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[Paula Wethington]

Monday morning headlines for the Monroe on a Budget readers

Blue Christmas events help to deal with hard times
http://www.freep.com/article/20081222/NEWS05/812220361
I've heard of this ritual before for people who are dealing with death or illness in the family, but this is the first time I can recall including financial woes in Blue Christmas services.

Lower gas prices won't last forever
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081221/BUSINESS02/812210318
This story is from the Sunday Blade, not the Monday edition. But as I've posted on the blog, the currently low gas prices are a really good occasion to make road trips to visit friends and family who are out-of-town, stock up at a favorite store that's out-of-town, or take advantage of free or discount museum and attraction ticket offers in the nearby metro areas.

Jobless rates up in 37 states
http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/19/news/economy/unemployment_summary/index.htm?postversion=2008121916
Umm, yeah, Michigan is on the top of the list.

[marilyn.monroe]

Way to go on the mini-blog Paula!
I'm going to try this recipe and use the crushed peppermints too!

[bloo II]

I think this is just wonderful!! Like 'Fry, I seldom venture into the blogs. Mainly because I figure I'd better not get addicted to anything else!!    I'm really enjoying your posts, Paula!! What a great service you're doing for our county and beyond!! Thank you!!

Shep, LPC/Eggman, and Mike: Post your stuff here, too!! This forum has been seriously lacking in anything worth talking about for a while now. I'm not saying give up your blog pages, but post some stuff here, too, maybe with a link at the bottom for the "full story" to keep your site hits up? Just an idea that would benefit everyone. 

[Paula Wethington]

More headlines

Record number of donations for Monroe's Toys for Tots
http://monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081222/NEWS01/112229972/-1/NEWS
Parents of at least 2,000 Monroe County children are expected to line up for the toy selections on Tuesday.

Holiday shortens business hours
http://monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081222/NEWS01/112229976/-1/NEWS
Pay attention to the special banking, government and post office hours this week or you may be frustrated as you go about your banking and bill-paying errands.

Shoppers haggle for deals from retailers
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28351832/
I admit, it's not my shopping style to haggle. But there may be possibilities during a tight holiday season for those of you who enjoy that approach. Maybe one could ask, as appropriate, if there is a senior citizen discount, military discount, college kid discount, package or bundle deal, frequent shopper discount, rain check, or employee/union discount.

Don't pour money down the laundry drain
http://www.frugalvillage.net/2008/12/21/dont-pour-money-down-the-drain/
Sara Noel's Frugal Village column runs on Sunday in The Monroe Evening News. Here's the link to the laundry column from Sunday's newspaper on the FV site.

And what did the budget blogger put in her lunch box today?
Peanut butter jelly sandwich: peanut butter from a previous month's Angel Food Ministries box, homemade jelly from her mom, wheat bread from a sale at Meijer some time back (bread freezes well). Orange from the produce box on this month's Angel Food "specials" selections. Yoplait yogurt purchased on sale + coupon last week at Meijer. Coke Zero from a sale two or three weeks ago on cases of pop - I can't remember what store??

[Paula Wethington]

Budget blog is back up http://www.blogsmonroe.com/budget

[TheShepherd]

Budget blog is back up http://www.blogsmonroe.com/budget

You're lucky then. I'm still down and out.

[BigRedDog]

You're lucky then. I'm still down and out.

Who ever told you life was going to be fair...

maybe they don't want youworking on your birthday

[TheShepherd]

Who ever told you life was going to be fair...

maybe they don't want youworking on your birthday

It beats the other stuff I could be doing today.

[Paula Wethington]

Tell you what, Shep -- and the other BlogsMonroe bloggers --

After your individual blogs go back on line, write a post sometime soon about how to save money as it pertains to something in your topic. Send me an e-mail at paula@monroenews.com, and I'll link from budget blog to your post.

[TheShepherd]

Tell you what, Shep -- and the other BlogsMonroe bloggers --

After your individual blogs go back on line, write a post sometime soon about how to save money as it pertains to something in your topic. Send me an e-mail at paula@monroenews.com, and I'll link from budget blog to your post.

Come on Paula, me write a post about saving money?

[Paula Wethington]

New posts on Monroe on a Budget include:

Ten things to do during autoworker layoffs
http://www.blogsmonroe.com/budget/2008/12/ten-things-to-do-during-autoworker-layoffs/

Another yummy Angel Food recipe site
http://www.blogsmonroe.com/budget/2008/12/another-yummy-angel-food-recipe-site/

Financial Peace University class to be offered in Monroe
http://www.blogsmonroe.com/budget/2008/12/financial-peace-university-class-to-be-offered-in-monroe/

[Paula Wethington]

Here’s a roundup of great reads that I’m finding from other financial and money bloggers this week. In keeping with the Monroe on a Budget theme, I put a Southeast Michigan spin on my follow-up comments as much as possible

http://monroetalks.com/forum/index.php?action=post;topic=11791.15

[Paula Wethington]

Christmas brunch at the budget blogger's house
http://www.blogsmonroe.com/budget/2008/12/christmas-brunch-at-the-budget-bloggers-home/

[Paula Wethington]

Are you looking to get a jump start on a frugal lifestyle, or need to recharge your routines? Here are ten frugal tasks you can do this weekend. Yes, some of them are on my family's to-do list during the next couple of days ...

http://www.blogsmonroe.com/budget/2008/12/ten-frugal-tasks-you-can-do-this-weekend/

[Paula Wethington]

Monroe on a Budget has a "power outage" thread:

http://www.blogsmonroe.com/budget/category/power-outage/

Current topics include: where to find batteries on sale this week, why we still have a landline phone at home, and rigging up the digital TV antenna when the cable went out.

Keep going in that thread and you'll find my rants about the repeated power outages in my neighborhood this summer.