Music

Attention all you Christmas music lovers out there: Amazon is giving away a holiday MP3 every day from December 1st through 25th. And you can still get the ones that have already been released, so you don’t have to worry if you’re late to the party! Go here to get yours.

So far I’ve gotten all but two of them, and I skipped those because judging by the previews they wouldn’t really suit my tastes. Today’s free song is a Christmas tune from Lady GaGa, who I find rather repulsive, but I downloaded it anyway because I have a friend who likes her. Maybe I’ll burn her a CD with that and some other stuff on it for Christmas.

I’ve really got to find a viable option for backing up all my music and stuff. I’ve got everything that I had before I switched computers on a DVD, but it’s just not practical to keep making DVDs of everything. I need to check into one of those secure online backup sites. That way I wouldn’t have to worry about losing my music, photos, home videos and other stuff if anything were to happen to my computer.

But I digress. I came to tell you about some free Christmas music. If you’re like me and need a little something to help you get in the holiday spirit, pop on over to Amazon and get your free tuneage!

My Awesome New Christmas Decoration!

Christmas is fast approaching. Despite the fact that I have actually gotten a little bit of shopping done already this year, I’ve been having a hard time getting in the spirit. But when the UPS man brought me this, I couldn’t help but smile:

Yes, it’s a lovely animated Disney Christmas tabletop tree from Hawthorne Collectibles! I knew it was coming, because I was offered the opportunity to review it (and graciously accepted). But when I opened the box, I was awestruck. That picture just does not do it justice at all. It’s got more Disney characters on it than I feel inclined to count, two trains that go round and round, and a sleigh carrying Mickey Mouse and led by six reindeer, with Pluto in the lead. Wow!

I was really impressed with the quality of this thing. The detail of the characters is amazing! It also lights up and plays music. And there’s even a volume control, so you can turn it up so you can hear it across the room, or turn it down so that you don’t have to talk over it.

I made a video of Hubby and Pumpkin taking it out of the box. I had already looked it over by that point, but you can see their reactions for yourself (as well as the tree in action).

As you can see, Pumpkin was most impressed with the little Mickey Mouse sleigh. It’s hard to say what my favorite part is since I’m in love with the whole thing, but I am quite fond of the princesses that dance around the tree with their beaus. Thanks for the opportunity to do this review, Collectibles Today!

This review is a result of a feedback campaign by Collectibles Today. I was asked to give an honest opinion about the product I received. Good reviews are not incentivized and poor reviews will not be censored for the opinion of the product.