Start Thinking About....and winner of the giveaway!

Start thinking about what your convictions are. What do you believe in or believe so strongly that you are willing to stand up for? This is one of the questions we will be asking on Monday when we look a little deeper into ourselves.

The winner of the journal this week is Nicole. Please email me at smsummerville@hotmail.com your address and I will send it off to you next week.

I am out of town and will be home by Monday so the picture of the new giveaway will go up then. All you need to do to be entered into the drawing on Friday, May 1st is to post a comment between now and Thursday the 30th.

PLEASE make sure you are writing your answers in a notebook or journal. It is very important to write these answers down as we will be referring back to them later in this series.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!

Peace,
Susan

Let's Get Personal

In today's assignment we are going to concentrate on the personal area of our life. We all have different areas (vocational, relational, spiritual) etc that we want to work on and I promise we will get to all of them, but for the next lessons we will not move from this area. There personal area includes all the areas of self: your beliefs, your strength, your weaknesses, your health, your diet, your values, your convictions and your character.

Today I want you to examine your beliefs. Do you have a belief system? Are you a Christen?, A Jew?, An Agnostic? Why do you believe? Were you raised this way or did you make a choice as an adult to believe a certain way. If someone asked you about your faith, would you say that it was strong, weak or lacking.

These are private questions for your journal..you may share if you wish but you are not being asked to.

I would like for you to share with me how you felt after writing these things down and if anything was revealed to you.

Friday I will draw the name to win the journal from all the post from the last three entries.

Peace,
Susan

What about this question?!

It is always good to force ourselves to find things that we appreciate about ourselves. All too often we look only at the areas we perceive ourselves to be lacking and ignore all the areas that we are gifted in. That is why it is so important for you to write your five things down in a journal. I will challenge you to add to the things that you like about yourself or that you feel that you are gifted in as it is revealed to you.

Today we will make another list. What are five things about yourself that you are not happy with..JUST FIVE. My guess is that I will get more responses to this question than I did with the first.

Here are my five:
1. I procrastinate
2. I don't always weigh my words before they come out of my mouth
3. I am not happy with my weight
4. All of my boundaries are not defined
5. I am a writer but I am not writing

We will be making list for several days and will be working off of them during this entire session of Becoming a Better You. So if you are just starting.please go back to day one and catch up.

YOUR TURN....What are your five things?

Just Five Things or Unpacking baggage!

We start our series on (Becoming The Best Me) today. Over the next few weeks we are going to look deeply into ourselves and unpack some of the areas in our lives that have been thrown into that baggage we carry along with us everywhere we go . We are going to lighten our load and at the same time discover things about ourselves that will encourage and inspire us to grow into the BEST we can be.

We will begin today by writing down (yes it is important that you write it down on paper or in a journal somewhere) 5 things that we like about ourselves. If you have a difficult time with this as some of us will..try looking at the areas your gifted in . I want you to POST here on the blog when you have done this. You do not need to share the five things but I would love it if you did.

As I share before, I will never ask you to do something I am not willing to do myself.

Here are my five things.

1. I am an encourager
2. I am a good Mom at this time in my life and a GREAT Nana
3. I am a good listener but working on being a better one
4. I am willing to do the work I need to do to overcome and become the best I can be.
5. If you ask me to pray for you ..you can be assured that I will

Your Turn!!!

REWARDS FOR WORKING ON YOURSELF!!!

The biggest reward will be the results you get...but I will also be having weekly drawings for blog giveaways. The prizes for this weeks drawing is pictured at the upper right hand corner of the blog. The drawing will take place on Friday, April 24th. All you need to do to be entered into the drawing is post here on the blog..If you post each day you will be entered in 6 times. In other word the more you post the more your name goes into the drawing. If you recommend the blog and this series to anyone and they post they are here on your recommendation you sill receive a gift from me as well as another entry into the blog. I just feel that this series is important enough to share with those you love.

I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Forms and Giveaways

As promised:

http://www.betterbudgeting.com/

This website has a wealth of information on HOW to budget and includes free down loadable forms to fill out.

The other tip that I feel I must share with you is freecycle. Just type in freecycle and the name of your city or state in the search area and it should show you where to sign up. People list items they have available and items they need..Everything is free!
It is AWESOME. Be careful and never let anyone into your home that you do not know. I also suggest taking someone with you when you pick up an item. This is the world wide web you know.

Winners of the giveaways (a journal {raisingalexis} and three calligraphy markers {Beth}..please email me your addresses at smsummerville@hotmail.com

Thursday starts a new series and a new giveaway. Tune in then to find out more. Here is a hint..The giveaway is going to be a papercrafting scrappy giveaway...and the series is going to be all about becoming a better you!

Below , in the precious post you will find a youtube link. Just click on it and enjoy Susan Boyles..let her beautiful voice rock your world. She is singing one of my favorite songs from my all time favorite musical. You will not believe your ears.

My Gift To You!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

Watch..this will bring a smile to your face and encourage your heart.

A Simple Approach

On April 15th I will hold the drawing for the last two gifts to be given away during the series on Saving Money and budgeting. I will also list all of the rest of the resources I have on budgeting and saving money. This series has not been very popular with the masses so I will close it on the 15th instead of the 30 as originally planned. I will be starting a brand new series on the 16th. Stop back in to check it out. Remember to qualify for the drawing you need only to leave a comment or a prayer request. The following is my gift to you today. It helped me through this day. I pray it does the same for you. Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good—not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne. —Matthew 11:28-30 One of the definitions of simple is "easy." With that in mind, take a look at Jesus' words in the passage above. Notice how often the words "ease" and "easy" appear. First of all, Jesus said, "Learn of Me." I believe He meant, "Learn how I handle situations and people. Learn what My response would be to any given circumstance and follow My ways." Jesus was not stressed out or burned out. He was not controlled by circumstances and by the demands of other people. In John 14:6, He said, "I am the Way." His way is the right way—the way that will lead us into righteousness, peace, and joy. Remember that in John 15:11 Jesus prayed that His enjoyment would fill our souls. That is not going to happen unless we learn a different approach to life and its many different circumstances. I could write about various things that we need to simplify, and the list would be endless. But if we can learn to have the simple approach to everything, that is far better than learning to be simple in some things. No matter what you face, if you will ask yourself what the simple approach would be, I believe you will be amazed at the creative ideas you will have. The Holy One lives in you; and although He is awesomely powerful, He is also awesomely simple. The Holy Spirit will teach you simplicity if you truly wish to learn. From the book New Day, New You: 365 Devotions for Enjoying Everyday Life by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2007 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.

Let me make your day!!

Cut and paste..You will be so happy you did!

http://carolynspreciousmemories.com/Videos/kids_artlinkletter.html

Happy Easter. My gift to you today is this letter.

LET IT REALLY SINK IN - THEN CHOOSE

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and

Always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he

Was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

He was a natural motivator

If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee

How to look on the positive side of the situation

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked

Him, "I don't get it

You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it

He replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two

Choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... You can choose

To be in a bad mood

I choose to be in a good mood

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can

Choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their

Complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the

Positive side of life.

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested

"Yes, it is," he said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all

The junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to

Situations. You choose how people affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your

Choice how you live your life."

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to

Start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I

Made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident,

Falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released

From the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be Twins....Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his

Mind as the accident took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my Soon-to-be born daughter," he replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I Remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could Choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked

He continued, "..the paramedics were great.

They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into The ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I Got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I Needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said John. "She asked if I was allergic to anything 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and Nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath And yelled, 'Gravity'."

Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as If I am alive, not dead."

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude... I learned from him that every day we have the choice To live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about Itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34.

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

**

Link of the day!

Link of the day

http://www.justfreestuff.com/faq.php

All Free...All The Time.

May you all have a blessed Easter Sunday.

Money Saving Links and New Pictures to share

As promised here is a yahoo group that you are going to love. I have received more free samples through this group than anywhere else.

http://finance. groups.yahoo. com/group/ Friends_Freebies /

And for those of you that are really serious about saving money ..check out this website!

http://www.cindysporch.net/

If you look to your right your will see the newest pictures of our grandbabies...I even put up a widget to let you see what baby dear looks like...we are expecting a grand entrance on or around October of this year.

Check out the above sites and let me know what you think. Are you keeping a daily journal of what you are spending so we can do a budget in a week? Are you finding the sites I have been listing useful? What other financial area would you like to cover this month?

Prayer request are always encouraged and welcomed.

Let me hear from you..We will have two new blog giveaways on the 15th randomly selected from those of you that post between now and then.

Giveaways and a GREAT blog find for saving money.

Here is the giveaway that will go to Alicia this week. It is perfect for those of us dedicated to keeping records of what we spend this month. Our other winner this week is Beth and she will be receiving Turning Towards Joy by David Jeremiah.
Alicia..Please send me your address at smsummerville@hotmail.com. Beth, I have yours.

Here is a GREAT blog I have found that has so many ways to save money your head will spin.
http://frugalniftytips.blogspot.com/
It is also listed at the right side of my blog in the blogs I visit.

Today..I just ask that you visit this site and/or the one I posted on Monday and share with me your favorite thing. Please also share any savings that you have experienced this week, tips , thoughts or prayer request. If there is an area that you need to save money on..post that as well and I will be happy to list the information that I have in my files on that area.

New giveaways starting today. They will be posting on Thursday. The next drawing will be on April 15th...

Saving Money At The Grocery Store Part Two

I am home and already saving money this month. I am SO EXCITED to share this website with you. You will find the top ways to save money at the grocery as I promised and a much better free printable price log that you can print out and start saving money right away. http://www.grocerysavingtips.com/tips/groceries.htm

I am looking forward reading what you think about this site. I will have a new site everyday this week. I have found ways to save hundreds even thousands of dollars from everything from groceries, pet food,patches, cleaning products, clothing and even housewares and furniture. It took a bit of research but the results have been SO worth it.

If you have not done so make sure that you read the comments from our first day of saving. We having plenty of great tips that have been shared.

Here is my big save today. My daughter is expecting a baby in October. I have a car seat already but I will need an infant car seat for my car. I had someone give my a (like new) one..and I was SO excited. Then I researched and found that it had a recall issued. I was bummed and then thought...I know I didn't buy it but they should still honor the recall..right?? So I called the company and sure enough they are sending a new kit at no charge. So I have a new infant car seat for FREE.

I also received my coupon for a FREE multi pack of kids essentials nutritionally complete chocolate drink...(a $5.00 value)

and I printed out my rebate form for $4.99 back for the All Bran Strawberry Melody Cereal...

So my combined savings for today are $129.99

Now..go check out the website I gave you and let me know what you think. Remember the RAK's will be picked on the 8th for this week and all you need to do to enter is post a message. Which reminds me..pictures..Hmmm. I knew I was forgetting something. They will be at the top of Tuesday's post.

Please also leave prayer request. I would love to pray for you.

Saving AT The Grocery Store..

First let me say that I am sorry I am posting a day late. I am on a business trip and yesterday it was ALL BUSINESS. I didn't have a spare moment to log this post. Some days are just like that. I will be traveling home on Saturday and SKip and I will be hosting a birthday party for our one year old grandson on Sunday for 50 people so needless to say I will not be posting again until Monday the 6th.

Now getting down to the business of saving money at the grocery store. In my research I have found many websites out there that have valuable information for those of us trying to find ways to stretch our dollars. I have done the research for you but it will require some work on your part to reap the most benefits.

One thing that I have read over and over again is that in order to really save the most money it is important to comparison shop. At www.grocerysavingstips.com you will find a printable price log.I highly recommend that you print this out and start pricing staple items at different grocery stores in your area. If you are like me ,you gravitate to the store that offers perks for the money you spend. I have spent thousands of dollars at Giant Eagle since they have offered money off at the gas pump for shopping there. I was shocked to find that all the FREE GAS I thought I had earned by shopping there was not free at all. When I compare the cost of just the staple items(milk, bread, fruits, vegetables,meat) I buy there every week with two other area grocery stores I found that Giant Eagle was Higher on those items 90% of the time. So was the gas really free???

If you are not already a member of a warehouse store you may want to consider joining one. The savings are significant. If you are single or have a small family and think shopping in bulk takes too much out of your budget at once..consider going in with another singe or small family and split the cost of buying in bulk.

Since we are working for two weeks on writing down everything we spend I can not tell you how very important this is when buying your groceries. This will help you as we set up your grocery budget. Even now before we have a budget set..Tell your self how much money you want to spend at the grocery store, take a calculator with you and DO NOT GO OVER no matter what. This may mean giving up some items that you think you must have. My advice to you is to prioritize what is really important to you..I will use our family for an example...Nothing Says Good Morning Like Foldgers In Your Cup? Well at our house you need to replace Foldgers with STARBUCKS FRENCH ROAST.. So what does that mean to our grocery budget?? It doesn't mean I should add on another $10 dollars a week to the budget it means I should shop grocery store brands on items that are just as good as national brands, it means I should plant tomato this summer and it means that I should buy at our local farmers market all summer long and freeze as much as I can..In other words..cut in other areas and give up other items that are not as important.

How are you all doing with writing things down(everything you spend money on)? Adrienne..I promise we will be going into debt reduction and will cover student loans as well during our month of looking at our finances as a whole..

Adrienne and Debbie I will be sending you both a notebook to keep in your purse so you can write down every cent this month. (This is the RAK I promised on the first of the month to all that posted they would commit to doing this)..It is not too late..just make a commitment to this in a post and I will send you one as well. Today is the last day for this offer.

I will be listing the top 10 things you can do to saved money at the grocery on Monday.

Please let us hear from you. Tell us where you find your deals..What you do to save money at the grocery. Share the wealth of your knowledge with others. Everyone that post will be entered into the drawing that will be held of the 8th ..We have two giveaways this week. The pictures of the giveaways will go up on the 6th.

Have a blessed week end.

I look forward to hearing from you.

New Series and Blog Giveaways!

Today we will start a new series that will run the entire month of April. With the economic downturn effecting so many people I feel led to do a series on ways to be frugal and save money . I have been doing my homework and have several resources, tips, websites and books that I will be sharing with you. I also invite you to join in by posting any tips that you have as well.

So many people I know have absolutely no idea where they stand financially. If I asked them how much money they had in their checking, saving, 401k account etc..they could not begin to tell me. They are usually the same people that when asked what the budget is for groceries will say.."What budget"......and even worse..If asked how much they owed on credit cards etc..they would also have no clue.I can relate to all of them because I was once one of them. My husband has been my greatest teacher in financial responsibility. I have been a SLOW learner. I found it was very difficult to break old habits. Many of us were never taught how to budget..It is not taught as a required course in school so unless you had parents that took time to teach you(if they even knew how to themselves) ..you probably never learned this important life skill.

In this series we will start looking at our finances as a whole. The first thing that I want you to commit to me is that you will write down absolutely everything you spend for two weeks . I will join you in this process. At the end of the two weeks I think we will be more aware of where the money is going and will also have more of an idea on how to set up our budgets.
So for today I just want a commitment. Post here that you commit to writing everything down for two weeks. All that do will receive a RAK from me at the end of the two weeks once you have posted what you have discovered. YES..IT IS THAT IMPORTANT TO WRITE IT DOWN!

On Thursday we will talk about groceries and ways that you can save at the grocery store along with several tips, recipes and websites to help you out in your quest to feed your family on a budget. These are all things that I am implementing into our own family budget.

Winners of the last Blog Giveaways were posted on the previous post..Make sure you look to see if you are the winner. The new blog giveaway winners will be drawn one week from today. I will be giving away two each week during this series and will be posting pictures on the 5th when I return home.