End of The Season Roundup

This is the last weekend of deer hunting season in upstate New York. Time to pack it up for another year. When I was up in New York in October I set up an Excel spreadsheet for my boyfriend, who is the club treasurer, to use to track the accounts of the club. At the time I was a little concerned that he might not keep up with it and that computerizing their accounting might end up being a disaster. As it turns out, he has been conscientious about entering all the information weekly and is happy with the system. I set up the spreadsheet to do all sorts of calculations. Now that the season is just about over they know, for the first time in nearly sixty years, that the way they charge club members for beer, food and lodging actually nets them a tidy profit. Saturday night they will have the drawing for the raffle winner on the last fundraiser. My boyfriend bought me a ticket and I’m hoping to win the $2,500 prize. Wouldn’t that be a great way to fund Christmas?!

Carnivals and other good reading!

“What Kind of Shopper Are You?” appears in the 21st Rich Life Carnival. Be sure and read “Five Reasons to be Grateful for Difficult People in Your Life” at Purpose Power Coaching. Massage Therapy Careers has a good list of “50 Health and Beauty Products You Can Make at Home”. If you are a regular reader you know that I’ve been experimenting with homemade products. I’m going to try some things on this list.

Long Distance Relationships appears in Advice for Women from Women. Donna Friedman at SmartSpending, an MSN Money blog, has an excellent article, “What if a friend were losing her home?”, on helping each other. If you have children in daycare, MoneyNing wrote about Dependent Day Care FSA’s. I didn’t even know they existed. “14 Funky Ways to Calm Your Nerves Consistently” at Rejuvenation Lounge has some great ways to settle yourself during this hectic holiday season.

Pricing Shenanigan at Circuit City appears in Corporate Vigilance.

How Do We Say No? appears in the huge 1st Edition of the Carnival of Personal Development at Insight Writer. A very good Stress Relief Guide can be found at the The Change Blog.

Herb Crusted Leg of Lamb with Garlic Roasted Baby Potatoes appears in the 92nd Make It From Scratch Carnival at I’ve Got a Little Space to Fill. Penny at Walking Upside Down has a huge long list of homemade Christmas ideas that you should check out if you are cutting back this year. Homesteader Belle has a good recipe for homemade laundry detergent. I have all the ingredients and am going to give this project a try as soon as I run out of the store-bought stuff. Finally, Brighthaven Times shows how to make your own bird treats. These things regularly sell in the catalogs for $10 or more each. I may even give the birds a happy Christmas this year! I will be hosting this fun carnival next Tuesday and am really looking forward to it!

Looking for cheap housing in hard times? Check out “Hand-Build an Earth Sheltered House for $5,000”. It’s just about the neatest little hobbit house I’ve ever seen! What a resourceful young couple.