Comparison Shopping – Page 6

March 2, 2013

Looking For The Perfect Mocha At A Reasonable Cost

It wasn’t all that long ago that the McCafe was the new “product” from McDonald’s and they were advertising it very heavily on local TV. I’ve seen several different commercials recently, and that’s with just the little bit of TV that I’ve watched. According to the local Business Journal, the man who owns most of the McDonald’s franchises in Alabama has spent a WHOLE lot of money remodeling the Alabama restaurants to include a McCafe.

I’m looking forward to visiting a McCafe and trying their coffee. I wonder if it tastes as good as a Starbucks and how much of the flavoring you have to add yourself instead of a trained barista. I’m not optimistic what-so-ever, since every time I drink just a plain old McDonald’s coffee it upsets my stomach for hour after drinking, so I would imagine that it will be the same with their specialty barista drinks.

So far I haven’t found anywhere that makes the hot mocha that I enjoy drinking day or night, summer or winter as well as Starbucks. But seriously someone could go broke frequenting Starbucks. Last time I was at a Starbucks I was really happy to see that they have started their own “Customer Rewards” program so that after a certain amount of purchases you get a free drink. The bad news is that you have to purchase 20 drinks to get a free one. That’s a lot of purchasing going on in order to get a free one. At least with Sheetz you only have to buy 10 in order to get a free one. They are a bit cheaper than Sheetz and are the closest to the Starbucks flavor that I have found anywhere else yet.

February 27, 2013

Bulletproof Microphones

Since both of our parents were killed over five years ago now, my oldest sister is always stuck playing hostess for most of the major family holiday dinners and get-togethers. Since I am on my own and live the closest to her and her family it only makes sense for me to pitch in where the others really can’t manage to do for a variety of reasons, I try and help out in any way that I can.

Over Christmas it was mentioned that we should try doing some karaoke at the next family dinner, which just so happens to be Easter and that believe it or not, is only a few short weeks away. My sister does have a karaoke machine but it’s been around the block a few times from the look of it and it doesn’t have the microphone that used to go with that particular karaoke machine. I have been looking at various microphones online in my spare time and have been totally surprised at how many microphones are really out there.

I think I finally decided on the right one, the sm57, but what freaked me out was in the description part of the add it boasts that it is bulletproof and how it stands up to road travel and abuse. Guess these are just an added bonus to the whole deal, I really don’t think anyone in my family would get that crazy during karaoke at my sisters on Easter, but in case they do I will know that the microphone will make it through all right! I can’t wait to share this story on Easter day with the family members that manage to find their way there this year.

January 31, 2013

The Old Homestead Crying Out For A New Kitchen Undermount Sink

It really shouldn’t surprise me that so many things are in such bad shape around here, but with so little time and little money to put back into the old homestead it sure is frustrating and very disappointing. The latest thing that I have discovered is the need for a new Undermount Sink in the kitchen.

Now instead of going into town and spending the time and money that it takes for the gasoline that it takes for the trip, I have asked my eldest sister to take a look for me on the Internet to help find some sites that have affordable Undermount Sinks. Since she is very familiar with everything around here just about as well as I am and I trust her judgement since she helps out more than anyone else around the house when she is able. Right now I really have my hands full on the farm, this crazy weather makes farming so much harder to deal with, so any help right now is totally appreciated.

I don’t spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I tend to buy frozen dinners that you just toss in the microwave for a few minutes. Eat it while watching the TV or sitting in front of my computer. When I’m done eating, everything expect the fork and the glass that I have used goes right into the trash, so there isn’t a lot of dishes and clean up in that old kitchen, but I don’t want to wait much longer to where it will turn into a real pain in the neck.

December 26, 2012

So Many Beds, So Little Time

As I’ve been talking about here lately that after spending some time now sleeping in the bed here at the farm that most be as old as the original farmhouse decor, I have decided that I really need to invest in a new bed that will be better for my aching back. After putting so much time and effort into the place, plenty of blood, sweat and tears have been placed into the daily work routine and I just can’t do it all anymore with a sore back each morning.

I have been doing some looking around online to see what types of beds are out there these days, I want to find one that is good quality, fits in with the rest of the furnishings in the old place and it definitely needs to be affordable at this point. Man have I been surprisingly overwhelmed with all of the selections that are now being produced and being offered these days, but I was happy to find one particular site at Time4sleep.co.uk that has a few that have caught my eye and I want to check out further that are in their Antique beds category.

A good quality bed is an investment and not something that I will take lightly, but I really need to make a decision soon, as these cold winter mornings are bad enough without starting them with an aching back!

December 13, 2012

Always Feeding That Printer

Well the search is on for a good buy on my dell 3115cn toner that I am figuring on needing here pretty soon. It is something that I have kept thinking about doing but it kept getting put on the back shelve time and time again and now I can’t waste anymore time dilly dallying around until the last minute. It really bites when you want and or need to print something out only for the printer to spit out the most god awful copies of the documents that you need right away.

The are many highly competitive companies out there vying for our business for our printing equipment and all of the necessary accessories that keep us happy printing campers. And finding them online makes it such an easier task to tackle trying to find the best bang for your buck. I always look for sales, coupons, discounts and free shipping is a must on every order or it doesn’t get ordered. Hopefully I can find the sweetest deal possible this weekend and order at least two or three of them in an effort to keep me printing for some time and not have to go through this again for a good long while.

November 23, 2012

Webhosting Options For Blogging

My 12 year old niece is pestering me to help her get her own blog up and running. She is always checking this blog when she has time on her laptop and really likes the idea of having a blog, so I’ve been spending a little bit of time here and there with her on this issue. We have both been reading up on the web hosting sites that are available out there for folks like us. We don’t need anything fancy or frilly, but when it comes to webhosting it pays to do your homework a bit before diving in.

One article that we both read was regarding the Top Five Affordable Registrars, I was glad to see that Go Daddy and Yahoo were on their list as those are the two that I tend to lean towards to. Both are affordable, well known, well established and dependable, which are all good points to go on. I really had no idea that there were so many out there these days, things have gotten a bit more complicated than I remember, but we are still researching and will come to a decision by the end of next week. Then I’ll be busy teaching her all the ins and outs of blogging, sigh……..

November 21, 2012

Dollar Stores

Of all of the stores that have the “Dollar” included in their name such as: The Dollar Store, General Dollar, and The Dollar Tree, I have to say that The Dollar Tree is the best by far. You can count on only finding items that are really $1, if the price is any different it is because it is 2 or 3 for $1, not anything over the $1 and that is that. The other stores have so many items that are more than the $1 and it just gets on my nerves, it is almost like false advertising in my mind anyways.

I find it interesting how by watching The Tonight Show, I hear Jay Leno mentioning their 99 cent stores that they have on the west coast, comparable to our $1 stores, how come theirs is one cent cheaper? That is the only thing that I have ever heard of that is cheaper in California!

November 19, 2012

Dreaming about Mardi Gras Fun

One day I would love to go to New Orleans and attend the Mardi Gras festivities that I have always heard so much about. I have been lucky enough to have done some traveling in the past, but never made it to New Orleans, unfortunately. But one day I hope to find my way there and see what all the hoopla is about!

Costumes are not only limited to Halloween costumes any more, there are many other usages for dressing up these days. I have seen some pretty nice Mr & Mrs Santa Claus suites, along with many elf costumes as well, for the Christmas Holiday Season, and Mardi Cras costumes are becoming much more readily available with the Internet and all.

I’ve seen some pretty Halloween Costumes in my day, and the variety of Kids Halloween Costumes has become extremely specialized through out the years, what with all of the cartoon characters that have come out through out the years. I used to always want to dress up as Superman for Halloween and did for several years in a row. I remember dressing up in that costume through out the year, while my friends dressed in their super hero costumes as well, man did we have a blast with those inexpensive costumes that were sold back in the day.

July 18, 2012

Dad’s Old Recliner Days

My Dad had a very nice recliner that he spend so much time in when not busy around the house and farm and all that goes on day and night. He would usually find the time right after dinner to sit down in his very well broken in and comfortable recliner and smoke a cigar, sometimes a pipe, sipping his after dinner coffee and listening to the radio or the television for the latest news casts with their interesting and entertaining new stories and other broadcastings that caught his interest.

The last few years, his health had been getting worse and he was really having difficulty getting up and down, in and out of that chair and we had to shop around for a while and find an alternative type of seating arrangement for him. We ended up purchasing him a good lift chair, one of my sisters found a site online that sold the perfect chair for him, remote control and all the perks one could want in one of those Lift Chairs that are available now for people in their senior years and with disabilities as well.

It has been over 15 years since we purchased that chair, Dad made good use of it and it will stay right where it sits in the front living room, one day I’ll be needing to use it, that day may come sooner than I originally thought, with all the work that I have to do here at the farm and the house.

March 26, 2012

Finding some spring projects to do with my kids

Guest post written by Alex Hunt

It’s always a big deal to get my kids to stay inside when it isn’t really warm enough for them to play outside. My kids are especially prone to colds, even though they eat well and take their vitamins, so I worry about them playing outside in colder weather. But it’s almost spring time and they’re a little more restless now because of it. So I’m trying to find some activities for them to do inside that are spring-y.

I thought that it would be really fun to try and make some birdhouses with the kids. While I was looking up some easy kids’ birdhouses directions I saw info regarding DEBT COUNSELING. As I was looking up some more info on it and how it would affect my family’s debt, I decided to use the counseling services.

I found all kinds of little birdhouse directions to make with the kids and I decided on the simplest one that I could find. Plus, it will be a lot more fun to actually paint the birdhouses than to just assemble them.