"Hound Friends"

This post has nothing to do with My Story. Well actually it does a little....

I would like to thank my hound friends. A lot, and bunches and even more thanks.

Back in May I think is when I found the MSN Grocery Challenge site. I stopped in hoping to get some good ideas for saving money whether on groceries or HBA, it did not matter I just needed to save some money. The gas prices were making it hard to even buy food for me to eat let alone HBA, cat food and litter and the outside critters. I was having a hard time even paying the power and water bill so they would not shut me off. I had already stopped feeding the outside critters and was getting worried on how to feed myself something besides beans and rice and still feed my inside cats. I obviously would not be able to save on gas because that is what I need to get to my son. It was costing somewhere in the vicinity of $450-$550 a trip, every other weekend, and some occasional holidays. That is about three-quarters of my paycheck. That did not leave alot to pay for neccessities, like required car insurance, power, water, food and my cell phone.

Now some people would say that a cell phone is not neccessary, but in my case it is. That is how I talk to my son. I could drive over to my mom's house and call, but when they don't answer and I have to wait for a call back, I would have to sit there and wait all evening until my son's father decided that my little man could call back. That would make it hard to get things done at home, not to mention would get really old sitting at my mom's house every evening, and the gas most likely would cost more than the cell phone. I also have my dad on my cell plan (with the family plan) because he has several health issues. I want to be able to check on him (he can't afford a home phone) and make sure he is okay. His car is not in the greatest of shape either and I do not want him to get stranded and have to walk, as he has heart troubles and the doctor told him not to do anything that would raise his heart rate too much. He needs to be mostly sedentary. I want him to be able to call for help if he needs it.

So back to the "pound"... as the grocery challenge thread is called. I just lurked a little to start with as I suspect most folks do, trying to get ideas. I did not do anywhere near as well as the girls on the pound did but I was learning. I do not have the double q's (as coupons are called over there) available at grocery stores like some gals do over there either. I have however noticed a big difference in what I was spending on food and HBA. I know have the beginnings of a stockpile. I learned how to do this effectively at the pound. I learned the sales cycles from the pound. I learned the benefits of stacking a rock bottom sale price with a Q. And I learned the difference between phantom sales and rock bottom prices at the pound. I also learned how to utilize CVS and more recently Walgreens to get free or close to free items. I used to look at those stores and their prices and would walk back out. Now I have learned from those great Hounds how to deal and finagle to get the most for my money. I now have HBA stockpiles to use for christmas gifts-and the best part is most of it was free!

Back in August when I got my bad news about the appeal, I was crushed. I posted on the pound that due to my bad news I was going to step out of the pound for a while and not post anymore. I did not have the heart to post or follow the deals. This is where my real thanks come in. I have never met any of the hounds in person; I have never talked to them on the phone; Most of the hounds have blogs but no pics of themselves, so I don't even know what most of the hounds look like. But when I gave a summary of what happened and why I was not planning on posting, they supported me. (I think I am going to make myself cry right now!!!) I got encouragement, I got you-tube links with songs and motivational clips (Thanks Jmo!!!)

In short, I got a response of friends. I did not give up on the pound and am super thankful for that. Those hounds have been there for me. I just hope that they have no need for me to be there for them. We are all experiencing hard times right now with loss of family and friends, loss of jobs, family moving in due to loss of jobs and homes. I hope that I have passed on some encouraging words to my hound friends in these recent times with so much bad news. And mostly I wish that good news and luck would find its way to all my hound friends. They could all use some right now with the economy the way it is, and all the bad/sad news that seems to be going around.

Hound Friends-I thank you very much, and I wish you all the best, and I wish for all the best to happen soon. You all have such caring and giving hearts, you deserve the best out of life.

Thank you for all you have done and helped me with!