Free and Addictive Way to Give

Image via Wikipedia     I often write articles here on how to get things and services at a discount, or for free.  I hope someone has benefited from this site in one way or another.  However, it is better to give than to recieve.  At least, that is what my mom always told me.  Just the other day I  found a cool site that will enable you to donate food just by playing an addictive game.  It is such a win-win situation.  You got to try it.
     There is this site that has actually been around since 2007.  You can go to it and answer simple questions.  For every question that you answer correctly 10 grains of rice is donated to the United Nations World Food Programme by the website!  This is free to do.  You do not have to fill out any forms or register.  All that you have to do is answer the questions.  I just played and I got enough answers correct that the website donated 2400 grains today because of me.  The subject matter that the questions are picked from include English, Math, Algebra, Chemistry, Geography, Foreign Language, and identification of famous works of art.  The money to buy the rice is paid for by the advertisers.  For it, you get smarter.  It will jog your memory thats for sure.  Go to http://www.freerice.com/ and do something good today.  This is such a simple way to give, and I promise you, this will become an addictive pastime for you to improve your grammer.  Pakistan and Haiti need your help today so go online and play.

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Low Cost to Free Travel Ideas

Image via Wikipedia      Have you never been able to afford to travel?  Are you just out of high school and want to see the world before college?  Are there circumstances in your life that are bringing you down and you just want to get away?  There is a way to accomplish this without breaking the bank.  A colleague of mine once told me about this girl that he met while traveling in Peru.  Her name is Julie and she has practically travelled the world.  She has a new website, but is not up and running yet.  When it becomes available, I will provide a link.  She has worked her way from country to country staying in hostels and picking up odd jobs along the way.  She is a fascinating young lady.  If she can do it, so can you.

     One organization that will provide you with accommodations and meals in exchange for 5-7 hours of work a day is WWOOF.  You have to save up the money to get to your destination and back, but you can arrange your length of stay free of charge and see the country that you are in while you are there.  You can work locally in the US or internationally.  You can get there, work, site see, and line up another place to see nearby through CouchSurfing.  Go to their website a register, then you can start networking to find your next couch to lay your head on and for how long.  You can network couch to couch as you cross the countryside.
Volunteer through the UN website.  There are 140 countries that you can visit while doing something worthwhile.  They even provide insurance.  Just check their terms of service and sign up today.  You can also volunteer with Habitat for Humanity and help build homes here and abroad.  Habitat for Humanity International runs the Global Village Work Trips program and has affiliates in over 90 countries.  Budget travel bloggers should check out Passports With Purpose where they can use their readership to help out a worth cause.  You can also do walking tours in throughout Europe at http://www.hfholidays.co.uk/about-us/work-us .  Some other places are, of course, the extremes, join the Army or the Peace Corp.

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Scrap Soup: An Awesome Money Saver

Image via Wikipedia     So you don't like leftovers?  Well I can tell you a way to jazz them up that the whole family will love.  I live on a tight budget these days, and every penny counts.  I clip coupons on a regular basis and proud of it.  I do not plan on sacrificing on quality and sometimes I can be brand specific.  Face it guys, not all brands are equal.  So I buy what I like when it is on sale and I have a coupon for it.  I shop at about 5 different stores and pharmacies that are within a 5 mile radius.  I still have the same quality and specific foods that I have always enjoyed.  Thanks to my frugal grandmother, I have learned to enjoy those same foods for one extra day free.  She taught me how to make a scrap soup with all those leftovers.  Not only do I provide my family with a free meal,  I also don't have cook.  Well I do have to warm supper up.  This meal has turned out to be my families favorite meal of the week.  Sometimes I have winners and sometimes I have losers, but no two are ever alike.

     Here is how to begin.  Invest in some Ziploc or Glad freezer bags.  I usually use the quart size freezer bags, but depending on the size of your family, you can go bigger.  Here is another money saving tip.  My grandmother always washed them out and reuse them again.  Anyway, when dinner is over, you can take the leftovers and place them in the freezer bag.  You can chop or shred any meat that may be left and drained any vegetables before placing them in your bag.  Expel any remaining air out of the bag and place it in the freezer.  Repeat this every night until the bag is full.  On the weekend, empty the bag of food into a large pot or crock-pot and add stock.  I usually go by what I have placed in the bag.  You can use chicken broth, beef broth, or cream of mushroom.  Sometimes you may need to add some veg-all, tomatoes, rice or noodles.  Spice it up!  Use your imagination and you will be amazed at what you can come up with.
    

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Make Some Easy Cash At Home

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     I thought I would post about this other site I am on because I am enjoying it so much.  I write this blog because I am passionate about the subject and because I am one of those people that have been here.  I have had my ups and downs in the financial world and life has not always been kind to me.  So hopefully someone out there can get some real benefits from some of the sites I list on here.  I have another blog for senior citizens free educational information.  I was happy to learn that seniors can go to school for free in some states because the older you get the more wisdom you have and you are usually better off in life than those starting out.  This is a good time to follow dreams that maybe you had to put on the back burner due to raising a family and providing for them.  Besides this is the time in our life when we really know who we are.  Senior citizens have a lot to offer in experience and life lessons well learned.
     To the point now, if you don't have any work right now or want some extra money then try out this site at Info Barrel .  If you are a blogger you will definitely want to check it out.  If you do go there this is my link referral ID Jacqueline P. Warlick.  If you would like to check out anything that I have written, then just put my members name pwarlick in search.  After that, click on member and you will see my Icon.  Just click it.  I write about certain subjects on here, but I can write about anything on their website.  I love it.  There is a place on your account to list your google adsense ID so you get paid at 75% of what they make on ads.  You can also promote it at She Told Me .  This is a social bookmarking site where you can write scoops about and link to your blog post while earning a 100% adsense revenue.  It is projected to surpass e-how and some like it better than hubpages.  Anyway, I am not trying to sell you on anything, but if you are unemployed and like to write you should check it out.  You can also check out Amazon Mechanical Turks, however I don't make much money on it.  But as for the other, I think that you would really enjoy this site.  If any of you are on here write me back or leave a comment and let me know how you like it.

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Are You a Single Mom in Need of Help?

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     If you find yourself in the position of  trying to raise a child on your own, then you know how difficult life can be and how frustrating the simple things can be when you don't have enough money.  If you are a single mom that in itself makes it much harder.  When you see a single father you think oh this must be a great man raising his children by himself, and then a lot of us assume the mom must be unfit.  With single women we are viewed as having baggage.  The stigma is so unfair for both sexes.  Either way if you are a single mom there are resources out there they can make your life easier.  You can go to http://www.singlemotherhelp.org/ and visit their website and fill out an application for grants and assistance or you can give them call at 1-888-774-7282.  They have an online portal that will direct you to over 20,000 grants available to you.  They have resources that will direct you to financial assistance as well as government aid.  They can direct you to section 8 housing or rental assistance,transportation assistance,child care assistance,WIC/food stamps,  and debt relief.  They steer you towards educational scholarships and well as creating home business ideas.  Another good site packed with resources can be found at http://www.singlemom.com/.  They list lots of great resources from paying for childcare to getting prescriptions filled to financial advice.  They have a financial gifting program where you can read hardship stories and donate money to moms.  They also have a Donate/Swap forum where clothes can be found or swapped as well as a housing forum for sharing homes.  Some other great sites are http://www.singlemomfinancialhelp.com/ and http://www.singlemotherassistance.net/.  I hope these are helpful and if you know of some other helpful sites please a comment.

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Free Legal Aid is Available

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     If you have ever been in the unfortunate predicament of being arrested, you know that if you cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed to you.  However, if you need to pursue a legal matter and  meet the federal poverty guidelines services may be provided to you pro bono.  The phrase pro bono publico is derived from the Latin meaning "for the public good".  Pro bono services are provided by lawyers to individual with low-income and also because of their belief in a certain cause.  Pro bono programs and legal aid are also available for senior citizens, the disabled, victims of domestic violence, and the military that can fall outside these income requirements.  Legal aid can provide information as well as advice on litigation and serve as an appellate advocacy.  There are many resources for legal aid and pro bono services that can be found on the Internet.  For more information go to the American Bar Association  public resource page where you will find numerous links to educate you on these services.

     Under ethical rules, the ABA recommends that US attorneys donate 50 hours per year to pro bono services.  Larger law firms often fall short of this quota.  For about 40% of the legal cases that occur each year for the low-income only 20% are met.  In 2007, Stanford Law School students founded Building a Better Legal Profession .  This website provides information for future lawyers about various law firms and also about their pro bono participation.  This, in affect, has encouraged larger firms to increase their participation in pro bono programs. 

     Listed are some sites that can guide you to lawyers that provide pro bono services:

1.   http://www.probono.net/
2.   http://www.justicedenied.org/
3.   http://probonolawyers.org/

     For a consumers guide to legal aid for self help go to http://www.lawhelp.org/ .

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Save Money at the Grocery Store!!!

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

     I know that we all have heard of couponing to save money.  It may have been that you have tried this, and it is a tedious time consuming  process.  I have tried it many times in the past and said what is the use.  I watched a story on the news last year where a woman got $276.00 in groceries and only spent a penny, and I realized that there must be an easier way.  Determined to find it, I searched the Internet and found many coupons, but that only added to many more little pieces of paper to go through.  This year, I attended the Southern Women's Show in Raleigh, NC. where I met Coupon Queeny and most certainly got an education.
     Effective couponing is an art form.  You need some organization and I am not talking about one of those little envelope sized holders either.  You need a 5 Star Mead Zippered Binder.  When you go to her website she has you tube videos that show the binder that she uses.  I purchased one from her show in Raleigh.  You can go to Staples and find the baseball card plastic folders to put your coupons in and the dividers for categorizing the products so you want have to search.  I would get this before I started to clip if I were you.  Next, you need to start purchasing the Sunday paper and get a subscription to All You magazine.  I have not done this part yet, but I religiously get the paper.  Coupon Queeny recommends that you get one for each member of your house so you can maximize saving when stockpiling.  After this you need to get the savers cards and sales papers when you visit the grocery stores.  You are just about ready to begin.
     You can get educated on the art of couponing at the Couponing 101 website.  This site not only teaches you the lingo of coupons, but also it teaches you how to maximize your savings at Walgreens and  CVS.  These are two places that I would have never shopped to save money before, but they have been the stores that I have gotten things the cheapest or free.  I am talking about name brand products.  These and many other sites also match the right coupons to the right sales ,at the right stores, and  at the right time for you.  I cut my grocery bill by $68.00 last week and I have only been at this for three weeks now.  The first week I start out with seeing what I could get for free and now I have begun stockpiling my groceries.  I am actually purchasing things that in the past was out of my price range.
     As I said before, you should get educated and give it a try.  I am addicted to this process.  It is my one small way of sticking back to the system that overcharges on most things in life.

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