couponing : have someone do the dirty work for you

By: Kate Parham

For the last few weeks, we’ve learned about the best places to find coupons,secrets from TLC’s Extreme Couponers and even the best couponing books to read. But, I’m sure many of you are still bemoaning, “I just don’t have the time to coupon!”

It’s a valid argument. Scanning weekly ads takes time. Finding coupons takes time. Actually using coupons at the store takes time. And time is a rare commodity these days. So, how can you take advantage of coupons without spending hours every week? Fortunately, many coupon enthusiasts have done the work for you. Check it out:

Comparison Shopping Made Easy

It can be incredibly time consuming to go through the store circulars each week and compare those deals to the coupons you've already collected. Instead, let someone else do the work for you.

Blogs like Deal Seeking Mom and The Krazy Coupon Lady compile lists each week for dozens of stores, providing the sale price of the item, then matching that with applicable coupons and a final price for the consumer. All it takes is five minutes each week to check these sites and you’ll know what the best deals are at all of your favorite stores. It couldn’t be easier!

Stop Clipping Coupons!

Every week, the Sunday paper comes filled with coupon inserts. But, who has time to go through each insert, clipping the coupons they think they’ll need, comparing it to weekly sales and then organizing those coupons to minimize shopping time? Thanks to Fabulessly Frugal, now you do! Or rather, now you won’t have to make the time, because she’ll do it for you!

Fabulessly Frugal’s clipless organization method has the functionality and portability of a binder, combined with the ease of a filing method, but without the frustration of not being able to quickly see what coupons you have while roaming the aisles of your favorite store. All you need is a binder and sheet protectors. Simply organize your inserts by type and date (e.g. Smartsource 5/1/11 insert) and put them in a sheet protector. Add the cover page, which has the coupons listed in alphabetical order, and you’re good to go!

Check a Coupon Database

If you notice that one of your favorite products is on sale or if you’re looking for a specific coupon, the easiest way to find a coupon for that product is to search a coupon database. There are hundreds out there, but out favorite database is How to Shop for Free. You can find what coupons are currently out for the brand or product and from what source they came. Compare that to your coupon list/cover page from step two and you can see how many of the desired coupons you have and how many you’ll need to find.

Tip: You can find more great coupons on eBay or a coupon clipping service like CouponDede.

Now, all you’ll have to worry about is what to do with all your extra money… and time!

MEET A MONTREALER : SUGAR SAMMY

just a funny guy from a neighborhood i know very well ....for tis where i work eh!!

Supertramp - The Logical Song (1979)

great lyrics.....would apply today....as all logic is flyinG out the window!!

a great list

They may be short one-liners but are great words to ponder:

The great sin -- Gossip.

The great crippler -- Fear.

The greatest mistake -- Giving up.
The most satisfying experience -- Doing your duty first.
The best action -- Keep the mind clear and judgement good.
The greatest blessing -- Good health.
The biggest fool - The man who lies to himself.
The great gamble -- Substituting hope for facts.
The most certain thing in life -- Change.
The greatest joy -- Being needed.
The cleverest man -- The one who does what he thinks is right.
The most potent force -- Positive thinking.
The greatest opportunity -- The next one.
The greatest thought -- God.
The greatest victory -- Victory over self.
The best play -- Successful work.
The greatest handicap -- Egotism.
The most expensive indulgence -- Hate.
The most dangerous man -- The liar
The most ridiculous trait -- False pride.
The greatest loss -- Loss of self confidence.
The greatest need -- Common sense.

source: By Jack Yianitsas, Laws Of Success

Happiness as a Priorty

thought i would share this article :

Happiness as a Priority
By Richard Carlson

It’s always been interesting to me that the average person (go ahead and ask them), spends ten times (or more) the amount of time watching television than he or she does even considering happiness.

In fact, in one pole that I conducted, not a single person out of more than 30 people admitted to spending even one second thinking about how they might go about becoming happier!

Some of these people spent anywhere from 2-7 hours a day in front of a television set, yet not one minute contemplating what could amount to the most important question of one’s life—how can I be happier?
One of the first rules of any venture is that in order to get somewhere, you need at least a general idea of how to get there and, at the very least, where you are going!

We’re really lucky in a way as learning to be happy is a very easy thing to do. In fact, happiness is our natural state. If left to our devices and if we could find a way to stop interfering with the flow, we’d be extremely happy right now. So while life did not come with a instruction book on happiness, it really didn’t have to. By following some really simple principles and also knowing how to get out of our own way, we can become extremely happy, regardless of our present circumstances.

Most people would agree with the notion that when a baby is born, he or she is a fairly clean slate. In other words, they aren’t vicious, reactive, judgmental, dissatisfied, prejudice, jealous, or angry. Instead, they are simply little beings who are curious and open to learning. Unfortunately, most of the time they eventually learn some pretty negative thinking which leads to some pretty unhappy times.

We are taught that our thoughts are real and that we should pay attention to them. Problem is, they aren’t real, they are just thoughts.

Think of a time when you were, say, driving home from a baseball game and on the last play of the game, your favorite player, dropped an easy ball and blew the game and the season for your team and all the fans, you being one of them. You’re now in the comfort of your own home and the outcome of the game is brought up by other members of your family. You start to think about the dropped ball and you start to get depressed. You launch into a lecture about how the team needs new outfielders! Yikes, it’s happening all over again!

It’s as if the dropped ball is happening all over again in your living room. As you think about it, you get more and more distressed, after all, you rationalize, he “did” drop the ball!

That’s true he did drop the ball. But let me show you how easy it is to dismiss that thought now that the event is over. You’re about to see that while the unfortunate event did occur, it’s now only a harmless thought with no power over you other than that which you give it. And once you realize this, happiness will be moments away.

Have you ever been driving and some other driver nearly knocks you off the road---maybe even comes within a foot or two of killing you? It’s happened to me a few times in the almost 30 years that I’ve been driving. Whether it has ever happened to you or not, pretend for a minute that it did.

Imagine the thoughts that would be running through your mind while you were still heated. I can imagine the thought “I should kill that guy,” being one of your thoughts, or something similar, relating to some sort of revenge. Now the question becomes, “would you do it?” I mean it. Would you kill the driver? Of course you wouldn’t.

And other than the fact that it’s against the law and that you’re a moral person, why wouldn’t you act on that thought? The reason is simple: The thought was just a thought---like the thousands of other thoughts that run through your mind every single day. You realize it was just a thought and you promptly dismiss it.

This doesn’t mean you aren’t a little spooked or that you don’t care—of course you do. But by dismissing the thought, you put the event behind you, opening the door for you to move into the present moment and be happy in this moment instead of caught up in a thought that is just a thought, like all other thoughts---including the thought of the baseball player dropping the ball.

Today, as we live our life, that event is merely a thought carried through time, via our own thinking As long as you see it, not as a reality to contend with, but as a simple thought, you are free to live right now, in this moment. Because thoughts are just thoughts (all of them) you have the power to drop any thought, at any time. You are absolutely in charge and have the last say! This is the ultimate in taking responsibility for your own thoughts and feelings.

Here’s a little more food for thought. Let me ask you a funny question. Would you ever, even for a moment, consider writing yourself a nasty, mean-spirited letter and then mailing that letter to yourself? Then, when you get the letter you open it and you’re immediately offended by the mean and obnoxious content! You storm around the room and act all out of sorts!

Of course this would never happen in a million years, but why? The reason is that you would be aware that it was you who wrote the letter. How silly would it be to write a letter and then become upset by that very letter?

Well that’s the exact same logic we can apply to our thinking. Think about it carefully. Why would you ever have a thought—any thought, no matter how negative or scary—and then become nervous, reactive, angry or in some other way bothered by it? Remember, it’s just a thought you’re having, just like all the others. And what’s more important, you’re the one who produced the thought to begin with.

Being upset by your own thoughts is a little like smashing your head against a wall and wondering why your head hurts. Remember, you wouldn’t act on a scary thought like killing another driver, no matter how bad he or she was—why? Because it was just a thought. The secret to a happy life is to realize that all of our thoughts are just thoughts. True things happen all the time, but once they are over---or if they haven’t happened yet, they are just thoughts.

Before I close, take one last look at that ball player who dropped the ball. Regardless of how high the stakes were, it’s now, today, right now, nothing more than a thought---no more or less important than any others! Try applying this logic to all of the thoughts that run through your mind and, pretty soon, you’ll be dropping any negativity you’ve been burdening yourself with---and what you’ll be left with is, you’ve got it---happiness!!

source; You Can Be Happy No Matter What book by Richard Carlson

SCORE!!! BOBBY ORR!!! -- as called by Fred Cusick with Johnny Peirson

interview: Guy Laliberte (cirque du soleil) his thoughts on water.