Lois Decky, Survival Mode101, Living the Life You Are Blessed With

I met Lois and her husband when they began volunteering at a local food bank. This lady is a powerhouse in a great way. She is a prayer warrior, frugal and willing to be open to all who she comes in contact with on a daily basis. I am not surprised she wrote the book she did. A book about how to survive life, not the life full of drama you see on the television reality shows, but the real life you and I live in. Survival Mode 101.

I looked over her website Survival Mode with Gramma Lois and am rather impressed with the message she is sharing with all those who are looking to save money.  Here is her words "I have a burning desire to share what I've learned through many years of cutting corners, "making do", repairing home and car problems on our own, learning to shop wisely by use of ads and coupons, stretching food as far as is humanly possible as well as numerous other ways of saving by spending less, budgeting and stockpiling. I firmly believe we must all help each other by sharing whatever information each of us has so we can make it through these extremely difficult times". 

Now, I do my share of clipping coupons and saving a ton of money at the grocery stores. I am constantly going to my mail box and opening the great full size and samples and coupons for free things. I believe I know quite a bit about these things and keep all of it in moderation compared to the "Extreme Couponers" seen on television. I am excited to see someone with knowledge, experience, and willingness to share her wisdom do so for the average person who is not seeking to become a hoarder but simply surviving in this economic situation we have been in for the past several years.

I hope you will check out her site and buy her book. She is an incredible lady with an incredible story to tell us all on how to survive when we feel we are at the very end of our financial and emotional rope.

Taking care of the written word,
Dannielyn

Stockpiling Moms

I have to admit that I do love to get freebies and samples in the mail.  In fact, it is nearly an obsession of mine.  The thrill of the hunt, the magic of timing for the offers and the wait for the mail is intoxicating.  Coupons are another great thrill for me.  I love when I am able to get something for nothing or next to nothing.  But then I look at the blogs and emails I receive from freebie, samples and coupon clipping mothers.  I read some of their shopping stories and wonder, why did they need to buy all of that stuff?  What are they going to do with it?  What about the excess?

I imagine you are beginning to think that I am a hypocrite.  I am nearly obsessed with my freebies and samples and so totally taken by my couponing, how could I judge another person.  Well, judge I am not.  I simply wonder.  I know some of them save for later occasions such as next Christmas, birthdays and the like.  I know that some of them have a number of family members and that is how they do their shopping.  I know that some of them give the items away to readers.  YEAH!!! but I don't.  Here is what I do.

Mother's To Be Go Bags
I made up a bag for a friend from church who was going to be having their second child.  I got a small fabric bag from Target a long time ago.  I never used it.  It was a little bigger than a half a sheet of paper.  I put the following items in the bag: 2 bottles of water (for dad), 2 zone perfect bars I had a coupon for and only paid 50 cents for both (for dad), shampoo and conditioner for mom and dad (samples) , 2 toothbrushes (free from dentist), toothpaste (sample), men's razor (free sample), shaving cream (free sample), tissues (free sample), nail file (free sample), lotion (free sample), face cleanser (free with coupon), body wash for mom (free with coupon), body wash for dad (free sample), chap stick (free with coupon) and a small puff for the wash (free with purchase).

This mother had not made her bag at the time that I gave it to her.  It was about 3-4 weeks before she was due.  She loved it.  Best of all, she loved how it was nearly all free.  I have begun to do this for all the mom's to be at our church.  My little ministry.  I might change up a few things depending on my samples and coupons that I have available to me.  But I love to make these little bags up.  In fact, I found some cloth diapers or burp clothes that are designed for boys or girls and have folded it in half and sewn it up and put a ribbon handle on it and of course, the clothes and the ribbon was next to nothing with clearance prices and coupons.

I also love to make little college care packages.  My oldest son is in college and a high school friend lives on the floor below him.  I make him a care package and send along some of my great deals for her.  I had an opportunity to pick up a full size Nivea body wash with a smaller size attached.  I had a coupon for $3 off the full size and Target had them clearance priced at $3.50.  For 50 cents I had a large and small body wash.  Luckily I had four of those coupons and was able to get four of those great sets.  She is set for body wash for quite some time.  

Filling out the samples that a college student would love with their address is another great way to share the love of the samples and freebies.  I have sent constitution copies to my history buff son, poetry posters, texting kills rings, cheez-its, planters coupons for free nuts, Kleenex samples that he ended up giving to Julia and he loves it.  It is mail he is not expecting and it is something cool and unique.

But the best one has to be giving your samples to food pantries.  I have received diabetic coupons for free meters that I give to the food pantry where I volunteer.  So many of the clients do not have one that is easy for them to use.  They aren't always aware that they can get a new one.  Samples of formula are always needed for moms who are struggling to obtain formula and food to feed a baby.  I have gotten t-shirts that I didn't need and took them to the clothing closet.  Someone would love to have a new t-shirt to keep them warm.  I receive printed information that I donate for a resource library for staff.

I enjoy these opportunities to share the wealth. I hope you are able to sue these ideas to share the wealth with other!

Taking care of the written word,
dannielyn

Saving money and Getting Freebies

I love to be able to save money on everything I purchase.  Sometimes that is not possible, there is simply no coupon or discount I can use.  This is a real bummer, but it is not the end of the world.  I have been using my facebook account to obtain freebies and coupons to such a degree that my friend from high school asked me if my account had been hacked.  I was thrilled to explain to her what I use my facebook account for and she asked for more details.

I would love to share those details with you now.  If you want to know how to get freebies and awesome coupons but do not have the time to scour the internet for all the freebies out there, that is just fine.  You don't have too.  You will be able to check out blogs that have done all the work for you.  You just click on the offers you want and fill out the form.  Here is the list.  It is in no particular order and it is not all inclusive.  There are many others out there that do such a great job.  There also some that focus on particular areas of the country.

You will need to place these names in the search box and pull them up this way.  I have not linked them to their individual sites.

hip2save
mojosavings
frugal living and having fun
bargain blessings
my savings . com
stockpiling moms
for the mamas
I love to gossip
coupons on caffeine
free sample agent
sweet free stuff
absurdly cool freebie finder
savings and giving
stl mommy

It's a pretty good listing of what you can check out to get started.  What is really great is almost every site has information on how to save money with coupons and where to get the coupons.  It is like a one stop shop for goodies.

Taking care of the written word,
dannielyn

Making Life Easier for Moms and Dads

I am all for making life easier in any manner possible. I spend a lot of time on the internet researching all different topics and I bookmark quite a few of those sites I have researched. I was sitting there one day searching through the multitude of bookmarks wondering if there was an easier way to find the sites that I use all the time. It hit me, what about a site that lists a number of highly popular topics and the most popular sites regarding those topics.

That is what Taking Care of the Written Word is. All the sites that make a difference in a person's life will have links on this website. Pages will be added all the time to cover the topics of most interest.

That is where you come in. You can suggest topics that are important to you and sites that cover those topics. It will be a great site for anyone looking to make their life easier.

Take a look, make a comment or two and get involved in this site. Together we can make this a great resource for everyone.