Living on a Dime's E-book Collection Sale

    Living on a Dime is having a New Year sale on a collection of 18 of their best-selling e-books. It is $20 for the set, but, like I said, 18 books are included. There are too many to list, but you can see which ones are included here or read the titles in the pic below. 

      I just promote these books because I think they have a lot of really great tips and advice, especially for those who don't know where to begin organizing. 

     As we approach the time most people make "New Year's" resolutions, here is an article by Jill from Living on a Dime on some tips for losing weight and saving money. All of these may not work for everybody, but chances are, you're bound to find a couple you can use!

10 Ways to Lose Weight and Gain Money
by Jill Cooper
LivingonaDime.com

1. Eat smaller portions. The less food you eat, the less food you have to buy which means you spend less money on food.
2. Walk more. I have a grocery store 2 1/2 blocks from me. Shame on me for driving there, especially when I only need one or two items. I can't even use being in a hurry as an excuse because it takes me the same amount of time to walk as to drive. Stop complaining about gas prices and start walking.
3. Stop paying someone else to do your work. Start doing your own yard work and housecleaning. You don't think you have time to clean? Use that hour you would have worked out at the gym each morning to do your house work or yard work. Not only do you save the money you are paying someone to do these things, but you don't have to pay to go to the gym. Don't think you can lose weight cleaning your house? Trust me. If you are doing these things properly you will lose weight. You can clean and organize in five minutes.
4. Stop going out to eat as much. Not only does it cost so much less to eat at home but you can control how much you eat and what you are eating better. How often do you eat everything they give you in a restaurant just because you don't want to waste money? Make easy meals at home and save money.
5. Take the kids to the park instead of the movies. It doesn't cost a thing to go to the park and you get exercise. Plus there is the added benefit of actually talking and playing with you kids instead sitting staring at a movie.
6. Drink water and not pop (or sodas). We all know it. Pop is just empty calories with no benefit. Why spend the money or pack on the extra weight?
   That goes for Lattes too. It costs much less to just have a regular cup of coffee from home and is much less fattening. Save the lattes for a special treat or dessert.
7. Reduce excess scheduled activities. Many of us are just too busy with things that are often not really that important because we think that's the way it should be. Eliminating some of your excess commitments will save on gas and will reduce stress, which will make it less tempting to eat or spend as a stress reliever.
8. You don't need to bring out the fatted calf to entertain or impress people. Have simple cake and punch at your child's birthday party instead of going to Chucky Cheese's. It's funny how the expensive flashy things are rarely the things the kids remember fondly when they grow up.
   If you're having people over for dinner, keep the food simple. You don't need a 10 course meal that includes everything from lobster to an expensive cheesecake. There are very few people who wouldn't enjoy roast chicken with fresh fruit for dessert just as much, especially if the company is good.
9. Stop shopping and start exercising. When under stress there are two things at the top of the list that people do. Shopping and eating. Have a plan of attack so that when you start feeling stressed instead of grabbing your purse (or wallet) and heading for the mall you hit the yoga mat, hop on your bike or just start walking.
   Do you know how much money you would save if you exercised instead of shopping? Not to mention you probably would rid yourself of a lot of your stress. If you don't have as many money problems from over spending you wouldn't feel the need to go shopping or over eat and you would eventually break the cycle.
10. Drive quickly by fast food joints. Don't even drive by them. Don't drive on the same street where they are. If you have a big problem with this, don't drive in the section of town where they are. And if you have any in your town then move to another town! (This was my favorite son-in-law's idea. Guess where his weakness lies! HA! HA!)

Jill Cooper and Tawra Kellam are frugal living experts and the authors of the Dining On A Dime Cookbook. Dining On A Dime will help you save money on groceries and get out of debt by cooking quick and simple homemade meals. For free tips & recipes visit http://www.livingonadime.com , sign up for our free Living On A Dime Newsletter and learn to save more! 

 

Our Water Was Out Last Night :-(

     I thought I was going to be home last night writing my first blog post from home in about two weeks, but it was not to be. We got home around 6:30 pm only to find that our water had been turned off. Now, there was the notice we get on our door every month and a half or so about how they're going to turn the water off for a few hours the next day (which was today), but that didn't explain why the water was off yesterday evening. So, we ended up spending the night with some friends. 

     My husband called the office this morning to ask what the deal was, and apparantly some people on the bottom floor (of different buildings) had experienced flooding related to the plumbing, so the administration shut the water off from the whole complex and supposedly it was on at 10:30 pm last night. But how were we supposed to know what was going on? 

     Now it is Friday evening and we are finally at home, with water. I am so drained, mentally and physically, and I feel like I have this whole pile of stuff to do. Oh where will I find the energy? But I finally get to sleep in my own bed tonight. Hopefully I will wake up ready to be more productive tomorrow.

Another Day on the Road

    Well, I was not able to get online at all on Sunday or Monday. Yesterday (Tuesday) was our first day on the road on our way back home. We stopped in the Biloxi, MS area after driving about 9 hours. The hassle to use the internet was horrible. It was "sponsored" by Google music, or something like that and it made me watch an ad, "agree" to terms of use, then "connect" and it made me repeat this process several times throughout the course of the evening and when  I was finally ready to post what I had written last night, the connection "reset" and I lost everything. So I gave up after that. It was late and we needed to get up this morning. So now I am writing this in the car and will post when I get access to another interenet connection.
    We are driving through Lousiana now and my husband is looking for alligator tail meat for a friend back home. We found some gator meat at a small seafood store in Slidell, right over the Lousiana border that one of the ladies at the Lousiana welcome center told us about. But if we can find some alligator tail meat, we might get a couple pounds of that too. And apparantly my husband has decided he wants some andoille sausage as well. Next thing you know, he'll be wanting to make him red beans and rice when we get home. Haha.
    Well, we had a pretty good Christmas, in case anyone was wondering. I can say it's a good thing we upgraded to a minivan, because there is no way all this stuff would fit in our old Ford. Among our little girl's presents were a Radio Flyer wagon and a little rocking chair, both of which were things we kind of wanted for her anyway. But they do take up space! Now the question is where we'll put this stuff when we get home. Our little apartment is filling up with stuff (my husband and I are as bad as the grandparents) and she's not even two yet. But she had good time, and that is what it's all about.
    I hope everyone had a good holiday and had lots of good food and family time. I will try to write again soon, though you never have any idea how the day will go. Every day is an adventure.

Day Trip to Sarasota

     I'm just sitting here at my computer, not sure what to do next. I'm in one of those modes where I've been going going going so long that now that I have nothing to do for a little while and I'm not quite sure what to do with myself! 

     Yesterday we went down to Sarasota for the day to visit some friends we haven't seen since we moved away in May. One of my best friends spent the day with us and we met one group of people for lunch at Troyer's Dutch Heritage. It is a restaurant and gift shop in the mennonite community of Sarasota. I didn't venture to the upstairs section this time, which is mainly things like purses, jewelry and other crafts and collectibles. 

     The restaurant has a buffet, though they also have a menu. I really like the apple butter and peanut butter spread they have that you can put on their rolls. I think the peanut butter spread is a mixture of peanut butter and honey and it is a little more liquid than regular peanut butter. You can buy a lot of their baked goods and jams and such in their downstairs shop, which is more edible items. They have bread, cookies, fudge, donuts, candy, cheeses, jellies, etc. It would be too easy to get carried away with all the good stuff they have in there. I managed to get away with a couple pieces of fudge and a donut (which I still haven't eaten). 

     After lunch, we went over to the Sarasota Square Mall where there is a Yoder's deli that we used to like to eat at. I really love their chicken salad, so I had to get a little container of that and I also got a jar of apple butter. As soon as I figure out how to replicate the chicken salad, I will let you know!

     For dinner we went over to the home of some other friends in the area. It was a nice visit, but we got away kind of late and still had an hour and a half drive back to Tampa! So we didn't get back until after midnight. We were definitely tired when we got back and weren't in a hurry to get up this morning! 

     I seem to be coming down with a cold and the sinus pressure has been giving me a headache all day. And I am still drained for the rest of the week. I feel ready to go to bed, but it is still too early. Normally we like to go look at Christmas lights on Christmas eve, but I think we are all just feeling too drained. We will probably look at some tomorrow, though.

     Hopefully I will be able to post tomorrow, but it will be pretty busy, so I may not. Either way, I hope you all have a great holiday! 

Travelling for the Holidays

     Well, this is the third day we've been on the road and we're all getting a little stressed out and cranky. Monday and yesterday were both really long days and I haven't posted in my blog. Last night I didn't even turn on my computer at all when we got to the hotel because I knew if I did, I would get to bed later than I needed to. So I didn't get online at all--even to check my email (which I know must be packed by now).

     We've had some pretty nasty weather the last couple days as well. Monday morning we woke up to a clap of thunder about 20 minutes before I actually had my alarm set for. Wouldn't you know--in west Texas, where it hardly ever rains, it decided to rain right when we needed to be loading up the car. So my husband tried to load the car when the rain let up a little bit.

     So we finally got out the door and drove in a consistent drizzle pretty much all day. Sometimes the rain was really nasty, sometimes it stopped for a little while. We stopped at J Gilligan's in Arlington for lunch. We wanted to try their "Irish nachos" after seeing the restaurant featured on a show on the travel channel. We had intended to make it to Shreveport, but ended stopping about 45 miles west of there in Marshall.

     We expected to see less rain yesterday and at first the weather was dreary, but not rainy. But after we cut down south on I-49 in Louisiana, we went through the worst weather ever. It was NASTY. My husband said it was the worst he's ever driven through. The only thing that kept him able to drive was watching the tail lights in front of him. It was raining buckets and the wind was blowing hard. But we survived.

     We stopped in Baton Rouge and ate at Copeland's. It was a little on the expensive side, but my husband remembered liking the seafood gumbo and since we were going through Louisiana, it was the thing to do. There was not much on the menu that wasn't fish or seafood, and I can't stand either. So I got sausage and red beans and rice. My husband said he actually liked mine better, mostly because it was warmer than his. So, he got it out of his system.

     We finally made it to Pensacola last night and we were completely exhausted. I was ready to go straight to bed. We had to get up early again because of time constraints and my little girl was really ornery at breakfast. She didn't sleep too well last night and isn't really feeling great today. But hopefully we'll get to rest up tomorrow and maybe we'll all be feeling a little better.