Halloween Safety Tips Using Your Smart Phone

FTC disclaimer:  I am part of the U.S. Cellular Better Moments Blogger Brigade.  This is a sponsored post.  All opinions are my own.  This post contains affiliate links

U.S. Cellular offers a FREE PRINTABLE Parent Child agreement to help you discuss safety of the Internet, cell phone usage, limits, and courtesy with your teen or tween.  You don't even need to be a U.S. Cellular customer to access this, although I have been for 10 years and highly recommend them.

It's almost time for Trick or Treating, and safety is on everyone's mind as little ghosts and goblins -- and even scarier -- little clowns take to the streets in search of treats!  Trick or Treat was so much different when I was growing up.  Mom usually let me go out with a friend and she stayed at home with a bowl of candy. Our usual amount of kids to treat back then was anywhere from 300 to 500.  Last time I gave out candy, there were less than 50 kids show up, and I live on the same street I have my whole life.  So times have certainly changed.

How to Get Free and Cheap Candy at CVS

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I have been a coupon queen since before it was popular.  The only thing consistent about it over the years is my desire for a good deal.  If I was plunged into the current world of bargain shopping when I was 18, I wouldn't have the first idea where to begin (or even how to use the Internet).  The way I used coupons when I was 18 wouldn't be something I would want to do today because it would take too much time, and I'm all about time saving while saving money!

There is a lot of information in this post, so follow closely and I'll sum it up again at the bottom of the post.

So I try to do as much savings as I can electronically.  I've been recently getting lots of candy deals, and someone on my Facebook page asked for more information as to how I do it.

How I Learn New Skills for Free

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I love to learn.  I always have.  I graduated high school at age 15, and I spent my summers reading books.  I am a non-fiction aficionado, and I have discovered that there are amazing resources out there to learn pretty much anything you want for free (or very inexpensively).  It doesn't come with certification, but there is so much knowledge available you can implement to make your life better, more efficient, saving money, or fun!

About a year ago I decided I wanted to learn more about blogging and what kinds of items sell best on eBay.  Now I'm wanting to learn how to use coupons most effectively at Dollar General and homesteading skills.  Why am I switching?  I feel like I have the knowledge I want to cut back on the time I invest in learning the first two topics.

Saving so you Can Give to Others

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When I was a teenager, there was about a year that my mother and I had nothing to eat but potatoes because we were trying to make ends meet.  That is when I decided I was going to do what I could to figure out a way we could afford a bit more variety in our food as well as being able to have the heat set above 58 degrees in winter.

That's when I started reading books like The Complete Tightwad.  Although this book has advice from 20+ years ago, much of it is still quite useful, and one I would recommend to be in any penny pincher's library.  I still read my copy from time to time, usually getting it out every two years or so for a refresher course to see if I'm still doing everything I can -- or even if I can implement something new.

Book Review: The Recovering Spender

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review.  This post contains affiliate links.

I was excited when I had the chance to review The Recovering Spender:  How to Live a Happy, Fulfilled, Debt-Free Life by Lauren Greutman.  As is common in today's world, another financial book by a financial blogger.  I find nothing wrong with that.  I am a financial blogger myself, but I can't read every blog, and I love hearing others' stories of how they got into -- and out of -- debt.

The one thing I found very different about Greutman's story is she was a shopaholic.  I often think of people who get in trouble financially as ones that lose a job, incur a large amount of medical bills, or something similar, it was her shopping that got her family into trouble.

There were different times reading this book, I thought, "That's a terrible idea" -- such as the impulse buy of a house in another state!  Honestly, that's something I would LOVE to do because I admit I'm unhappy where I live now, but I know it's not financially feasible for us to move for a while.  The Greutman family just up and bought a house a few states away.  I feel this was even a bigger problem to their finances than her shopaholic tendencies.

Should You Keep The News of a Sweepstakes or Contest Win Quiet?

I have been entering sweepstakes since 1998. My first win was a trip to Arizona with $2,000 cash.  I didn't think it was real because I figured that companies would give away small prizes like keychains and t-shirts, but I doubted if they really gave away anything that was actually valuable.

I didn't have a lot of choice in keeping that quiet. The company contacted my local paper, and the paper did an interview about me and the sweepstakes trip.  Since then I have been in the newspaper a few times for wins -- once for a win for a local school and when I won a contest with the story about how my dad's class ring was found after a devastating flood.  That was published at the anniversary of the flood, and was actually a heart-warming story of that tragedy.

Gift Guide to High Tech WiFi Enabled Devices

FTC disclaimer:  I am part of the U.S. Cellular Better Moments Blogger Brigade.  This is a sponsored post.  All opinions are my own.  This post contains affiliate links

U.S. Cellular offers a FREE PRINTABLE Parent Child agreement to help you discuss safety of the Internet, cell phone usage, limits, and courtesy with your teen or tween.  You don't even need to be a U.S. Cellular customer to access this, although I have been for 10 years and highly recommend them. 




Can you believe it's almost October?  Christmas is only three months away.  If you are like me, Christmas is not only in your mind, but there are a few gifts being stuck back in your closet. Sometimes chores are easier if we have our phone with us, and a recent study shows that 91% of SmartPhone owners never leave their device at home, so here are a few ideas for a gift for yourself or someone else to stay connected to your home, and know that your day was made easier thanks to technology. 

Review: Praying for Your Future Husband by Robin Jones Gunn and Tricia Goyer

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When I was a teenager in youth group, I used to be told “Pray for your future husband. He needs your prayers.” The advice was good, but no one ever said HOW to pray for your future husband or WHAT to pray for him.

That's where Robin Jones Gunn's and Tricia Goyer's book Praying for Your Future Husband comes in. The subtitle is “Preparing Your Heart for His” so from just the cover you know it's not all about your Prince Charming, but on what the future bride can do NOW to get herself ready for her husband.

Gunn and Goyer have twelve chapters of things we can pray for our future husband. (Although not mentioned, if wanted you could focus on one chapter a month.) Also in the back is a list of fifty-two Scriptures with comments of how to use each of those in prayer. They did make the suggestion these be used one per week for a year.

Book Review: Money Secrets of the Amish

FTC disclaimer:  I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.  All opinions are my own.  This post contains affiliate links.

This book made me discover something:  I'm Amish.  Or at least many of my shopping habits are!

In Money Secrets of the Amish: Finding True Abundance in Simplicity, Sharing, and Saving, Lorilee Cracker examines why even during economic downturns the Amish still are thriving financially.

What are the Pros and Cons of Selling Online and on eBay and Etsy

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This is the first of two posts.  I'm going to discuss the Pros and Cons of selling online as well as the Pros and Cons of selling things locally.  I am mainly going to discuss what I consider "The Big Three", but please be aware there are many different places you can sell items on the Internet.

I've been selling on eBay for 18 years, and so I have a few years of experience under my belt.  I was a "picker" from the time I was a child.  One of my first eBay sales was a book from the 1940s I picked up at a garage sale for a quarter when I was about 8 or 10 years old.  I had to wait for eBay to come on the scene, and then when it did, I sold the book I picked up thinking, "This looks like it might be worth something" for $90.  So I've had an eye for antiques, collectibles, and the unusual since I was a child.