Penny Pinching

Money has been tight lately. Since we're saving up to buy a new house and we'll probably lose money when selling our current house, we've had to cut back a lot. Once I get my mind set on something, I become obsessed. I've scoured the interweb for tips, deals, and blogs to help save my money. Instead of being selfish, I've decided to share some of my favorites with you!

The blog that has become my go-to for the latest deals is Money Saving Mom. This chick knows her stuff! I've learned how to play the "drugstore game" and how to cut back on my grocery budget. I love that she posts freebies and deals ALL day so I'll know if something is on sale before the sale is over.

I've also signed up at SwagBucks.com to earn money while searching the net. You got it, I earn to search the Internet. Google doesn't pay me, so I found someone who would! Granted, I'm not getting paid tons, but every little bit counts, right? Swagbucks work best if you refer someone. The more people you get to sign up, the more bucks you get! This is the best time to sign up because they are giving away 70 SB for registering. All you have to do is enter the code: BackToSchool. There is a blog post by Amy on how to maximize your SB. Check it out!

Lastly, I've been doing online surveys. I know what you're thinking: WTF, why would you do that? But hey, every little bit counts! I've done online surveys before and never seemed to qualify for many of them. Well I've recently discovered surveyhead.com and I qualify for most of the surveys! You can't cash out until after earning $30 there so I can't tell you if they are speedy sending money yet, but I'll keep you posted.

Do you have any money saving tips that you'd like to share?

The Sky Is Everywhere

There has been a lot of buzz going around the blogosphere about this book. I am a follower, so of course I got it from the library to check out what all the talk was about. Well, thank God I did!

Seventeen year old Lennie is trying to figure out how to get through life after her sister Bailey's death. No one seems to understand what she's going through. No one shares her grief except for Bailey's boyfriend, Toby. Toby gets it. He knows what it feels like to lose the one person in the world that you are the closest to. Their grief brings them closer together.

Toby isn't the only boy who is occupying Lennie's time. Joe, the cute new boy in school, is popping up all over the place. Lennie, the bookworm and band geek suddenly is interested in these boys and they are interested in her too! How can she juggle both boys without her world falling apart all over again?

WOW. Just WOW! This book was so beautifully written that I found myself laughing and crying all on the same page. It's amazing that this is Jandy Nelson's debut novel. Reading this book was like reading poetry (that I could actually understand.)

Writing can only get a book so far so it's a good thing that the plot was also wonderful. It was so original and inspiring. This book teaches life lessons without beating them over your head. This book speaks to everyone who has ever lost someone they love. This book is the best book I have read so far this year.

Linger

I have been impatiently waiting for this book to come out. After reading Shiver, the first book of the trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater, I fell in love. I fell in love with the writing, the characters, and the plot. I was a slave to this book. So the obvious thing to do was to preorder Linger and wait for it's release. Surprisingly, it released before it's original date and came to me early! I. Could. Not. Wait. To. Read. This. Book.

Grace and Sam are madly in love. Grace has loved him before she knew he was a boy. She loved him as a wolf in the woods behind her home. Sam and Grace have fought to keep him from changing back into a wolf. It's early spring, and Sam should be a wolf, but he's not. Their cure worked! Now Sam has to adjust as life as a teenage boy while all of his family is roaming the woods...as wolves. Meanwhile, Grace is sick. Could the wolf inside her finally be trying to escape?


Cole is a new werewolf searching for a way out of his human life. He desperately wants to escape his mind and live life as a wolf. He's selfish and conceited and he connects instantly with Isabel, a girl who has lost her brother while trying to kill the wolf inside of him.

These four teenagers are connected in a way that no one else can understand. Can this connection help them get through their individual struggles or will the wolves tear them apart.

I hate to say it, but I think my expectations were too high for this book. Not that it wasn't fabulous, but it did not own me like the previous book. It started off a little slow for me. Because of this, it took me a week to get through it. Once it picked up though, I was hooked...in there like swimwear. I also had a little trouble with the alternating POV. This may be because I was often too lazy to look at the name of the chapter before diving in. Having to read two POVs is awesome, four on the other hand can be confusing.

Although it seems like I'm complaining about the POVs, I'm totally not...really. I did LOVE "hearing" from Cole, the new wolf. I was happy that the whole book was not about the love between Sam and Grace and that the author introduced these new characters and we got to see them grow. So, the plot was great, but not AMAZEBALLS.

The writing however was AMAZEBALLS. Stiefvater's writing makes me feel like I'm floating on water. It is so poetic and beautiful and just...wow. If you are one of the very few people in the world who have not read any of her books, stop whatever you're doing, and do it NOW.