Does it pay to shop online?

My friends and family always ask me, "How do you find all of these great deals?". Well, I don't spend hours every day scouring the internet for awesome deals. I do however go to a few specific websites every day to see what they have to offer. A lot of times, I don't find anything that I really need or could even use. Of course, if it's an amazing deal, I normally share it with you all. Though, sometimes I will find an awesome deal for myself, my husband, or the boys' and won't even hesitate to purchase it.

My very first interaction with daily deal sites, was with MyHabit. In fact, I found the link on another blog. It was for a huge sale on baby and toddler boys' clothes. It was about a month before Luke's 3rd birthday, and I found a pair of shorts on sale for $1.99! They were having a free shipping deal, so I ended up getting two pairs of shorts and a shirt for less than $6...shipped to my front door! I was hooked! I couldn't believe you could find such great deals online. In fact, I assumed that shopping online was a waste of money if you had a car, because your paying for shipping which is always more expensive than the gas it takes to drive to the store. Boy was I wrong!

So, every day I check out my top five deal sites. I have personally purchased from each of these sites, and they each have pluses and minuses. They are in no particular order.


* No More Rack - This site has a wide array of deals from home goods to jewelry. I purchased quite a few Christmas gifts from this site last year. I got some great deals, and was really happy with the quality of items I received. I think this site has some of the cheapest deals I've found online, ever.

* 1 Sale A Day - This site has five great deals every day. One main deal, one wireless deal, one family deal, one watch deal, and one jewelry deal. I purchased a pair of earrings here earlier this year, and they were decent quality for the price. The best thing about 1 Sale A Day is their electronics. They always have awesome deals on tablets, laptops, GPS, etc. If you're looking for electronics, always check here first.

* MyHabit - This site is my go to for children's clothes and shoes. I always check here if the boys need something. Ever since my first transaction, I've been hooked. The great thing about this site, is that the deals normally last three days instead of just one. But, a lot of times, the items sell out before the deal ends. The clothes I've purchased from this site have always been great quality and great prices!

* Hautelook - If you're into high end fashion, this is the site for you. They always have designer brands as their deals for a fraction of the price. They also have one 'Deal of the Day' every day, and it's always a pretty great deal. If you have champagne taste on a beer budget, look no further! You have to check out Hautelook. They have five categories; women, beauty, home, kids, and men. They always have deals or what they call 'events' for every category, so check them out.

* Zulily - This deal site is all about moms, babies, and kids. They have some great deals on clothes, shoes, toys, books, and more. If your looking for all things baby, this is the deal site for you. They have numerous deals per day and the deals last a few days. You can also earn cash back when you shop through Ebates. I just bought a new pair of heels from Zulily last week, and earn a few bucks for my purchase.

* Ebates - If you do any online shopping, check Ebates first to see if you can receive cash back for your purchases. I've received cash back through Zulily, Walmart, Target, and The Children's Place just this summer. The money adds up pretty quickly. Besides, if your going to do the shopping online anyway, why not get cash back for doing it? You can read my full post titled All About Ebates here.

If you have any other sites that you think I should look into, let me know in the comments and I'll check them out!

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Beefy Burritos

Tonight, I decided we'd have some Mexican, since we haven't in quite a while. So, I tried a new recipe from my Family Suppers cookbook. I love how simple and quick the recipes are. I absolutely loved this recipe! It was a way to use up a lot of ingredients I always have on hand like; ground beef, rice, corn, and beans. If you like Mexican food, you should definitely give this recipe a try. You can also tweak the ingredients for your families preferences. You could definitely forgo the tortillas and just eat this as a rice dish. It was that good!

Beefy Burritos

Prep Time: 10 minutes          Cook Time: 10 minutes          Serves: 4

Ingredients:
8 (6 inch) flour tortillas
3/4 lb lean ground beef (or turkey or chicken)
1 1/2 tbsp taco seasoning
1 (15.5oz) can small red beans, drained and rinsed
1 (10oz) box frozen corn, thawed (I used a 12oz bag of Steamfresh Super Sweet corn)
1 cup medium-hot salsa (I used mild salsa)
1 cup cooked white rice (I used Success Boil-in-Bag Whole Grain Brown Rice)
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

1) Heat oven to 400°.

2) Wrap tortillas in foil and place in oven to warm for 6-8 minutes.

3) In a nonstick 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat, combine beef and taco seasoning and cook, using a wooden spoon to break up the meat, until browned, about 5 minutes.

4) Add beans, corn, salsa, and rice. Cook, stirring, until heated through, about 3 minutes.

5) Lay 2 warmed tortillas on a work surface. Spoon beef mixture onto tortillas and sprinkle with cheese. Fold in bottom edge (to keep the filling from spilling out as you eat) and then roll up. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling. Serve warm.

Enjoy! :-)

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Royal Fluff Cloth Diapers As Low As $9.99

Today, Zulily is having a deal on Royal Fluff cloth diapers, inserts, and wet bags. Prices start at just $6.99 and nothing is more than $11.99 (for wet bags). The cloth diapers are priced between $9.99 and $10.99, which is a good price for the embellishment and such cute prints! Considering these diapers are regularly priced between $22.99 and $24.99, this is an awesome deal! If you need some new pockets to add to your cloth diaper stash, I would jump on this deal, because these diapers are super cute! To see all of the diapers, inserts, and wet bags available on Zulily today, you can go here. This sale ends on Sunday at 6am PDT, but I doubt there will be any left by then, so hurry over and snag a few.

Also, if you use Ebates, you can earn 3.5% cash back on your order, just for shopping through their site. If you've never used Ebates before, check out my post about them here, and sign up. Everyone loves free cash back! 

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Chicken Shepherd's Pie

Tonight I tried a new recipe for dinner. One of my family's favorite's is Shepherd's Pie, which I posted about last year. You can find that recipe here. But, I've always wanted to try a chicken version. So, tonight I did. I didn't use my traditional tomato and Worcestershire base though. I decided to try a cheesy base for the chicken version.

I wasn't' too sure how it was going to turn out, so I only made one batch. Normally when I make our Our Favorite Shepherd's Pie, I make two batches and we eat it for a few days, since it's so good. Well, I only made one batch of this, and I will definitely make it again. Delvin took the first bit and said "This is delicious!". Yay... another great recipe to add to the family favorites. Just to be sure, I took a bite and confirmed it was indeed delicious! So, I'm passing the recipe on to you.

Chicken Shepherd's Pie

Prep Time: 25 minutes          Cook Time: 25 minutes          Serves: 6

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (6 oz each), cubed
4 tbsp butter, divided
1 pouch roasted garlic mashed potatoes
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups milk
1 tbsp parsley
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese, divided
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn (I use Steamfresh Super Sweet Corn)

Directions:
1) In a small skillet, cook chicken in 1 tbsp butter until no longer pink. Set aside, and keep warm. (You can substitute with 12oz of Perdue Short Cuts, if your in a hurry.)

2) Prepare mashed potatoes according to package directions.

3) Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt remaining butter over medium heat.

4) Whisk in flour until smooth.

5) Gradually add milk, and stir in seasonings. Bring to a boil.

6) Reduce heat, cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat.

7) Stir in 3/4 cup Swiss cheese until melted. Add peas, corn, and chicken.

8) Transfer to a greased 2 quart baking dish.

9) Top with mashed potatoes, sprinkle with remaining cheese.

10) Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until heated through.

11) Carefully remove the shepherd's pie from the oven and let it sit for at least 10 minutes before cutting into it.

Enjoy! :-)

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Sears Portrait Studios: FREE 10x30 Portrait + no sitting fees!

Wow!! Head over here to check out a couple of great coupons from Sears. The first is a FREE 10x30 (huge!!) Spotlight Portrait. Regular price $124.98! The other is a favorite pose package for $7.99. No session fee. You can't combine them, but the free 10x30 is an AWESOME deal!! I normally take my kids pictures myself, but this freebie is too good for me to pass up! These offers are valid through 8/31, so print them out and snag this deal while you still can!

-Amy

Speaking of photography stuff, please stop by and "like" my page, Amy Wade Photography.

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Discontinued Items = HUGE Discounts

I was at Weis Markets the other day and whenever I go there, I always check out the dollar aisle. Right next to the "dollar buys" is the small shelf of discontinued items. Sometimes I find some great deals there. Well sure enough, I found diapers. Not just any diapers, but chlorine free, eco-friendly diapers. They were Full Circle brand diapers. I'd never used them before, but I know a good deal on name brand diapers when I see it. I knew they had to be pretty expensive considering, it's a grocery store, and they are eco-friendly. We all know eco-friendly products are always more expensive. So, I checked the regular price before mark down, and sure enough it was $13.99! These diapers were on clearance for $3.49. I couldn't pass up saving over $10 on a pack of diapers. Besides, Jake was running low on his disposable stash. So, I grabbed two packs and felt very satisfied that I'd just saved over $20 on diapers, and that I walked out with 60 diapers for just under $7! That's less than $0.12 per diaper. That's a great deal on Pampers or Huggies, much less chlorine free. So, I went back in about a week later to pick up some grapes for Luke, and checked just to see if they had anymore. Well, I ended up leaving with 3lbs of grapes and two more packs of diapers. Yay! What an awesome deal. So, if you have a Weis (or any store for that matter) near you, definitely check the sale aisle for discontinued items. You never know what you might find.

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Toys-R-Us $5 off coupon!

Check your e-mail if you've ever signed up for the Toys-R-Us (or Babies-R-Us) rewards program! This $5 coupon can be used on any amount, so that's $5 for free! I got something similar in the mail for Kainan's birthday and bought three Hot Wheels cars for $.39! I got this e-mail this morning, and it's good until the 16th! It has a few restrictions, but you can still use it to snag some freebies!

-Amy

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Intro to Cloth Diapering - Prefold - Video

Here is Part 2 in a series of videos on our new YouTube Channel - Naturally Thrifty Moms. This is Intro to Cloth Diapering - Prefold. In the video, Amy will describe what a prefold is, how it's used, the benefits, and downsides to using it. Don't forget to subscribe, so you don't miss out on the rest of the series!

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Huggies Slip-Ons $3.99 at Walgreens (starting 8/12)

There is a great deal starting tomorrow (Sunday, 8/12) at Walgreens on Huggies Slip-on diapers. I love using cloth diapers to save money, but I still use disposables at night. I think a good price for a pack of diapers is around $5, so $3.99 isn't bad! Here is how this deal works:

First you'll need to buy a paper for the $1.50/Huggies Diapers coupon. Unless you have a Huggies coupon from the littler mailers they send out (I don't.) In the August 2012 coupon book at Walgreens there is a $4 off Slip-ons Walgreens coupon. With a sale price of $9.49 and using the two coupons, the diapers come out at $3.99 per pack! I will be buying a pack tomorrow if I can hunt down a paper and find Walgreens (I know there are three here, which I'm totally excited about.) There's also a deal on a large pack of wipes, final price is $3.49 after a .50 manufacturers coupon (in the paper) and a $2 coupon from the August booklet. If you're fairly new to using coupons, YES, you can use both coupons because one is a store coupon and one is a manufacturers coupon.

Here are a couple of other deals that I think are worth checking out tomorrow at Walgreens:

Renew Life Omega Smart Super Krill (fish oil) $10, with a $10 register reward. I use this fish oil and recommend it.

Palmolive Dish Soap $.94 (minus manufacture coupon of .25 if  you buy a newspaper) so total $.69

Let me know what deals you get at Walgreens this week!

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Is there a point when you go too far to save money?

This may seem like an odd question, but is there a point where one can go too far to save money? The reason that I ask this is because I follow a few other money saving blogs. Every now and then I come across a way of saving money that seems to go a little too far. Saving money is great, but is there a point when it can hurt a person or family more than help them?

I think the answer to that question is yes. You have to ask yourself, WHY am I trying to save money? Are you trying to get out of debt? Buy a new car? Go on a great vacation? Save some money for a rainy day? Any reason to save money is a good reason, I personally think that there has to be a balance. Of course it's great to save money, but depriving yourself all the time isn't good either. I read something online a while back where a family said they didn't go out much or visit family (even though they didn't live terribly far away) because it cost too much. That made me kind of sad. At the end of your life are you going to be happy that you saved $40 on a tank of gas, or wish you'd spent more time with your family and friends? I also remember watching an episode of TLC's "Extreme Couponing" (yes, I've seen two episodes, and they were stupid) where the woman was HORRIFIED at her son asking for something that they didn't have a coupon for. On Extreme Couponing they usually pay little to nothing, so I seriously think a $3 treat for the boy who was behaving himself would have been perfectly acceptable. I guess it just wouldn't have been extreme enough for the show. I've also read where people spend so little on food that they miss out on a lot of foods they really like. I totally get not buying expensive treats all the time, but why not once in a while? That is exactly what I mean, if you are doing little things to save money, whether it be couponing, cloth diapering, conserving electricity, etc, you should definitely treat yourself from time to time!

I'm certainly not saying that those with absolutely no disposable income should go out and waste their money, I am just saying that ultimately the person who does with the most money is not the "winner." Spending a couple of hours a week to save some money with coupons is awesome. Spending all day, every day obsessing about coupons/what is on sale is NOT. We should enjoy life! If that means a visit with some family who live out of town or a box of fruit snacks at full price, so be it.

So what does everyone think? Where do you find your balance? How do you treat yourselves or your family?

Speaking of treating yourself, Coach factory outlets has a nice 30% off coupon that can be found here. :-) This could make for a pretty good deal if you are a Coach fan!

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Amazing New Survey Site

I must say, I haven't found one survey site quite like this... until now! Paid Viewpoint is an awesome new survey site I found that absolutely, positively only sends you invitations to surveys that you are already qualified for. Meaning, you receive an email to participate in a survey, you click the link, complete the survey, and you get your money. They have NEVER sent me a survey that I wasn't qualified for and ultimately paid for! This is awesome! I have used them for over a week now, and they are great. They pride themselves in not wasting peoples time by sending them a survey they don't qualify for. You can even earn up to $1.21 just by signing up and filling out your profile to customize the surveys sent your way. I literally earned my first $2.41 in less than 10 minutes from this survey site! I had a feeling this survey site was going to be a good one, so I took a screenshot of my earnings, just minutes after registering with them. Here it is: 

You can cash out once you have $15 in your account. You have to check them out! I normally get between 1-2 surveys a day. Each survey takes about 1-2 minutes to take. Honestly, 1-2 minutes. This is not a get rich quick deal, by any means, but it's an easy way to make a few dollars each month. The surveys are actually fun to. Each question is multiple choice, and all of the questions pertain to you! If you are interested in this great survey site, you can sign up here.

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Intro to Cloth Diapering - AIO (All In One) - Video

Here is Part 1 in a series of videos on our new YouTube Channel - Naturally Thrifty Moms. This is Intro to Cloth Diapering - AIO (All In One). In this video, Amy will describe what an AIO diaper is, how to use it, and it's benefits. Don't forget to subscribe, so you don't miss out on the rest of the series!

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New YouTube Series - Intro to Cloth Diapering

We are super excited to introduce our very first video on our new YouTube Channel - Naturally Thrifty Moms!

We have had so many posts about cloth diapering, but we are also aware, that as a new parent to cloth diapering, it can be very overwhelming. Their are so many different kinds of cloth diapers; AIO's, AI2's, pockets, fitteds, prefolds, flats, etc. When most cloth diaper shopping is done online, it's hard to know exactly what your getting, especially if your new to CD'ing. We try our best to describe things the easiest way possible, when talking about them in a post, but they always say a picture's worth a thousand words, so we decided to run with it.

Our first series on our YouTube Channel is called "Intro to Cloth Diapering". In this series, we will be focusing on one type of diaper during each 3-5 minute video. We will show you what it looks like up close, the benefits of using it, any downsides we might have with the diaper, and how to use it. Hopefully this series will be extremely helpful to those who have been following our posts about cloth diapering. If you're nervous to start cloth diapering, these videos should help ease you into it. Don't forget to subscribe to our channel - Naturally Thrifty Moms, if you want to be the first to watch the new videos in this series.

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"The Paleo Diet Solution Cookbook" FREE on your Kindle!

Wow, what an awesome deal! Head over to Amazon right now and check out "The Paleo Diet Solution Cookbook." It's absolutely free to download on your Kindle (normal price $9.99!)  I already have this book on my Kindle and I can recommend it. While I do not follow a Paleo diet, I do eat completely gluten free (post about that coming soon) and I use a lot of Paleo recipes. The book has great reviews, so download it while you can get it for free!

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Introducing Our New YouTube Channel!

We are so excited to introduce our new YouTube channel - Naturally Thrifty Moms! We are going to be doing a ton of video reviews on cloth diapers, cloth diapering accessories, baby products, and much more. Make sure you subscribe so you'll be the first to know about new reviews! See you on YouTube!

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Essentials Cloth Diaper Kit Giveaway

I found another giveaway to enter today. If your interested in winning a cloth diaper kit, then this giveaway is for you! Cheerful Homemaker is giving away an Essentials Cloth Diaper Kit from Bubbalooch. This kit includes a Bottombumpers One Size, Swaddlebees One Size Simplex, Blueberry One Size Bamboo Deluxe,  and a Sample Detergent Pack. This kit retails for $77.35, and is currently on sale for $69.95, so this is a great prize to win!

If you want to enter this giveaway, head on over to Cheerful Homemaker and snag a few entries for the Essentials Cloth Diaper Kit Giveaway. Hurry, because this giveaway ends on August 20th. Good luck!

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Woolzies Dryer Ball Giveaway

While browsing a few blogs today, I stumbled upon a great giveaway over at Cheerful Homemaker. She is giving away a six pack of Woolzies Dryer Balls. These dryer balls retail for $35.99, so this is an awesome giveaway to enter! Who can't use an extra set or two of dryer balls? 

So, if you want to take a shot at winning these dryer balls, head on over to her blog, and enter to win the Woolzies Giveaway! This giveaway ends on August 15th, so hurry over and snag a few entries before time runs out! Good luck! 

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Fuzzibunz One-size Cloth Diaper Review

Hey guys! It's Amy and I'm finally back. A few of my cloth diapering posts were some of the most popular posts on the blog so far, so I have decided to make Friday's "Cloth Diaper Friday!" Basically I will either share some info on cloth diapering, do a cloth diaper review, or MAYBE even finish my eight weeks to a cloth diaper stash posts! Would anyone be interested in seeing that finished? If you have no idea what I am talking about, start here. The posts were pretty popular and I'd like to finish them if there is any interest. 

Anyway, I'll kick off the first "Cloth Diapering Friday" post with a review for Fuzzibunz one-size diapers. You can buy these directly from Fuzzibunz or almost any site that sells cloth diapers. I got mine on Amazon. I own three of these diapers in Apple Green, Crushed Berries and Grape. The colors are really great! I got mine really cheap (Amazon coupons back in 2011) and I wish I would have gotten more! Fuzzibunz is probably my favorite one size pocket diaper, or at least tied for first with Happy Heiny one size pockets. 

What makes Fuzzibunz different from many other one-size diapers is  the unique adjustable elastic. Most OS (one-size) diapers have a snapping front. Because of Fuzzibunz patented adjustable elastic, FB OS diapers tend to be "trimmer" (less bulky) than most OS diapers. They also come with extra elastic, although I've never had to use mine. I found that the adjustable elastic fit smaller babies better than my other OS diapers. The picture on the right is Mikaela in Crushed Berries around three weeks old (yes, she was fat.) Most of her other OS diapers didn't fit until a few weeks later. The Fuzzibunz one-size diaper only has a snap option, so if you prefer aplix they may not be for you. I think that aplix is easier, but snaps hold up better. Diapers with snaps look "new" much longer and possibly have a higher selling value because of that. 

So overall I definitely recommend the Fuzzibunz one-size diaper. I've only had ONE problem. My Apple Green diaper has had about four snaps fall off, and my Crushed Berries diaper has a loose snap. I have never had any problems with my other snapping diapers (Bumgenius, Flip, Sunbaby, etc.) so I'm not sure if I just got a bad batch or if this is common for Fuzzibunz. I have not contacted Fuzzibunz because it had been about a year since I bought the diapers, and I did not think they would be covered. So the Fuzzibunz one-size diaper gets a 9/10 from me. Other than possible faulty snaps (which is an easy fix) these diapers are trim, have a great fit, hold up well, and are very cute! 
 

 
Note: This is my personal opinion about my use with these diapers, I have not been compensated by Fuzzibunz in any way! I bought these diapers at full price, with coupons, and this is just my personal opinion!

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U-Haul Truck Rental Review

I just received an e-mail from U-Haul asking me to rate my recent truck rental. As Meagan mentioned, I recently moved (last weekend) and I used U-Haul. The reason that  I chose U-Haul was because it was  the only moving company that offered a pick-up in my area. Or so I thought.. I went online and reserved my rental on a  Tuesday evening. I thought that reserving on Tuesday would ensure that the truck I needed would be at my location on Saturday. I received a call Friday evening (at about 3:30PM) from a U-Haul representative telling me that not only was the truck I reserved not available at my location, but there were NO trucks available at my location!! I honestly thought that was WHY I reserved early. I asked her what I could do, she told me I could drive 65 miles away and pickup my truck. Or 80+ miles, those were my only options. At that point it was Friday evening, I had a doctors appointment, and there was no way to reserve another truck to move on Saturday. I had no choice.

The move went fine, other than the fact that I had to spend three hours picking up a truck on Saturday. I worked all week so I had intended to spend those three hours to finish packing. I was given an extra 75 miles, and an extra 24 hours. That was nice.. but I still had to pay for the 65+ miles in gas out of pocket. If you've ever rented a truck, you know that gas really adds up. I'm not at all happy with my experience. I wouldn't recommend U-Haul to anyone. The staff was pretty friendly, the truck was fine (kind of, the A/C was a little funky) but what does that matter when you can't have the rental that you reserved?? I don't recommend U-Haul. I know that Meagan used Penske when she moved and had no problems. Considering U-Haul is one of the more expensive moving companies, they really aren't worth the extra cost and hassle. I wrote a negative review, and I doubt anything will come of it. I just hope that someone will read this and skip U-Haul entirely.



 

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Flirty Aprons as Low as $4.16

Right now you can score an apron from the Flirty Aprons Irregular Apron Sale for as low as $4.16! Their aprons are so cute and stylish. To grab this deal, head on over to Flirty Aprons and choose an apron. The Irregular Apron Pink Chocolate is on sale for $5.95, and there are quite a few girls' aprons on sale for $4.95 as well. With the coupon code BACK2SCHOOL30, you can get an extra 30% off at checkout. So, you could potentially get a women's apron for as low as $4.16, and a girls apron as low as $3.46! If you've never owned an apron because they all look like something you'd see your grandmother wear, now is the time to buy that fun, flirty apron you've always wanted. It's also a great idea as a gift for that baker in your life.

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Free subscription to Natural Health magazine!

Head over here and fill out a short survey to receive a free subscription of Natural Health magazine! I don't know much about this magazine but I've heard good thing about it, and it's free! Hurry because these deals never last long.

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The Children's Place: Stock Up Sale

Just in time for back to school, The Children's Place is having their Stock Up Sale. You can get FREE shipping on all denim, with denim as low as $10. You can also get graphic tees as low as $5, and school uniforms up to 25% off. 

To sweeten the deal, we have a coupon code for you for 20% off your total purchase. The code is E6H76QDP82. So, you could potentially get two new outfits (two pairs of jeans and two shirts) for $24! That is pretty cool! If your little one is going to need long pants for the fall, I would definitely take this opportunity to stock up. With $10 prices, free shipping, and 20% your total, you can't beat these prices for this quality.

Also, if you use Ebates, you can earn 2.5% cash back on your order, just for shopping through their site. If you've never used Ebates before, check out my post about them here, and sign up. Everyone loves free cash back! 

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Homemade Bread is SO Delicious!

Today I spent my day over at a friends house baking bread. I have never in my life made bread, but we go through it so often in our house, that I decided I wanted to learn how to make it myself. Well, I mentioned it to my friend the other day and she said she makes all of the bread her family eats. So, she invited me over to make some with her.

Bosch Universal Plus Kitchen Machine

She has an amazing kitchen appliance that virtually does all of the work for her. She calls it her Bosch. I did a little research, and found it online. It is called a Bosch Universal Plus Kitchen Machine. She got it as a wedding gift and says it makes a lot of baking tasks much easier, but had she never received it, she would never have bought it for herself. If you check it out online, you'll understand why. Anyway, this Bosch makes making bread look so easy! She has made it without her Bosch before, but of course now that she has, why would she? So, we made some with her Bosch and it was delicious! We made four loaves of wheat bread and man was it good!

Our Homemade Wheat Bread

After leaving her house today, I was so excited to get home and start my Internet search for "how to make bread without a machine". Haha... So, when I find just the right recipe, try it, taste it, and approve it, you will be the first to know! Until then, I think I might have to buy the ingredients and visit my friend once in a while to use her Bosch. I can't get over how good it tastes!

If you have a tried and true recipe for homemade bread (without a machine), please let me know either in the comments or by emailing me, and I'll be sure to try it out and post about it. Until then, I'll keep on searching for the perfect recipe! Mmmm... My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

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BigJig Toys Up To 45% Off

If your son or daughter loves Thomas the Tank Engine, then BigJig Toys has some train sets and accessories that will be a great (inexpensive) addition to the Thomas family. For three days only, Zulily is offering these sets as low as $11.99. Anyone who has ever purchased Thomas the Tank Engine licensed products knows that one single train can cost over $10. The great news is that if you already have the Thomas Wooden Railway Set, the BigJig track sets connect to them, and they are so much cheaper!

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FREE Kid-Friendly Recipes eCookbook!

Mr. Food is offering the eCookbook ABC's of Back-To-School: 26 Kid-Friendly Recipes from Mr. Food.

Some of the recipes included in this eCookbook are; Morning Pizza, Yogurt Smoothie, Oatmeal Bars, Itsy Bitsy Pizza Bagels, Yankee Doodle Macaroni Casserole, Hot Dog Kebabs, Dirt Cups, and Popcorn Lollipops.

The eCookbook includes 26 recipes that you can either save to your computer or print. Just enter your email address on the Mr. Food website to gain access to the freebie. This is a great thing to have with back to school right around the corner. Kids are always the hardest to please when it comes to food, and with 26 new recipes for Grab 'n' Go Breakfasts, Simple Snacks, Time Saving Dinners, and Extra Fun Treats, there is no way you can go wrong with this free download.

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