Best way to save on groceries and household products

My favorite ways to save on groceries involves clipping coupons. These are the strategies I use when doing this. 

Target

Target takes both a Target Coupon and a Manufacturer coupon so you can double up on the same items. Secondly, You can use the Cartwheel App (Available on any smartphone and get another percentage off certain products). Third, if you apply and get approved for a Target Card you can save an additional 5%.  I get ALL my manufacturer coupons either from the inserts in the Sunday newspaper or from Coupons.com

My Local Grocer (Shoprite) throws pretty good sales weekly. They also have a smartphone APP with digital coupons. Their Price Plus card also has special deals available. I am sure that ALL grocer's loyalty cards have specials attached to them. I get the coupons from their insert in the Sunday Paper, the coupons or Coupons.com.

Coupons.com is now my go-to source for specials. They have coupons for anything imaginable in one place. 

Sometimes I also check out the Krazy Coupon Lady. She has her products listed by alphabetical order and if your looking for a specific product she will usually tell you how to get the best deal for it!

-Happy Bargain Hunting

xoxo-

M

Baby Formula coupons

Hey Moms!

We all know we loveeeee saving money. If your baby drinks formula make sure you visit the website of the companies of the brand you use. They usually have a loyalty program that sends you coupons and special offer.

The brand I use (Similac) sends me $5 coupons all the time. It doesn't sound like much but it does add up. You can use 1 coupon per purchase and almost ALL retailers that sell similac accepts it. Their program is called Similac smart moms.

Enfamil also has a program called Family Beginnings.

I signed up for both of these while I was pregnant and got ALOT of free samples of formula. Similac even sent me a FULL size powder can (This has a retail price of $27.99) so that was a nice savings for me.

Enfamil also sent great samples.

Gerber also has a program called MyGerber and they also send free samples as they become available.

Organic Formulas

There are some organic Formulas that I know of, I do not know if they offer free samples but I know that Similac does have an organic version of their formula. Buy Similac Organic on Amazon

-Earth's Best (Sold at Babies R Us or on Amazon)
- Honest Company Formula (Honest, headed by CEO Jessica Alba, just introduced their own organic formula)
- Vermont Organics- Sold on Amazon


Comment Below on any other formula brand you know about!!

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My Review of the Evenflo Exersaucer Triple Fun Active Learning Center, Life in The Amazon

When my husband and I are were registering for baby products we already knew we were expecting a boy. However, when choosing things for baby we were very cautious in not going to overly "boy" just in case we decided to have a 2nd child and it was a girl.

We both love the ocean and tropical places so when we saw this excersaucer it caught our eye because it had a tropical theme. I loved the sounds it made and the animal theme. Evenflo Amazon Excersaucer.

This Excersaucr usually retails for about $100 but Amazon has it for 84.99, which is a pretty good savings. e

What I love about is the colors and the fact that it teaches babies about "Cause and Effect". My son already knows that if he bounces the blue lizzard will light up and play music.

Moms! we all know it is a pain to ask our hubby's to put things together, however, I was able to put this together fairly quickly myself, you just need a screwdriver, The directions are fairly easy to follow and once you have the base assembled putting the toys in is the easiest part!

What I love about this is that he will be able to use for years to come, Once he is done using it as a saucer it can become a play table. This  comes with 11 age-appropriate toys and fun music help baby achieve developmental milestones. Excersaucr

What I love most is that the seat cover is machine washable to that if there are any accidents you can easily wash it. The toys are also easily removable so you can use them on other evenflo products. 

I give it 5 out of 5 stars!

Vacation with baby!

Summer is right around the corner and what does this mean..It means vacations!!!!!

Vacations are excellent ways to relax, unwind, forget the daily grind and have fun with your family, but is it fun traveling with small kids?? is it worth it??

First, lets begin with how we are getting to our destination. You can drive, take a train, boat, or plane. Most of us will choose to travel by plane since it is the quickest way to get there. My airline of choice is United Airlines. If your child is under two years old I would highly reccomend not paying for a seat. They can be just as comfortable sitting on your lap. Save the money while you can. Kids who ride on laps do not pay. However, expect to pay full price if you choose to buy your child a seat and also they will need to be strapped into an FAA regulated car seat.

Now..what to bring on this trip. Lets say for the purposes of this Hub We are headed to a warm beach location.

When I get to my beach location I want to have an Inflatable Pool so that my baby can relax in it. 

I heard Pampers Swim Diapers are the best for being in the ocean/pool, so that is what I am buying, My baby is using Size "4" diapers so I am buying him size "5" in the swim diapers. 

I am not a fan of hotel cribs so I am choosing to take my own Pack N' Play, the one I use is Graco Pack N'Play

My stroller and car seat are the Chicco Cortina stroller and Chicco Key Fit 30 which I reviewed in a post yesterday.

Here is a list of things I am bringing 

- Swim trunks and rash guards, Diapers, Swim Diapers, Water shoes, Pack N'Play, Car Seat, Car Seat Base, towels, wash cloths, sling for bath, 2 outfits per day. Shoes, socks, hats, onesies, diapers, wipes, desitin or A &D suntan lotion (SpF 30 or 50) will update you on what else I take and How this adventure works out!

Inflatable Pool

Pampers Swim Diapers

Graco Pack N'Play

Best Clothing for Babies

I know that we are always looking for clothing for our babies.

One of the best clothing lines I have found is called Little Me. I ADORE their clothing..It is so soft and so cute. Best of all they have a HUGE selection for boys which is rare and if you have a son you know how hard it is to find cute clothing for boys. They have the cutest two piece outfits and the best one piece pajamas. I cannot say enough good things about this line.

Of course Little Me has an even more extensive collection for girls and it is so ADORABLE!!.

The saddest part though is that their sizing for Pajamas only goes up to 9 months. My son is wearing between 9-12 months so I am trying to squeeze as much as I can out of the 9 month pajamas and outfits we have left.

Little Me is so high quality that you can wash it over and over again and it does not fade. All moms know that we wash tons of clothes for our little ones almost everyday. To wash clothes I use Dreft Detergent or Tide Detergent.

Dreft Detergent
Link to Little Me Clothes

Be Teachers at home

Teachers are important in your child's life...I should know...I am a teacher.

However, what most parents often forget is that YOU are your children's first teacher. As a teacher I see there are some things I wish parents would teach their children. I plan to continue this as a blog series here.

Parents forget that children watch everything you do AND they mimic it outside of the house.

Here are some things I wish parents would teach their kids.

1. Say Please and Thank You- I, the teacher am not your slave, I am not Staples Office Store, I do not have an endless supply of pens, pencils and papers. If I do please remind your children that I spent my own money to buy this and that it should not be taken for granted. If I do give you something please appreciate it. Amazon has awesome supply packs for all ages and they are no expensive. 

School Supplies

2. Take care of the equipment school gives you- My students are issued their own laptops and Ipads. You should see how my students take this for granted, Ipads are broken, Laptops are lost and broken. They are taken for granted, please remind your child that there are kids in third world countries that have NOTHING.

3. Do not use foul language around your kids- They see you do it and then they do it in school..trust me even if you think your child doesn't they still do. It doesn't sound cool it is nasty and rude.

4. Please acknowledge that there is a possibility your child may behave different with us than with you..just please acknowledge it, address your concerns and move on.

5. Communicate with us..We like it trust me. Use e-mail, phone.

6. Make sure your children do their homework..its important..it reinforces what they learned in school. Please ask them.

7. Tell your children you love them. If they feel loved, it will translate into their school work.

8. Take time to teach your children at home. Reinforce the skills they learn in school. Trust me it will help them in the long run.  See the link below

Products for teaching at home

9. Read to your kids..You have no idea how much this helps and shows in their school work.

I hope you are enjoying my blog posts!

xoxo
-M

My Review of the Chicco Cortina Stoller

Hello Mommies! 

 I'm sure of you so many of you out there that are expecting a baby are so overwhelmed with the variety of products out there available for babies. Well I am here to help you out. I'm going to review the products that I chose for my son every so often. First let me tell you about how I came to the decision to buy the products I did. I owe it all to my wonderful neighbors who told us that we had to buy this incredible book called Baby Bargains.

Baby Bargains Book- Buy Here

Let begin with my stroller.

I chose the chicco stroller and car seat combo, I chose it because of the rating it received online as well as the review that the Baby Bargains Book gave it.

Chicco Cortina Stroller: Buy Here
Retail Price: 329.99

This car seat it comes with is the Chicco Key Fit 30 has been great it was easy to install in my car without too much complication, it also meets FAA standards for travel on an aircraft, I will be using it next month on an aircraft.

The stroller has been great. first and most importantly it is light weight and very very easy to fold. You just pop up the handle and bam it folds without a struggle. It is easy to put in and take out the car seat carrier as well. Also when my son sits in the stroller without the car seat it is very comfortable. It is also able to handle walking. We walk alot and it has held up pretty well.

The only con I have is that sometimes the reclining mechanism get stuck and you have to jiggle it a little to get the seat to go down. But I've heard this is common in all strollers. Second, the cloth gets a little dirty to quickly, but again I heard this is common when you have children!!! ;-)


Well I hope this review helped you out a little bit...Below I'm going to add some links to accessories I bought for the travel system.

Stroller Rain Cover
Extra Car Seat Base
Stroller toys
Chicco Key Fit Caddy

Try Amazon Mom for Free

Hey Moms!!!! Try Amazon Mom for Free...follow the link below:

Amazon Mom

How I'm Losing that post baby belly pouch

Hello Mommies!

 This post is about my post baby weight loss. Unfortunately I can't give any special remedies about how I lost weight, I by some miracle lost all of my weight. I started out at 150 when I found out I was pregnant. 7 months later I am now 146. Now don't get me wrong my body is not perfect it definitely needs some work, and according to my height I am considered over weight (5'3) However, I did breastfeed which I credit with my weightloss. I am not the most health conscious eater but I really do try. I also use another product everyday. It is a waist cincher The one I use is from a company called "Leonisa" You can find their waist cincher here. Its actually pretty comfortable and it retails for $40.00. I like it and I do see a change in my waist. 

Check it out:

Leonisa Waist Cincher

Cash back for buying groceries

Another App I use in checkout 51. This app lets you choose offers and shows you how much cash back you will get. You then take a picture of your entire receipt and upload it to the app. Within a few days you get an approval and the cash back goes into your accounts. The only catch is they will not issue you a check until you reach $20.00. 

So far I have $3.00, honestly sometimes I just forget to upload my receipt..I would probably have more money if I did. 

A way to get new stuff without spending a lot of money

Alot of people do not know this BUT..Amazon has an amazing trade in program. You can trade in basically anything for cash or merchandise.

 Click on the Links below to check it out.

 To trade in books: Trade in Books
 To trade in consumer electronics: Trade in Electronics
 To trade in Video Games: Trade in Video Games
To trade in General Merchandise: General Merchandise

Check it out folks!!

Planning for college....Where to Begin???

So My baby is only 7 months old but I've already started thinking about how expensive college is going to be when it is time for him to go. I have started saving for him, which is the obvious first thing to do. I have a savings account for him that I transfer a little bit of money into each week. But I knew there was other ways of saving, soooo I started researching 529 Plans. Wow is this confusing!!! So by definition A 529 plan is a tax-advantaged investment that to encourages saving for the college expenses of your child. Now came the hard part..which company do I choose to go with. Well, I began researching my State's plan, which is not that good by the way. But as I found through my research you can actually join the 529 plan of any state without any problem. The program I chose is administered by the State of Maine. I am also in no way endorsing them but I did open my 529 plan with Merrill Lynch. With ML I chose to invest my money in an age based portfolio. From what I understand this portfolio is an aggressive investment until my child turns 7, they then change the investments into more moderate or conservative ones. (Please anyone correct me if I am wrong). I am new at all of this. So I haven't put in too much money into it but I do see where my money is going and that is very interesting. See The Link for some books on Saving for College

Make Money While You Shop!

As any Smart Savvy Mom knows shopping is one of our favorite pastimes. One of my favorite apps and websites is ebates.com. Ebates is a website that gives you cash BACK for purchases you make through their website. Here's the catch you have to go www.ebates.com FIRST, then click on the participating store through them. You have to make sure you click on the store you want through the ebates links and portals. I shopped for my son on Sunday at the Disney Store and ordered some handsoaps at Bath and Body Works and I made $6.00 in cash back. It may not seem like alot but I am a firm believer that every little bit counts.

Alternatives to EBay

Hey mommies!

One more post for tonight..so I've been looking for some alternatives to eBay. I LIVE with my phone so I was looking for mobile apps to use.

They are very user friendly and simple. 

Some I have been using are:

Mercari- sell almost anything

Totspot-sell all things related to children 

Tophatter- sell technology related stuff. 

I haven't sold anything yet but I'll keep you posted.

Xoxo

-M

Cool way to invest without even knowing!

Hello Smarty Pants Mommies!!

So one cool App I have been using lately is called "Acorns". This app is available on Smartphones. What this app does it invests your spare change. You do have to connect it and link it to your bank account. In my case I am often weary of this but nevertheless I decided to give it a try. So I linked it and in less than one month I have invested $75.44. This is pretty awesome because what they do is they take "Round Ups" from your everyday purchases and then each time you get to $5.00 they invest it in stocks.

Now the cool part is that you choose how they invest your money. You can choose from one of 5 categories, which are: Conservative, Moderately Conservative, Moderate, Moderately Aggressive and Agressive.

I chose to go with moderately Agressive. Acorns invests your money in the following categories and in the following ways if you choose to go with moderately aggressive.

Large Company Stocks- 0.13 cents of every dollar purchases the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO)
Small Company Stocks- 0.25 cents of every dollar purchase the Vanguard Small Cap ETF (VB)
Emerging Market Stocks- 0.14 cents of every dollar will purchase the Vanguard ETF (VWO)
Real Estate Stocks- 0.22 cents of every dollar will purchase Vanguard REIT (VNQ)
Corporate Bonds- 0.21 cents of every dollar invested will purchase PIMCO investment Grade Corp Bd Index ETF (CORP)
Government Bonds- 0.05 cents of every dollar will purchase the iShares 1-3 Treasury Bond ETF (SHY)

I will update you guys on my progress monthly.

So this is in no way a way to get rich BUT it is a way to get your foot in the door of investing especially if you are just starting out like me.

I am just writing this independently, I am in no way being paid by Acorns. Also I am not responsible for any monetary loss you may have by using this app.

My First Post

Hello to all of you smart moms out there! I am so glad you are reading my blog! This blog will have alot of details of how to make us moms extra income. It will also have ideas for busy lives like ours. I hope to include products I use, recipes, and other fun stuff!! Feel free to make suggesstions! Happy Reading

xoxo
-M