Some Seriously Good Info!

I’ve been meaning to write this post for quite some time now, and I just keep putting it off.  I have a tendency to do that with certain things in life.  So without further ado…I am going to share some information on sites I love!!!

First off – DIGITAL CREA ART

This store has the most amazing works of art!  Each kit definitely has a unique style all it’s own.  The store is a French/English store, and up until recently, here in the states we could not shop at this digital store because the only form of payment they took was the euro, but I just discovered they now take the US dollar as well.!  But guess what else?!!  They have the most AMAZING freebie kits!  Take for example this one that came out today – it’s so so so cute!  And you can download it from their store right here since it’s free!

A couple tips on using their store:  make sure you change the language over on the top right hand side of their store.  You will see two flags.  If you hover your arrow over them one will say French and one will say English.  Choose English – it obviously will make navigating the store that much more easy!  Second tip is to sign up for their newsletter.  They send out a newsletter about once a week and it will link you right to that week’s freebie!  You will never have to miss one!  If I could find where to sign up for their newsletter I would link you, but at the moment I cannot seem to find it.  The unsubscribe is down along the lower left side, but I don’t see subscribe.  So sorry.  I know you can subscribe though, because I get their weekly email with freebies!  Hope that is some useful information for you digital scrapbookers out there!

 

Secondly – SWAGBUCKS

I signed up for Swagbucks last March.  Swagbucks is a web premier rewards site.  You can earn virtual money by doing things you do on the web everyday.  With pretty little effort I have earned over $100 in Amazon gift cards!  I got a few really nice Christmas gifts for the kids by using those giftcards and waiting for deals.  A few things that I would recommend to get the most swagbucks:  install the Swagbucks toolbar.  I have the Swagbucks tool bar installed on every computer we have (which right now is 4 working computers!!!  Yikes – can’t believe I am admitting that!).  By having the toolbar you basically will earn 1 swagbuck per day just for opening up your internet.  Also it has a search box (just like a google search box), that you can earn random bucks for searching the web.  So anytime that Kyle or I are searching the web we just type it in there at the top of the screen and we can earn swagbucks (happens quite often – I think the average is 1 out of 5 searches)!  There are more ways to earn bucks too.  If you visit their site you can answer the daily poll for 1 swagbuck a day.  You can click thru a couple offers to earn a swagbuck a day.  And the newest way to earn swagbucks is by printing and using coupons! If you know me, you know that is probably how I am going to start earning BIG Swagbucks!   On Swagbucks website they have a tab on the top that says EARN.  In that drop down there is a coupons button.  Click that and it will bring you to Coupons.com, which is a site I use to print coupons ALL THE TIME!  So now I am just doing it thru their website and I should start earning 10 swagbucks for every coupon turned in to them.  It will take a while however (8-12 weeks) to get those swagbucks since they have to kind of wait for each coupon to be processed and tallied back to them.   But I am excited! I bet I have used probably 20-30 coupons already thru printing from there, so hopefully I will start seeing those swagbucks start rolling in from that as well!   OK – enough about that!  Sign up here and get started with it!

 

Thirdly – SYNOVATE

If you are at all into filling out surveys for a little extra cash I would suggest Synovate.  I have been a panelist for Synovate for almost 7 months now, and I am almost up to the $25 threshold.  I know it’s not much money, but it’s extra cash which is always nice.  The surveys are always short and easy.  Another good benefit is that they send you stuff to try out as well.  I got a free bottle of shampoo to use for 2 weeks and then filled out a survey at the end.  I don’t know what kind of shampoo, but it was free and I actually liked it!  I think I have perfume coming my way to try next because of a short intro survey I took.  I have even gotten dog food to try.  Weird huh?!  I love it though, and if that is up your alley then I would recommend Synovate – it’s a very good company. 

 

And last but definitely not least – VIEWPOINTS

Viewpoints is a public review site.  You can read reviews and give reviews on basically everything.  It’s people’s honest opinions on products from strollers, to tv’s, to computers, to lotions, and everything in between!  About once a month they offer their reviews (which can be you) a $10 gift card to Amazon or something similar.  They ask that you review 10 products (900 character/paragraph long review), and then they email you a giftcard within the next month.  I have earned $40 so far in Amazon cash for reviewing thru this site.  Again – adding to my Christmas shopping!   Join here today!

 

I hope a few of these were new for you guys!  I just wanted to share a few ways I get free things!  This year on Amazon I got my Wii Fit Plus, the girls a motor scooter, Pop on Pals, Toy Story Mania game for Wii, a book given as a gift, my fitness watch, and a few other little things all from gift cards basically to Amazon.com from Swagbucks and Viewpoints!  I hope to be able to save up even more for this coming Christmas since I will have a few more months under my belt than I did last year, since I didn’t start these things until March and later! 

 

Have a great day!

MandaKay

Run, Forrest, Run…

(for those who don’t know me that well – I am in the pink and green – bib #216 on the left.)

(Kyle there in the green/blue!)

Whew…just got done with a great race tonight! Our little town of Zeeland hosted the 1st Annual Zeeland Zoom race. Kyle and I entered the race since we’ve been on a running kick lately. I finished the race in 28:08 and Kyle finished it in 20:50. Both our personal records! It was a great flat, fast, and fun course! There is something fun about races. I have never been a runner and still don’t really consider myself a runner, but these races give me something to aspire to, a goal to work towards! I knew I wanted to beat my Riverbank Run time and I did, so I was happy! I think I did push myself a little too much because I don’t feel very good at all right now. Hopefully a good nights sleep will help! It was so fun to see so many people we knew too! It’s amazing to me that I hated running 4 months ago when my girlfriend Beth talked me into training, and now I almost like it (I said almost!). If you think you could never do it – think again! If I can, you can! I don’t consider myself athletic at all – only played sports up until middle school – never in high school. So next year for the Zeeland Zoom I hope to see even more of you!

My garden is really coming along!!! I came home yesterday after work and went to check the garden and my sugar snap peas had come! I was literally grinning from ear to ear and almost jumping up and down! Funny what planting a garden and tending to it can do for a soul! Kind of a God moment when I think about the fact that I planted a seed and they grew and produce food – pretty amazing that He gave us these things!

We got to get out on the boat this past weekend – went up to Saugatuck for the night. It was a beautiful night and we had a great time! Makes me really question whether we should sell it! :) I guess it can’t hurt to just keep it listed and see if anything comes of it. At least we can still enjoy it until it does sell!

Oh, and I am a nerd and took a picture of the FREE stuff I got on my shopping trip last week! I get real excited about free stuff – still loving my couponing/deal searching!

10 free Sobe Lifewaters

2 free milks

4 free Bestlife Butters

Free Suave Conditioner (for hubby or kids)

2 free Nivea Lip balms

and then the misc. free travel size things!

OK – I am off to catch some Zzzzz’s! Hoping I feel better in the morning! Night!

MandaKay

A look ahead!

{i}NSD (inter National Scrapbook Day) is coming up next weekend and we have some big stuff going on at The-Lilypad!!! We are preparing even as I write this! Sales, a phenomenal BYOC (Build your Own Collab), and another blog hop - even bigger and better than the last! Hopefully you can find some time to check things out!

Here is a LO - way behind at doing my Project 365 LO's, but I am still taking the daily pics and putting them in a forum at TLP, so at least I can reference the weeks and slowly do the LO's! Looks like I am a month behind. :(

Some answers to some questions a few gals had from my "saving addiction" post. 1st question was "where do I get my coupons"? Well we get the weekend edition of our local paper, so some come from there (and sometimes i steal the coupons from my parents and in-laws b/c *gasp* they don't use them! The other place I get them from is online. There are SOOOOO many coupons for great product available online. And the great thing about the sites that I linked to in that post is that they link you right up to the coupons to print them. So I go thru the Meijer list on SavingAddiction.com and she pretty much tells you what to get and what coupons to take! Easy Peasy! I will add that I am fortunate enough to print some of these at work during down time, so that is somewhat helpful! So I hope that answers your first question! 2nd question was "how much time do you spend couponing"? That is fairly tough to answer b/c it varies per week. But doing the method I just described maybe takes 1/2 hr. The Sunday paper clippings take 2 min. The blog checking for deals - well I probably spend too much time, but it can go quick to check these blogs, so not too much I guess. Is it worth it to me? Heck yes. When I saw a grocery bill start at $135 and go down to $65 I was about jumping up and down! Now last week was not quite that good b/c I had $50 worth of general merchandise (rollerblades that were on sale for the girls!), so my savings wasn't as good, but if I took out that I think I saved $43 with coupons, pop can returns, and in ad deals. Hope some of that info helped. For me it is something that I actually enjoy doing! We made a trip to Birch Run for a some much needed clothes shopping and I used a coupon at almost every store! I really felt like we got a ton of stuff for the amount that we spent! The funny thing is - we even had a coupon for dinner (Red Lobster)!

Follow up on Swagbucks (I noticed a few of you joined!!!) The best things I have done so far is to install the toolbar and the plug-ins. I will randomly get swagbucks just for having these things. I also have the swidget on my blog sidebar that I will randomly check to see if there is a swagcode out for bonus points. And the special offers are an instant way to earn bucks too - just go here and click thru the offers - skipping/saying no, until the end - usually only 5 clicks or so - takes just seconds! I know these types of things aren't for everyone, but I usually earn swagbucks everyday with very little effort. And like I had mentioned previously you can earn more if you shop online by clicking thru their store list - you still buy thru the stores you might normally use, it's just that you get to that store by clicking on it thru Swagbucks. Anyway - I am on well on my way to another Amazon $5 gift card which is fun! Amazon always has such great deals and most the time free shipping!

And in latest news...Braelyn likes T-ball. She had her first practice last night, and I was a little nervous about it b/c she was not excited and didn't really want to do it, but she went out and did her best, which for a Kindergartner, was not bad! It will be fun to see the team progress! I know we will have to endure some very "slow" games, and yet they will be fun b/c it will be cute to see some of the things these kids do on the field!

Ok, signing off. I'm sure I will be back to bother you all later in the week/weekend!

MandaKay

My “savings” addiction

So I have a thing about saving money. I’ve always been quite frugal really. Kyle and i make quite a pair because we both are very “thoughtful” spenders. We don’t do too many impulse buys, everything gets thought about and talked about. I’ve always used coupons, but more so lately. I just wanted to spotlight a few of the blogs I frequent for heads up on coupons and match-ups. Some are local and some are basic savings/free things blogs!

Savingaddiction.com – Two moms who are addicted to saving money. They are Michigan residents, so they spotlight Meijer & Family Fare matchups and so many more!

WestMichiganMommy.com – Another local gal who gives great match-ups, free weekend events, and so much more!

Hip2Save.com – Blog is written by Collin, a Marine Corps wife/mom. She seems so fun and quirky – love it! She has so many great freebie links and coupon heads ups!

CouponingToDisney.com – This mom saves throughout the year just to pay for her annual Disney trips! This is not really all Disney related, she just has a wealth of information and different ways to save money!

There are definitely more that I check every once in a while, but these are my main blogs to check! It is quite easy to get addicted to really. I LOVE getting free lotions, body washes, tampons, diapers, etc… in the mail – I usually get a couple free things a week! I also love seeing my regular grocery bill have a higher savings number than the actual amount paid number. The other week I got a TON of groceries (things I buy normally anyway – name brand stuff) for $61. I saved $76 on that trip! That means my bill would have normally been $137 (which is usually what my weekly bill is!). If that doesn’t get you a little excited, then I don’t know what does! ;)

Another one of my new things is SWAGBUCKS. I was a little leery of this stuff at first, but it has been nothing but great and easy! It’s a search engine that awards you in the form of Swag Bucks (points that can be traded in for prizes.) You can chose from a variety of prizes including gift cards. My favorite is a $5 Amazon.com gift card. It costs 450 Swag Bucks. I just cashed in for 3 $5 Amazon cards!!! That will help me get the watch I have been wanting!

You get 30 Swag Bucks for joining and can win anywhere from 20 – 50 Swag Bucks a day if you search until you win in the morning and in the evening. I usually win within my first 5 searches. They also have Swag Codes out at least 5 times a week that can be worth 10 – 30 Swag Bucks. I figure I do searches on a pretty regular basis anyway – might as well get something for it! If this is something that might interest you just head on over here and sign up! You will see Swagbucks mentioned on each of the blogs listed above as well – sometimes they will give you a heads up on a swagcode out that will help you earn points! I’ve even done some of my shopping thru Swagbucks to earn extra bucks – like the last 2 Crocs deals that I just “HAD” to buy because Collin on Hip2Save spotlighted them. (honestly, who can turn down Croc flip flops for $5.95 shipped?)

So, that is just a snippet of what I have been doing to save money lately! I just try to really stick true to only buying things that I actually use on a regular basis, so that I am not just buying because it is a deal. Then it wouldn’t really be saving me money! I have a little stockpile of certain things, but I don’t go too nuts. Even before all of this major couponing we would buy things only when they were on sale for the most part at Meijer, so we are used to doing those type of things already. Can’t do that with everything obviously, but with a lot of things you can and we do! You should see the stack of coupons I have been handing the lady at check out – yikes – I kind of feel bad, but then I see my final bill and I just smile and give a great big THANK YOU! Sorry if you are behind me in line – I try to keep things moving quickly so as not to be a bother to anyone! I have now become the crazy coupon lady, and I am super duper proud of it! :) If you have any questions feel free to ask!

MandaKay

(I know I know – no LO’s today – weird!)