Giveaway - Lovable Labels! (US/CAN) - CLOSED

Giveaway closed. Congrats to thesehappydays!

Kids lose things. It can be the bane of a parent's existence. Where are your shoes? What happened to your backpack? You had another shirt in your gym bag...where is it? I don't KNOW where your favorite baseball cap is!

However, there are companies like Lovable Labels that are trying to help our kids keep up with their stuff. Or at least let the adults that find the items know who they belong to!

I love Lovable Labels products! They are bright and colorful and there are several themes to choose from to match your child's interests (or just your tastes if they aren't old enough to have interests yet!).

You can find all sorts of label at their site including clothing labels, bag tags, and stickers for any purpose. I love that they offer (in their clothing label line) choices for tags, iron on and zippers as well! In addition to the obvious "don't lose this" type of labels, you can get allergy stickers, medical and vital id wrist bands (we have one of these for Patrick already!), and KID bands which are disposal identification bands for amusement parks, water parks, zoos, and the like.

But it isn't JUST about the kids there either. You can also get household labels and stationery products!

Like what you're hearing? Well I've got something even more outstanding for you. They also offer you the chance to be a sales representative for their awesome product or to host an online party to earn gift certificates for free labels for yourself! Or you can do a fundraiser through their company. WOW! How great would that be for a school or daycare? What an awesome company, right?

Our experience? We were sent a Back to School pack to try out with Patrick's information on it. I chose the "Sporty" one although it was a touch choice. I would love to show you the actual labels I received because they look awesome, but since you guys don't know our last name (and I'd prefer to keep it that way), I really can't do that. I am including this picture though to let you see the selection we received.

The pack includes 15 large sticker labels, 40 Slimline labels, 12 shoe labels, 72 dot labels, 2 mini metal tags, and 12 square labels. It was over 150 labels altogether.

Patrick loved them from the moment they arrived. There seemed to be some type of magic in labeling things to be your own, as he wanted to label everything he saw in his path. I curbed his enthusiasm a bit and let him label those things that NEEDED to be labeled. We tagged his backpack, got labels in his shoes, stuck some on the spare change on clothes he takes to school, and even some notebooks at the house.

They look fantastic and stick really, really well. And Patrick sees them and immediately identifies them as his without having to put any real thought into it.

Buy It:
Visit Lovable Labels and buy some for your kids or yourself! The Back to School Packs are only available until October 31st, so get them quick!

Win It:
One lucky reader will win a Back to School Pack like that one I received and described above.

Mandatory Entry (must be completed before any others are considered):
Visit Lovable Labels Back to School Pack section and tell me which theme you would choose.

Additional entries:

1. Make a purchase at Lovable Labels and comment here letting me know you did.
2. Follow the Lovable Labels blog and leave a comment here telling me you did.
3. Follow Lovable Labels on Twitter and let me know you did.
4. Follow my blog (via Google Friend Connect in sidebar or RSS at top of blog) and comment telling me you did.
5. Promote this giveaway via your blog (post the URL in the comments)
6. Promote/link to this giveaway via Twitter (post your tweet in comments) - one post per day. Leave a comment with each tweet you make.
7. Link to this giveaway via Facebook (leave a link in comments)
8. Tell me how you found this giveaway
9. Enter any of my open giveaways (1 entry per giveaway entered) - tell me which one in comments
10. Post the Back to School BLOWOUT button (right sidebar) on your blog - leave me a comment to tell me you did so.
11. Grab my regular Mrs Nespy's Frugal World button (right sidebar) for your blog - leave me a comment to tell me you did so.

Giveaway Rules:
Giveaway will run until September 9th at 11:59 pm EST. Winner will be chosen by Random.org. US and Canada only. Commenter must either leave email address with each comment or make sure email address is attached to your profile. Winner will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to return contact before another winner is chosen.

This post is part of my Back to School BLOWOUT! Click for more details!

Tuesday Free For All - 8/31

Another week of freebies here for you!

FREEBIES:

• Chili's: Get a coupon good for a free order of Chips and Queso at Chili's restaurants.
• Free acne wipes: Get a free sample of Ocy Acne solution.
• Try Dryel free after reabte: Register here to get a rebate good for a refund on the purchase of Dryel home dry cleaning products.
• Free veterinary exam: Register here to get a free veterinary exam at Banfield inside Pet's Mart.
• Choose from one of three new FREE Kashi samples right now
• Get a coupon for a FREE 20 oz. Dr. Pepper at Murphy USA when you “like” their Facebook page. You will need to click the “FREE Dr. Pepper Tab”. This offer is good for U.S. residents, while supplies last. Click here to find a location near you.
• BIC is giving away 1,000 FREE BIC Pens each day at noon EST through 9/9/10. This offer is available to U.S. residents only.
• Free Sample of Degree Men’s Deodorant for BJ’s Members.
• Free Sample of Dove Hair Care.
• Savings Lane is offering a FREE John Frieda Root Awakening Sample. This offer is available to U.S. residents, while supplies last.
• Free Sample of Goodnights Underwear.
• Free Kellogg’s All-Bran Sample Pack.
• Free Organic Cereal from Whole Foods
• Fill out the form here and you’ll get to try a 2 oz. Travel Size Bottle of Biotrue contact lens solutionfor FREE!
• Try Flix Dental Flossers for FREE! Fill out the form on their page to request a free Flix Dental Flossers sample and a coupon
• Go here and get FREE Crochet Shawl patterns in this FREE eBook!
• Quick Check is offering another great freebie on their Facebook page: a FREE 20oz Quick Freeze! The coupon is valid until 9/6/10.
• Free Milk Matters 14 page coloring book.
• Free Slim-Fast 100 Calories Snack Bar in two tasty different flavors.
• Free Tide with Febreze sample

SWEEPSTAKES:

• Blowfish Shoes is celebrating their 4th birthday by giving away 1 free pair of shoes a day for a year!!! This giveaway will end on 6/3/2011
• Harman Kardon Home Theater System Sweepstakes: Enter to win this state-of-the-art set of high-definition speakers
• Breville 5-Quart Stand Mixer Sweepstakes: This versatile appliance makes baking a breeze
• Speakal Sweepstakes: Enter to win an iCrystal iPod player in white Number of prizes: 1 Expires: September 08, 2010 12:00 a.m. ARV: $ 80.00
• Avalon Sweepstakes: Enter for two chances to win the New Essential Lift Collection including cleanser, toner, moisturizer, eye cream, night cream, and serum Number of prizes: 2 Expires: September 07, 2010 12:00 a.m. ARV: $ 123.70
• Luiza Barcelos Sweepstakes: Enter to win strappy espadrilles by Luiza Barcelos Number of prizes: 1 Expires: September 03, 2010 12:00 a.m. ARV: $ 247.50
• Fox Entertainment Sweepstakes: Enter for five chances to win Date Night on DVD Number of prizes: 5 Expires: September 03, 2010 12:00 a.m. ARV: $ 29.98
• Erika Peña Sweepstakes: Enter to win the Bali Mini Ala Earrings Number of prizes: 1 Expires: September 02, 2010 12:00 a.m. ARV: $ 150.00
• Kris Nations Jewelry Sweepstakes: Enter to win a 14K Double Layers Dahlia necklace Number of prizes: 1 Expires: September 01, 2010 12:00 a.m. ARV: $ 92.00
• BHG Organize.com Online Shopping Spree Sweepstakes: One (1) winner will receive a $1,000 online shopping spree at Organize.com! Sweepstakes Ends: September 14, 2010 One entry per household.
• Paula’s Choice Skincare Prize Package Giveaway: Enter to win a RESIST prize package from Paula’s ChoiceNumber of prizes: 10 Expires: Wednesday September 01 2010 ARV: $85.80

GIVEAWAYS:
If it's giveaways that you want, don't miss all of the great ones that are going up at this site for the next month! Check this post for details and my right sidebar for current giveaways!








*Huge thanks to my sources: Thunder Fap, PointClickHome, Elle, Woman’s Day Magazine, The Freebie Blogger, Deal Seeking Mom, Couponing 101, Free Sample Freak,The Good Deal Gal, A Few ShortCuts, Friend Family Savings, Better Homes & Gardens, SwagGrabber, Budget Help$, Mommies with Cents, & "Deal"icious Mom

Photo credit: Cordey

8 Financial Benefits of Being Married

This is the second of a three part series called Financial Benefits of Being...

And today we'll cover being married.

1. Living Expenses Per Person. It does not take twice the space for two people to live versus one. Two people do not use twice as much water or electricity. So if two people = two incomes, it is far cheaper to be married than to be single as far as living expenses go. (on the other hand, if two people = one income, the advantage lies with being single obviously).
2. Accountability. This is a huge advantage financially. There is someone else to keep your spending in check. As long as you two learn how to discuss money without fighting, there is great wealth to be found (literally) in having someone to check in with to reign in your spending.
3. Financial Stability. If both people in the marriage are working, panic does not have to ensue with the loss of work or sudden layoff occurs. There is another source of income to work with until the partner who has lost a job can get back on their feet.
4. Tax Benefits. You notice how it benefits most people to file married filing jointly rather than each filing singly? The government rewards you for being married on your tax filing status with slightly lower tax rates. With the slowly disappearing marriage penalty, this is becoming more and more true.
5. More responsibility. It seems that with marriage, people realize it is time to "grow up" a bit and think about the future. Of course it doesn't always take marriage, but too often, it does for many. Marriage usually initiates the purchase of a home to build equity, contributions to retirement to start, savings for future children's educations, and whatnot.
6. Exempt from estate and gift taxes. There are rules about the amounts that cap off these rules, but basically you can give money to a spouse, while alive or posthumously, without the huge tax penalty that would incur if you gave it to anyone else. Anyone remember Shawshank Redemption?
7. Reaching Goals Faster. If there are two incomes in the marriage, goals can be achieved much more quickly that with a single individual.
8. Men Are More Dedicated to Their Jobs. Studies have shown that with marriage (and even more so with the addition of a family), men are more dedicated to their employer and to a job well done in an effort to provide for the family. This results in more raises, promotions, and bonuses than their single counterparts.

So there are eight that I found? Can you recommend any others?

Photo credit: andreyutzu

Giveaway - Lefty's San Fransisco - CLOSED

Giveaway closed. Congrats to Almost Crazy Coupon Lady!

As a right-handed person in a totally right-handed family, I had no idea what frustration lefties experienced until I found myself in middle school and noticed my friends who had to use scissors that didn't fit their hands, notebooks that left spiral imprints on the sides of their hands, and sometimes wooden desks that had "elbow props" on the wrong side. How frustrating that must be for them, I realized!

I learned that I sure what glad I was right-handed, because it is a right-handed world.

Lefties spend their lives fighting with the "norm" of right-handedness in the world. From mugs to guitars to rulers to golf clubs to baseball gloves to gardening tools, a whole world of hobbies and necessities is different for lefties who have learned to "make do" in a righty world.

And it starts young. Many lefties have "righty" parents and teachers who do not know how to teach them to hold their pens or hands properly because they simply cannot relate. They can sympathize, but not empathize.

Lefty's San Fransisco is out to change that.

As a distributor for left-hand and ambidextrous items that include school and office supplies as well as tools and cooking items, Lefty's is out to cater to their right-brained clientele.

Featuring items such as the Yoropen that promotes proper grip to notebooks with the spiral on the right (literally!) side this site has it all! They also have items such as Your Left-Handed Child, a book for right handed parents to reference while working with their lefty child.

Although Patrick and I are right handed and Chip is ambidextrous (but favors his right hand except when batting and golfing), we have yet to figure out what Abigail will natural adopt. There are times she seriously favors her left hand, but it is of course still too early to really tell.

To demonstrate their products, Lefty's sent me a sampling of their typical Back to School type items.

There is some cool stuff in here. My favorite was the spiral notebooks! How awesome are those?!


Buy It:
Visit Lefty's San Fransisco and buy some goodies of your own!

Win It:
One lucky reader will win a Back to School Set for lefties.

Mandatory Entry (must be completed before any others are considered):
Tell me some lefty story/situation that you (or your loved one) has experience in this "righty" world.

Additional entries:

1. Make a purchase at Lefty's San Fransisco and comment here letting me know you did.
2. Follow Lefty's San Fransisco on Facebook and comment here telling me you did.
3. Click over to Lefty's San Fransisco and join their mailing list. Then come back and tell me you did.
4. Follow my blog (via Google Friend Connect in sidebar or RSS at top of blog) and comment telling me you did.
5. Promote this giveaway via your blog (post the URL in the comments)
6. Promote/link to this giveaway via Twitter (post your tweet in comments) - one post per day. Leave a comment with each tweet you make.
7. Link to this giveaway via Facebook (leave a link in comments)
8. Tell me how you found this giveaway
9. Enter any of my open giveaways (1 entry per giveaway entered) - tell me which one in comments
10. Post the Back to School BLOWOUT button (right sidebar) on your blog - leave me a comment to tell me you did so.
11. Grab my regular Mrs Nespy's Frugal World button (right sidebar) for your blog - leave me a comment to tell me you did so.

Giveaway Rules:
Giveaway will run until September 8th at 11:59 pm EST. Winner will be chosen by Random.org. US only. Commenter must either leave email address with each comment or make sure email address is attached to your profile. Winner will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to return contact before another winner is chosen.

This post is part of my Back to School BLOWOUT! Click for more details!

Giveaway - The Joy of Soap! - CLOSED

Giveaway closed. Congrats to shannon.

The Joy of Soap was born out of a need to use something that owner Melissa just could not find--soaps that were not made of skin-drying chemicals. She figured that the best way to get what she wanted was to make it herself!

Using organic oils, therapeutic grade essential oils, and other ingredients that are gentle on one's skin, The Joy of Soap has found success. After many customer requests, they are developing a line of other bath and skin care products including scrubs, cleansers, and creams. These are due out in Spring of 2011.

Not only is The Joy of Soap committed to helping you find healthy alternatives to your soap, they are environmentally conscious and have a series of Green Practices that they use in their business. It is nice to know that you are supporting a company that cares and is doing their part to protect the earth.

Our experience? I selected two soaps to try out to review. I chose Elizabeth's Wild Hair Shaving Soap and Feeling Frisky. While selected my soaps, I found that I love the tabs on each soap's page letting you see the ingredients and users' testimonials!

When they arrived, they were in these cute little muslin bags! How fun already!



My first experience was with the shaving soap. I used it to shave in a nice warm soak in the tub without using any other products. Since I hadn't shaved using only soap since I was a teenager (my mom didn't buy shaving cream), I was reluctant and had high expectations of having irritated skin later. After shaving I dried off and did not apply any lotion...just to see what would happen.

Of course my legs did not feel as moisturized as they seem to after applying a generous helping of lotion after shaving, but I typically do that not for the moisture but to prevent razor burn. Amazingly...no razor burn (find out why here). I used the soap the next three times I shaved...with the same disposable razor...and although the razor got duller and duller, still no razor burn. It was amazing! By the way...it smelled nice too. I did start applying lotion after shaving after that just because I like the soft feeling of it, but I have no worries of getting razor burn from shaving anymore as long as I'm using this soap!



Later I tried the Feeling Frisky Soap. It smelled wonderfully, as I love all things citrus. It was revitalizing after a long day and made my skin, and therefore my body, feel more alive at a time of day I am usually winding down and getting completely lazy. Not that I wasn't relaxed. On the contrary, I was invigorated and therefore although I could easily get rest, it was out of relaxation and not fatigue. It was incredible.

Buy It:
Visit The Joy of Soap and pick up some items to pamper yourself with. You can get a 2 oz bar (guest size) for $3.50 or a 5 oz size for only $7.50. They also have a "sale" section that you should check out. And Mrs Nespy's Frugal World readers have been offered an awesome coupon code! Just use 1277398451 when checking out to receive 15% off through September 27th!

Win It:
One lucky reader will win a $40 e-certificate to The Joy of Soap to choose whatever they like and cover shipping! (The e-certificate follows their Green Practices, you know)

Mandatory Entry (must be completed before any others are considered):
Visit The Joy of Soap and tell me what you found that you LOVE.

Additional entries:

1. Make a purchase at The Joy of Soap (with that coupon code!) and comment here letting me know you did.
2. Follow The Joy of Soap's blog and comment here that you did.
3. Follow my blog (via Google Friend Connect in sidebar or RSS at top of blog) and comment telling me you did.
4. Promote this giveaway via your blog (post the URL in the comments)
5. Promote/link to this giveaway via Twitter (post your tweet in comments) - one post per day. Leave a comment with each tweet you make.
6. Link to this giveaway via Facebook (leave a link in comments)
7. Tell me how you found this giveaway
8. Enter any of my open giveaways (1 entry per giveaway entered) - tell me which one in comments
9. Post the Back to School BLOWOUT button (right sidebar) on your blog - leave me a comment to tell me you did so.
10. Grab my regular Mrs Nespy's Frugal World button (right sidebar) for your blog - leave me a comment to tell me you did so.

Giveaway Rules:
Giveaway will run until September 7th at 11:59 pm EST. Winner will be chosen by Random.org. US only. Commenter must either leave email address with each comment or make sure email address is attached to your profile. Winner will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to return contact before another winner is chosen.

This post is part of my Back to School BLOWOUT! Click for more details!

Giveaway - Wett Giggles - CLOSED

Giveaway closed. Congrats to Mom2anutball!

Aside from school supplies, I love the idea of making the whole back-to-school process a special event. Some small gift or happy would be fantastic, especially for the younger children who might be scared or unsure about their upcoming changes.

One fun gift that you could offer them would be a Wett Giggles soap.

Seriously...look at these!





I couldn't possibly choose a favorite! Luckily I did not have to, as I was sent a surprise one to review.

We got Beatrice the cow. She came with a really nice blackberry scent. Patrick didn't like the scent, but what does he know...he's 4. =)

She also came with a manicure brush inside. And although Patrick now prefers showers to baths (ahem), he agreed to take a bubble bath with his sister so that he could play with this. And not only that, since Abigail isn't really big on bubble baths (or Patrick being in the tub with her...not sure which was the source of her unhappiness), she got out early. He, however, stayed in quite a while scrubbing on himself trying to work down to the brush! It's probably the cleanest he's been in 3 years! =)

(By the way...Juliet the duck and Horatio the frog don't have brushes...just toys...and are geared for smaller children).

Seriously...these might be a really good investment for the cleanliness and health of our children!
Abigail did want to play with the cow, but only after she was in pjs (and Patrick was still in the tub) and she was screaming for the sudsy soapy cow that she could not have while it was wet.

After the soap was all used up (after about 5 baths since Patrick likes to leave it in the tub to dissolve rather than get it out so it doesn't run out so quickly), it became one of Abigail's favorite bath toys. She loves the floating cow that Mommy uses to tickle her feet (with the manicure brush).

Wett Giggles also offers soaps in the (half) shapes of the planets. Very cool for slightly older children, I would imagine.

So what can you do to get your hands on one?

Buy It:
Visit Wett Giggles and buy a whole collection! In fact, Wett Giggles wants to share a discount code with you for shopping via this giveaway event! Enter the code 2010EP (case sensitive) and get 2 soaps for the price of one! How awesome is that?!

Win It:
One lucky reader will win the Wett Giggles soap of their choice!

Mandatory Entry (must be completed before any others are considered):
Visit Wett Giggles and tell me which you will choose if you win.

Additional entries:

1. Make a purchase at Wett Giggles and comment here letting me know you did.
2. Follow my blog (via Google Friend Connect in sidebar or RSS at top of blog) and comment telling me you did.
3. Promote this giveaway via your blog (post the URL in the comments)
4. Promote/link to this giveaway via Twitter (post your tweet in comments) - one post per day. Leave a comment with each tweet you make.
5. Link to this giveaway via Facebook (leave a link in comments)
6. Tell me how you found this giveaway
7. Enter any of my open giveaways (1 entry per giveaway entered) - tell me which one in comments
8. Post the Back to School BLOWOUT button (right sidebar) on your blog - leave me a comment to tell me you did so.
9. Grab my regular Mrs Nespy's Frugal World button (right sidebar) for your blog - leave me a comment to tell me you did so.

Giveaway Rules:
Giveaway will run until September 6th at 11:59 pm EST. Winner will be chosen by Random.org. US only. Commenter must either leave email address with each comment or make sure email address is attached to your profile. Winner will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to return contact before another winner is chosen.

This post is part of my Back to School BLOWOUT! Click for more details!

Weekend Round-Up #47

FINANCIAL:

• 10 Money Matters to Teach Your Children at All About Living with Life offers 10 very important nuggets of wisdom that children should learn at home. Make sure you are practicing what you preach though!
• How to Graduate from College without Student Loan Debt at Money Help for Christians is a great post. We've been led to believe that college = debt via student loans, but as this post goes to show, it is not always true. Seriously...I got out of college not owing a dime. And over the course of the four years there, I borrowed a grand total of $400 from my mom. It's possible.
• How quickly it spirals out of control at Digging Out From Our Mess is a must read for anyone struggling with debt. Not because of a huge success story that will inspire you. But because I am applauding them for owning up to the fact that they are struggling. And there needs to be a lot of honesty in the Personal Finance world so we don't all feel like failures when we hit a bump in the road.

FAMILY/LIFE:

• Our New School Year Begins at Being Frugal offers a LOT of great tips for homeschooling and chore organization! I just had to share!
• 10 Things to Make in a Springform Pan from Feels Like Home is a great share. I've share some of the previous entries in this series because I thought they were inventive ideas for the container. This one I am sharing with you because of all of the delectable recipes that are being shared! YUM!

FAITH:

• Forgetting 1 geography lesson. at Stuff Christians Like - as much as I love Jon's fun stuff, he really nails it every time on Serious Wednesdays. This is a post that you must read.

FUN:

• I Never Inhaled at Cake Wrecks are some classics. Seriously good stuff.

FAVORITE NEW SITE OF THE WEEK:

• Unhearit: A site for getting that annoying song out of your head by putting another annoying tune in!
  

Photo credit: keibr

Giveaway - Shutterfly Photo Stationery! - CLOSED

Giveaway is now closed. Congrats to Tomi, Kiley Smith, Tish Stafford, and Brooke Comperchio.

So in the midst of this Back to School BLOWOUT I received an awesome opportunity to giveaway some goodies from Shutterfly!

I have used Shutterfly in the past to do our family Christmas cards. Yep...I bought boxed cards to send out until the children were born. At that moment I felt that overwhelming need to share the gorgeousness of our children with everyone we could find an address for. And we did. And we have for the past 5 years.

I have used several different companies to get the photo Christmas cards from, but this past winter I used Shutterfly because I had also used them for Abigail's birth announcements the previous June and was so pleased with the results.

The cards were professional in appearance, were brightly colored and not at all washed out looking, like some cards we had ordered from other companies. They were so easy to put together and order online with the great tools offered by Shutterfly and arrived so quickly it was hard to believe they were custom made!

And now Shutterfly wants to offer you some of those cards!

Four of my readers will win 10 flat 5x7 stationery cards of their choosing.

You can choose birth announcements, birthday cards, Christmas cards, Save the Date cards, or "just because" cards. You can show everyone pictures of your child's first day of kindergarten or some summer fun experiences. Just look at some of the lovely choices you have!

Aren't those just adorable?! And there are so many others to choose from. Hundreds even!

So, as part of this giveaway extravaganza, FOUR readers will win 10 photo cards (5x7, flat).

Rules:
Fill out the below form. One entry per person. Four winners will be sent promotional codes good for the quantity noted above. Giveaway open worldwide, but taxes, shipping and handling will apply regardless of where you order from. Code will expire 12/31/2010. Giveaway ends on Thursday, September 2nd at 11:59 pm. Winners will be selected via Random. org. Winners will be notified via the email address they provide. Winners have 48 hours to respond to email before another winner is selected.

Entry form removed. Giveaway closed.

This post is part of my Back to School BLOWOUT! Click for more details!

I received no form of compensation for this giveaway. I was offered a code for myself, but decided to use it as a fourth giveaway. =) Opinions expressed are purely my own as a reaction to previous service while purchasing from Shutterfly.

Friday Faves - Art in Lead

My brother sent me an email with these photos in it. I don't know where they are from, but I am simply amazed.

Giveaway - My Lip Stuff (Worldwide!) - CLOSED

Giveaway closed. Congrats to kari jasus!

A great item to always have on hand is lip balm. Seriously...is doesn't matter if it is a blustery winter, a dry hot summer, or a windy spring (or fall!). It's an easy item to have in your pocket, your purse, your backpack, or any other means of carrying it on your person.

While you are conditioning your lips, why not use the product of a company that is dedicated to using natural, eco-friendly materials to make their products? Products that are not tested on animals, do not include mineral or petroleum oil, and use recyclable products whenever possible.

If that is what you are looking for, you can find it all in My Lip Stuff.

This single mom entrepreneur seriously produces a superior product! With over 500 "flavors" there is certainly something (or 10) that will please your senses.

With a fun variety of families of scents (anything from Mood Balms to Booze Balms to Call Me Balms) there is seriously too much to choose from on this site! But you can. Yep...you can create your own 6 pack of balms of your choice. Or you can celebrate a theme with a 12-pack for party favors!

There is also a selection for men, so don't think this is all for the ladies!

Don't miss that there are also bath salts, sprays, and body butters as well!

Of course, this is supposed to be about the children and them going back to school, right?

Sorry, I was so wrapped up in what I'd like I forgot about the children! Poor dears.

So, for the kids, you can choose any type of wrapper offered and then pick your kid-friendly scent! Or just pick a regular scent (like gummy bear or ice cream sandwich) that is fun for kids of all sizes! Too fun for the kiddos!

If you are just too indecisive, like I am, you can choose a Balm of the Month set up and get something different every month! How fun!

For review, I received the following:


Yep...you read those right. Strawberry Milkshake, Shamrock Shake, and Blackberry Buttercream. The strawberry one reminded me of what my Strawberry Shortcake doll used to smell like. The Shamrock had a distinct, fun minty twist and the blackberry buttercream was my absolute favorite. If I thought it would taste like it smells, I would be gnawing on the balm right now. =)

And not only to they smell scrumptious, but they really last on my lips (when I'm not licking them due to the smell!). It has a really natural, moisturizing feel on my lips rather than a slick coating like some lip balms. It's actually soothing right now even though my lips were not dry when I put it on. A superior product in my opinion!

Buy It:
Visit My Lip Stuff Store and make any purchase you want!

Win It:
One lucky reader will win a random 6-pack of lip balms ($13 value)

Mandatory Entry (must be completed before any others are considered):
Visit My Lip Stuff and tell me something that impresses you about this company or its owner.

Additional entries:

1. Make a purchase at My Lip Stuff Store and comment here letting me know you did.
2. Visit the flavor list and tell me your three favorites.
3. Fan My Lip Stuff on Facebook and leave a comment here letting me know you did.
4. Follow My Lip Stuff on Twitter and let me know you did.
5. Follow my blog (via Google Friend Connect in sidebar or RSS at top of blog) and comment telling me you did.
6. Promote this giveaway via your blog (post the URL in the comments)
7. Promote/link to this giveaway via Twitter (post your tweet in comments) - one post per day. Leave a comment with each tweet you make.
8. Link to this giveaway via Facebook (leave a link in comments)
9. Tell me how you found this giveaway
10. Enter any of my open giveaways (1 entry per giveaway entered) - tell me which one in comments
11. Post the Back to School BLOWOUT button (right sidebar) on your blog - leave me a comment to tell me you did so.
12. Grab my regular Mrs Nespy's Frugal World button (right sidebar) for your blog - leave me a comment to tell me you did so.

Giveaway Rules:
Giveaway will run until September 5th at 11:59 pm EST. Winner will be chosen by Random.org. Worldwide entries allowed. Commenter must either leave email address with each comment or make sure email address is attached to your profile. Winner will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to return contact before another winner is chosen.

This post is part of my Back to School BLOWOUT! Click for more details!

Giveaway - French Toast Uniforms - CLOSED

Giveaway closed. Congrats to Abbi!

Where we live school uniforms are mandatory. All elementary schools. All middle school. Most high schools. Both private and public. There is no getting around it. Every child in the greater Savannah area owns their share of khaki pants and shorts (and some have navy and/or black as well).

The same is true in many places around the country.

That's why I'm glad there are reputable companies dedicated to providing quality school uniforms to parents at reasonable prices. French Toast is America's leading brand of school uniform and has been in business over 50 years. They carry over 6000 colors, styles and sizes in stock ranging from toddler size through young adult. You can buy their products at retailers across the country, at various online retailers, or directly from French Toast themselves.

They pride themselves in their quality of product and have since their creation in 1958. In fact, they are so certain of their quality that they offer a 100% money back guarantee during the first 30 days after purchase.

For your boy(s), you can find pants, shorts, outerwear, activewear, polos, button downs, and sweaters. You can find them in a huge range of sizes from 2T up to young men's including slim, husky, and adjustable waist! You can also pick up ties, belts and socks while you are there.

For your girl(s), you can find blouses, polos, pants, shorts, jumpers, dresses, skirts, skorts, sweaters, activewear, and outerwear. These can also be found in sizes 2T through 20 as well as junior, slim, plus, and young women. While there, grab what you need in ties, belts, socks, hosiery, undergarments, and hair accessories.

And while browsing there, don't forget to check out their clearance section!

The interesting thing is, they service so many schools, that they might already know exactly what you need! You can try and find your school's dress code requirements on their site to make your shopping a bit easier! How awesome is that?!

To review their products, French Toast graciously sent me my choice of one top and one bottom. I chose some adjustable waist khaki pants (he is so skinny!) and a pique polo shirt in white for Patrick. I know...pretty generic, but he doesn't need uniforms for this year. However, he will for next, so I had that in mind when selecting. We have a few options for his elementary school and when I checked out each of their dress codes, those two items are what the dress codes had in common, so that's what I went with.


I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly the items arrived. For a company their size, I expected a least a slight delay over the quantities of orders they probably have in queue.

The items I got were top notch quality. The pants are flat front, no iron, pants with reinforced knees...just what my little boy needs! The polo was soft and thick, like I would expect a pique polo to be. They live up to my expectations based on the stability and longevity of the company!

I did not get Patrick to model them because they are a year's size larger than he currently wears...planning ahead, remember?...but the items look incredible. And for a total price that would be less than $25, I certainly cannot complain!

Buy It:
Hop on over to French Toast and browse around. They have a great deal going on for a limited time so that you save 15% on polos when you buy 3 and shipping is only $0.99 for all orders over $150. You could possibly get your child's entire school wardrobe for that!

Win It:
French Toast is graciously offering one of my readers two tops and two bottoms of their choice!

Mandatory Entry (must be completed before any others are considered):
Visit their site, browse around, and tell me what you will select if chosen

Additional entries:

1. Visit their blog and tell me something you learned about the company.
2. Follow French Toast on Twitter and comment here telling me you have.
3. Join French Toast on Facebook and tell me here that you did.
4. Follow French Toast on YouTube and let me know you did.
5. Sign up for their newsletter (front page of site) and leave a comment here that you did.
6. Follow my blog (via Google Friend Connect in sidebar or RSS at top of blog) and comment telling me you did.
7. Promote this giveaway via your blog (post the URL in the comments)
8. Promote/link to this giveaway via Twitter (post your tweet in comments) - one post per day. Leave a comment with each tweet you make.
9. Link to this giveaway via Facebook (leave a link in comments)
10. Tell me how you found this giveaway
11. Enter any of my open giveaways (1 entry per giveaway entered) - tell me which one in comments
12. Post the Back to School BLOWOUT button (right sidebar) on your blog - leave me a comment to tell me you did so.
13. Grab my regular Mrs Nespy's Frugal World button (right sidebar) for your blog - leave me a comment to tell me you did so.

Giveaway Rules:
Giveaway will run until September 4th at 11:59 pm EST. Winner will be chosen by Random.org. US only. Commenter must either leave email address with each comment or make sure email address is attached to your profile. Winner will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to return contact before another winner is chosen.

This post is part of my Back to School BLOWOUT! Click for more details!

WFMW - Blog Scheduling to An Extreme

So you've probably seen posts about how to schedule your blog posts in Blogger. If not, read this one quickly. The ability to schedule posts is seriously a serious lifesaver.

However I take it to a bit of an extreme (some might say), but it really works for me.

I do series of posts. As in Tuesdays are my "Free for All" days and Saturdays are my "Weekly Round Up" posts. I always like to include a picture with my posts because I think it just makes it more interesting to look at. For the Free for All I like to have pictures with the word "Free" included and for the Round Up posts, I like to include round things in the photos ('cause I'm creative like that).

However, I hate having to search for a picture I've never used before.

So I typically do picture searching on one day and take care of a lot of posts. For instance, I like to search Flickr's selection under the Creative Commons rules so I can use the pictures. So I do a search for "Free" and once I find a collection of pictures I snag them all. Then I plug them into a scheduled post along with my attribution link and save it for the date it will post. Like this:



Additionally, I like to do my round up posts (where I summarize my favorite reads of the week) in a similar manner. I used to wait until Friday and then go back through my favorite items in my feed reader list. Now, when I find a post I like, I go ahead and save it into the post I already have pre-scheduled with a photo. Once I reach the end of the week, the post is completed and I don't have to spend the day searching through old posts that I've already read in a frantic search for my favorites.

This is what this Saturday's post looks like right now:



So yes, my blogger dashboard looks like this:



with a lot of posts waiting to post, but those all have pictures ready to go. And if you'll look hard, you'll see that I won't have to look for pictures of "round" things until the end of the year!

Extreme scheduling of blog posts works for me! Head over to We Are THAT Family and see what works for everyone else!

Giveaway - PenAgain! - CLOSED

Giveaway closed. Congrats to Laura, TheCuttingEtch, and Betty N.

Does your hand suffer from cramps when writing for long periods of time? Have you had trouble teaching your children to write with the proper grip on their pen or pencil?

PenAgain can help you out then!

PenAgain set out to develop a pen that was made to be held comfortably and without causing strain on the nerves in the hand. And it works!

And they offer an entire line of products including their original PenAgain, the ErgoSleek (which would be a great elegant office gift), the ErgoSof (with a soft rubber coating for enhanced comfort), and the Twist 'n Write, which is a pencil product designed for the smaller hands of children.

It's a strange looking product that will draw attention as you use it and demand that you tell others where you got it once they try it out!

Our experience? Well, we were sent one ErgoSof PenAgain (which comes with two refills) and one two-pack of Twist 'n Write pencils to review. Immediately upon using I commented on how strange it felt. As I began to write with it, I fought against it to force myself to write like I "normally" do. Then, as I relaxed and let the pen sit in my hand, rather than trying to grip it like I do with most pens, my writing naturally flowed in its normal pattern and what originally felt odd and awkward became weightless and effortless.

It was crazy!


Now Chip uses the ErgoSof exclusively on the logic puzzle books he has been working on. He seems to like it quite a lot. And Chip loves things that are unique and even peculiar. And since this one works so well, he and the pen have developed quite the relationship!

As for the pencils, they definitely are made for smalled hands. Our son still has really small hands, so they do not work for him as easily as they would for a slightly older child. Although I would expect most children ages 6 and up to have an easier time using them.

All in all, I think this is a great product. It is comfortable, fun, unique, and definitely an attention-getter. And you can get them at more and more retail locations near you. But if you can't find them, just go online to PenAgain's website to snag some up!

Buy It:
Visit PenAgain and buy one of your very own!

Win It:
THREE lucky readers will win PenAgain products. The first number drawn will win two 2-packs of the Twist 'n Write pencils (see above); the second number drawn will win one 3-pack of the original PenAgain; and the third number drawn will win an ErgoSof pen (seen above).

Mandatory Entry (must be completed before any others are considered):
Visit PenAgain and tell me something you learned or why you like the PenAgain products.

Additional entries:

1. Make a purchase at PenAgain and comment here letting me know you did.
2. Follow my blog (via Google Friend Connect in sidebar or RSS at top of blog) and comment telling me you did.
3. Promote this giveaway via your blog (post the URL in the comments)
4. Promote/link to this giveaway via Twitter (post your tweet in comments) - one post per day. Leave a comment with each tweet you make.
5. Link to this giveaway via Facebook (leave a link in comments)
6. Tell me how you found this giveaway
7. Enter any of my open giveaways (1 entry per giveaway entered) - tell me which one in comments
8. Post the Back to School BLOWOUT button (right sidebar) on your blog - leave me a comment to tell me you did so.
9. Grab my regular Mrs Nespy's Frugal World button (right sidebar) for your blog - leave me a comment to tell me you did so.

Giveaway Rules:
Giveaway will run until September 3rd at 11:59 pm EST. Winners will be chosen by Random.org. US only. Commenter must either leave email address with each comment or make sure email address is attached to your profile. Winners will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to return contact before another winner is chosen.

This post is part of my Back to School BLOWOUT! Click for more details!

Check Them Out - It's Mine!

While searching for companies to participate in this giveaway extravaganza that is going on, I came across It's Mine USA. Due to some re-organization of their website, they were unable to do a giveaway, but sent me some samples of what they do anyway for me to look at.


They offer all types of label products for various uses. You can get stick ons, iron ons, sewn ons, those for bags or shoes or other possessions. You can use them for back to school uses or going-to-camp packing as well as for the elderly in an assisted living facility. You can use them to label items that are loaned our frequently (like high end plastic containers). You can even have them made for your small business or boutique--especially easy by the fact that you don't have to order large quantities.

The possibilities are so varied and so many!

They did send me personal samples of iron on labels for each of my kids. I was very please with the quality of label, the clarity of the text and graphics and their ease of use!


*By the way...the labels really aren't smudged like that...I smudged out my kids' last name in the photo so I could post it. =)

So please give them a moment of your time and head over to It's Mine USA to locate some tags to suit your needs!

This post is part of my Back to School BLOWOUT! Click for more details!

Giveaway - Shop.com - CLOSED

Giveaway closed. Congrats to pmernick.

One of the best conveniences ever created is one-stop shopping. How do you make this experience even better? Take the concept online.

Shop.com has done just that.

At Shop.com you can pick up many of your back to school needs including clothing, shoes, backpacks, lunch boxes, software, laptops, and dorm gear.

Shop.com agreed to offer me a small shopping excursion to review their shopping experience and customer service. This is what I ordered for Patrick:


Do you see a theme?

What can I say?

Seriously...he's not in uniforms now and has all of the back to school items he needed (aka just a backpack for this year), so we used our shopping credit to prepare for upcoming gifts (Christmas, Easter, birthday, you know).

To participate I had to buy only from stores that could be found in the One Cart system--meaning that the order is completed at Shop.com instead of directing you to another website to complete the experience. To do this, you perform your search and then narrow the results by clicking on the "One Cart" option like one of these pictures (depending on how you searched):


This was how it was done using one of their established categories (school uniforms link).


This is how it was done using the search bar at the top and narrow down the category to "Boys" shoes.

The selection of items seems to be growing as more external stores are allowing customers to order through Shop.com, which is a great benefit for both them and the customer!

Here are just some items that you can find at Shop.com for back to school:








The customer service was awesome and all of my questions were answered promptly. Because the items shipped from their originating stores, they did not arrive together and the shipping time depended on the store it was shipping from, but I had no issues keeping up with my packages, as tracking info was sent to me regularly.

Buy It:
You can buy any number of great items at this one-stop shop, so make sure to check them out for all of your shopping needs.

Win It:
One lucky reader will win a $50 clothing credit to use at Shop.com.

Mandatory Entry (must be completed before any others are considered):
Visit Shop.com and tell me what types of items you'll be looking to purchase.

Additional entries:

1. Make a purchase at Shop.com and comment here letting me know you did.
2. Subscribe to their deals and leave a comment here letting me know you did.
3. Get one of their deal feeds and leave a comment here letting me know you did.
4. Follow my blog (via Google Friend Connect in sidebar or RSS at top of blog) and comment telling me you did.
5. Promote this giveaway via your blog (post the URL in the comments)
6. Promote/link to this giveaway via Twitter (post your tweet in comments) - one post per day. Leave a comment with each tweet you make.
7. Link to this giveaway via Facebook (leave a link in comments)
8. Tell me how you found this giveaway
9. Enter any of my open giveaways (1 entry per giveaway entered) - tell me which one in comments
10. Post the Back to School BLOWOUT button (right sidebar) on your blog - leave me a comment to tell me you did so.
11. Grab my regular Mrs Nespy's Frugal World button (right sidebar) for your blog - leave me a comment to tell me you did so.

Giveaway Rules:
Giveaway will run until September 2nd at 11:59 pm EST. Winner will be chosen by Random.org. US only. Commenter must either leave email address with each comment or make sure email address is attached to your profile. Winner will be contacted via email and will have 48 hours to return contact before another winner is chosen.

This post is part of my Back to School BLOWOUT! Click for more details!