How to save BIG on a new carseat

Everyone knows that I am "thrifty" (AKA cheap) but one area where I will not compromise quality are car seats. I don't mind buying things secondhand, but when it comes to carseats I would rather be safe than sorry.

I recently found two car seats on a yard sale site for a VERY good price. They were nearly $300 each new and the seller was asking $40 each. I considered it but ended up deciding that it wasn't worth it. The seller told me that the seats had never been in an accident, but I didn't know the person and I had no way of knowing if that was true or not.  They didn't expire for several years, but it wasn't a risk that I was willing to take. I am not going to make this post about carseat safety, there are many other guides out there about carseat safety and I am not an expert. If you are parent, PLEASE educate yourself about carseat safety. I really didn't "know better" when Kainan was younger and I did a lot of dumb things like forward facing him too early and probably not properly installing his seat. If you don't know how to use your carseat correctly, just ask! Someone will be able to help you.

It is important to remember that a more expensive car seat does not mean a safer car seat. All car seats in the US pass the same safety tests. The higher cost of more expensive can be due to several things. Sometimes seats have more expensive materials, or convenient features. Other times a more expensive car seat will rear face or harness for a larger age/size range. If you have larger children like I do, they will probably outgrow a cheaper seat before they are physically ready to be in a booster seat or seat belt.

So what are some ways to save on car seats without compromising quality?

• Skip the infant seat. Yes seriously! They can be an added expense that just isn't necessary if you buy a convertible seat. I'm not a fan of leaving a baby in an infant car seat all day anyway, it isn't good for their development. I am not buying an infant seat this time because my babies used them for such a short amount of time. If you are worried about how to carry your baby while out and about, buy a Moby or another safe carrier instead (hint: you can get cheap much cheaper used! Some things are totally safe to buy secondhand.)
• Do surveys or sign up for swagbucks! You can cash our your rewards for Amazon gift cards. It shouldn't take very long to add up enough points to buy a car seat. If you start when you are pregnant, you can definitely get one before your baby is born.



This is the exact seat that I got!

• Check out deal sites like No Better Deal, I just discovered this site and it is AWESOME. I bought a brand new Recaro ProRIDE Carseat for under $135!! Just as a comparison, this is the exact same seat on Amazon. I had already decided to buy this seat, and I am glad that I waited and found a deal, I saved almost $100! I also used the promo code "WELCOME" and saved an extra 10%. I also spotted a Graco MyRide 65 for $74. Mikaela has one of these and we paid over $130 for it. There are other "good" carseat brands like Britax at great prices. I also saw car seats from brands like Evenflo and Graco for under $40. They had infant seats and booster seats too. 

So there are plenty of ways to save money while making sure that your child is as safe as possible. If you have any money saving tips on car seats, I would love to hear about them! Leave a comment and let us know. 

 
**Note** I don't get any kind of kickback from any of the links on this page (except my referral link through SwagBucks.) I am just sharing these deals!

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Survey Sites that are worth your time!

First of all I would like to say that I'm not dead, I've just been very busy lately. My computer also seems to have an issue with blogger and hasn't been letting me on, but hopefully that will get better. My plan is to start blogging again daily.

I've always heard about survey sites online but never knew which ones were actually worth it. I started doing surveys on Swagbucks but those were mostly a waste of time. I would go through several minutes of questions before finding out that I didn't qualify. Over the past few months I have investigated a few sites and these are the ones that I personally recommend. There are other sites out there that may be just as good, but these are the ones that I use myself.

Synovate is really awesome because it is one of the survey sites that send you free items to try in exchange for your opinion. They also have regular surveys which you can take for points. You can use your points to buy gift cards. It takes a while to get enough points for gift cards but it's worth it, I think, because of the potential to get free items. They sent me two rolls of Bounty Extra soft paper towels a while back. Synovate is not always accepting new panelists but they send to open up for new members a couple of times per month.

i-Say is another good site that sends out product testers. I have tested toothpaste and perfume. The toothpaste had to be sent back and they never sent me a survey about it-weird? i-Say also has a reward system where points can be redeemed for rewards.

Toluna is a pretty good survey company. They send out more surveys than the others (for me, anyway) but it was similar to Swagbucks surveys in that I often did not qualify. I receive surveys less often from i-Say and Synovate but I usually qualify for those that they do send. That being said, I don't spend as much time on Toluna surveys but if you have a lot of time on your hands it would be worth it to try. Toluna has also sent me full size bottles of Panete shampoo and conditioner to try! Toluna has a reward system also where after so many points you can redeem for prizes or even a check.

I had an account on Opinion Outpost and I really liked it a lot because I got rewards quickly. However they deleted my account one day for no reason. I still recommend that you try them because for me they were the quickest to pay out. I always redeemed my points for Amazon gift cards.

I have an account with the National Consumer Panel but I've rarely used it. I had a survey opportunity yesterday for a $5 survey and they said they are sending me a check. I've heard good things about them from other people I just haven't really participated much myself.

Inbox Dollars is similar to Swag Bucks except the surveys that you take actually pay out. Usually $.50 per survey but sometimes more. You also get a bonus for signing up. Once you reach $30 you can request a check. There are many things that you can do besides surveys but their surveys are worth it as well.

There are plenty of other sites out there. I recently signed up for MyPoints but I haven't used it at all because I've been too busy. If you do any surveys sites post a reply and let me know what you use and how you like it!

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My experience with making laundry soap

Since Meagan posted about making laundry soap I had been wanting to try it. I was just waiting to run out of my regular laundry detergent (All Free&Clear) so that I could use the container for storing my homemade soap. Although the original "recipe" calls for using Fels-Naptha soap I heard that it can be harsh on babies skin. My babies do have sensitive skin so I wanted to be careful. I read that a lot of people use a bar of Dr. Bronners soap so I decided to try that. I used a $5 gift card purchased with Swagbucks and bought the bar of soap (it was about $4.) The washing soda and borax were things that I already had, I bought them at a local grocery store. I had also previously bought some bars of Fels-Naptha. I did use some of the bar of Fels-Naptha (just a little) and the entire bar of Dr. Bronners. I followed the directions exactly and everything seemed fine. I decided to try to liquid version (Meagan uses the powder) because it lasts longer. Everything went fine making the soap until the end. You are supposed to put it in a 5 gallon bucket to "thicken" overnight. Well, it didn't thicken. It also didn't "gel" when I put it in the old  detergent container. I'm not sure why, because I followed the "recipe" exactly. I know others who have used Dr. Bronners without having this problem, so I don't think it's the soap. I used it today to wash a load on laundry and they are clean, so I guess that's what matters! I recommend that anyone tries this, whether you use the liquid or powder recipe it will save a lot of money on laundry detergent.

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What you can buy with Swagbucks

Meagan said that I should post some of the stuff that I've bought on Amazon. Now I went to my Amazon and had made 69 purchases in the past 6 months so I don't think I'll share ALL of them. Before you think that I am some crazy shopaholic I should mention that 63 of these were purchased with Amazon coupons and cost me little or nothing. In fact, since I am WEIRD I have a spreadsheet detailing all of my Amazon purchases and my total cost. In case you were wondering my total for those 63 purchases was $188.66. That sounds like a pretty good deal, but when you consider that $125 of that was a carseat for Kainan the total comes to $63.66. So basically less than $1 per purchase, not bad huh? Okay I've gotten off topic. Most of that $63.66 was Amazon gift cards that I have bought with my swag bucks. You definitely don't have to use your swag bucks to buy gift cards, but here are some of the things I have purchased on Amazon using swag bucks (combined with gift cards as I mentioned.)

Rockin' Green is the only soap that I use for my diapers. I have used regular laundry soap and it just doesn't get the smell out of diapers as well as Rockin' Green does. There are many places that sell Rockin' Green online but I buy mine through Amazon because of the free shipping. Rockin' Green can also be used on regular clothes (although I don't because I am cheap) and has many uses besides laundry.

Amazon has a lot of different cloth diapers. Cloth diapering saves money (as long as you don't go overboard!) and using swag bucks to buy Amazon gift cards saves even more. I bought this Fuzzibunz Onesize diaper with Amazon coupons and paid only $1.97 for it (which was covered by my gift cards from swag bucks.) I also bought two others for $3 and $5. Just as a warning, this diaper does not NEARLY fit to 45 pounds like it says it does (Kainan is just under 40 and it won't fit him at all) but it works really well for Mikaela and should for months.

Diego cups

Amazon has lots of cups, bottles, binkies, etc. and a lot of times the price is cheaper than it would be a store like Wal-Mart or Target. During the Amazon coupon promotions I bought two sets of cups for Kainan. One with Diego and one with Backyardigans. Kids seem to lose cups so quickly it never hurts to have extras! I also bought some 2 packs of Playtex Drop-ins bottles (in the 4oz and 8oz sizes) as well as Playtex Breastmilk storage kits.

organic cotton toy

Amazon also has a lot of natural baby products for very good prices. I bought a 3 pack of Johnson's Naturals baby wash (I was curious to try it even though I'm not a fan of the Johnson's brand.) I also bought a 2 pack of Burt's Bees Bubble bath, which I love. Amazon has really good prices (much better than Wal-Mart) when you buy multiples and it never hurts to have extras. I also bought some organic cotton stuffed toys, organic cotton blankets, BPA free teethers, and organic cotton preemie prefold diapers (tons of uses for these.)

I had to dig through those 69 entries to see if I had actually bought anything for myself. I lost my camera battery charger (I have since found it) and ordered a replacement. Sometimes Amazon has the best price on electronics also. Amazon is also great for buying movies and books. Years ago all that you really thought when you heard "Amazon" was books! Wow has that changed.

Nautilus

I bought Kainan a Graco Nautilus car seat on Amazon. I didn't use swag bucks for this (I didn't have any) but I used a $10 off coupon and Amazon had the best price at the time anyway. Kainan is very large for his age and was getting too big for the 5 point harness in his other two car seats (an Alpha Omega Elite and a Graco Comfortsport) so we bought him this. I have to recommend this carseat to anyone who has a bigger kid! They can be in the 5pt until 65 pounds and after that it is a high back or backless booster also. It is only forward facing so it is obviously not an infant seat but it works great for bigger kids.

Mikaela's room (which she is never in) has a Fisher price Rainforest/Precious planet theme and Amazon had some great deals on decorations for that. I bought this wall plague and also some wall stickers. Amazon had lots of other stuff to fit this theme but it was mostly stuff that I already had.

boy colors

If you cloth diaper having wet bags is very important. I made my own hanging wet bags and pail liner, but I did buy two sets of these Kushies 2 packs (boy and girl colors) on Amazon. They are just over $10 for two wet bags. These are really great to use in the diaper bag when you are out. Even though they are drawstring I haven't had any leaks at all. Even if you don't cloth diaper these little bags have many uses. They can be used to hold dirty clothes, sippy cups, bottles, clean clothes, toys, etc!

I use Dr. Bronners soap Fels-Naptha. I used a $5 gift card that I bought with swag bucks to purchase this and only had to pay $.25 out of pocket!

soon to be my new cup!

So as you can see there are a LOT of options for what you can buy with Amazon gift cards purchased with swag bucks. I have one $5 giftcard right now and I am about to have a $15 credit to my account. I will also be getting 2 or 3 more $5 cards soon so now comes the fun of figure out what to get! Meagan sent me a link to some super cool reusable cups and I am definitely getting some!! My husband has a reusable coffee mug that we bought at Wal-Mart and they have lots of similar stuff on Amazon. I am definitely going to buy a couple of these for Josh and myself, and maybe one for Kainan. They seem kind of expensive at nearly $8 each but when you consider that buying a soda or other drink while you are out costs close to $2 they're not so bad. While looking at these kinds of cups I found so much more reusable stuff that I'd never thought of like these snow cone cups. Using products like these saves money and is better for the environment, so everybody wins!

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My Latest Swag from Swagbucks!

I snagged a bracelet from the Swag Store last week, and wanted to show off just how pretty it is. I'm a huge bracelet nut, and I never spend any Swagbucks on myself, so I figured I deserved it. My husband (of course) was thrilled that it was free!

It's the Pearl Elastic Bracelet in the Jewelry section of the Swag Store. Mine isn't picture in the store, but I love it! It says it comes in assorted colors and shapes. I was kind of worried, since you can't choose the color you want, but I was very happy with their choice! Plus, it was only 379 SB, so it was totally worth it! It's very well made and can be dressed up or worn with a pair of jeans.

I know a lot of people only use their Swagbucks for Amazon gift cards, but there really is some great swag in the store. When I get Amazon gift cards, I always end up using the cards on stuff for the boys. So why not get something nice for myself for a change?

Let's see your swag!

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Getting back into shape - Day 2

I honestly didn't intend to blog about this every day.. but who knows, maybe I will? It gives me motivation to actually work out. I really hope that I can show other moms that you absolutely can MAKE time to work out, even if it's just 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there. Today went fairly well. I did 20 minutes on the Biggest Loser workout game for the Kinect. If you have a Kinect, BUY THIS! You can even use swagbucks since it is sold on Amazon. :) Check out my swagbucks guide here. Anyway I was weighed on a digital scale and it turns out I weigh 135, not 134. :) I go back to this same scale in 2 months so I think my "goal" is to be 120 by then. That is still 5 lbs above my pre-pregnancy weight so I think it's doable! So that is my long-term goal, and these are my current every day goals:

Drink more water and less of everything else that I drink. This is hard because I really just don't like water!

Do at least 20 minutes on the Kinect at least 5 days a week. I am starting with 20 minutes at a time for now and will bump it up if I feel okay. I am still only 4 weeks postpartum.

Eat healthier, make more meals from scratch. We have been doing much better at this lately, it was just crazy the first couple of weeks after Mikaela was born.

So that's it. If you are currently trying to tone up/lose weight/get healthier, feel free to post your goals and/or tips!

Tip of the day: Carry around a bottle or jug (reusable of course) of water with you. That way it is handy if you get thirsty. You will end up drinking much more water this way, especially if it's not usually the first thing you reach for when you realize you're thirsty.

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Guide to Swagbucks

I talk about Swag Bucks a lot and with good reason, it is one of the best ways to earn a little bit of extra money with very little effort. The first thing you need to do (if you haven't already) is sign up.

So what is swag bucks? Swag bucks is basically a search engine that rewards you for doing searches and other activities. It is paid for by sponsors so it is completely free to use. Once you have collected your swag bucks you can use them in the swag store to buy gift cards or other things. I strongly recommend buying the Amazon gift cards but there are other gift cards as well. So far I have gotten over $100 in gift cards with fairly minimal effort. I am by no means an expert and there are many people out there who make lots more than I do, but this is what worked for me and I wanted to share it because hopefully it will work for you too!

Once you have swag bucks, the first thing you should do is download the tool bar.

You will probably forget about your account if you don't do this!! It's really not a pain at all and helps you keep track of your earnings. It also gives you easy access to the daily poll and the other ways to earn. You can also set swagbucks as your homepage but this isn't really necessary if you use the tool bar. There are several ways to make a few swag bucks daily and each will only take seconds:

1. Make sure to check the daily poll every day.

2. Also check the NOSO, just click through the sponsors (saying no thank you or skip if you are not interested) and after a few clicks you get 2 swag bucks.

3. Check out the surveys. You will get 1 swag buck daily just for clicking on the survey link and if you get to do a survey you will get lots more. I don't do them daily (I don't qualify) but surveys have been a big earner for me.

4. Shopping has been another big one for me. If I need to buy something from one of their sponsor sites (say Walmart or Overstock) I do it through them. You are awarded 2 swag bucks for every dollar spent! I do a lot of shopping online (because we live in the middle of no where) so this can really add up if you use it correctly.

There are lots of other ways, like playing games, watching videos, referrals, and special offers. The ones I listed above are the "easy" ways and if you do them daily you should be able to get a gift card or two every month with minimal effort.

Here is the most important part, download the tool bar and USE IT. Forget Google (even though it's arguably a better search engine) and use the swag bucks search for everything. I don't use quick links for things like facebook or Drury University (my school) I just search for them every single time in the toolbar. It takes about 2 seconds and I "win" for searching 3-4 times a day!! That is about 30-40 swag bucks a day just for searching and it really adds up over a month.

I hope this helps anyone who didn't understand swag bucks!

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Make Some Extra Money from Home

Have you ever thought about making some extra spending money from home?

There are many SAHM's who actually work from home (WAHM) doing various things. You could do freelance writing, transcription work, manage a website and sell your own creations. Anyway, that is for a different post. This post is just a few ideas as to how you can make some extra spending money from home. My sister works a full time job, but spends her lunch break completing surveys. Just an hour a day, Monday through Friday makes her enough money to cover her groceries each month. There are a lot of ways to make extra spending money from home. I was a WAHM for over 3 years. I know the legitimate companies and the scammers. I will never advertise a company or business that I haven't personally used myself. So, here are a few ways to make your wallets a little fluffier.

Online Surveys:
These are companies that pay you for your feedback. Once you set up your account, you'll have access to various profile surveys. After you've filled out your profile surveys, you'll be invited to participate in surveys that fit your criteria. Once you complete a survey, you'll either receive a dollar amount or points towards cashing out, into your account.
1) Paid Viewpoint
2) Opinion Outpost
3) i-Say

Viewing Ads:
These are sites that pay you to view advertisements. It's a way for smaller companies to get their brand out to the public. Some of these sites send emails for you to view, and others have you go to their site, login, and view the ads. Either way, your still getting paid for a few seconds worth of viewing.
1) Clixsense
2) Hits4Pay

Etc:
These are sites that you can earn money or points to put towards cashing out by doing various activities. You can earn by playing games, searching the Internet, viewing ads, completing surveys, and even shopping.
1) Swagbucks
2) Inboxdollars
3) MyPoints

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