Entitlement

Do you get the Focus on the Family magazine, thriving family? There is a great article in the November/December 2009 issue titled, "Bucking the Entitlement Trend".

Here is the summary of the article:
It starts off discussing the fact that the author's son states that he is the only kid in his Middle School who does not have a cell phone. When she ask some of his friends, they all state that they have phones. She then ask how many pay for them. No one raises their hand.

It doesn't stop at a cell phone. They want their own computer or car. They want, want, want. They feel they are entitled to these items. When they enter the workforce, they expect the corner office, tons of off days, high salaries and respect of their elders.

We do our children no favors when we give in to their wants.

Yesterday after church, Mal wanted to go to the Guad because everyone else was going. Nevermind that we had to be in Gardendale by 2:00 because of a prior committment to 9 girls to help them out on the ball field next week. Being rushed all afternoon was not a good idea. So I told her no. Well, the "no" made her pout and made me very angry. I do not like the pouting when you do not get your way!

(Not to mention that I've been trying to save money on the food front and had just bought groceries on Friday afternoon. We have plenty of food in the house. Why go and spend $20 on one meal just because everyone else is doing it?)

Back to the entitlement article...

If we give in to our children now, they will grow up thinking this is how all adults should treat them. When they run into an unfriendly boss or have a conflict in their marriage, they will not know how to react.

So what do we do?

Teach our kids the value of hard work and money.

Let them develop confidence through adversity.

Promote and accurate view of self.

Cultivate the quality of empathy.

If you would like a copy of the article, I'll be happy to share! There is a lot more detail than I could cover here.

Coupons for Christmas

If you haven't already bookmarked this site you need to...
www.abundantfoodsavings.com (AFS)

Not only do they have great Target coupons (read this as store coupon which could be stacked with a manufacturer coupon for greater savings) but they list other great links to some great coupons.

With Christmas quickly approaching and our dire need to save money while still enjoying the season and being able to give (I love to give!), coupons for items other than food are big on my list.

At AFS, scroll through their posts and find a plan for the Almay deal at Walgreens (as well as Lubriderm lotion) and a link to print Target coupons on some possible gifts! Some of their posts are the same as found on other blogs but some I haven't seen elsewhere.

And as always, find a few blogs that provide you with the information you desire and focus on those! Time is a valuable commodity.

Let's talk Turkey

FYI...

WalMart has turkeys at 40 cents a pound. Got me two gobblers for about $14.00. I'm going to give one to the Mom-in-law. Bonus points!

According to my mother (who actually picked them up for me) the turkeys at Springville WM were bigger than the ones at Leeds. Of course, she claimed the biggest one as her own although it is in my freezer.

CVS $/$$ coupons + Rite Aid + Walgreens

Be sure you go to southersavers.com and select the CVS link. Print off the two $/$$ coupons to use at CVS. You have to do a quiz for one but it will not take very long. The quiz is $5/$30 and the "peel-back" is $5/$20. These can definitely come in handy.

I saw where Rite Aid will have Herbal Essence B1G1 next week. There are B1G1 coupons available and Rite Aid's coupon policy will allow you to them so you will get 2 for free. Sweet!

Yesterday, I posted about the Almay deal at Walgreens. I can't use Almay so I was going to look for other makeup deals. Then a light bulb lit up and I remembered that makeup is on the Christmas Store "toy" list for the older kids. Why not get some free makeup and donate it to the Christmas Store? I'm there!!

Have you found any deals lately?

Publix deals and more

Wow!!! Publix is great this week. But I really don't "need" anything specific. How can you turn down some of those great deals though?

Betty Crocker potatoes for 7 cents. Sweet! Coffee creamer for a possible 79 cents (can't find the $1/1 coupon to make it 19 cents). Even Sweeter! Free Tylenol. YES! (Especially since I can't take anything else.)

So it looks like a small trip for me this week...approx. $46 before coupons...roughly $20-25 after if I can find the coupons I need.

I need some makeup so I'm going to hit Walgreens and CVS to see what I can do. I have to be careful with which brands I use. I wish I could use the Almay deal at Wags. Check it out! Good thing I've got $7 RR from Wags and $10 ECB from CSV burning a hole in my pocket. I'm going to need them.

What deals have you found this week?

Random Pondering

DH got up around 4 this morning to search for the elusive big buck. Eventually, he woke me as well. As I was trying to get that last hour of sleep I decided that I would talk to God. He is always up at that insane hour. I prayed for myself. Nothing wrong with that. I just know that any and all of my problems have to be turned over to Him. I feel like I literally have to make that statement during my prayer time for it to be fact even though I know He knows my thoughts. It is just how He made me. But I just say to my God, "You know what I need...I don't. Would you mind fixing me?" Of course I know that it isn't that easy. We wouldn't be so lucky. We do have to take the time to listen for His direction to fix us.

The speaker at Tablescapes was wonderful. Her "Light" definitely shined through. As she was speaking I thought to myself, "I wish I was like her. I wish that I could radiate my love for Jesus like she does." But I don't. I let my earthly desires take over and become my focus. It is so weird. Even though I know what I need to do and actually desire to do it; I "forget". It doesn't feel like I would be the real me. So maybe I'm not supposed to be that way. Maybe that is my desire and not His. He may want to use me in a different way. He may like the fact that I want to be that way and that pleases Him for now. When it is time, He will let me know. While this world would be a better place if we were all like the speaker, that is my opinion and not necessarily God's plan. Oh, the faith of a mustard seed.

Circumstances got you down?

If you missed Sunday's sermon, let me recommend that you listen to it online. Very good message for the earthly situations we are facing right now.

Read Matt. 6:25-34. This is the "Don't worry about tomorrow" command. It is so true. God knows what we need, when we need it.

As was suggested a couple of weeks ago, read a Psalm every day. Tonight he read Psalm 121 and 123.

Psalm 121 begins; "I lift my eyes to the hills; where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord; the Maker of heaven and earth." (Sound familiar - Praise You in This Storm)

Psalm 124 begins; "I lift my eyes to you"

Notice that in both, the psalmist is "lifing his eyes". We should focus our eyes upon God; lift them toward Him. Instead we lift our eyes to the thing of this world. We focus on the things of this world. DO WE EXPECT THE EARTH TO HELP US WITH OUR PROBLEMS; THE SAME EARTH THAT ONLY HAS CONTEMPT FOR GOD?

And always remember, we make time for the things that are most important to us. Where is your time spent?