Couponing

 I grew up couponing and saving stamps.  My Mom saved the yellow Top Value stamps from Kroger.  I saved the S&H green stamps from other places.  Every year at Christmas, my two brothers and I were given the Top Value stamp catalog to pick out the things we would like to get for presents.  We each usually could spend one book of stamps each. That was back in the late 50's and the 60's.

Today, the economy has taken a backwards turn and once more people are saving stamps, joining store reward programs, looking for rebates and sales, and clipping coupons.  I had never stopped!  As far as I am concerned, I was raised to know the value of those coupons and stamps.  They meant the difference in what we could afford to eat, where and what we could do, and whether there were presents for Birthdays and Christmas.  Our entire lifestyle was dependent upon my Mother's wages and stretching those meager wages with stamps, sales, rebates and coupons!!!

I raised my family the exact same way.  I clipped coupons, saved UPC codes, collected boxtops, mailed in rebates, shopped night owl special sales and did anything possible to stretch my actual wage dollars.  By doing so, we ate better, enjoyed more activities, dressed better and were able to have a better life than if I had just depended upon my income from working.

It is not difficult or time consuming nowadays to take advantage of couponing.  With the advent of the internet, there are now coupon sites online where one can print the coupons they want each month, or other sites where you can download your coupon to your reward card for a specific store in order to use it with your card at the store automatically.  No more forgetting to take your coupons with you, they are automatically on your keychain reward card!!!

For further savings, many stores offer double and/or triple coupon days.  Find out if your store does this and what their schedule is for doing so.  Some stores have a double/triple coupon weekend once a month.  This is the perfect time to take advantage of using some of those smaller value coupons, such as the ones for 25 cents off or 40 cents off.  Most stores double or triple coupons whose original value is 50 cents or less.  That makes those smaller cent coupons become large savings on products and on some will make the item actually free.  A point to remember is that stores usually only double or triple manufacturer's coupons not their own store coupons.

Store reward cards are a great way to save.  Yes, the store is collecting information concerning your personal buying habits with these cards, however, through the use of that information they are able to offer you special savings and coupons tailored to meet your buying preferences and habits.  I receive a coupon pack in the mail monthly from Kroger with coupons specific to items I normally buy there.  This is their way of showing customer appreciation and a great way for me to save more money.  Other store reward cards I have offer cash back on purchases, coupons which can be downloaded to the card, gas discounts and a wide variety of ways for me to make my money stretch so that I can now spoil my many grandchildren!!!

A friend of mine has for the past couple of years tried using couponing to fund her vacations.  It has worked great for her and she has enjoyed a couple of great vacations!!  She started taking the amount she saves on her grocery bill with coupons and depositing that amount in a savings account each week.  She can afford to do that - some of us can't, but it's a good idea for those that can.  She then uses the amount she has saved each year for her vacation fund.  She went on a Disney Cruise Vacation this year!!!!

Couponing is a practice that I highly recommend to all.  It can stretch dollars, allow one to afford a better healthier diet, and enhance one's lifestyle.  For the few minutes each week that it takes to look through the coupons offered by your stores and online couponing sites, the difference it can make is amazing.  Try it - I guarantee you will find that regularly using coupons, rebates, mail-in offers, reward cards, etc., will make a difference for you in today's economically challenged world.

Just Me Granny D

Grandparents' Rights and Court

As a Grandmother who loves her grandchildren very much and enjoys spending time with them, I find that I have no rights to do that without a Judge in a courtroom telling me if I can or not, when I can, where I can and for how long at a time.  Just being a paternal or maternal grandparent by blood does not mean anyone in the United States has an inherent right to be a part of their grandchild's life!

Grandparents' Rights and court seem to go hand in hand in our present day society.  Whereas in the past, grandparents were not only allowed but expected to step in and help with grandchildren, nowadays, thousands and thousands of grandparents in the US are finding that their rights and help comes after the village.

"It takes a village to raise a child" became a popular slogan back in the 1990's.  Hillary Clinton coined the phrase after she helped to get guidelines in place for parental rights, grandparents rights, foster care and adoption guidelines, etc.  By the time all the new guidelines and laws were in place, she was right - It takes a village to raise a child these days, because family is discounted and often prevented from helping to care for and raise the children within their family.

More often than not, family members are restricted in their involvement with grandchildren or nieces and nephews due to the actions of one or both of the child's parents.  As a mode of recompense, there are a few laws available to address this matter.  Depending upon the state a child resides in and their specific laws, various defining factors must exist in order to file a petition for a judge to hear the evidence and possibly issue an order for the family to visit or a grandparent to have contact with many children.  Sometimes this is because of a criminal act and sometimes it is because one parent or the other simply objects to sharing the child with the other parent's family.

Trying to establish grandparents rights in court can be extremely emotional and difficult to accomplish.  To begin with one has to find out if they even qualify to file.  Just because you are the grandparent does not give you the right to file for grandparents' rights in many states.  Some states require that specific criteria has to be met to file and then the grandparent must show just cause as to why they should be given any rights to visit or have a relationship with the child.  You must prove that you have a better case for why you should be allowed to be included in the child's life than the parents or state have to keep you out of their life and away from the child.

Court can be surprisingly daunting and expensive.  While an extremely stressful situation, the results can be rewarding enough to more than compensate for the stress and expense.  Having grandparents' rights upheld and put into place by the court can place that precious child back in your life and you back in theirs.  With the rights comes the responsibility of making sure decisions you make in the future have no negative consequences upon the child and that you act with his/her best interest in mind at all times.  Otherwise, you could find your self back in court facing a judge deciding if you get to keep whatever rights you won the first time around.

I believe that if we went back to families helping family members, grandparents caring for grandchildren, aunts and uncles being role models and helpers, parents realizing there are two parents for each child not just one, and courts looking for family members to care for children when needed rather than the current rush to foster care, more children would grow up with a true sense of identity and self worth.

Grandparents rights and court go hand in hand across this country currently.  The disconnect of families has grown into a problem that fills our courts daily.  Grandparents should prepare when the first grandchild is born.  Getting an agreement signed between grandparents and parents to legally ensure visitation and inclusion in children's lives is a document as necessary in this day and age as prenuptial agreements, living wills and last wills are.  To protect your rights and be certain that things will work out as close to your expectations as possible, don't procrastinate having an agreement drawn up, signed and filed.  If you put it off, the day may come when you find it is too late to get one signed and you are in for the fight of your life to be able to continue to be a part of your grandchildren's lives.


Just Me Granny D

In the Beginning There Was God . . . An Alien

My Bible tells me that in the beginning there was God!  I don't question that - I accept that and totally believe that.  But what else was there in our beginning besides God?  Where is God actually from - a different galaxy or universe, a different plane of reality or perhaps from absolute nothingness?  Where ever God was in the beginning, whom he was with and what existed then are questions that leads to great speculation by many.  One thing that doesn't need speculated or guessed about is the fact that in the beginning there was God . . . an alien.

Alien is life that did not originate from earth.  Therefore, by definition God has to be an alien.  It is said God is life and he originated from somewhere before earth's existence.  Then in our beginning he created earth with her many creatures and wondrous bounty.  The living creations originating on earth are non-aliens and as time advanced, these creations eventually gave God the distinction of being an alien.

Was God all alone in nothingness before his creations?  If so, why?  How did he come to exist and from where?  If he wasn't alone, who was there?  If he wasn't from nothing, then where was he from?  Remember, the Bible says he created the Heavens as he created earth.  When he commands that no one takes another God before him, was that command about other Gods or Goddesses that existed and were around? 

Many theories exist as to the making of the Pyramids, Stonehenge and other ancient marvels.  Myths and stories exist in areas of other Gods and Goddesses in various cultures, teaching the people, cohabitating with the people, and leaving their marks and their beliefs on communities.  Statues and temples were made to honor the different Gods and Goddesses of the ancient past of earth.  Were these Gods and Goddesses with Our God when he created earth and mankind?  Were there many aliens wandering the wonderland we call earth?

Are you thinking?  Do you know the answers?  The only answer I know is that in the beginning there was God . . . an alien.

Just Me Granny D