I am a big fan of Mike Bennett and his work, and he has a number of short story collections available. One of them, Salvation and Other Stories, is currently available for *free* via the Amazon kindle store. So hop on over there and get it, read it, and rate it!
This collection includes "Night Crossing" which is the introduction to Mike's epic vampire saga Underwood and Flinch which is available as a free podcast through iTunes. I really, really love the book and can't wait to buy it when it does come out in paper.
As spring approaches, and the urge to refresh the home encroaches (ha! I'm a poet!), I thought I would share some of my favorite ways to save money on small (and not-so-small) things, as well as some helpful things when getting rid of your stuff.
(This may or may not have been inspired by the fact that we've been cleaning and organizing our own house lately. Hard work but I am looking forward to the final result!)
Clothing, shoes (kids and adults), and household items:
I really like Zulily. They offer goods at discounted prices. Zulily offers shipping deals (i.e. pay shipping on your first order in a given 24-hour period, but all orders between then and midnight ship free). They also have awesome toy and book deals once in a while. If you haven't signed up yet, please use my referral links!
Totsy is now Modnique Kids. I have no experience ordering from them yet, and they don't seem to have a referral program, but if you use it please comment below to let me know how it works!
Ink for your printers:
Use code sigler13 at 4inkjets.com for 10% off your order and free shipping on orders over $50. We've used them before and they are AWESOME. We got our ink like 3 days after ordering for way cheaper than buying it at the store. More details here: http://scottsigler.com/4inkjets-coupon-codes.
Use code "KATG" for Stamps.com (click the microphone in the upper right at stamps.com) to get a $110 special offer, including a $50 value postal scale (5lb digital), $5 in free postage (with an additional $50 added if you stay past your trial period), and some postal labels. If you hate the post office and want to purge your house of things (i.e. selling your stuff on Ebay, or if you have a home business), this could seriously be a lifesaver. The mailperson will just pick up the stuff from your house! Note: this is a 4 week free trial. You will be charged $15.99 a month after your 4 week trial. You get to keep everything from your special offer even if you cancel, though.
Don't forget consignment stores and thrift shops! They are great ways to be green about your spending (or purging). Goodwill and Arc both take donations and turn the profits from sales around to do good in their communities, and they are great places to pick up furniture and clothes on the cheap. The Arc will come and pick up donations from your house, including furniture, if you call and let them know you have stuff. I am a HUGE fan of the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, which also takes donations and specializes in home-improvement materials, appliances, and large furniture.
My beautiful light, from the ReStore!
My favorite consignment store for kid's stuff is Once Upon a Child. These kids grow like weeds, and it's so wonderful to take a bag of stuff once every few months (they buy gently-used clothes, shoes, books and toys), turn it into cash, and buy the kids some new, much-needed clothing! Even if they only buy 1/3 or 1/2 of the things I bring in, I still break even or better nearly all of the time. Plus they have stamp cards (at my local one, anyway) where for every $10 you spend or sell, you get a stamp, and then when you fill your stamp card (20 stamps) you get 20% off a future purchase. OUAC is a franchise, so individual stores may vary, but I've generally been very happy with them!
Consignment for adults is harder. I've shopped and sold to both Plato's Closet and the Clothes Mentor before, but I'm not actually fashionable enough to sell much to either. I do like shopping there, it's a great place to get almost-new stuff for 1/4 to 1/3 of the price of new! Plato's Closet caters to the teen crowd, so venture forth only if you're feeling prepared to fight off the teeny-boppers. Depending on the individual store (also franchised) they do offer 50% more cash when you redeem your goods in exchange for a gift card for the store.
Finally, we come to TradeSmart. I can't even tell you how much I love this store. It's got movies, books, games, etc, both used and new. You can sell books, games, music and movies (they even take VHS) to them in exchange for cash or a gift card (which allows you to get 50% more money for your trade). Plus, it's a brick-and-mortar book store, which is a wonderful thing. Also, every time I shop there, I'm all "Shop Smart. Shop TradeSmart."
Yeah. I know. I'm a dork.
Anyway. Happy cleaning!
I was not paid by and am not affiliated with any of the above for these comments. They are just awesome and I wanted to share!
It's me. I know that when you read this (again) J will be 5 and probably in kindergarten preschool, and Hush Puppy will be approaching 2. I just wanted to remind you that just in case your clock has started ticking again, you SO do not want to be pregnant again. C has probably already had a vasectomy, but don't get any ideas anyway.
I'm writing this at 19 weeks pregnant with Hush Puppy. I can't walk very long before my low back, hips, and groin start threatening to jump ship. I swear it sometimes feels like my pelvis is going to fall off. My boobs are already 34Gs (you'll have to let me know if they ended up getting bigger after the baby comes). My belly is constantly uncomfortably stretching, and it is hard to get comfortable when I lay down. I can't really bend over terribly far any more. I haven't gained much weight yet (about 2 pounds, I think), but this pregnancy is really hard on my body. I don't ever want to do this again, you hear? Also, the Braxton Hicks contractions have been hanging around and coming on strong a couple times a day. Fun, right? Oh, and sex? Forget it. It's not remotely enjoyable, which sucks because while I had no sex drive with J at least once I got going it was great. It's just really unpleasant and uncomfortable and leaves me aching afterward, and not in a good way. I haven't had an orgasm since...hmm. It's been a while.
Anyway, I hope the kids are great and the dogs are great and that C is great and doing very well in his career.
