Counting my blessings this Christmas.

On  Tuesday, Dec 7, around 4:30 pm our small town of about 12,000 people was shattered  by the most tragic accident.  4 young lives were lost, and a 5th was fighting for his at Yale Hospital.   Lost were the driver John Clapper 16, his girl friend Sativa Cornell 16, Dillon Clifford also 16, and Steven Szklarz who was only 15.  All these kids were students at my alma mater high school.   The manner in which they died was especially horrific, they died when they car they were riding in  hit a tree head on at a high rate of speed.  The 5th passenger Joel Gallup is in critical condition and looks forward to mulitple repairing surgeries, and is still in a medical induced coma.  He does not yet know the fate of his 4 friends.

As a member of the community, I just felt sorry, remorse, compassion.   No, I didn't know the kids. I knew of them, I knew that Dillon was on the football team.  I knew John was the son of guy my husband knew well.  As a mother, my heart is broken.  Broken for the parents that have lost their beloved children so close to the holiday.   Dillon was buried on his 17th birthday.  He was the only child to his parents. 

It was an accident.  It was an accident caused by poor choices, but it was still an accident.  John was driving, he didn't not have a license, he only had his permit. He was not legal to drive in the state of CT without a legal licensed adult in the car.  There was not one present.  Sativa was the only licensed  driver in the car, however she only got her license in Oct.  According to CT state law, she was not supposed to have anyone else in the car with her, except for her parents, or siblings.   No other peer member should have been in the vehicle.  At some point, she handed the keys over to John and gave him permission to drive the car. The car belonged to her mother.

Things like this really make you stop and think.   Kids are kids, we know this, and we know that will push the envelope, even when we restrict them. Its part of being a teenager, its part of growing up.  Remember the ridiculous stuff we used to do as teenagers?  We may have looked back, now,  25 years later and say to ourselves, how did we survive?  We cheated death constantly and won.  Its hard to look at these kids and say to yourself, 'well, what did you think was gonna happen?'  They don't get that second chance.  They don't get to go to their parents and say "That was stupid. I won't do THAT again, I'm sorry".

As parents, we always want better for our kids than what we had. We know how teenagers operate, we should have seen this coming at some point.   I took the opportunity to sit down with my own children, my 2 oldest girls are 9 and 10, and we had a discussion about it.  They had seen the news, they have friends that knew these kids through their older siblings.  They have teachers that taught these kids just a few short years ago, and were openly grieving.  I sat my girls down and asked them if they had any questions, and if there was anything they wanted to discuss.   Neither was really sure what to say, so I did the talking. I told them there is always a choice.   There are good responsible choices, and there are bad ones.  And the consequence of a bad choice can always be death.   When I say things to them like "Don't ride your bike in the middle of the road", its not because I'm trying to be mean, or take away their fun, its because I love them and I want to keep them safe. I want to protect them so I can keep them forever. A mother should never have to bury her child.   I reminded my girls that  they would asking me to get their driver's license in a few short years, and I hope this is something that stays with them.

And so, this holiday season, please hold your children close and thank God for every blessing you have.  Please have that talk with them, and feel free to share this story with them.  There are 4 families tonight wishing they were scolding their child,  or getting annoyed with their tantrums, probably because they took the keys away.  They also wish they were holding them tight and thanking God for their blessings.  And please remind your children they are not  invincible.  These things can and will happen to new and inexperienced  drivers.  Remember, a car is not a toy.  Driving is a privilege, not a right. Do what you have to do to keep your kids safe. 

I dedicate this blog to the memory of John Clapper, Sativa Cornell, Dillon Clifford, and Steven Szklarz. I'm praying that Joel Gallup continues to recover and eventually goes on to live a fulfilling life.

Once a Wolverine, Always a Wolverine.  Rest in Peace Guys, your memory will live forever.

Swaggin' with Swagbucks!

I'm tooting about the benifits of Swagbucks ,yet again!!

Why are you not doing Swagbucks???


To date I have earned over $150  since I started in MAY!  Yes folks, $150, and I have done almost nothing to earn it.  This is not a scam, this is totally legit.  Instead of doing your searches with google, you do your searches with swagbucks and thats all you do!   Yes thats it!! 

Is there more you can do? Sure, I've outlined it here before in my blog, you can find some other posts about swagbucks, but clicking the lable swagbucks, or do a quick search.


Click the link at the side of the screen to join.  I promise this is NOT something you will regret, it does not take a lot of time to do.  Check it out for yourself! 

Frugal Fatigue

My family is going through a rough time right now.  I am at a point where I don't want to be frugal anymore, I just want to be able to have what my family needs, when we need it.   I do enjoy being frugal, I like getting a good deal, and for a long time, my family lived pretty well on the less money we were living on when I quit my job.  Over the last year, as my husband's paycheck got lesser and lesser, it was harder and harder to keep it together. We did well for a while, living off our stockpiled groceries, and the money in our savings acct for the 'extras'.  My kids are active in sports, and that's not cheap, but I was able to do it. 

My husband came home this weekend and announced to me that its not working anymore, which I knew  and have known.   He is looking for a second job.  I have no idea when he is going to work a second job since his full time job takes up a great amount of his time.  He also put the pressure on me to find a part time job myself.  I don't know where I can work, since most of  the jobs require me to work nights and weekends, which as a mother is not really a practical option.  Its not that I can't, its that I can't afford to pay someone for child care, so I will be relying on my mother and my mother-in-law for help on this front.  I know they don't really mind, or actually I should say, mind too much,  but it still bothers me to have to do that.

We need more income that's just the way it is.   We can't live on one paycheck anymore.  We used to do it, but the economy has gotten worse and worse, and its harder and harder to support a family of 5 on less than $1100 every 2 weeks.  There is only so much coupon clipping, deal finding, reusing, re purposing I can do before it just becomes  a hassle,  and it feels like there is no point to it. 

I went to Walmart last weekend and applied for a job.  They have a computer that you are supposed to use and I had the most difficult time working it,  and I'm not computer illiterate.  I'm actually pretty good on the computer.  It took me over 45 minutes on this dumb computer thing, then taking some sort of assessment quiz, all while my 2 girls waited patiently and impatiently  for me to finish so we could go home from our grocery shopping.  On the way home, I told my girls, to PLEASE go to college and get a good job, a career, so they wouldn't be their mother who could barely figure out the computer  while trying to apply for a job at Walmart.  They laughed,but I quickly set them straight that I wasn't kidding.  Whatever we have to do, I do not want them to struggle like myself, then worry about making sure they can sometime get a job at Walmart.

Its getting more and more difficult for me to be in my circle of friends and not feel twinges of jealousy, as they are all out Christmas shopping, finding deals, getting exciting at finding things their children will want, and I haven't even started yet.  I'm afraid to spend even 1 penny, for fear of wasting, or finding a better deal,  then worrying about not having enough to pay a bill.   I'm having trouble functioning right now, as a mother and a wife, I've fallen into a depression that sometimes I don't want to get out of bed.    I get up, take my shower, clean up a bit so my house has the appearance of someone who cares, but I really don't.  I just want the world to go away.  I'm all too happy to let my children go to my in law's house for the entire weekend, just so I don't have to put any energy into putting a smile on and pretending everything is okay.

As I sit here and write this, the tears streaming down my face, I don't want people to feel sorry for me, but to be educated.   We made bad money decisions the whole time we've been married, we've had money, we've been broke beyond any stretch of the imagination. At each point I thought 'this is the worst its ever been', but each point in its own is the worst its ever been.   My kids don't deserve this. They don't deserve the fact that I can't answer the phone, they don't deserve  having to be told 'NO' over and over again because its something I can't afford.   I am grateful that we did make it to this point. We still have our house, we still have our health, we aren't starving, and we still have heat, lights, and water running into our house.  Those are my priorities and I'm thankful to have them.

Today I sit here and I have folks telling me to visit the food pantry, or call Toys for Tots, ect. I don't know if its a matter of pride,  that I don't feel we belong there, but.... we don't belong there!  I still feel like there are people way worse off that we are, we are just going through a rough patch, it will get better, and I hate to take away from folks that really and truly need food from the food pantry, or toys for their children at Toys for Tots. 


If anyone has read this far, thanks for the support, I'll continue to clip my coupons, I'll continue to make stuff out of nothing, and I'll snap out of this depression.  I will find a job, we will be okay.  

Be thankful for all you have.  

Thank you, and have a great day. 

Groupon deals to check out

So today is MAJOR with Groupon!  Are you  a member? You should be! Use THIS LINK to sign up.  Once you are signed in, check out the PHOENIX deal of the day! (At the top there is a link to check other cities) Today is a national Groupon for ColdWater Creek.  You can get a $50 gc for only $25, think about Christmas, this would make a GREAT gift!! (Or keep it for yourself! LOL)

And for those of us lucky enough to live in the Providence Area, here is a deal that can't be missed. I haven't eaten at this place yet, but I've heard fantastic things about it!  So now select the Providence city, and see the Groupon for a $50 gc for $25 at Meditarrano! 

Enjoy!!! and Have a GREAT Day!!

Manic Monday

Good Morning!  Welcome back folks!!  What a great way to start off the week, how about some FREE coffee???

Here ya go then!  LIKE Green Mountain Coffee on Facebook and when thier 'sign up' tab appears you'll get FREE coffee!!!  And not just coffee, almost a full lb of coffee PLUS a travel mug!  This is not to be missed! They only give out 2500, so hurry!  If you miss it this week, book mark the page for next monday and try again.

 (Picture courtesy Fan Photos from Green Mountain's facebook page)

Also today,  this is a great nationwide groupon, if you like to groupon.  You can pay $20 for a $40 GC to the Body Shop!  Woohoo!!

Have a great day!
(edited at 9:53am, the free coffee samples have run out, sorry!)

September Grocery Totals!

Okay so I'm going to finally tally up my receipts from the rest of Sept for a final total.   Current at mid month I had spent $162.42.

Following that I had spent 48.23 at Shoprite.   I had a date night with my husband and I made sure I hit the Shoprite BEFORE the sale ended! LOL    I got a few good deals, I know he was bored, but is proud of me and how I can  bargain shop with the best of them.  This wasn't a huge savings trip, but I only spent a minimal amount for a good amount of groceries.

I did hit the gas station and buy 2 gallons of milk. That came to 5.36.

I had 2 trips to Walmart.  On one trip I spent 52.87 and on another I spent 24.45.

That brings my total for these 4 receipts$130.91

My total spent on ONLY Groceries  is  $293.33.

Not bad!!  I fed a family of 5 for less than $300 for the month of Sept!  I'm quite positive that I won't do that again for Oct, but I will try.  I may be closer to $400, but I vow to NOT spend more than that.  

Have you added up your receipts lately to see how your doing??  HOW are you doing??

Have a great day!

Swagbucks update!

You have heard talk about Swagbucks before and I'm here to brag about it again!


What is Swagbucks?   It is a referral program,  but so far the only legit one on the web that I have found and it actually works.   All you have to do is your regular searches a few times a day using their search engine and you win!  Swagbucks is powered by Google so its the same searches you would get anywhere else.  Once you accumulate enough Swagbucks from your searches, you can cash them in to redeem prizes.  The most popular prize is an Amazon Gift Card, worth $5 at a time.

There are several other ways to win with  Swagbucks besides doing your daily searches.  You can download the toolbar and you will get 1 swagbuck every day.  You can do the NOSO (non obligation special offers), if you follow the track without taking advantage of any of them, you'll get 1 swagbuck. You can do the Daily Poll for 1 swagbuck daily.  And finally, if you check into the surveys, you also get 1 swagbuck once a day.  That comes up to 4 guaranteed swagbucks daily!

Another way to win is to find the Swagcodes.  These are codes that show up in places on the swagbucks site and they are worth swagbucks.  They may not come out every day, and they may vary in their worth, but sometimes its fun to hunt for them!  Usually if you follow the Swag Blog, or the Facebook page, they will tell you when a code is released and where to look for it.  Codes can NOT be shared, don't do it! If they find out, they will delete your acct.

The last way to win is to get referrals!  For every referral you get, you earn with them and their searches up to 1000 swagbucks.


I have been doing swagbucks since May.  Is this worth it??  Well. currently I have $75 in Amazon Cash. I have $35 in Paypal cash.  You tell me, is it worth it?   And what did I do to earn all this cash?? Almost nothing!  I do my searches, I get the daily 4, I find swagcodes, and I get referrals.  All while playing around on my computer, reading my blogs, message boards and facebook!   Its THAT easy.

Make sure to check out the SwagStore to see what cool prizes you can earn. Again, feel free to check out the Swagbucks Facebook page  and see how much people are enjoying swagbucks!  If you aren't doing this right now, you aren't earning!  Hurry up and get searching!


Click this banner to go right to swagbucks and sign up!