The cost of food items has been rising faster than the overall inflation rate for several years now, and there is really little that we consumers can do about it. But there is one powerful tactic that can help save up to 50% or more on the things we cook most often: Buy in bulk.

All major grocery chains run weekly specials on various meats, vegetables, frozen entrees and other popular foodstuffs. While the savings on these items can be significant, most people find buying in bulk and stocking up rather impractical because of the limited space available in the freezer section of their refrigerators. Buying a small chest-style freezer will enable you to take advantage of these special deals when they pop up.

And the savings can be significant indeed. For example, buying twenty pounds of hamburger meat during a 70 cents off promotion will save you a whopping $14! And buying five family-sized frozen food entrees at $6 each during a “buy one get one free promotion” will let you return home with 10 of them, which translates into a savings of $30!

What’s more, we all know how much we could save by buying in bulk at Costco, Sam’s Club, or one of the other giant wholesale clubs can be. All we need is the storage space to hold all of bounty, hence the need for a small chest freezer.

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I admit it. I used to be a perfectionist when it came to grilling. In my mind, there was simply no substitute for hamburgers, hot dogs and steaks that had been grilled over a genuine charcoal flame.

Well, that all changed one day when I attended a picnic hosted by our church. The meats the cooks grilled on their gas grills were nothing short of amazing! I was surprised to discover how tasty and juicy everything was, and of course I just HAD to go back for “seconds” to confirm it.

That experience got me to thinking about replacing my aging charcoal grill with a new gas model. A little research opened my eyes to the advantages of gas grills:

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If you’re currently in college or are a recent graduate you probably have a number of used textbooks lying around that cost an arm and a leg when you purchased them. If so, you might be interested in knowing that there is a company that will buy them back from you. In fact, in some cases they’ll even take books off your hands that traditional bookstores no longer want!

The process of selling your used textbooks to this company is fast and easy. Simply visit TheTextBookBuyer.com and fill out out the short form with your name, email address and the ISBNs of the textbooks you would like to sell. They’ll evaluate your books and send you a quote. If you decide to sell, they’ll even send you a pre-paid UPS shipping label for shipping the books to them. Upon receipt of the books, they’ll make prompt payment via PayPal, check or money order – whichever you prefer.

I wish TheTextbookBuyer.com had been around back when I was in college because I ended up with several textbooks that the university bookstore refused to buy back for one reason or another. In fact, I think a couple of them just might be collecting dust down in my basement to this very day. You don’t have to suffer the same fate. Turn your used textbooks into cash! Click here to get the ball rolling.

Living (and loving) Life

I would guess very few among us haven’t peered up at the heavens on a clear, crisp night and watched the stars twinkling and working their magic on our imaginations.

I would also guess that fewer still have taken this occasional bit of  stargazing” to the next level by purchasing a telescope and actually becoming an amateur astronomer.

There are plenty of folks out there who would love to enjoy the beauty and mystery of the night sky in more detail but lack the desire to purchase, set up and use a telescope. If you’re one of those folks, a great alternative is getting a pair of quality binoculars.

While you won’t be able to enjoy Hubble or James Webb Telescope level deep space views through a pair of binoculars, you WILL get plenty of stunning views of the moon, several of the planets in our solar system and a number of galaxies and nebulae. Trust me, it will be well worth the effort if you really enjoy looking at the night sky.

If you do decide to buy a pair of binoculars for engaging in amateur astronomy, I highly recommend that you purchase a decent tripod as well. Even though binoculars are relatively light, your arms will tend to get weary as you hold them up to the sky for minutes on end.

The most popular binoculars for astronomy are 10 x 50’s. The designation 10 x 50 simply means that the binoculars have a magnification of 10x and an objective lens diameter of 50mmm, a combination that provides what is generally regarded as the best mix of magnification and field of view for general astronomy.

You can pick up a cheap pair of 10 x 50 binoculars at most any discount or sporting goods store. Why not pick up a pair and give the night sky an entirely new look?

Virtually everyone gets married with the expectation of living happily together for the rest of their lives, but for far too many couples that dream comes to a premature end somewhere down the line. But there are a number of concrete steps you can take to help ensure that your marriage is a happy one, and that it lasts for a long, long time. Here are just a few of them:

1 – Spend time together. They say “absence makes the heart grow fonder”, but unfortunately that old saying isn’t all that accurate. Sure, being apart for short lengths of time leaves one pining for his/her mate, but when it happens too often and for too long at a time that pining tends to make way for finding ways to replace that missing companionship. That’s why long-haul truck drivers have such an astoundingly high divorce rate.

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