Have a Great One!

We're spending this Halloween day carving pumpkins, buying candy, baking cornbread, and getting our car trunk ready for this evening's ward Trunk-Or-Treat/ chili contest. I'll be back on Monday with the deets.

Sweet Stuff

Since I'm off my couponing hiatus (and made another $20 this week at Rite Aid after 'purchasing' a plethora of cold and flu remedies that were free on rebate at Rite Aid) I've come across a couple of useful free poromo offers (opposed to free junk).

Remember the first time that you saw the infomercial or heard about Snuggies? I laughed. And definately never would have thought that they would become all the rage- but they have! And since its your lucky day, click on over to here and get a Snuggie of your very own for free! (Including free shipping).

I'll plan on having a movie/snuggie party once everyone gets theres too :)

Or, if your like us and are getting ready to be first time parents, go here to to get your Free 11 issue subscription to Parenting Early Years Magazine.

Back in the Game

Remember this post when I offically went on a couponing hiatus? And that one of only two ways that I would start using coupons again is if we moved out of the state of Utah (where couponing is super trendy) and to a place where couponing was still underutilized?

Well guess what.

I'm back in the game.

And yes, I'm a geek.

Now, I don't generally take what I've bought and then set them up on the kitchen table to take photos (because we all know that there is an overload of folks that already do that on their blogs- in fact I'm sure there is someone else somehwere posting this exact photo on their blog) but this is just to illustrate why couponing is a fun game to me (and I won't bore you with the tedious details on how I saved it all or post a photo like this again- promise!)

All this:














(My favorites are the Gillette battery powered razor, lip balm, heating pads, and cough drops)

Normal Cost: $71

Now, not only did I get all of the above pictured for free, but after coupons and rebates I got back $27!

I know what your thinking- "That's nice, but come on- nasal spray and Poligrip? Why would you even waste your time- who cares if its free if your not going to use it?"

And the reason is- is because they are free on rebates, I can also use my $3.00 off coupons and make money by simply buying it. And then somewhere down the line I'll eventually figure out what I could use Poligrip for.

Plus, it was the most pleasant shopping/ couponing experience I've had- a friend and I rolled into Rite Aid almost an hour after it opened, where we were the only ones in the store- and the shelves were still stocked full of all these products. In my past experience (and why I went on a couponing hiatus back in Utah), was that unless you could go Monday morning and were waiting at the store when it opens, the shelves will be wiped out within a matter of minutes.

No joke.

But like I said before, I'm a geek. And this kind of stuff excites me :)

Oh, and P.S. - if you want to know how exactly I got the stuff above with rebates and coupons, just let me know.

Hi Ho... Hi Ho

It's back to class I go...

Tax class, that is.

When we moved to Georgia (and with a baby on the way), I would often get the question from folks if I were still going to work. My thoughts were - sure. But on the stipulation that if I can find a part time job that could be super flexible with hours and still be challenging enough (but not stressful) of a job for me to want to do it, I'd totally be up for it.

The other day I was skimming the local newspaper and found that Liberty Tax (you know- the ones that have the Statue of Liberty wavers outside during tax season) was looking for tax preparers for the up comming season. I gave them a call, and after leaving a quick message about the experience I had and wanting to maybe pursue an opportunity with them, I got a call back from the owner of the Liberty Tax franchise in town asking if I would be interested in not being a tax preparer- but doing the marketing and bringing in business for their location. That would mean starting in January, I would work 10-15 hours a week (up to 30 if I really wanted). And that if I also wanted to be a tax preparer on the side, I could do that as well.

Ding, ding, ding, ding!!

Talk about excellent timing. But, what do I do from now until January? I've had lots of folks mention that between moving into a house and preparing for a baby (including the Moms in Motion fitness class for expecting moms that the hospital offers that I enrolled in) that I'd have plenty to keep me busy... but well, it hasn't. And in the meantime, Brant is keeping busy with keeping up with the yard and making small home improvements (he's outside pressure washing the house and driveway as I type this).

And since I'd like to understand and actually learn how to do taxes (and not just pass them on to someone else to do each year- even if it's Brant) I enrolled in their (free) tax class that meets twice a week, three hours each time, and lasts for the next month and a half. We've met twice so far and I'm learning TONS! Its actually pretty neat.

Needless to say that Brant is definately in favor of me learning to do taxes because it means that he doesn't have to do them anymore. And I'm always wondering what is out there that we can use as a tax deduction that we're not already aware of (because there's tons! the cost of dry cleaning work uniforms, anyone?)

And we'll just see how this works out. The due date for this baby is January 23 (right as tax season starts) but the franchise owner can be flexible with that and let me pick my own hours and then I could work around Brant's schedule allowing him to be home for one or two hours a day when he's not on trips so that I could do this. And then I wouldn't go stir crazy being home with a baby.

All.

The.

Time.

Don't get me wrong, I mean being a mom is rewarding, I'm sure- and of course that will be my first priority, but I can see that unless I have something else that will keep me at least a little intellectually stimulated (not to mention the adult interaction) that I'll have a little bit of a tough time with the adjustment to being a mom. And one to two (or three at the max) hours a day of work would be perfect.

Yay for this- I'm stoked :)

Oh, and P.S. - now that we've got the internet set up at our place I'll be be able to post more frequently :)