Angie – Page 1003 – Luv Saving Money

What are some of the Sweetest Things your spouse/SO has said to you lately?

This is a little off topic but I was thinking about this today. Or, I guess thinking about what my husband said to me. I needed to borrow his SUV yesterday to pick up a bike for one of my kids. My car doesn’t have much room. He reluctantly let me borrow it and he took my car to work. He came home from work last night. He said “it was kind of refreshing driving your car to work today, would you mind if I took it tomorrow?” I was a little shocked by the request since he was reluctant to trade for the day in the first place. (Also he has a fairly new suv with all the bells and whistles and my car is old and has no bells and whistles). I said “Why?” He didnt’ want to answer me at first so I just told him “I don’t care go ahead”. He sat there for a minute and said “I liked taking your car it smells like you. I like that especially when I’m driving to work”

I was not expecting that answer but it made me happy. So now your turn, What is the last sweet thing your spouse/significant other said to you? This is meant to be fun and maybe even get us thinking about our partners. And please nothing to graphic lol. 🙂

Free Books for Bloggers

I became a member of booksneeze.com. I had received my first book and reviewed it. If you read my blog you know that I’m always looking for a way to get something for free or at a bargain price. I don’t mind if I have to work for it a little bit. I started wondering, are there any other programs like booksneeze.com out there? Completing some searches I found a few. I’ll share them with you, because, well, that’s what my blog is about. Letting you know about Good Freebies, Fun sites to visit, Sweepstakes I find, review of products that fit a budget and whatever else might save you money.

www.booksneeze.com
Christian books

Litfuse Group

Waterbrook Multnomah
Christian books

Navpress
Christian books

Harper Collins First Look Program (temporarily not available)
You don’t have to be a blogger to be involved in this one. I did this one for a while and received many very good mainstream books from them. You can choose your genres that you’re interested in. I reviewed books like: Football Hero by Tom Green (very good even if you’re not into football, i think I cried once or twice), Ever by Gail Carson Levine, Seeker #1: The Quest Begins by Erin Hunter and many others. The message on the First look page says they are on Hiatus while they “create and even better book program”

As I find more I’ll list them. I’m also looking for main stream publishing companies that have blogger book review programs that aren’t necessarily christian books.

Book Review: Mind Your Own Mortgage

In a January blog post I mentioned my new year’s resolution was to pay down my debt. I’m still working on. My husband and I have both been reading financial books. As a member of Booksneeze.com I found “Mind Your Own Mortgage” by Robert J. Bernabe.

This book guides you through a money saving process of researching, obtaining, refinancing (if ever) and paying down a mortgage. I was relieved to find clear descriptions of financing terms. Robert Bernabe goes on to explain further the reasoning behind his advice and what the alternatives are. He refers frequently to a website in the book to obtain tools to better help your mortgage process. Robert Bernabe is a christian author and occasionally refers to christian beliefs in the financial process.

This book changes many people’s ideas of how to shop for a mortgage. I, myself, learned a few things. I found myself saying “oh my gosh that’s true, I never thought of that”.

If I did have disappointment in that book it’s that I wish there were more information regarding paying off a mortgage. There is of course some information regarding this late in the book. Another, detail I would like to point out is that this is not a book to sit and read easily on your lunch break etc. In order to understand effectively the information you will need to access the website to refer to forms and other tools Mr. Bernabe refers to.

If you are someone who is considering starting your first mortgage, buying another house, or refinancing I would certainly recommend this book. I wish I would have read this book when my husband and I were house shopping. This book requires you to actively participate to get the full benefit. It is apparent that Robert Bernabe is well versed in the ways of the mortgage industry and feel this book would be of great benefit to the home buyer or someone looking to refinance.

***I received a free copy of this book from www.booksneeze.com to review on my blog.***

Make these popular jewelry pieces yoursefl

I was looking at new posts from blogs I follow on my dashboard. I came across this post from http://craftedition.blogspot.com/
to make your own stamped washer necklace.

I’ve seen similar necklaces around for sale several different places. I thought it would be nice to get one customized with all of my kids’ names on it. Now with this post I can make my own.

She tells you where to get the supplies and for convenience even made up little kits to buy with all the hardware you need so you can make your own. How great is that! Follow the link below to see what I’m talking about.

http://craftedition.blogspot.com/2010/05/stamped-washer-necklaces.html

ORIGINAL blog post with even more pics: http://notsoidlehands.blogspot.com/2010/04/jumpin-on-bandwagon-late-againwith_14.html

eBeanstalk Toys review

I have a couple of babies in my family that will be turning 1 soon. One happens to be my youngest child. When I look for gifts for children, whether it’s my own, a family member, or because one of my kids were invited to a party, I want to find something unique. It’s hard to know if you’re niece already has this, or would little Johnny like that, or Didn’t my brother get him one of these last year?

I like to find unique places to buy gifts. I have to admit, I stumbled onto http://www.ebeanstalk.com by accident. I was looking for information for my blog. I started exploring the website. I found myself thinking “Isn’t that cute?” “I’ve never seen one of those before.” “I bet ______ doesn’t have one of those.”

http://www.ebeanstalk.com makes it easy to find the toys by having the toys broke down into age categories as well as being able to narrow it down to boys, girls, and top sellers.

For instance:
Baby toys I go to the website and click on Baby Toys on the left hand side. I list of cute little toys like these ones come up:

Big Buzz E Bee $29.95
Sights, sounds, peek a boo activities and more with this one. Click the link to read what all it does.

Melissa and Doug Fill and Spill Mailbox $26.95There’s a few fill and spill toys on the market. All very cute. This is the first one I’ve seen.

Moving on there are a lot of other age categories to choose from. Even up to 12 years and older:
Toys by Age
Looking through the 12 years and up section I see this:

Tin Can Robot $14.95 on eBeanstalk
Definitely unique. I bet it would be a lot of fun too. Making mental note of this one for later. It’s a kit that includes the parts. All you need is a soda can to turn a used can into a neat toy.

Maybe you’re thinking that you just want a plain old trampoline, or bike, or whatever. They have that too.

The site also offers birthday reminders, wishlist maker, and a section with expert advice on toys for the best learning and developmental toys. This makes me happy being that I’m an Occupational Therapy Assist. They even have links to articles:
http://www.ebeanstalk.com/experts.php

What do I think eBeanstalk can work on? Well if you’ve been reading my blog, you’ll know it’s the prices. eBeanstalk can we do something with that? I did look at the clearance section on the site: http://www.ebeanstalk.com/clearance.php that’s a pretty good start. I can’t say the prices will detour me from purchasing because they do offer unique toys I personally haven’t found anywhere else. I’ll watch for deals though. Also I found out that if you sign up for their newsletter: eBeanstalk newsletter sign up you can safe 15% and free standard shipping if your order is $65 or more.

All in all I will be back to the site. Leave your comment and tell me what you think.