As the owner of two little Fidos, I can be the testament … owning pets ain’t cheap.  I adore my four legged babies, but they cost me just as much as my two legged babies do.  It’s not like I’m keeping tally or anything but… well let’s see -

• Obedience training
• Flea medicine
• Doggy bed, doggy bed, doggy bed and yeah… more doggy beds (they like to see what’s inside)
• Annual check-ups
• Grooming
• This food, oh and that food (for the days they feel like being picky)
• Cute little doggy clothes
• Toys
• Treats
• Heartworm prevention
• Big, meaty hambones
• Shampoo
• Rabies shots
• Electric collar, Pinch collar, Walking harness, Leather collar with the fancy gems
• Combs, Brushes, Dematters
• Toothpaste, Toothbrush
• And let me not forget … re-grassing the yard, replacing the sheetrock, replacing a phone jack, replacing the drapes, snaking the fur clogged drain, replacing the carpet…  need I go on?

Oh, yeah multiply that times 2!

My dogs… l love ‘em.  They bring my family a lot of joy… but they also bring bills.

Anywho, I was talking to an old friend the other day and she told me that she’d recently found out that her pup was diabetic.  She told me that she had to take her dog to the vet often for follow ups and that the dog had to take daily medications. 

A diabetic dog?  Who woulda thunk it?  I had never heard of such a thing.  But after doing a little digging, I soon realized that our canine buddies are vulnerable to many of the same ailments that afflict us humans.  That was a big shocker to me. 

I wasn’t trying to be meddlesome, but I was curious about how she could afford the treatment.  She said that the treatment was expensive, but not as expensive as it would have been had she not had pet insurance. 

I had heard of pet insurance before, but I never really thought much about it.  Now after hearing my friend’s story, I figured I’d better learn what it was all about.  God forbid, if one of my babies got sick, I’d want to him to get the best treatment available.  So I better see what insurance options are available. 

I took a look at the 3 tops plans.  I compared price and coverage.  Here’s what I found:

VPI Pet Insurance

The best plan covered accident, illnesses, x-rays, surgeries, cancer, prescriptions, hospitalizations, vaccinations, heartworms, flea control, urinalysis, and dental for $411 a year.  For this they’ll pay 90% of eligible expenses, less a $50 per incident deductible.  I have to pay the cost up front, but will be reimbursed after submitting a one page claim form and receipt.

ASPCA  Pet Insurance

The premier plan which covers accidents, illnesses and well care is $649.20 a year.  There is a maximum incident benefit of $5,000 and a Maximum annual benefit of $13,000.

Petplan

The Gold Plan covers up to $20,000 in vet fees, $500 in boarding fees, $500 in advertising and rewards, $500 in loss due to theft or straying, $1,000 for death from illness or injury, and $1,000 for vacation cancellation.  Wow, that is comprehensive! With a $50 deductible and 0% coinsurance, this plan is $537.38 per year.

Those are the specs for the crème de la crème plans.  There are many more plan options available that are more less pricey… some for as little as $6.99 a month. 

If you are looking for security for your pet’s well-being (and your pocket), consider investing in pet insurance.

Who are they?

Picture it - Ohio… 1900… Harvey Firestone opened the doors of a tire manufacturing company.    Starting Firestone Tire & Rubber was a risky venture for the time.  There were hardly any cars on the road.  But Mr. Firestone envisioned an opportunity that others did not see.  For this, he was rewarded with great success.  It only took six years for his small company to reach the million sales mark.

Eventually the company’s reign spanned across the nation.  Americans were not only choosing Firestone to tend to its automotive needs, but they were also tuning into Mr. Firestone radio show each week.  The Firestone name and the Firestone brand had become an iconic. 

After standing alone for 88 years, the company was brought under the wing of the Bridgestone Corporation. The takeover exposed Firestone products into a different arena…  the global market.

Today, with 6,000 locations, Bridgestone/Firestone is one of the fiercest players in the auto industry.  The company offers a wide range of automotive products and services.  However most associate them with their signature trademark, tires. 

In the news

Recently, Firestone increased the price of tires to compensate for the rising price of rubber.  However, with a weakening economy and sluggish sales, this is still not enough.  The company announced last week that its Noblesville, Indiana plant will cease operations in 2009. The plant has been a major employer in the town for 72 year years.  Unfortunately the plant closure will result in 300 jobs lost… a hard hit for a small community.

In other news… Although the particulars have not been publicly revealed, the state of Ohio offered a sweet deal to Firestone.  This state approved a proposal that would allow the company to skate over $18 million dollars in potential tax bills.  What will the state receive in return?  An economy-stimulating, state-of-the-art Firestone tire center operating in the heart of Akron for the next 18 years.

The card

Basics

• Firestone’s credit card is issued by Credit First National Association (or CFNA for short)
• 21.84% APR on purchases… which increases to 24.84% for the next 6 months if your payment is not received within 5 days of the due date
• 25 day grace period
• Interest computed on average day card balance with a minimum of $1.00 finance charge for each cycle in which there is a balance
• Staggered late payment schedule - $15 for balances less than $100, $25 for balances of $100 up to $299.99, $33 for balances of $300 plus
• $29 bounce check fee
• Over the limit fee not specified
• No annual fee
• Privacy policy - They’ll collect personal information about you and selective share (sell) it with affiliates, third parties… you have the right to opt out… blah, blah, blah

Extras

• 90 day interest free payment plan for certain purchases

My take

If it were not for the 90 day interest free payment plan, I would say stay away from this card.  The interest rate is ridiculously high!  And on top of having a high APR, there are no benefits (like points, cash back, miles) of having card.  The use of the card is restricted to only Firestone or Bridgestone stores.  Therefore transportability is nonexistent.  However, if you are planning a shopping spree at the local Firestone, use this card!  That is only if you pay the entire balance within the 90 day period.  The no interest thing is a good deal.  Other than that, 22% interest is a rip off. 

The way I see it… the 90 day thing is a ploy to get you to buy their products.  And the 22% APR thing is a great deterrent to maintaining a balance. 

Use the card the way it was designed to use, then you’ve got yourself a winner.  Use it in any other way, then you are getting screwed.   

As a parent of two very active children, I am always trying find ways to fill their belly at a discount. I usually do a pretty good job. But in the summer months, the grocery bills have almost doubled. That is because the kids are home more often. My children gobble up 3 meals and 3 snacks a day… they invite their friends over who gobble up just about the same.

And I guess it is not just the additional snacks and meals, I also have to buy more drinks. In 115 degree humidity, energetic children need ways to rehydrate. As soon as they come in from riding bikes, shooting hoops, jumping rope, playing hopscotch, walking the poodle, running around on the soccer field, playing fetch with the JRT, cutting the grass (it’s not all fun and games, there is a chore or two thrown in here and there)… but when the come in they want fluids… they need fluids!

Hence the exorbitant summer grocery bills. During the summer, I am forced to visit the grocer at least once a week. But it is not too bad. Even though the grocery bill (the dollars) has doubled… the amount of groceries (the food) has quadrupled. I am able to do this because I used every coupon and rebate that is available to me. No kidding people, I walk out of the grocery store with $300 dollars of food that only costed me $100 (or less in some cases)! Seriously, that should be illegal cause sometimes it feels like I am stealing. But I no thief… what I am is a conscientious deal seeker.

I buy things that are on sale, use manufacturer coupons and store loyalty coupons. And boy do I save… and save big! People, I am GOOD! I wish I could package my techniques and sell it. I’d make a lot of money! Ok I’m done tooting my own horn… so I’ll move on.

The one thing I buy plenty of in the summer is Kraft products. Kids love Kraft!

My bologna has a first name, it’s O-S-C-A-R my bologna has a second name, it’s M-A-Y-E-R…

It’s not delivery - it’s DiGiorno…

and every kid’s favorite - Kraft’s Macaroni and Cheese, it’s the cheesiest!

I hate to sound like a commercial… but who doesn’t love Kraft’s food? And more importantly… who doesn’t like saving big on Kraft’s food?

Here is how I save on Kraft products:

$2 off Honey Bunches of Oats

$3 off 1 Planter product when you buy 3 Kraft, Nabisco or Oscar Mayer products

$3 rebate on pizza Lunchables

$9 rebate on Live Active cheese

$2 off Live Active cheese

$3 off Live Active Cereal

Still have the Sunday paper from 2 weeks ago? Look in Parade magazine for a coupon for free Kraft Singles

Kraft Mac & Cheese-A-Palooza at Amazon - Save $10 on eligible Kraft products instantly

Kraft Summer Beverages Savings Event at Amazon - Save $10 instantly when you spend $39 on eligible Kraft beverage products

Subscribe and Save at Amazon and save 15% on Kraft product plus have it delivered for free (Just a FYI… you can cancel the subscription after the first order without penalty.)

Join the Kraft Community and get a free subscription to Kraft’s Food and Family Magazine. There was a coupon for a free bottle of Kraft salad dressing in last month’s magazine. But don’t worry if you missed this one, each issue contains great coupons from Kraft.

Active forum on Kraft special offers and coupons

Free flashlight pedometer, Oreo cookie jar, Mr. Peanut ball cap and cupholder organizer from Kraft - Download the forms here

BHG promotion - Enter to win a backyard makeover from Kraft (there is only one grand prize, but there are also 125 other prizes first, second, third and fourth place winner)

In a few months my oldest child will be celebrating his 15^th birthday. He is taking it in stride. I, on the other hand, am frenetic… in an uneasy way. My first born… my baby… is nearly a man! *sigh* It seems like only yesterday that he was begging me to drive him to kindergarten. He never liked riding the school bus. But now as he asserts his “pre-man” self-sufficiency… he would not dare ask me to drive him to school. I kinda miss the days when he was so dependent on me.

But I am coming to the realization that my son is growing up and although his is my baby he is not a baby. I’ll have to trust in myself and be confident that I have instilled in him the values that’ll need to be a good, reponsible adult. He’s a good kid and even though I wish he can a baby forever, he can’t.

Anyway, enough of my parental introspection…

The thing is, now that he’ll be old enough to drive… I’ve been thrust into the market for a new vehicle. I bought my last vehicle about 3 years ago. But things have changed so much since then - by “things” I mean gas prices. My focus in buying a new vehicle for my son is first - safety and second - fuel efficiency.

Focusing about fuel efficiency is new territory for me. I never really thought much about it before when purchasing a vehicle. The only rule I had was no gas guzzling SUV’s. Though now, with the high gas prices, nearly every vehicle is a gas guzzler. But what can I do? The kid needs his own car.

So now I must learn about the fuel efficient car options that are available.

There is no standard definition of a fuel efficient car. Basically what is means is that if car A gets less MPG than car B, then car B is more fuel efficient.

Because of their size, smaller cars tend to give more MPG than larger ones. But I don’t want my son, a driving neophyte, to roll around free and liberated in a historically dangerous class of car.

So I compared the MPG for some medium and large sized vehicles. These are the ones I like most:

Toyota Prius Hybrid - 48/45 MPG - $21,500

Nissan Altima Hybrid - 35/33 MPG - $25,480

Mercury Mariner Hybrid - 34/30 MPG - $28,150

Mazda Tribute Hybrid - 34/30 MPG - $25,485

Ford Escape Hybrid - 34/30 MPG - $27,445

Toyota Camry Hybrid - 33/34 MPG - $25,200

Saturn VUE Hybrid - 25/32 MPG - $25,645

Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid - 24/32 MPG - $23,640

Saturn Aura Hybrid - 24/32 MPG - $23,900

Pontiac G6 - 22/30 MPG - $18,765

Hyundai Sonata - 21/31 MPG - $17,670

Dodge Avenger - 21/30 MPG - $19,640

Wow, pretty long list… I’ll have to work on ratcheting this down to only two or three.

Although most of the cars that made my list are hybrids, there are other things that I’ll look for when considering fuel efficiency.

Manual transmissions are more fuel efficient than automatics.

The smaller 4 cylinder engines have better MPG when compared to 6 or 8 cylinder engines.

And although diesel fuel is more expensive than regular octane gas, diesel powered engines are more fuel efficient.

There are many fuel efficient options to choose from and many other things to consider when purchasing a car for a teenage boy. Lucky I still have a year to figure it all out.

Often I hear people reminiscing about the good ole days when gas cost 20¢ a gallon. Well I wasn’t around back in those times, but I do have vivid memories of when it was 99¢ a gallon. Just one year ago, when gas was $2.99 a gallon, many people were in a ruckus. I wasn’t too troubled about the prices though. I bought into the notion that gas prices had not kept up with inflation. I figured the prices were playing catch up and that eventually they would level off. Well as gas prices peak more than $4 a gallon… I am no longer holding on to that inflation theory.

But I am not going to complain about gas prices… I am sure you’ve heard it all before. And beside, complaining won’t solve the problem. I’d rather talk about how we can deal with it.

Other than searching for the cheapest gas in town, there are some things we can do to save on gas, such as improving gas mileage. There is lots of information available on the internet. But not everything you read is true. So I’ll dispel some commonly believed myths, then I will give you some proven ways to improve gas mileage.

4 Things That Won’t Improve Your Gas Mileage

• Filling up during the coolest parts of the day - Yes, gas condenses in cooler temperatures. But this fact has little impact when fueling your car. Whether you refuel in the morning before the sun comes out or at hi noon in the brunt of the heat… it makes no difference. Most gas is stored underground and underground temperatures are relatively constant throughout the day.
• Topping off the tank - I’m not sure why some people think this will improve gas mileage. The only thing that will happen is that fuel will spill down your car and onto the ground. Now granted I know nothing about physics, but you standing in a puddle of gasoline next to a gas draped car sounds in 100 degree heat… well to me… that just sounds like a bad accident waiting to happen.
• Turning off the air conditioner - I do not see how anyone can cruise around in my city without the A/C on. Even if by chance it did help save on gas… who wants to blister in a smoldering, hot car? Ok so you roll the windows down to let in the breeze which comes with thermal level heat and humidity. That still does not make you comfortable… and the added drag from the wind in your car actually reduces gas mileage. I don’t know who start this cruel joke, but please leave the air on people.
• Using premium - Some people live buy it. They’d swear that paying 35 cents more a gallon for the highest octane gas provides benefits. I hate to tell you folks, but it just ain’t so. Unless your car manufacturer specifically recommends it, fueling up on premium improves nothing. Save the extra 35 cents and get 1/10th of 2 percent of 1 cup more drops of regular 87 octane fuel.

4 Things That Will Improve Your Gas Mileage

• Driving on a warm engine - Plan better commuting routes. Run all of your errands in one trip. Allowing your engine to cool down and then warm up again is inefficient. Gas burns less on a warm engine. And don’t plan to be out and about during high traffic times. It does not make sense to waste gas idling in rush hour trash if you can avoid.
• Tightening the gas cap - Did you realize some people allow their $4 a gallon gas to evaporate into thin air? Not only is this not good for the environment, but it also depletes your car’s personal gas supply. Make sure the cap is on tight, save the environment and your money.
• Using cruise control - Driving at a consistent speed is more fuel efficient. The energy your car uses to break, accelerate, slow down, stop and go reduces gas mileage. Maintaining a consistent speed as much as possible improves gas mileage.
• Using a credit card - Most card companies offer a rebate on all purchases. Many offer double or even triple rebates on fuel purchases. Look for card offers rewards on your every day gas purchases. While this has no immediate impact, you can always use those rewards to purchase more gas.

I have seen quite a few articles about why people should rent cars… special occasions, no need to worry about maintenance, yada, yada, yada… But I could not find any articles about why people shouldn’t rent cars. So I’m gonna play devils advocate and create my own list.

And I have come up with 4 perfectly good reasons why you shouldn’t rent a car…

1. Rental Car Companies Discriminate

Some car rental companies have no qualms about not renting to certain people. I am sure the companies have conjured up a shrewd reason why they refuse to rent to those under age 25… but if a 24 year old can drink, smoke and vote… then why can’t they rent cars? By age 25, many people have already finished college and have responsibilities like working a bona fide job, beginning a family, paying real bills. Are they not worthy enough to rent a car?

And yet other car rental companies try to skirt the issue by charging a premium. I say don’t be so wishy-washy - either rent to young people or not. It seems as if these rental companies exploit the fact that young people have limited rental car options. The companies are forcing those under 25 to pay these premiums because they have no where else to go. Sounds like a monopoly to me.

2. Rental Car Companies Trick You With Hidden Fees

The car rental companies charge all kind of hidden fees. You can be charged extra for anything from picking up a car from the airport to dropping the car off at a different location. Sometimes they sock you with mileage fees. But the one that gets me is the refueling charges. When you rent a car, you must return it with the same amount of gas. If you return it with less, they will charge you almost 2 times the price of the average going rate for a gallon of gas. That’s awfully excessive… especially considering you won’t be refunded if you return the car with too much gas. Heck, you may have not had time to stop at the gas station because you were in a rush trying to avoid partial day charges. But do they care… no!

3. There Are More Eco-Friendly Alternatives

Al Gore says that car emissions are contributing to the end of the world. Surely you don’t want to be a contributor to ending the world. So you can walk, run, cycle or roller skate to where you need to go. If you are traveling too far to make it on your own muscle, consider using public transportation, car pooling or hopping on a Amtrak or Greyhound.

4. Who Were The Previous Occupants

People tend to be less conscientious in dealing with things that aren’t theirs. To tell the truth, some folks can be down right disgusting. I have heard about the things people leave behind in rentals. I’m not trying to gross you out or anything but if people can ooze blood, urine, feces and semen around rented rooms, they certainly do the same in rented cars. And not to mention the viruses and bacteria they leave behind that are lurking for a host.

Yeah, the companies may clean the cars between rental. But the objective is only to get the car looking clean, not to make sure it’s actually clean. Vacuuming the back seat does little to rid it of ole Joey boy’s dried in “excitement”. And I can bet the steering wheel, gear shift and door handles aren’t disinfected.

I am no germaphobe… but I can imagine all yucky stuff lingering about in rental cars.

Tada…!!! Pretty good, huh?

Hopefully I have dissuaded you from renting a car. But in case I haven’t, you oughta give Budget Rent A Car a try. And you can use these great specials while you’re at it:

10% off the regular rental rate

$30 off Weekly Rental

20% off plus 3000 Delta SkyMiles

5% rebate when you use your MasterCard

10% off plus free upgrade

$50 off rentals over 60 days

$20 off weekend deals

Frequent renter perks

5% off daily rental

Up to date coupons provided by Quicktoclick

And

Special Offers straight from the horse’s mouth

Between Thursday and Friday of this past week the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 450 points, officially taking it into what stockbrokers call ‘Bear Territory’; that is, a drop of 20% or more in a single year.

Do I care?

Not much. Even though the last time I looked, my 401K was losing about 8% annually, I’ve decided that a better way to spend my energy is to focus on things that cheer me up. I spent Friday afternoon making strawberry jam. In an apron. A 1940s collectible full bib apron, a la Ma Kettle.

Yes, it’s true. I am a Domestic Goddess.

So even though I could write a post about how Ford Motor Company stock is at its lowest point since 1955, or how Citigroup is in big trouble again, or how NY writer Tom Wolfe thinks we are witnessing “…the end of Capitalism as we know it,” (this from a guy who dresses like Colonel Sanders and wrote one of the awfullest books ever, made into one of the awfullest movies ever, The Bonfire of the Vanities), or how Chrysler is denying publicly that they are considering bankruptcy (meaning that they almost certainly are considering bankruptcy)–even though I could write that post, I’m not going to do it.

Instead, here are ten much more pleasant things you can do while the American Way of Life collapses around your ears. Then, once the dust settles, we can all talk.

1) Make Jam. I spent $25 on a flat of strawberries, $5 on four boxes of fruit pectin, and $2 on a five pound bag of sugar. I put up 13 two-cup containers of freezer jam, two quart bags of whole strawberries, and made shortcakes to eat with the leftover berries. We’re having them again tonight. I figure I saved between $10 and $15 doing this all myself, which isn’t all that impressive savings-wise, but you haven’t tasted that jam. Yum.

2) Read a Big Book. My partner, the world’s smartest truck driver, is currently reading Truman by David McCullough, a book that is as big as my head and twice as heavy. The book is about Harry Truman, former US President, not Truman Capote or The Truman Show. Harry Truman was so broke when he was a US senator that he had to hire his wife Bess to be his secretary just so they would make enough to cover their basic living expenses, then he spent the rest of his political career worrying that this necessary and pragmatic action would ruin his political integrity. Wow, have times changed or what? (Can anyone spell Oink?)

3) See Pixar’s Latest Flick Wall-E. Pixar is used to effusive praise, but the positive ratings on this one are off the chart. Wall-E is a sad-eyed trash-compacting computer left alone on earth after all human life has disappeared. His only friend is a cockroach. Don’t worry though, Al Gore isn’t in it, and at the end we find out that the human race has survived, just on another planet. The thing is, if you must see an apocalyptic movie this year, shouldn’t it be adorable?

4) Rent ‘Fight Club’. What, you say you were just laid off your cushy broker job at Citigroup and the only cute robot you want to see right now is one you pump so full of lead it ends up looking like an antique sieve run over by an SUV? Fine, I get it, put that now-totally-legal weapon away, will you please? Go directly to the closest video store and rent the film version of Chuck Pahlaniuk’s dark novel about the end of the world as we know it, courtesy of fed-up cubicle slaves. Trust me, it will cheer you up, especially the final scene. Girls: I have two additional recommendations for you regarding this film which make it worth watching all by themselves; Brad Pitt and Edward Norton.

5) Write a Cheap Food Cookbook. Mark my words, with the recent midwest floods destroying corn and soybean crops and a world food crisis already fully under way, in about eight months, somebody in the US is going to make a fortune off a clever book on how to make a tasty casserole for a family of four out of lint. Why shouldn’t that person be you? If you work in the auto or financial industries, you’re going to need the money, so get crackin’! Times a-wastin’.

6) Start Your Own University. College has become unaffordable for most kids and their parents, but there aren’t many jobs for graduates anyway. Instead of whining and crying about this, why not take the bull by the horns and start your own university? You must know how to do something. A degree from a state college currently costs about $50K, so charge 10K a head and then teach kids something useful, like how to covert SUVs into affordable housing. You’ll be doing a community service and you only need 10 students and you’re in six-figure income territory!

7) Help Build SUV-Henge. We know that with big cities strapped for tax income (due to all the foreclosures and all the industries pulling out and moving to China) public parks are hurting. Why not take the current glut of undrive-able SUVs and stack them on end to build a monument to the Sun that can be used at the Summer Solstice to appease whatever Gods are mad at us? (Probably all of them right now.) A majestic Public Works project is usually just the ticket to cheer people up during hard times, and the raw material and free labor is all around you.

8 ) Take a Stay-cation. ‘Staycation’ is a new buzzword for something wonderful I’ve always loved more than anything else in the world: Stay home and do nothing. Right now, I am so behind on doing nothing that even if I do nothing for the rest of my entire life I probably will never catch up. So if you are lucky enough to be too broke to do anything, count your blessings. Look at it this way: at least you don’t have to go to Disneyworld. Those folks are insane. The giant mouse, the dancing princesses, it’s a horror show.

9) Walk Around, Take Photos. Can’t afford to drive? Recently laid off? Take that digital camera and walk around chronicling the end of civilization. Someone really should be doing this, and I am so busy constantly grubbing for money I don’t have time right now. Plus, it’s good for you, all that walking. And dumpster diving is the the new chic way to go, so anything good you see lying by the side of the road, take it home and brag to your friends!

10) Hoard Rice. Come on, I know you want to do it. Sometimes, just being told you aren’t allowed to do something is enough to make that thing the only thing in the world you ever wanted to do. Buy your four 100 pound bag limit at one Sam’s Club, drive to another and buy four more, then back to the one you started at and buy four more, and don’t stop until your entire house is so full of burlap bags of rice you think you are on a Red Cross ship bound for Myanmar.

There. That ought to keep you busy for the next two hundred days or so until Barack Obama is finally President. I don’t know how much he’ll be able to fix by the time the inaugural ball is finally over, but at least the madmen will have gone back to Texas.

Anyone want some jam?

Ok guys… now that the DH has spruced up with the patio with new furniture and a new Monster King Kong grill, I’ve got the urge to polish my green thumb. Keep in mind the only gardening I’ve ever attempted on my own landed my poor yard on the “needs professional help” list.

I had this wild idea that I wanted to grow some berries bushes. Well… it wasn’t that wild. There was a method behind the madness. I was trying to save on my grocery bill. I love berries but they are so expensive… a half pint of raspberries is $6! I figured I take that $6 to buy some seeds so I can grow my own. So I bought 4 berry tree seedlings, found a shade-less patch next to the fence, got a shovel and started digging.

When I was done planting the seedlings, I felt proud. And I was optimistic that my hard work would eventually result in plump juicy berries. Well that was not quite the case. I am not sure what happened. It’s been 3 years and we still ain’t picking berries off a bush. Actually, there aren’t even any bushes. And the kicker… I’m still paying $6 for 10 raspberries at the local grocer.

The only remnant of my hard work is a small woody stem that refuses to just give up. Seriously the thing just won’t die, I mow over it, sprinkle it with herbicide. Two weeks later, it has spouted up again. It refuses be a victim of my gardening catastrophe.

But anyway, I need something to complement the patio. So I think I might give this gardening thing another go. However for round two… I have come up with a plan that hopefully even my inexpert green thumb can’t boggle.

I got some creative ideas from Lowes and mapped out a simple scheme to enhance my outdoor living space. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that the final product bears some semblance to mini oasis I see in my head. If it doesn’t I won’t be too hard on myself… the best way to learn is to practice, right?

You might be thinking… there is a bit of a double standard here since my philosophy was different when my DH was “practicing“. Well, call it what you want… but when I practice gardening… what’s the worse that can happen? I kill a few flowers? When my DH practices home improvement (I use this word loosely)… what’s the worse that can happen? The attic caves in on the living room floor? Ok, see the difference? I think the double standard is appropriate in this situation.

And even if I do have a few gardening mishaps here and there, it will only cause me a lot of sweat and very little dollars. Even though I am new to this gardening thing, I am a pro at cost minimization. And the best way to minimize my gardening cost is to take advantage of special offers at Lowes.

First I can estimate the project cost

Then use these to reduce the cost:

$10 off $25 purchase when I use my Visa at Lowes

Sign up for this 10% off coupon

$4.99 shipping or fee shipping to the local Lowes store

Use my Lowes card for a great interest rate

Special Lowes discounts for realtors

Win a $100 Lowes gift card

Free Lowes gift card California teacher buying a house

Earn and redeem Chase Freedom points

New sales at Lowes every week

Special values exclusively for Lowes customers

Pick up Lowes coupons and gift cards on eBay

Comprehensive list of all current Lowes coupons

By the way, Lowes also honors competitor coupons.

Hey, who doesn’t love to get free stuff?

I know I do, so even though I’m not a pop drinker and haven’t personally had an ice cold Coca Cola since I was 14, when I learned that I could get free stuff at www.mycokerewards.com just by entering the numbers inside the bottle caps, I was on it like Sherlock on Watson.

Everyone else in family drinks Coke of course, and so do all the people around me at work. Do they save their bottle caps so they can get the free stuff at the My Coke Rewards website? No they do not. They are busy people. I’m a busy person too, but come on, FREE STUFF! We’re talking F-R-E-E here, just for entering some numbers at a soft drink website.

So now, guess who volunteers to dispose of everyone’s pesky bottle caps? You got it: that little old tea drinker, Me! I don’t feel guilty either, because like I said, I buy tanker truckloads of this fizzy stuff for my loved ones, and have for years.

It’s kind of like when you don’t have kids and you go to all the wedding showers and then baby showers for the kids of people you know, and then finally, after many years of being bored out of your mind and never winning the door prize, it’s your kid’s turn. So even though you think showers were invented by God as a punishment for women’s descent from Eve (and a harsh punishment too) you invite every single person whose shower you ever attended and all their relatives too. It’s your right. It’s your turn. And they damn well better show up!

But wait, you say, maybe you don’t want to have free stuff all over your house that has the words Coca Cola plastered all over it. Maybe you don’t want red Coke pants and a white Coke T-shirt with red lettering and a red Coke gym bag to carry with your red Coke sneakers, and so on, and so forth.

No problem!

You can use your reward points to enter sweepstakes at www.mycokerewards.com for everything from tickets to Six Flags to Nascar events. You can also save up your rewards points to earn discounts at other cool retailers like Best Buy, use your points for music downloads for your phone or I-Pod, save your points for coupons for free Blockbuster movie rentals, or you can donate your rewards points to your favorite school.

Best of all, you don’t have to only drink Coke to qualify for the rewards points. You can find these points on the inside of the caps of all Coca Cola soft drink products, including Dasani bottled water, Barq’s Root Beer, Vault Energy Drinks, Powerade, Fanta and Faygo drinks.

So, drink pop, or don’t. But do register at My Coke Rewards and enter those bottle cap numbers whenever you have a few spare minutes. They add up really fast, and you know what that means…

FREE STUFF!!