List of freebies (11/19)

I had some time to do some searching and because it's been a while since our last

 freebie list I present to you.....Freebie Wednesday. Enjoy!

1. Sample of Simply Right baby wipes and diapers
2. Sample pack of Harvest Snaps (requires survey)
3. Sample of Huggies Little Snugglers diapers
4. Printable coupon for a 1/2 lb bag of Now Fresh dog food
5. Sample of Flush Doggy flushable doggy bags
6. Nivea lotion samples
7. Nine issue subscription to Brides magazine
8. Yogi tea samples
9. Sample of Breathe Right products
10. Sample of Truvía sweetener
11. Fragrance sample of Beauty by Calvin Klein
12. Sample of L’Oréal Paris Advanced Hair Care
13. Sample of Flix dental sticks
14. Printable coupon for a free package of flavored salmon from Chicken of the Sea
15. Fragrance sample of Joyful by Escada
16. Sample of Emergen-C
17. Subscription to LEGO club magazine
18. Sample of Questbar by Quest Nutrition
19. Sample of Always Discreet
20. Sample of Cloud Nine body lotion
21. Sample of Bio-35
22. Fragrance sample of Hugo Red

I am in love.

I know what you're thinking, I can totally see into those pretty little heads of yours ( I know..I know...I can't wait for my thin mints to arrive either!). You're thinking...Nickie....didn't you make a whole post about how much you dislike MLM companies? Yes, yes I did. Then I found one that was so different and wonderful that I changed my mind. Well, at least when it comes to this one.

I'm sure by now you've noticed the cute little banner on the side of the page, and thought what in the world is Perfectly Posh? Well sit down and pull up a chair buttercup.

What is Perfectly Posh?

Perfectly Posh is a relatively new company with spa and pampering products that are paraben-free, paraffin-free, free of sulfates including SLS, cruelty free and do NOT test on animals. When I heard those words I was basically sold then I also found out that they are fragranced only with the highest quality essential oils and fine phthalate-free fragrances. They even use natural enzymes and vitamin E to preserve the life and look of these awesome pampering products. Sold!

What products are offered?

There are ooodles upon oodles of pampering products from lotions to scrubs, cuticle cream, hair masks and everything in between. What really amazed me is how well they work and how INCREDIBLE they smell. I can't stop sniffing myself and sorry...you wont be able to either! These are a few of my favorites:

1. The Tree Hugger
This is a deep cleaning, D Tox scrub that has sea salts, strawberry seeds, coconut shreds, and a detoxifying blend of soothing essential oils. It scrubs and detoxes while nourishing the new layer with energizing vitamin C, rich jojoba and sunflower oil. Plus it smells like coconuts and strawberries.




2. The Caffeinator
This little baby is a moisturizing shea butter stick infused with tightening and brightening caffeine. You just rub this around your eye area and watch as the caffeine gets to work and tightens and brightens the skin. AKA: 8 hours of sleep fake-it stick.




3. The Stripper
This is a D Toxing mud mask that aggressively absorbs and removes free-radicals from skin. This puppy slows moisture removal with triglycerides and vanilla essential oil. With continued use supports cleaner, brighter skin, fewer black heads and blemishes, and improved elasticity. SIGN ME UP NOW am I right?



4.Sweet Young Thing
It's an anti-aging serum that is loaded with a sophisticated blend of CoQ10, natural cell-generating oils, and powerful peptides. This stuff is creamy and smells to me like a magnolia/jasmine smell. It is literally heaven in a bottle. When I put it on Hubby even noticed my skin looked great.

Ok Nickie, I am loving the products but c'mon MLM.....I've been hurt real bad sister. 

I feel you guys read on...

What makes them different?

I was so excited to join this company because they are SO different from all the other big name MLM companies that I've tried before. They are LOW KEY and encourage their consultants to be themselves, wear what makes them happy and comfortable, have fun, don't stress, and pamper themselves just as much as they pamper their customers.

Customers are treated like what they actually are: women who deserved to be pampered not a potential number or a sales slip. Unlike the other guys we are encouraged to share products not pressure women into joining our "army". They also pay commission on everything you buy, there is no "wholesale vs retail". You simply sell the products and they send you a check. They do bonus items, half off deals, hostess perks, and contests all the time to score some extra goodies. You're not pressured to have product on hand and consultants are encouraged to uplift and help out their fellow consultant sisters.

The price to become a consultant is only $99.00 ( plus local tax/shipping) and I signed up in January so my kit came with DOUBLE the amount of products! It was worth it to join up just for the amount of goodies alone! Another great thing about being a consultant is that this is a relatively new company so the market is WIDE OPEN! There are a million opportunities to expand and develop a market in your area! If you want more info about joining you can read about it HERE and message me either here or on my Facebook Page and I will answer any questions. PS - You can still get the double kit promotion all the way until February 6th!

I can literally go on and on, but I'll stop here and continue with the info...

What does this mean for us, your loyal readers?

Well not too awful much. No I will not be harassing or pushing anyone to join or buy something, that's not why we're here and I hope you guys know and love me better than that. But I will post some Perfectly Posh stuff occasionally when I think you guys might be interested or whenever I get really excited about something. Which...let's face it..I'm a tad bit obsessive when it comes to things I fall in love with. So if I do go a little overboard please forgive me. I'm thankful that I found Perfectly Posh, it was an accident that I stumbled onto their Facebook page posts and I will be forever grateful. I think their products are amazing and I honestly really just want to share them with you guys. I do plan on doing a giveaway or two in the next few months with both Perfectly Posh and Spark Naturals so stay tuned for that. 

Well that's about all. I just wanted to keep you all updated and caught up in the know. 

House Party, let me sing thy praise...

Have you guys heard about this awesome website called 

House Party ?

Before I go on talking about it I just wanted to assure you guys that I was not paid for this. This is all me baby and on my own free will. 

 House Party is this really awesome site that wrangles up free products, coupons, party favors, sometimes even decorations and games from all types of brands. They ship these parties in a box free to people like you and I to host and share, and all you have to do is submit an application.

When you submit an application you have to wait and see if you've been chosen.The application consists of a few questions, and a few things that you agree upon: honoring their "party pact", inviting guests, sharing the product, etc, etc. If you are selected as a host they send you an email which you need to click on ASAP. This will send you back to the website where you have to quickly type in all of the people who you want to invite's email addresses. If you do it quick enough and if there are enough spots you get to host a party!

Hosting a party is awesome. It's like a Christmas where you get free goodies and get to celebrate and enjoy with your friends.....just like Christmas...ok bad example but you get what I'm saying. It's awesome! The whole reason I decided to write about them is because I was chosen to host a BIC Soleil Fun & Flirty House Party. Woohoo! This will actually be the third party that I've gotten to host.

My guests and I will be among the first to receive their new Shave and Trim Disposable Razor each plus there will be coupons, masks, tiaras, a card game, posters and an apron inside the party pack. Did I mention this is all free? It's free to sign up, free to apply, free shipping to you, and all you have to do is share the news, invite the friends, and host an awesome party for their product. 

One of the great things about this website is that it's not just for women or only beauty brands, it's all sorts of companies from food to toys, games, alcohol and everything in between. There is something for everyone. My party is scheduled for June 1 and rest assured that I will take LOTS of pics and tell you guys how it went. 

So go on and check out their site, apply for a few parties and cross your fingers. It's really fun so spread the news and get your friends to try it out too, if you don't get chosen to host one maybe they will and you'll get to go or better yet steal their box when it comes in the mail. HA! Just kidding.

 

 

How this family coupons

Earlier this week I wrote about my favorite coupon sites and mentioned that I was going to post about how we use our coupons. Well, here ya go. Keep in mind that I am an organizational freak so don't feel like you have to do things this way to be successful couponing. I mainly wanted to post this to give you some ideas on how to keep everything organized and make things a little more streamlined when at the grocery store.

1. TOOLS

The first step is having the right tools.You don't want to spend a lot of money because that sort of defeats the purpose, but I've found that having these few things really helps make this all easier.





The first tool you will need is a sturdy binder. Mine I believe is a 2 inch which is plenty enough room, but be sure it's a hard binder and not a flimsy one.

The second tool you will need will be a few sheets of page protectors, and baseball card sleeves. I got my sleeves from Ebay ( you can find 10 pages which hold 9 cards for around $4.00 with free shipping).

The third tool will be Excel, or any program like that which can sort through lists. To get started you will also need a sharpie and some time.

2. CATEGORIES

Take a few sheets of paper and label them as whatever categories you want in your binder.

We have "Baby Stuff", " House Things", "Health & Beauty", and " Groceries". Take those sheets and stick them in your page protectors.


 
I also took a sticky note and wrote the category on that so it sticks out easier and I can just flip to whatever I need.

3. Coupons

Start at the beginning of each category and number your coupon sleeves. We put brands together in one sleeve to maximize space.

* For the record...that is HUBBY'S handwriting on the numbering, not mine*

4. Sorting

Alright this is where it gets a little tedious, but I promise that once it's done it's a lot easier to keep up and stay organized. 

We made an Excel document and made separate pages for each of our categories. On each page we have 5 lists. 

1. Product ( name of product coupon is for)

2. Value ( value of coupon)

3. Expiration ( when it expires...duh)

4. Quantity ( how many we have of those coupons)

5. location ( what number it's in inside the coupon book)

This makes it easier because if we need to look up a product to see if we have a coupon for it all we have to do is type it into the search tab and Excel will find all the coupons with that product's name.

We also print this list out before we go shopping so we know EXACTLY where that coupon is and exactly how much it's for so there's no digging, mess, or drama. 

I'm sure there's a way to sort it alphabetically and make it show you when one is out of date, but I'm not that technologically advanced. Well there it is. Maybe you can take a tip or two from our little system and put it to use! Happy couponing guys!

submitted to the amazing Amanda over at Serenity Now

My Fav. Coupon Sites

Well, I realized yesterday that it had been a really long time since I posted anything about couponing or any really good deals. I'm not like those people on TLC who can get $500.00 worth of groceries for $10.00 or anything, but we do like to coupon. I don't understand why more people aren't out there using coupons, you're buying the stuff anyway so why not save some money? Every little bit counts nowadays. I know that the main reason is that sometimes there is just not enough time in the day, and I can completely understand that one, but maybe with all the money that you save when you clip coupons late at night you can grab a guilt-free extra large (or grande-frande-whatever it is) Starbucks.

1. The first few deals were ones that I found locally so I'm not sure if everyone will be able to find them, but it wont hurt to check.
* Huggies Little Movers Diapers large pack of 96 (size 3), rollback price at Walmart for $22.00. They had most of the large pack sizes on sale for that price.
* Target has baby and infant " Valentine's Day" clothes for .20 cents! Most of the pieces just have hearts on them or are pink and red so they can be worn all season long not just for Valentine's Day.
* Michaels Craft Store has acrylic paint for .77 cents until Saturday which is a REALLY great deal.

2. The second is a little website called Cuckoo for Coupons. This lady is amazing! She breaks everything down into stores and shows you exactly how you can get the deals plus compares that deal to other places where you can use it. This is basically the cheater's guide to couponing. If you're looking for more websites like this might I suggest these: I Heart The Mart, The Krazy Coupon Lady, and Hip2Save




3. The third site is Coupons.com. I'm not a fan of having to add all those apps and add-ons to your computer just so you can print coupons so I decided to stick with just one coupon printing site. I chose coupons.com because that's mainly what Deidre (at cuckoo for coupons) uses and I think it's just simpler. If you don't mind adding all the add-ons a few other printing sites for coupons are: Coupon Suzy, Smartsource, Coupon Network, and Common Kindness.

 




4. The last site is one for online shopping. I NEVER, EVER pay retail for anything I order online. I always visit Retail me not and type in whatever I'm looking for, or the website's name and can usually score either a percentage off or free shipping. They have SO many codes it's unbelievable and they are usually in date and accepted. Trust me, check this site out before you pay for anything online, oh and they have printable coupons as well.


Well, there ya go. Maybe this can help alleviate the pain of those high grocery bills. I plan on posting later this week about the way my family plans our meals and the way we use and organize our coupons. You don't have to go all TLC Extreme Couponing, even if you're just saving a quarter or two here and there it helps and you can feel all smug and happy knowing you didn't pay retail.

Why do bad poopsplosions happen to good people?

 

Well the sickness seems to be passing. My lungs still feel weak, but on the bright side I no longer have a hacking cough that usually only accompanies someone who has been smoking since they were five...seriously it was a bad one. The sad part is that it could have worked out to my advantage just a few short weeks ago with that HUGE Black Friday crowd outside of Belks because NOBODY would have wanted me next to them, but eh what can ya do? The munchkin is better too, she was all smiles this morning which was a whole heck of a lot better than last night.

Last night she had a poopsplosion. My spell check is telling me " poopsplosion" is not a real thing, but I along with all the other parents out there are here to tell you that yes it is. It is a diaper that is so horrible it is literally like she had an explosion...of poop. I feel like I'm a little late in telling you this but consider this a warning: I'm talking about poop now...you might want to put your food down for a moment. Maybe just finish the meal and then come back to the blog because, as I am quickly learning...parenthood is messy, and gross. Anyway back to the poopsplosion....we were just finishing up dinner when she started to get a little fussy and make some noise. That was also when the smell hit us both. Hubby graciously volunteered, because I had changed a dirty one earlier and so he took the little one down the hall to the nursery. It was then that I heard " Oh my God. Seriously?!? HOW?? HOW???"

I started laughing, and making my way down the hall to go help, but when I walked in he was just staring at it like a man faced with the task of building the pyramids. This of course brought me to more laughter, but then when he turned to tell me to either help or go away he accidentally let munchkin's foot get away from his grip and it of course lands smack in the poop. This took me out of my laughing spell because if there is one thing you do not want around your walls, silver picture frames, and great-grandmas castle piggy bank it's a poopy wild baby foot. She of course starts kicking and wiggling, and I sound like Rose from the Titanic screaming " Don't let go. Hold onto the other foot.Never let go". Hubs is still trying to get the wild poop foot back in his grip ( I swear he acted like it was radioactive flesh eating lava rather than poop. Not saying poop isn't horrible, but it does wash off and hey man you're a parent now it's going to get a lot worse than this) when I start pulling the dirty diaper out from the baby, munchkin then manages to smear her poop foot all over Hubby's hand which he in turn makes a jumping motion and yells out " UUGGHH gross" and that of course makes me drop the poopie diaper from the changing table to the floor.

Needless to say I will be investing in some carpet cleaning equipment, also possibly an " Everybody Poops" book for my husband.