WFMW: Cost-effective Water Snob

I have had an epiphany.

I am a water snob.

I despise tap water. Hate it with a passion. I don't even like ice cubes from tap water. It's really quite sad. But here's the thing. I love water. I drink it 8 out of 10 times instead of a carbonated beverage. A nice glass (or bottle) of water just hits the spot in a way that pop just can't do. Plus, it's free when you go out to eat! It can be expensive though.

DH and I are in the midst of an overhaul on our lives. This effects many areas but especially our finances. This means cutting back frivolous expenses and stretching the dollar further than it's been stretched before. Unfortunately, with my snobbery, bottled water is a necessary evil. I've even picky about the brand. Watch me as I hang my head in shame.

I have fallen in love with the Sam's Club/Wal*Mart brand of 20 oz. watery goodness. It's a larger bottle so I'm satisfied longer. However, my husband prefers to shop at Kroger instead of Wal*Mart and has said quite definitively that he doesn't want to go to Wal*Mart just for water. I am not a fan of Kroger brand water.

Necessity is the mother of invention, or in this case, compromise. On our shopping excursion last night, I found myself settling for Kroger brand water. Whatever helps the bottom line because right now, that's what matters. I'll get over my snobbery if necessity requires it. But alas! What's this!? Another alternative! Why didn't I think of this before!?

Deer Park (place your regional brand name here) has a stackable 3-liter container! Not only that but it was only $1.45! I can get a liter bottle of Meijer brand water for $.99 so for me it seemed like a good deal! Upon further calculation, it's not cheaper than the Wal*Mart brand but it will do in a pinch. Maybe next time I'll venture to the gallons or the big fridge models of 'bottled' water. But like I said, I'm a water snob. And it works for me!

WFMW - Lunch in the Park

****Sorry about the brevity of this post. Hurried for time... ***

Things get a little hectic around the office occasionally. Faxes coming in, the phones ringing off the hook, scanning to be done, patients to schedule... Thankfully, there is a park right down the road. A nice, large park with lots of shelters and picnic tables. When things are particularly stressful, how wonderful it is to know that it's there. Like yesterday... and like today... Lunch in the park works for me. Listening to the baseball bats crack, the birds chirp, and feeling the breeze blow as I sit and read my book is relaxing. It leaves me rejuvenated for another afternoon. It works for me.

For more "Works For Me Wednesdays", check out Rocks in My Dryer.

WFMW: Google

I love Google. I love just about everything about it. I love being able to sign in and have not only a great search engine but my own personalized home page. I have tabs of goodies waiting for me every time I open my browser.

Google has their fabulous Reader that keeps track of my almost 150 blogs that I read. Say it with me now, "obsessive!" I've mentioned it before but it's so nice to go to one place and see who has updated. I cannot even begin to imagine trying to bounce through all my sites to try and see who have posted something new. It's a wonderful thing!

Google also has Picasa. Wonderful photo storage and editing. The majority of all my pictures go through Picasa at some point in time. This program can take your photos and upload them into their own nice little album online. Or, if you'd rather, go straight from Picasa for a blog post. It's a good thing. Sure makes it easy when you aren't at home and want to show someone your pictures!

Google also has Gmail. Now, who's to say that an email address is exciting? Well, generally, it's not. However, with Gmail, I have the ability to do things with my mail that I can't with other servers. I have an email address for each blog. Redundant, I know... but my home email address has my last name in it, which is something I don't want floating all through my pages. However, with Gmail, you can send an email to my viewfromthefishbowl@gmail.com address and I will receive it on my home email address and can respond in like. All three blogs are set up that way. It's super handy. Plus other goodies that I'll get into in a minute.

Google has its lovely calendar! I have always kept my information on my work calendar when I was working at the hospital. However, when I started looking for another job, I knew I was going to lose that information unless I found some other way to store it. I found a lovely program through Google. I can have color coded calendars for myself, DH, and my photography, and it's all in one location, accessible from any computer with an Internet connection.

I have saved the best for last though. I mentioned the home page. Well, I love the iGoogle feature! With the ability to have different gadgets on my homepage, I can have everything at my finger tips as soon as I open a browser window. I have my email, my photos, my reader, and my calendar all in one location. No more bouncing around to so many different websites to check everything out. It's a one-stop shop for me. And ya know what, it works for me!

WFMW: Backwards Edition!

Right off the bat I must apologize for the lack of posting lately. My life has been chaotic at best. Daniel's birthday was Feb. 28th and his party was the 22nd. Open House for work was the 29th with the Dedication service on March 1st. Now my father's birthday is Friday, the 7th. It's been a little crazy around here lately.

Back to the topic at hand. In case you were unaware, I'm a big fan of the Backwards Editions of Works for Me Wednesdays. Well, I'm a fan of WMFW regardless but a bigger fan of the Backwards Editions. I get to ask you for help! My topic this month is what seems to be everyone's concern lately. Saving money, cheaper grocery bills, and more economical spending.

I have lots of examples. I have LizzyBee and Sarah taking care of things on the family side. I've also run across several other blogs that have to do with saving money. A few of my favorites are Kaci over at Sense to Save, Crystal at Money Saving Mom, Frugal Hacks, Gayle over at Grocery Cart Challenge, and Amy at The Mother Load.

All of these websites have great ideas but it's kinda hard to put them into practice. You see, my situation is a little different than others. I'm a 'newlywed' without kids and whose husband often works nights. I can but don't cook as I don't want to put forth the effort for one person. This brings me to Part One of my questions. I am in need of recipes that will serve two but that are inexpensive and easy to store and reheat.

Part Two is a little more complicated. Our lives have a lot of things going on in them right now. Daniel is currently in school so he's only working part time. We've had some changes here lately that have made us be more cautious with our money. Any suggestions? Not eating out as much will certainly help but Part One needs to be handle before that's possible. Frivolous spending must be cut down to a bare minimum. Gas efficiency is a must but hard to do when you live 45 minutes from your place of employment.

I know Kaci and several others talk alot of shopping at drug stores. They frequent CVS but my lowly little town is without a 'fabulous' CVS. Walgreens and Rite Aid, check. But no CVS where everyone seems to be saving the most money. Yet, I want to find a way to accomplish my goal of being frugal. Any and all suggestions are welcome! Please help!!

And come join in the fun at Rocks in My Dryer!

WFMW--Online Shopping Edition

It's that time of week again! This week we have a theme, something very near and dear to my heart, online shopping! I'm a big fan of this thing we call the Internet. It was first introduced into my life when I was about eight years old. It was the reason that I taught myself to type. It's something I use daily for the most part. I'm a big fan. I'm a really big fan of shopping on the World Wide Web. I always seem to find my way onto the Information Highway when I need something before my tires even reach the asphalt. I have come across many good shopping sites. Check them out, my favorites are below.

Amazon is definitely one of my favorites. You can find so many things are this site. You can rate things and have them give you recommendations based on what you buy and what you like. You can even tell it if you've already purchased an item to ensure that it doesn't recommend this same product. One of my favorite features is the Marketplace. Similar to eBay, you can sell your items through Amazon. I always check to see if the item I want is avaliable in the Marketplace before I pay full price. I have saved myself a pretty penny more than once.

eBay is another site I frequent. It never ceases to amaze me what you can find here. I just received an item I'd purchased yesterday as a matter of fact. I love browsing through all the crazy stuff people have to sell. Plus you get to see the crazy people in the world that make the bids go up on useless things. It's really quite interesting and can turn into a sport.

Froogle is more of a tool but something that I use often. If you haven't heard of it, it's Google's shopping search engine. It's really quite neat. You can find so many things there and not just at one site. It does your searching for you. It's awesome when you need to buy school books for your husband but don't want to buy $600! Using Froogle, I only paid half that.

Target and Bed Bath and Beyond are some more of my favorite shopping sites. I also enjoy just searching for something that interests me and seeing where it leads. Loads of fun! Enjoy!

Hop over to Rocks in My Dryer for more fun shopping sites!

Half-Price Books

It's that time again. Shame on me, I don't participate regularly but hey, I am today! That counts for something right?? My Works For Me Wednesday is all about one of my other loves, books! I have found, (a while ago), a store called Half-Price Books. Let me just tell you, I LOVE this store!It is as the name says, every book is listed at half-price. It's kind of like a consignment store. Instead of clothes, you bring in your books, music, computer games, audio books... that kinda thing. It's awesome! I received a $40 gift card for Christmas. I bought 15 books and paid $8! I mean seriously, where can you go to get a better deal than that?? If you haven't heard of it, you definitely need to check it out. It works for me!

Check out Rocks in My Dryer for more great ideas!

Amazing...

As you can see, I'm participating in Rocks In My Dryer's backwards WFMW. While browsing through to see if I could help someone else, I decided to check out last weeks entries as I wasn't able to last week. I came across some fabulous ideas! Just had to share!

Christmas Card Use / And here / Picture cards
What Your Spouse Needs to Know

I could go on and on about weight loss, organization, tips for kids/moms/spouses. Check it out yourself! Rocks in My Dryer

Backwards Works For Me Wednesday

The Backwards Edition

Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer does a backwards Works for me Wednesday once every month. It's my turn to ask a question. It was after much debate that I decided to ask for help with a cleaning schedule. It seems that when I get one thing clean and ahead, I look back and have something else fall behind. Laundry's always an issue too. I get caught and only to find I'm behind again. Someone please help! I need some kind of schedule...