Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Long time no talk

Not sure how my life got to spinning out of control, but I'm working to reign it all back in.

Lately, I've been busy just doing family things. We've been on vacation and we've been working on finding a balance at home. My daughter is ready to start 6th grade and is now a part of the Youth program at church. My son is ready to start Kindergarten. Oh my... Work has been way busy, and Hubby's work has been busy too. So, it all kind of adds up and when I get a free minute, it seems like I am either catching up on things I should have already done, or passed out because I don't sleep as much as I should.

Well enough complaining. Really, my life isn't all that bad. I do have a job. Hubby has a job. We have two wonderful children and we're still managing to make ends meet. So many are not doing that very well these days.

I do find that I have been spending more time on Facebook lately. I didn't really think I wanted to jump into that because I'm already not good at keeping up with my blog here (evidenced by the long periods of time between posts). But it has sucked me in. And those darned Farm games!!! OOOoooo!!!

Recently, I've been working on ways to trim back our spending. So, I attended a great brown bag lunch and learn from a lady who blogs and saves with coupons, participates in online surveys, etc. I had forgotten what a fun "game" it is to be that person in line with $150 worth of groceries and a fist full of coupons! It's fun. And I also forgot how much fun it is to sign up for free samples of stuff. Years ago, a friend of mine and I spent a great deal of time scouring around for free samples on the internet and we'd compare how many we could find and actually receive. Again, a fun game. I've begun to do that again and the samples, free coupons and everything are starting to roll in.

Here's an example of the fun I have had with coupons, free deals, etc. Recently, our team at work had an outing to Dave & Busters. Well, I happened upon a coupon for a free $10 play with a purchase of $10. So, already, I had saved $10. Then, I ended up signing up for their rewards program (free program) and getting a coupon for a free $10 play. So, for $12 (had to buy the refillable card), I got $30 worth of play time. Not a bad deal.

Well, I'm on the lookout for more fun, more coupons, more ways to save and just having a great time with it. I'll try to be better about posting here, so that I can share my finds and fun with you all.

Happy reading!