Promotion

Let it be widely known and proclaimed throughout the entire universe that my husband has gotten a promotion, effective today. Yippee! Well, the internal paperwork is official today, and payment on the promotion begins when three more contracts are officially signed by the doctors and hospitals who have agreed to placement arrangements. So, though his paycheck won't be affected until the contracts are in, the pay on the placements will be retroactive to today. Yippee! (James is a physician recruiter who places doctors from all over in opportunities in the upper-midwestern portion of the U.S.)

He's been working towards this natural internal promotion for a while now, and was 1/2 a placement away from meeting the goal a couple of months ago. Unfortunately, because the way the placement credit works, when he didn't get that 1/2, he had to place another three for promotion qualification. (He couldn't just have a 1/2 placement credit the next month to qualify.)

That's as confusing as can be, I know. The organization of his company, which is totally legitimate, is arranged similarly to an MLM scheme, the legitimacy of which is highly questionable. He's tried to explain the pay structure to me in detail several times, leaving me to reply, "just tell me when you'll bring home more money." My friends, that time is now.

This month, several doctors took the jobs he had to offer, so at one fell swoop, he's been promoted and will be given a very attractive commission check at the end of March. After that, our monthly income will increase by about 20%. What a tremendous and undeniable blessing!!

"Then Peter replied,
“I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism."
Acts 10:34 NLT

"And my God will meet all your needs
according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:19 NIV

"...it will be given to you.
A good measure, pressed down,
shaken together and running over,
will be poured into your lap."
Luke 6:38b NIV

"For God does not show favoritism."
Romans 2:11 NLT

Sweet Samples

I've been reading through Frugal Fabulous tonight, where there is a number of links to free samples and offers. You should go through her site for lots of great deals, but in the meantime, I wanted to post a couple of my favorites here:

For a Free Copy of Homeschool Enrichment Magazine, click here.

To get a Free Movie Rental from Redbox (the rental station at Walmart), click here.

For a Sample Pack of 3M Transparency Film, click here. (Great for craft or home improvement projects.)


Thanks to Katie for these great links. Now, here are a couple more sample offers I compiled -- Enjoy!

To recapture your youth (teehee!), try this or this.

This is cute. For a free pregnancy wrist band, click here.

Clothing for Keeps

It has been our hope that our children will grow into generous adults. We've been working to instill an attitude of gratefulness and a spirit of giving within their wee little hearts. Today, I read the story of this young woman and her generosity towards foster children as she developed a boutique called Keeps. I hope that the concept of generosity settles within my children as its obviously settled in the heart of this child.

Frugal Recipe: Cake Mix Cookies

Gayle at The Grocery Cart Challenge asked for frugal snack ideas, and I have to admit, I probably provide more prepackaged snacks than most frugal moms do. We often have fruit snacks, packaged granola bars, and box cereal on hand for quick and easy snacks, though many of my snack purchases are limited to what I can get really inexpensively (like at the 99 Cents Only store) or for free (by combining coupons with sales). For example, I just bought a 6-pack of mini boxes of organic raisins for 9 (yes, 9) cents, and you cannot -- at least, I cannot -- make six snacks for less than 9 cents. I know I could generally make from scratch more servings of something than I'm given in multipack of snacks for my $1.00 (or less), but every once in a while, it's about convenience. (I love cooking, I just don't love cooking. Particularly not all the time.)

In addition to those cheap convenience things that come and go as sales and coupons come and go, here are some other more frugal snack food options we consistently rely on:

muffins
yogurt
pretzels
raisins
fresh fruit
chopped veggies
boiled eggs
popcorn
cheese slices or sticks
banana slices with sugar-free chocolate syrup
frozen fruit/berries (purchased on markdown and frozen from fresh)
crackers with peanut butter
whatever baked goods I'd made throughout the week
tortillas (with butter or with cheese)
toast with jam
croutons (my kids are strange)
graham crackers
mini marshmallows for a special treat (when bags are $1.00)
leftovers or soup if the children are really hungry

A fun, easy, frugal recipe I thought to share is one my Aunt Laura used to make. She'd make up a batch of Cake Mix Cookies (recipe below) to have on hand for a quick and cheap treat, and cake mix can generally be found very inexpensively when purchased with a coupon. Aunt Laura would prepare two or three batches of batter using different flavors of cake mix, then she would roll each of them into a tube shape, wrap them in an empty bread bags, and store in the freezer. She'd slice off a few thin slices of various flavors as needed, and bake only was required to satisfy the hungry children at her house. Our favorite flavors: strawberry, chocolate, or french vanilla!

Cake Mix Cookies

1 (18 1/4 ounce) box cake mix, any brand, any variety
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 cups chocolate chips, other chips, or other mixins (optional)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

** Combine cake mix, oil and eggs in a bowl and mix well.
** Stir in chips and nuts, if using, or other mixins as desired.
** Drop by teaspoons on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes (or roll into a tube shape, pack in bread bag, freeze, and cook slices from frozen at the same temperature for the same 8-10 minutes, or until crispy around the edges).
** Upon removing from oven, let the cookies stand on sheet for two minutes, then cool on racks, and serve!

For more frugal snack ideas, check out the other posts at The Grocery Cart Challenge, or at this Biblical Womanhood post on the same topic from back in October.

9 Cent Raisins

Baking Chips for a Bargain

And the winner is...

...Lucky number 81: Playful Professional, who says she's always "want[ed] to buy the yummy chocolate covered strawberries on display at the mall." Well, friend, now's your chance! I'm e-mailing you for your address, and will ship your gateway to chocolaty goodness via USPS First Class Mail as soon as you reply. (Imagine bells and whistles and confetti being tossed about in the air.)

In the meantime, everyone reading this should check out her blog. She has a really great girl's get-together idea (here) that I will most certainly endorse, though I wouldn't personally participate in (because you who I know in real life who read the general nonsense located in this corner of the WWW -- you people are too skinny! Maybe I should give you gift cards for chocolate.).

Congratulations to you, Playful Professional, and thanks to all who played along! I loved reading your comments, and James (the numbers man) enjoyed tracking your visits on Stat Counter -- even if it was only for half a second! :) Come back anytime!