NFL Draft

Yes I am a woman, Yes I know the game. I love football, especially college ball. I watched some of the NFL draft this weekend...I always enjoy the first round, seeing the players I watched during their college years move on to the pros. Obviously, I take special interest in any Gators..and who the Bucs pick. Only 2 Gators went in the 1st round, both defensive guys. Jarvis Moss, defensive end, went #17 overall to Denver and Reggie Nelson, safety, went #21 to Jacksonville. Chris Leak went undrafted, this didn't surprise me. Great college QB, and a heck of a guy..but I didn't think he was going to get drafted. He did get picked up by Chicago,who already have a starting Gator QB, by the way, we'll see how Leak does in camp. The Bucs picked up on some good defensive players in the first few rounds, nice to see them bulking up the defense rather than wasting time with eleventy-seven quarterbacks & receivers, as Gruden likes to do!

Hotel Reservations

Pretty soon I will be booking my flight to Philly for the 3 Day walk, and will need to secure a hotel room for the night before the walk, and possibly the night it is over, depending on my flight details, I am waiting on a good deal on airfare before I book the ticket, and then will search for the best deal on a hotel when the release the site of opening ceremonies. They don't release that info until about 6 weeks before the walk, and it's important to stay in the same town as the opening ceremony, and that there is a hotel shuttle to get us to the ceremony at 6AM. Last year we flew in the night before, since opening ceremonies are at the crack of dawn, and flew home the morning after it was over...to reduce the amount of running around after walking 60 miles! In hindsight, securing our hotel reservations was smart, as it rained the first 2 days and camp ended up being a total mudfest! Any walkers that did not live in Philly, or have a local hotel room to go to, were stuck being bussed to a local high school gym to sleep on the floor! How bad would that suck after walking for twenty miles? Hotel Reservations.comspecializes in discounted rooms for hotels , bed & breakfast, and condo rentals as well. I just booked our annual "Girl's Weekend" with four of my closest girlfriends for next month, and we are staying in a condo on the beach down south of here. Since one of my friends owns the condo as an investment, we are getting the best deal on it...but, had we not had the connection,or it had been already booked,we could have found a great deal through this site. We prefer to stay in a 2-3 bedroom condo for this trip due to there being 5 of us, we can save on food by stocking up at the local grocery, bring our own liqour and save on the bar tab, walk to the beach, and we don't have to double up on beds.
This is a sponsored post.

Halfway!

I transferred the Yard Sale / Bake Sale proceeds into my 3 Day account today, and am now officially at the HALFWAY mark!! Still have a ways to go, if you can help, click the link on my sidebar and add your donation to the total!! Thanks!

Amazing Race

I was disappointed to see Danny and Ozzy get booted off last night. Who would've thought it would take a gay man so long to sniff out a military man in the brush? For the record, I would have found that pilot a lot faster! I am happy to see the blondes (beauty queens) in the final 3, and would like to see them be the first all female team to win the race....NOT Shmyrna & Myrna and their fake accents. How many times did that gut tell her to NOT TOUCH THE SCREEN on the GPS??!!

Dating.

When my friends and I get together, it's inevitable that we are going to talk about guys and dating! We're women, it's what we do. I have a nice mix of single and married friends, and the married ones always want to know the down and dirty on the dating scene! I have used a few of the online dating services, fill out a profile, pay a monthly fee, browse through the people, start chatting..etc. It didn't last long, as they ended up being what I like to call" a steady stream of one date wonders"..why should I pay for that? Just Say Hi is an online service that is free to join! You can meet lots of people in your area just by logging in and looking around. Dating, networking, or new to the area and just looking for some friends to hang out with...they have it all!
This is a sponsored post.

Success!

Having a yard sale is a lot of work, but it was worth it! We generated another $230 for the cause, so we each get $115 towards our goal! Special thanks to my friend Amy, who came over from Orlando to help us out! I think having a bake sale table was a great idea to add to the total....we sold all of the chocolate chip cookies, and there were only a few brownie bites left..darn, that means we had to each take some home : ) Amy added a cooler of bottled water, that always helps boost sales on a hot day! You can help too, run over to my sidebar and click on the link to my donation page and drop something in the bucket!

More Free Cereal!

Mmmmmmm...Kashi....the cereal with so much fiber you'll get a 4am wake up call! Ha! Go here to get your free sample of Kashi Go Lean Crunch!

Credit Cards

I’ve been reading and seeing a lot on the news lately about credit cards, and credit card debt. The average American has about $9200 in credit card debt! But, we all know that credit cards are a part of life, and as long as they are managed properly, can be a useful tool in your monthly financial management. I just saw a story on the news this morning about how to lower your interest rate on current credit cards, they spoke to some people on the mall, gave them a script and had them call their credit card company right there and read the script to try and get a lower interest rate. Four out of the four people got their rate lowered anywhere from 3%-8%, that’s a significant reduction in a monthly bill, and can result in them paying their bill off months earlier! It’s even better to start off with a lower rate card, or do a balance transfer to a lower rate of zero percent. One place you can go to find a a low rate credit card is Credit Card Search Engine . They have credit cards for all types of people; low interest cards, balance transfer cards, and even cash back reward cards. If you have had credit porblems in the past, they have cards that can help you rebuild your credit rating and get back on track with your finances. You can compare rates, check your FICO score, and your credit report.
This is a sponsored post.

Carnival Time!

Entries are now being accepted for the Carnival of Credit Report Stories over at Poorer than You. Run over there and find out what you need to do to submit your entry!

Fundraiser!

Big fundraiser tomorrow! Multi Fanily Yard Sale / Bake Sale at The Crossings at Foxwood subdivision in Trinity, 9am-2pm. If you are in the area, stop by and say hello, grab a bargain or two, and drop something in the donation bucket!

A Huge Thank You !

I would like to send a HUGE thank you to the anonymous donor who made the generous donation on my Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk donation page! Thanks to him, I am now almost halfway to my goal! Maybe someone is reading this blog! You can help too....click the link on my sidebar and drop your donation in the bucket to help me fight breast cancer!

Free Movies at AMC Theatres !

From June 27-August 15, there will be FREE movies at AMC Summer Movie Camp! They will show a free childrens movie every Wednesday morning at 10am, and will also feature an AMC kidspack deal for $3, which is a great deal considering it includes popcorn, drink and a candy treat! Check their site for details, larger groups can reserve tickets for all seven weeks. Doesn't seem to be limited to just children, so go and catch yourself a free movie this summer!

Brusters Free Doggy Sundaes

I love Bruster's Ice Cream! There's one up the road from my house, and I always take my nieces there when we have a sleepover. I just found out they give out free doggy sundaes to each canine visitor that stops by their store! Now, I also know that real ice cream is not supposed to be good for dogs, I've heard they cannot digest it properly...so I'm curious as to what they use in the doggy sundae. Maybe it's a real ice cream for the dog's Mom to enjoy!! I guess I'll have to take Snoopy with me next time and find out!

American Idol - My Final 2

Last night, they seperated the Women from the Girls. Melinda and Jordin are my pick for final 2, I would love to see these two ladies battle it out for the title. Each week, they have proven how good they are, but last night, they took it up about 3 notches. Melinda gave me goosbumps...and Jordin, who sings well beyond her 17 years, put so much emotion into it, that she was almost in tears during the song. They both obviously picked the right song, and sang it from their heart. Phil "Uncle Fester" Stacey needs to go home, I can't stand to look at him anymore, what's up with the dark circles around his eyes all the time, can't the makeup artists do anything with him?

Free Sample - Honey Bunches of Oats!

I love cereal. I always have 4-5 boxes in my pantry, because I like so many different kinds. Sometimes I am in the mood for something sweet, and sometimes I just need a bowl of raisin bran to get me going, if you know what I mean : )
Sign up here for a free sample of Post Honey Bunches of Oats, one of my personal favorites that is always in the weekly cereal rotation!

Disclosure Policy

This policy is valid from 24 April 2007


This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

As the owner of this blog. I am compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though I, as the owner of this blog, receive compensation for posts or advertisements, I will always give my honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

Kohls

Who doesn't love Kohls? We've only had them in our area for a short time, but it is already my favorite store! I got some giftcards for my birthday, and had been searching for coupons at one of my online coupon sources, Coupon Chief, so I could get the new Skechers I have been eyeballing. I took my nieces there this past Saturday morning to check out the grand opening sale they were having as I had been waiting for them to go on sale, and needed to try them on so I could order them online. That way I could combine the sale price with a Kohls coupon code to get the best deal! Now that I know what size to buy, I'm good to go online and get them! Of course, with my 2 nieces along, I didn't walk out of there empty handed, I ended up buying them each something from the fashion jewelry dept at 40% off...too bad kids can't wait, I could have gotten another 10% off and free shipping ordering it online with a coupon code!
This is a sponsored post.

Festival Time Again!

The 71st Festival of Frugality is up over at Musings on Money, go check it out an learn some money saving tips. I love the assorted definitons of Frugal Living, so true!I did not submit an article this time, but my Sister did, she shows you 101 ways to save a dollar !

Payroll Payoff , or PaySLOW Payoff?

It has been almost a MONTH since I won the MIX 100.7 Payroll Payoff, and I still have not seen any money! I spoke to an employee of the radio station at an event this weekend, and he took my information and promised to have someone look into it and call. They never called. I called the promotions dept, and was told the check was cut, and they were going to check with accounting and get back to me. Hmmmm, maybe they should call that contest the PaySLOW Payoff! What the heck? I thought it may take a few weeks, since the check had to come out of their corporate office, but a MONTH?

Shopping

Seems like everyone is buying or selling online these days, from eBay to craigslist there are numerous ways to shop on the web. I shop online a lot, especially around the holidays; it’s convenient (can do it in your jammies!), with rising gas prices you can save money on gas by shopping from home, and there are numerous coupons to be had on the internet. I have sold things online as well, but just stuff around the house found while “spring cleaning”, or clothes I no longer wear, leftover garage sale items – why donate if I can make a few dollars off of it? I’ve always wondered about those people who have stores on eBay and other websites like that; do they have a stockroom in their garage or linen closet? And where do they get all the stuff that they sell? Do they use a pack and ship for their shipping needs? What kind of ecommerce software do they use for their shopping cart ? Ashop Commerce provides web based shopping cart software for online businesses, they are easily integrated with banks and gateways, they provide checkout security, are search engine optimized, and provide technical support and customer service, all in one package. If I were in the market to boost my side selling to an actual online store, this would be a great tool to get me started.

Money Free Weekends

Trent over at The Simple Dollar has this post on 15 free things to do on a money free weekend, which I found interesting. I am always looking for free/cheap weekend activites for my outings with my Little Sister, or my nieces and nephews.....spending time with the kids can get expensive if you're not careful! Lucklily, the kids in my life are at the age when like to hang out at the park, or play cards and Scrabble! I taught my nieces this past weekend how to play Crazy Eights, they loved it! He has some great ideas from playing board games to volunteering or checking your community calendar for free events...which is how we also saw Charlotte's Web for free this weekend!

ING Direct Bonus Referral Links Available

I still have a few ING Direct $25 bonus referral links available to anyone who needs them, email me at pwgatorATmsnDOTcom and I will e mail you a referral link! With the referral link, you open a new account with a $250 minimum deposit, and you get an immediate $25 bonus, making your account $275! You start earning interest on the full $275 also! ING Direct is a high yield on line bank, the interest rate for savings is at 4.5%. They offer direct deposit, online transfers, FDIC insured..all the stuff your brick and mortar bank offers, but at a higher interest rate! Join the savings game and get a FREE $25 to boost your nest egg!

Playing!

Winery Dog - Doggie Wine!

I came across this blog for Pearmund Cellars in Virginia, their winery dog is a cute Basenji named Redmund, he has similiar marking/coloring to Snoopy ! They even created a wine after him, Redmund's Reserve, with his likeness and pawprint on the bottle! I have got to get some of that! They had a special party to celebrate his first label, and of course, dogs were invited, and all proceeds that day were donated to the SPCA! What a great business, they just found a new customer in me!

Finally!

Was that a collective sigh of relief heard across America last night? Sanjaya "Can't-Sing-Jaya" Malakar was FINALLY voted off American Idol last night, and he's taking his freak hairstyles with him! Now we can get down to some serious singing competition. The final 5 are very talented, and it would have been a shame for one of them to be voted off just because people think it's funny to skew the competition by voting for the worst, or most outrageous. I was not amused.

Perfect Gift Idea

One of my oldest and dearest friends is relocating soon due to a promotion. Though I know we will always be friends, (and I now have a new vacation destination!) .....I have been devastated ever since she broke the news. It's hard to imagine that she is not going to be right up the road anymore. I have been trying to think of the perfect gift to send her off with, so she will always know how much I treasure our friendship. Something for her house maybe, that will make her smile when she looks at it. I have so many albums filled with pictures capturing the fun we've had over the past 18 years. What better gift to remember the good times we've shared, than a picture of us together on one of our many outings in a digital photo frame? I found this site that has digital picture frames, and I can even use a memory card to make a slideshow full of digital pictures that is constantly changing!

Smorty

So, for about the last year I have been hearing a lot of buzz about all these companies that pay you to blog for money. I've read about blog advertsing in magazines and on the internet, my Sister was even interviewed for a newspaper article about it. These blog advertising companies list advertisers and you read about products or websites and write a review or give your opinion, and upon approval, they pay you -blog advertising, get it? My Sister has been making some mad cash doing the blogging for dollars gig on the side, and I read about a new one called Smorty on her blog....so I thought, why not give it a try?I have a blog, and I can always use some extra money! So, why shouldn't someone pay me to blog , too? There site is clean, it took me all of two minutes to sign up, and my blog was approved the same day! You can get paid to blog too, run over to Smorty, and check it out - it's free to sign up, all you need is your own blog!

Festival of Frugality!

The 70th edition of the Festival of Fruglality is up over at No Credit Needed, and I am pleased to have one of my money saving posts included in my first blog festival! Check it out here!

National Animal Cracker Day!

Today is National Animal Cracker Day! You see, not only do I love animals, but I do love animal crackers! Who doesn't? They're fun! Whether it's store brand or the little circus train box of Barnum's with the string...I still buy them, and examine each one before I eat it, just like I did as a little girl. I remember trips to the grocery store as a child, and getting a box of Barnum's if we were good....we would get so excited carrying around that little box by the string! (I have a friend that will only eat them after leaving the box open a few days so they get stale!) They are low in calories, and yummy with a cold glass of milk. So, go out and have your self some animal crackers today!

Free Lightbulbs!

This Sunday, April 22, Home Depot is giving away 1 million compact flourescent lightbulbs (CFL)! They save energy and burn longer, which not only helps your pocketbook, but the earth as well! Check out the "ecooptions" section of their website for more details.

Free Movie Night!

Shells Restaurant on Clearwater Beach has been offering free movies for the past few months, this Saturday they are showing Charlotte's Web! I am going with some friends and taking my 2 nieces. Festivities begin at 6pm, the movie starts at dusk, no coolers please. A clear spring night on the beach, a free movie...what more can you ask for? You can get more details at the Shells website.

MORE Brands Recalled!

Anyone else out there as freaked out as I am about feeding their dog ANY dog food? I find myself standing in the aisle at the store reading ingredients on the backs of food AND treats..making sure there is no Wheat Gluten! NOW, they have released another tainted ingredient - Melamine linked to rice protein concentrate! Natural Balance Pet Food is voluntary recalling all of it's venison dog food products, and dry venison cat food. You can read the details at the FDA website.

Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's !

Today is FREE cone day at Ben & Jerry's! Go to your participating scoop shop and get free ice cream from 12-8pm....go soon as good flavors will run out early! In the Tampa Bay area the participating scoop shops are located at Baywalk in St Petersburg, St Armand Circle in Sarasota, University Square Mall in Tampa, and University of South Florida in Tampa.

Donations!

I received a few birthday cards in the mail this weekend, with some nice donation checks in them for my 3 Day walk! A special thank you is in the mail to you, you know who you are!! There's still time for YOU to go make your donation, run over to the link on my sidebar and drop something in the Breast Cancer bucket!

Hooked Up!

I work in the not-so-glamorous freight world. Been doing it for 13 years now..and we have a saying "once you get in, you can't get out". It's true, I've tried...there's no money out there. One of the perks of my job, besides knowing how to ship anything to anywhere in the world (real helpful in real life - NOT) ...I ship training equipment for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to their minor league affiliates . My boy over at the D Rays occasionally hooks me up with goodies from his "prize closet". I got a box from him yesterday! I shared some with the office, am sending some to a friend's son in Seattle as he is a big baseball fan...and have something for my 7 yr old Nephew - who's more into hockey - but I don't think he's going to turn down a Rays tee shirt and glove!

Birthday Weekend

In anticipation of my upcoming birthday, this weekend has been dubbed "Birthday Weekend"...and will be chock full of free and fun activities!!

Breaking News: Dannielynn Birkhead!

You knew it was true all along, DNA testing has now confirmed it.....photographer Larry Birkhead is the Father of Anna Nicole Smith's daughter, Dannielynn. Howard K Stern has said he is not going to fight the ruling....no word yet on Anna Nicole's nutjob Mother, Vergie, and what she is going to do. It has been reported that she was going to fight for custody of the baby. Why? You didn't raise your own daughter, what makes anyone think you want to raise this one? You just want custody of Dannielynn's MONEY ya freak! I don't buy any of that "poor mourning mother" routine.....Anna didn't like you, and neither do I ! Hasn't this poor baby been through enough? She's lost her Brother and her Mother...give her to the Father and a chance at a normal life.

I Heart PetsMart, or, How I got 19.5 lbs of Dog Food for $2 !

Petsmart is not cheap, specialty stores never are. But, I like that I can bring Snoopy there with me, that they donate to pet charities, and when they have a sale, it's a doozy! They recently advertised a 6.5 lb bag of Purina Naturals Dog Food for $4 with your PetPerks card, it's regularly $9.99 - that's a $5.99 savings, and it happens to be Snoopy's food! But, being the thrifty shopper that I am, I didn't stop there. A few weeks ago there was a coupon in the paper for the same dog food for $4 off - I managed to scrounge up two of these coupons. I also had another coupon from our last bag of Purina Naturals, good for $2.50 off our next purchase. So, I went to Petsmart and got THREE bags of Purina Naturals (total of 19.5 lbs)...and after my PetPerks card savings, and the coupons...my total was $2.34 !!

Tax Day Freebie !

Everyone dreads tax day, which falls on April 17th this year, due to the 15th being a Sunday, and the 16th being my birthd-oh, wait..I mean, a HOLIDAY in Washington DC. Emancipation Day? Never heard of it before now, and how come the rest of us don't get to celebrate it?? Anyhoo.......to make tax day a little easier, Ben & Jerry's is also making April 17th FREE cone day!! Check their website to see if your local Scoop Shop is participating..and go get some FREE ice cream!!

The gift that keeps on giving!

My birthday is one week from today, I say this not to self promote or generate buzz for gifts....I have everything I want, and there's nothing that I really need. There is something that I want you to do though. Consider making a donation. A donation to help find a cure for breast cancer. So, if you were planning on doing something for my birthday, please, make it a donation to my 3 Day walk...no amount is too small follow the link over there on my sidebar -------->

Happy Easter!!!

Homemade Dog Food - Should you or Shouldn't you?

Ever since the Pet Food recall, there have been more people feeding thier pets homemade meals, and an increase in sales of Pet Food Cookbooks. I know of a few friends who were doing it as they were afraid to feed their pet anything from the pet store due to the amount of brands being recalled each day. My friends in Oveido feed their dog, Buster, a mixture of white rice and hamburger...always, due to health problems. Personally, I have given Snoopy home cooked meals in the past, when he's had intestinal difficulties I have given him plain white rice to bulk things back up. I have also given him boiled white meat chicken and rice. But, I checked with our Vet before doing so, and I always make sure it is plain, no spices, no gravy, no skin....just meat and white rice. Many common foods are not safe for pets, including grapes, salt, onion, garlic and chocolate. Always check with your vet before giving your pet "people" food, and NEVER feed your pet table scraps that you wouldn't eat.....they are not furry garbage disposals, they are animals....and giving them the bones, fat, and junk off your plate that you won't eat is NOT a treat , and can harm them.

Gator Nation - Back 2 Back National CHOMPions!

Last night, in an evening of firsts, my Florida Gators won their second NCAA BAsketball Title! The first time that a team has won back to back championships since Duke in 1992, the first time in history that the same starting 5 has won back to back championships, and the first time that the same school has won basketball and football championships in the same calendar and academic year! It's a great time to be a part of the Gator Nation! Go Gators!