your kids could make cards, etc...(sm)
Posted By: mttoday on 2008-12-31
In Reply to: Condolence gift/thoughts for grieving parents? sm - HappyFlaMT
draw him as an angel watching over his family or something.
or you might look up angel crafts on the net and find a project they could make and give the family.
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I see the posts about the gift cards for supplies for the kids?
I was not aware that teachers use their *own* money for these things? How about something they can enjoy/you know maybe something they can actually enjoy? lol JMO
Our kids got their own credit/debit cards when they hit 18 and got jobs. Their success or lack of
s
"Food stamps" now are paid on EBT cards - federal EBT cards which look the
have the option to have their pay on an EBT card as well.
She may well have been using her family's federal EBT card and working for the government for a living.
Or, if she is a foster parent, those children will receive state benefits and she could use an EBT card for food assistance.
Everything is not always what it appears to be. I'm sure you're a nice person, right?! See?! We wouldn't know any better if we believed the appearance you have given here! :)
Something you can make for kids if you don't sew(sm)
My son put on his Christmas list this year "another blanket with love in every knot." Two Christmases ago, I made each of my kids a blanket "pocket" they can get in. You're probably seen the blankets that are fringed and knotted all the way around? I did two of those only left the top open so they can get in. I bought two of the soft throw blankets with pictures (at the time Strawberry Shortcake for daughter and Mucha Lucha for my son) and then went to the fabric dept and bought a solid color blanket material that matched the picture. Cut fringe on three sides and then knotted it all the way around. I told them that I had put love in every knot. They LOVE them. Have never used anything so much. They sleep under and sometimes in them at night and bring them with them in the mornings when they first get up so they can snuggle up in them. My son has outgrown Mucha Lucha so he wants a new one with a checkerboard on the front. So I'm making more this year - it's great for me because I not extremely domestically talented, and the kids love them because I made them.
I can't believe you just wrote it's not okay for your kids to make mistakes.
"Just becuase UGU all forget things and make mistakes does not mean that my children need to be raised to think it's ok to do so."
Good god, I hope I never meet you or anyone else with your twisted sense of right and wrong.
Should I make the kids sleep over at Grandma & Grandpa's? (sm)
 My MIL frequently asks for my children to sleep over. In the past, I would force them to go a couple of times a year. The problem is they cry and beg me not to make them go, even now when they are 7 and 10 years old. My MIL is a good person, but she doesn't ask them what they want to do, she tells them what they are going to do. "Now you are going to help me make cookies, then we are going visiting." She doesn't do anything bad, but their home really is incredibly boring. They are very active in their community..but it is sort of "all for show" and they like to take the kids around and "show" them to everyone. I do understand this, but you would not believe the begging and pleading and crying I get from the kids not to have to go. Would you make them go? If so, how often?
All spanking does is make kids respect you to your face (sm)
it does not teach them anything at all. When my kids were very young and I could not reason with them, they did occasionally get a swat to get them to listen to me, but once they are old enough to reason, there is no reason to use physical force on them. I am telling you, all it does is raise sneaky kids.
Absolutely, but I shake myself out of it quickly to make it a happy time for my kids and hubby. nm
x
Well I figure I can make my own hours & be home when the kids are home (sm)
I worked PT in an office for a while but spent most of my money on childcare in the summer. Full-time in an office was just a nightmare and I felt like I missed a whole year of my children's lives. I want to be in control of my schedule so that's why I'm looking into the cleaning thing. Never thought I would want to do that but live and learn! Some of the most intelligent people alive work as carpenters and similar things because they have learned what's really important in life. Whew....off my soapbox now :-) Good luck to you!
Elf yourself e-cards (sm)
 http://www.elfyourself.com/
This is from OfficeMax - free e-cards that you put your picture and/or family/friends and they dance. It's really cute!
I know there are cards that
are made for something just like this like maybe for a step-mother but don't actucally use those exact words. I know because it was so hard for me to get my "other" mother a card for Mother's day without feeling like I would be hurting my mother, even though she would have no idea. Don't know what this lady's hobbies or favs are, but anytime someone wants to take me out for a nice dinner just makes my day. Actucally hinted to my hubby this afternoon how nice that would be tonight but he said he needs to mow. Well, actucally that is a gift as well cuz he hates to mow and the yard really needs it. LOL!
Also, some people don't like this idea very much, making a donation to a fav. charity in their name to me is a wonderful gift. That is what I have always done for my kid's teachers. I have an aunt who is a teacher, and while she is greatful cuz she really loves kids, but she has talked about some of the "junk" she has gotten. I always made it to the Children's Miracle Network just assuming since they were teachers they would want to do something for children. A couple of times my children got the most wonderful thank-you notes. I absolutely love this idea.
yes, I actually have one of the cards. I have only
used it for dental work so far, though. Payments very affordable with the option to pay off in certain amount of time with no interest. 
I always appreciate cards, too.
I try not to hold grudges about them, but it's hard to send one to someone who can't be bothered to send to you, so I know exactly how you feel. I think its extra tough when it's family, even if it is the in-laws. And I absolutely agree with the poster who said that cards are so inadequate in some occasions, but they are better than not sending one at all and I always add a personal message.
You really have to stay on top of the cards
I do a lot of card flipping with balance transfers but also calling and trying to negotiate new deals. I just switched one with a balance transfer at 3.9 for the life of balance and then talked them down to a purchase rate of 8.9 (it had been up in the high teens). I also talked a card I've had a while into a 2.9 for the life of a balance transfer instead of the 12 month offer they were having because there was a delay in the electronic transfer to the other company causing me a bit of inconvenience. That transfer was actually for a loan I had at a pretty high interest rate, so some loans can be put on cards too which I never knew. I find websites that list ALL the latest offers for all or most card companies and I'm always checking. Sometimes I call my cards and tell them I am thinking about switching unless they can give me a similar/better rate or deal. Often they will so as not to lose the business. I have saved a ton of money doing this - it is sort of like consolidating on your own. I can post the site if anyone is interested, don't have it handy right now. Oh..I also have automatic electronic payment setup to pay a certain amount each month from my checking so the payment is NEVER late. You are so right about that, that's where they get you! I just thought maybe some of this info may help someone, I hope so. My credit is very good now but had been a mess in the past.
NO more credit cards
I had a credit card with a high balance. I got a second mortage to pay it off. I called the credit card and got the payoff balance and my bank sent a check to them. I kept watching on line to make sure they got it and when they did I noticed that there was a $95 credit. So, I called and said how do I get my money back. They sent me a check and when I got it, I called and closed the account. This was about two weeks ago. Today I get a statement from them with a balance due of $45! Huh??? I called and they keep telling me it is a finance charge. I got pretty steamed and finally ended up saying that I would pay it, but no more. Well, I wrote out the check and put in in the mailbox, but I'm still stewing about this. If I still owed them money, why did they send me a credit?? What is the finance charge on if I had a credit balance? I suppose I will just pay it because they will only keep tacking on even more charges, but it is really bugging me. Has anyone else had any experience with this??
I will say one thing - NO MORE CREDIT CARDS EVER EVER EVER. REALLY. I mean it this time.
How about addressing your own thank you cards!
My husband's side of the family seems to think that it's a wonderful idea to have shower guests address their own thank you cards as they arrive to the party! Well, geeeze! Why not go all the way and write your own thank you note, too! They put the little envelopes in a pretty little basket and pass it around. I don't care how they try to pretty it up, it's still tacky! I refuse to address my own thank you card, and you guessed it! I never receive thank you notes from DH's side of the family!
I hosted a wedding shower for my husband's sister, and my MIL came over with the little basket. We had such a fight, because I refused to do that at one of my parties. ugh!
telephone cards sm
It was on our morning local news that a local mom started collecting phone cards donated by various people for her son and his buddies in Iraq. She said the response has been overwhelming and her son and his buddies couldn't be happier because they love the fact that they can actually talk to someone at home rather than E-mail and snail mail. One woman wrote her a note along with her card, stating that she got to talk to her son every day as he was home, so it made her feel so good to be able to help someone else's son call home. Guess it's all up to them if they want to call, they have to pay, don't know how much it costs to call from there?? Imagine it is not cheap.
I think its credit cards...
The newspaper had an article the day after Christmas how people are defaulting on their credit cards all over the place. This added to the mortgage companies having problems with people unable to pay their balloon payments and the bad housing market, price of gas is sure to lead (the article said) to a recession.
When I was shopping I saw all the people with tons of things in their carts, DVD players, computers, etc. on Christmas eve. This was regular people at Walmart. I saw a lot of credit cards flashed around. Paying minimum payment will cause Christmas to cost tons more and they will be paying beyond the item's life which they purchased.
We went through this. We tried to sell our house, rented to own another and went broke in 3 months. After we had 2 house, fell back on credit cards the interest piled up and it was terrible! We moved back and are on a budget. So, I shopped without credit this year, and you know what? I had more fun. And I have 3 kids. Their things were simpler than the fancy things they got last year. The most expensive things we got were bikes because they are growing and we got those on sale. The rest were creative items. I am not saying that what we did is so great. What I am saying is that peeople are not looking at the big picture these days and if they do not use cash (as we had not in the past), they may not be able to pay their debt if hard times fall. In the meantime, grandpa sent my son 100 bucks, which I let him spend on a train set (I should not have let him do that he is 7) and he cried that his money was all gone and he did not want the train set anymore. I bet if I had him save some of it and had him buy simpler things, well I bet he would not have been crying. At least at age 7 he is learning that money is not easy to come by. And he is learning the hard way because I will not give him more money to replace what he spent. Sorry such a long message. It is just that we did not even afford an XBox, and I wanted a Wii myself, but we avoided all of that because in the end we learned that Christmas is not about credit cards, the junk it buys. I think the end of the cartoon the Grinch where the Who people did not even care about the presents was correct. Maybe we'd be happy with less things and more love. I don't know. This was not meant to be a sermon forgive me. We all have to learn what Christmas means to us and I say let people do what they want, consequences are always result of actions anyway. Just IMO. Happy New Year everyone!
A deck of UNO cards
Can you give hints? g o m d t . c o m
Don't use your debit cards
I had a problem with fraud on my account through them. Surely they have fixed it by now, as this was last year and the year before (yes 2 separate occurrences, both at xmas time). So I would not suggest using any cards there but cash only.
I do agree that it seems to be a great idea for teens. Their prices are great and our location has always been helpful with advise, returns, etc.
Another good idea I have found for teenagers is a gift card for restaurants or gas stations. It helps their parents a bit and if they have a girlfriend/boyfriend places like AppleBees or Red Lobster are nice so that they can go on a nice date and not have to worry about $30 for the bill. Even with a part-time job that's a lot of money for a teenager! :) My nephew actually requests it.
gift cards
Gift cards are hard to redeem, especially if they have to spend a long time trying to find something they like at the store for 5, 10 or 15 which they usually cannot and end up spending my money to cover the overage.
I think cash is much better!
Gift cards!!!!!!
x
Don't throw out those cards!
Christmas is over, please don't throw away your cards. If you don't already have plans, please consider sending them to the Pine Ridge Reservation. Children there recycle the cards to make cards for next year. They sell these to earn money. They only need the front of the cards - the picture part - and welcome any style (obviously not naughty cards). The address to send cards is: Via UPS or FedEx: Carmelita Mesteth Oyate Teca Project Wakanyeja Okolakiciye Youth Center 1000 Youth Center Drive Kyle, SD 57752 Via US Mail: Carmelita Mesteth Oyate Teca Project P.O. Box 316 Kyle, SD 57752
Free Ebirthday cards?
Anyone know of a good free E birthday card site that is easy and you don't have to sign your life away? Blue mountain now makes you sign up for a trial but wants credit card.
google free e-cards
Hallmark and American Greetings I know for sure have free ones that you don't have to sign up for...just google! Good luck...
Most debit cards can also be used as a charge
card. If you use it as a charge card you do not have to put in a PIN number. What happened to your daughter sounds like someone from Bobs took the actual account number information. I'd confront Bobs mgmt.
Overdraft and Debit Cards
Thank goodness at the bank we use, debit card deductions are the same as checks (I rarely use checks). The overdraft applies to those as well. Luckily I don't use the overdraft often, just glad to know it's there is I need it.
I always love gift cards :-) so I can buy what I want (sm)
at the exchanges I've been to those are always favorites. Like a box of popcorn with a Blockbuster card, a Bath and Body Works card (my favorite!), Target, etc.
How many of you received gift cards....sm
and if you got them, were they to places you like to shop? (As for me, I got 4 of them, 1 of which is a Visa debit card that I REALLY love since it can be used anywhere!).
If you are just talking about credit cards sm
If you call your credit card companies, they can set you up with a plan to help. I was in the same boat. Low to no wages and a very large hospital bill, plus household expenses.
I have 5 credit cards. Up until the hospitalization, I paid on time or paid more than the minimum, as I used to use them for work-related items.
Sadly, all were maxed out during the hospitalization and subsequent rehabilitation. Of course in the meantime, during the time I couldn't contact them, my interest rates went from 9% to 21-29%. I didn't know about their programs...a well kept secret. 
I'm still hurting, but now my credit rating isn't being dinged and 1 card is back down to 12%.
BUT, you must agree to pay the amount they set for you faithfully every month. If not, you lose the advantage. When you have a little extra, put it on the bill, even if it's only $1. I have the payments automatically deducted from my checking account. That way, I KNOW they're being made on time as I sometimes don't know one day from the next (if you know what I mean) and if I have extra at the end of the month, I hand write a check to one of them (preferably the highest amount of debt).
Don't need credit counseling. Just work with the companies themselves. It's a pain to make all the calls, but it's worth it. Good luck.
Gift Cards or Money...sm
I gave up trying to please everyone with personal gifts. They were never good enough or what the person wanted. so now I give either cash or gift cards. Even with the gift cards, however, I received complaints. They did not like where the gift cards were from, etc so now I basically just give money. That way they spend it on what they want. You can't really get many complaints from just money and they cannot return it. good luck to you.
If you are no longer using credit cards......
i've had several credit cards throughout my time and all but four are paid off. i don't plan on using the other credit cards ever. they do show up on my credit report. i would like to cancel the ones i don't use, but i've heard that it looks back on your credit report. anyone else have info about this? i think it's a better idea to cancel the cards you will never use again because of the identity theft going on.
My stepdaughters used to get gift cards...
they are now 21 and 24; since they never sent thank you notes or even bothered to send a Christmas card, they will no longer get the gift cards, just a Christmas card this year. They will probably feel slighted, but I don't care; if you can't take the time to at least call your dad and wish him a Merry Christmas, you don't deserve anything!
I LIKE e-cards... animation, music, etc.
card as long as it has a written message with it, and not just a mass-produced 'newsletter'. If no personal note comes with it, the sender just wasted a stamp.
Would rather have someone hand it than e-mail cards sm
I only use these on occasions they don't usually make cards for. I send one to my bro for Vets day with Flag and music, he loves it but not for Christmas, please!
It all depends on the airtime cards you get
My husband got one that lasts a whole year, but when the year is up no matter how many minutes were left (he hardly uses his) he would have lost them if he didn't purchase another airtime card. I get mine every three months so I have to buy a new airtime card every three months before my expiration date or else I lose my minutes and I believe the whole phone has to be reactivated.
Sympathy cards are so inadequate sm
Maybe the people who did not give you cards had a difficult time finding something and just didn't get one at all because of that. I spent a great deal of time at the store yesterday looking through cards to give a friend who just lost her 7-year-old son. They all say basically the same thing and none of them say the right thing because there is no card in the world that will bring a loved one back. In the end, I did pick one out to give the family but still feel it is woefully inadequate to express how my heart aches for them and their loss.
Absolutely yes, I love cards sm
Send as often as I can yet no one sends to me. I am a card sender, get well, sympathy, little notes, etc. What is WRONG with people. I find in this business you are also very isolated but friends do it as well. I sympathize with you. Cards are important and I hang onto mine forever and re-read them again and again.
I have Citibank cards and haven't ever
I have never heard of such a thing. There has to be more there than meets the eye.
Plan on paying off my cards too sm
as soon as I get my settlement. Plan to tell them that I refuse to bankroll their bonuses, parties and whatnot anymore and they can put their credit you know where. I didn't get a bailout--all I got was higher interest rates.
This is hysterical. Please read these Christmas cards. sm
CHRISTMAS CAROLS FOR THE DISTURBED
* 1. Schizophrenia --- Do You Hear What I Hear?
* 2. Multiple Personality Disorder --- We Three Kings Disoriented Are
* 3. Dementia --- I Think I'll be Home for Christmas
* 4. Narcissistic --- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me
* 5. Manic - Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and
Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and.....
* 6. Paranoid --- Santa Claus is Coming to Town to Get Me
* 7. Borderline Personality Disorder --- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire
* 8. Personality Disorder --- You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe
I'll Tell You Why
* 9. Attention Deficit Disorder --- Silent night, H oly oooh look at the Froggy - can I have
a chocolate? Why is France so far away?
* 10. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder --- Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,
Jingle Bells,Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle,Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells , Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,
Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,
When in doubt VISA gift cards
They spend like cash. You can even spend them online.
I have had two network cards knocked out by lightening.
I just get them gift cards. Last year got Mastercard - sm
gift cards so they could go wherever they wanted to. I have no clue what to get them so this works well, and I have been doing it for about 10 years now. Easy for me and they are happy not to get some piece of junk (of which they give me everything they don't want). In addition they get some artwork from the kids, magnets, etc. with their artwork, sometimes we get a portrait take of the kids and give them a nice framed photograph too.
You can get Visa, MC gift cards at banks. Then no
x
my hubby always likes Best Buy gift cards,
that way he can get what music he wants, or concert DVDs, or whatever they have there (that's what everyone got him for Christmas and he was in "hog heaven").
that's why i stopped sending Christmas cards
I never got any in return. That's not why I was sending them out, but why waste all that time and energy if nobody cares about it?
First, avoid credit cards, charging....
Try not to use plastic if you possibly can because you'll never catch up. Don't buy anything you don't absolutely need. Make do with food you can prepare yourself. Don't go out to eat. Don't be afraid to ask for help, not money, but help with children, etc., so you won't get stressed out. Most of all, don't let the kids see you depressed, they feel it and get scared. Google for help, such as making your own Play Doh, recipes, help with just about anything, you would be surprised at what you can find out. Just be careful you don't get involved on the Net with wrong people. I watch CNN or CNBC because I want to know what's going on, you HAVE to know so you'll be aware of changes coming. I don't own stock but I want to know what's going on with the banks, etc., so I can avoid making mistakes. Suze Orman said on one show that you should live happily in a shack rather than over your head. On another program, she stated she was building a new home in South Africa. I used to follow her lead, but now I only listen to her when it comes to paying off credit cards, otherwise she doesn't walk in our proverbial shoes. You have to be informed, even if it hurts. Making lots of mac and cheese. I think a lot of this expensive organic stuff is totally overblown. Don't use Starbucks when McDonalds will do; better yet, don't go there at all, stay home! Just my humble opinion, less is more, family is all that counts, don't scare the kids! Leave your 401 alone, it WILL come back, don't despair, it will repair.
I finally broke down and bought a box of cards
Sunday night. I haven't gotten them addressed yet, but I'm hoping to this week. We always did the same thing -- different colored inks, holiday stamps, etc. I just don't feel like putting the time into it this year. One year, I even bought cards from a scrapbook party to make my own. They went over really well. My grandma, 80 years old, told me not to send her a card because of the price of stamps. I'm planning to hand-deliver hers on Christmas day as well as others that I will be seeing or live close enough to to deliver personally.
I only have a few out-of-towners that I need to mail to and I'm hoping to get those done by Friday.
Why not try addressing 2 or 3 per evening? Get DH to help. I always feel guilty when I receive cards and don't mail them.
It didn't work out due to combining of kids and step kids. nm
*
What's the point of a guest book, anyway? They'll have the cards and
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