Integrity is how we behave when no one is looking. Will we cut corners or continue to live by our values? There are consequences to our self image when we compromise on our beliefs.

They say that it can take as little as two weeks to make or break a habit. It takes less time than that to destroy a lifetime of integrity. When you live by a belief system, your actions are guided by it on a daily basis. You won’t just go out and hit someone with your car if you value human life. Along the same vein, you wouldn’t wake up and quit your job because you didn’t feel like going to work.

These examples might seem farfetched. Who would do a thing like that? You’d be surprised. When our integrity and standards are under fire, we won’t just get up one morning and decide to chuck it all in. There are a series of steps leading up to leaving our principles behind. It’s necessary to keep ourselves in check to keep that from happening.

In the movies, when the bad guy is finally caught, he looks like an ordinary person. He tells the police that he’s not a bad person. He never set out to embezzle a million dollars from his company.

Manning our principles is a twenty-four hour job. We are not coming under fire in all that time, but when we least expect it, something will happen and it could be a pivotal point on our lives. It’s like seeing the man in front of you drop his wallet as he attempts to put it in his pocket. Do you pick it up and give it back or keep it, thinking he should have been more careful?

The defining moments are the little ones. Each little decision changes us somehow. At work, our boss may ask us to let something slide for the “greater good.” We may wrestle with the decision but decide that we’ll go along to keep our job.

With each compromising decision, a little more of our integrity is chipped away. It becomes easier to give in each time. What we don’t realize is that we no longer look at ourselves in the mirror. We seldom go against the status quo for fear we’ll be labeled as a hypocrite. Our principles are less concrete now and almost completely fluid.

If you’ve felt this way that means you still mourn the changes that have brought you to this point. Regaining your integrity won’t be easy especially around those for whom you compromised. But, with the help of understanding and trustworthy people, your self-image can be restored and you can begin to rebuild your life.

Submitted by:

Linda Allen
GirlfriendsCafe.com
http://www.girlfriendscafe.com

Online coupons save the shopper tons of money. Printable coupons offered by websites also save you money when you want to venture out and visit the actual store. If you want to find more coupons than the ones in your Sunday paper, here are five of the best sites for coupons of all types.

Why do you use coupons? They provide a discount on items and services that you use most. For the manufacturer who offers the coupon, they get advertising that costs not very much. Whenever you don’t use coupons, they are still saving money. They can claim their losses, but what about you?

It costs you nothing but a little time to search out and use coupons that are available for your needs. Once you get in the habit of clipping them, taking them to the store or entering that online coupon code, you will wonder what you ever complained about in the first place.

1. Currentcodes.com ? This site lists online coupon codes for hundreds of stores, some operate online only and others have physical stores. You can browse by merchant or by category of item you want to purchase. The coupon codes are constantly updated for your convenience by their staff so that you can have one stop shopping for all of your online coupon needs.

2. MyCoupons.com ? Here you can find thousands of coupons both printable and online coupon codes. There are also shopping forums to discuss everything from shopping savvy tips to how to use coupons to your greatest advantage. If you know of a useful coupon code that you don’t find on the site, you can enter it for others to use. New to the site is also a feature where you can buy unwanted gift cards with a variety of available balances.

3. CouponCabin.com ? Find coupon codes for hundreds of items including cosmetics, pet supplies and sewing fabric. You can even get discounts on buying gift certificates for restaurants. There is a section with coupons where you can receive free samples either or filling out a questionnaire or for a “Buy One, Get One Free” deal.

4. Wow-coupons.com ? This coupon site has a US and a UK site. You’ll find coupons for grocery stores, gyms, dentist visits, clothing stores and more. If you are looking to travel, there are coupon codes for that as well. Just about everything you are looking for can be found at Wow. Part of the fun is just looking to see all the great things they offer.

5. CouponMom.com ? You don’t have to be a mom to make use of this site. Anyone who wants to save on their online and offline shopping can check it out. Find coupons for fast food restaurants, free samples, printable coupons and other offers that will save you money. Membership is free.

If you are looking for more coupons than just the ones you find in the newspaper, try these five sites.

4 Places to Find Free Coupons

They say the best things in life are free. That extends to coupon offers as well. For all that you do every day, its okay to take advantage of a few free deals. Besides, if someone is offering them, they want you to benefit obviously.

Why are free coupons available?

In short, it is a great advertising move. You have to spend money to make money. And, in business, you want to make money. Free coupons get you to shop for one thing and the advertising will get you to try something else while you are there.

There are plenty of places to find free coupons if you know where to look. Here are just four of the most popular ones.

Magazines, Newspapers & More

The first place to look is your reading material. In among all of the other coupons you receive, there are always a couple of free ones lurking. In magazines, advertisers love to slip in a free coupon for a trial sample of their latest hair care product or lotions. When new stores open, they are glad to send out coupons for free scoops of ice cream or a tree trial size item just to get you to visit the store.

Survey Sites

Survey sites are also places to find free coupons. You can use free coupons for other things besides groceries. For filling out surveys on sites like Nubella.com you will be able to take advantage of discount links for free beauty products and trial sizes of food products.

With these short surveys, you can also gain access to free doses of medication. When your doctor prescribes a certain drug for you, you can use the free coupon at the pharmacy to save on your prescription bills. Who couldn’t use that nowadays?

Websites

Online, you can surf the Web for sites offering free coupons. Now there are some scam artists out there so read the entire coupon offer before clicking on anything. If the coupon is free, the only vital information you may have to enter is your email address or physical address and your name. Anyone who asks for financial information is out to get you.

Try a site like www.mysavings.com. Just for signing up for a free membership, you gain access to hundreds of free coupons that will save you money. Once you sign up for membership on one site, others will be knocking at your virtual door asking you to sign up with them.

Your Inbox

Your email is another great place to find free coupon deals. Before you clear out that bulk mail folder or delete your junk mail, look through the subject lines. You are bound to come across a coupon site or two.

Who wouldn’t want to open their mailbox and find coupons for freebies or a box of free samples? It costs you nothing but an email address to get started with most of the sites online and since it’s free, you can cancel.

Submitted by:

Linda Allen of GirlfriendsCafe.com
http://www.girlfriendscafe.com

After a hard day’s work, we like to come home and engage in something which will take our minds off the day’s events, whether it’s tending to the garden, or finishing a birdhouse for the back yard. Kids need the same kind of release when they come home from school.

In order to help them get rid of the day’s stresses, a great idea would be to assign household chores. Making a list and sticking it on the refrigerator so that whether you are home or not, your kids will be able to determine what has to be done that day.

Chores can range from raking leaves, mowing the lawn, cleaning up their rooms, changing the beds, or doing a load of laundry. If you have a pet at home, walking the dog as soon as the kids come home is not only a great exercise for the kids, but you can be sure your pet will be grateful too.

Perhaps you’ve already taught your kids to begin the preparations for dinner, such as setting the table, taking the meat or chicken out of the freezer, or washing the vegetables to be served that night.

Age appropriate chores for kids not only aids your kids in releasing tension, irritability, and a need to act out, but helps you to keep your house in order as well. Again, depending on the age of the kids, there are a variety of chores they can do to help you and them. In addition, you may wish to add on a reward of some type or a small compensation for their achievement.

School work and tests can drain kids emotionally, and having a few simple chores will energize them and give them a sense of accomplishment and self-worth.

Submitted by:

Linda Allen
GirlfriendsCafe.com
http://www.girlfriendscafe.com

Online coupons are the wave of the future. Technology has afforded us the ability to shop in cyberspace and that has extended also to saving money there. Before you shop again learn a few facts about online coupons.

Online coupons are not like printable coupons that you find in newspapers and magazines. Online stores can’t scan your coupon like they do in the store. Instead, you will see a picture of a coupon that has a bolded code made of numbers and letters at the bottom. This code is the way that you use online coupons.

Some sites call this code a coupon code and some call it a promotional code. The two names are interchangeable. A coupon code (we’ll call it that since we are talking about coupons) is used at checkout just like in the actual store.

But, where do you find these handy coupon codes for online coupons? Stores don’t tell you this but there are sites that list coupon codes for a number of popular stores. One such site is www.currentcodes.com. This site keeps up with the latest codes so you don’t have to spend tons of time visiting website after website to find the code you’re looking for.

If you get an offer through an email from a site to shop there, go to your coupon code site and see if that store offers any coupon codes you can shop with. It is like a goldmine for online shoppers. There are online coupon offers like “Free shipping on all orders”, “Save $50 on all orders over $100”, and “15% off your entire order.”

Online coupon codes do expire so be mindful of time limits. Read the fine print after each coupon code so you know the exact requirements for the coupon code to be valid. You don’t want to get to check out and find out that you can’t use your code.

Some online coupons are presented to you in the form of links. If you’ve ever bought anything online, you will get an email from everyone wanting you to spend money with them. In the email ads, you’ll see things like “Click here to save 10% on your next order.” By clicking on that link, you are taken to the offer website to the page where you can use your savings. Upon checkout, your savings are automatically deducted because you clicked on the discounted link. But, check to be sure you aren’t being ripped off.

With online coupons, there are no long lines to stand in and you don’t use up your precious gas driving to the store. Many online stores offer deals on items that aren’t for sale in their physical stores. These coupon codes take some time to find, but they add up to big savings for the diligent shopper.

Submitted by:

Linda Allen of GirlfriendsCafe.com, a social networking site for women in the United States and Canada.
http://www.girlfriendscafe.com

When was the last time you picked up a book or magazine? If it was in school, then you are way overdue for new material. Our brains are starving for new information and so are you even if you don’t know it yet.

Some people love to read and others don’t. The problem could be with the reading material. We all have our favorite genres and magazines. Other material is boring to us.

Take the opportunity to find out what type of reading ignites your senses. Reading a good book is like entering a new world of sight and sound. Our imagination conjures up the scenes and we watch as the characters play out their parts. It can seem as real as a memory.

Everyone should have the experience of reading at least one book like that. Through books we visit new lands and learn tidbits of facts. How do you think those people on Jeopardy win so much money? Those tiny tidbits of information are not trivial but enhancing if it accentuates your life in some way.

Pick up a magazine and scan the table of contents for an interesting story. Read it and see what you learn. Try to find something new to read each day. It could be an article in the newspaper, magazine, or reading a book by a favored author.

Reading increases our vocabulary too. They say that most books are written with eighth grade reading comprehension in mind. If the words are too hard, people will skip over them or stop reading. Either way, they have missed out.

Maybe there is a stack of books in your room that you were meaning to get around to but have not as yet. Take an hour or two this weekend or in the evening as you unwind for bed and begin to read. Let the words on the page push away all of the pressures from the day. Open your mind to new ways of thinking.

Reading a little each day keeps the mind sharp. Our brains go numb from lack of regular stimulation. Getting those reading muscles going again makes a big difference.

Have you ever been stuck for an answer and thought back to something you read? Whatever passage it was held the key to solving your problem. Without that knowledge you would still be there waiting for someone to help you out. Instead, you helped yourself and those around you.

Learning to read and then actively continuing to read stretches our brain in new ways. We may even learn to think “outside the box.”

Submitted by:

Linda Allen of GirlfriendsCafe.com
http://www.girlfriendscafe.com