Political Rant Number 1: Homeschool Rights

I do not normally rant, or even care much, what people think or say about the fact that I homeschool my children.  Either why or how, as a matter of fact.  I do, however, answer questions from those who are curious or truly interested in what we do.  I do not entertain the rude people, or those who ridicule or are just nosy.  I do not extend my opinions to those who choose to send their child to public school, and I expect the same respect in return.

So, what am I all hot and bothered about?  Some political figure in Ohio, you can Google her name if you want, tried to get a bill passed that would say that anyone who wanted to homeschool their child, in Ohio, had to have Social Services OK it first.  Are you kidding me?  As if that was not bad enough, then I made the mistake of reading comments made by ignorant people who have no knowledge of anything apparently, on how this should be because all those wacky homeschoolers just abuse their kids, thump their Bibles, and teach that the Earth is only 6,000 years old.  And those are just the ones I took the time to bother and read.  There were more.

I know, I know homeschoolers pull their kids out of public school so we can hide them in a closet, make them work hard labor in the fields, abuse them with hot irons, starvation and refusal of medical care.  Really, why would we not have to be investigated just because we want to educate our children in the way we see fit?  Come on, educate yourself, before you get on your high horse of stupidity.  It is a beautiful horse and you ride it so well.

Child abuse is an all encompassing epidemic.  It effects all races, religions, and even educated well off people abuse their children. Homeschooling is a RIGHT.  You, nor the Government has the  RIGHT to try and take that away from anyone.  Once you start to trounce the rights of one group of people, be very careful for your precious rights may get trounced on too. 

If someone is suspected of child abuse, fine take the proper steps to eradicate it, but keep your hands off homeschool rights.  You might find we don't like having our rights trounced on.

Are You Frugal Or Just Cheap Like Me?

Debt consolidation

I am a stay at home mom, who works part time as a Nurse, on the weekends. I homeschool, my children, and any of you that do that, you know it can be expensive. So on a very tight budget, how do you save money? Do you have creative ways, to cut your expenses, and save a little money? I do, and we are going to discuss them. Debt relief



Debt help Ok, so how do we save money? It is not easy, I can tell you that. We came into our marriage, both lacking in the credit area, if you know what I mean. We both, spent our twenties, having a good time, and not being one bit frugal, or even worrying about saving money. Not a good choice, that is for sure. We have spent many years bringing down, our debt, and we did purchase our first home last year. Something I never thought would happen. At http://www.bills.com you can see what your bills IQ is, and learn ways to higher your credit score. I wish this was available, when we were racking our brains, to figure out where we could save a few bucks.

Consolidate debt In the dictionary, next to the word cheap, is probably a picture of me. Oh I love nice things, as much as anyone else, but I dont like to spend a fortune to have it, or work tons of hours either. So here is my list of ways to save money.

1- Take a shower every other day, rather than every day, unless you have a real sweaty stinky job or something.
2- Wash your laundry in cold water, not hot water. If you can stand doing your dishes that way too, that would be great.
3- Re use ziploc bags, that arent really dirty.
4- I learned to make my own gemstone jewelry. This was not really that difficult, and it saves a ton of money. I even made my own wedding set.
5- For homeschooling, I get as much off the internet for free, that I can. This takes a little time and effort, but saves a ton of money.
6- Set aside, 20 dollars, every single paycheck. Mark it as savings, and stick it in your undie draw if you have to. Be sure to not spend it, it adds up quickly, and soon you will have a little bit of savings to invest, or pay off a bill.
7- I shop all year for xmas. I pretty much know what my kids will want. Every time I go shopping, I buy something, then stick it in the closet. Then come xmas I dont have to put money on credit cards.
8- Buy gift cards, for 10 dollars, or more if you can, stick them away and then at xmas you have a whole bunch of cards to give as gifts. Be sure to check with the store how long from time of purchase to expiration date. It may say on the card.
9- Car pool with co workers, to save gas, and keep your tire pressure at the correct level. Some people laugh at that, but it is true, it will get you better gas mileage, and save on your gas bill. I car pool, with two of my co workers. They live right on the same route I follow. It saves a lot of money in gas.
10- Buy food in bulk, if you can store it. Meat is expensive, so substitute with beans one or two nights a week. Buy the larger packages of meat, then separate them into serving sizes, before freezing them.
11- Dont eat out. That is a hard one for us. We enjoy eating out, and honestly used to eat out three times a week. Now once a week, at the very most.
12- These are more drastic, but I have done them to cut expenses, when money was extremely tight- cut cable out or decrease to basic, cut high speed internet and go with dial up, cut out the cell phone and use a tracphone, cut out long distance and use calling cards, instant messaging, or email. Keep the air conditioner, set on 82. Turn off lights, when not being used. I used to go as far as unplugging everything, at night, that was not on. My husband couldnt handle that though, and I had to abandon it.

These are all ways, we have saved money, and most of them we still currently use. So how do you live more frugally, and save a few cents?

Dont forget to visit http://www.bills.com and take the bills IQ test. You can learn ways to help increase your credit score, and save a few bucks too.