Wash your hands!

It seems simple, but the amazing fact is that properly washing your hands or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer is the best way to prevent sickness. You come in contact with germs throughout the day from a variety of sources - direct contact with people, dirty surfaces, food, animals, etc. You can easily infect yourself by touching your eyes, nose or mouth if you don’t wash your hands frequently enough. And you can easily spread those germs that you have accumulated by something as simple as touching a doorknob.

Here is a list from the Mayo Clinic about when to wash your hands:
-After using the toilet
-After changing a diaper — wash the diaper-wearer’s hands, too
-After touching animals or animal waste
-Before and after preparing food, especially before and immediately after handling raw meat, poultry or fish
-Before eating
-After blowing your nose
-After coughing or sneezing into your hands
-Before and after treating wounds or cuts
-Before and after touching a sick or injured person
-After handling garbage
-Before inserting or removing contact lenses
-When using public restrooms, such as those in airports, train stations, bus stations and restaurants

So wash your hands frequently with warm soapy water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer and avoid those hefty doctor bills this Christmas!

Here’s a simple tip to ensure that everyone gets what they want. When you are writing down each person’s name to be included in the drawing, on the same slip of paper have everyone write down their wish list (items included in the dollar limit) on the same paper as their name. Fold the papers, and proceed with the drawing as usual. Then, the person that draws your name will have a few suggestions on what to purchase. That is an easy way to give and get what you want for Christmas! Also, you don’t end up with an ill-fitting sweater that you are forced to wear whenever your family visits.

Merry Christmas!

While thinking about your Christmas shopping, why not make those purchases online? Shopping through MyPoints is an easy way to gain those valuable points that will enable you to reward yourself later. For example, Target.com is currently offering 5 points for every dollar you spend less than $74.99 and 10 points per dollar for anything over $75. That can easily add up to 1000 points!

Since you are going to make those purchases anyway, shop through MyPoints and reward yourself later.

HomeGain.com gave me a list of other houses in our neighborhood that have recently sold. They gave us the selling price and the date of the sale - all in the last 6 months. They have several other services, but this gave me a quick idea of our house’s value.

If you are thinking about selling your house, this should give you a good idea of where to start.

But, for now, I want my cake and I want to eat it too! FreeBirthday.com will send you a list of places across America where you can receive free stuff on your birthday. This “free stuff” can range from a free song to a free dessert. It’s nice to know your options! The list is updated daily. You just have to fill out a short form and they email you a list. When your birthday comes around, don’t forget to check it out.

In cooperation with the Federal Trade Commission, the three major credit reporting agencies set up the website, annualcreditreport.com, to provide free access to annual credit reports.

Some states already offer a free annual credit report from each of the three agencies. Residents of Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey and Vermont are entitled to one free series annually. Georgia residents are entitled to two free annual credit reports from each credit reporting agency. Colorado

AnnualCreditReport.com is the most trusted website to use for your annual credit report. You can purchase your credit score at the same website while you are requsting your annual credit report.

MyKidsEatFree.com

Although I only found a couple of restaurants in my area, it gives me a couple of options to consider when eating out with friends with kids. If you know of any Kids Eat Free specials that aren’t listed, there is a contact form on the website so you can let them know.

Engrish.com - A website of humorous English mistakes that appear in Japanese advertising and product design.

TodayMyBoss.com People write in and tell unbelievable stories about what their bosses have done. Usually makes me feel much better about my boss! Site hasn’t been updated since January 08, but you can still read the archives.

ICanHasCheezburger.com - LOLcats - funny pictures of cats with hilarious sayings. You don’t have to like cats to appreciate this website!

The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation marks - Once you start reading this blog, you will start noticing this common grammatical error everywhere!

PassiveAggressiveNotes.com - We’ve all seen them, now they are all posted in one hilarious website.

Let me know if there are any funny websites that you visit regularly. Enjoy!

It’s called once-a-month cooking. You take one day (Saturday for me) and spend a few hours cooking several meals (enough for the entire month) and then freezing them. I have two cookbooks that help me: Once-a-Month cooking and Dinner’s in the Freezer. Both are good books that tell you step-by-step what to cook, when to freeze, and serving day directions.

It is a commitment to spend most of a weekend day cooking, but it is worth it. Typically, I will plan out the meals and go to the grocery store on Friday. Then, bright and early on Saturday I will start cooking. It goes by incredibly fast, and when you are finished you are filled with a sense of accomplishment, especially knowing you won’t have to cook for some time.

My husband and I both work full time. When I come home from work, I will take something out of the freezer (or refrigerator depending on if the dish had to be thawed or not) and throw it in the oven, grill or on the stove. The dishes don’t always have to be casseroles, you can really make anything and freeze it. Hamburger patties, fajitas, wings, etc - there may be some of the ingredients that you wait until serving day to use.

I definitely recommend once-a-month cooking. As part of the frugal challenge of not going out to eat for a month, this will give you no excuses. You will always have a home-cooked meal waiting on you!

When my husband and I first started thinking about saving money, we challenged ourselves in several ways. The first challenge was to avoid going out to eat for one month. It was definitely a challenge, but we did it! In my corporate job, I would go out to eat almost every work day. Lunch with friends, coworkers, etc. seemed to make sense to me. Then my husband and I have our favorite Mexican restaurant that we would eat at every week. We would also eat out several times on the weekend. So, let’s add up those expenses per week:

• Lunch during the week(est. $10 per meal, 3 times a week) = $30
• Favorite Mexican restaurant (est. $25) = $25
• Weekend restaurant trips (est. $25 per meal, 2 times) = $50

That is $105 a week just for eating out! Luckily, it’s just the two of us - no kids, yet. Still, that is over $400 a month. How crazy were we?

So, for one month we did not go out to eat. At my job, I occasionally have vendors that come in and take a group out to eat. Because of that, we were allowed to go out to eat if the meal was being paid for by someone else.

The challenge: For the next month, do not go out to eat. Cook at home, fix sandwiches, eat leftovers. Just think of all the money you can save! It typically takes about a month to make a habit, and this is a great habit to start.

Let me know how you do!

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