It seems that no matter how much I try to use up my change at the store, I always end up with more change than I can use. Every now and then, I will empty out my change purse and put it in a bowl I keep in my room. It’s a fairly big bowl and it is about to overflow.

Seeing opportunity in adversity, I found some coin wrappers and set the girls to sorting and counting. I love my kids; they are a great source of cheap labor. All said and done, I ended up with ninety two dollars. Pretty good!! Well, it’s off to the bank!!

When I was young, I remember that my dad would sit down and write checks. With his papers spread all over the table, he did not like to be bothered at that time. “Not now, I’m writing checks” he would say. Nowadays, it’s a rare case when I need to write a check. We pay for everything using credit cards. It’s great that I don’t have to hassle with balancing my checkbook, by hand, trying to keep track of all the bills.

What can be a hassle though, is trying to make sure I am getting the best rate for the card I have now. Since occasionally we run over our limit, it’s important that we have low interest credit cards. I try to follow the ads and figure out who has the best card to use, but it’s extremely difficult as there is so much terminology involved. It can be quite confusing and I don’t like the feeling that I may be paying more than I need to.

Luckily, I went online and found the help that I needed. I found a great website where you can compare credit cards. It only took a few minutes to fill out what I wanted. With all the top brands represented, I was assured that I would find the best card for me. After reviewing all the options, we decided to switch our card for one that better suited our needs. I feel sorry for my dad who had to go through so much just to pay his bills. Things are so much easier today!

I guess we all have our own little pet peeves. One of mine occurred today at the supermarket. I’m at the checkout counter and waiting in line for my turn. It was kind of busy that day and it took awhile, but sometimes that’s what you can expect.

The lady in front of me had a lot of groceries and that’s fine as I understand some people have large families and need to buy a lot. What does bother me is that even after all the items were scanned and bagged, only then does this lady decide to figure out how she will pay for it!

Now, I’m standing there waiting as she fumbles around in her purse looking through various credit cards and debit cards and taking a lot of time before FINALLY!! she decides to pay in cash! COME ON PEOPLE!!

Since I look on the Craig’s list website a lot, I see a lot of offers for rewards. Every couple of days somebody has something stolen from their house and will post a reward online. While I do feel sorry for these people, I can’t help but think they should have a security system installed in their home.

With three kids in the house, I worry for their safety when I am not at home. Even if I was at home, I would not like to have to face a burglar in the middle of the night. I was talking with a neighbor who works in the home protection business; he said that adt security systems were the best. We took his advice and now we are protected. I certainly feel a lot safer when I’m at home and I don’t have to worry so much when I’m not!

Around our house, the area that gets the most traffic is the refrigerator. Ours seems to have two main purposes. The first one is for one of the kids to stand in front of it for ten minutes with the door wide open and making the claim that “There is nothing to eat!”

Its second main purpose is that it serves as the community bulletin board for everything. If I need the number of Sarah’s softball coach, it’s on the fridge. If you want to know when the next dentist’s appointment is, it’s on the fridge. All manner of papers, old school pictures, and report cards end up there! I counted up and was surprised to learn that we have twenty-two kitchen magnets stuck on the surface, each holding a number of once important papers that have dodged the trashcan by hanging out incognito in plain sight!!
I’ll leave it for now, but come spring cleaning…