Thoughtful Thursday – The Economy

moneyI’m not normally one to dream much less remember them, but lately I have been dreaming. Or maybe it’s better to say I’ve been having worries at night and like many people, those worries revolve around money.

The market is up, although some are calling it a “dead cat bounce.” (Wonder where they got that term). In other words, the slight up phase might not last.

The Fed is printing lots of money to buy bonds. Hmm. . . . If I could print more money for my bills . . .

Anyway, there was one article the other day about how people are cutting back to save by eliminating things like house cleaning services, taking shirts to the laundry and eating out less. Estimated savings for this one family – $10,000 in a year.

A big savings. Playing devil’s advocate here – it’s also not stimulating the economy since now there’s someone with less work cleaning, laundering and cooking/serving food.

Still, I totally understand the reaction to not spend. I’ve cut back by brown bagging it everyday for lunch, finding ways of using up stuff in the pantry before buying new things, shopping at the outlets, big box stores and using coupons (well I always did those last two anyway!).

Have you changed your spending habits lately? Are there any tips you can offer for saving during these worrisome times?

Guilty Pleasures Monday and a Birthday Bash!

Dennis Quaid - Photo in the Public DomainEvery time I see Dennis Quaid I think, man he’s still got it! Now, his latest movie VANTAGE POINT was so not good, but he looked great in it.

One of my favorite Quaid movies is FREQUENCY which also starred Jim Cavaziel (another cutie!). THE ROOKIE is another good one with a very inspiring message to always follow your dreams!

bday1.gifAs you all may know, I’ve been very lucky to be able to follow my dreams as well. It’s wonderful to be able to write for you and share my books and to celebrate that and my b’day, we are having a birthday bash week!

Just visit any of the blogs listed below this week and leave a comment and you’ll be eligible to win a prize from me! At Barbara Vey’s blog, there are tons of other prizes as well!

I’ll be visiting all of these blogs and if you’ve left a comment at any of them, you’ll also be eligible to win a $25 Godiva gift card! The more times I see your name at the different blogs, the more your chances improve to win the gift card. So take a moment and stop by one or all to improve your chances of winning a prize.

The contest ends on Friday, March 13th at midnight EST, so be sure to get your comments in there on time!

Barbara Vey’s Beyond Her Book Blog for lots of fun and giveaways!
http://www.publishersweekly.com/blog/880000288/post/1240041524.html

Fresh Fiction: http://freshfiction.com/page.php?id=1602

Harlequin Paranormal Romance blog: http://paranormalromanceblog.wordpress.com/

Liberty States Fiction Writers (leave a comment on any of the blog posts): http://www.libertystatesfictionwriters.com/blog-read-around-the-world/

Long and Short Reviews: http://longandshortarchives.blogspot.com/search/label/Caridad%20Pineiro