Saving Money For Law School With Coupons

Yep you heard that right. If you follow my blog at all you know that I am on my way back to college one last time. This means that I have a lot of planning and a lot of goals that have to be made this year in order for me to go the way that I want to go.
I have chosen to go to law school because I made a promise to myself when I was a child that I would and now there is a pulling at my heart to make it real for many reasons.
The schools I have chosen offer a law program where I can sit for the bat in two and half to three years however I would be required to go full time and I would be required to not work during this time.
I have children two of which will be in college at the time I will be going back myself. All four of them will need me in some capacity so between school and taking care of my family I will not have time to work or earn a living.
So the goal is for the rest of the year I must find ways to save money, find funding for my education get to the city where the school is and get my family set up. I must also find housing and child care if need be.
My new years list I created is of the utmost importance to me this year because if I miss a step I lose the chance to make this happen when I want it to.
So I have pulled all of my current bills including student loans (nausea) and placed them before me.
I decided to make a list of the things I am working on to make this real.

• I freelance write full time - this will allow me to work when I want without begin tied down to a call center type environment.  
• I am learning how to create residual sources of income - Last year I did pretty darn well with it but this year I have to up the ante and that means looooong hours in front of the pc. 
• I am officially looking at all my debt and seeing how fast I can get it down with this: coupons

On average I spend about six hundred dollars a month on food for the house alone. That doe's not include the household items such as toilet paper, paper towels and the like.
So I decided that after watching TLC's Extreme Coupons I would make an effort to learn more about the one thing I know could keep more of that six hundred plus dollars in my pocket and pay off more debt and make my transitions to law school better.
I don't know the first thing about double and triple coupons nor do I know the first thing about planning meals in advance based on coupons and products I buy with them but I better get with it.
Anything else that anyone else is doing to keep more money in their pocket I NEED to be doing it today.
So I'll keep you posted on my writing and residual income and what I do. You just might learn something I know I have already.

Til Next Time

Mamma Loves You!

Mamma (Y've)

Happy Birthday Dr. King!

I am always glad to post this on my blog. I do it every year and talk about it later.
Enjoy this post. Every year it means something new to me.





Til Next Time,

Mamma Loves You,

Mamma (Y've)

Tabasco Original Red Improving Flavors One Recipe At A Time

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of TABASCO® Original Red. All opinions are 100% mine.

I love to enhance the flavors of my foods. Cooking with TABASCO® Original Red is a great way to add flavor and not  just heat to your meals. In my home we use it all of the time. We literally have a red bottle that sits on the dining room table at supper and is pulled out for lunches and snacks.

TABASCO® Original Red is not just about the heat either. Imani swears by it on her lemon pepper wings or her ranch flavored wings she cooks herself. I use it on home fries and eggs in the morning along with snacks for the kids as well. If you didn't know TABASCO® Original Red is WONDERFUL on potato chips, pretzels, and popcorn!

Since 1868 the McIIhenny family has been taking salt, red pepper and vinegar and aging it for three years to get the perfect flavor for all of your dishes at home. They not only have TABASCO® Original Red but altogether there are six wonderful flavors to choose from!

If you are looking for a way to make your football game day more entertaining check out the Game-Day Party Menu site for tips on how to add TABASCO® Original Red to chili, dips and wings. Your family and friends will enjoy every bite as you all hang out and enjoy a great ball game together. You can also check out Pizza Perfected to learn how to increase the flavor of your pizzas with all of the flavors of the best that Tabasco Orginal Red has to offer. Make TABASCO® Original Red a tradition for your football season evey year to see smiles and empty plates at every game day party you throw.

For me thats going to be a lot of fun since the red bottle has a place in my purse, my car and my kitchen. I am certain I can find other ways to make other meals taste better.

What about you? What are some of you favorite recipes you make better with TABASCO® Original Red?

Here is mine below.

Mamma's Chicken Ranch TABASCO® Original Red Wings

• One pound of fried chicken wing sections lightly sprinkled with ranch flavoring
• Heat one stick of butter and one bottle of TABASCO® Original Red in a skillet
• Toss the fried chicken ranch wing sections in the skillet for about two minutes covering all sides of the chicken with the sauce and butter.
• Service on a platter covered in kale or lettuce with cool fruit pieces or melon ENJOY!

 

Til Next Time,

Mamma Loves You!

Mamma (Y've)

The Resolution Check In

It has been about two weeks or close to two week since the New Year rang in. Many of us made all of these promises and New Year's resolutions that by now we have already begun to break.
We don't mean to do it life just kind of happens and we start living and thinking about all of the things in life that are important to us right now.
We think about the bills that have to be paid, the activities the children are in or the things are doing in our own communities and we make the unknowing step of forgetting what we wanted to do for our lives differently this year.
I happen to be one of those people. Early on in the year about a week or so in the goals that  I had set for myself I am not able to fulfill for one reason or another. This time around since I know that to be the case and I am over just existing I decided to do something different with my resolution list. I created this six list of things I want to accomplish for the entire year and put it in a box. I also took that same list and took OUT OF THE BOX if you will and placed it in front of my desk on my calendar, posted it in my personal journal and even went out and bought a scrap book to create each month so I could create my month before it happened.
So today I am assessing where I am.
I pulled out my list yesterday and realized I am already behind. I have some big things I need to do this year. Really big to get on point for my goals for the next ten years.
The suggestion for the year is this again.

• Pull your list out and assess where you are. 
• Take a look at what can be done that will affect more than one goal on your list at one time. 
• Focus on completing that thing to completion even if it takes the rest of the year. 
• Check with the list constantly to make sure that you are on point for where you want to be by the end of this year. 

I know it sounds simple enough when you are just going through this article reading it but the one thing I can tell you is this. If you don't keep an eye on your list for the year you will find yourself just existing and not fulfilling your goals.
Make that list a priority to keep up with.
I will post some time later this week about my goals and where I am.

Til Next Time,

Mamma ( Y've)

When Facebook Surfing Affects Work Productivity & My TIME

"Thank you for coming to Dr. So and So's' office. Please have a seat and someone will be right with you"
Well at least that's what they told me.
I sat down with Lili and waited for an hour to be seen by someone just to have her pupils dilated! Now this would not have been so bad but there was no one else in the office except for myself and Lili. There were five assistants ranging from front desk clerk to opticians to help the doctor in his eye clinic.
Mind you have been going to this office since Lili was released from having to travel so far to Little Rock about her eyes. I am used to their fast service and professional demeanor. Only this time I could tell something was different.
After Lili's pupils were dilated we sat for what should have been 15 minutes but was really 45 minutes!
By the time we had completed her appointment we had been the eye doctor for over two and a half hours!
I realized as I walked out of the office that about four of the computer monitors were clearly tuned to the url for Facebook.
We had been in the office for two and half hours because all of Dr. So and So's help had been surfing Facebook. I noticed one of the assistants was head down into her cell phone texting away.
We were their distraction from them being able to work on their social networking skills on the job that was paying them hourly or a salary to sit there and do nothing.
Now mind you with me being a freelance writer I do not have time to sit around and Facebook all day or text all day. I have learned how to turn those devices OFF until I am done with a project. If these employees and many others around the country who are being distracted right now could only live in my world where they have to literally WORK for their pay they would put that crap down and focus on the task at hand. THEIR JOB!
e

• Employees are aggravated when asked to do their job and seem more intent to have their faces buried in their computers 
• Productivity is way down but employees are coming in every day to fulfill their 40 hour work week
• Blue and white screens with the Facebook logo clearly apparent 
• Customers complaining of having to wait longer for services that should only take a few minutes

Facebook and other social networking sites are now available on cell phones. The fact is that many employees are blocked from social networking on their job computers however they can easily access the same sites on smart phones acting as small computers. 
I cannot tell any corporation what to do but I know what works for me.

• I work til I am done. 
• I write until I have made the goal to pay the bills and other things I have before me. 
• I turn off all social networking devices save for maybe Hootsuite or AIM's Lifestream to say some witty things on all my social networking sites at once. 

But I get my work done because if I don't work I don't eat.
Maybe just maybe other businesses should take on this model as well.

Just a thought from a ticked off Mamma.

Til Next Time,

Mama Loves You

Mamma (Y've)

My First Book Is OUT Whoo hoo! DUMP HIS ASS!!!

I wanted to talk for a moment about something I have not been willing to talk about for a very long time until now. If you do not know I am a single mother however I am single officially by choice and not because I gave someone power of me.
I decided that in the relationship that I was in that there was just not enough signs that the man I believed loved me wanted the same things that I did. Let me explain.
I wanted marriage, he would avoid the conversation of it. I wanted to plan for the future for the two of us together. He wanted to leave in a huff and go work on his cars.
I turned up the fire on my domestic activities as well as other things such as family time, saving for the future and raising the children. He chose to cheat repeatedly, would not allow me to in the eight years we were together to meet family and friends. Yet I stayed.
I made excuses because I believed that this was the person for me.
Oh yeah sure he had some great qualities. He knew how to pay bills, but he didn't know how to pay attention to my needs. He knew how to smile when around my friends or in public but he would not hold a meaningful conversation with me about things that really mattered.
Looking back all of the signs were there. I should have cut my losses early and got out.
But noooooooooooo Mamma wanted to believe that she could fix it. Mamma wanted to believe that this man was the man she would spend the rest of her life with.
When the writing is on the wall don't try to erase it with denial.
I finally had the strength to let him go. I DUMPED HIS ASS!!!
No it wasn't a violent end or a duel of any kind I just slowly over time took steps to see about my needs first, clear my mind and focus on what was real. I finally realized that he didn't love me like I loved him and it was time to go. After wasting eight years of my life waiting for the ring I snapped out of my hazy stupor and took control.
Here is how I did it.

I put all of my steps that I took and put them in a book and called it simply DUMP HIS ASS!!!! "Steps To Leaving A No Good Man"
I know that the title may throw you a bit but I had to get real with myself and be CLEAR it was time to GO. No matter how much it hurt. No matter how much I loved him. No matter how many times he would leave and go and I took him back it was time to stop the madness.
I was ready to see that I was better than that. That I deserved better.
When I came out of it. I was stronger mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Did I and do I still love him?
Of course I do....BUT I LOVE ME MORE.
When I looked back over the process I took to get myself together and be free I realized that there were tons of women out there who were in situations that were going nowhere. I took all of my steps and put them in a book for anyone that wants it to find out what peace and a good nights sleep feels like.
So for the price of only $5 I have offered a download version of my book DUMP HISS ASS "Steps To Leaving A No Good Man"




For the price of a McDonald's Value Meal you can download this book and take the steps to get your life back. Ease the pain and get through to the other side of your life to begin again.
Was it easy? No. Was it worth it? Yes, because I know that the peace I have at night is knowing where I am at night. I don't have to at 4am in the morning text myself to find out where I am. I don't have to wonder what my future holds with myself because I know the plan I have for my life is for me and I intend to include me in it.

So for now check out my book. Pass the word along to someone that needs help seeing the writing on the wall or just doesn't know how to let go of a bad relationship.
I know the next question that you are asking. Do you still hurt? Of course I do but its not as bad as I thought.
I love me and that is enough. Do you still talk to him? We have a son, yes we do but only about his son's well being and nothing more. Do you think you will ever be with him again? Who knows? However regardless of that there had to come a time when I had to stand up and get some standards for myself and be real. I was allowing it and as long as I allowed it he would keep doing it. I also had to learn that if I was going to get a good healthy relationship and something better I would have to love me first and more than I had I given him in my past. You can do the same thing.
It won't be easy, it will hurt, but if you stick with the book like I did you WILL breathe again. YOU WILL COME OUT BETTER.

Til Next Time,

Live, Love , BREATHE and heal yourself.


Mamma (Y've)

Charter Moms Is On Facebook!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Charter. All opinions are 100% mine.

If you are anything like me you don't just let your kids watch anything on television. I know I don't. Especially with my two little ones thinking that cartoons are ok and cartoons now awadays can be questionable. 

We have a schedule at my house. I choose what they watch and when they watch television and you know what? I am glad that I do. There is no television until home work is done. There is no television until their rooms are clean and chores are done.

When they go to bed I may take an hour or two to catch an episode of NCIS or Law and Order to zone out and relax. This gives me time to just sit back and relax and let someone else do all of the thinking for me.

Charter Communications created their Facebook fan page so I hopped on over and "liked" it right way. The number one reason why I did because it is evident Charter knows the power of the Mom. She is the deciding factor on what the family does or does not do so what we say holds a lot of weight.

The page is called Charter Moms on Facebook. With this page there are loads of moms there communicating about shows and programming. They are even talking about how they spent their holidays! I like the fact that Charter is talking back to us too. At least we know they are there and paying attention to what we want in terms of programming for our families.

By joining the Charter Moms Facebook page you will be the first to know about new services and programming before anyone else does. Who in the world does not want to be in the know?

So head on over to Facebook, "Like" the page and get in on the conversation!

 

Till Next Time,

 

Mamma Loves You

 

Mamma (Y've)

 

Store Brand Infant Formula Saves Parents Money

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of PBM Products. All opinions are 100% mine.

  Purchasing a  store brand formula for you infant is just as good as the name brand products that you see on your local grocer's shelves. With recent recalls from major name brand infant formulas because of bug infestation parents are also learning that just because the product has a name brand on it doesn't mean that its the best product.

The store brand formula is just as good as their name brand counterparts beacuse of the law that was passed by the FDA. The Infant Formula Act of 1980 states that all infant formula sold in the United States must meet the same nutritional guidelines be they name brand or generic. What that means for parents with infants is they get the same nutrition as say Similac Advance Infant Formula or Enfamil.

What does that mean to moms and dads who are concerned for the health and safety of their infant as well as their budget? It means when they make a  switch to generic formula parents get the same quality and the same benefits as you would Enfamil or Similac.

Available in both 23.2 oz and 12.4 oz sizes, parents will be able to pay almost half the price of Similac which can go for around $25 to $30 per can. Thats a huge savings in today's economy when every dollar counts. If you want to see for yourself true savings check out the formula comparison calculator and  decide for yourself how much money you really want to save!

 

Till Next Time

"Mamma Loves You!"

Mamma (Y've)

The New Year, New Strategy, Lets Go!

Hey everybody this is Mamma!
I told you I would be gone for most of the holiday and would return ready to fight another day! Here I am with a great new post to set us all on the right track.
Every year we always post these New Years resolutions that we never seem to complete. We also seem to have this thought that if we go to church at the end of the year and pray and fall out that we will have this magic that will pour over us and things will just begin to happen for us magically. We wonder why our lives have never really changed, why things remain the same. We may get some of the things we are seeking in life but that is because those things don't take effort. They probably would have happened even if we had not made it a part of our resolution for the year to come.
This year in order for us all to see something different we must take the next 12 months by the horns and handle it.
I have posted some points that you may want to use that I have already done to begin this new process for a new life.
Are you ready? Here we go.
To Seek Results You Must Know What You Want. 
This seems so trivial but if you are not clear then you will get just what you asked for. The best way to combat that would be to write down what exactly it is you want to achieve.

• Take pen to paper and make a list of what you want. 
• Create a time line for the length of time you want to take to accomplish your goals
• Create action steps to line up with what you wrote
• Don't just put your dreams in a box until the next new year, reference them constantly
• Complete these steps until you see your dream or desire real.

Lastly remember that this year begins a new decade. In order for you to see something different in this new decade you must do something different. Make sure that your New Year's resolution is not just hot air but something that will propel you to the next level in your life.
I have already begun my list, strategy, action and the steps I need to take.
I vow to have a the best year of my life getting the next level of my life.
What about you?

Mamma Loves You,

Mamma (Y've)