RESPECT

How important is respect? I only ask because it seems to me that some kids out there lack it. They are rude and disrespectful to friends, parents and well just everyone in general. I try to instill the importance of good manners in my children but they seem to lose it when they are with their friends. So how do we teach them? How do we make them realize that manners are important? What about lying? You catch a kid in a lie then what happens? You ground them? So do they lie again? HECK YES they do. They know they can get away with it some of the times. But how do we make them realize the wrong of their actions? I mean come on we did that when we were kids right? I know I had a little white fib from time to time. But I tried NEVER to be disrespectful. How hard is it for a kid to say thanks mom for making me dinner? Or mom can you pleas pick me up from my friends house? Or just a may I please be excused? Oh well I guess I will have to figure a new way to teach tehe basics!

I love saving money!

I found another great site! It offers free ecourses so that you can learn how to save using coupons! It also has great ideas and links to other site that will help you out! I love ways to learn and this site is GREAT!

Ways to Make it when the world seems against you.

I know that sounds harsh but it is more of a ha ha vs. being serious. I am a working mother and stay pretty busy. I am always looking for ways to make life a little easier so I thought I would share some ideas.

1. Plan your meals out for the week on sunday so that you can shop if needed.

2. Make meals ahead of time and then freeze them. This is great when the kids are really active in sports!

3. Break up cleaning. Clean only one or two rooms a day. Then next day do another one. This keeps the house clean without going crazy.

4. Make homemade laundry soap. It is cheaper and lasts longer. You can add natural oils to have a touch of lavender or whatever you like.

5. By a wipeboard! Great way to leave a note, write down things you need or even put a schedule on. I like to put up the family chore list so everyone knows what they need to do.

6. When needed, don't be afraid to ask friends for help. A true friend will be there to help because they know that you would do the same for them.

7. And last but not least....take time to breathe and to count the wonderful blessings you have in life. I may not be rich in terms of money but I am in terms of family and friends.

OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM

I have been watching a friend suffer thanks too our wonderful DHS! She has been raising a child who was ripped from her home and placed with a new foster family. The thing is, they are trying to adopt him. We pay for children to be in foster homes, yet they wanted to keep him without being paid. They wanted to adopt Landon! But because DHS told them to do one thing and then someone else said they lied about it, they were not the recommended family. Now I may not understand everything there is to know about foster care but don't you think it would be better for the child to be in a home where the parents are going to love him? Not only that but adopt him and pay for whatever bills that he had. BUT NO! They put him in a foster home where the parents are old enough to be his grandparents. They are getting money for other kids they have in their home already. I don't think we as tax payers should have to pay to keep him in one foster home when he could be in a home that just wants to love him. AND WE DON'T HAVE TO PAY! I think it is time that our Governor takes a look at how our state is doing things!


Ok so next complaint! FRIEND OF THE COURT GENESEE COUNTY MICHIGAN!
It is time for FOC to change. There are tons of men and women that get the shaft because friend of the court decides they don't like you. They think women can do no wrong and the men are the scum of the earth....WELL GUESS WHAT THAT IS NOT ALWAYS TRUE! There are moms out there that will fight the dads and not let them see their child. So what does FOC do? That's right....MOM you are perfect you don't have to let dad see the child. My husband has fought to see his son and they said he is not entitled to see his son. Not only that we have changed our address with FOC and the courts FIVE times and they still send the paper work to the wrong house. We get to see him now but only because we worked out a schedule with my sons mom. He is paying child support but we seem to never get caught up. As for filing taxes, well kiss that goodbye. His go right to back child support every year but our back support never seems to go down. We have to file together so that means I will lose my taxes too! HOW FAIR IS THAT? Am I being selfish? COME ON GOVERNOR DO YOUR JOB AND MAKE FOC JUDGE FAIRLY FOR BOTH MEN AND WOMEN!!

The selfish philosopher rages.

Adding up the savings.

I sat down today and started adding up my receipt savings. I saved in one month about $350.00. How great is that! I also sat down with my family so we could go over chores. We decided this year that we would each decide what chores we were going to do and stick to them. I also started a budget. I found out that in three months I will be losing my job to downsizing. So saving is going to be extremely important until I am able to find a new job. I am thinking about getting together with friends for a coupon trade. This way we can al benefit. I am also going to buy in bulk this year so that a group of us can go in together to save money. I will be making more meals this year and trying to go back to organic. We are already planning our garden so that we can get the most out of it. I will be canning a lot this year so that I can have lots of organic veggies!!! So to everyone, send any ideas you have and we can save money together.

Ways to save money for the new year.

Ok so I know that money is a big issue for most of us and finding ways to save is crucial. So here are some f my favorite websites and money saving tips.

www.mysavings.com - this site has great freebies and also allows you to compare sale ads for your area. I have gotten free makeup, cups, food, magazines and more.

www.cellfire.com - this site allows you to download coupons right to your kroger card. And for those of us that may sometimes forget coupons this is a big help and no carrying around coupons.

www.chacingonashoestring.com - great site if you are looking for deals on movies, food, and what sales are going on at local walgreens, etc.

Next, I am a big believer in making your own laundry soap. I can make enough for about 3 months for about 3.00 total price. This is a huge savings if you do a lot of laundry like I do. I also refuse to buy bottled water. I use a filtering system and fill up jugs of water so that all i have to do is put them outside to get cold and they are good to go. I also compare prices online on big purchases before I buy so that I know I am getting the best prices.

I also use freecycle websites so that if I have something I don't use anymore than I can give it to a good home. I also use it to get things I do need that someone else may be getting rid of.

This is just a short list but I will post more later.