Desirai@Desirai.com 
347-470-DESICome see the new Seether video, Fake It, here at Desirai.com on October 23.
Oct 2007
17
A Lesson in Savings
Tia Pucha called me yesterday, rushed me to get dressed and told me to meet her by the movie theater. I had mentioned the day before that I needed to go food shopping and apparently she, George and Rosaura were going to Pathmark. She knew I didn’t have much to spend and so she began going through coupons as soon as we got there.
She let me use her Pathmark card at check out, which allowed me to save $14. In return my purchase earned her an additional 100 something points towards winning a free Thanksgiving turkey.
Seeing how much money I actually saved made me want to save more. Perhaps it’s worth investing the time in clipping coupons and such. I then remembered ebates (I imagine the name is combination of electronic and rebates). Ebates is a website that you shop through and earn a percentage back from each store. The list of stores is insane and they are stores I’m SURE you’ve heard of. Old navy is one of them; I happen to do all my son’s clothes shopping there. They always have great items in their clearance section. Seriously, what’s better than getting clothes on clearance and then getting 3% back on what you just bought? I used to shop on ebates a lot but completely forgot about it since I’ve been totally broke lately.
The percentage you get back actually varies depending on which store you buy from. For instance you get 4% back at Target, Walmart, and Barnes & Noble but only 2% at Kmart and KB Toys. By the way if you’re a person that shops at the actual Barnes and Noble store, you might want to consider purchasing from them online. They’re ALWAYS cheaper especially when you include their member discount and the fact that you get free shipping on purchases over $25. I just made the mistake of buying a book in the store which cost me $36 (it was a Web Design book) and it was online for $28!
But I digress… The ebate checks are issued quarterly. You can have your check mailed to you or get your money via Paypal. The Paypal thing is new and I’m totally psyched about it. I know it sounds too good to be true but I swear I’m not making this up. I’ve actually received $212.84 back to date and have convinced my computer literate family members to sign up too. It was a while ago that I signed up, but I’m pretty sure they even give you $5 just for signing up. If you’re an online shopper and shop at even 1 of the stores I mentioned it’s definitely worth looking into, and I can assure you, the list of participating stores is nuts.
And I leave you with that, my fellow readers… Save on!
Much love,
Desirai
Oct 2007
13
What’s Your Secret?
I don’t normally read the blogger blog; yesterday I did. It mentioned a site called PostSecret. I had heard of it and even visited the site once before, however reading about it again made me all the more interested.
PostSecret is an art project. It was started by Frank Warren after an interesting lucid dream he had during his first trip to Paris. The rules were simple; submit a true secret on a decorated post card; one you’ve never told anyone.
Since the project began in 2004 more than 180,000 secrets have been submitted and the fourth PostSecret book, A Lifetime of Secrets, was recently released.
I didn’t expect to be so interested but after revisiting the site, I had to get the book. I picked it up at Barnes and Noble today and began reading it while eating lunch at Sotto Vocce. I was only able to get through a handful of pages before my eyes began to water. Reading the deepest, darkest secrets of strangers was really emotional for me. It was obvious I couldn’t continue reading it while at the restaurant.
As soon as I got home I took the book out of the bag and reveled in it’s unique, colorful pages. I sat there until I read every single secret. I don’t have any money right now, but when I do, I’ll be buying the other three books.
The PostSecret Art Project has helped so many people deal with and release the skeletons in their own closet. New secrets are posted every Sunday on postsecrets.blogspot.com. You can submit your own secret by sending a 4×6 decorated postcard to:
PostSecret
13345 Cooper Ridge Rd
Germantown, Maryland 20874
For more information about the PostSecret Art Project, or if you’d like to read some secrets, visit:
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| Tags: A Lifetime of Secrets, Art Project, Blogs, Books, Frank Warren, Post Secret, Secrets
Hello! My name is Desirai. I'm a freelance Digital Media Designer excited to tell you a little about myself in 5 totally random but interesting facts.
