Here’s a portion of the article emailed to me today:

Save Money All Year Long
You can’t always avoid the cost of convenience, but a little planning ahead will save you a lot

GAS
Save $240Redeem on Tuesdays
An American family with one car and one SUV or minivan consumes about 1,200 gallons of gas each year, according to the Federal Highway Administration. At any time, however, the price of a gallon of gas can vary by as much as 20 cents within a metropolitan area, says Brad Proctor, founder of GasPriceWatch, a consumer-advocacy website. To get the best bargain, avoid buying gas on weekends, when most people travel or run errands and gas stations raise prices accordingly. (Tip: Plan to take care of errands all at once instead of making extra trips.) Also, stay away from stations on toll highways, which charge high prices to their captive customers. To find the lowest price near your home or job on a given day, go to www.gaspricewatch.com or GasBuddy (www.gasbuddy.com) and enter your home or work ZIP code. These sites bring together volunteer “price spotters” (GasPriceWatch has 110,000) who regularly update the sites with prices at local stations. If you can stick to pumping once a week, says Proctor, you can often find the best prices on Tuesdays.

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CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
Save $750 on a laptop computer Redeem when a discount is offered
There is no set yearly schedule for sales on computers and consumer electronics, says Glenn Cunningham, director of the electronics store at Amazon.com. Instead, these items go on sale when manufacturers introduce a new version or need to sell a lot quickly to impress investors, says Tim Storm, president of FatWallet, a website that tracks consumer-goods prices. Last October, for example, computer maker Dell offered a one-day promotion that cut the prices of some laptops by 50 percent ($750) a few weeks before it was due to make a financial report to Wall Street. To take advantage of these sudden, deep discounts, decide exactly what you want to buy, then go to a site like www.SlickDeals.net, www.fatwallet.com, or TechBargains (www.techbargains.com), where you can check for the day’s latest discounts. The latter two sites let you set up free e-mail alerts that tell you when a specific item — or something in a general category, such as “Dell laptop” — has gone on sale.

Another weekend of photo taking and it’s time for an update. Jawan just wrote that she is certain folks could care less about seeing more pictures of her kids – – truth is I love seeing her kids. So, I am going to assume the same is true about you: if you keep looking at my blog you must not mind my kids. Love me love my kids, eh? So, here we go. . .

Little got a new coat this week. I noticed that hers was too small LAST week but couldn’t get out with just her until Saturday. We looked at Kohls (where we found jeans on sale for $4 a pair and all her jeans are too small too!!! Thank you, Jesus.) and found nothing in the coat department so on to Burlington we went. I had her try on every pink coat I saw while she kept saying, “Let’s try the orange one.” and “Little likes the orange one.” Orange IS her favorite color but I just kept on with, “Let’s try this yellow one, Little”. The yellow one had a hole, the pink one had a stain, and the lavender one was too small – so we tried the orange on and tah-dah! She loves it and looks adorable. And the weather was 8 degrees today so we were glad to have it!

Bubba and I made heart shaped brownies for his class. He stirred and tasted – mostly tasted. (Yes, that is a zodiac cutting board in our counter top. Don’t ask – we’re renting.)

KB doing her Austin Powers impersonation.And last, but not least, the group photo from the birthday party Little attended tonight at Build a Bear. Seriously, could it look any less fun? It is a horrible and out of focus photo but I felt you needed to see how miseralbe Little looks and that even the birthday girl (standing up in the back) seems disinterested. That kid on the floor to Little’s right? He looks like he is smiling but he is crying like a baby! What in the world? Well, don’t let the photo fool you. Even though this photographer mom captured the lowest moment for posterity, the party was full of fun for all. There were cupcakes and juice boxes, so of course the kids had fun! It was an emotional roller coaster for me but that will have to wait for another post. It’s late and I need to go to bed.

I don’t know what the policy is at your church nursery, mother’s morning out, or daycare, but where we live one has to have their child’s name on their sippy cup or else. I have tried using my labeler – – it comes off in the wash. I have used permanent marker – – it comes off in the wash. What’s a mom to do???

A company called InchBug has come to the rescue with an item called the BumpyName Orbit Labels. You have got to check this out. KB has her set arriving in the mail and I believe it will be worth every penny to not have any discussion with nursery workers, teachers, and her older siblings!