My raise was supposed to take effect today

But I didn't get my pay stub. For whatever reason, my mail gets redirected to another person with my first name. Now mind you, our last names are not even close. Add to that the fact that she works in Kentucky, and I don't understand that at all.

I could just go on-line and look up my pay but I haven't yet. I'm weird like that. I had a bad experience once with a raise that didn't go through, so I only look at my pay stub. I don't think it will be all that different, it wasn't like a got a fantabulous raise. My bills increased so much over the last year that I didn't even raise my 401k percentage like I was supposed to. I need all of that money and then some.

Find weather conditions on AccuWeather.com

This is a crazy time of the year for weather related occurrences. You have tornadoes and twisters touching down on parts of the country. Then in other parts, the weather is 80 one day then 60 degrees the next. I never know how to dress going out of the door in the morning.

Who really wants to get up and watch the news in the morning or right before they go to bed when all they really want to know is the weather. You don't want to start or end your day with all of that depressing news. But with a widget from accuweather.com you can constantly keep track of the weather right on your desktop. I keep my computer powered on constantly so I can always see what the weather is. Widgets are easy to install, so you can have it up and running in no time. You can also check international destinations. Vacation coming up, no problem, you can easily check to see what the temperatures will be at your destination. The site is free and will easily integrate right onto your blog.

You can also go take part in the accuweather video challenge. You can make a trial video with the grand prize being $5,000 and a chance to do a real video forecast for accuweather.com.

I got my ticket for Mother's Day

It cost me $100. Not too bad. I was hoping it would be cheaper but I'm happy with that. I paid a lot more for my ticket last year. I have to leave work early because if I leave on time, I won't get to the airport until 6pm and my flight is at 6:30pm. That's pushing it. Sometimes you can get through security quickly, sometimes it takes a while. Also, since I have to take the airport shuttle, I don't want to take the chance that the bus gets stuck in traffic. I'm really excited to be going home.

On another note, I totally misinterpreted what my neighbor said. I thought he was saying that he would take me home for Mother's Day. He meant in general that I could catch a ride if he was going home. I'm glad I went ahead and got my ticket. It was right after I got my ticket, that I realized what he had said. I would have been so mad at myself if I had waited to get my ticket.

On-line bidding with a twist

A unique twist in my opinion. What's so unique? How about the lowest bid wins. How's that for different? bid4prizes has come up with an interesting concept. You can bid by cell phone individually or you can sign up for a monthly subscription. You can also bid on-line.

When I first heard about this, I wondered how exactly it worked. The lowest unique bid wins. So no going out and bidding $.01. That's it, make a low bid and win a fabulous prize. You can win a BMW, a cruise, a Apple I-Phone, or $1 million dollars. Whoa! They're great prizes, but they're not the only ones. There are plenty of other prizes to win.

I would love to win the money. I mean really, who wouldn't. But realistically, I could see me bidding for the cruise. I'm already going on a cruise this summer, but another one would be great. What's better than a extra vacation? I would bid something crazy. Maybe something like $104.42. I think that's a good amount to bid. I'm really excited to bid and win something great.

No more late night pizza deliveries?

In the Swissvale area of Pittsburgh, they're trying to ban night time delivery of food. I do understand the point. Someone was shot and killed a few weeks ago. The shops want to keep their employees safe. What sucks is, most people order late because they just got off of work or just got home. I do understand the drivers' hesitation though.

I need to get my eyes checked

I usually buy my contact lenses on line. They are much cheaper that way. I usually get them for almost half of what my doctor is charging. I've been thinking about getting Lasik surgery. I'm really afraid of it though. You know how everyone has a phobia? Well, mine is anything to do with my eyes. I even hate getting eye drops.

My friend Betty works at an eye doctors office and she's had lasik. She loves the fact that she doesn't have to wear glasses anymore. I actually know 3 people who've had lasik and none of them have had complications afterwards. Only 3% of people have problems after 6 months. Since lasik has such a high success rate, I'm definitly considering it. I hope they still give you a muscle relaxer though.

I need tax help

Not really with my taxes but with my exemptions. I went to an on line calculator that estimates what your pay check should be after taxes and benefits. My check is way lower than that. It's because I'm over with-holding. I know most single people claim 0 to get a large refund. I claim 1 and usually get a small refund.

According to this site, I should claim 2 and just about break even at tax time. It would be better for me to see the money in my paycheck instead of getting a refund. But I worry about not holding out enough and owing at the end of the year. I owed money 2 years ago (because I sold some stock) and I did not like it at all. I should probably just leave well enough alone and take the refund.

Big Web Links Directory

Have you ever looked up your blog on a search engine directory? Even with great keywords, your blog can still end up on page 4 or 5. Let's face it, most people use the first page of rankings. Occasionally they may look at page 2 but not often.

So how do you get people to constantly see your site. There's a service that lets you decide how high your site ranks when you bid web sites. How does this work? You bid an amount and the higher your bid, the higher your site ranks on the directory. What's even better is anyone can donate to your site.

If you're into monetizing your site, this is a great tool for you. You can control how high your site ranks. Also, the top 10 sites overall are listed on the Big Web Links homepage. And did I mention that all links are permanent, so you will always have linkage from a high pr site.

Grades still aren't in yet

Grades are due by Thursday at the latest. The professor can post them as soon as she has them ready. But we have to have them by Thursday.

I did see that I got a 8 on my extra credit project. That's cool. The class average was 10.25. I was surprised. I figured she would grade them low. I know a few people did really well. I picked a really easy subject. I just used the law of supply and demand. With the topic and scenario that I chose, I don't see how I could have gotten a higher grade. I'm happy with an 8 because I was really only expecting a 5.

Do blind dates really suck?

I wrote that blind dates suck on my last post. But do they really? I really wouldn't know. I've never been on a blind date. All of the people that I've ever dated were friends of mine first. I didn't have the first date jitters that most people have. WIth us it was always more like friends hanging out than a date.

I mean it was a date, but there was no pressure. We felt like we could be ourselves. Not send our "representatives". I know this wouldn't work for most people, but it's great for me. If I meet someone new, I'm very reluctant to go out with them right away. The few times that I have dated someone that I didn't know very well was a downright nightmare. I've never dated a total stranger. And at this point, I don't think I could.

Blind dates suck

One of my friends from work went on a blind date last Friday. It was horrible. Some of their mutual friends set them up. He said never again. Friends are supposed to know you best, not set you up with incompatible people. He should check out a site where he can use different features like Person.com - webcams, chat, personals. He could use the play and flirt game or he could vote on pictures and decide whether the ladies are hot or not. He could use his webcam and make his own show or watch someone elses webcam show. It would so much better than what he had. And it's free to join.

I'm thinking of changing my templates

Not so much on this blog. I am looking into the blogger hack to get rid of some things but for the most part, I like the look of this blog. Blue is my favorite color and this one fits perfectly. I've seen some blogger blogs that are pretty nice though. They don't have that annoying bar at the top for one thing. There is also a hack to make 3 rows instead of two.

I really don't like the template of my other blog too much. But I don't want the same or too similar of a template on two blogs. I'll have to look around some more before I really start messing with that one.

Have you used Masterseek?

Masterseek is a global search engine focusing on businesses. The masterseek search engine has company information on over 45 million companies in 75 countries. You can find everything from products and service information to company profiles and contact information. You can search for any type of company including accounting, optical, or even banking and finance. Connecting buyers and suppliers worldwide is one of the reasons Masterseek is one of the largest B2B search engines.

My final was extremely difficult

I'm not even exaggerating. I think someone ticked her off while she was writing the exam. We had 30 multiple choice questions and 5 long problems. We had to choose 3 of the 5 to do.

There was only 1 question from the last 2 classes. This was the information that I understood the most. Just figures right? There were 2 or 3 questions that I didn't have the fainest idea what the answer was. They were purely guesses.

Out of the 5 problems, there was 1 that I knew I was skipping as soon as I started it. I started another problem and I didn't like the way the answer was looking so I moved on. I wound up crossing that one off and doing the remaining 3.

The multiple choice was worth 90 points and the problems were only worth 60. I would feel much better if those numbers were reversed. I feel more confident in my answers to the problems than in my answers to those multiple choice questions. I knew the questions would be difficult because she told us she didn't like to use those anyway.

Now I just have to wait and see what grade I end up with. I hope I did well on my extra credit project. I need all of the points I can get.

Watching my portfolio

My portfolio is pretty well rounded. I have cash, stocks, bonds and mutual funds. I don't have a lot of money to invest, but I am making sure I have a balanced portfolio. Another piece of the puzzle for me would be to add global futures to the mix.

Most people never consider things like futures because they don't think they have the money. You can get started with Global Futures for as little as $250. You can also invest in options and foreign exchanges because they work with exchanges in Europe and Asia.

I'm trying to build my net worth. In doing so, I'm diversifying my money into different areas including areas that most people don't look at. I know most people stick to relatively safe investments but most of those investments bring lousy returns. I'm willing to be a little more aggressive with a portion of my money, especially since I'm still young and have time on my side.

General randomness

How in the world does Google decide what ads to put on your site. No I'm not gay or stupid, but these two questions seem to always appear in my ads.

I should be studying for my final on Tuesday.

I've been watching tv all day, when I know I have other things to do.

The Yankees got swept by the Red Sox. Giving up 4 back to back home runs won't help you win any games.

Personal finance programs on tv

I watched the end of a program on CNBC. The little bit I saw was pretty interesting. They had 4 personal finance experts giving their thoughts on becoming a Millionaire.

I really don't remember any of their names, but the one that interested me the most was the woman who believes everyone should be entrepreneurs. She said that you can start your own business or become a partner. She told one woman that she was probably not charging enough for her services. She told her to take every job that came her way, charge more and get help to take some of the work off of her hands.

She also suggested that anyone that was considering become an entrepreneur to straddle between their two worlds. Those two worlds being their regular job and their new business. She doesn't suggest that anyone just quit their job to start their own business. You should have income coming in and build your own business at the same time.

I can't wait until they repeat the program so I can catch it from the beginning. There seemed to be a lot of useful advice.

A new kid on the blog

Yup, on the blog. I like the play on words. Bloggerwave is the newest entry into the world of paid blogging. They offer you the chance to take opportunities, blog about them and get paid. Easy man. And fun too.

You haven't heard of Bloggerwave yet? Well, you need to check them out.

This week has been horrible

There are shootings everywhere. Today somebody killed themselves and a hostage at NASA. They also wounded someone else. People are outta control.

Yesterday here in Pittsburgh, a guy killed someone downtown at 8am. That's not even the worse part. First he went up to a guy and held him at gunpoint, when he spun him around, he saw that he wasn't who he was looking for. He said "my bad" and walked away. 5 minutes later, he saw the guy he was looking for and just started shooting. After the guy fell to the ground, he shot him several more times.

Not only were the streets crowded with people going to work, but it happened right in front of a daycare. They talked to a daycare worker and they said that luckily none of the kids knew what had happened. I hope this is not a sign of things to come.

PayPerPost is making moves

I know I've discussed PayPerPost here before. They bring bloggers together with advertisers trying to get the word about their product out. Posties can choose the opportunities that they want to talk about. And we get paid for it to boot. How cool is that?

PayPerPost is working hard behind the scenes to make the company better, not only for posties but for advertisers as well. You have to keep the people who are providing the online ads happy. Most advertisers can rate the posties by how good of a job they feel we do. The vast majority are happy with the quality of posts that we put out. Posties take pride in their work and we don't like to put out posts that we aren't proud of.

Well, PayPerPost is making moves by buying another company. They haven't told us who it is yet. It's still "unofficial". That's great news for posties. It means the company is growing and expanding. It also means that there will be additional opportunities in other areas for posties. I think that the new company will expose a different segment of advertisers to PayPerPost who may not have considered them before.

I bet they've acquired a technology company. They're implementing a new platform and moving to a new data center. I want to say it's Tech Crunch but I'm not sure. I know I can't wait until next week to find out who it is. And I know things are really going to get exciting for us posties.

Review sheet for my final exam

I just printed the review sheet for my final exam out. The professor lists the concepts that she suggests you concentrate on. Basically, if a concept is not on her review sheet then it won't be on the final.

She told us that half is multiple choice. The other half is questions/answers and problems. We should expect to have between 3 and 5 of these to choose from. Each question will have multiple parts. Each question may have 6-8 different answers. The first few will be short answer and the rest will involve calculations and graphs. Remember though, that's for each question and I will have 3-5 of them. The second part will be the equivalent of 4-5 quizzes. Each quiz takes about 20-30 minutes. So it should take 1 1/2 hours at least to finish.

It figures the teams I want to see will be playing this weekend when I'll be busy studying.

We had our final review

Man, this test is going to be killer. I can't believe all of the information that we have. Our professor stood in front of the class and answered questions for about 1 1/2 hours. Her final is half multiple choice and half questions and answers. The question and answer section is set up just like our regular quizzes and in class assignments.

She told us on the first day of class that she hated multiple choice questions and makes them super hard when she has to use them. I have to make sure I know a lot of terminology down pat because I'm sure that will be the bulk of the multiple choice questions. I also have to re-visit some of the graphs because we have to know which ones to use. We also have to know all of the formulas that we learned all year long.

I looked at my grades on line and I need 119 points out of 150 for a B in the class. I'm surprised there's still hope for the B. 109 will be a B-, I can't afford to get any grade lower than that. She hasn't even made the exams yet. Some people are taking the test early and they'll have a different exam then we do. I just hope nobody ticks her off while she's writing it. I don't need her angry and writing exam questions at the same time.

Get a free software development tool

How do you feel about free? I love it. Especially when it's something as useful as free software. I know a ton of bloggers who create their own software when they can't find something that fits their blog. If you're looking to make a eDeveloper Discovery, this is definitely the site for you.

There's a blog with tons of information as well as a Yahoo discussion group for new developers. If you're out their trying to create something and you get stuck, head on over to the discussion boards and bounce your ideas off of some like minded people.

No more hassles and code free software. Best of all, it's free. Head on over and check it out.

Some things I've learned about blogging

I've had this blog for just over 1 year. I have over 200 posts and that's including the time when I took a brief hiatus because my computer blew up. I've learned a few things during that time. Nothing earth shattering, just some observations that I've made.

One of the biggest things I've learned is that you should stay true to your blog. This is supposed to be a personal finance blog but I've been blogging about everything. This blog has lost its focus big time. I have a blog on my own domain which will be strictly personal finance. My personal finance categories include school, because it's personal growth and directly impacts my finances. I may change the title of this blog to reflect the fact that it's not just personal finance related anymore.

Edit: I've put the rest of this post on my other blog. I think it fits better over there.

My taxes are done finally

And I'm happy to say I don't owe! That was my biggest fear. I thought I would owe big-time this year and I didn't, I got a refund! That really made me happy. My refund is $275. I do owe the state $24 which is not surprising since I owe them every year.

Last year I hardly had any deductions. This year, I'll have my 401k, student loan interest and I'll be able to take the Lifetime Learning Credit. I don't really care about my refund status. I try to withhold just the right amount. I know a lot of people claim no exemptions so they get a bigger refund. Not me, I claim 1 all year long. I would rather have the money in my check than worry about a refund. I will admit it feels good to get one this year though.

Using my free airline ticket to go to Las Vegas

I've earned a free airline ticket over the past two years. I don't want to use the ticket to go home since it's so close. I want to get the most bang for my buck so to speak. I've already decided to go to Las Vegas. That's what I'll use the free ticket for.

I can't wait. I'm looking to go in August around my birthday. I've been looking on-line for hotel rates and I think that will determine which days I actually go. I've seen rates that range from $55 a night to $420 a night. There's no way I'm going when the rates are above $150 per night. Of course I'm going to gamble and I hope to have my room at least partially comped. The lower the actual rate, the easier it will be to get the comp.

I don't understand the table games at all. I know that roulette I can pick a number and just ride that number or I can pick red or black but it seems like I would need a ton of money to play for a while. That's why I plan on sticking to the slot machines. Your money can last fairly long on slots. I know some people hate the slots and call them mindless, but I love them.

It would be awesome if I hit a jackpot. Then I could look into Las Vegas real estate, especially new home sales. That would be a hoot to actually own real estate in Las Vegas. I already know that I would go for a condo. A regular house would be way too much for me to handle.

All I know is that I can't wait for this trip. I haven't been to Las Vegas in over 4 years and I'm looking forward to seeing the newest sites on the strip. And hitting a jackpot of course.

Thank goodness this semester is almost over

I don't think I could take much more school this semester. Last week was the worst. We were supposed to have a quiz and lecture and be done. We had a extra in-class assignment to do. It will make it easier for her to grade. All she has to do now is drop one 15 point quiz.

I had a death in the family so I didn't study. I couldn't afford to miss the class however so I still went. I had already missed a class when the weather was sub-zero. That quiz is the score that will get dropped. I can't afford a zero too as I'm barely hanging on to my B- as it is.

I did get my extra credit project done. At least I'll get a few extra points there. Tomorrow is just a review day. Unfortunately the final is cumulative. Next week, I'll be studying like there's no tomorrow.

Not having a car sucks!

I had planned on going to Cleveland this summer to catch a baseball game. The Pirates are right here, but most of the teams that I really like are in the American League and Cleveland is fairly close. The problem? I don't have a car. Day to day, it's not bad not having a car. I take the bus to work and shopping is fairly close. When you want to go somewhere out of the ordinary is a different story.

I don't like to borrow other people's cars. I don't even like to drive their cars. I prefer to have my own. I'm looking into Bad Credit Auto Loans for New and Used Cars. I've been eyeing a couple of different cars and I might have to just bite the bullet and finance something. I was hoping to put that off for another year or two, but I'm shopping around now. I'd say that I should have a car within the next 6 months.

Paying bills on line

Just a word of advise. Find out when your bank, credit union, or financial institution sends out the checks when you use on line bill pay. When I first signed up, my bank mailed the checks out 3 days before you said you wanted the bill paid.

Two months ago, they changed their tos (terms of service) to say that the check will be mailed out on the exact day that you want the bill paid. I still paid my bills the same way and last month, two of my bills were late. One charged a late fee (a credit card company of course), one did not. I am not mad at the bank at all. I should have read the up to date tos.

I just want to send a reminder/warning to everyone else to keep up to date with the tos of your bank and to find out exactly what day your checks are being sent out. Hopefully, your bills won't be late and you won't get slammed with late fees like I did.

Vote for your favorite blog

Do you have a favorite blog? Well you can nominate it for the first annual Blogger's Choice Awards. Don't know what the Blogger's Choice Awards are? Allow me to explain.

The blog awards are awards where any blog can win. That's right even your blog! You can vote for best blog or funniest blog. Or you can get wild and crazy and vote for the Hottest Mommy Blogger or even the Most Obnoxious Blogger. Me myself, I'm not eligible for either of those categories. I'm not a mom and I'm not obnoxious. Well, I hope nobody thinks I'm obnoxious.

What's really cool is that any blog can win. You can vote for yourself or your friends. How about the cool tech blog you read every day? That's right, nominate it as well. I do have a favorite blog and it's not even one of my own. I am tempted to nominate myself though just so I can put a brag on my blog. Did I mention that yet? They have cool badges that you can put on your site to let everyone know that you were nominated. And each category has it's own badge. If you have 3 blogs and they all get nominated, each blog can have it's own individual badge.

The voting period last until May 22, 2007. The winners will be announced live at Postie Con 07 on June 2 in Orlando FL. Wouldn't that be awesome to be at Postie Con and hear them announce your blog as the best of anything. Just think of the bragging rights you'll have. Don't be shy, nominate yourself or one of your friends today!

I may not have to buy a airline ticket after all

My next door neighbor has family in NJ. He goes home every other month to see them. I might be able to bum a ride with him for Mother's Day. The only bad thing is that his family lives in North Jersey and mine live in South Jersey so it would be way out of his way to drop me off.

The reason for that is that I take the PA turnpike all the way into Philly then cross the Ben Franklin bridge. He gets off of the turnpike in Harrisburg then takes 81 to 78 (or something like that). He said that he would let me know by the middle of next week, so I'll hold off on buying my ticket until at least then.

Mmmm shrimp

Do you like shrimp, or love it? There seems to be no middle ground with shrimp it's either one of the other. Here's my ode to shrimp:

S-sumptuous and delicious
H-healthy and nutritious
R-raise your good cholesterol
I-ideal source of protein
M-Mexican margarita shrimp
P-pan-fried goodness

Now that's what I think of shrimp! That margarita shrimp sounds good, but coconut shrimp sounds even better. I found a lot of great Shrimp Recipes that I can't wait to try out. What do you think?

I need to get my airline ticket for Mother's Day weekend

I still haven't gotten my ticket. Last year I purchased my ticket over a month before the holiday. Then about 3 weeks before the holiday, the price dropped by about $50 bucks. That's money I could have definitely used.

I don't really have to worry about all of the seats selling out because I have 3 days available to travel on. I'm also not coming home until that Monday or Tuesday so I should be cool with available seats. I just hate playing the waiting game, checking on the site every day to try to find the cheapest seat. An ideal price would be $80 including taxes so that's what I'm shooting for.

Happy Easter!

I just want to wish everyone in the blogosphere a Happy Easter. I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable day!

Memorial Day weekend I may be going on a party on the run

Have you heard of these? It's a bus ride to another city to go bar-hopping. The route is planned out and host bars are expecting the people from the bus. The first one or two bars will have food and drinks available for the trip participants. The owner of the bars that you visit touts it in their city as well, so it's usually a very high turnout. They're usually under $50 and they keep them fairly close.

In May, the trip is to Detroit. After that, the cities include Cleveland, Baltimore and New York. I don't know if I really want to go on any of those trips. The organizer is also working with a company in Cleveland so there will be people from both cities during the Detroit trip. Each city is taking 2 buses, so there will be lots of us and it should be fun.

Edited to say: My trip depends on whether or not any of my friends go. I don't want to be on a bus with a bunch of strangers. People are not usually rowdy even though they've been drinking. But I still want to go with at least one person I know.

I need to lose weight for my upcoming vacation

I am definitely not swimsuit ready. I'm not even shorts or capri ready. Why? I've gained so much weight and I'm having a hard time getting it off. I've been exercising and watching what I eat but it's really not helping. I found a diet pill called Nueslim, that I think I'm gonna check out.

It has a lifetime guarantee. I like the sound of that. Since most products have a 30 day guarantee, when you start gaining the weight back after day 40, you're outta luck. You can also try it for as low as $9.95 per bottle.

This will be my first vacation in over 2 years, and I want to be ready for it. I will lose weight before August.

School is almost over for the semester

I can't wait. Next week is our last quiz and lecture. The following week is a review for the final. And the next week (3 weeks away) is the final exam. The only bad thing is that the final exam is cumulative. Some of the concepts build upon each other so you can just break them down and get the answer. Other things you learn and use once and that's it. It seems the latter is most of the information we learned. I have learned a lot but this has been a long semester.

I didn't register for the summer because there are no classes that fit into my schedule. I'm not surprised. I really didn't expect there to be a bunch of night classes in the summer. The only class I really wanted to take is a online class. I'm the type of student who needs structure, so it's not a realistic option for me.

I did register for 2 classes for the fall, macro-econ and pre-calculus. I did take macro before at the community college, but it didn't transfer in. I should at least have a basic understanding of it already. I'm not looking forward to pre-calc. I did everything in my power before not to take calculus at all. It's required for my major and for the business program that I hope to get into. I'll just have to study extra hard for that class.

I didn't get the job

I found out last Wednesday. I got an email first thing in the morning, it had been mailed around 10:45pm Tuesday night. The guy that interviewed me probably made his decision on Tuesday right after he interviewed the last candidate.

I really don't know how to feel. I haven't interviewed a lot, but when I did I got the job. So this was the first job I interviewed for that I didn't get. It also seemed to be a good fit and a good opportunity. There was the opportunity for advancement and that seemed appealing.

I guess I'll just have to keep looking. While this may not have been the job for me, I know one is out there.

Check out GiveawayProject.com for legitimate sweepstakes

Yesterday, I wrote a post warning you to watch out for sweepstakes scams. I found a new site called the GiveawayProject that lists legitimate sweepstakes for you to enter. Michael also wrote a post called Free=Free? Don't Fall For This. It talks all about those enter here and win a laptop type sweepstakes scams.

Head on over to Michael's blog and read all of his great articles. And enter a sweepstakes or two while you're at it. Who knows, you might end up with an awesome prize out of it.

Make money by being an expert in your field

Do you spend a lot of time on the internet? I know I sure do. I'm not an expert in my field though. I'm fairly new in my job expertise. But for those of you who may are good at what you do, you can make money with Isellim: Connect with experts online now via Instant Message.

How does Isellim work? It's easy, you register as an expert in your given field and set a rate. Say you want to charge $1 per hour. Whenever someone wants to ask a question, they agree to pay your rate and you chat via IM. Easy Peezy.

Why not give it a try and make some easy extra money today.

Watch out for sweepstakes scams

My friend called me today to tell me that she won a cruise. I told her great, now what did she have to do to claim the prize. She started telling me all of the terms and conditions and I stopped her in mid-sentence. "Scam" I shouted. "But it's free" she replied. No it's not, and I'll tell you why.

First, let me say that I used to be a semi-professional sweeper. Yep, that's what we were called. The people who enter sweepstakes all the time. It's a hobby, but a lot of people take it very seriously. I did too until it got to be too expensive.

But onto the scams:

1. If you have to pay anything to claim your prize, it's a scam. Real sweepstakes don't require you to pay anything to claim prizes.

2. If you're told you won a cruise and have to pay miscellaneous expenses, it's not only a scam, but probably a time share pitch. They offer a 3-4 day cruise to the Bahamas. You pay port charges and some other fees. Sometimes they offer a room in the Bahamas. After they total all of the fees, it's over $500 per person. Then you have to sit through a time share presentation. And make no mistake about it, these are high pressured pitches geared towards getting you to sign. The best thing to do is turn down this "prize" and book your own trip.

3. You win something and as a "bonus" you get a bunch of magazines for some ridiculously cheap price. Scam. Not only do you not get your prize, but you have a hard time cancelling all of those magazine subscriptions.

4. You're at the mall and there's a sign up box to win a car, or some other fabulous prize. Scam. It usually puts you on a mailing list of some sort. If you read the fine print, you see that they might be running this "contest" in malls all over the country. Because you signed up for it, it also circumvents the Do Not Call list.

We all know the if it sounds too good to be true adage, but it's something about hearing "You Won!" that makes us throw all of that out of the window. Just keep your cool and request all of the information in writing before you give out any of your personal information.

Ocean's 13 already?

I just saw the advertisement for Ocean's 13. I can't believe they've filmed it already. I obviously haven't kept up, because I didn't even know that production began.

Meanwhile, I still have Ocean's 12 in the original case. I just never got around to watching it. I guess I better watch it soon.

Do you really need to be told how to use the restroom

I get a lot of newsletters. Mostly from sites where I sign up and get placed on the mailing list. I am a member of several travel sites and I read their letters often.

This past week, on of my letters focused on how to use the restroom. I mean, who doesn't know this stuff. Most of it was common sense. In my opinion that's the easiest way to tick off a reader. That's by making the simplest of things look complicated. It's an insult to your reader to treat them like idiots.

It's my market classifieds

There's a new free classified service on-line. You can find all kinds of stuff there. You can find jobs, houses, cars and lots of other stuff here. I also found some great blogs and a competitions page. They're not running any competitions at the moment, but in the past the category has been photography.

If you would like to find a local even or local news, there is a community page. You can find sporting events, charity and fundraising societies, or clubs for collectible cards or youth activities.

Place an ad in the classifieds section and you could may be able to find that new job you've been looking for. Best of all, it's a free service. You can't beat free.

My friend Michelle is graduating college this May

My friend Michelle went back to school 3 years ago. Michelle is a mom and a grandma, I would tell you her age but if she ever read this she'd kill me. She works full time and has been going to school at Carlow College year-round to get done sooner.

I thought she had one more year, but she's done in May. I am so proud of her. It's great to see people you care about move on and realize their full potential.

You go girl!

Is your home properly insured?

It's that time of the year again. Time for tornadoes, hurricanes and all of the other crazy weather that mother nature throws at us. On tonight's newscast, I've already seen where tornadoes have destroyed multiple homes.

The saddest part of all is when a person gets on camera and says that not only have they lost everything, but they had no insurance. The first thing I did when I moved out on my own was get Home Owner Insurance Quotes,
because you just never know what's going to happen. I've always figured better safe than sorry, especially when you can shop around and find a affordable insurance policy.

The funniest site I have seen in a long time

I'm sure we've all read something that has literally made us laugh out loud, but you have got to check out I am not a hamster. This blog is hysterical. I was cracking up the whole time I was reading it.

Every post is funny and of course Ed makes sure to mention that he is not a hamster. Do you need need an example. Ok, I got one for ya. How about the 91 year old man that got glued to the roof? All I could imagine was this old man with his feet up in the air, kicking and screaming.

If you are not a hamster, I would suggest you check this site out. And if you are a hamster, where did you learn to read?

I hate taxes

The last day to file your federal taxes will be here before you know it. Usually I get a small federal refund and owe a small amount to the state. But this year, I need lots of Tax Help. I owe for the first time in over 5 years.

I changed my exemptions so I would have extra money taken out of my paychecks. But I needed money last year so I had to sell most of my stock. I had a large gain and didn't hold the stock long enough, so I don't get the long-term capital gains rate.

I did find some local tax preparers to help me out. In general I do my own taxes but this year they are more complicated than usual. I really don't want to pay. If I owe more than a certain amount, I can get on the payment plan but I sure hope I don't owe that much. This is another reason why I want to live in Florida. Floridians don't pay state income tax. So I would owe less. Can I disown Uncle Sam?

Interview over

I wrote this post but lost it. So this is a brief recap. Although the weather sucked, my interview went fairly well.

My friend interviewed for the same job and was told that they hoped to make a decision by last week. Then I was called to interview. My interviewer told me that he had 2 (maybe he said 3) people left to interview. They should be completed by tomorrow afternoon and he hoped to make a decision by Friday at the latest. I know they interviewed at least 10 people. I'm not really sure what they're looking for.

All I can do is play the waiting game. I did my best at the interview. I don't have any control over who they pick so there's no need to stress about it.

Stupid post verification

This is the second time this week that I've lost a post because of post verification. It tells me that I have the wrong letters and to go back. Then it erases my whole post. What really sucks is that I had the right letters. And I don't feel like re-typing the whole post.

I just put in a support request to have someone review my blog to take the verification mode off. I hope they get to it fairly quickly because this bites.

First Google, now Technorati

My website hasn't been updated in 386 days. Yes, I know the post directly under this one was created today. But according to Technorati, I haven't done an update in a long time. I've put in a support ticket and posted the problem on their website, they haven't done anything about it yet.

I did notice one thing in the forum. Most of the people who weren't being updated were using blogspot addresses. There were people with their own domain names as well, but blogspot seemed to be in the majority. It would seem to me that instead of tons of people submitting support tickets, Technorati would figure out what the glitch is with our code and give us a remedy to fix it. Or maybe I'm just asking way too much.

I'm trying to cut my school costs

School is getting ridiculously expensive. Tuition is set to increase next year among other things. Right now, my only option is to cut school-related expenses.

Within the next two semesters I have to take calculus. I put that class off as long as I could. Not only is the book expensive but so are the calculators. I've been looking at calculatorsource.com and found a 1-Step Metric Conversion Calculator, in addition to a regular graphing calculator. One is on sale right now for $45. That's cheap compared to what I've seen in stores. And I can use the same calculator for my statistics class. I'm putting that class off until next spring. My brain is already fried.

I'm getting a great birthday present this year

My uncle is sending me, my mom and my aunt on a cruise. We don't know which cruise line or where we're going yet. Me and my mom both have August birthdays, and we're going the week of her birthday.

I can't wait. I'm still going to Vegas for a couple of days, but now I have to watch my spending money so I'll have some left for the cruise. I haven't been on a cruise in ages and I'm excited. I can't wait to go. C'mon August.

Win a cool prize by entering a sweepstakes

I enter sweepstakes all of the time. I used to enter exclusively by postal mail but that got way too expensive. Now I enter on-line. It's faster and you can find great prizes. Today I found one where you can Get a Free iPod from iPodSweepstakes.com Now!.

They give away one ipod every day. How does this work? You get one entry just for your initial sign-up. If you don't win the daily sweepstakes, you can earn one. You get points for completing advertisers' offer on the site, by clicking on emails that they send you or by referring a friend to the site.

I'm signing up for this. If I don't win the daily prize, I can always accumulate enough points to earn one.

You find the funniest stuff surfing the web

I was browsing around the internet today and came across the phrase simple kindness goes a long way. It started as a thanks for helping with a new website. Most people were gracious enough to jump in and offer advise on gaining traffic and how to add widgets. But a funny ad jumped out at everyone. It was for cheap tires. lol. Everyone had a good laugh, especially when someone admitted that they clicked on the link because they really are looking for tires. The smallest things amuse me.

Google is gonna drive me crazy

I've said multiple times that I have more than 1 blog. I'm trying to raise the rankings on all of them. I need my page rank to go higher. This website is currently a 1/10. Actually, at this very moment my pr is 0/10. Google has decided to update and the bots are going crazy on my site. My future pr is estimated to be 0/10. That's crazy. I actually have more hits now than I did before and I have more incoming links too.

I wish they would have waited until mid April when everyone was expecting them to do their update. Then I wouldn't have been on such shaky ground.

Las Vegas is a go

I'm definitely going to Las Vegas this year. I just don't know when. I was planning a short trip this summer during the weekend of my birthday. But I decided to go home to visit my mom instead. Now, I'm pushing the trip back until around October.

I admit that I'm a internet junkie. So the first thing I wondered was how would I be able to surf the web while I'm away from home and I found a company that would let me do Las Vegas computer rentals. The company has been around for over 25 years so you know it's not some fly by night operation. You can rent desktops, laptops, plasma rentals and more. CRE has certified technicians come in and set up the equipment for you. And they offer their service throughout the U.S. and Canada.

I won't have to worry about missing time away from school either. Since I'm taking an on-line class in the fall, I can study during my trip too. How cool is that?

Really nervous about interview

I hate job interviews. I am so nervous right now. I can't sleep and I'm stressing over what to wear. Since I gained so much weight, I don't have a suit. I'm loosing weight but it's slow going. So I really don't want to spend a whole lot of money on a suit that I may only wear once. Plus I just found out about the interview yesterday so it's not like I had a lot of time to go look for something.

I'll probably just wear black slacks and my blue shirt. I have to find something else to wear for the rest of the day since I wore the blue shirt to work on Monday. And yes, I plan on washing the shirt tomorrow. I don't want to go to the interview stinky. I'll already look like a deer in headlights. I don't want to smell like I just got hit by the car!

School update

Ugh, what can I say. Just when I think I know what the heck is going on, the teacher throws us a curve ball. Everybody studied the formulas and graphs. She decided to ask us a bunch of short answers. Everyone got the answer right, but got lost on explaining how we got the answer.

On quiz six the class average was 8.08 out of 15. I did worse than that because I missed the class the week before. That was during the time when it was below zero in the afternoon, so it was like -10 by 6pm and I don't get out of school until 8:30 pm.

B- that's all I'm hoping for. I get reimbursement for anything above a C- but I want a higher grade than that. I just keep telling myself that it's almost over.

I'm a land owner!

Ok so it's only 1 square inch, but it's mine. Woohoo. Movin' on up like George and Weezy! lol.

I found this site while I was browsing around Braden's blog. I found his blog through PghBloggers. Braden owns land in Utah. Me, I stuck close to home in PA. Fayette county to be exact. I never considered owning land there, and now I do. Like I said, it's only 1 square inch, but it's free.

What a fun site. This is certainly the gift for the person who has everything. Check it out and you too can own land in the USA anywhere you want!

Tuition reimbursement is cool

Even though it's only $5k per year. I say only because 1 full semester is almost $6k and on a per credit basis it's $475. So that's 10 credits. I need two 4 credit math classes. So one math class and 2 regular classes meets my tuition reimbursement allotment for the year.

I'm not complaining though because a lot of jobs a) don't offer tuition reimbursement benefits and b) offer a lot less. I know of some other major companies offer about $2500 per year. That's only half. I don't like that we have a 3 year commitment afterwards. It used to be 1 year but was recently changed. But that's not too bad because it's a pro-rated amount.

I just wish I could find some scholarships. Being a non-traditional age student sucks in that regard.

Cars are so expensive

I've been researching Used Cars at lemonfree.com. I'm looking at a couple of different models. I was looking at a Santa Fe but I've changed my mind about that. My friend got one of those last summer and it's in the shop for the 3rd time. The first time was because someone hit her. This time it's because the carpet on the passenger seat is falling apart. She hardly ever has anyone in her car so this is a definite problem.

Since I'm trying to stay in the small suv style of car, my next option is a Toyota RAV4. It comes with 4 wheel drive standard. And since winter just doesn't seem to want to leave, and it seems to snow every day, I want 4 wheel drive. I like where it says in the review that the car is no longer to be thought of as a "Cute Ute", and is more substantive than those built just a few years ago.

I'm glad I found this site to help me with my research. I don't want to spend a ton of money only to get stuck with a car that has poor reviews. I put stock in the reviews because it tells you what type of experiences other people have had with the same vehicle. You may have just gotten a car that had a malfunction. Other times you find that the entire model year has a defect. With proper research you can avoid these potential problems.

I research everything before I buy it now. From clothes to electronics and jewelry. I sure wouldn't pay thousands of dollars on a car without reading the reviews first. I know my friend wishes she had done more research before she got her car.

Do you get paid to shop?

In any way shape or form. I'm not talking about mystery shopping or anything like that. I mean cash back from credit cards, debit cards or from websites.

My answer to that is yes. I don't get paid with my credit card. I don't even use that thing that much. I do get points from my debit card. I can then turn those points into gift cards. I'll probably use it for Target, I love that store.

I also earn money back from a shopping website. I use fatwallet, but there are plenty of other sites like it. When you earn your first $5 in cash back, they give you a bonus $5. I have about $76 in that account right now. The bulk of that money was a $15 bonus from my laptop purchase, and $20 cash back when I signed up for Verizon internet.

I don't make the mistake of chasing cash back. If I earn it fine, but if not oh well. Right now, I have no plans on what to do with my cash back. I plan on letting it accrue until I get $100. I'll probably use that money to shop some more.

Last UPS update

This is the last update. I promise. I haven't heard anything from UPS. Not that I really expected to. I called their customer service to no avail. I also sent a letter through Planet Feedback. I feel a lot better now. Even if I don't hear anything from UPS.

I have made one decision, however. I like to shop online. But if a business only offers shipping via UPS, then I won't shop with them. If I don't use them in my regular day to day life, and they can't find a way to satisfy a customer, I can't use their service at all.

Speak your mind with The Anonymous Email

Hve you ever had something that you wanted to say to someone but just didn't know how to say it? Now you can use the Anonymous Email.

There are dozens of reasons to use an anonymous email. Maybe your friend hurt your feelings, and instead of confronting them you can send an email explaining the situation without compromising your friendship. Maybe you've wanted to compliment someone but felt too shy or intimidated. Send them an email and put the ball in their court. You can also send an email for a complaint, a suggestion or as an intervention.

The service is free to sign up and they have a policy anti-harassment policy. So go ahead, check it out. While you're at it express yourself with an anonymous email.

Blog news

There are several reasons why I started my other two blogs. One is because my blog is starting to lose its focus. It's supposed to focus on my finances. My finances include everything from what I spend to my investments. I don't give exact numbers or names of my investments, but I do give a general description of what I'm doing.

My blog is moving away from that because I write about anything and everything. So I put this blog on it's own domain and started another blogger blog. That way, one can focus on finances and the other will be be a very general blog. I'll eventually phase this one out, but that's a while away.

Smartphone sales grow astronomically

Smartphone sales are growing by leaps and bounds. In the first quarter of 2007, sales of smart phones are up 70% over the fourth quarter of 2006.

So which phone is Wirefly's top smartphones None other than the Samsung Blackjack. One of the factors leading to the increase in sales is the design. People want thinner more stylish phones and the Blackjack delivers. To read more about this check out rcr wireless news. You can read great articles about wireless phones, wireless news, and a very interesting article on Snoop Dogg. If that's not enough, there's also a story about Verizon's new VCast Mobile TV. Now that was news to me, I hadn't even heard of the service. Check out the site and you can find out the scoop too.

The brackets are out and other random thoughts

The brackets are out and I see Pitt is third seeded in the West region. They play on Thursday. I love Pitt, but they choke down the stretch. I don't see them making it past the Sweet 16. Of course, they'll do slightly better this year and I'll get all types of crank comments. But I'll take it. Being the betting woman that I am, I'll stand by my comments.

I submitted my other site Insane Random Ramblings to Pghbloggers.org. I like the site because they bring local traffic to your website. You get to see some interesting local sites. I hope my site is approved soon, because I'm trying to build page rank on that site and I need the traffic.

It's March Madness and I'm not in an office pool

For the first time in 5 years. I won my NCAA pool the last two years. But my new job is pretty lame and nobody does basketball or football pools. I really miss that. I personally think it adds another element to the games. I mean there are certain teams that I would watch anyway. But if there's money riding on it, I'm definitely gonna check out some of those games I would have otherwise missed.

Gold as an investment vehicle

I've been looking at plenty of alternative investments. After all, most financial planners will tell you not to put all of your eggs in one basket. Meaning spread your assets around different asset classes. These classes can include cash, stocks, fixed instruments (bonds) and precious metals like gold.

I've been thinking about investing in gold for some time now. Getting involved with a company like General Metals Corporation will let me invest without having to actually keep the physical gold itself. Have you ever held gold? It's heavy. If you wanted to invest a significant amount, where would you keep it?

At this point, I'm not able to make a significant investment. But that's ok. Because a company like this is just the right place for the small to mid-sized investor. After all, shouldn't everyone have the ability to make money?

Paying down my debt

I've paid down some debt recently, but I really need to pay more. I have a student loan, a credit card and a personal loan.

I'm trying to pay the credit card off first. Luckily it has a super low balance. The sole purpose for it is to help build my credit rating back up. I use it mostly for school and personal expenses. I don't pay my tuition with the card because the school charges a fee for every transaction. I use an e-check for that. The only school-related expenses are my books. Those suckers cost a fortune.

My personal expenses are put on the card because I don't always know my checking acct balance right off the top of my head so it's easier to put it on the credit card. I don't do that very often though. Usually just once or twice a month at Walmart or Target.

Hopefully I'll get a promotion or a raise soon and I can pay my debt faster.

Where are all of the good guys at?

Have you ever wondered where they are? It seems that good men are hard to find. I mean we can all meet people. But where do you meet decent Christian men? You could try Christian Dating. Christianlifestyle.com is a site dedicated to helping bring people of the Christian faith together.

I once dated a guy who was not at all religious, actually he was an atheist. With Christian Dating I would have found someone with similar views. That's something that is very important to me.

Update to my I hate UPS rant

I still hate UPS. Even more so now. I tried to get a later delivery, but the person assigned to my area is in another part of the city by then. The latest he can deliver is 4:30pm and I'm still at work then.

So I asked if I could have it delivered to a UPS store. You know, the stores they have advertised on tv, and on their website as accepting packages. Sure, they could deliver it there...for a fee. WTH?!?!?!?! I call customer service to ask "what's up wit dat yo". Well, the UPS stores are not really their stores. They are individually owned and operated. The manager at each store has to decide whether they are willing to accept your package or not. The answer is often not, unless you pay a fee. I understand that this is their store to make money. I don't have a problem with that. But UPS advertises this service both on tv and on their website, without disclosing that there is a potential fee involved.

The last thing I asked was whether they could deliver the package while waiving the signature requirement. No, not because the sender wanted it, but because the driver wanted it. Well, it's not required so drop the damn thing already. No, sorry, you have to pick it up. Never mind that I can't get to the service center to get it. Too bad, so sad.

So my great deal on shoes was a bust. I have to wait 5 days before they'll return the shoes to the sender and get a refund. Of course the shoes are sold out now so I can't order another pair with an alternate carrier.

UPS SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!

Awesome dress up game for girls

This is a great site for girls to play Dress Up Games. You can make a customized doll to send by email or to use as an avatar in chatrooms, competitions, or even forums.

Little girls will love this game because they can make the dolls look like them, or anyone else they choose. They can have a blonde doll, a brunette doll or even a gothic doll. The doll maker game will keep them busy for hours.

I went in and played with the game, I had some funny looking dolls. I'm a grown woman and I had fun playing the game. I took a fairy princess doll and changed her look several times. You can change the hair, eyes, the clothes, even the jewelry. So while 2 people may pick the same doll, with customization each doll will have a completely different look.

There are so many themes to choose from it's hard to make a decision. Like I said, I choose the princess. However, you can pick from a mermaid, preps, hippies, divas and my favorite pirates. If you want your fairy princess to have a mate, you can always choose one of the guy themes. However, I have to admit that I didn't play around with the guy themes too much.

These fashion games are fun and there is so much to choose from. There is a sample of the dollmaker in action below. I choose a Greek Goddess doll and an Angel doll. Aren't they pretty. Check out the site, but be careful, it's addicting!

Taxes taxes taxes

Ugh. I hate doing my taxes. They're really bad this year because I cashed in my 401k from my old job. I already paid the taxes on the money, now I have to pay the penalty. I usually get a small refund of a couple of hundred dollars. This year I'll owe at least $1500.

It's not just the 401k that's bad. I have 3 w-2, interest and dividends. Even though it's not a lot (interest and dividends), I still have to pay taxes on it. Maybe I'll do them this weekend. After I study of course.

My cheating heart

Since I'm on spring break, I've been searching all over the internet finding interesting blogs and websites. I've found a great site WomanSavers.com-World's Largest Database Rating Men. These women are serious about exposing cheaters and scammers.

I can't believe they've been around since 2003 and I just found them. Women come on the site and tell stories about their exes. And man, what stories they are. On the home page right now, a man cheated on the wife, then on the girlfriend with the wife-who he had left. Slept with both of them for months, then attempted to reconcile with the ex-wife. What nerve!

They have forums, an entertainment section with jokes and cartoons, a shop, and my favorite - the rate a guy section. You can search by name and area. Most of the men that have been rated are from California. Wow.

This site is definitely an interesting read. You should check it out.

I hate UPS

Grrrrr. I really do. I ordered some shoes online. I got a great deal and was super excited about getting them. The site offered free overnight shipping so that's what I went with. I didn't know it was UPS. I have trouble every time they deliver a package to me.

What makes it worse is that they deliver in my area between 2pm and 5pm. Ummm hello....that's when most people are working!! Of course the package needs a in person signature. So I can't even sign the slip and have them just leave the package.

If I had known I had to go through all this, I would have paid extra for good ole US postal mail.

Britney Spears gone wild

Poor child. I feel sorry for her mom and especially her kids. The sad part is that Kevin Federline has stepped up and is acting like the mature adult in the situation.

I'm glad she finally went to drug rehab. She could have gone to a great place like Stone Hawk Drug Treatment Center. They're one of the most successful rehab centers in the country. They have a high success rate, over 76%. That's a tremendous rate. 3 out of 4 people that leave their center leave clean and stay clean.

Stone Hawk also gives each incoming potential patient a full medical physical. They make sure the person is mentally and physically fit. I think Britney really needs this. I think she has post-partum depression and it's making her use drugs and alcohol to try to cope.

Whatever the case, I hope she get the help she needs. For not only her sake, but the sake of her children as well.

Interesting new blogs that I found

I was reading about Britney Spears over at Candid Quips. This girl has lost her mind. Candid Quips is a funny read. Britney is filed in "The Sad" category. I'd say that fits her to a T.

No Average Mom is absolutely priceless. As someone who is contemplating kids (still), I like to read about other moms adventures. There was an excellent post about telling the difference between teething or a cold. Another one on whether a baby has allergies. And how to deal with seperation anxiety.

I love all of the information on this site. Moms and moms to be should check it out.

Mama get your groove on

There are singles sites for everyone or so it seems. Single parents are often left out in the cold in the dating world. Well, no longer. Single Moms is a new site dedicated to single parents.

Single parents face different challenges in the dating world than everyone else. You meet someone that you think is nice and interesting and start talking, maybe even set up a date. Then they find out you have children and things change. Some people just aren't understanding when it comes to being a single parent. Well SingleMomsAndDads.com looks to bring together like minded singles. There is even a picture on the front screen right now of a single mom to be.

If you have children or would date someone who has children, why not check them out. It's free to join so no excuses!

I did make it in to work today

Even though I felt like crap. I was really dragging early on. Add the fact that I'm not feeling well, to the fact that I'm not a morning person and it wasn't pleasant. I think I was probably grumpy until around 11am. I'm usually alert around 9:15 ish but today was bad. And yes, I do have it timed and to a science. For the most part, my co-workers don't even bother me until this time. Sad isn't it? I try, but I just don't like mornings.

Today my boss told me to smile. Then she looked at the clock and told me I didn't have a choice because it wasn't morning anymore. lol. Everyone knows. The legend of Grumpy Morning Girl continues.

I'm staying with T-Mobile

The reason? Because I've had nothing but good experiences with them. I know a lot of people complain about customer service, but I have never had a problem with them. Ever. I have had occasion to call quite a few times, but all calls were completed to my satisfaction.

I also like the quality and variety of phones that they offer. They have bar phones, flip phones,camera phones. You name it, they have it. Did you see the new side kick designed by D. Wade? It's cool. It has his signature gold trim, a camera, music player and a built in keyboard for real web browsing. They have that, the regular side kick and network cards as well.

The promotion I plan on taking advantage of is the free T-Mobile RAZR. I love the RAZR, especially the Dragon Tattoo model. It has bluetooth technology and is a my faves phone. Bluetooth technology means I can put in that cool looking earpiece and talk anytime. It really comes in handy when driving. You don't have to worry about dropping anything or fumbling with the phone. Don't worry I'm a considerate person and I don't talk loud on my phone or in inappropriate places like hospitals or doctors offices.

But my favorite feature is the my faves phone feature. That's where you can add any 5 people and talk to them as much as you want. It doesn't matter what network they're on which is awesome. My family is on 3 different networks so this will work out well. I can call my mom all day long and not worry about minutes because she'll be in my 5, of course.

Need more convincing, there is a $50 rebate when ordering a new T-mobile plan online now through March 31, 2007. That makes the phone free. Yes free. A RAZR free. Right now it's on sale for $49.99, get $50 back and you make a $.01 profit. Now I don't think many people care about the penny profit, but a free ultra cool phone sure sounds nice.

OMG Pot smoking kids

This was on my local news. They had 2 kids under 5 smoking pot. They showed the "baby-sitters", 2 teenage boys. The boys lit the pot and smoked it. Then they let both toddlers smoke some.

At one point they asked the kids if they "had the munchies". I have a sick sense of humor and this is in no way funny. I don' even get why they video taped it. Nothing like filming yourself commiting a crime. Both boys are facing charges including child endangerment. Dumb asses.

I feel awful

My back hurts, and I've been sneezing and coughing all day. Mostly sneezing. Those bleck sneezes. I think I'm coming down with the flu that's been going around. I do not want to deal with that right now. Plus I don't want to call off from work, I want to save those sick days for later in the year.

At first I thought I was just tired from working out. I have been exercising 3-4 times a week. Then the sneezing started, and the sore scratchy throat. Did I mention the scratchy throat? Ugh. And a runny nose. Oh geeze, I think I may miss work tomorrow after all.

A school update during spring break week

I didn't even realize spring break was coming up until 2 weeks ago. I didn't make any plans, so I'm just chillin' during this week off.

I knew my micro class was hard, but I didn't realize how hard. Our prof has to grade 2 of our quizzes during spring break. The majority of the class did bad so she needs some kind of curve on those quizzes. Her quizzes are hard.

I've been thinking about school a lot lately. I'm scheduled to be in school for 3 years. I just don't want to take that long. I've been thinking about taking a loan for school. I could consolidate all of my debt into one big loan. But because I have bad credit, I would get crappy rates. I have a secured debt consolidation loan already. I used some money I had in a cd and got the loan.

I want to take the extra loan so I can finish school quicker. I'm on track to graduate in December but I want to finish in May. I need to take one extra class this year. A full schedule one semester next year. And a full schedule the last semester. I'll get through school if it's the last thing I do!

Get to saving

I really need to get to saving. I want to finish school and buy a condo. I don't have a lot of cash saved up so I really need to work on this. Luckily, I live in Pittsburgh PA which is a low cost town. Not ghetto cheap, but not like NJ/Philly where I'm originally from. I'd never own a place of my own there. Not unless I had roommates out the wazoo. And I am so not a roommate kinda person.

I need to move

My neighbors have been driving me crazy all weekend. The couple at the end of the hall have decided to have a screaming match. The smoke detector in the hallway is broken. The washing machine won't be fixed until Wednesday.

The worst part is, I just re-upped my lease for another year. I am so ready to buy a townhouse or condo. I've been investigating a mortgage loan.

Easy mortgage shopper is a great site. They have all sorts of tools that can help. My favorite is the calculator section. It will tell you how much your payments will be, what your tax deduction will be. Even how much you need to make to qualify for a given loan. You can also request a free quote. I'm definitely bookmarking this site for future use.

Ideas for posts

Have you ever had a great idea for a post and then boom, you lose it? It happens to me all the time. I'll be sitting in my living room watching tv and a great idea will come to me. Sometimes, I'll have the idea for the entire post. Then, by the time I get to my computer to start typing, I've forgotten the whole thing. Forgetting the post isn't so bad, but most times, I forget what subject I was going to write about.

If I'm near a pen and paper, often times I will write a subject matter down. If I see the subject I usually remember the post. But not always. I need to get better at this.

Get outta the dog house

We've all done it. Whatever "it" is. It's usually something dumb. It doesn't have to be an action, it could be words. Inadvertent or ill-timed comments like "are you gonna wear that", "are you still hungry", or the worst thing a man could possibly say to a woman "I think those pants are too small". Uh oh, you messed up dude.

How can you make it right? Flowers always help. Whether you need Pittsburgh, DC or Chicago flower delivery, you need digital flowers to help you out. (hint, hint Sir)

They'll send flowers to all 50 states. So you messed up and you're in Australia, Guam or the United Kingdom. They can help you out too. If you feel better talking to someone instead of ordering online, you can call 1-800-869-7689 24 hours a day. Yup, if you act a fool on Sunday, you can order flowers and have them delivered the same day as long as you order before 12pm local time.

Face it, everyone messes up sometime. Just go ahead and bookmark the site now. You'll need it.

Stupid criminals!

I always talk about how I watch AMW (America's Most Wanted). Tonight they profiled two geniuses who robbed a Verizon Wireless store. They stole a cashbox with $5000 in it. They estimate that the entire thing took 3 minutes tops.

It seemed quite coordinated-ambush a person walking in, take that person plus the other two into the back, get one to open the safe. Except as one walked by a dry erase board hanging on the wall, he looked up at it and seemed to study it. It was the employee schedule. Hmmm.... shouldn't be too hard to catch the two.

Cell phones for teens

My niece and her sister want cell phones. My sister in law doesn't want to pay a lot of money for them. Because we all know, teens love to talk on their phones. I know there were plenty of times in my younger days when my mom would unplug the phone to shut me up! So I understand her hesitation. I told her she should look into prepaid phones for both of her daughters.

First, she doesn't have to worry about a credit check. This is important because they're teens and they don't need hits on their credit reports already. There are also no contracts to worry about. So she won't have to worry about being locked into a plan for the next two years.

She can also limit the amount of time they spend on the phone. If they only have $10 worth of time, she won't have to worry about them talking all night long because they won't have enough minutes. It will also teach them time management that will help them later in life. They will have to think about how much time they have left and how long they will be able to talk. This will make them think about whether they want to talk about typical teen stuff or save those minutes for something important.

She shouldn't have to worry about them texting in school like mad because they shouldn't have a lot of time to do so. They will quickly realize that they'll be better off saving the minutes for talking instead of texting.

I loved having prepaid phones because I didn't have to spend a lot of money. I spent less than $25 a month when I had my phone. My first two phones were pre-paid so I highly recommend them.

I can't see

I took my contacts lenses out and put my glasses on. Now, I can barely see this screen. I have to squint to see anything. My doctors appt is scheduled for May. I don't want to move it up though because I took the day off to go to all of my appointments. You know annual check-up, dentists appt, and eye doctors all in the same day. It's just easier that way.

My eyes need this break. I plan on keep the contacts out until I go to work on Monday morning. Then the contacts go back in.

Summer sandals

I've been looking all around at different shoes. I've found some regular shoes for work but now I need sandals. I found some rainbow sandals and they look neat.

First they mold themselves to your foot for a perfect fit. They have a non-skid surface, for the klutz in me. But I really like the fact that they are guaranteed for the life of the sole. If you're hard on shoes like me, you'll really appreciate this. Add to that fact that they're affordable and you've got some great shoes. Affordable is like $36 to start, but you know I'm perusing the clearance section. Hey, I'm always on the lookout for a bargain.

I finally balanced my checkbook

The number aren't pretty. I have some slack/extra money, but not enough. My savings is tied up so I try to keep a little extra just in case. I always try to imagine an emergency popping up to motivate me to keep liquid savings. I'll be transferring money into my account next week. Right now, it seems the only emergency I can afford is to need $5 extra for lunch!

Spring break's coming up!

It starts in two weeks and I'm looking forward to my vacation. I'm headed to Miami. Woohoo! I can't wait. I love Florida. I've been to Miami once before but never during spring break. I hope it's not too crazy. I want to check out some Florida property while I'm down there.

I hate the cold weather and as soon as I get done with school I'm looking forward to moving. I've been researching condos on the internet and I can't wait to see them. The last time I went I met this couple from Ireland. They were thinking of buying property to be near the ocean. That's what made me start researching it. I've already started saving for a down payment.

Student Loan Interest Deduction

I've been reading other blogs and a lot of people are complaining that they can't deduct their student loan interest. To them I say: SHUT UP!!!

I know people worked hard to get through school. I'm still paying loans and I'm back in school. I won't be done with school for three more years and let's just say it's a lot longer for those loans. But, if your AGI is over $65k you can't deduct the interest. Ummm, that's a very respectable salary and more than most people make. I think the average salary is somewhere around 42K. I make less than that so I still get to deduct my interest. But I heard people making 6 figures complaining. Give me a break!!!!!!!!

Be thankful that you're making the salary that you are. I know some people have Masters Degrees and feel entitled to their salary. I think they forget, just like they got their job, they can lose it. And someone will be there to take it for less money. Heck, here in PA, teachers need a Masters and they don't make 6 figures and they love their jobs. For some people it's not really all about the money. Believe me I know, if you don't like your job it doesn't matter how much money you make.

Whew....rant over.

Mama Needs A New Pair Of Shoes

My feet are killing me. The shoes that I wear every day just aren't cutting it anymore. I have 2 pair of every day shoes. One pair just plain hurt my feet. The press the sides together making my feet ache by the end of the day. The second pair are worn out and the cushion inside is lifting, so I end up walking on the hard part of the shoe by the end of the day.

I love to shop online so it should be no surprise that I found Zappo's. They have some nice shoes to choose from. The best part is that I can find designer shoes without paying the designer price. If you go to couponchief.com you can even find coupon codes to get discounts like % off coupons or even free shipping.

I'm looking now. I found a couple of pair of Nine West shoes that I'm seriously considering. Unfortunately, I have to narrow it down to only 1 pair right now.

Domain Dilemma

I have 3 blogs. 2 on blogger and 1 on my own domain. My domain url is the same as this one without the blogspot in the address Sabrina's Money Madness. The problem is once I really get that site up and running, how will I differentiate between the 2. Should I shut this one down and use that one exclusively?

I'm thinking about making my other blogger account my own domain as well. Since that account is fairly new, I wouldn't be jeopardizing much. My reader level on that one is virtually non-existent. I just have to upgrade my hosting account.

Decisions, decisions.

School Is Getting Expensive

It's getting harder and harder to find the money to pay for school and my regular expenses. I've been charging my books and some personal expenses on my credit card. The interest rate is outrageous and it made me start looking for something else.

I found the Mint Credit Card. First of all, it's a neat idea. They cut off a corner of the credit card to give it a unique shape. That definitely makes it an attention grabber and conversation piece. But that's not even close to being the best part. The best part is that I can get 0% interest through December. That's awesome. Plus there's 0% for balance transfers also through December, but if you let them debit the money straight from your account, it extends through August 2008.

I'm applying for this card right now. Especially since it has no annual fee. I have to save money any way I can.

I Should Take Care Of Myself

I just wrote a post about being pro-active in health care. Ironic that I feel sick now. My throat is sore and I keep coughing. Every once in a while I start to sneeze like crazy. I can not get sick. I don't want to miss any work. I've missed 2 days already this year. Well, one and a half really, but I want to watch my attendance. I don't want my boss to think I unreliable. Lucky for me, she realizes that when I miss work, I'm really sick.

I think I'll go make myself a cup of tea.