BobMoran.com

Who doesn’t like to save money. In this economy, I’ve become a big fan of coupons. The real surprise is that there are all kinds of discounts out there if you bother to look. There are restaurant coupons, and many that offer discounts on shopping, attractions, travel, and just about anything you can buy.

Here is a list of websites and businesses that offer discount coupons for the Tampa Bay area:

• Coupons of Tampa Bay – Free, printable, local coupons for Tampa, St Pete, Clearwater, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco…
• Entertainment Discount Coupon Book – An entire book with thousands of dollars worth of savings. You also get a membership card which provides additional discounts at participating businesses. Plus, you can download more coupons from the website!
• eFlorida Coupons – Claims to be Tampa Bay’s largest free coupon directory.
• Valpak – You know them. It’s the coupon pack that comes in your mail every so often. Well, you don’t have to wait. You can print discount coupons right from their website.
• Tampa Bay 360 – The coupon page from a Tampa Bay area virtual tour site.
• Retail Me Not – A site where people share discount codes for online purchases.

Coupons often don’t last for very long; they have expiration dates. Sometimes, the offers expire or don’t live up to their promises. Real offers can be hidden by those that are spam, so you have to look carefully.

I think that the benefits outweigh the problems, and with a little effort, you can save some money by using coupons.

The new year is quickly approaching, and it’s time to look over what I’ve done and set new goals.

I haven’t been following my life-long dreams. Trying to earn a living seems to have pushed me away from those things. It’s time I’ve steered myself back to those things which I want to accomplish.

Generally, I want to be in show business – not as a star or performer (although I will do some work on stage), but as a producer of variety shows and musicals. This has been something that has been a part of me since my childhood. I think it’s time I took it seriously and started really working on it.

I want this blog to reflect my progress as I work toward my goals. I also want it to motivate and help others who may be interested in the same things I am. So, I’ll be working on adding more posts about show business, music, singing, dancing, backstage work, and all the other factors that to into putting on a show.

I have a degree in Theater. I’ve worked in theater, both backstage and onstage. I’ve directed both shows and videos as a teacher, and have taken part in all sorts of special events. I’ve been in a band and several musicals. While I don’t consider myself an expert in show business or a musician, I have a lifetime of experience from which to build.

It’s time to move on and become an expert, so that I can do the thing that I feel I was meant to do in this life. Hopefully, you’ll be able to follow my progress by seeing more entertainment related posts here on my website. I guess now that I’ve put this out there publicly, I have to do it, right?

I think I’m going to start using the polls on Facebook as ideas for topics here on my blog. I often answer the poll questions but feel that many people may think my opinions are wrong or extreme. They may hide me from their updates and thus, my ideas are not heard. I really can’t blame them, I do the same sometimes.

I do get excited (read “pissed-off”) about some of the topics and the replies that some post to them. Here on my blog, I can rant and rave all I like, although with the thought that it takes to write a good blog, I hope the posts will be more calm and reasonable.

I do have a need to be heard, to express my opinions and hope that some people see things as I do. This blog is a better venue for that. I have wanted to express more of my ideas here, and using the polls as topic starters should increase my enthusiasm for posting here.

So, be prepared for an onslaught of semi-liberal, pacifistic, idealistic, yet oh, so reasonable wisdom from the mind of a hermit.

I’ve stayed up way too late working on my new website. Well, the content is new. The domain itself is actually my oldest active online presence, rjem.com.

I’ll be posting articles on the site that I’ve collected over the years. Most have to do with online business, niche marketing, AdSense, and the usual nonsense you find on the many article collections on the web.

I’m doing this mostly to see how well the content works with AdSense and possibly make a little dough. It’s the big experiment that I’ve been thinking about doing for sometime.

If anyone in the Tampa Bay area is looking for some fun activities to add to an upcoming event like a birthday party or festival, I provide a spin painting and sand art service. Children love these activities. I call them “Funtivities.”

Children (or kids at heart) create their own works of art using the spin painting machine. Paper is placed on a spinning platform and people get to squirt paint onto the paper. It creates some really neat designs, and kids love that they can take home something they’ve made themselves.

It’s the same with sand art. Your guests fill uniquely shaped bottles with different colors of sand to make a one-of-a-kind pieces of art. There are basic tube-type bottles, but there are even more exciting bottles shaped like animals, flowers, and more.

For parties and similar events, the cost depends on the number of guests you will be hosting. It averages about $15.00 per guest (minimum $150). Each guest can create two 5 x 7 spin paintings, a sand art necklace or keychain, and a 5 oz. sand art bottle. The guest(s) of honor may select a 10 -12 oz. bottle from inventory.

For festivals or fairs, I’ll pay the booth fee if it’s not too expensive. I will need electricity for the spin painting machine.

***Fundraisers: Contact me about working your fund-raising event. I usually am willing to give a non-profit organization up to 30 percent of sales. It will depend on any booth and application fees.

So far, I’ve had a really fun time with these activities. Thanks for the support.