a new phone?

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sprint for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

My husband and I have been on Sprint for years. We started in 2007 after a bad experience with another phone company but we think of that bad experience as a blessing in disguise because it made us look around for a different phone provider and found one that we are absolutely happy about. Middle of last year I upgraded my phone to HTC EVO 4G that I am content with. I thought it was a good deal until I read about Sprint's limited time online only sale. If I waited a few months I could have gotten the HTC EVO™ 3D for $49.99 just by adding another phone to our account. I paid a hundred dollars to get my smartphone. I am happy about it but if I knew this is going to happen I could have waited and saved money. But I did not know so I could not own this baby 

Like I said though, I do not have problems with my phone so it does not hurt as much, lol. We have been looking for a phone for the husband who is due for an upgrade soon so we will see if he will want the HTC EVO 3D or the Nexus S™ 4G which does look well too. He is not a techie person so he will need to practice but I think he should take the best offer. The Nexus S 4G comes free with either a new line of service or if added to our account. These are two good deals that we can choose from. I hope this promotion runs longer so we will be able to avail of it. I have read reviews on the Nexus too and I think I like what I read. It does look sleek too.

What do you think? Which one is better? I think free is better than anything else :)

a little bit of help

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

When I lost my insurance, I started to pay full price for my prescription. It was not easy considering the fact that when I had an insurance my prescription was covered so most drugs I purchase from the pharmacy I did not have to pay a dime. It was hard but we got by albeit with a bit of frustration every time I refill my prescription. The pharmacist was so good to help me lower the price of my prescription after she noticed that I have been paying full price for months. I do not know what she did but instead of paying full price, I got a discount of ten dollars every month. It was a huge help and I have always been grateful of what she did. It is always better when a person gets help when she needs it. That is why I have been telling friends and relatives about the Walgreens Prescription Savings Club which is right now offering a special discount of having only to pay $10 for an annual family membership. This covers everybody in the family including kids 22 years old and younger. While individual may join at $5. This should provide a lot of savings and benefits for any family who will be interested to join. I might let my family avail of this promotion because every little thing that saves money will be a great help for us in this hard times. If you or anybody you know will benefit from joining the Walgreens Prescription Savings Club, do not hesitate to join or tell your friends. You can follow Walgreens on Twitter for more updates or you can like Walgreens on Facebook to get more information as well as updates on whatever promotion the company is running to help us save a little money here and there.

free education

Guest post written by Joseph Finch.

If I didn’t have direct tv dish I don’t think that I would have ever learned to cook. I never grew up working in the kitchen with my Mom. I was simply not interested in cooking and didn’t think forward to the time when I would be married and have a family. I have had to learn how to cook the hard way because we live so far away from my parents. Learning actually hasn’t really been that hard. I learned the basics from reading techniques books but have perfected my skills by gathering a lot of information from, you guessed it, the Food Network aka my favorite Channel. After I got the basics down and started learning expert techniques and also fancy French cooking terms from the Food Network, I have been on fire. My wife says that I rival any classically trained gourmet chef. I would love to go to Culinary school, but it is really expensive. I feel like my training ( and it is good at that) has come from soaking up as much as I can everyday from the Food Network. A simple and free Chef’s education!

free space

We bought an expensive indoor swing for the little girl. She only used it a few times then she started being unhappy strapped in it so we stopped putting her in the swing. It had set for a long time in the living room that I got tired of looking at it. The little man has been swinging in it which makes me nervous because I know it is not made to hold an older child much less get abused that way. It might just give one day and before that happens I decided to tear it down. I mean, disassemble it. I had to figure it out for days what I will need and how to go about doing it and today was just the day I decided to work on that plan. I thought it was pretty easy considering how the screws and stands were getting out pretty fast, until my fingers got caught and one screw refused to budge. I wanted to throw the damned thing away but I could not do it knowing the husband will roast my a#$ for it, lol. He did buy the swing and refuses to disassemble it saying his kids were happy where it was at. Well, mommy was not happy so she did what she could then left what I could not tear apart for him to deal with. He could not do anything seeing the mess I made that he finished what I started mumbling about things I did not want to hear. Lol. Now the swing, or what was left of it, is in a box. I am trying to figure out how to sell it. I am not giving it away because it is fairly new and rarely used. If I can find a way to post it on Craigslist or the local sell and trade I should get about $50 for it which will be my asking price (a third of how much was paid for it). But, I have to convince the husband this is the way to do it. He might not want me to sell the swing for sentimental reason. After all, he did buy it for his daughter brand new because he said he will not let his daughter use somebody else cast-off. I was told after the deed that in no certain terms will I be disassembling anything in the house when he is not present. I said yes. That is, for now, since I am so happy with the space that was freed after the swing was gone.

brand new business

The Author of this post is Solomon Dejesus

When I decided to get my brand new business off the ground it was a really tough call. There’s no way to know whether or not it’s going to work but I’m just excited to be doing it once and for all – I’ve always had a really entrepreneurial streak. I can’t believe there are so many ways to make money nowadays but you know, it’s up to you to decide how you can make bank off of any given idea. Anyway, I’m trying to make my consulting business as professional as possible from the get go because that means I’ll be able to land more clients so I’ve been working on things like getting a smallbusiness.xo.com/ business package and a small office space near downtown I can meet potential clients in. I think it won’t be long before I figure out how to run this operation smoothly and really be the boss of my own destiny. I can’t believe I’m a small business owner after so many years working so hard for “the man”, you know?

affordable eyeglasses

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Zenni Optical. All opinions are 100% mine.

I have had problems with my eyesight since I was a freshman in college. I am nearsighted. I cannot see well without my eyeglasses, which actually took me a long time to get used to. I guess I was in denial for a long time. It was easier to pretend that nothing was wrong with my eyes until I go out and could not read signs without squinting. That was when I realized I need to be serious in wearing my eyeglasses in order for me to see especially when I am out in public. I remember my first pair of prescription eyeglasses cost a lot of money and was rarely used, much to my parents' disappointment (they paid for it). I probably could have found a pair of cheap eyeglasses but the optometrist I went to offered me a pair for a discount. I really thought at the time I scored a deal. I did not know until years later that I could have gotten a pair for half the price I paid for my first pair of eyeglasses. I learned my lesson the hard way but learn I did. I have never bought any expensive eyeglasses since then. I shop around until I see the pair I want for the price I am willing to pay. Hence, the plan to switch to Zenni after my annual eye exam. I have friends who have experience with the company and they have been praising Zenni for their affordable, stylish eyeglasses. I have looked at their selection, even included a screenshot of the style I want to buy in this post. The style I like is really cheap which should free up my money so I can buy a Wii game my son wants for Christmas. He will be a happy little boy when he opens his present come Christmas morning. And mommy will be happy to have her eyeglasses and see her boy happy.

 

What do you think of my choice? Is it good? Or could I have done better? You can help me choose by going to the Zenni Optical website to look at their available frames then leaving me a message here. I will be happy to hear from you. I will feel better if I know my choice of frame is good enough because I will have to be wearing that particular frame for a year. The husband will just tell me the eyeglasses looks nice on me to avoid argument so I need an advise from somebody else.

our tree is up

It is almost Christmas. We had our tree up just a few days ago after debating whether or not to put it up. It took us a while when we normally have our tree after Thanksgiving but all is good now. I want to buy more decorations and lights but money is tight so I reused last year's decorations. The husband said if things are good next year, we will get a new tree then get new decorations as well. We did argue on one thing, he wants candy canes on the tree and I am against it at first. He said it should be tradition and that he likes to have the sweets in the tree so it will be there whether I like it or not. I personally don't like the candies because I know the little man will be playing with them but whatever makes the husband happy. He does not ask any presents during Christmas (or any other holidays for that matter) so I will let him do it. He is torn in what color candy cane to put in our tree, lol. I don't know why since candy is candy no matter what color it is. He is yet to buy the candy cane with the flavor he prefers.

making some DIY Halloween candy for my family

I really love making all kinds of desserts and treats. I've always had a huge sweet tooth, so it only makes sense that I make some of the really tasty treats that my family and I can enjoy. This time of the year I'm just now gearing up to make all kinds of tasty treats for all of the holidays over the next few months and what better way to kick off that time than Halloween? Candy definitely rules this holiday and I wouldn't have it any other way!

I'm constantly looking online for new candy recipes that I can make and I was doing that about a week ago when I ran across some internet cable packages. I looked through the info some and after that I decided to change over my home service to one of those packages.

I found this really great recipe for a Halloween candy bar that I tried out and my family just loved. I'm not going to make them for trick or treaters, but just enough for me and my family to enjoy.

Guest post written by Stacy Turner.