Welcome

By the way, you'll notice that I have new subsection titles. Instead of saying "Save M*n*y" I say "Save Your Clams", and instead of "Make M*n*y" I say "Make More Clams". Unfortunately, spam filters are getting tougher and tougher, and any reference to m*n*y, fr*e items or inc*me tends to get emails rejected.

So let's talk about clams instead of cash, shall we?

You Don't Have to Pay For It

Set aside an evening; you'll be there a while! You can also sign up for their weekly newsletter alerting you to the newest, latest & greatest fr*e stuff that becomes available.

Categories are varied, including but not limited to: business, fonts, family, postcards, contests, games, graphics, mobile phone, webmaster, music, and much more.

Check it out and tell me what you think. Also let me know if you frequent other fr*ebie sites you find useful. I'll post them in future issues.

Save Your Clams

Don't let the name fool you - even if you're a single professional or an empty nester, you can use lots of the gift, decorating and recipe ideas from the mag and on the website. Who cares where the idea comes from as long as it saves you clams, right?

I subscribed upon a friend's recommendation, but didn't expect much, other than a few articles on parenting and some crafts I'll never get around to doing with my kids (pretty standard fare for family magazines). Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to find page after page of great tips from other families (usually inexpensive, too!), easy-to-handle crafts and low-budget decorating and cooking ideas.

The magazine has regular features moms will enjoy, including "Cupcake of the Month" and a family travel section that gives very thorough information on low-budget vacations. (Everything but the directions for Dad).

In short, "Family Fun" is the best $9.95 I ever spent! Yes, that's for an entire year's worth of issues!

Here's what it looks like:

FamilyFun

Now let me talk about the FamilyFun website. Anyone can visit...you don't have to be a subscriber. I checked it out today, wanting to visit a couple links mentioned in the November issue (on crockpot cooking and Thanksgiving crafts).

Holy cow.

There are so many links to fun, frugal ideas I honestly thought my head was going to explode! My mouse finger started to spasm! Fortunately, the links are organized, so you can find what you want by topic (organizing, decorating, recipes, crafts, activities, travel). You just gotta check out the artist's desk created out of a large cardboard box - click here)!

If you need inexpensive ideas for holiday gifts and decorations, visit these links to get a taste of what "FamilyFun" holds in store:

www.familyfun.com/thanksgiving
www.familyfun.com/holidays

Just so you know, "FamilyFun" is run by Disney. Go figure--I guess they really do know their stuff when it comes to making life fun.

Make Clams

But it's awfully hard to find opportunities out there that aren't scams, and let's face it...not many of us want to get two or three jobs on top of the one we have, mostly because our day job is stressful enough as it is!

So what to do?

Well, my friend Leo, whom you all know from my review/introduction to his book, "How to Own Your Paycheck Again", has found a great way to add clams to your bottom line. He wrote about it in one of his recent newsletters (which you can subscribe to at www.leoquinn.com).

Basically, Leo decided to give mystery shopping a try this past September.

And guess what? He made over $145 in his first 3 days as a mystery shopper!

He paid $24.95 as a one-time fee to sign up with an online portal (run by a woman who's been mystery shopping for the last 7 years) that allows you to apply to several different mystery shop companies at once. You also get access to 25 message boards where "shop" jobs are posted.

Once you've applied to companies, you'll be able to see which jobs each company has available in your area. E-mail them that you're interested, and get more details. If the job fits, sign up, and start getting paid to shop!

After a month or two the inc*me will be steady. The woman running the portal claims that she only lists companies who pay on time and are reputable (hence, her 7-year inc*me).

Now, Leo is a tough sell, and he can sniff out a scam a mile away. So, the fact he recommends this mystery shopping portal to his subscribers make me confident to recommend it to you. And am I going to try it myself? You betcha! I'll keep you posted.

The site is called www.shoppingjobshere.com.

If any of you try mystery shopping, let me know how you do. I'll interview you and post the article in a future newsletter! Just email me by clicking here or visit www.budget-and-prosper.com to get in touch.

If you'd like to ask Leo questions about his experience you can e-mail him here or visit www.leoquinn.com.

Interview a Reader -

Have Fun

Remember how I mentioned that cool website where you can play '80s arcade games online www.tripletsandus.com? Well, how about being able to play those old Atari games in the comfort of your living room, once again? Talk about taking you back!

You can buy a joystick (that's right, a single joystick) that simply plugs into the front of your TV (those annoying red, white and yellow holes that apparently connect audio and video, if what my husand tells me is correct).

For around 20 bucks you can get a joystick with 10 arcade games (Asteroids, Missile Command, Breakout, Circus Atari, Pong, and more). WalMart has it cheapest, at $18.88 versus $19.99 at Amazon, but I'll include the Amazon link here just so you can see what it looks like:

If you're aching for Pacman, there's a similar joystick game I found at WalMart for the same price of $18.88, but with just 3 other games besides PacMan. Not as big a value. I couldn't find it at Amazon.

I picked up the 10-game joystick as a Christmas gift for my son (okay, so it's a little gift for us, too!). Maybe Santa will bring him the Pacman game! :-)

So there you have it...pick up a joystick today, and then show your kids where it all began! Or...just indulge yourself.

Online Funnies. Need a lift? Create a folder in your Favorites called "Funnies" and start collecting wacky, off-the-wall websites that tickle your funny bone. Start with "The Edge", at www.oregonlive/edge. You'll get "stupid criminals" and other great real-life freako stories that will either make you laugh out loud or realize your problems really aren't all that bad after all.

The Bottom Line

As always, thanks for reading to the bottom and being a loyal subscriber!

God bless,