You Could WIN!

Hello readers, subscribers, and followers!

Did you know I was having a GIVEAWAY??? There will be TWO winners of Fiber One Prize Packages, and so far I only have FOUR entries! Now that Christmas is over, it's time to get back into the routine and enter some giveaways! You really have a great chance at winning this one, so please enter! It only runs till midnight on 12/31, so enter today!!

Just click HERE!

Tasters Choice....What a JOKE!

I am absolutely appalled at the practices of Nescafe Tasters Choice. If they ask you to be part of their panel and host any sort of "tasting event," my advice is DON'T!! I signed up on their panel and I receive regular emails from them. As part of my participation on their so-called "panel," I agreed to distribute samples and talk up their products at an event in my home. They in turn agreed to give me "points" of some sort to earn prizes on their website. Oh, and they also promised an Amazon gift card worth $25. Seemed reasonable. They sent me two boxes of samples to distribute, and each box of sample packets was different. I figured, great...variety is a good thing.

So I held a Christmas cookie exchange in my home and served Tasters Choice, as well as offering samples to all the guests. I took the photos and submitted my information to Nescafe. They emailed me today and rejected my submission, stating that I used the "wrong" samples and therefore they wouldn't honor my event.

How is this possible?? THEY shipped me the products for the event that was approved by THEM, and now that the event has occurred, they decide it doesn't "qualify"?? Talk about lying and deceptive business practices! You promote our product to your friends and then we will find a reason to not give you anything we promised in exchange. We win, you lose. Nice, huh?

I can definitely guarantee that I will never purchase any of their products. I don't support companies that intentionally deceive the public. I'll happily purchase Starbucks Via for my instant coffee needs and equally happily share with others how they do business.

I've asked to be immediately removed from their "panel." What a joke it is. I wonder how many other people they've duped into providing them with free marketing promotion. Nescafe is truly pathetic.

Fiber One Yogurt Review and Giveaway

Actually, if you've been reading my blog for awhile, you might remember that I posted earlier this year about how much I loved-loved-loved the Fiber One Key Lime Pie Yogurt. That stuff is GOOD! I have to say that I am extremely impressed with the entire line of yogurts from Fiber One. The commercials aren't exaggerating when they say that you won't believe it's high in fiber. If the taste doesn't get you right away, the creamy texture certainly will.

Fiber One Yogurt comes in several varieties: Key Lime Pie (my personal favorite), Vanilla (quite tasty), Strawberry (soooo good), and Peach (rich and creamy). Each delicious 4 ounce cup contains a mere 50 calories, but has 3 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber and no fat! It provides you with 20% of your daily level of fiber and tastes so great that you will want more than one! What I really like about the Key Lime Pie Yogurt is that they capture not only the flavor of the pie filling that I love, but there's also a hint of pie crust flavor, too! I was surprised at how delicious this yogurt is. It definitely satisfies a craving for sweets without harming your waistline!

I've been a fan of HungryGirl for some time now, and Fiber One Yogurt is on her list of must-buy foods. They fill you up for minimal calories, and are full of goodness that your body needs. It's a win-win, no matter how you slice (or spoon) it!

BUY IT: You can find Fiber One Yogurt in the yogurt section at your favorite grocer, and to make it even better, you can find a $1 off coupon HERE.

WIN IT: Thanks to MyBlogSpark and Fiber One Yogurt, I have two fantastic prize packs to give away to YOU, my readers! You know you want to win this:



TWO lucky winners will receive this exact prize pack (but you will get a coupon for a free yogurt rather than the yogurt itself)! It's easy to enter! Just leave me a comment about how you currently include more fiber in your diet and/or how many grams you think you eat every day. That should get you thinking! :-)

For bonus entries you may do any or all of the following:

* Subscribe to or follow my blog and leave a comment that you do. If you're already a follower or subscriber, you can let me know, and it counts, too.

* Tweet this giveaway and leave me the link to your tweet in the comments.

* Blog about the giveaway with a link on your own personal blog and leave me a comment with the url.

* Grab my button and post it on your blog, then leave me the link or url so I can find it.

That's a total of 5 possible entries! You have a great chance of winning! I will use random.org to choose 2 winners from all eligible comments submitted and will notify the winners via email (so make sure your email is either easily visible in your profile or that you leave it in your comment/s).

Enter by midnight CST on Thursday, December 31st. U.S. addresses only, please. I will announce the winners on Friday, January 1st, and the prize packs will be shipped directly from My BlogSpark. Thanks for entering and good luck!!!!!

Disclosure: The product, information, prize pack, and giveaway have all been provided by Fiber One through MyBlogSpark and I received this prize package to write this review and host the giveaway.

Deals at Hen House, Kansas City

If you live in the Kansas City area and attended the Hen House Holiday food show earlier this month, you can really score some great deals this week! I'm talking 12 cans of Libby's vegetables for .88!!!! That's for TWELVE! And how about a 15.8 ounce bag of wonderful Sister Shubert's rolls for just a buck?? There are many more deals than just those, but I'm on a pretty limited budget, so I only got a few of the best ones. Here's what I purchased today for just $11.10!:

3 bags of Empire apples - $3 (produce special)
12 cans of Libby's vegetables - .88 (.49 sale, less .50/3 Hen House card discount and $1/4 manufacturer's coupons)
2 bags of Nestle morsels - $1.76 (1.88 sale less .50 c/o)
2 cans of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls - $1.96 (1.48 sale less .50/2 c/o)
Roberts Cottage Cheese - $1.10 (1.98 sale less .48 Hen House card and .40 c/o)
2 bags Sister Shubert's rolls - $2.00 (2.50 sale less $1/2 Hen House card and $1 c/o)

If you missed the food show, be sure and go next year if they do it again. Not only do you get enough samples and coupons to make up for your $5 admission fee (not to mention the free reusable bag!), but I saved $6 last week and $3.50 this week on just the few things I bought! The discounts are loaded onto your card and automatically deducted at the register until January 2nd. It's most definitely worth going!!!!

My Almost Free Christmas

I find it so difficult to believe that Christmas will be here in a bit over a month. How does the time get away from us? It will be 2010 before we take a moment to sit down and look at a calendar!

For this Christmas, I have known for awhile that I wouldn't have the money on hand that I've had in the past several (working) years to spend on gifts. So I have spent a lot of this year preparing. I haven't been shopping much until recently, but I've been setting us up to be able to "purchase" most of our gifts for nothing or very little. And, amazingly, we've managed to be successful!!

What I've done is focus on points programs that don't really cost anything. One of the programs is not one that most people can access, but most of them are out there online, and anyone can take advantage! First, I have MyPoints. If you look at the guidelines for the program, you are allowed up to two accounts per household, so I set up an account for myself and one for my husband. The best part is that if you initially set up only one account, you can then refer another household member for bonus points! If you are not a member of this program, it's fairly simple. You receive emails almost daily that advertise and direct you to specific websites. By clicking on the link they provide, you basically earn 5 points per mail. They also offer frequent surveys worth at least 10 points, and something called the MyPoints FrogPond where you can receive 25 points for simply giving your opinion on a site. If you shop online, you can go through their site and earn even more points. It's only a few points at a time for the most part, but it adds up quickly and I've been able to get more than I even anticipated with my MyPoints. If you aren't a member, I'd love to refer you - just give me your email address and I will send you an invitation.

Another program I love is ZoomPanel. This is a survey company that sends me a survey every 2-3 days. Every survey for which I do not qualify earns me 5 points; the surveys that I get to complete can be worth 50, 75, or even 100 points. In addition, I've tried many products through this company and given them my opinions. You can redeem these points for a multitude of items in their gift catalog - and they have some really nice stuff!! Again, I'd be happy to refer you - just send me your information.

One of the most popular programs out there is SwagBucks. You earn SwagBucks for simply doing something you probably do every day - web searching! You can download the toolbar or go to the website and perform your search. Randomly (generally 1-2 times per day, depending on how frequently you search), you receive SwagBucks when you get your results. Most of the time it's 1 at a time, but I have gotten 2 and 3 bucks several times, and once I even got 20 just for searching! You can redeem these bucks for many gift cards (I tend to do the Amazon $5 e-giftcards and get 1 or more a month), paypal "cash" or other items. It's a great deal, because I'm always searching anyway. I've managed to get several things for my kids from Amazon.com with my free gift cards. This is most definitely worth checking out! Go to Swagbucks, sign up, and start searching!

The program that not everyone can join is called Food Service Rewards. It's a restaurant program where you earn points based on the products you buy. I've been able to order some presents for my kids through this program, but since it's limited to restaurants, I won't go into the specifics. Just realize that you never know where you will find a points program that you can use to earn money or gifts - always look into anything you find because you never know when it will be a wonderful deal for you!

There are other survey companies out there that either save up your points that can be redeemed for cash - I don't even know of or belong to all of them. I also know of a site called Inbox Dollars where you earn .03 for each email that you read/click on. You can't cash out until you have $30, so that takes a very long time, but it's worth doing in the long run. I figure I will hit the $30 level about once a year. Maybe for next Christmas..... :)

A program that has been an amazing help in paying for Christmas isn't an online program at all. It's through my Citibank credit card. I'm not as happy with their Thank You Redemptions program as I used to be, because they no longer give 5 points per dollar for certain types of purchases, but they still provide 1 point for every dollar spent. The points are then redeemed on their website for a variety of gifts and gift cards. I've only used my points for the gift cards, and this year I was able to get 2 $100 Visa debit cards to finish the shopping for the kids. Those came in SO handy! Sadly, I can't earn points as quickly as I used to when grocery and gas spending added up five times faster, so I'm not advocating Citibank like I used to, but I do still use the card. I just make sure that I pay it off every month. Especially now that they've taken away the bonus I loved, I will not pay them a dime in interest. I charge quite a bit each month, but always pay in full, which helps the points to really be "free."

I know there are lots of credit card rewards programs out there, so look around and see what you can find. It might be worth changing cards to take advantage of the program that works well for you and gives you the most benefits.

So there you have it, and a long blog post to boot! My (almost) free Christmas shopping. I'm loving being able to give the kids things they want and not spending too much money. Christmas doesn't have to put you into debt or cause financial stress. A few minutes each day will give you several gifts by the end of the year. And keep your eyes peeled - you never know what freebies you will find out there!

Enter to Win a Kindle

Hello, all! I know I've been very quiet on the blog front lately, but I promise to think of a great topic really soon and get it posted. Things have been crazy around here, and I'm sure that isn't going to change anytime soon with Christmas coming fast, but I am sure I will eventually think of something exciting to write! :-)

In the interim, I just found this giveaway online and I would LOVE to win a Kindle! I think it would be so neat to own one. Since it's a great giveaway, I wanted to share. Click here to enter! Good luck! Hope I you win!!

An Award-Winning Costume!!

I found a sombrero at a garage sale a couple of months ago and bought it, with the idea of trying to make a jellyfish costume, just to see how it looked. I went to Hobby Lobby and picked up a remnant of a light blue chiffon and some small rolls of ribbon and sequins. Here is the final result:

My youngest LOVED it!! So she became a jellyfish for Halloween. Tonight, we took the kids to a "Fright Night" event at Park University. They did some trick or treating, played games, painted pumpkins, and had some fun. We were about to leave when the girls decided they might want to be in the upcoming costume contest. The older one backed out, but my little one had gotten so many compliments on her costume that she wanted to participate. She was in the 6-8 age group, as she is 7.

The kids all paraded across the stage and then gathered for the judging. A Dorothy (from Oz) costume took third place, and then a child in a hideous monster mask was given second. I heard a few people in the crowd chanting "jellyfish, jellyfish" and was surprised by this. Then, the announcer said, "And first place goes to our COOL jellyfish!" There was actually a cheer that went up in the audience! She was SOOO excited! She couldn't stop talking about it. :-) They gave her a Connect Four game and a very large bag full of mini candy bars....she's set! That made our night.

I think it's so funny that a simple costume that I created myself won a costume contest over several expensive store-bought ensembles. Now my girls are arguing over which one gets to be the jellyfish next year....I might have to make another one! Anyone have a sombrero???? LOL