shopping

July 27, 2017

Back to School With Jane

This is a sponsored post. Thanks to Jane for providing the free back to school items for review! All opinions are my own.

Jane is a daily deal site for the whole family. I got the opportunity to shop on Jane for some back to school items. I bought some backpack tags and a first/last day of school card set. Shipping took a little while on the tags – because they’re custom – and the cards arrived very quickly. I’m very happy with the quality of the items that I ordered. And my kids are super excited to have some cool Back to School items.

First off, have you ever tried to get 3 excited kids to stand still for a picture? It’s basically impossible! I did get their bag tags attached to their bags but they weren’t shy about moving around while I was photographing. They’re apparently all ready to go!
I am quite happy with the tags. They’re a nice thick plastic and my kids names and my phone number are printed on so I don’t have to worry about the information getting lost somehow. This is perfect for if my child looses their backpack or if my child gets lost while at co-op, preschool, or other school activities.

They each picked out their favorite color for the tag. And I think that the tags match well with their backpacks.

Plus the kids are super excited to have their names on their backpacks. I’m sure their teachers are going to appreciate this as well!

The next item I ordered was the First Day of … / Last Day of… cards. The front of the card has The First Day and the back of the card has The Last Day. They come in a deck with preschool to college so I’m basically set for the rest of my life!

I just love the bright colors on these cards! Though, after we took pictures, the kids wouldn’t let me have them back. They insisted on hanging their posters on their walls.

I’m fairly certain preschool is going to have their hands full with him. I was going for a nice picture and this is what I got!

She’s all ready for first grade. Her reading and math have both actually improved over the summer so she’s definitely ready to have a great first grade year!

And this girl is all ready for fourth grade! I’m not sure I’m ready. Seriously, how do I have a fourth grader already? It seems like just yesterday she was a baby.

We had bunches of fun browsing Jane and finding some fun Back to School items. They even have some back to school t-shirts that I suggested to the kids but they thought the posters were way cooler for some reason and since it’s all about them being excited about getting back to School, I got them what they requested.

May 12, 2016

Make Money Shopping Online

This post is sponsored by Giving Assistant.

Giving Assistant’s goal is to solve one of online shopping’s most frustrating problems. Promo codes rarely work! You know, you find a code, enter code, and it’s denied. Repeat 5 times and then give up. The entire process is frustrating.

GAHome

Giving Assistant is a free digital loyalty program, over 1,100 largest retailers, avg. of 5% cash reward after each online purchase. Giving Assistant’s solution is to always provide a discount. They have 3 types of discounts.

Promo codes – Percentage off, coupons, and deals. For example, Walmart has lots of online deals listed like up to 80% off electronics.
Charity Donation – You can designate a percentage of your cash back to go to a charity of your choice. You can pick any percentage from 0% to 100%. Amazon, which is one of my favorite online retailers. You cannot earn cash back from them, but you can donate to your favorite charity every time you purchase. So, even if you can’t get something back, you can help out your community when you shop. I’ve selected my favorite local charity as my designated Charity.
Cash Back – You can get cash back through Paypal or as a mailed check. For example, Bed, Bath, & Beyond offers up to 10% cash back on purchases. Your cash out minimum is $5 so it’s pretty easy and fast to rack up cash back credits.

How Giving Assistant Works

Retailers pay them a commission for purchases originated from their website. Typically a percentage of the sale (avg ~5%).
For purchases originated by members they pay the entire commission as cash back directly and digitally to the members.
For non-member purchases they retain the commission, and make a small donation to Feeding America to give one meal.
Members are given the option to automatically donate any % of their cash back to any charity of their choice.

My Experience

I tried out Giving Assistant for the first time this week and it is so easy to use! I needed to order a wedding present for my sister from her Bed Bath & Beyond wedding registry, so I created my account on Giving Assistant (which took less than 5 minutes), searched for Bed Bath & Beyond, and went to their page.

For each retailer there’s a list of instructions so you know what you need to do to earn your cash back and what you can earn cash back for.

HowTo

If you’re looking for deals before you shop, just close this little pop-up and you’ll see the full deal page.

BBB

I didn’t need any of these deals so I just clicked “shop now” and did my shopping. Once at Bed Bath & Beyond’s website, I searched for my sister’s wedding registry. I selected and purchased her gift.

A couple of hours later I received this e-mail.

cashBack

So, I bought a wedding present AND earned some cash back. Pretty awesome and easy! In my Giving Assistant account it lists this total under Pending Earnings and it says that the cash back will be released between 15 and 60 days depending on the retailer. It won’t actually be in my PayPal for a couple of weeks still, but it will be a nice surprise when it arrives.

Earn $5 for Signing Up

One more great deal. Sign up through my referral link and you can earn $5 just for creating an account. And I get $5 too! Pretty awesome. Then go shop at your favorite online retailer and you’ll be all set to get your Cash Back in the mail or via PayPal (just set this up under your account settings)

This is a sponsored post. This post contains affiliate links.

January 4, 2016April 9, 2016

#NOTICETHELOTUS at Target

#NOTICETHELOTUS at Target in 2016… derma e has arrived!

For starters, I just love Target. They have a great variety of quality options in pretty much every category that I need. I did lots of shopping this past holiday season at Target, I found gifts for the kids, snacks for my husband, and even picked up a few things for myself.

I’ve recently discovered that they have a great variety of beauty products at great prices. And since I’m already at Target for things like Birthday presents for my kids, or laundry detergent that I ran out of yesterday (whoops!), I can just get everything I need in one trip. Which reminds me, hubby is out of deodorant, I need to make a trip to Target ASAP.

I was super excited to try out the new Firming DMAE Eye Lift from Target. As an added bonus, I also received Hydrating Night Creme, Hydrating Day Creme, and Firming DMAE Moisturizer so I could experience all the new derma e products at once.

Firming DMAE Eye Lift is designed to visibly lift, firm and tighten the delicate eye area while smoothing crow’s feet with this doctor-developed, multi-action eye treatment crème that contains advanced, clinically proven natural ingredients. DMAE, a widely-acclaimed skin-firming nutrient, is clinically proven to boost collagen for firmer, more resilient skin. InstaLift® Goji Berry glycopeptides add further firming, lifting and tightening antioxidant power. Advanced peptides Argireline® and Matrixyl® synthe’6® work together to soften facial muscles and synthesize new key components such as collagen, helping smooth wrinkles and discourage new lines from forming. Hyaluronic Acid, also known as nature’s moisture magnet, infuses a surge of cooling eye moisture helping leave skin soft, smooth, tone and rehydrated. With continued use, this pro-collagen and pro-elastin blend leaves the delicate eye area firmer, smoother and younger-looking. 100% vegan, cruelty-free, paraben-free, sulfate-free, mineral oil-free, lanolin-free, gluten-free, GMO-free.

With 3 kids my biggest beauty problem is dark circles under my eyes, so I was excited to try out the DMAE Eye Lift. I was using it over the holidays and with travel and keeping up with the kids everyone still told me that I look great. Maybe it was my facial routine or maybe everyone else was just as tired as me!

Either way, I think my under eye looks lighter and more clear after using the DMAE Eye Lift for a little over a week. I’m quite happy with the results! This product did not irritate my eyes at all, it feels gentle, and natural.

I can see why derma e® has built a passionate following in the natural products industry and beyond, because they’re always aspiring to make highly effective, premium skincare formulas with cruelty-free green chemistry.

I apply a teeny tiny bit every morning under and around my eye so at $24.95 for this product, which will probably last at least 3 months, I’d say this is a pretty good deal. It’s also currently discounted to $20 on the derma e website. If you’re thinking about getting some for yourself, this is a great time to try it out!

I’ve been using it with their other derma e products, and I just love the results. The products are non-greasy, gentle on my skin, and all do a great job of helping me maintain healthy, vibrant skin with all natural products.

For more info on derma e products, check out their Youtube Chanel.

I received these products free for purposes of my review. All opinions are my own.

March 25, 2014March 18, 2014

So, I’m enjoying shopping at WalMart less and less. Now, lest anyone get the wrong idea, I’m not against WalMart, or large retailers, for that matter, but WalMart has less and less stuff that I need these days.

For example, my shopping trip today, which is just like all my shopping trips to WalMart for the past year or so. I’m just about to give up on the store. I’m not sure if WalMart is stocking less or my needs are just more specific, but I find that I just can’t find what I’m looking for these days.

Back to my shopping trip today. First of all we (me and 3 little kids) stopped off at Office Max for some paper and file folders because I know from past experience that WalMart doesn’t carry the large box of paper I need and I’m really not sure whether or not they carry file folders and why put myself through the frustration of looking for something that’s not there. I really did try to only look for things that I expected WalMart to have.

Next, on to WalMart. First on the list blond bobby pins and hair nets – I need these for ballet buns for my 5 yr old’s ballet pictures and performances. Well…WalMart only has brown or black bobby pins, which is kind of ok since no one sees the bobby pins anyways, but blond ones would hide better. And they only have brown hair nets, which are not going to work. I decide not to get the bobby pins either because I’m going to have to stop somewhere else for hair nets anyways so I may as well get the blond bobby pins I want while I’m at it.

Next on the list, large storage bin. I have about 8 of these in my garage with kids clothing and I need one more for some clothing the baby just outgrew and WalMart is always where I buy them. Well…they’re out of stock.

Next item, birthday gift for the Girl’s friend. WalMart does have barbies, 1/4 of an isle of barbies, but at least enough that the girls find a good gift that they’re happy with.

On to bottles. I’m switching to bottles for the baby because he just won’t stop biting me and it’s becoming a real problem – btw, stopping nursing is more painful than starting, in my opinion. I have one bottle that he likes but it’s only a 5oz bottle and I would like to get a 10oz one for when I know he’s going to drink more than 4oz. He at least understands the word “more” and gives me the bottle to refill when he wants more so refills are not a problem. Also, having one bottle is very inconvenient. I get to the bottle aisle and there are push carts full of packaged diapers and other baby items all lined up in front of the bottles (no stock person in sight). So, I have to basically climb over boxes to look at bottles, and of course, they only have the newborn nipples. I want the 6month+ nipples since they flow faster and that’s easier for my 9month old. I give up, I’m going to have to try Target or Babies R Us later this week. Probably Babies R Us because if they don’t have them I’ll have to order them online somewhere.

On the way out of the store I grab a bag of puffed goldfish because the kids want a snack, and we pass these almond joy pudding mixes. I don’t understand, why do they have almond joy pudding mixes and taco flavored goldfish puffs but no blond hair net? – I actually found the blond hair nets AND blond bobby pins at Kroger, it’s sad when my grocery store has more selection…