Month: September 2024

Fall 2024 Clothing Swaps (San Diego, CA area)

Abby H.

I love clothing swaps- If you have read my blog, you know it’s one of my favorite ways to refresh the kid’s wardrobes (and my own).

There are a few upcoming swaps that I recommend. Both are for adult clothes and accessories.

And as always, And if you are looking for more information about clothing swaps, check out my post (with other San Diego, CA area resources)  here.

FREE Clothing Swap & Decor & Extra!
Location: Pioneer Park 1501 Washington Place, San Diego
Sunday, October 6, 2024
2:30 PM to 3:30 PM PDT
Bring clothes, small decor, and Unused makeups / perfumes, personal items to donate or swap. Open to all genders, ages, and sizes.
Bring your unwanted, clean, in good repair clothing and extras to take home new clothing. Take what you want and leave what you don’t want. Clothing, accessories and small personal items are accepted. * No books, or any heavy items please.

Green LOVE Clothing Swap
Location: Montezuma Hall
6075 Aztec Circle Dr · San Diego, CA
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
12:00 PM to 4:30 PM PDT
For more information, check out the website: https://as.sdsu.edu/greenlove/swapshop

Porchlight Halloween costume swap
Location: 8878 Clairemont Mesa Blvd Suite F, San Diego, CA
Saturday, October 12th
9:30 am-11:30am
For more information or to sign up to participate, check out the website: https://events.humanitix.com/kids-costume-swap

Women’s Clothing Swap
Location: The Chapel at Grossmont
5651 Water St, La Mesa, CA
Saturday, October 19, 2024
10 am-2 pm
How it works:
Bring your gently used* WOMEN’S CLOTHING, accessories, shoes, etc. and trade them for items you want to take home. No selling, no buying, just swapping. You simply drop off your items on the front table and you can start shopping for items you want to take home – free! Come and drop off all the items you want to swap and leave with items that will bring value to you.
Items can include:
-Gently used* or semi-new clothing pieces
-Gently used* or semi-new shoes
-Jewelry pieces
-Accessories: scarfs, hats, purses, belts
*Items should be freshly laundered and either on hangers or laid flat in a box (not in bags, please)

9/30/2024 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgThis week’s meal plan is very loose. I try to meal prep and plan on Sunday’s, but we have a   Yasukochi Family Farms CSA box coming tomorrow, so I think I’ll be doing the bulk of the meal prep tomorrow. At least veggie-wise.

I’ll be roasting cauliflower, squash, and other veggies with some of these Urban Accents kits.  The Citrus pepper is my favorite.

Thanks to the great freebies from Social Nature and Aisle, we’ve been trying new foods lately. It’s fun to try new foods.

If you are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101-style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same.

Breakfast: I’ve been really into protein coffee lately. It helps me hit my protein goals and keeps me full until lunch. I use premade protein shakes like these. The kids request bagels and fruit most mornings. The big kid is on a smoothie kick; his favorites are here. 

Lunch: I have a plastic tote full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. I have a post here about our lunches. School lunches are free for kids in California, but my kids usually bring lunch from home.

Dinner: I’m working on a couple new recipes this week, so meals may get swapped around based on my free time. We’ve got therapy every week, so that cuts into our time at home (and my time to cook). Meal prepping has been a huge lifesaver on those busy days. Hopefully after this next hot spell, we’ll get some more typical fall weather and I can use my crockpot more often!

  • Sunday:  Spaghetti with veggie/meat sauce, garlic bread (I have leftovers from last night)
  • Monday: Chicken Nuggets, Watermelon slices, chips

  • Tuesday: Italian Chicken (recipe coming up this week), fruit salad

  • Wednesday: Fruit Smoothies, bagels with cream cheese

  • Thursday: Hashbrown breakfast bake (new recipe coming up this week)

  • Friday: Takeout night!
  • Saturday: Leftover Palooza

2024 California Climate Credit- Savings on Your October Utility Bill!

Abby H.

It’s that time again! On your October California Utility Bill (Which includes PG&E, SCE, SDG&E, Bear Valley, Liberty, and Pacific Power), you will receive a California Climate Credit. For SDG&E customers, the amount is $78.22.

The California Climate Credit directly results from the State’s Cap-and-Trade Program which requires polluters to pay for climate pollution. Credits are distributed in April and October each year. Credits appear automatically on your bill and are designed to help utility customers during the transition to a more sustainable future.

And if you want more ways to save energy and money, check out Ohm Connect! We’ve been using Ohm Connect for 5+ years, saved thousands of dollars on our power bill, and earned thousands of dollars in gift cards and cash via PayPal!

9/29/2024 PRC Research Study Round Up!

Abby H.

PRC aka iOpinion is a nationwide research study company. They are always running studies and looking for more respondents. They email me once a week with online studies they are looking to fill. Here are the latest studies:

TOPIC: Finances
Pays $135
Online Virtual Focus Group
Dates of the study: October 2 & 3, 2024
The group will last 90 minutes
If you are interested in participating, complete the intake survey here. If you pre-qualify, a recruiter from PRC will contact you via phone.

TOPIC: Google Docs, Word/Excel, Numbers/Pages
Pays $400 Consumer
Pays $575 Qualified Business Owner
Online Bulletin Board
Consumers and Small Business Owners, ages 18-34
Dates of the study: October 2-9, 2024
(4 of these dates will be used to respond)
The online bulletin board will last 4 days, 60 minutes per day
If you are interested in participating, complete the intake survey here. If you pre-qualify, a recruiter from PRC will contact you via phone.

Things to Note:

-They recommend using the web browsers Google Chrome or Firefox to complete the survey.
-Only one participant per household.
-Our surveys are open to U.S. Residents
– Incentives are paid via Digital Incentive unless otherwise stated.
-To participate in any study that requires a webcam, please use a laptop or desktop computer ONLY—No smartphones or tablets.
-If you use ChatGPT or any other AI assistance for your responses/feedback during any of our research projects, please keep in mind you will not receive compensation and will be removed from our database.
-If you pre-qualify, a PRC Global Market Research recruiter will contact you via phone.
-Due to the large number of survey responses, we can only contact those who seem to be a good fit.
-If you have any questions about the studies listed below, please email general@prcmarketresearch.com and reference the study name and study reference number.

To learn more about different ways I earn extra money, check out my post here. 

Weekly Freebies and Deals!

Abby H.

Back to school season has kicked my butt! I’m not feeling too hot today, but I wanted to get some freebies and deals out there.

The 2024 Birthday Freebie post is here! Check this article out and sign up for birthday freebies at least 2-3 weeks before your birthday.

My comprehensive list can be found here if you are looking for free food resources. It is focused on San Diego County, but additional resources are outside my area.

Freebies:

Free Products with Highlight
Free Pack of Baby Wipes
Free Sample of Sheba Gravy Indulgance Cat Food
Free Teeth-Whitening Pen and Toothpaste
Free Kinder Bueno Chocolate Bar
Free Mahatma Ready-to-Heat Rice Chatterbuy
Free Bloomingdale’s Little Fragrance Sample Box
Free PawPrint Magazine
Free Mentos Strawberry Paperboard Gum Chatterbox Kit
Free Love Corn Lunchbox Snack
USPS Operation Santa – Possible Free Gift or Send a Gift to a Child in Need
Free Medium Fries at McDonalds – Every Friday
Free 21 oz. Bottle of Electrolit Electrolyte Beverage
Free Neutrogena Moisturizer or Serum
Free Garnier Fructis Hair Filler + Vitamin Cg Shampoo & Conditioner Samples
Free Sample of John Frieda Frizz Ease Secret Weapon Touch-Up Creme
Free ACANA or ORIJEN Cat Food
Free Fries Every Friday at Wendy’s
2 Free Movie Tickets to White Bird
3 Free Cookies for the 1st 300 Each Day at Insomnia Cookies
Up to 4 Free COVID Tests
Possible Free DREO Space Heater

Deals:

Tools of the Trade 10-Piece Bakeware Set at Macy’s ONLY $26.93 (Reg $76)
Ugg Blankets & Shower Curtains up to 67% Off
Halloween Pajamas for All From $5 at Target
Purex Detergent Buy One Get Two Free
Amazon Basics Folders with 2 Pockets 2-Pack ONLY 49¢
Walmart Designer Fragrance Sale up to 70% Off
Cuisinart Advantage 12-Piece Knife Set ONLY $29 (Reg $65)
Free $15 Target Gift Card with Purchase of $75 of Baby Essentials
Designer Fragrances up to 88% Off
Summer Clearance at Walgreens – up to 90% Off
Garnier Shampoo ONLY $1 (Reg $5.49)

New Offers from Social Nature!

Abby H.

Social Nature has started offering 100% cash-back, similar to Ibotta and Fetch Rewards. I love this because I can select exactly what I want, Social Nature tells me which local stores have it, and I can add it to my next shopping list.

And it’s just as easy as Ibotta and Fetch Rewards. Snap a pic and upload it. You can select Venmo, Paypal, or an Amazon Gift Card for your rebate.

Here are just a few of the offers available now:

  • Period Cramp Relief Cream by Control
  • Upcycled Cacao Chocolate by Blue Stripes
  • Gluten-Free Crackers by Schär
  • Gluten-Free Cookie Dough by Whoa Dough
  • Kids Juice Box Pack by PLEZi
  • Gluten-Free Breads by Schär

And one of the things I love about Social Nature is that they don’t leave our friends with food allergies out.

There are sampling offers for Gluten-free, nut-free, and meat-free foods.

Canadian Friends- You are in luck! There are sampling opportunities for you too! So if you love trying new products, check out Social Nature!

FTC Disclosure: As with some offers I post, I receive payments for clicks, purchases, and/or registrations made through affiliate links in this post.

Celebrate National Baking Day!

Abby H.

I love baking- cookies, bread, even biscuits. To celebrate National Baking Day, here are a few of my favorite recipes:

Want cookies but don’t want to turn on the oven? Try these:

9/22/2024 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgI’m back to posting Meal Plans. I took some time away to try and get back into the back-to-school/work swing of things.

I’m working on batch cooking to have soups/stews in the freezer. I made chicken noodle soup and chili from scratch this weekend. I split each batch into three: 1 for the fridge, one for the freezer, and one for my mom.

I add a lot of veggies to my soups and stews to increase the fiber content and help us get in our five a day.

Thanks to the great freebies from Social Nature and Aisle, we’ve been trying new foods lately. It’s fun to try new foods.

If you are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101-style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same.

Breakfast: I’ve been really into protein coffee lately. It helps me hit my protein goals and keeps me full until lunch. I use premade protein shakes like these. The kids request bagels and fruit most mornings. The big kid is on a smoothie kick; his favorites are here. 

Lunch: I have a plastic tote full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. I have a post here about our lunches. School lunches are free for kids in California, but my kids usually bring lunch from home.

Dinner: I reorganized the freezer over the weekend and discovered some spaghetti sauce, and a few other things that were buried under frozen fruit. Because we’ve got a busy week ahead (doctor’s appointments after school/work), we’ll be utilizing a lot of batch-prepped foods.

  • Sunday:  Spaghetti with veggie/meat sauce, garlic bread
  • Monday: Chicken noodle soup or smoothies with avocado toast

  • Tuesday: Chili, tortilla chips, fruit

  • Wednesday: Chef Salad, garlic bread

  • Thursday: Breakfast for dinner- Probably Quiche

  • Friday: Takeout night!
  • Saturday: Leftover Palooza

Tryazon: Decora Girlz Fashion Party!

Abby H.

We’ve been participating in Tryazon events for three+ years. We’ve gotten to try all sorts of fun toys, games, and food.  You can learn more about Tryazon here.

Meet the hottest new fashion dolls in this Tryazon Featured Party opportunity, featuring Decora Girlz! Decora Girlz are here to amp up your fashion game and bring vibrant Decora trend to life. With colorful hair, patterned outfits, and customizable stickers, Decora Girlz are perfect for fashion-forward play and creativity. Featured on the “Amazon Toys We Love” list for Holiday 2024 and “Top Holiday a Toy 2024” by Toy Insider!

Tryazon has 100 hosting spots open for this opportunity! Those selected get to receive a party pack for free with a variety of Decora Girlz products to share with friends and family! Learn more and apply here.

It’s Back! Make $10 by writing Software Reviews with G2!

Abby H.

I received an email from G2 this morning! G2 is a peer-to-peer review site. If you are looking to learn about new software before you purchase it, G2 is a great place to look. Right now G2 is offering $10 Amazon gift cards to those who review software that you have used in your business. It’s a quick, easy way to share your opinions of software and earn a little extra.

Plus, once you have reviewed for them, they will contact you when they are looking for more reviews (with incentives). I earn about $30/month from G2 writing reviews. It doesn’t take long, and it gives me a little extra fun money.

You will need to log in with either Google Business credentials or your LinkedIn account.

To get started, click here.