Welcome to Something for Nothing

I recently blogged about Meebo: the web IM program. Well, it turns out there not the only Web Messenger program out there. I came across KoolIM today. Of course anything that says Kool I had to take a look at. I think that all started with things like Kool-Aid. I don’t like their interface that much. There are too many ads on the page and the IM login isn’t completely apparent. It is pretty neat that you can login to all the different messengers at the same time. I did have a little problem getting MSN messenger to work. It didn’t login correctly. Also, the logout confused me. It just said it was logged out. No links to another page or anything. That seems odd that the first page is so ad focused and the sign out it so blank.

I still think it’s great technology. I’m not sure what the revenue model for the site is, but I could see it being an expensive application with very little revenue generation. Plus, I’m not sure what company would buy it out since almost all of the major IM software companies have their own individual ones.

This post sponsored by Kool IM

I don’t know about other people, but I think that survivor has lost its flare. There really isn’t that many things that interest me in the show now. It really seems like it is something that we’ve seen before. It’s just nothing new. The new locations aren’t that different. The people still have pretty much the same complaints. It’s lost its luster. There are too many other good reality tv shows out there to really waste time on Survivor. Of course, it is lucky that there aren’t really any other shows on during that time that are better. Except for Are you smarter than a fifth grader. That one could be decent.

So as most of you already know we have been looking at buying a house here in Las Vegas. The market is low but still really high. In fact you pretty much need to be a dual income family in order to buy a house here. So I decided we just need to move to some where where we could actually afford a house. Of course we need to move some where that is just as warm as here. So that pretty much limits us. I was thinking Texas or Arizona might be nice. I was looking at Scottsdale Arizona Real Estate and their market is also low right now. You can buy a luxury home on a golf course right now for an extremely reasonable price. And even if you don’t want to move there ful time they have vacation homes and condos. I am thinking it is about time we start looking at the Market all over the USA to find us a good deal.

This post sponsored by Scottsdale Fine Properties.

My brother in law is getting married in a week and a half. And so we are all going to Utah for the wedding. We weren’t planning on leaving until mid week next week but my brother in law (who is taking the kids and I) called the other day and told me we would be leaving earlier than planned. We could leave as early as tomorrow. So I sit here in limbo waiting to hear what is going on. I am a little stressed over not knowing when we are actually going to leave since I still have to pack but don’t know how much to pack until I know how long we are going to be there. It wouldn’t be so bad if I just had to pack for myself but I have two kids to pack for too. And they are hard ones. You have to bring so much crap for the kids when you go out of town. It is crazy. This is why I think it is easier to go on vacation without kids.

I just found out my credit score. And although it isn’t too bad, it isn’t as high as I would like it. And the reason why it isn’t as high as I would like it is because when I was a stupid kid just out of high school I got a bunch of credit card offers and didn’t know how to use credit cards.

Credit cards are a must these days. You can’t rent a car without one. And there are many other things that I can’t think of right now that you have to only use a credit card for.

Thankfully since my high school days I have wised up and have gotten smarter when it comes to owning and using a credit card.

I use a credit card all the time. I do it so I can get free airline miles. And each month I make sure I pay off my balance so I will never get behind and really be in debt.

There are so many different credit cards that it is hard to know which one to apply for. Be sure to compare credit cards so you know you are getting the best interest rate. There are interest free credit cards or 0% credit cards. Where for a few months (depending on the card) you do not have to pay interest. This is really nice if you know you are going to pay off the item on your credit card within the allotted time.

You do need to watch out and make sure you check for annual fees. Some credit cards have them and others do not.

Just remember Credit cards aren’t really free money. You are responsible for paying all of it back so make sure you don’t use credit cards just to get farther into debt.

This post sponsored by Credit Card Store.

I love free things. There isn’t anything better than getting something of value for free. And that is one reason I love digital scrapbooking. There are tons of sites that offer freebies. I can make layouts here on the computer without making a mess for FREE. My favorite site so far is Ikea Goddess The reason I like this site is because she includes links to everyone elses blogs for their freebies. That means she does the searching for me. What could be better than that? I love this digital scrapbooking stuff. I am officially addicted. Here is one of my first pages. Did I tell you it was all free!!!

My husband asked me the other night if I ever thought I would marry such a musically talented guy. I said no. I am not musically inclined at all. And so it is all up to him to teach our children how to play musical instruments and sing in tune.

My husband is always coming up with new melodies and words to songs. His brain is always going. And there is a website that can help him become a famous musician. Musicians Wanted at Music.com - Get Discovered

This site allows you to upload your music and post your events so you can increase your fan base. It is an excellent site for anyone interested in really becoming a well known musician.

When my son was a newborn he was colicky. He could cry for hours. The only yrhing that helped him as swinging in the swing while my husband shook a rattle and did the haka.

So when we found out we were pregnant with our second baby we knew we needed to invest in another swing (we sold the first when we moved to the mainland). We did a lot of looking around and I found the one I liked…the Papasan Swing. Of course it was pretty pricey and so I figured we would never get it. But then we had a baby shower and the nice women chipped in and bought the exact swing I wanted without me even saying anything.

It is so nice. It can swing like a regular swing or do a cradle motion. Of course it eats the batteries though. But it is worth it to have somewhere to put the baby that will keep her content. I love swings.

When my husband and I got married we didn’t worry too much about life insurance. However, once our son was born we decided it was time to get some. We didn’t want something to happen to either one of us and not be able to have the money needed to care for our son.

There were many things we had to consider. Do we just get life insurance for my husband since he is the primary (and only) bread winner, do we get it for myself and do we get life insurance for our child. We had to do a lot of researching. We also had to find good rates and quotes. You can spend all day looking on the internet looking for good deals but we found secureinsurancequotes.com to be the most effective. It is especially good if you are looking for New Jersey Life Insurance or Washington Life Insurance.

After all our researching we believe we got the best rate for our family. We ended up buying life insurance for both my husband and I but did not get any for my son. Now if anything were too happen to either one of us we should be able to afford the cost of the funeral.

This post sponsored by secure insurance quotes.

Yesterday I went and fed the homeless. You would think that serving them would bring me warm fuzzies. It didn’t. The most vocal ones weren’t thanking us for bring them a huge meal they were complaining that we didn’t bring more. Then they complained that we were taking too long to clean up the kitchen afterwards. I couldn’t believe we were there trying to help them and they weren’t even appreciative. Some of the people didn’t even look homeless. They were clean shaven, well washed and well dressed. And others you could tell lived on the street. Even one lady looked and acted like she was strung out on drugs.

When I came home I was realizing I am like these homeless people in a way…I too am not grateful or appreciative of all that I have. I complain that I don’t have a house, nor will ever be able to afford one. I complain about a lot of things instead of being grateful for the crappy apartment I do have to live in. So I guess I need to be more appreciative. It won’t be easy but I guess I should try.