Freebies Saturday -- Valentines Weekend Edition

It is time once again for this weeks Freebie Saturday. This makes the 11th weekly edition of this feature. I make every effort to make sure that the freebies I list are real free offers. If you have to answer a survey and then go through 50 pages of ads to get the so called free item, I consider that spam. That is why I make every effort to make sure that those websites are never included in my list.

How about having a cereal which contains extremely delicious taste of the cream of wheat and sweet aroma of cinnabon? I am sure many amongst you must have guessed it right, yes indeed I am talking about your favorite hot cereal, Cream of Wheat Cinnabon. Catch the free sample of this product by clicking this link

Free Gentleman Jack Calling Card. Gentleman Jack is offering a free calling card with up to 30 characters.

CafeMom is a fun community where moms come together every day to chat, share photos, make friends, play games & more. It's free and lots of fun! Or so I am told.



Happy Valentines!

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Austin 6 Months Later

Six months ago I moved to Austin with my wife. We came here in search of a better life, warmer winters and to be closer to my wife's son. Recently HS asked,

tell us how you are liking Austin and how job search is going etc!

We are loving Austin, although part of coming here was to escape the cold temps and snow/ice in Kansas. That for the most part has happened, although last Friday we did get an inch of snow. Which down here was enough to close the City and County governments down. Not to mention all the schools and several private businesses. That snow ended a cold streak that lasted an 70 hours. Seventy hours that never got above freezing. Then last night/this morning the low dipped into the teens (of course today's high is to be 65). It can go several winters and never get that cold, and this month it has already dipped into the teens 3 times. Still overall Austin is absolutely wonderful. A fantastic place to live.

Book and Speaking
Since arriving here I have actually got started on the budgeting workbook, that I have wanted to get started so many times before, but never did. Part of the reason, is because I have been speaking at church and teaching some Biblical principles to budgeting and getting out of debt. I even created my own version of the "Baby Steps" that Dave Ramsey teaches. Mine however, are even smaller steps that I call Wisdom steps. Eleven steps in total, each have scripture verses tied with it to help bring about that Biblical backing that I want to have in my budgeting guide. Look foor the "Wisdom Steps" to be posted on PrinceOfThrift.com this weekend or early next week.







Current Part Time Job
I love my part-time job. It is the best company to work for ever. Despite it having no affordable insurance. On the last paycheck though I only worked about 15 hours per week. This past week (end tomorrow) I had 28 hours on the schedule. I really need at least 20 hours each week just to pay the rent out of my paycheck. I need more then that to pay for insurance, savings and such.







Career Search
It is still going. If my current part-time job would give me the 35+ hours I would be happy there I think. I really can't say much else, for obvious reasons. When I have something more to report, I will be happy to let all the readers know.







Schooling
Schooling is another thing I have considered. I believe education to be very important. I have considered becoming a solicitor, accountant or perhaps a financial counselor. The biggest problem is I am still new to Texas and I need to live here a year before I can get instate tuition rates.

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Frugal Tip: Avoid Movie Theaters

Earlier this year, I started posting a more in depth look at each of the frugal tips. Over the next few weeks I will publish the frugal tips that I have collected. Please note that not every tip will work for everyone. Chose as many of the tips that will work with you and your family and start implementing them. Today we will proceed with Tip #23 Don't go to movie theaters.

I truly can't remember the last time I paid to visit a movie theater. Last month my wife and I went and seen the movie "Country Strong," thanks to the free tickets that we won from a call in radio contest. We didn't purchase any snacks or beverages. In fact we ate dinner right before we left the apartment to go to the theater. We even were able to obtain the Mylar for that movie as we happened to be in the very last showing of that movie.

Other then that we wait till movies come out on DVD or TV. In fact, we now have Netflix and have several movies saved awaiting when Netflix will get them on DVD so that they can send them to us.

You can enjoy a good movie without the expense of the overpriced theaters.
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Frugal Tip 22: Avoid Microwave Popcorn Bags

Earlier this year, I started posting a more in depth look at each of the frugal tips. Over the next few weeks I will publish the frugal tips that I have collected. Please note that not every tip will work for everyone. Chose as many of the tips that will work with you and your family and start implementing them. Today we will proceed with Tip #22 I pop my own popcorn, rather then buying microwave popcorn. I think it tastes better anyway.
Here is why you should avoid microwave Popcorn to:

1. It’s Cheaper (#1 reasons on a budget/frugal blog like this one)
   
2. It’s Healthier (You know exactly what is on it. - no preservatives - it's all natural -except the butter/margarine and salt you may or may not put on it)
   
3. Flavor the way you like it (heck if you want to use coconut oil from the health food store, go for it....your own cocking, means your own flavors)
   
4. Make as little or as much as you want
   
5. It’s fun to watch the popping
   

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AOL Buying Yet Another News Provider

The New York Times and other media sources are reporting to AOL is purchasing the liberal political news provider Huffington Post.

SAN FRANCISCO — AOL is trying to remake itself, yet again.
The new strategy in many ways resembles the old strategy: make acquisitions to attract traffic and reverse a continuing decline in advertising and revenue from its dial-up Internet service. In the latest iteration of its do-over, it is paying $315 million to buy the liberal news commentary site The Huffington Post, not long after paying $25 million to buy TechCrunch, the Silicon Valley technology news blog.
- The New York Times

What are they doing? Why are they doing this? Those are the questions everyone seems to be asking. I mean they bought a technology news blog recently, as the excerpt above says. Reports are the this latest acquisition will bring news content to AOL pages. Still one has to wonder why? Will AOL become a content provider? Attempting to go against Google? If so, will they get out of the access business altogether?
Finally, who will be bought next?



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My name is Kevin, and that's what I think. What do you think? Agree? Disagree?

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Frugal Tip: Walk or Bicycle instead of Driving

Earlier this year, I started posting a more in depth look at each of the frugal tips. Over the next few weeks I will publish the frugal tips that I have collected. Please note that not every tip will work for everyone. Chose as many of the tips that will work with you and your family and start implementing them. Today we will proceed with Tip #21 walk or bicycle to church or work.

When I lived in Topeka, I walked the 3 blocks to church rather then driving (I usually had to park 2 blocks away anyway). I often did the same thing or bicycle to neighborhood meetings. Now that I am in Austin (and in a city the is suppose to much more bicycle friendly) I live 6 miles from church, So this is now impracticable (Only a highway to get to church, even the access road cuts off and then restarts when it comes to another highway). Although, I am close enough that I could bicycle to work. I am going to have to get my tires aired up, and figure out where I can lock my bike at work, so it will be safe.

The Frugal Cyclist says:

Ditch Your Car and Save Money: Do you realize how much it costs every year to own a car? Did you know more and more people are getting by without a car? When factoring in other costs, such as car payments, maintenance, and gas, AAA found that the average annual cost to own and operate a sedan is $8,487 . That comes out to $707 a month.
- Frugal Cyclist

According to the League of American Bicyclists (LAB), more than half of the U.S. population lives within 5 miles of work. Considering how difficult it is for us to resist that piece of desert, we should be all over that. Even if we haven’t ridden a bicycle since we were a little tyke, "you never forget how to do it." So why don't we all get out the bike, air up the tires and ride to work? I think I am going to figure out where I can lock my bike up at work, so that I can do this very thing. That and figure out where to ride my bike in the area where the bike lane and sidewalk ends.
No, I am not making excuses, just thinking out loud. Figuring out how it can be done, so that others reading this might not make the same excuse. For one, I can go through the shopping centers parking lots when I reach those areas. That only leaves about 25 feet to figure a way. In those areas, I can surely use the access road to make my way to where I need to go.


Reminder: May is National Bike Month, May 16-20 is Bike to Work Week, and May 20 is Bike to Work Day.

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Frugal Tip: Temper Your Desires

Earlier this year, I started posting a more in depth look at each of the frugal tips. Over the next few weeks I will publish the frugal tips that I have collected. Please note that not every tip will work for everyone. Chose as many of the tips that will work with you and your family and start implementing them. Today we will proceed with Tip #20 Train myself that my house is not a museum. I don't need to own everything cool that I discover. I can just admire it in the store. (I dream, may even blog about the desire and then work to save for some of these dream items.) It's basic common sense. I don't need every gadget or whatever that I desire. They are wants and we did without them before they were invented or became the new hot item. So we can realistically get by without them now.

If we do decide to get something new, be patient. Save up and pay cash for it.


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