More sickness

Hello everyone, this is Morry. Rachel is not feeling well so I'm writing the blog tonight.

It seems that Rachel got whatever bug it was that Evan has. Evan has been complaining that his tummy hurts on and off the whole weekend. Last night Rachel said she was feeling nauseous. This morning it really hit her. It seems that is probably what Evan has been meaning when he said his tummy hurts. Rachel got up this morning, early, around 7:15 when the boys got up. She got Noah first and then went into Evan's room. She felt so badly that she closed the gate to Evan's room, but the boys on the floor and laid down in Evan's bed until the nausea subsided.

Needless to say, Rachel and the boys did not do much of anything today. Rachel has gotten a work-from-home position with a company called Cha-Cha. It's a sales position but basically Rachel can work as much or as little as she wants a month. She had to sit on a webinar from noon until 1pm today. The boys were very well behaved while she was on the phone.

I got home around 5:30 or 5:45. Rachel was laying in bed. I got the boys up and we came downstairs. Evan really has not gotten his appetite back. I fed Noah and ordered food from the Circle C Catering. They deliver and I just ordered a cheeseburger. Evan watched Toy Story 2 while Noah and I ate.

Noah is really trying to talk a bunch now. He can't say a whole lot, but he's really trying. He definitely says "cheese". He also has started to say "Hi" and wave his hand. Rachel came downstairs and sat on the big chair and Noah crawled over and wanted to get up. Rachel said "up?" to Noah and he tried to repeat it but it was more like he was blowing up towards his face with his lower lip out. It was funny. But he was definitely was trying to repeat what she said. Oh and yesterday, when signing the gesture for "more" he actually said "mo". For those of you who may remember, Evan used to say "mo-mo" for more for a long time.

Both boys are in bed now. Rachel should be in bed. I think she's laying on the couch. I hope that Noah and I can avoid this bug and I hope that Rachel and Evan feel better very quickly.

Until next time...

Ways to save/make money, free stuff, sweepstakes…

I have had requests from lots of you wanting to know all the ways I save money, win things, and make money. So, here it is.

Ways to save money:

I cut coupons from the Sunday paper. Also, http://afullcup.com is a great site to find deals, printable coupons, sales, etc. Before I go to the grocery store I check this site (coupon menu/coupon database search) to find any printable coupons for items I’m going to buy.

Before we buy anything online we do a google search for online coupon codes for that store.

Also, we go through the sites bigcrumbs and ebates . They have lots of stores listed like Target, Best Buy, Barnes and Noble, GAP …If you go through their site first and then click on the store website for them you can save anywhere from 2-25% they send you a check for money back. I think the way that works is many online stores have referral programs where they offer web site owners a percentage for each person that comes to their site through them and buys something. Big crumbs and Ebates just sign up for a ton of these referral programs and then give you a cut of the money they make.

www.restaurant.com sells gift certificates for usually half the price to certain restaurants in your area. They occasionally email codes to get and additional 50% off restaurant certificates.

How to make money:

I tutor students in the afternoons and evenings. I have both a teaching certificate and a Master’s degree, but you don’t necessarily need both of those. I have found that the greatest need is for Math tutors. If you are confident in math you should have no problem finding some tutoring jobs. The majority of the students I tutor need help with math, but I also help them with other subjects such as Spanish, Science, History, and English. I have gotten most of my students through referrals from the school where I used to teach. I have a few neighborhood kids that come to my house as well. I called or went in to the neighborhood schools and gave the counselors my contact information.

ChaCha is a mobile research service. People text or call in and get the answer text to their cell phone. Anyway, they need people to answer these texts. Usually it’s not too hard to find the answers using a Google search. You’ll get questions anywhere from weather forecasts to sports stats. They pay you 20 cents for each question you answer. You can average about $5 -$10/hr http://answers.chacha.com/?page_id=410

You can also answer surveys and join focus groups. Here are a few I do. www.tammadge.com http://www.pineconeresearch.com/index.htm http://www.your2cents.com/ http://www.acop.com https://www.surveysavvy.com?id=3033699&action=join&D=rfrl100208

I just joined a new one. It's actually one of Morry's friends that started this company.

https://www. focusfwdonline. com/signup. aspx

I did a study last week (11/5/08). It was 2 hours and I got paid $200. It was a study for household cleaning products. Two people met me at HEB and we talked some about my cleaning habits and what products I use. Then we went in the cleaning aisle and picked a few things and went back to my house for me to show them how I would use the items. It was super easy.

I just thought I'd pass that along in case anyone is interested.

You can clean out your house and make some money. Depending on what you want to sell you can go through www.craigslist.org or www.ebay.com . Ebay will reach more people, but they charge you a fee to list and they get commission. Craigslist is free to list and they do not take a commission. Usually Craigslist is best for large items like furniture, while Ebay is better for collectables, antiques, and brand name items.

How to get free stuff:

Here is a site that lists websites giving away free stuff: http://www.vickysdeals.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3

Also, if there are products you buy often you can go to the product’s website, fill out the comment form and let them know how much you like the products and that you would love to have some coupons.

If you join She Speaks, occasionally they will send you products to test out and keep. In return you give your opinion of that product. I got a free Sonicare electric toothbrush, shaving cream, potato masher. http://www.shespeaks.com

Freecycle is an online community to help reduce unnecessary waste and keep good stuff out of landfills. Think “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” People post things they are getting rid of or things they are looking for. There is no money involved and no trading. Everything is absolutely free. We have used this mostly to get rid of things, but occasionally you can find some great things people are giving away. Do a search for the Freecycle community in your city. http://www.freecycle.org Grandma Gertrude would be proud. :)

How to win stuff:

This site lists contests/giveaways in different categories ( by prizes, ending date, entry frequency, …) http://www.online-sweepstakes.com

Hope that helps. Let me know if you have questions about any of these.