gifts

Great gifts for kids that won’t break the bank (or your sanity)

Abby H.

DSCN9862It’s that time of year, when friends and relatives start asking you and your kids the dreaded question.. The Holiday gift question.

First of all, if you don’t have kids, please do your friends WITH kids a favor: Skip the toys that make noise/require batteries. Many a night I was woken by a phantom toy mysteriously going off. This Stupid Fisher Price Dog was the main culprit.

This year, we’re skipping all the “hot” toys. Why? Well, we don’t have cable, so Lil’ Man doesn’t really know about what toys everyone else has or wants. We mostly watch PBS and Netflix. I’m trying to get away from “stuff”. We have so many toys and stuffed animals. We don’t need a lot more stuff. I’m asking for more “experience” type gifts. Here are a few things that are always welcome in any household:

  • Groupon/living social/Amazon Local discounted vouchers or gift cards to places that  kids love to go, but can be a little pricey. For us, that’s Urban Jungle, Kid Ventures, Boomers, bowling. Zoo tickets, movie tickets, and museum passes are great options as well!
  • If you have a vacation planned, ask for gift cards. We have a friend who takes their family to Disney World each year, and she asks her family to buy the kids Disney gift cards to help offset the cost of their vacation (bonus- Disney GC can be used almost anywhere in the park- food, gift shop, even admission!).
  • Accessories for toys or games the kids already have. We always need more train tracks for our Thomas the Tank Engine trains. Most kids could always use more pretend food (we like these and these from Melissa and Doug).
  • Gift baskets that include experiences: I know I keep going back to experiences, but kids and families love to do stuff together. Movie baskets that contain popcorn, candy, redbox codes or GC for redbox is always a big hit here. We’ve given pizza night baskets that contain the fixins for a pizza (boboli crust, toppings, sauce) and a board game. Use your imagination!
  • IOU’s/GC for dates or time with the kids: Lil’ Man and I have a special date every week. We go out to eat and do an activity together. Maybe you have a little in your life that you’d like to spend more time with? Give them the gift a a date! Ice cream feeding the ducks, exploring nature- all of these things are inexpensive for you and mean a lot to a kid.
  • Craft supplies. The most popular gifts we’ve both give and received have been treasure boxes (usually a decorative cardboard box from Michael’s) full of craft supplies. Dollar Tree has a great selection of craft kits, glitter glue, stickers, feathers, pom poms, construction paper, water color paint, acrylic paints. Add in some wooden cut outs from Michaels (.50 or less EACH), and a few paint brushes and the kids will have fun for hours. The best part: for less than $20, they’ve got a cool box and tons of stuff to keep them busy and unplugged!
  • Monthly Subscription Boxes: Kids love to get mail. Monthly subscription boxes like Kiwi Crate, Little Passports, Green Kid Crafts are a great option for kids to get a little something fun in the mail each month- and monthly subscription boxes aren’t that expensive! Adults love them too! BirchBox (makeup), UrthBox (snacks), and Dollar Shave Club (razors and shaving accessories for men and women) are all popular options!

 

Save Money on Gift Cards with Raise! ($15 free for you!!)

Abby H.

I love buying discount gift cards- It’ a great way to stretch our money further. Right now Raise (a company that sells gift cards at a discount) is offering $5 when you sign up here (make sure referral code ahewes shows up in the referral box to get your $5 free!).

When you use coupon code SAVE10 at checkout, you will save another $10!

I purchased a $25 Sears Gift Card (I chose a digital gift card, so I could use it online right away) and paid only $8.72 Out of Pocket! I paid with my paypal account, using money I earned doing surveys!

Screen Shot 2015-11-21 at 12.56.09 PM

Raise has tons of great stores: Kohl’s. Staples, Macy’s, Walmart, and tons more!

To get started, click here!

Save for the Holidays (and Beyond!)- My top tips!

Abby H.

file0001508044668Christmas is 64 days away, and while some of us have been saving our pennies and dollars, some of us haven’t. This article is for those of you who are looking to earn some extra money. For the holidays, or heck, even beyond that!

Now these are all methods that I have used, and continue to use, so there is no baloney coming from me.

  • I do Surveys. Here is a post with links to my top survey companies, including how much each one has earned me!
  • One of my favorite survey companies is Paid View Point.  Surveys are short (less than 5 minutes).  Earn cash with each Survey.  You get $1.00 when you sign up! The pay out is $15.00, and it takes about a month-6 weeks to earn $15.00. So far in 2015, I’ve earned about $78.00.
  • I send my junk mail to Small Business Knowledge Center. Here is a post about it with details. I just got another $20 GC from them earlier this month!
  • I take our bottles and cans to the recycling center. It’s not a ton of money, but I paid the deposit on those bottles, I want it back! I take Lil’ Man with me and we get about $4-$5/month between the milk jugs and misc. bottles and cans. We don’t drink a lot of soda or juice. My parents save their recyclables for us too!
  • I do simple tasks with Field Agent. Field Agent is an app for smartphones that allows you to do simple tasks like photographing displays in stores or scanning items in stores. They even have secret shopping tasks.  Tasks vary in pay, however most pay between $3-$10. I’ve been using Field Agent for 2 months and I’ve earned over $100. Payment is done via Paypal!
  • I also do simple tasks with Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. I transfer the earnings to my Amazon.com account. You sign up and do tasks for small amounts of money, but the money adds up fast.  The tasks are quick and simple (transcription, surveys, flagging inappropriate photos).  I’ve earned over $50 since February.  If you want cold hard cash instead of Amazon.com credit there is an option to have money transferred to a bank account.  Mechanical Turk does ask for your SSN when you sign up- you will receive a 1099- MISC at the end of the year., regardless of which option you select.
  • Earn Gift cards with Mypoints. I take surveys, click links in emails, and do all of my online shopping through Mypoints. So far in 2015, I’ve earned about $45.00.
  • I also use Swagbucks. I use their search engine toolbar, take a daily poll, watch a video and click a few links each day! So far in 2015, I’ve earned about $60.00. Swagbucks has tons of rewards, you can receive cash via paypal too!
  • I use my smartphone to save money too. There are tons of apps that have help you save money in the store (coupons), and get your money back afterwards (rebates). Here is a list of my favs. I’m loving Ibotta right now- I’ve saved over $100 this year alone, just buying my normal groceries!

All of these things are easy to do, realistic, and even a busy person can take 10 minutes out of their day to do one of the things I’ve listed.

Where have I been?

Abby H.

I swear, I haven’t gone off the deep end! This is a super busy time of year for me! With Halloween in 11 days, I’m up to my eyeballs making costumes, planning treats for our play group Halloween party (gotta make sure they are free of everyone’s allergies), and getting ready for the WOW Summit that’s coming up this week (New business cards arrived Friday!!).

In the next few weeks, I’ll have some reviews of cool products my family has tried recently, tips for saving money for the holidays (nothing crazy I promise you!), cute giftable crafts (Pinterest Fail Free, I promise!!), and some yummy new recipes.

Screen Shot 2015-09-19 at 12.17.16 PMI’ve been working on holiday gifts for the family. Here is one of the photo collages that is going on one of those photos gifts (I told you guys, I’m all about photos for gifts- I mean it!).  It’s Lil’ Man and Bitty Bird. Mr. H is the headless adult in the photo.

Shutterfly: $20 off $20+ Purchase! (great for holiday gifts!)

Abby H.

Shutterfly-Logo(This post contains Affiliate links!)

WOW!! Right now through 10/13/15, Shutterfly is hooking up EVERYONE! All customers enjoy $20 off one qualifying merchandise order of $20 or more with promo code FIRSTGIFT at checkout!

I’m ordering a photobook! They make excellent holiday gifts!

Shutterfly Free StuffAre you new to Shutterfly?

Not only do you receive 50 free prints when you sign up, but you also can chose from one free magnet, one pet tag, one set of address labels or one set of playing cards with promo code QUADAFF at checkout (this offer is only valid through tonight at midnight).

 

Fine Print:Offer expires October 13, 2015 (11:59 P.M. PT). Offer is good for $20 off one qualifying merchandise order of $20 or more (after any other discounts and before taxes, shipping and handling) through shutterfly.com, our mobile-friendly site or Shutterfly apps. Offer cannot be redeemed more than once per account and/or billing address. Taxes, shipping and handling will apply. Not valid on TripPix, personalized postage stamps, prepaid plans, gift certificates, Videograms, cards sent using mailing services, prior purchases and orders placed for in-store pick up. Cannot be redeemed for cash or combined with other offers or credits. Not valid for resale.

Score a FREE 4×6 Photo Magnet from York Photo!!

Abby H.

Did you know there are less than 100 days until Christmas? I know, crazy! If you haven’t yet started your holiday shopping, now is the time! I’ll be posting free and shipping only deals over the next few months that make great gifts.

300x250Score a FREE 4×6 Photo Magnet from York Photo, and if you are a new York Photo user, you can also get 40 free 4×6 photo prints too!

To score the free 4×6 photo magnet, use coupon code STICKS at checkout. Shipping starts at just $1.99- perfect for any budget!

I’ve ordered one with photos of Lil’ Man and Birdy on it. It’s going to make a great holiday gift for one of the sets of grandparents!

 

Shutterfly: 101 free 4×6 prints!

Abby H.

Screen Shot 2015-04-05 at 7.31.12 PMI love me some free photos! Photo gifts are THE BEST for grandparents and other relatives that don’t live close by.

Right now Shutterfly is giving away 101 free 4×6 prints when you use coupon code CARROT by April 7, 2015. You are still responsible for shipping and taxes, but it’s usually less than $5.00 all in!

I order 2 sets of 50, plus 1 extra photo (usually of something silly for my purse to share with friends). Then when the photos arrive, I separate the sets, and fill two inexpensive photo albums (usually less than $5/each at Michael’s with a 40% off coupon). Then I have two great holiday gifts! One for each set of Grandparents! If you are anything like my family, you have TONS of photos on your phone or camera that you *need* to print!

To get started  on your ordering your free 101 prints, click here.