2/28/2020 Friday Freebies and Deals!

Abby H.

bright boxesIt’s Friday, and a leap year, so there is another excuse to celebrate. Also, leap year means some cool free offers too!

If you haven’t checked out my birthday freebies list, what are you waiting for? I updated it for 2020-Everyone has a birthday, go sign up for some freebies!

Let’s dive into the pile of freebies and deals and see what’s cool…

Freebies:

Magazine Subscriptions:

Events:

 

Deals:

 

Leap Year Freebies and Deals:

Olive Garden: Take Home entrees will be $2.29 Saturday. Entrees include choice of Fettuccine Alfredo, Five Cheese Ziti al Forno and Spaghetti with Meat Sauce. There’s also a birthday deal!

Del Taco: To mark the limited return of its crispy Jumbo Shrimp Taco, get a coupon on the Del Taco app for a free shrimp taco with any purchase to redeem Leap Day weekend.

Stella Artois: The beer brand has a Leap Day fund with $366,000 until it runs out. Get a rebate for a six-pack, 12-pack or 24-pack. of beer purchased through Saturday and apply for the rebate by March 6 by tweeting @StellaArtois or posting on its Facebook page and using #UnCancelPromo this #LeapDay. Learn more at www.stellaartois.com/LeapDayFund.

 

 

Parents Helping Parents: Behavior Training 3/10/2020

Abby H.

download.jpgOn Tuesday, March 10, 2020, the Santee School district is presenting a behavior training with a “Make it, Take it” for behavior resources at home.

Visual Schedules: Children benefit from increased structure and predictability. Help take the stress out of your daily routine by providing
your child with a visual schedule.

Behavior Contracts: Contracts help keep kids on track and reduce family battles. Let us help you create one for your home!

Zones of Regulation: Help teach your child how to identify how they’re feeling and then utilize a co teach them about self-control.

Positive Reinforcement: Learn how to shape your child’s behavior with positive discipline. This will help to reinforce behaviors we want to increase in the home.

Santee’s Behavior Team Come meet Santee’s behavior team and find helpful strategies to implement at home. You’ll leave with individualized strategies and resources that you can begin implementing right away. You’ll have access to three team members to help you create individualized systems for your child! Listed above are just a few of the strategies you’ll go home with!

 

This event is free- If you have any questions, or wish to RSVP, contact the school district office at: (619) 258-2300

Date & Time: 3/10/2020 9:30am-11am
Location: Santee School District 9625 Cuyamaca. Santee, CA 92071

Cash Back on GAS with Checkout 51!

Abby H.

file7371256164536.jpgYou read that right!

Save on every fill-up at participating gas stations, every single week (yeah, seriously!) with  Checkout 51!

Head to the app to find a station near you. I’ve done it for the past month, and I’ve gotten almost $10 cash back!

New to Checkout 51? Check out my post with more details here.

Checkout 51 is sweetening the deal too- When you sign up here and scan in your first receipt, you’ll get a $5 bonus!

If you are already a Checkout 51 user, refer your friends and you’ll earn $10 when a new user scans in their first receipt (and they still earn $5).  Everyone wins!

Keeping Sickness at Bay & $5 off Mucinex Coupon!

Abby H.

I haven’t been posting a lot of coupons lately. Either they are low value, or they aren’t for products that I think y’all would like. But, check out what popped up in my inbox this morning: Mucinex $5 OFF Coupon here.

A lot of people are battling the winter ickiness, and that includes mucus (eww). When you join Mucus Fighters Plus, Mucinex® will email you an exclusive $5 coupon and other special offers, plus tips for putting mucus in its place.

Here are a few tips to keep sickness at bay:

  1. Wash your paws! Seriously. Soap, warm water, 30 seconds of vigorous rubbing, rinse, dry. Sing Happy Birthday or count to time yourself.
  2. Throw away your used paper towels, used tissues, and put dirty dishes that have come into contact with your mouth into the sink. Don’t leave your germs around to share. In this case, sharing isn’t caring.
  3. If someone in your home is sick, wipe down surfaces they touch one a day (or more frequently). We use Clorox wipes. you can also use Lysol Spray.
  4. Change out your toothbrush! Bacteria can live on your toothbrush. Change it out once you are feeling better.
  5. If you don’t feel well, it’s ok to take it easy. Skip non-essential obligations. Your friends and family will thank you for not spreading illness.
  6. To piggyback on #5- REST. It helps you get well faster. Sleep. Take a shower. Read a book. Have a low key movie night with the kids and serve a dinner of snacks on a blanket in the living room.

Talkback: What are your tips to recovering from the winter sickies?

Earn Money Doing Surveys Online

Abby H.

I’ve written about doing surveys online before, and it’s definitely one of the ways that I make money. For my full list of side hustles, check out this post.

Here are a couple survey companies that are looking for new members!

Create a profile and take surveys to earn cash or gift card rewards with Branded Surveys. They pay you with cash or gift card rewards to complete market research studies. Refer your friends to maximize your rewards (woo hoo).

Pro Tip: Cashouts are possible upon receiving 1,000 points ($10). You’ll also receive these notifications after each survey you take along with helpful tips and hints to improve performance.

  My absolute favorite survey company! Pinecone Research pays $3 per survey. Redeem via paypal or save your points to cash out for other gift cards or shop their catalog.

They send you an email notification when you have a survey available. Complete the survey and earn points to be redeemed for either cash or prizes. Occasionally, they will send you a product to test, too.

Oh, and Vindale Research is a fun one too! Get paid to review products with Vindale Research in addition to surveys!

When you sign up to do surveys online, I recommend that you do the following:

  1. Have an email address solely for doing surveys. Check it a few times a week to make sure that you aren’t missing any opportunities.
  2. If you don’t have a Paypal Account, sign up for one. They are free and most companies that pay “cash” use Paypal.
  3. Keep track of your earnings- I have a Google Sheet that I update any time I receive a pay out.
  4. Have Fun!

2/24/2020 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgI forgot to push PUBLISH yesterday. OOPS. Well, last week I juggled stuff around and only posted the meal plan on Instagram. I may go back to that in the future, I’m not sure. I post on Insta about once a day, so not a lot, and I promise it’s not a feed full of perfectly polished, curated pics. It’s usually me, the cat, or craft projects pics taken with my iPhone 4S. Yes, I have a 4s. It still works, it’s a little slow (and small), but if it ain’t broke…

Back to the meal plan- I did a quick grocery trip on Sunday to stock up mostly on kiddo lunch goodies. I picked up a couple items we had run out of, like cream cheese and milk.

While rummaging through the freezer I found what I think is veggie soup, but we’ll find out once it thaws. Whatever it is, it’s for dinner tonight! This is a reminder to label the food in the freezer.

For those of you that 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 pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day: You may notice a lot of plant-based meals- We are not vegetarian (well, the big kid is, but the rest of us aren’t), but I am trying to get more veggies into our diet. I do a lot of cooking from scratch- I find it easier to get veggies and fruit into recipes that I can have 100% control over.

Breakfast: I’ve gone back to a protein shake or coffee with a scoop of protein powder and a few pumps of Sugar-Free Syrup for me, and pancakes or something along those lines (Dave’s Killer Bagels are also a popular request for breakfast) for the kids (they love the Kodiak Cakes Mix).  I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular.

Lunches are leftovers, salads, or soups for me and Bitty. The big kid takes his lunch to school, but once in a while, I can convince him to buy his lunch. Usually on pizza day.

I’m fixing to make a big fruit salad today- We’ve got a lot of fruit and I don’t want it to get funky.

  • Monday: Leftover Fritatta and fruit
  • Tuesday: Vegetable Soup (or whatever I took out of the freezer)
  • Wednesday: Chicken Soup, Grilled Cheese sandwiches
  • Thursday: Casserole (I’m thinking about Chicken Tetrazzini)
  • Friday:  Pizza & Fruit
  • Saturday: Leftovers
  • Sunday:  Beans, Rice, and Cheese bowls (with roasted peppers and onions)

Talk Back: What are you cooking for dinner this week?

Community Days at Legoland!

Abby H.

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Everything is awesome! Check out this great deal! LEGOLAND® California is partnering with The Kid’s College to share this great deal!

You can purchase a ticket for a single day on Sunday, March 1, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., or Monday, March 2 – Friday, March 6, 2020, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Add a visit to LEGOLAND’s SEA LIFE Aquarium for only $10.

Fine Print:

  • Everyone is welcome, please share with family and friends!
  • Children 2 and under free. Tickets required for everyone 3+. All tickets sales end Friday, February 28 at 6:00pm.
  • The Kid’s College is proud to be LEGOLAND’s non-profit partner for this event. Proceeds from every ticket purchase help provide educational enrichment programs to students in North County Schools through The Kid’s College.
  • Visit the Community Day Information Page for student performance details.

 

We love Legoland! If you are looking for a way to continue the savings after you through the gates, check out our post about Legoland on a budget.

If you’ve got someone in your group that has a physical and mental limitation, pick up an Access Pass.

 

2/21/2020 Friday Freebies and Deals!

Abby H.

bright boxesI am looking forward to this weekend! I’ve got some time to myself and I am going to go to the gym and drink coffee, although not at the same time.

This week’s selection of freebies is pretty cool! Fun events for kids too! Let’s dive right in:

Freebies:

 

Magazine

Events

Deals

San Diego STEM Expo 3/7/2020!

Abby H.

unnamed.jpgWe are more of a STEAM house, because you have to have ART, but I’ll let it slide in this case because the San Diego STEM Expo is coming to PetCo Park on 3/7/2020 and it’s going to be an awesome day full of all kinds of cool kid-friendly fun and learning!

The San Diego Festival of Science & Engineering kicks off with its largest event EXPO DAY, a daylong celebration at PETCO Park on Saturday, March 7, 2020 from 10am to 5pm. EXPO DAY is the Festival’s signature event, with more than 130 local businesses, corporations, and organizations providing interactive, hands-on science, technology, engineering, and math exhibits and activities to budding K-12 science lovers.

And to make sure that no kiddo is left out of the fun, there will be a PRE-K ZONE!
Location: Between Park at the Park and the Tot Lot.

There will be STEAM activities for children under 5 at EXPO Day! Visit the pre-k zone to excite your tiny future innovators. All activities are for children under 5 years of age. I know that the big kid can’t wait to introduce little sister to the joys of science!

I’m most excited about the fireside chats: A mini version of the TED Talk. Join industry professionals for an engaging 10-15 minute discussion in an intimate setting! Learn about their careers and what sparked them to the world of science, technology, engineering, and math! Following the discussion, there will be time for the audience to participate in extended conversations and Q&A.

We’ll be packing snacks, riding the trolley, and making an entire day of it!

Food Bank Resources in Northern San Diego County

Abby H.

DSCN2469A few years back, I wrote this post, which I update about once a year with information on Food Banks/Food Pantries and food co-ops in San Diego County. Considering san Diego County is larger than some New England states, I decided to dedicate a post purely to North County food resources, as I have been getting requests for those lately. Thanks to my friends Elizabeth, Kate, Yvonne, and Stephanie for assisting me with the research!

distro2.jpg
North County Neighborhood Distribution Sites 2020

There are of course the Neighborhood Distribution sites from The Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank. There are no requirements or proof of need (no ID either).  Just bring a few reusable bags or a cart to carry your food home.

Learn more about Neighborhood Distributions here. The 2020 Calendar of Neighborhood Distributions can be found here.

If you live in Escondido or Oceanside, check out the Interfaith Community Services Website for information on food.

In Encinitas:

  • The Community Resource Center has Bread distribution and other food distributions several times a week. More information can be found here.

In Vista:

  • North County’s Food Bank 1175 Melrose Way, Vista, CA, 92081 (760) 761-1140 The Emergency Food for Individuals program is direct food assistance available to needy individuals. Program is available every first, third and fifth Monday of the month.
  • Food Distribution at Lamb of God Food Bank 1120 Highland Dr, Vista, CA 92083 (760) 458-4655 every Tuesday and Thursdays, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

In San Marcos:

  • Summit Church 292 E. Barham Dr., San Marcos, CA 92078 760.471.6267 or office@summitsanmarcos.comArrive: 11:00 am, food distribution: 12:00 p – 1:00 pmSummit hosts a farmers market-style free food outreach 2x per month!
    Every 2nd & 4th Tuesday of every month, they give 25 lbs of food to anyone
    in need in the front parking lot. Everyone is welcome; there are no requirements!

In Ramona:

  • Ramona Food and Clothes Closet Each 3rd Friday of the month, a truck will bring perishable food items like produce to the store for distribution.  You do not need to qualify for this program.   Patrons are asked to line up before 9:00 AM in an orderly fashion and wait their turn.  

    Each person will receive approximately 20-25 pounds of food per family.  It is a first-come, first-serve basis.  You will need to bring your own bags or rolling carts.

Feeding American San Diego has a map on their website of various resources in the San Diego area, many of them require no proof of need or paperwork.

If you have any food resources to share, please leave a comment!