But if you’re smart, you’ll invest in a unit from  The Neat Company -  A NeatDesk.  I am in love with this document scanner.  It’s fast, it’s simple, and it’s smart!  I had seen a million times and was thrilled with the opportunity to review it for you guys.  While it does have a hefty price tag (under $400 for the desk unit), it’s money well spent in my opinion, especially for anyone who is self-employed!!!

SETUP

Setup is super easy.  It literally took all of 5 minutes to setup, however, I did have to update the software.  Our internet is slower than most but it wasn’t too bad.

SCANNING

The desk unit has 3 different slots; Documents, Receipts, and Cards (business).  Even if you scan in a document, you can easily change it to a receipt if that’s what it is.  I started scanning in gas receipts immediately and was wowed by it!  It pulls the info from the receipt and is smart enough to remember certain things about each receipt that may apply to a similar one.

Some other scanning ideas include:

• business cards
• receipts (for bookkeeping, taxes, expense tracking, etc.)
• documents (shot records, contracts, etc.)
• articles & resources you want/need to keep
• tax forms

You totally need receipts if:

• You have gazillions of business cards.
• You wad up receipts in your pocket, then toss them on the counter.
• You hate data entry and bookwork.  <—-blech
• You want to get rid of the waste, aka, paper.

Things I love about NeatDesk:

• SIMPLE! SIMPLE! SIMPLE!
• Create folders to categorize receipts, documents, etc.
• Drag and drop.
• Has tax categories for filing which makes tax time even easier!

NeatDesk gets 5 stars from me.  I absolutely love everything about it and as long as you sit down and take the time to scan in your receipts, you won’t be dreading your next tax year!  Here’s a quick video view of how it works.  I blacked out some of the numbers (like my credit card) on the receipt.

You can get the NeatDesk for PC or for Mac.  There is also a mobile version that is super handy for folks who travel a lot!

Disclosure: NeatDesk provided me with a unit in return for my honest opinions. 

You can read my previous post about it but some of things our family will receive are:

* 50″ VIERA HDTV with web entertainment
* HD camcorder with 5.1 surround sound
* Wi-Fi digital cameras
* Blu-ray Disc player with movies
* Toughbook laptop
* Wii gaming console with games, and more.

And don’t forget, YOU can join the community and apply to become a LIHD Family too!!!

Visit more Wordless Wednesday participants at 5 Minutes for Mom and Extraordinary Mothers.

Visit Wordful Wednesday participants at Angie’s Circus

Visit Mostly Wordless Wednesday participants at Ordinary and Awesome

More Wordless Wednesday at MomDot

Panasonic's Living in HD community

I’ve always known Panasonic to be a brand that is affordable and built to last.  I grew up with their products as I’m sure many of you did so when I learned of their ‘Living in HD‘ community, I was eager to learn more about their goals.  I have to be honest, the first thing that actually led me to the site, was the application to become an LIHD Family.  This means, if chosen, you and your family would receive a whole suite of Panasonic products and in return, hopefully provide Panasonic some valuable feedback.  I didn’t fill out the application right away.  I browsed the site and participated in the forum for a few days first, trying to get a feel of the community and community leaders.  I was pleased.

The members were very kind, very helpful, and genuinely seemed interested.  Kate, the community manager, is outstanding.  She welcomed my new membership, answered questions I had, and took in feedback I gave about the site.  There were a few improvements that needed to be made at that time and I’m happy to say, they’ve worked hard in that short time to get them done. THAT tells me their truly care about the community and making it user friendly for everyone to enjoy.

As a member, you can upload photos and videos and participate in fun contests.  A forum is provided for more interaction with other members and is a great resource for learning tips on video editing, improving photos, and just casual-healthy conversation.

I’m still not an LIHD family but I fill out the application every month and keep my fingers crossed.  If Panasonic is a brand you think you & your family could align yourself with, I encourage you to join, participate, and fill out the application.  I’m there because I enjoy the members and love Panasonic’s passion for educating folks about what they have to offer.  The Seamans, the Richardsons, the Nielsons, and many more have all made me feel welcomed.  THAT’S  the kind of community I’m after!

I’ve been wanting it for travel mainly.  When I went to blogher, it was such a pain to carry a purse, laptop bag, swag bag, etc so being able to throw this in my purse is gonna RAWK!  It will be especially handy at the airport as well for all the upcoming conferences that I’ll be attending.  WOOT!

The only real drawback in my opinion is that they don’t come with a cd-rom drive but for me, that’s no big deal.  I rarely use one anyways and if you find that you absolutely need one, you can buy a portable one that hooks up to the USB port.  Another plus is the price!  Computers are getting fairly cheap for the most part but you can’t beat a price tag of $350 for a powerful little portable pc!  This one has XP..thank goodness because I honestly can’t stand Vista at all.

A big thanks to Dell for bringing this cute lil’ booger to me!

Check out the video to get a feel for the size.  My hair is not fixed and I was sick so don’t expect purty;)

Are any of you planning on getting or giving one of these during this holiday season???

Today I have a chance for YOU to have your own Flip Video Camera by entering into my giveaway.  Up for grabs is a sleek Flip Ultra Series Video Camera and it is totally awesome!  You can throw in your purse or pocket for easy access and there are no cords to mess with at all!  You simply flip the little USB dillywhopper out and plug it into your computer’s usb port!  LOVE IT!  It’s the hottest little item out there and you can’t go wrong by giving this as a gift to someone or to yourself!

HOW TO ENTER:

There are 3 ways to enter.  You can do one or all 3.  Each one you do earns you one entry.  Leave each one you do in a separate comment!

*****All three entries can be done once a day******

1. Vote for My Wooden Spoon’s Shrimp Stroganoff Casserole over at the Velveeta Casserole Challenge.
2. Twitter the Contest and include my twitter name @ACowboysWife and tell me yours in the comment.
3. Go to my Plug Board, come back here and tell me one site you saw listed over there.

All three are VERY easy to do and you don’t have to be a blogger to do it!  Blogging and stumbling is appreciated.  Good luck to all!

This contest ends on Nov. 12th at about 11:59CST.

If you hurry, you can also enter to win a FLIP over at Katja’s place!  It ends on Nov. 5th so get your motor running people!

So one of the things that I found to be a hassle while traveling to Blogher this summer, was my laptop was more of a pain than anything.  Oh, I used it and needed it but with the bag and luggage, it was just too much.  Then I saw this…..

The Mini Laptop

Now there are several versions of this cute lil’ booger but I would be perfectly happy with the Acer 8.9″ Aspire.  It’s the cheapest you can find for that color and I WANT ONE!  It basically has all the functionality of a regular size notebook except for CD/DVD drive which I can live without, and if I need one that bad, you can get a usb portable drive separate or with the bundle.  This one also has Windows XP! Thank goodness because I personally can’t stand Vista.  VERY SLOW!  You can choose from several colors but I’m in love with this brown.  The color represents class;)  The size is what you’ll fall in love with.  A convienent 8.9″ that will fit in my purse is totally awesome.  This is at the top of my list and wish I had it right now!

Price for mini laptop alone is $348

Nikon Nikkor 70-300mm

I NEED this people!  Mine broke a while back and I miss it everyday and if I think about it too much, tears start to form.  I had a generic one so this one would be a hundred times better than the one I had.  You all know, of course that I use it for all my pictures.  In fact, it never left my camera.  It’s amazing how much you become dependent one piece of camera equipment.  My dream lens would be the 28-300 but, not only does Walmart not carry it, I wouldn’t be able to afford it if they did.  Love it, want it, need it!

Price for this baby is $548.84

Milk Bottle and 4 Cow Glasses

What? What’s a cowboy’s wife without a milk bottle and cow glasses! Of course, I would like to have at least 2 sets because we have 5 in our familia.  I love the milk bottle…it’s so unique and I would use it for something like tea maybe.  It’s just something fun and the glasses are made out of heavy glass with I prefer over that very thin breakable glass. The glasses are 11-ounces and the milk jug is 34 oz.  Love stuff that looks vintage without the country knick knack feel.

Price for this cute set is $19.98

Barrington Sectional

When we moved, we had nothing really.  We had given all our furniture away and when I found out we were moving to our own house, I needed something ASAP.  I went to garage sales and luckily stumbled upon a sofa and loveseat for $75 bucks.  Yes it’s cheap but it’s definitely not what I would like to have and since I’m wishing here, I may as well wish big right?  Well check out this super nice sectional in a dark color (so that I wouldn’t have to worry about stains so much).  It’s beautiful, it’s big and it would fit our family of 5 perfectly!  We have plenty of living room space for it and I SO want it.

Price for the beauty is $999.56

Croco Luggage Set

I’ll be traveling to a few conferences and events next year and would love to have some new luggage.  Mine is old, mismatched, and broke in a few places.  This set is sharp, stylish, and with the croco look…it gives for a more “cowboy” feel.  Nice sizes and pieces and wish I had it for a trip I’m taking on New Years!

Price for this chic set is $179.94

To be quite honest, I never realized how many nice and wonderful things Walmart had.  While most store around here won’t carry many of these items, I can still purchase straight from the website and not spend that extra money on gas and the hassle of dealing with crowds.

So, what’s on your wish list this season?  FOR YOU! Not good health, not for you family, for YOU.

Maybe you’re shopping for printers.   Since you’re going green, you want a company that is environmentally friendly right?  No worries.  You can find these companies at the techy-cool (is that a word?) SuperWarehouse.com.  No need to go here for Printer Toner, there for computer software, or to the woods for a camera.  It’s all in one place.  I don’t know about you but I would much rather shop at one place to get all my goods than A) either waste gas driving around to get my goods or B) pay shipping at 4 different places.  Since they have all my home office needs, I can do it all at my home, one shipping price, and in my pajamas.

About the Eco-friendly companies at Super Warehouse

Sony for example has a VERY cool hand-powered digital camera.  Did you know that?  I bet many of you did not.  What about MacBook Pro’s new “skin”.  Those plastic covers are long gone, new Eco-friendly covers will be used instead.  Canon is doing there part as well by biodegradable NatureStone packaging on select ink packs.  Companies like Hewlett Packard and IBM have teamed up to create ‘The Green Grid’ in hopes of reducing the power and cooling requirements in computer data centers.

I absolutely love to see people going green but it’s icing on the cake when you see the large companies offering up Eco-friendly products for us all.  It’s also great to see a company like Super Warehouse selling the products of these green businesses on their website.   It takes everyone to pitch in if we’re gonna make this place a safe environment for our kids. That means, if you don’t really practice being green at home, at least buy Eco-friendly products.  Every little bit helps.

Wrap up

Whether you are shopping for photo printers, perhaps even one of those fancy schmancy HP printers, or some computer speakers, do your part and support companies who are striving to make this world a better place by following the green path.

I’m giving big props to Super Warehouse for their customer service excellence, the quality brands they care (Eco friendly ones at that!) and for their part in setting a greener path to a healthy and safe environment.  Way to go!!