What’s great about them being so cheap is that you can buy more – I have several pairs to suit my various moods, what I am wearing or even the season. With valentines day just around the corner now I am thinking of getting some nice Valentine’s Day glasses to add to my collection. I don’t think I will go for any thing too obvious like a heart or flower pattern, but something in pink maybe, despite it being my favourite colour for some reason I don’t already own any pink glasses and when you can get $6.95 prescription eyeglasses, why not?

I may even ask my other half to purchase them for me as a gift for valentines day, I’d always rather have something that will last rather than the traditional gifts such as chocolate and flowers.

I also discourage pharmaceuticals when and wherever possible, as there are many plant based alternatives that can be very effective in countering certain health problems.

Having said that I find the Nopalea wellness drink I have been hearing a lot about recently quite interesting.

I had not previously heard of the Nopal cactus, nor the name Opuntia Ficus Indica, but when I looked up more information on the plant, my suspicions were confirmed: this is the cactus also known as the Prickly Pear, which is native to my home region, the Sonoran desert.

With the help of Nopal cactus extracts, Nopalea is packed with rare and potent antioxidants that are scientifically proven to help the body reduce inflammation.

TriVita claims that when you take Nopalea daily, it can help your body:
Reduce inflammation
Cleanse itself of daily toxins
Promote optimal health

Seeing as though the anti-oxidants contained in this drink have been proven to help with inflammation (the leading cause of pain), I can see this product being a very helpful plant-based solution that could help many people. In addition, I personally LOVE the taste of the prickly pear cactus fruit, so it’s very likely that I would enjoy the taste of this wellness drink. I’m certainly looking forward to trying out Nopalea for myself in the near future.

Over 3 million bottles of the Nopalea anti-inflammatory wellness drink have been sold. To learn more, check out the Nopalea Facebook page or try it for free (only pay $9.95 for shipping) by calling 1-800-203-7063.

I wish I had known about My Travel Checklist last summer when I was preparing for my first trip abroad in many years – I had lists coming out of my ears and it caused me lots of stress, especially as it was not just me that I had to get ready but my other half and our son as well.

My Travel Checklist is a great application from Mondial Assistance that aims to make preparing for any trip a whole lot easier on you. You can download a simple check list that takes all the leg work out of preparing for you and then as you go along check off the items you have done – what’s great about it as well is that it is cross platform and will always be the most up to date version of your list no matter where you are.

I am sure I will use it in the future as we take quite a lot of shorter trips throughout the year, visiting friends and family up and down the country as well as having the odd night away when we can find cheap hotel rooms or pick up killer deals on sites like Groupon.

Are you ready to Pimp your Cube? Well that’s what you are being asked to do in a great contest from ContestFactory.com for a chance to win some pretty sweet prizes including a top of the range computer system, fancy new desk, chair and decorations and a high end entertainment package.

So what do you need to do for your chance to win? Just send them a video of your sad looking cube as it is now – the more plain and boring and in need of pimping out the better. Give the guided tour of your tired old furniture, dark corners and plain walls by describing what we are looking at. Once the video is uploaded and approved it’s time to get your family, friends and online followers to get voting for you. 12/5/11 at 12:00PM to 1/31/12 at 12:00PM.

Take a peak at the contest video below for full details about the Pimp My Cube Contest

So if you want – no need, to get your cube pimped, get your thinking cap on and let the creative juices flow, point your phone or digital camera at your cube and get posting.

It’s all about widgets now isn’t it?

Everyone has a widget available these days and I remember when hardly any one ever knew what they were and only the geeks and web nerds like me made or used them. The reason there are so many though is of course because they are incredibly useful and beneficial for both the people using them and the company offering them.

The latest widget I have been having fun with is from ING Direct – I just love the fact that you can use it to find out how much households in your area are saving. You can also use the handy ‘my comparison table’ to find out how much you could be saving – why not give it a go and leave a comment to let us know your results?

Myself and my family have a few Savings Accounts with ING Direct for years now and always found them fair and good to deal with – on the odd occasion I have needed to get in touch with their customer service team it’s always been a pain free experience and that can only be a good thing after hearing a lot of the rants my friends have when they need to get in touch with their banks.

Find out more about ING Direct Savings

I do like a good bargain as well so don’t like to rush in and buy the first thing I come across – I price compare and usually wait it out until I can get something at the price I want it at. I know of and use loads of coupon, bargain and offer sites and one of my favourites is BestOnlineCoupons.com, I have got some great Best Buy Coupons from them in the past that weren’t listed on other sites that I use.

They also have a handy list of all the shipping deadlines for this year that is up to date and from what I have found very accurate – I have already directed several friends and family there who have only just started their online shopping for Christmas this year

I just put up our Christmas tree, but not so much because I wanted to, because I need to train Zack to leave it alone so that we can have it up properly. It currently just has the bottom part on and no decorations while he gets used to it.

I should start thinking about Christmas Gift Ideas for my loved ones though I guess, the time has come.

Recently my 12 year old niece asked me to help her out with her Make Up and I said sure, but then had that moment of panic when I realised I was really no expert and I didn’t want to teach her ‘wrong’ haha.

So I have been doing a little research and now I feel like I know what I am talking about more and will be able to pass on that knowledge to her.

Of course this changed when I got older and had to pay for them myself, I had no idea how much they cost before that – my poor parents must have spent $1000s on them for me.

I have missed them since I stopped needing to wear them, but at the same time was happy about the money I was saving.

Now I have found a site where you can get them for as little as $8, yes I said $8. The site is ZenniOptical and is a well known and respected company, they even had an article written about them in The Examiner recently.

At $8 I think I am going to order some with plain lenses to start wearing – I no longer need a prescription but that doesn’t mean I can’t still were glasses if I want to, right?

I think I am going to go for a nice black rimmed pair, keep it simple and classic – though they have an awful lot of much more funky ones to choose from.