Accounting Software Feedback Needed!!!

Alright business types - I need accounting software. I'll be the only user, I need it to send invoices, and I could care less if it tracks inventory (because I only sell "services," not goods). I've been using Quickbooks Online Simple Start since I opened the business, but they have a 5 client limit for invoicing, which I can no longer get around. Their cost to continue that service is $39.95/month, which is absurd for the small amount of use I give the software. (I'd be better off just keeping a ledger the old-fashioned way...paper and pencil.) So, I got to looking around at "buy it once and done for 3 years until the software edition goes through the "sunsetting" process" options. I've narrowed it down to Sage One, Quickbooks Pro 2013, and Quicken Home & Business 2013. Any feedback on any of these products??? Thanks!

Knitted Works by Aunt Robin

The following is a sample of items that are handmade by my Aunt Robin. They are all available for customization and/or purchase! If you're interested in finding out more, please email me at dowellim@gmail.com and I'll put you in touch with my aunt!

Again? Really?!?!?

Seems the time has come for my brother's next deployment. This will be #3, and his second time to Afghanistan. I am so proud of my brother for the work that he has done in each deployment and I will always be honored to be his sister. He has sacrificed so much of his own life and of his time with his family for his job, and that job is to serve our country as a United States Marine.

If you've never been through a deployment with someone that's close to you, count your lucky stars RIGHT.NOW and then try to imagine how it would feel if part of your heart was totally ripped out and thrown into a den of wild wolves, where you hoped it would just lay low and survive until someone else was able to come and retrieve it and bring it back to you. Think about your family and imagine how it would feel if you didn't talk to them for a few weeks...not because you didn't have the time or didn't want to, but because you couldn't. They're out of touch, out of reach - you have no idea if they're ok, if they've got enough to eat and drink, where they're sleeping, if they're too cold or too hot, or what their emotions are. Are they scared? Homesick? Do they wish they could talk to you as much as you wish you could talk to them??? Do they look at your pictures at night before bed and did they get that package you mailed a month ago yet? That's just touching the surface of the water with regards to the emotional toll that deployments take. Never mind the phone calls from concerned extended family, the sick feelings in the pit of your stomach when you turn on the news and they're discussing the latest casualties of war, the complete loss and emptiness that you feel if you miss a call on your cell phone and see that the number that had dialed you was only 5 or 6 digits and you know it was him trying to reach you. The military has great support available for spouses who want to take advantage of it, but I've yet to find a great place to connect with other family members of deployed soldiers.

Yes, my brother's married and yes, I know that his wife and kids are his #1 priority now and I respect that completely ... but he's still MY brother. My ONLY brother. He's the one that I grew up with, the one that knows more about me than any other human being on this planet, and one of the only people that I feel "that" connection with - I can talk to him about anything and he has a way of texting or calling me whenever I'm really in need of someone to talk to. He's the one that made me lose my composure by saying "I'm on my way" when my dad had his stroke and I was feeling so scared and alone at the hospital (of course, he's also the one that got me so drunk at our bonfire the night before dad was discharged that I could barely make it to the hospital without throwing up... :) ). He's one of the first people that I ever trusted to watch K when she was an infant, and he was the first person to keep her for an entire weekend so that Scott and I could attend his brother's graduation ceremonies. And every time he deploys, I think of all these things, and more...and it just breaks my heart.

I know what I have to do - I *have* to put on my Big Girl panties and deal with this. I have to stay strong in my faith and use this as an opportunity for spiritual growth. I have to continue to be a dedicated mother to my children and a good wife to my husband. I have to be a good friend to those that need me in their lives. I have to stay focused on my business and keep my clients' companies at the forefront of their markets. I have to mentally prepare myself for weeks with no contact and for the terrible nights laying awake wondering "what if?" We'll do Christmas, again, without him and I'll see the pictures from his girls' birthday party as they will both turn another year older in February. Every time I log into Facebook, I'll look to see if there's a green light by his name. I'll put my yellow ribbon magnet back on my car and my blue star service banner back in my house's front window. And then I'll begin to pray to God that the star stays blue. I'll count the months, then the weeks, then the days, and then the hours until he's stateside again...and until I'll be able to throw my arms around him again and hear him say "I love you Jess."

I learned from the best...

So, the other day I get the following email from my mother:

"Hey Jessica!

This is just one of our snags today. Not too shabby either.....$25.74 actual cost  and we only incurred $8.04 out of pocket. We snagged you some good coupons too, blinkies and others.  : )   The Velveeta is what started it all.... went on sale, plus we had $1 off coupons for each one, then the chips were FREE if you purchase 2 # , same with the Coke, coupon for FREE with the purchase of 2 Velveeta and the Rotel was on sale. The Vlasics, now I know you're drooling....BOGO plus a coupon of .55 off of the first. Just looked at the ticket... pre-tax the Velveeta alone would have been $8.58. Hmmm.

Jim and I both went through the line twice on the above with the only difference being that we only had one round of Vlasic coupons. Hey, we still got 4 jars of Vlassics CHEAP.

OK, your favorite Step Dad just ran the numbers on what we spent and saved today. We did have some items like a gallon of milk that gee, didn't save but .06 on that. Had a $1.00 off Pet coupon that actually did work out to save a whopping .06 over buying the store brand. The Stouffer's Lasagna was not a planned purchase, however it was on sale for $9.99 and we happened to have a $1.00 off coupon on that also. Jim found a good snag on his own....GO JIM!!!!  ..... AA Batteries, should have been $5.60 and we ended up paying .76. Jimmy Dean Sausage was on clearance, $2.10 per roll, we had one .75 off 2. Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls, the 5 packs were on sale for $1.00, had some $1.00 off 2, then the .75 off 3. Philly Cheese and Kraft Chunk Cheese were also on sale, of course there were coupons involved. We stocked up! A couple of miscellaneous items thrown in with no coupon advantage and our final tally was $234.05 worth of goods for only $86.71. That's a 63% savings. The added bonus.... we were out having fun.  : ) 

Love you and wanted to share!

Mom....  Jim too"

And now you KNOW exactly where I learned my skills from...

All my love,

Suuuuuper Doubles!

Good afternoon everyone!!!! My friend Joanna and I had a rockin' good time at Fayetteville's one and only Harris Teeter this morning and I have some great deals to tell you about!

First, as always, here's a picture of "the loot":

Here's a quick list of what I purchased:

*7 jars of Earth's Best Organic baby food (no idea what I'm going to do w/ these yet. I bought all fruit blends so hopefully the girls can eat them as snacks, but if they refuse, I will just donate them to a food drive) - B1G1 so $.50/$.49 each - $1/7 coupon (doubled to $2) = $1.47 or $.21/ea

*Ziploc Big Bags - $1.94 - $1 coupon (doubled to $1.94) = FREE

*Muellers Spaghetti/Thin Spaghetti (4 boxes) - $4 (or $1/box) - $1/2 coupon (doubled to $2/2) = FREE

*Campbells Chunky Soups (5 cans) - B1G1 so $1.13/$1.12 each - 2 coupons; the first was $1.50/3, which doubled to $3/3 and the second was $1/2, which doubled to $2/2 = $.61 or $.12 each

*Smucker's Reduced Sugar Strawberry Preserves - $2.50 - $1 coupon (doubled to $2) = $.50

*Old Orchard Low-Sugar Apple/Grape Juice - B2G3 - $11.80 or $2.95 each - 2 $1 coupons (doubled to $2) ***With this deal, you can't stack two coupons into the "Buy 2" part. One coupon per B2G3 deal is all that is allowed.*** = $7.80 or $.78 each

*Seventh Generation Dish Liquid - $1.99 - $1 coupon (doubled to $1.99) = FREE
 
*Horizon Single-Serve Organic Milk (2 packages of 3 containers) - $6 - 2 $1 coupons (doubled to 2 $2 coupons) = $2 or $1 each

*Feline Pine cat litter (2 bags) - B1G1 so $2.75 each - 2 $1.50 coupons (doubled to 2 $2.75) = FREE

*HT Boneless Chix Breast - B1G2 - Price works out to $1.66/lb. - 3 packages - $3.10, $3.10, $3.12

*Weight Watchers Oatmeal Cookies - $2 - $1 coupon (doubled to $2) = FREE

*Reduced fruits - 3 packages - $1.04, $1.00, $1.07

*Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches - $3.99 - $1 coupon (doubled to $2) = $1.99 (<--OK, I know that's not a great deal AT ALL, but those things are DELICIOUS!!!)

*Bag of Tyson Chicken Tenders - $5.55 - $1 coupon (doubled to $2) = $3.55

*Yoplait YoCrunch Parfaits (2) - $4 - 2 $1 coupons (doubled to 2 $2) = FREE

*CoffeeMate coffee creamer - $1.67 - $.75 coupon (doubled to $1.50) = $.17

Grand Total Spent: $32.46
Grand Total Saved: $109.87

Good luck to you all for the rest of the week!!!! I know I'll be going back to stock up on some more great deals!!!!!


All my love,

"Excuse me, but those don't double..."

I made my first trip to our local Harris Teeter for Super Double coupon week last night, and I didn't do great, but I didn't do poorly either. The Fayetteville Harris Teeter is not one to frequently restock hot items (like the Leland store did), so I guess unless you're there to beat the doors down at 7am on Wednesday morning, you're just out of luck. I ended up only using 16 of my 20 allowable coupons last night, but I was able to give tips and tricks to shoppers along the way. Grocery shopping would take half as much time if I didn't feel like I was somewhat obliged to help the clueless people clutching coupons in every aisle :)

I must have explained HT's rules and the "coupon game" 10 times last night - "No, you can only use 3 on any given item." "Here, see how this smaller package gives you a greater margin of savings?" "Just because that item is pictured doesn't mean that it's the only thing covered by the coupon....if it says "ANY" such-and-such product, you're free to go." and, my absolute favorite (to some people who I had been talking coupons with in the store...they decided to go for it by pulling the blinkies in the Pillsbury refrigerated bread section...) "Excuse me, but those don't double." (I then, of course, proceeded to tell them that coupons that begin in "5" double while those that begin with "9" never do. I also told them how you can go to Food Lion and pull their blinkies and then bring them to Harris Teeter.)

(UGH...Just lost my list that I had typed due to a Blogger error...not typing it again!)

Total Spent: $24.92
Total Saved: $54.83

Have a great day!


All my love,

Shopping at Walmart with Coupons

This will just be a quick post, but it has some points in it that I thought of while I was cleaning out my coupon book at Wal-Mart the other night.


1) W-M stocks just about EVERYTHING! You know those coupons that have been living in your book for months because you simply can't find the product??? You can probably find them there AND they'll probably be at a good price.

2) You can use as many coupons on an individual item as you would like. Harris Teeter only accepts 3 identical coupons. I used 9 tuna coupons at W-M the other night and walked out with 9 pouches of tuna for $.39 each. Not quite as good as a triples deal, but better than letting those coupons expire on 9/30/10 without being used!

3) Your margin of savings will be lower. It's about  50/50 shot as to whether the Great Value brand or the brand name item plus coupon will be cheaper. You win some; you lose some!

4) It's ESSENTIAL to carry a copy of W-M's coupon policy with you. I had it pulled up on my Blackberry the other night because I forgot to bring my printout and I almost had to use it. The cashier wasn't sure about accepting the blinkies I had pulled from Food Lion, but, thankfully, we were able to get it straightened out without me having to "prove" I was correct.

I hope that something here will help one of you save money! Have a great weekend!!!

All my love,