Archive for July, 2008

Learn Free with iTunes U; MIT OpenCourseWare

{ July 31, 2008 @ 7:30 am } · { Free }
{ Tags: , , } · { Leave a Comment }

I have been using iTunes for several years – I listen to music, podcasts, audiobooks and lectures. iTunes U is one the more recent additions to iTunes. You can download free audio or video content from various universities, museums, etc. The content is constantly growing and there is a wide variety of topics. A few lectures I downloaded were from Seattle Pacific University on C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. There are many other things I would like to listen to, but I just don’t have enough uninterrupted time to do. Perhaps in another stage of my life that will be more possible.

Check out an Introductory iTunes U video to find out more about iTunes U.

MIT OpenCourseWare is another website where learning is free. Lecture notes, exams, and videos from MIT are available for download to anyone. Finishing these classes online does not give you any kind of certificate or degree.

“MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content. OCW is open and available to the world and is a permanent MIT activity.”

At some point in the near future, I would like to work through a class through MIT OpenCourseWare. It’s been almost 10 years since I’ve been out of college and I sometimes I miss that style of learning. I have an associate’s degree and have been thinking about getting my bachelor’s degree online. Most of my problem is that I have no idea what I would like to get a degree in – my interests vary greatly. By challenging myself to do a class on my own, it would help me know how feasible it would be for me to begin taking college classes again (for credit).

So if you are bored or have a desire to learn, there are many opportunities to do just that through both of these websites. Happy learning!

I Splurged

{ July 30, 2008 @ 4:56 pm } · { Books, Recipes, Shopping }
{ Tags: , , } · { Leave a Comment }

There are three books that I have been wanting to purchase for a long time: More-with-Less Cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre, Simply in Season (World Community Cookbook) by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-wert, and Merciless by Robin Parrish. I found the best deals at Amazon, made the purchase on Monday and received them today.

I had been checking yard sales and thrift stores for both cookbooks, but was not able to find copies of them. I had a feeling that I wouldn’t find them, but I wanted to try. And $15 each for these cookbooks isn’t a bad deal – they are hard-cover spiral-bound, so they will last a long time. I am so excited to look through them and find new recipes.

These cookbooks have frugal healthy recipes – check out Amazon for some customer reviews.

And I’ve been wanting to buy Merciless since it came out, but was waiting to see if I could find the cookbooks cheaper (like I mentioned above). Plus, I wanted to have at least $25 worth of stuff to buy at Amazon so I could get free shipping.

I really wanted to have Merciless this week and signed up for a free trial of Amazon Prime, which gave me free 2-day shipping. Cool! The trial is for 1 month and I can order anything and get free 2-day shipping – there is no $25 minimum order. $3.99 overnight shipping is also an option, but I didn’t need these books that fast to pay $4 to have them shipped. I am planning to cancel the trial, but will wait a week or two, just in case there is anything else I want to buy from Amazon…If you can remember to cancel the trial, you may want to try this free trial out.

Merciless is written by my friend’s husband. It’s the third and final book in The Dominion Trilogy. I highly recommend the first two books and I am quite sure the third book will be just as exciting. If you do want to read these books, you will want to buy all three at once, so you can read right through the series. Books 1 and 2 end with cliffhangers, but 2nd one was a bigger cliffhanger than the first. I’ve had to wait almost a year to see how it all ends!

Almost all of my books are purchased used, but once in a while, I know it will be worth my while to buy brand new books. Even spending $30 for the cookbooks, I am certain I will get my money out of them by using lots of their recipes.

Cleaning Recipes

{ July 30, 2008 @ 7:30 am } · { cleaning }
{ Tags: , } · { Comments (1) }

Last week I posted a link to a website with some cleaning recipes – well I found another post with more cleaning recipes today. Check it out at Thrifty Mommy. Happy cleaning!

Deals This Week: 7/27-8/2

{ July 29, 2008 @ 4:16 pm } · { Groceries, Shopping }
{ Tags: , , , , , } · { Leave a Comment }

Another late post, but better late than never. Here are the deals for this week for several stores:

CVS at Coupon Cravings

Wal-Mart at The Centsible Sawyer

Giant at Moms Need to Know

Walgreens at Cherry Picker

Rite-Aid at Sisterly Savings

Target at Attention Target Shoppers

Menu Plan Monday (on Tuesday)

{ July 29, 2008 @ 2:55 pm } · { Food }
{ Tags: } · { Leave a Comment }

I realized late last night that I didn’t post this week’s menu plan. So here it is, just one day late.

Monday: leftovers – hamburger gravy with peas over mashed potatoes

Tuesday: pasta and fish, steamed vegetables

Wednesday: hamburgers on the grill, steamed vegetables

Thursday: chicken and vegetables

Friday: going out to eat

Saturday: tuna salad and egg salad sandwiches

Sunday: leftovers or sandwiches

Bloggy Giveaways Carnival

{ July 29, 2008 @ 11:09 am } · { Free, giveaway }
{ Tags: } · { Leave a Comment }

Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival Button

It’s time for the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival! This carnival is held quarterly and is one week long, Monday, July 28-Friday, August 1. Right now, well over 600 blogs are having giveaways. This is a great way to read new blogs and hopefully win a prize!

Some blogs I signed up to win are:
Trying for Him (a $25 gift card to your choice of five stores)
Natalie’s Sentiments (necklace and earrings)
The Giveaway (handmade soap)
Living a Lushhus Life (2 Vera Bradley notebooks)
Iowa Geek Online (2 Dave Ramsey books)
Supermom’s Health and Wellness (Sampler Pack)
Tara’s View of the World (Lord of the Beans – VeggieTales dvd)
Three Ladies and a Dad (Target gift card)
Kid Bits ($100 gift card at CWDKids.com)

Homemade Beauty Recipes

{ July 28, 2008 @ 10:44 pm } · { Beauty, Health }
{ Tags: } · { Leave a Comment }

Have you ever tried to make your own skincare products? I recall a time during my high school years when my best friend and I made our own facial scrub/mask. I don’t remember where we got the recipe, and I don’t know how effective it was, but we had a great time making it and trying it out.

Recently I found a few websites with beauty recipes on them. I am pretty sure someone had linked to them from their blog, but I didn’t write down what site, so I’m sorry for not mentioning you, if you originally blogged about these sites.

All Natural Beauty
Free Beauty Tips
Creative Homemaking

If you’ve ever made any skin product yourself, what did you think and do you have any recipe recommendations?

Free Bottle of Downy

{ July 28, 2008 @ 3:58 pm } · { Coupons, Free }
{ Tags: } · { Leave a Comment }

Coupon Cravings recently posted a link that will allow you to sign up for a coupon for a free bottle of Downy TotalCare through Wal-Mart. Click on the Wal-Mart link and then click on “special savings” to sign up for this coupon.

A New Addition

{ July 27, 2008 @ 10:40 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: } · { Comments (4) }

Last night, our family added a new member to our family, Sebastian, a Bernese Mountain Dog puppy. It took us a long time to decide whether or not to make a dog a part of our family. My husband has never had an indoor dog as a pet; I grew up with dogs in our family. When I worked full time, it didn’t seem like a good idea to get a dog, since we didn’t think we could give it the attention that it needed. After our son was born, it took a long time to adjust to everything (he didn’t sleep through the night until his first birthday), so again it was not the right time to get a new dog. Now that our son is almost 4 years old, we again started to talk about getting a dog.

Unfortunately, he is allergic to my sister’s dog, who is a Miniature Australian Shepherd. We never took him to the doctor to be tested for his allergies, and did not know if he was allergic to some dogs or most dogs…my parents have two Russian Wolfhounds (aka Borzoi) and he never seemed to have a negative reaction to them.

My husband called a few local places about puppies – Chocolate Labs, Golden Retrievers, and Bernese Mountain Dogs. I have always thought Bernese Mountain Dogs were cute. :) We ended up visiting the Bernese Mountain Dog puppies (3 males) last night and brought one home with us. Our son does not seem to have any allergic reactions, which is great. It’ll be an adjustment for all of us. I’ve really enjoyed all of these years without dog hair in our house. Now I will have to work super hard to keep it clean and without dog odor. I hope I am up to the task.

Of course, this dog will be an added expense. I would appreciate any suggestions on ways to save money on dog items (toys, dog food, etc.)

This dog will be taking up a large amount of my time, so I want to apologize in advance if my posts are posted very late in the day or not posted on a daily basis.

We will be taking a 2-3 hour drive in the near future with our dog. Any suggestions on how to keep a puppy happy and content on a car ride would also be appreciated. Thanks!

I’ve Been Tagged

{ July 26, 2008 @ 10:05 pm } · { Uncategorized }
{ Tags: } · { Comments (1) }

I have been tagged by Ginger at Attention Target Shoppers. Thanks Ginger! This is the first time I’ve been tagged. :)

Here are the rules:
1. Link back to the person who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

Six things about me:

1. I have over 300 books in my personal library. They are alphabetized by author on my shelf and I downloaded an application called Books and I cataloged all of my books using this program.

2. I have been maintaining a personal blog for over 3 years.

3. My first pregnancy gave me my first son, who is almost 4 years old. I had 2 pregnancies after that, and both ended in miscarriage.

4. My household is full of firstborns – myself, my husband and my son. (we are in the process of adopting from the Philippines, so it’s possible we could adopt a firstborn child, making all four of us firstborn!)

5. I love podcasts. Some of my favorites are: Mac|Life, MacBreak Weekly, Mars Hill Church, and Relevant

6. I buy some of my son’s clothing second hand (garage sales, thrift stores, etc), how I can’t bring myself to buy second hand clothing for myself – I am so afraid I will run into the person whom it used to belong to and they will notice. (pathetic, I know)

Now, I have to tag 6 people.
Carrie at Money Saving Methods
Addie at Waldeck Dry Goods
Jenny at A New Season
Kendra at Handprints on the Wall
Jason at Frugal Dad
Mom’s Out Shopping

« Previous entries