2010 January — MomStart

30% off at Gift Hero Annual Sale

January 11, 2010 By Momstart 3 Comments

To make room for new inventory, Gift Hero is having their first annual January sale! From now through January 25th, they are offering 30% off a large selection of toys, games and puzzles. Some of the too-good-to-miss gifts on sale are the 333-piece Building Set from Clics, the C9-R Sports Car from Automoblox, Air Force One Playset from Daron, Sleeping Beauty Ballet Theater from Candlewick Press, and the Bling by Number Tote Bag from Fashion Angels. To see all of the sale products, visit the sale category.

Shop now for the best selection and stock up on gifts for this year’s birthday parties. Remember, if you spend $75 or more, you’ll get free shipping.

Filed Under: Announcement Tagged With: Air Force One Playset, annual sale, Candlewick Press, Clics, Daron, Gift Hero, Sale, Sleeping Beauty Ballet Theater

Meal Plan Monday

January 10, 2010 By Momstart 8 Comments

I’m trying to make a plan that doesn’t take me to the grocery store. Even though I need to get some fruit and fresh veggies for snack time for my babies. I’m going to start giving them veggies for one of their snacks every day. Probably what I should have been doing from the start, the transition might make them grumpy for a while but they’ll get used to it.

Monday – Corn Chowder

Tuesday – Left Over

Wednesday – grilled cheese

Thursday – Fruit Pancakes

Friday – Quesadilla’s

Saturday – Corn Bread and Chili

Sunday – Grilled Chicken and veggies

Link up and I’ll come leave a comment on yours

For more Meals visit the Org Junkie.

Filed Under: Meal plan Tagged With: Meal plan, menu plan monday, orgjunkie

Sunday Savings, What’s your best Money Saving Tip? #giveaway

January 10, 2010 By Momstart 1,199 Comments

It’s Sunday and it’s the day that I set aside to scour the ads and collect coupons from the Sunday paper. I also go blog hopping and find the best deals at the pharmacy stores like Rite Aid, Walgreens, and CVS.

When I looked in the paper, I saw that there are three things you can get free at Rite Aid this week.

Contac Cold & Flu Get $4.99 SCR #33 (Limit 1)

GE Soft White Light Bulbs, $2 Get $2 SCR #89

Theraflu, 4.99, Get $3 SCR #38 use coupon in Sunday paper (Limit 1) Then it’s free.

I like to also see them listed on the internet so I’ll do a search to find them. To find deals at your favorite store, go to your browser and type in “store name” “deals” “date”

Example 1

: Rite Aid deals 1 10

Pulled up:

Rite Aid Deals 1/10-1/16 | The Freebie Blogger

Jan 9, 2010 … Here are the best deals at Rite Aid for the week of 1/10-1/16.
thefreebieblogger.com/rite-aid-deals-110-116/ – 23 hours ago –

Rite Aid Deals: 1/10-1/16/10

Rite Aid Deals: 1/10-1/16/10. by Marcy on January 9, 2010. RiteAid Here are a few of my favorite deals at Rite Aid this week, with thanks to Shannon at For …
www.stretchingabuckblog.com/2010/01/rite-aid-deals-110-11610.html –

Rite Aid Deals Week of 1/10/10

Jan 10, 2010 … Rite Aid Deals Week of 1/10/10. by Tara Kuczykowski on January 9, 2010 · 2 comments. Would you like to have these great deals delivered …
www.dealseekingmom.com/rite-aid-deals-week-of-11010/ – 18 hours ago –

Example 2:

Walgreens deals 1-10

Walgreens Deals 1/10-1/16 « A Thrifty Mom

Jan 9, 2010 … Walgreens Deals 1/10-1/16. walgreens logo. Thanks to Moms By Heart for help with these Walgreens Match ups. Please note that I only list the …
athriftymom.com/2010/01/walgreens-deals-110-116

Mummy Deals: SNEAK PEAK: Walgreens Deals 1/10 – 1/16/10 – 9 FREEBIES!

That includes Walgreens! After a well deserved break I’m happy to be back and I look like I "blew the deals" in as I came too!!! Works 1/10/10 only: Oscar …
www.mummydeals.org/…/sneak-peak-walgreens-deals-110-11610-9.html

Walgreens Deals 1/10-1/16 | Frugal Fritzie

Jan 9, 2010 … Here’s my take on the best deals each week. Free deals are highlighted in green. If you’re not familiar with all Walgreens has to offer …
www.frugalfritzie.com/2010/01/09/walgreens-deals-110-116/ – 21 hours ago –

Example 3:

CVS deals 1 10

CVS Deals Week of 1/10/10

CVS Deals Week of 1/10/10. by Tara Kuczykowski on January 9, 2010 · 7 comments. Would you like to have these great deals delivered right to your inbox? …
www.dealseekingmom.com/cvs-deals-week-of-11010/ – 23 hours ago –

CVS Deals 1/10 – 1/16

Jan 9, 2010 … CVS Deals 1/10 – 1/16. by Frugal Coupon Living on January 9, 2010. CVS 101 HERE. 8 Tips to Couponing HERE. Coupon Acronyms and Explanations …
www.frugalcouponliving.com/2010/01/09/cvs-deals-110-116/ –

CVS Deals 1/10

Here are the CVS deals for the week of 1/10. … CVS Deals 1/10. by Crystal Collins on January 9, 2010. in CVS · logo cvs CVS Deals 1/10 …
www.thethriftymama.com/2010/01/cvs-deals-11.html

Example 4:

Target Deals 1 10

Target Deals 1/10 | Short On Cents

Jan 10, 2010 … less $1/2 from 1/3 RP. pair with (2) $1/1 Target Printable. Final: $1.78/3. Target Deals 1/10 SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend …
shortoncents.blogspot.com/2010/01/target-deals-110.html – 2 hours ago –

Target Deals: 1/3-1/9/10

Jan 3, 2010 … Target Deals: 1/3-1/9/10. by Marcy on January 3, 2010. target frugal mom blogger columbus ohio Here is a list of the best deals that I see …
www.stretchingabuckblog.com/2010/01/target-deals-13-1910.html -

Target Deals 1/3/10 | Coupon Kim

Jan 3, 2010 … FREE $5 Gift Card WYB 10 Weight Watchers Smart Ones $1.89 each: $4/10 printable $3/10 printable $5/$10 printable $1/5 printable $1/5 All …
couponkim.com/2010/01/target-deals-1310/

For Grocery Stores you have to change the date to Wednesday

Example:

Safeway deals 1 6

Safeway Deals 1/6 – 1/12

Jan 6, 2010 … Safeway Deals 1/6 – 1/12. by Frugal Coupon Living on January 6, 2010. Christy at The Bargain Jargon has your Safeway deals this week. …
www.frugalcouponliving.com/2010/01/06/safeway-deals-16-112/ –

Safeway Deals Week of 1/6 – 1/12

Safeway Deals Week of 1/6 – 1/12. by Julia on January 5, 2010 · 6 comments … Safeway Select or O Organics Pizza – $2.99ea (limit 1) …
thefrugalfind.com/safeway-deals-week-of-16-112/ –

Safeway Deals 1/6 – 1/12 | BankFiesta.com – Best deals in savings …

Here are the Safeway deal thanks to Charlene at My Frugal Adventures. These are highlights… to see all the deals at Safeway this week go HERE Cross Rib …
bankfiesta.com/All/Safeway-Deals-1-6-1-12 –

Example:

Albertsons deals 1 6

Albertson’s Deals 1/6 – 1/12 | Maven of Savin’

Jan 6, 2010 … Albertson’s Deals 1/6 – 1/12. I will now be bringing you Albertson’s deals every week courtesy of my blogger pals over at FabulesslyFrugal. …
www.mavenofsavin.com/2010/01/albertsons-deals-16-112.html -

Albertsons Deals 1/6 | Coupon Kim

Jan 7, 2010 … I’m teaming up with Kerri over at Save At Home Mommy to now provide deals from Albertsons! I’m listing my top picks below, but you can get …
couponkim.com/2010/01/albertsons-deals-16/ -

Albertson’s Deals 1/6 – 1/12 | Albertson’s LLC

Jan 6, 2010 … Albertson’s Deals 1/6 – 1/12. Thanks to Save at Home Mommy Kerri for these great deals at Albertson’s this week. …
www.abundantfoodsavings.com/Albertson…/albertsons-deals-16-112.html –

I’m sure that’s way more examples than anyone needed but it’s a good way for me to keep up with all the stores I like to shop at. I like to save as much money as possible while doing my shopping. By doing these searches I also find a lot of new blogging friends who share the desire to save money any way they can.

To Enter:

Just by answering the question, “what’s your best money saving tip?” and leaving the answer in the comments will enter you into a chance to win 50.00 from American Express. (required)

Extra Entries:

Advertise this giveaway on any giveaway site and tell me where you advertised it. 10 Extra Entries
Subscribe to my blog (recommended so that you don’t miss winner’s announcements)
Follow me on twitter tell me your twitter ID
Blog or facebook about the giveaway include a link to me for 10 extra entries
Tweet about the giveaway and include a link to the giveaway.
Comment on any other non giveaway post and come back and tell me you did
Use any of the Share options at the bottom of this post: (two entries for each one)
Add my button/blog to your blogroll/friend list 3 extra entries
Email anyone you know to tell them about the giveaway include a link to the giveaway, carbon copy louise@looksblue.com (1 extra per e-mail address)

Add the Mom Start Saving Button to your blog, facebook page, or myspace page, using the code above.

Going Green, cell phone recycling

January 9, 2010 By Momstart 8 Comments

This is just a portion of a large photo taken by photographer Chris Jordan. He has taken a lot of pictures regarding American Mass Consumption. It’s horribly mesmerizing that there is so much junk that he can take a series of photos about our trash and waste. The photos are beautiful but they speak loudly at our great amount of waste.

When was the last time you really thought about all your waste? Do you really think about your cell phone usage and that upgrade to the newest iphone or whatever version of cell phone that you upgrade to? What do you do with the last one. I once asked my sister if she ever considered it and she said, “we always pass our phones down”. So I asked her, what happens to that last one? She just shrugged her shoulders at me. Which meant, she didn’t really care and had never thought about it. She only thought about the fact that she thought she was doing something good because she handed her phone off to someone else, therefore making the problem someone else’s problem to think about.

What if you could recycle your phone and get paid for it too? I’m sure many of you already know about phone recycling programs. I’ve heard of them, like different cell phone recycling programs or making a cell phone donation to troops. There are a few, but I had never heard of Flipswap before. At Flipswap you can do a cell phone trade in for money donate it to charity, or trade it for a different one, and in the process you are reducing the waste on the planet. Flipswap will provide you with the shipping label so there is no cost to you making this donation. You print it out and slap it on your phone, it’s that easy.

Check out my new disclosure policy.

Filed Under: Announcement Tagged With: cell phone donation, cell phone recycling, cell phone trade in, going green, Recycle, recycling

New Single From Barenaked Ladies. I love them.

January 8, 2010 By Momstart 6 Comments

"You Run Away," the first single from the Ladies’ latest album All In Good Time, debuted on the band’s website to acclaim from fans both new and old. With “You Run Away,” the band continues to evolve and mature but still stays true to the classic, inimitable Barenaked Ladies sound. Those who love the song are encouraged to share it with friends on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. For a chance to win one of ten free downloads of "You Run Away" before it’s available on iTunes, visit BarenakedLadies.com and sign up for the band’s newsletter.

Filed Under: Announcement Tagged With: All in Good Time, Barenaked Ladies, music release, single, You Run Away

Free Purex Complete 3-in-1 Sample (free laundry detergent)

January 8, 2010 By Momstart 3 Comments

I am one of the Purex Insiders, so I’m the first to know when something is new. I’ve tried them and they work quite well. What are they?

Each sheet contains the laundry detergent you need to wash your clothes and then you move it into the dryer at the end of the load and it’s a dryer sheet. (fabric softener). It’s an all – in – 1.

They are giving out free samples. Go sign up.

Filed Under: freebie Tagged With: free sample, freebie, purex 3 - in - 1 review, Purex insiders

Fitness Friday One Week At Time

January 7, 2010 By Momstart 9 Comments

I set my goal really low so that I would be able to make it. I made it and I feel ok about it. I just can’t really do anything big to make any progress right now except starve myself and that’s out of the questions. I need to eat to help my body heal. I guess I just need more time to feel like I”m human again. Then I’ll be able to move around and stuff.

Then the fun will start and I’ll be able to lose some weight.

I’m eating healthier than I was and making changes and that’s the real goal here, is to change my overall eating to be more healthy. In the process I want to change the way my kids eat too. I’m really worried about my daughter. She’s only three but I’m still very concerned. My husband and I were talking about it tonight and we need to make changes for her.

Neither he or I are large people, we both could lose a few pounds but we both come from the potential genetics to be large. It’s those genes that I see in her. One side of my family, my mother’s side, struggles with weight more than my dad’s side, and for my husband his family seems to be the same. It’s harder for women to lose weight than it is for men too. So I know that if I can teach her to eat right now then she’ll be fine.

Mostly though, I think if we could just get the whole family moving more then it would be easier. I’m just at my wits end here blaming myself. The doctor didn’t seem to concerned, I mean do they anymore. Would my doctor tell me if I need to do something, I mean all she told me today was to make sure that Zoe is eating the low fat version of everything. That’s what we eat. I don’t give her cookies, you would think I’m an evil mom if you were at a play date with me. hmmm. I’m sure she’ll be fine. Andrew and I are both on the more slender side, I’m just hoping to make changes in my health and maybe through being a good example she’ll be fine.

So back to me, I weigh in at 152. All the moms in my MOMS club weighed in today and I missed it because I’m still taking it easy. Anyways, I felt that I should publicly announce my weight since they all did it in front of each other. I want to get down to at least 145, but would be really happy at 135. I have so many cute clothes that I can’t wear anymore and I would love to be able to wear.

Immediate goals for the next week.

Again, drink a ton of water

I’m going to up my walking goal to 5 times for next week. I know that I barely made my goal of three times last week, but even if I have to take the kids out in the rain, I’m going to drag them out at least five times. That’s the one thing I really HATE about WA. The rain, it does rain as often as people say it does. Guess I better just suck it up and get used to it. Ok, so that’s my rant for the week. Me and changing the health of my whole family so that my little girl will be healthy.

Filed Under: Fitness Friday, personal Tagged With: exercise, Fitness, Fitness Friday, healthy living, Wii Mommies

Ways to Save with the My Savings blog and affiliate program.

January 7, 2010 By Momstart 13 Comments

I write for My Savings. I will post announcements here and there about places you can go to sign up for more savings. Like the Home Depot post I had a few days ago. All you have to do is sign up for the newsletter and you get savings delivered to your mailbox and I’ll make a few cents. It’s a very slow way to make money because most of my readers are here for the giveaways, or for my stories. But if it catches my eye and is something that I have signed up for in the past I figure someone else might want to sign up for it too. If you would like to look into making money on your blog just by posting ways to save here is my affiliate link to My Savings.

You don’t have to work for them to save money. And a penny saved is a penny earned and with coupons and savings web sites I save in the hundreds a month. All that extra cash pays for our new home, so here are some tips on how you too can save a bundle over the next year.

When you travel over to the My Savings blog then you are introduced to so many ways to save. You can find Free Samples a Prilosec OTC offer and a place to sign up for more free offers like vocalpoint. Vocalpoint is a wonderful source of monthly free trials along with coupons for you to give out to all of your friends.

Freebies and free products often come with more coupons that you can use at the store. It’s really slow on my blog right now so I need to be more diligent about signing up for all those wonderful freebies. Sometimes you can find some really good ones where the free samples are full size packages. I love it when I get something in the mail and it’s just free. No blogging about it required. It’s wonderful and it saves us a few dollars. It’s also usually a brand new product. Giving out free samples is a perfect way for companies to introduce something to mothers.

I use Grocery Coupons religiously. Saving money is the way I help support our family. I print every coupon I can match up with a planned purchase. That’s the key, it’s planning and when you walk out of the grocery store with 200.00 worth of groceries and you only spent 75.00 you feel amazing. This is what I do, I look at what I need, and what’s on sale. Then I find a coupon for every item on my list. It’s not always possible but if you use magazines, printable coupons, free product coupons, Entertainment Book Coupons, then you will find almost all that you need. If you can’t find the coupon you need on my savings, just google it. Someone knows where the coupon you need is.

The My Savings Blog has all of these offers and more. You can find rebates, free trials, and magazine articles. It’s a great place to start saving.

Filed Under: Save money Tagged With: coupons, free samples, Grocery Coupons, My Savings, My Savings blog, Save money, Vocalpoint

Collectible Coke Medallions

January 7, 2010 By Momstart 4 Comments

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of iCoke.ca. All opinions are 100% mine.

I’m so excited about the upcoming Olympics. I mean they feel like they are happening in my back door, and I still forgot to get myself some tickets. Hmm, this is probably the opportunity of a life time for them to be happening so close and not only are they close they are my preferred season to watch. I love the winter Olympics. Going to watch ice skating live has always been a dream of mine. I’ve always wished I could ice skate too.

Are you going to the Olympics or do you live in Canada? For those of you that will be or are in Canada you can earn iCoke Coins in honor of the Winter Olympics being held in Vancouver. This offer is exclusive to Mac’s Convenience Stores. In addition to the coins though, you can collect medallions. How do you collect them? All you have to do is purchase two of your favorite coke products. It has to be easy if you are a coke fanatic like I am. I love Coke, Sprite, Power Aid. MMM, all that sugar it’s a wonderful thing added to caffeine in coke.

So, buy two 591mL products at Mac’s Convenience Store and you will receive FREE Coca-Cola Collectible Medallion. There are three different medallions to choose from. This promotion is offered from January 4 2010, until February 28th 2010 and is subject to availability.

Filed Under: Announcement Tagged With: Coke, collectibe coke medallions, iCoke, olympics, Vancouver, Winter Olympics

U.S. Wellness Meats 75.00 Sampler Pack Review and #Giveaway

January 6, 2010 By Momstart 976 Comments

I recently had the opportunity to work with US Wellness Meats. They offered to send me a few samples and I’m quite pleased with what I received. I haven’t even eaten it all yet. They sent me two packages of Beef Jerky and a Seasoned Brisket. I opened up the beef jerky and it tasted like I was eating steak. I love beef jerky, I really do, but this was better. And I wasn’t expecting it to be anything special at all. I really just thought, this is weird. I got beef in the mail off of the internet. Well, fear not people. Internet beef is good. Now I can’t wait until I get a chance to cook the brisket.

What makes the US Wellness meat different?

The package on the beef jerky said it was uncured. So my husband and I both thought, oh no, we don’t have a dehydrator. So I had to look up what it meant to have uncured meat and how do you prepare it. Well, it’s edible for sure. It just means that nothing has been added to it. There are no nitrates, and what a great taste it has as I said before.

US Wellness meats comes from a family of farmers. John Wood is a fifth generation farmer that changed the feeding cycle of his herds. Instead of feeding them grain like it was always done, he decided to let them eat naturally. They way herds did once upon a time.

One of the key secrets of the new model? Keeping the best quality forage in front of animals on a daily basis with a rotation grazing sequence. This traditional method mimics how buffalo grazed in North America for centuries, and it is the critical difference between 21st-century grass-fed and the old 1950′s mode

So now you can order grass fed cows. MMMMM.

They carry a large variety of natural products including different varieties of meat. Grassland Beef, Grassland Veal, Grassland Lamb, Free-Range Poultry, Grassland Bison, Candles, and Pet Food,

To Enter:

Visit U.S. Wellness Meats and let me know what you would like to

@momstart and @uswellnessmeats are giving away a 75.00 Sampler Pack Enter here http://bit.ly/810Wsg

Comment on any other non giveaway post and come back and tell me you did
Use any of the Share options at the bottom of this post: (two entries for each one)
Add my button/blog to your blogroll/friend list 3 extra entries
Email anyone you know to tell them about the giveaway include a link to the giveaway, carbon copy louise@looksblue.com (1 extra per e-mail address)

Example 1

Example 2:

Example 3:

Example 4:

For Grocery Stores you have to change the date to Wednesday

To Enter:

Extra Entries:

To Enter:

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