Saving Money While Shopping Online

   It is no secret that I love to save money any way I can.  I get giddy over finding great deals and I love sharing them with others.  I also enjoy the convenience of shopping online since it saves me time and gas money.  Living out where I do, it is a 30 minute drive to get into a town with both grocery stores and drug stores.
   My husband and I take certain supplements each day to help us maintain our health.  Many of these supplements work for us where medications have failed.  Today was my stock up day for some of these supplements.
   I recently received a catalog from Puritans Pride that announced their Buy 1 get 2 Free  sale.  Today was the last day of the sale.  They also had free shipping today which made the deal even sweeter.  I went online and got my order ready to go.  With the sale I was essentially getting 10 free products plus free shipping in addition to the 5 products I was paying for.  Great deal!  However, before I hit the order button, I opened a new window on my computer and did a search for coupon codes for this company and found code for an additional 15% off my order.   Major score!!!  There are also some websites that allow you to get a rebate on a certain percentage of your orders with some companies.
   The internet is a tool that I use quite often to not only find coupon codes, but also to research and compare prices.  It is a great place to research both customer reviews on products and services and see what the Consumer Reports and the safety ratings are.  There are many companies that offer free samples and even full sized products for free to you to try and some even pay you to write reviews on them.  Over the years, I have tried and also reviewed many free to me products and have found some new favorites.  By using this wonderful tool, I have been able to save money which can then be used for other things and to continue to help reach our goal of being debt free.
  
  
   
 

Listening to Our Bodies and Resting

   Last night I was exhausted and felt like I had been hit by a truck.  By 9 p.m., I was in bed and watching Bewitched on dvd.  I got through 1 1/2 episodes before I turned off the TV and went to sleep.  That may not seem too unusual to many people, but I struggle with insomnia and for me to go to sleep that early is very odd indeed.
   This Summer was a busy one for us and Jeff and I felt like we were constantly on the go or working on projects.  We did take a vacation at the end of the Summer when Josh came home, but for all but 2 of those days, we were helping corral our grandsons who are 1 and 2 years old and are BUSY little people. ;)  Three days after our return home, I was back in the classroom subbing for the 4th and 5th day of the new school year and then back again right after the weekend.  
   I had originally had high hopes for getting a lot done today and had a very long "to do" list.  However, my body told me that it needed to rest.  I tried to argue with it, but it won. ;)  I finally admitted defeat and whittled my "to do" list down to the most essential things that needed to be done today.
   Bread has been made, as my dear hubby needed it for the sandwiches that he takes to work with him each night.  The rolls I had hoped to also make today, were not.  Scrapple was cooked up on the stove and put in the fridge in a loaf pan to set up so it can be fried later for dinner and served with some sweet pears and crisp apples.  Comfort food for the weary.  The blackberries were picked, the few that escaped the early killing frost, and that garden bed watered.  I may shred up the squash and freeze it for later, or it may wait until tomorrow.  I have not decided that yet.  I think I will roast the tomatoes in some olive oil and sprinkle them with some fresh cracked pepper and a bit of sea salt while I am cooking dinner tonight and then set some aside to freeze for pasta dishes later this Fall and Winter.  That is about as ambitious as I am getting today.
   I have come to find over the years that if I do not listen to what my body is trying to tell me and rest when needed, that I will crash and burn.  I will be more likely to fall prey to many of the viruses that sweep through the school and will take longer to recover from them.  In adition, I will not handle stressful situation very well.  I am working on trying to find a balance in my life in that area also and walking away from certain situations that cause my stress levels to rise to unhealthy levels.  I am hoping, that by listening today and resting, that tomorrow I will have more energy and be able to tackle more of the things on my "to do" list. 
   

Summer Swept By and Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

   Harvest in winding up here on the Palouse and there is a definite nip in the air.  We had our first killing frost here a few nights ago and my cucumbers, squash and tomatoes in the garden fell victim to it's icy touch.  Temperatures were in the mid 20F two mornings ago when I got up and got myself ready to go back to work after having the Summer off.
   Our Summer seemed to just wiz by this year.  We had major projects including a broken water line coming from the town's waterline and deep under our driveway that necessitated digging a very deep trench and replacing a long line of pipe on our side and also replacing some on the town's side.  Thank goodness for good and kind neighbors who not only gave us jugs of water and let us use their shower (since we had no water for 2 days), but who also helped us hand dig and then brought in a backhoe to make the job easier on us all.  We had to take out some tree stumps and my ivy and my driveway has now expanded into a parking lot of sorts. Again though, I am so thankful to live in my small farming community where neighbors help neighbors with projects big and small.

   We also took a family trip to Montana with our family when Josh and his girlfriend Marissa came home for a visit.  It was so good to have them here and to see 4 generations of our family together.  We all loved meeting and getting to know Marissa who is a very down to earth, funny, smart and beautiful person both inside and out.  One of the highlights of that trip for me was seeing my brother Fritz playing with my grandsons Bradley and Isaiah.  Isaiah and Fritz especially seemed to form a bond and I loved watching both their eyes light up when they played with each other.

   School started here again this week and I am off to a quick start with subbing.  I subbed in the 3rd grade both Thursday and Friday and was so glad that I was able to do some training on how to administer an epi pen after school one day since I am there so much and we have children with life threatening allergies.  I'm also booked for this coming Monday afternoon.  I met our new superintendent and our office staff told him that I was there 3/4ths time...I told him I would love to have benefits if that was possible. ;)

    With me back at work once more I am again going back to my time saving routines since I never know if I may be called to work early in the morning.  It makes it hard to plan out certain days to tackle projects here at home but I am so enjoying being back at work with the kids and staff. :)