Thursday, November 20, 2008

Seeking advice!!!

Ok so I'm throwing myself out here and giving y'all a list of things I'm looking for advice on. Some simple some a bit more out there. Feel free to drop a comment or an email! Feel free to link to this if you think you know some people that can help!

1) My mitzvah for the day. My dad is in charge of the St. Vincent DePaul Society for our church. One of the things they do is try to help out parishioners who are having a hard time by giving gift cards for grocery stores, gas etc. Through his work there we have met a truly wonderful elderly gentleman who is having a very hard time financially. He was actually part of a religious order on the West Coast but some health problems that can be potentially life threatening combined with the fact that the order didn't have a way of helping members with medical needs prompted him to move back here. This man is on a very very limited budget. He gets $25-$50 every month from SVdP and that is his grocery money. Last month he called because it was a few days before the end of the month and he literally didn't have enough left to eat. He had pasta no sauce, bread, no eggs and no peanut butter. This situation truly breaks my heart. I told my dad & he took an extra food card there & I sent my dad with some coupons. He said the gentleman was so excited to see the coupons so I've been saving the coupons I'm not using to send over to him. Do you all have any advice on anything else I can do for this gentleman? Any sites that are great for coupons or budget meal planning? (This would also be a HUGE help for Princess Bear on myself because its the middle of the month and our food budget money is GONE! Thankfully we can snag from my parents if we run too low!)

2) I'm working really hard on setting up my new blog. I want the purpose to be reviews & giveaways with a concentration on daily activities and a special child per month. This is what I'm thinking of so far:
Magical Monday- a giveaway every Monday
Tipster Tuesday- practical tips for life including green living
Wrapped up Review Wednesday- a product review by me
Thrifty Thursday- tips and advice for thrifty living
Fantastic Friday- a HUGE listing of blog giveaways

The blog certainly won't be limited to this but this is going to be the working backbone. I'd love to have giveaways more than once away. I'd love to have guests come in and give tips and advice.

So what exactly am I asking for here?
-what do you think of the concept?
-would you be interested in providing a giveaway item or know someone who might be?
-would you be interested in providing tips, thrifty living ideas or being a guest?
-Any constructive criticism is appreciated!

3) Christmas. Share with me what you're doing for Christmas. I'm excited but I'm also starting to panic. Money is tight so I'm trying to figure out what to get for Princess Bear. What are you getting your kiddos? What are some of your holiday traditions and recipes? I'm trying to get focused on having some fun decorating and maybe starting some new traditions. I'm also looking for things to do to keep PB amused during her vacation. We go to the Dr. tomorrow to see if she's going to have surgery over break so I'm pretty sure we'll be housebound for a few weeks.

So that is what I'm up to! Feel free to jump in anywhere!


HM Sarah Siggy

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Can the man from your church get help through the food bank? Or, does your church have a corps of church ladies who cook meals for parishioners in need?

Your new blog sounds amazing. I love all your ideas.

As for Christmas, Santa has never brought our girls a lot. One toy (never large), a couple of books, and some stocking stuffers. Our traditions would take a lot more space to describe, but if you read my archives from last year (starting with T'giving weekend), you'll see what we do.

Sarah said...

Jen,

Our church as food for funeral services & after you've had a baby. I know my dad is getting food baskets for Christmas so this gentleman will get one. I'm also going to tell him about Angel Food.

I'm getting really excited about the new blog! I need to get some buttons done & it should be totally going by next week!

I'll be checking out the archives! I try to get PB a couple of big things and then books, coloring/artsy things and call it a day. She gets a lot from my parents & sister as well. She's given me a good list I'm just in full on panic. I have started assembling some craft things to make with her (she already broke into the stash once!) and Heather had a great kit idea today on her blog so I'm going to check that out!