Joan’s Country Kitchen

Cooking, Entertaining and Home Improvement Blog

Archive for the ‘Saving Money’ Category

Each year, I need new eyeglasses both

These stylish eyeglasses are only $8.

These stylish eyeglasses are only $8.

bi-focals and sunglasses, which is an expense that adds up. I wanted to know where I could find fashionable, durable eyeglasses for bargain prices and that’s when I found Zenni Optical.

Zenni Optical cuts out the middle man for you. They have no store and no advertising budget to worry about. They just bring you high-quality eyeglasses at the best prices.

Fashionable eyeglasses for men, women and children are all available at Zenni Optical. Literally dozens of discount frames are also available, from plastic, stainless steel, titanium and more. Styles come in rimless or half or fully rimmed as well.

Complete eyeglasses start at the bargain price of just $8! Want progressive lenses or bi-focals? No problem with Zenni Optical. Bi-Focals are just $25 and progressive lenses are just $29.95. Sunglasses and anti-reflective coating cost only $4.95 too.

Worried about shipping costs when ordering on-line? Zenni Optical’s shipping charges are a bargain too - just $4.95 for any size order.

Since I found Zenni Optical, I’ve realized that it is possible to get durable, stylish eyeglasses without paying over $200 a pair, which is the average cost of eyeglasses at an optical shop. Zenni Optical prices even beat discount stores such as Costco.

Here’s another informative review of Zenni Optical.

Tips for Joining a Wine Club

Dec-22-2009 By Joan

Many wine merchants offer wine clubs as a way of acquainting people with their labels. They bring their wine directly to the customers, who, in return, receive perks for being in the club. There are many different types of wine club so it’s important to find just the right fit for your lifestyle. Here are some things to consider when purchasing a wine club membership:

What is your purpose for joining the wine club?

  • Would you like to learn more about a particular region or a specific type of wine?
  • Would you like to taste diverse wines or exotic wines?
  • Would you like to order wines not available anywhere else?
  • Would you like social wine tastings to be included?

These are just a few options available with different wine club memberships.

What is your budget?

There are wine club memberships to fit most budgets, from about $20 monthly to $100 a month, or more. Wine clubs may ship monthly, quarterly or twice a year.

Check out the perks of different wine clubs.

Perks may include:

  • Information and education about wines
  • Wine discounts to members
  • Free member tastings or invitations to member only events
  • Gift offers- get either memberships or wines as a gift for that wine lover on your list.
  • A wine community to interact with where you can meet on line, talk about and review wine choices.

Additional things to consider about wine clubs:

  • Can you cancel membership at any time or is there a minimum purchase or time commitment? Be sure to read about cancellation policies.
  • Can you opt out of a shipment or change to another selection?
  • Are shipments shipped automatically?
  • What are shipping costs? Is it a flat fee or is shipping costs based on where you live?

Joining a wine club is a wonderful way to acquaint yourself with quality wines and receive many benefits offered by wine merchants who, in return, enjoy bringing their best to you.

Are you looking for a company which purchases consumer receivable portfolios? Calvary Investments, LLC, was established in 1998 and purchases most types of consumer receivable portfolio from creditors - including banks, credit card issuers, telecommunication companies, consumer lending firms, and more.

Cavalry Portfolio Services, is dedicated to giving quality customer service and offering affordable solutions for their customers.

It’s easy to set up an online account with Calvary Portfolio Services online.

Are you interested in a career in portfolio investing? Check out Calvary Portfolio Services.

Eyeglasses are a necessary item, but they are also a fashion statement. Fashionable designer frames can

Metal frames with spring hinge only $12.95 at Zenni Optical

Metal frames with spring hinge only $12.95 at Zenni Optical


make your eyeglasses an expensive but it doesn’t have to be that way. You can get cheap eyegalsses, which are also fashionable, durable and high quality, online from Zenni Optical. How does Zenni optical provide such extraordinary eyeglasses at bargain prices?

Instead of selling high priced designer frames, Zennie markets their own brand of Zenni frames, which are made with quality and safety in mind. You can even get beautiful holiday eyeglasses frames from Zenni.

Browse their extensive collection of cheap eyeglass frames and you won’t believe the dozens of styles, the quality craftsmenship, and the ease or ordering. Simply choose the perfect frames, add your eye prescription and order. Many frames as cheap as $9.95!

Need more input on Zenni Optical frames? Check out this review - Cheap Eyeglasses are a Reality.

Try Zenni Optical today and save money on your next pair of eyeglasses.

If you’re moving in the Los Angeles area, you need Los Angeles Best Movers to accomplish your move in the most professional manner possible. Whether you’re moving your residence or your commercial space, Melrose Moving provides you with affordable, reliable and professional service to give you a hassle-free move in the Los Angeles Metro area.

These Los Angeles Office Movers offer clean trucks and well trained professional movers to take care of your every detail.  You’ve spent a lot of money for quality furniture, computers and others items so you need someone who will take care of it just as you would yourself.

At Melrose Moving, customer satisfaction is very important. Their website even offers free moving tips to help you plan a smoother move.

I always read the reviews before I buy a product or service and you can read comments by customers who have used Melrose Moving. Call 1-800-431-3920 for a free moving quote. They can even handle last minute requests.

Need to check out Moving Companies Los Angeles? Melrose Moving serves the metro Los Angeles area and handles both residential and commercial moves.

Melrose Moving provides professional packers and movers, clean trucks and fast, expert service for your move. Their website also offers valuable article with moving tips to help you plan your move better.

If you are moving in the LA area, call and get a free quote from Los Angeles Office Movers

Call 1-800-431-3920 toll free to get a moving Quote in Los Angeles for your commercial or residential move.

This was a paid review by Melrose Moving.

When I was a kid, Spam was something new and every mom loved it. It was an easy to use protein that didn’t cost much. Today, you can buy Spam in lots of sizes and flavors but it’s still a great bargain for the budget conscious cook.

Here’s a tasty country style Spam recipe to try for your family.

Spam Country Style Casserole Recipe

Ingredients

1 can Spam

2 12 oz cans of potato soup

1 chopped onion

4 cooked potatoes, mashed

2tbs butter

1/8 cup milk

8 oz frozen veggies of your choice

¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions for Country Style Spam Casserole

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Steam the potatoes. Once they are tender, add butter and milk and mix with a hand mixer until they’re smooth. Set them aside.

Cube the Spam and saute in skillet. Add onion and cook until both are browned.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine vegetables, cooked Spam and onions and the two cans of potato soup.

Spoon the entire mixture into a 3-quart casserole baking dish. Spread mashed potatoes over Spam mixture.

Sprinkle Spam Casserole with Parmesan cheese.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

This Spam casserole recipe makes 6 servings.

Looking for Spam Recipe Books?

his holiday season, many are looking for money saving ideas. One easy way to save money on gift giving is

caramel corn makes a great gift from your kitchen

caramel corn makes a great gift from your kitchen

to make your own gifts in the kitchen. Homemade holiday treats are a wonderful way to say how much you care to everybody on your gift list. They’ll appreciate the gift even more, knowing you made it yourself.

Here are some holiday recipes that will make tasty gifts this year. Make several of these delicious recipes and create cute gift baskets for friends and relatives. There’s something here for everybody!

Add Candy to the Homemade Gift Basket






Breads for Homemade Food Gifts




Holiday Cookies


Other Gifts from the Kitchen









Cookbooks make wonderful gifts for the cook in your life.

Visit our cool Cookbook Store

Are you planning a wedding or baby shower? How about a birthday or graduation party? What you need is original and eye-catching party favors to help make your occasion special.

Partease is just what it says - it’s party planning with ease. Need theme ideas? With partease you can shop by theme, such as Asian, Eco-friendly, beach themed, romance, and more. You can have your party favors personalized as well. You can also shop by season, depending on when the event will be held or the chosen colors.

If you’re looking for any type of party favors, from candles, soaps, edible favors, place cards and coasters, you can find them at partease.

I’ll be planning a baby shower very soon and I loved the baby shower party favor section.. They were really cute and the prices were great too.

Visit www.TheNicheBlogger.com
Want to Make Money Blogging? It’s Easy to Learn How to Make Money on Internet

Learning how to make money on Internet is a new concept for many people. Internet marketing is a relatively young industry and blogging is a huge part of it.

Not too long ago, many families didn’t even own a computer but nowadays, most families do just about everything online from socializing, playing games, to banking and shopping online. Internet marketing now provides booming business opportunities for those who want to work at home.

There are an infinite number of wonderful opportunities out there and many people are attracted to blogging as a way to make income online. Everybody has a hobby or passion they’d love to get paid writing about. What they need to get them on the right track is a successful, profitable business model to take them step by step through the process.

Some people choose to create their own informational product to sell online. Many niche markets are very receptive to downloadable books. Recipe books and cooking how to books are wonderful topics for ebooks to sell online. Ebooks are becoming more common all the time so if you come up with a good ideas, you should have little problem selling it online. Once your content is created, then you need a great blog to help promote it.

Once you have your own blog, you can add affiliate marketing (where companies pay you to post their links and products), create your own content to sell and more. There are many streams of income possible through professional blogging.

The easiest way to become an affiliate marketer is to create your own website. You then create high quality content and articles for your site and learn to drive traffic to it. The content, coupled with relevant ads which visitors click on, is the key to making money online.

The problem with creating a website is that it gets harder and harder to rank well with the search engines. The easiest way around that is to use blogging software, like Wordpress, to create your own blog. One of the benefits of blogging software is that it is faster it’s set up, more search engine friendly and easier to use.

Learning how to start a blog doesn’t have to be intimidating. If you have the right tutorial to follow, it’s easy in fact. The Niche Blogger is the easiest to follow guide that we have found and it’s the one I’ve personally used to set up several profitable blogs. The Niche Blogger is a membership site and the cost to join is so low that you should be able to easily make back your investment fairly quickly. Plus, you can cancel at any time, once you have your blogs set up and running.

While there are many different models, you really can’t go wrong with blogging. It’s possible to create a part or full-time income through through blogging, once you have the right tools and someone to help you at every step of the way.

Shopping online is easy and convenient but, let’s face it, every time you shop or transact with a web site online you put yourself the risk because other people have access to your personal financial information. As someone who has had my own credit card number stolen while shopping online, I can vouch for the necessity of using a service like Shop Shield® to keep me safer online and protect me from identity theft in the future. Shop Shield® offers the most complete protection against identity theft and credit card fraud when you shop, pay bills, make a Credit Card Payment or register with web sites.

Shop Shield® safeguards all my personal data when I’m shopping or paying bills online because Internet thieves, hackers and insiders don’t have access to my name, address, phone numbers, credit card numbers, passwords or my email addresses, because this information is never provided to any web sites. Shop Shield® replaces all my personal identity information with anonymous information so you and your family stay anonymous, and your information is secure.

Shop Shield® works almost everywhere major Credit Card Payment is accepted – so you can shop or pay bills securely at almost any web site.

How Shop Shield® Works

Shop Shield® replaces your real payment and identity information with anonymous data that is useless to thieves and can’t be traced to you. It’s the only product that protects ALL of your data, including your name, billing address, email address, passwords, phone number, credit cards, debit cards, and bank accounts.

Using Shop Shield® is also FREE when you pay with a checking account and is guaranteed 100% secure.

Luckily for me, my own case was easily solved. I check my bank accounts frequently and noticed a few small charges I did not make. My bank was great about canceling the charges and the card and issuing me a new card. If I’d known about Shop Shield® back then, however, I wouldn’t even have had that inconvenience.

Check out their service and see for yourself how easy, convenient and safe Shop Shield can be.

Like most Americans these days, I have had my credit card number stolen while shopping online. Luckily for me, it was easy to fix the problem and I didn’t lose any money. However, since this happened, I decided to look into a prepaid card like those offered by NetSpend.

NetSpend offers a company debit card to use virtually anywhere to make purchases, pay bills, secure hotel and car rental reservations and shop online without the need even for a bank or credit history. This is a perfect solution for teaching your teenager to use a debit card responsibly. Simply charge the card with their allowence each week. Send one off with your college student so you can put money on the card at home and they can use it safely anywhere.

You can also get a prepaid debit card from NetSpend for traveling. Simply put the money onto your card and use it to make purchases for a specific length of time. That way you won’t be a victim of identity theft while traveling, eating in restaurants and shopping in distant cities.

NetSpend’s prepaid cards offer a great budgeting tool also. Put your grocery moeny on a NetSpend card each month and resolve to only spend your budgeted amount. Even low to moderate income shoppers can use these prepaid cards.

If you’re worried about identity theft, and these days, who isn’t, consider a Netspend prepaid card.