Iowahippiechick

Here’s what I found …

• 1.) Get one free Madagascara Escape 2 Africa movie ticket / when you purchase one with your Mastercard.  Click here.
• 2.) A $3.00 off coupon for Preparation H products.  Hey … you never know when you might need those darn things?!  Click here.
• 3.) A Free scoop of ice cream @ Ben & Jerry’s on November 4th from 5-8pm.  Click here to make sure your local store is participating.
• 4.) A Free Krispy Kreme star spangled doughnut if you vote. (You’ve got to have the ‘I voted’ sticker to claim one).  Click here to make sure your local store is participating.
• 5.) A free sample of Emergen-C vitamin supplement.  Click here.
• 6.) A free Turtle Chex Mix Bar.  Click here.
• 7.) A free sample of Dunkin’  Donuts Coffee.  Click here.
• 8.) A free sample of Bertolli Premium Pasta sauce.  Click here.
• 9.) A free sample of Quaker Simple Harvest Granola Bar.  Click here.
• 10.) Get $3.00 worth of coupons for Progresso Soup.  Click here.
• 11.) Sign up on November 23rd, 2008 … to get a coupon for a free Dr. Pepper.  Click here for more information on how to sign up.
• 12.) Click here to find out about Sandy - she’s your very own virtual assistant … for free!
  

Have a happy & safe Halloween …

iowahippiechick

Writing Monday’s post Time To Simplify Our Lives …  got me thinking about spending style personality traits.  You could probably guess that I’m a penny-pincher. You’d be right - yet my household finances can get sticky.   Because I’m married to a spender. Twenty-eight years as of last Saturday.

We’re as opposite as night and day.

Craig can spend hours wandering through a store looking at all the merchandise.  He loves it all … especially if it’s expensive.  I’m a stick-to-my-list-in-and-out-kind-of-shopper.

Craig may spend all of his weekly allowance the Friday he gets it.  While I have cash in my wallet for days on end - without an impulse to spend it.

Craig’s a talker that loves to socialize.  I’m a listener that enjoys quiet nights at home.

Through all these years we have come to appreciate each others differences.

(As annoying  as they might feel from time to time).

But we have the glue - the glue that holds our opposite ends of the spectrum together.

The glue is the fact that we share the same core values, hopes, and dreams.

So we have adapted some ways to accommodate our spending style differences:

We came up with reasonable “non-accountability” allowances that we both agreed upon.  Then married that idea with the cash/envelope strategy.  Craig knows that he’s in control of his allowance.  What he chooses to do with it is up to him.  I know not to judge or worry about what he does with that money.  Hubby has even started to save up his allowance if he wants something more expensive.  Very sexy to me … his penny-pinching wife!

Another relatively easy change we’ve made is to grocery shop together.  This has a three-fold benefit.  It allows Craig to get some shopping & spending out of his system that is beneficial and necessary to the family.  It also allows him to be truly aware of the cost of feeding our family.  And it really can be fun couple time for us.

When it’s time for us to make a major purchase.   He’s the one for the job.  Shopping for big-ticket items is something he truly enjoys doing.  He loves scouring the internet researching.  Learning about what we should purchase and where we can find it the cheapest.  There is a point I’m trying to make.  This is a great way for him to get some of that shopping impulse out of his system!

Being married to someone with a different spending style can be a challenge. The secret is to embrace each others differences and make them work to your family’s advantage!

Have a terrific day!

iowahippiechick

It’s getting to be that  time of year.

The time to start thinking about de-cluttering, and cleaning up, to get ready for that holiday company.

The time to start slowly, but surely, clearing the clutter from our living space.

We might as well help out some good causes while we’re at it, right?
A list of good causes …

• Got worn out sneakers?  Don’t throw them away - they can be ground up to resurface athletic fields and ball courts.  Send them to Nike’s drop-off locations. For more information,  log on to  http://www.nikereuseashoe.com

• Are you upgrading a family member’s cell phone for Christmas?  You can donate your old models to help domestic violence victims.  For more information call 888-901-SAFE or log on to http://www.calltoprotect.org

• If you have books that you no longer want, the New York’s Prisoner Reading Encouragement program, would love to receive them.  For more information call 212-349-6741 or log on to http://prisonreader.org

• Are you buying the hubby/kid’s a new computer or printer for Christmas? The National Cristina Foundation will take your old PC or printer off your hands.  They provide machines to organizations that work with the disabled. For more information call 203-863-9100 or check out http://www.cristina.org

Hopefully  some of these ideas can help you clear the clutter in your home,  and help out a good cause at the same time.

If you have some other good links to donate items - please add them in the comments!

Have a terrific day!

iowahippiechick

Time to simplify is what all the financial experts seem to be telling us these days.  Simplifying our lives has almost become a necessity  rather than a choice.

Here are some of the steps Craig and I have taken to scale back the various parts of our lives.  Maybe an idea or two can help you start to simplify your life …

Simplify Your Financial Life:

• Inventory your financial papers - Calculate income and expenses.  Figure out a working budget. Check out your bank accounts, retirement accounts, and investment accounts. Become aware of where your at and where you want to be. Organize your will, living will, and insurance papers.
• Organize personal papers - Set up some organization system for your important papers. Don’t keep documents any longer than necessary and shred the ones you get rid of.
• Reduce your accounts - Think about limiting yourself to one credit card. It’s really all anyone needs.
• Set up direct deposit for your paycheck - You actually get your money faster this way!
• Set up automatic payments for routine bills.
• Create an emergency fund.
• Set up automatic payments into your savings and investment accounts.

Simplify and Lower Utility Bills:

• Get a programmable thermostat - Program lower temperatures when your out of the house and higher when your going to be home.
• Seal up your house - Weather strip doors and windows.  Shrink plastic insulation for the interior of windows.  Heavy plastic and lathe strips for the exterior of windows.  Silicone caulk and expanding foam caulk for holes and cracks.
• Conservation - We keep our thermostat lower than most people would find comfortable.  We keep ours between 63 and 65 degrees when we’re home and around 60 degrees when we sleep. It works for us - find what temperature works for you and your family. Every little bit you can lower it will help!
• Install low flow shower heads.
• Use a fiberglass insulation blanket on your water heater - If it is appropriate with what the manufacturer of your water heater says.
• Switch to CFL’s - Our utility company even offered a $2 per bulb rebate if we purchase these by November 30th of 2008.
• Set up a budget payment if your utility company will allow it - We do this more to less complicate our monthly household budget. But this also allows you to spread out larger usage months over some time.

Simplify Food and Meals:

• Plan menus around sale fliers and shop accordingly.
• Eat one or two meatless meals a week.
• Limit or eliminate fast food.

Simplify General Household and Organization:

• Allow time to accomplish the little tasks you want to get done - You won’t waste your energy thinking and nagging yourself about them if you just get them done.
• Declutter and don’t feel afraid of letting go of material stuff - Realize that a lot of the stuff we hang on to and clutter up our living spaces with - are things we have memories attached to. Sort through and decide what things are so sentimental that you can’t let them go, but let go of the rest. Remember you will always have the memory in your mind! You can donate the items your letting go to a worthy cause. Our sell them online. Or give them to friends, family, etc. Having the items that truly have value to you will simplify your space and life.
• Remember it’s never to late to start simplifying - Try some of these ideas and figure out what works for you and your family. We’re all different and different is good!   So make and adapt simplicity choices that work in your situation.

Have a terrific day!

iowahippiechick

I love collecting free frequent flier miles (especially without credit card use).  Let me tell you where I started … 

It was on the site called freefrequentflyermiles.com 

This site is a really valuable resource if you want to grow your frequent flier mile account.

Some other wonderful places I’ve earned free miles:

• e-miles.com On this site you can earn easy miles for clicks that can be applied to Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, or US Airways.  As well as some others. You earn a minimum of 5 miles per click and when you have reached a balance of 500 miles - they transfer them to your appropriate F.F. account.

• e-rewards.com This is an opinion panel site that you do surveys to earn dollar values that can be cashed in for F.F. miles from almost all of the major airlines. I just recently cashed in $100 dollars in the e-rewards towards 2000 American Airlines miles. It was so easy! These dollar values can also be applied to other rewards if your interested.

• mypoints.com This one is sort of a combination program of clicks/surveys/and shopping. I believe the only airline you can get miles for is United. This site also lets you choose a variety of rewards if your interested.

Are you a frequent flier mile saver?  Can you think of any other ways to earn free frequent flier miles?  Did I miss any good websites concerning frequent flier miles?

Have a terrific day!

iowahippiechick

When the weather starts to cool and the leaves fall from the trees.  Nothing warms up the belly like a hearty bowl of chili.

This season many of us are also trimming back our food budget.

I’d like to offer up this frugal, hearty, and healthy -

Vegetarian Chili Recipe.

2 tablespoons - canola or olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium celery stalk, sliced

1 medium carrot, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups whole kernel corn

3 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained

2 (14 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained

1 cup medium salsa

1/2 cup ketchup

1 (14 ounce) can reduced sodium vegetable broth

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 (1 ounce) package chili seasoning

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1.)  Heat oil in a stockpot over medium heat.  Add onion, celery, carrot and garlic; cook until onion is translucent, about 4 minutes, stirring frequently.  Increase heat to high; add remaining ingredients.

2.)  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer; uncovered, stirring frequently, until vegetables are tender and flavors are blended, about 40 minutes.  Serves 14

(Nutritional facts per serving:  160 calories, 3g fat, 7g protein, 27 g carbohydrates, 7 g fiber, 860 mg sodium).

Flavors improve if the chili is refrigerated overnight.

It also freezes well.

Have a terrific day!

iowahippiechick

One of the smartest things we can do to improve our finances, as well as our quality of life, is  by getting fit & healthy.

Brandon over at Fitbuff.com, is here to help us on our path to fit & fabulous - By hosting the Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog Carnival#72 .

(A ‘blog carnival’ means it has a fantastic collection of relevant articles from a variety of blogs & their authors).

The Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog Carnival #72 - Categories Include:

• Brain Power - My favorite post, “Why Do People Hate Fat People?”
• Exercise - My favorite post, “A Quick 15-Minute Workout At Home That Works!“
• Money - My favorite post, “How To Become A Millionaire And Get Rich In 10 Steps.“
• Nutrition - My favorite posts include, “11 Guidelines For Eating Healthy,“  “The Connection Between Health And Personal Growth,”  “Want To Get Healthy And Earn Some Cash Too?“
• Sex - My favorite post, “Green Sex Secrets.”
• Stress - My favorite post, “Turning Our Situations From Frightening To Enlightening.”
• Work - My favorite post, “Becoming A Nursery Assistant.”
• Dating - My favorite post, “Trade Unions.”

My thanks go out to Brandon for hosting the carnival - 

Have a terrific day!

iowahippiechick

• Get an indulgent treat with a coupon from Barnes & Noble for a Free Starbucks tall size: caffe latte,  cappuccino, espresso, freshly brewed coffee, or hot tea. (Coupon expires 10/31/08).  Here is the link .
• Barnes & Noble also has a terrific Coupon for 15% off one item.  (Coupon expires 10/31/08).  Here is the link .
• Get a Buy1/get1 free coupon for a box of Uncle Ben’s Long Grain & Wild Rice.  RICE is the promo code you need to enter  & here is the link.  (It’s towards the bottom of the page - on the right).
• Get a Free … Life’s A Dog bumper sticker.  Here is the link.
• This one is really cool … Create for free - personalized money.  Here is the link.
• Get a Free $1.00 off coupon for General Mills Honey Nut Cereal.  Here is the link.
• Get 100 Free business Cards from Overnight Prints.  Here is the link.
• Get a Free Schick razor.  Here is the link.
• A super cool & green idea … The Read Green Initiative is giving away Free 1-year digital subscriptions for various magazines.  Including: Parenting, Reader’s Digest, Motor Trend, U.S. News & World Report, Men’s Journal, Technology Review, Penthouse, and Playboy.  Here is the link.
• Get a Free shopping list notepad.  Here is the link.

Have a terrific day!

iowahippiechick

I’ve only recently started to explore an awesome blog called My Super-Charged Life.  The site is  filled with tips, motivation, and resources for living life to the fullest … it’s really TRUE!

Today I want to focus on the incredible information Jeff has posted on personal finance.  He is running a back-to basics series that’s a must read for all of us.

Here are a few posts that truly impressed me:

• Jeff’s been busy!  He’s written a blog post containing 79+ personal finance & budgeting resources … which totally rocks!  Here is the link.
• Jeff continues his back to basics series with a post called … “Stop Whining And Frugal Up Your Finances.”  He challenges that we can conservatively cut $300 from our monthly budget by following this advice.  Here is the link.
• The series also includes a post called … “Debt-Free Is The Path To Financial Success.”  It lays out the advantages of being debt-free.   And the lies and myths of debt.  It’s solid information we all should read.  Here is the link.
• Probably even more necessary than ever before … Jeff writes about the importance of establishing an emergency fund.  Here is the link.

Really …

If we want to let go of some of the stress  over our personal finances - we’ve  got to get to know Jeff over at My Super-Charged Life.

He’s got some wonderful resources - to teach us how to take charge of our money and live our lives to the fullest!

Have a terrific day!

iowahippiechick 

If you answered yes, I’ve got some easy online ways to do it.  All legal & nothing naughty.  But from what I’ve heard … you could make a lot more cash with the naughty ways!  Can you tell I’m a little goofy from lack of sleep?

There are probably thousands of ways - but I’m only going to list the ones that I’ve actually received payment from.  So here is my list:

• www.mysurvey.com is a relatively painless & quick way to earn money.  Just as the name of the website suggests - you take surveys & earn points.  Once you reach 1000 points, you can redeem them for $10 cash or various items.  They are especially interested in families with children under 4 years of age - but everyone is welcome to join.  I’ve earned a total of $120 so far … give it a shot!
• www.hits4pay.com is one of those click for pay sites.  It’s super easy.  Open up one of those free email accounts just for this.  (So it won’t clog up your regular account). They will send you a bunch of emails.   Click on them and earn 2 cents for each one.  Believe it or not - it adds up pretty quickly.  They even give you a $10 sign up bonus.  Which will help you get to the minimum $25 for pay out faster!  (This one will let you use paypal to get paid, too).

Now this one doesn’t pay cold hard cash - but it does let you earn gift cards from practically any imaginable place to spend cold hard cash.  Here it is:

• www.mypoints.com is awesome!  This one is sort of a hybrid of the previous two sites - because you click on emails & take surveys.  You can pick a$10 gift card after earning 1400 points.  It sounds like a lot of points … but believe me, you can earn them very quickly.  (I can’t tell you how many panera bread & starbucks gift cards I’ve earned).  I like to use them for indulging my oldest son.  When he moved out after college - I would tuck them in little ‘thinking of you’ cards.  Which always made his day!

Being the insomniac that I am … I have had a lot of fun making a little extra money on these sites and totally recommend them.  Check them out - you might like them too!

Have a terrific day!

iowahippiechick

• 10 (More) Reasons You’re Not Rich …  By author Jeffrey Strain, does a good job of opening our eyes to the reality of many of our financial decisions.
• 12 New ‘Needs’ That Drain Your Cash …  And they aren’t food, shelter, and clothing.
• What Your Global Neighbors Are Buying …  Is a fascinating interactive chart, that displays, what people in the world are spending their discretionary income on.
• Where To Turn When Your Desperate … Liz Pulliam Weston gives sound advice on what to do if your really hurting financially.
• 8 Extreme Ways To Save … Enough said!
• Need Some Extra Income?  Here are some ideas.  Karen Datko and her readers at the SmartSpending blog have a lot of good ideas.
• Guide To Stockpiling Around The Year … Mercedes - author of the blog Common Sense With Money does an awesome job of teaching us how.
• FreeShipping.org … That’s Right … Free Shipping!    EverythingFinanceBlog tells us about this terrific new website.
• $50 Sharebuilder Signup Bonus … Fivecentnickel.com gives us the code to qualify for this bonus.
• 50 Ways To Make Money Blogging … TheDoughRoller.net clues us in on this topic.

Have a terrific day!

iowahippiechick

CHECK OUT THESE FINDS:

• Buy one Ziploc Brand Big Bags get one free.  (Click on this link - sign up - then print out the coupon).
• A yummy sample of Bear Naked Fruit & Nut granola.  (Just click this link - I found it at StartSampling.com).
• A free t-shirt from OC In Motion.  (Just click on this link - To learn more about OC In Motion click here).
• A free poster from SnowMassFreeRide.com.  (Just click this link to sign-up for the poster).
• A free 24-count starter pack of new Commit Cappuccino Lozenges.  (Click on this link to get a little help to quit smoking).
• 5 free bonus Box Tops For Education, if you sign up for their emails.  (Click on this link to start helping your child’s school).
• A free sample  of Doctor Greens Organic Energy Plus. (Click this link).
• A free $40 coupon from the government, to get a digital converter box for your analog television.  (Click this link).
• A free bandana from K2skis.com.  (Click this link).
• Free Fall doorknob decoration lesson plans from Crayola.com.  (Click this link).

Have a terrific day!

iowahippiechick

There is a really cool website called Wellness360  that can help you do it.  This site has awesome resources for improving your health & wellness.  Plus it offers financial incentives - can you believe it?

Once you enroll for free … there are various tools that will help you get started towards better health.

(Earning money the entire way)

Some of them include:

• A Health Risk Assessment
• A Food Intake/Exercise Tool
• A Health History Tool
• Fitness & Nutrition Resources
• Lifestyle & Environment Tool
• Exercise Videos
• A Medical Records Tool

An interesting part of the whole thing is you can invite other family members & friends to join.  Which dramatically increases your earning potential.  If your interested in checking it out - please consider using my referral code (ahm824175).

These days, who can afford not to be healthy?

And with this crazy economy, we can all use more cash!

Have a terrific day!

iowahippiechick