6 Ways to BIG Family Savings - Extreme Couponing Like The Pro Shoppers on the TLC Show

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As you can tell from the photo above, my own coupon habits are atrocious

iPhone Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

So, I think with the start of TLC's latest Extreme Couponing season this week, it's as good a time as any for me to review some basic tricks that these coupon pros use to save some pretty incredible amounts of cash.  If you'd like some great ideas on managing your own blizzard of coupons around the house, you'll definitely like this post.

Consumer savings expert Andrea Woroch shares six really simple ways to save like an extreme couponer that I'd like to pass on to all my frugal and thrifty readers.  Andrea, BTW, has been featured on NBC's Today Show, FOX & Friends, MSNBC, ABC News NOW and many more.

#1  Start Small

Don't go extreme all at once. Take it step by step, rather than show up at a checkout with 50 coupons and little idea what you're doing.

#2  Never Pay For Coupons

Paying someone to clip or organize your coupons defeats the purpose of living frugally.  Instead, surf Sunday newspaper ad supplements for coupon savings and ask your neighbors for their unwanted papers.  Maybe dive inside a recycled dumpster or two.  Don't forget to check the many free online coupon sites like CouponSherpa.com that give consumers access to a multitude of coupon codes and printable coupons for lots of merchants.

#3  Get Organized

Create a shopping list and have your coupons and shopping strategy organized before you enter the store.  Use an expandable coupon binder to sort coupon inserts by date, categories and expiration dates -- whatever makes sense to your shopping style.  Before going on a specific trip, transfer to a small couponizer only those you'll need for that shopping venture.

#4   Location, Location, Location

Where you shop is key in making the best use of your time and coupons.  Only shop at locations that allow coupon stacking and combining coupons with in-store offers.  Don't be shy about calling and asking about policies before showing up.

#5  Loyalty Rewards

Always take advantage of club membership rewards.  These programs are usually free and have many savings perks, like rewards points, cash back programs, and double points for every certain amount you spend.

#6  Don't Be Greedy

This is often where extreme couponers cross over into hoarding.  Only shop for items you actually need, products you can stock up on that aren't perishable, and those you can donate.  A bargain is only a bargain if you can actually use the purchase. 

Are you as bad about coupons as me?  Have some advice on other ways to manage the coupon deluge? What's the most money you've ever saved on a single shopping trip by using coupons? Leave a comment.

FTC Disclosure:  MommyBlogExpert did not receive any payment or other compensation related to this post.  See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.

Little Tikes Toddler Flower Cart Wheelbarrow Toy Review

Toys

Little Tikes was founded in 1970. Today, it is owned and operated by MGA Entertainment which still markets some of company's original classic toys, as well as rolling out new and innovative products that engage kids each season.

This post contains affiliate links meaning I receive a small commission if you make a purchase without any additional cost to you.

My daughter with Little Tikes Barn

The brand certainly has multi-generational appeal and longevity.  I still can picture in my mind the bright red-orange and yellow Little Tikes Coupe Classic that's still available.  In fact, this iconic product celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2004 and to date has sold more than 6 million units and counting. Check out the current Little Tikes toy collection to see lots more.

2 of my Triplets  with Little Tikes Beauty Bar

I also recall my nephews and friends' kids playing with various Little Tikes toys in the 1980s.  For sure, I can't even remember all the Little Tikes products my own children owned, loved and played with during the last decade because there were so many.

Daddy, Son with Little Tikes Gym

Today,  Little Tikes is still delivering some of the most imaginative, colorful and sturdy toys for young children from birth to 4+ years-old.   

Just in time for spring and summer Little Tikes asked me to review the 2-in-1 Garden Cart and Wheelbarrow, which had already sold old. This particular product, is one of the newest and most popular additions to the Little Tikes pretend play line. 

Similar kids products currently available on Amazon

• Little Tikes Lemonade - Ice Cream Stand Set
• Plastic Pink Flowers Wheel Barrow Set with Gardening Accesories
• Plastic Teal Blue Wheel Barrow Set with kids garden gloves, tools, more
• Wood Garden Red Wheel Barrow Set with tools, flower pots

Toddler Barrow Tester

Since my own children are now teens, my two 13 year-old girls and I brought the flower cart to a friend's house in the box.  Initially, I had thought it would be fun to have our budding product tester (a friend's two year-old) "help" and watch his mom and I put this new toy together for him to try out. 

Little Tikes 2-in-1 Flower Cart

In retrospect we both realized that wasn't such a good idea.  That's because the little guy was insistent on using the real screwdriver and hammer from his daddy's tool box that is required to assemble this and obviously these tools are meant only for adults to handle.  

To be fair, I doubt many toddlers his age would have the attention span to wait while their moms spend about a half hour reading the directions and putting this together, either.  So, for parents buying this product, I'd definitely suggest that you put it together and surprise your child with it ready to play with, instead.

After spending about 30 minutes assembling this under the watchful eyes of our toddler supervisor, my friend and I watched as her son started exploring this new toy.  It was great fun to just sit back and watch him try everything out.

This is definitely a good toy for spring and summer not only because this product's theme ties in directly with warmer weather.  It's also two toys in one, not to mention that it includes a cute spray bottle for kids to fill with real H2O to "water" the flowers.  For sure, it was a real hit with this active toddler who loves to get wet.  Really, what kid wouldn't enjoy this on a hot summer day?

Fun with included water spray bottle

Little Tikes stuff just keeps getting cuter and more interactive, in a non high tech kind of way, doesn't it?  I absolutely love this brand's new addition to the line and I'm sure it will provide many hours of enjoyment for just about any two to five year-old child this spring and summer.

Little Tikes

2-in-1 Garden Cart & Wheel Barrow

Giveaway Contest 

MommyBlogExpert is hosting a wonderful giveaway contest of the product pictured, provided by Little Tikes.   One prize will be awarded.

The adorable and durable Little Tikes Garden Cart & Wheel Barrow features a traditional style garden cart push toy with removable fabric shade canopy that actually rolls on real wheels.

It includes a working water sprinkler and removable tray for flower pots and converts easily into a flower cart or wheelbarrow, either that your child can push.  This comes with several child-size gardening accessories: 2 garden hand tools, 2 flower pots, 2 plastic flowers, 2 plastic soil discs, and a portable water sprinkler.

 

HOW TO ENTER

Leave one or more comments below this post. Contest ends May 4, 2011 at 12 midnite PST and is open to legal residents of the U.S. only.

For the Required (Mandatory) Entry

Simply leave a comment below this blogpost with your email address, Facebook or Twitter contact info so we may contact the winner.   In the event that you are the lucky one, MommyBlogExpert will contact you for your shipping address.

For Additional Chances to Win

Get extra entries for following MommyBlogExpert and/or Little Tikes on Twitter and/or Facebook and for subscribing to this blog.  Remember: Be sure to return to MommyBlogExpert to leave an additional comment after each individual action you do to confirm them so we can record all your extra chances to win.

Follow MommyBlogExpert (1 or 2 extra entries)

@mommyblogexpert in Twitter

@mommyblogexpert Facebook

Little Tikes (1 or 2 extra entries)

@LittleTikes on Twitter

@LittleTikes on Facebook

In ADDITION to doing any or all of the extra entries above, you can earn one extra entry each time you Tweet the message exactly in the paragraph immediately below (limit 3 separate tweets for 3 extra entries per day). Don't forget to return to leave a comment on this post with the direct link to right after every Tweet you do so you'll receive an entry for all your RTs.

Little Tikes Garden Cart Wheelbarrow #GIVEAWAY http://tinyurl.com/3jusfel #kids #toddler #contest #spring #summer #toys RT 2 #WIN

FTC Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and I received the featured Little Tikes product to facilitate this product review. In addition, Little Tikes is providing a second product for the giveaway. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.

More Quality Family Time: How the Smallest Changes Can Improve Family Life in a Big Way

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Quality Family Time

Our Family Garden Needs Tending

iPhone Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

The current Social Moms and Cottonelle blogging challenge got me thinking.  Often times, the smallest little changes we make in doing things can make a whole lot of difference.  So, here's my list of small changes that I think that can make family life exponentially better .

1.  Now that my own four kids are teens (triplets, age 13-1/2 and big brother, age 15) are growing up so fast I've decided that this is my number one small change.  Make more time for fun with your kids by spending at least 30 minutes a day getting outside to play together.   Do something physical that you and your child both enjoy, such as bicycling or chalking on the sidewalk which I'm planning to do with my girls this afternoon.

2.  Second on my list is choosing my battles with my children carefully.  Teens are not always easy to deal with, so I'm going to try and let them each "win" one more fight each day, that I would normally argue with them.  My kids are all teenagers, so we have frequent conflicts throughout the day, so I'll sure have a lot of chances to choose which disagreement to lose, LOL.

3.  All my children are book worms and read well beyond their grade levels.  Nevertheless they all enjoy when me and/or my hubbie read to them one-on-one at bedtime.  I've been devoting 30 minutes to this each evening, but since they enjoy it so much (and so do I, actually) I'm committing to increasing my nightly reading time to 45 minutes at minimum and even longer if we are both not too tired.

4.  Plant all the seeds we have in our garden, including the ones we have left over from last year.  That means expanding our vegetable and flower gardens considerably this spring and getting the kids to help me. The little change this growing season is that I'd like to plant more different types of lettuce and some heirloom tomatoes, plus a couple of exotic flowers I've never grown before.  That way we have lots of fresh, organically, truly locally-grown produce all summer long as well as fresh-cut flowers from our yard.

5.  My kids and I cook together in the kitchen occasionally and we definitely enjoy spending time together that way.  So, why not do it even more often?  With that said, another small change I'd like to make is to get each of my kids into the kitchen to cook with me individually, at least once a week.

6.  Lastly, as a mom who sometimes yells too much about the kids not doing all their chores, I'd like to try cutting back on my rants.  I may not be perfect, but the other small change I'd like to make is to make more of an effort to be more patient with my kids and hubbie, even when they are slacking on their chores.  It's a tiny change, but I'd like to help them more with their chores so that we get the job done together, without playing verbal volleyball too.

These six ideas I'm proposing, definitely are small changes.  But, if I can live up to them all -- even in part -- I think they have the potential to improve our family atmosphere in some very large ways.

If you could make one small change at your house to create a closer family, what would it be?  Please leave a comment.

FTC Disclosure:  I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Cottonelle blogging program, for a gift card worth $25.  For more information on how you can participate too, click here.  MommyBlogExpert did not receive any payment or other compensation related to this post.  See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.

April Fool's Day With Kids - A Little More Chaotic Than a Typical Day at Our House

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Celebrations

Mini MommyBlogExpert Making Faces at Mom
iPhoto by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

In assorted countries the world over, April Fools' Day is traditionally celebrated on the first day of April.  

I'm betting that most of us played pranks ourselves as kids so the holiday's customs themselves need little explanation. 

But, here's something really interesting that you might not know.  The earliest recorded All Fools Day, as it is also known, is widely believed to have been included in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales which dates back to over 600 years ago, in 1392.

In 2011 -- at least at our house this morning -- I'm happy to report that April Fool's is alive and well.  That's thanks to prankster Mini MommyBlogExpert who preyed on me (and to some extent, other family members) with all kinds of tricks from the moment I opened my eyes today.  As a matter of fact, come to think of it, she actually got an early start the night before by short sheeting everyone's beds at our house Thursday evening.

Toothpaste on the door
iPhone Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

Upon waking up, I heard my daughter cackle with a slight urgency in her voice, "Time to rise and shine!"  Time to play a game of human Mousetrap was more like it, as you will see after I tell you about the rest of today's April Fools Day extravaganza.  

Booby Trap Chair
iPhone Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

Half asleep, I stumbled to the bedroom door.  As I opened it, my hand stuck to the sticky toothpaste she had slathered all over the handle.  A little cranky, but still groggy, I opened the door all the way only to be greeted with a chair that she'd rigged to slam on the floor, just missing my feet.

Thinking the storm had passed, I headed to the kitchen.  I was looking forward to peacefully having breakfast, drinking my coffee, and reading the paper like I always do to start my day.  Things were going great, until I opened the refrigerator to get some milk for cereal. 

The refrigerator was also rigged
iPhone Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

Surprise! Our fridge had been booby trapped, too -- as a dozen magic markers rained down on me while I reached inside.  As if that wasn't irritating enough, when I got to the table and poured the milk into my cereal bowl I found out this thoughtful daughter of mine had dyed the milk green.  

I shouldn't feel too bad, though, because my sweet girl also colored the dog's water purple.  I guess she forgot that dogs are color blind, ha!

Little Dexter's Purple Water Bowl

iPhone Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

Ok.  That's got to be the end of her jokes, right?  Wrong.  The next thing I did was make my coffee which I hand grind every morning with an antique coffee grinder.  The grinding went fine, but as I opened the drawer to collect the grounds for my morning java, I found several creepy crawlies.  I discovered a dog bone and some candy in the coffee maker, too.  Luckily they were all fake, but they did surprise me.

Yuck: Creepy Crawlies in the Coffee Grinder!

iPhone Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

Finally I was enjoying my Constitutional morning caffeine and reading the paper.  I should have suspected something because the house was unusually quiet.  But soon I was to find out that I wasn't even close to the end of all these shenanigans. 

After breakfast, I went to get dressed only to discover that my sweet teenager had taken blue lipstick and completely blacked out the lenses on my eye glasses!  Just for good measure I also noticed that she had written "Happy April Fool's Day" in red lipstick all over the toilet paper roll.

Blued-out eyeglasses
iPhone Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

I really panicked, though, when I went to turn my computer on to check my morning email.  There on the computer was a note saying she broke my computer!  By this time, I was already thinking of a plan to get her back for all these pranks.

My daughter "breaks" my computer
iPhone Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

While the prankster was at her tutor this morning,  the other kids (who weren't much involved in all most of the tricks) and I moved her desk to block the front door.  Then, we dumped all her clothes into her bed.  When she came home, the April Fool's payback joke was on her!  The picture below says it even better.

iPhone Self-Portrait by Mini MommyBlogExpert  

 

This time, the joke's on you, Daughter!

What kinds of pranks have you done for April Fool's Day?  Conversely, what kinds of jokes have been played on you?  What is the funniest or craziest kid-caused trick you've ever heard of?  Leave a comment and share it!

FTC Disclosure:  MommyBlogExpert did not receive any payment or other compensation related to this post.  See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.

Spring Cleaning Goes Hi Tech - 3 Must-Have Free & Low-cost Apps To Make Homekeeping a Breeze

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Homekeeping & Organizing Apps

I must be on a roll here.  Two blog posts about spring cleaning in a row.  First it was 7 Secrets to Making Spring Cleaning Less Painful and More Productive and now this one.

Housekeeping with Kids is a Constant Battle With Clutter
iPhone Photo by Janis Brett Elspas, MommyBlogExpert.com

I've got some more advice for you in this department, having just discovered some great new mobile apps -- ranging in price from Free to just $1.19 to download.   Perhaps, before you dive into your big spring cleaning spree and drag the old vacuum cleaner out of the closet, you might want to take a look at these.

Three simple apps to make spring cleaning & organizing a breeze:

1. House Maintenance Schedule, FREE for the Android

House Maintenance Schedule is a calendar application that's easy to use to log dates of routine maintenance done to your home -- such as changing the water filter in your refrigerator at set intervals. This is also helpful, reminding you when the next maintenance needs to be done.  Additionally, it  has an easy-to-follow basic month-to-month guide for home maintenance work.  To top it off, this app is Free, so why not give it a try?

Download House Maintenance Schedule, for the Android HERE
 

2. Clean Freak Cleaning Schedule, $.99 for the Apple iPhone

Designed by working parents, this app uses the divide-and-conquer approach to keeping the home clean.  Just like I suggested in my last post, with this you can use this to break down your chores into bite-sized tasks to do a small part of the bigger job each day.  Check each completed item off the list as you go.  Clean Freak shows you how many days since a task was last done, while completing all items advances the rotation.  It's also a snap to configure less frequent tasks on your to do list in the "every 2/4/8 rotations" sections.

Download Clean Freak for the iPhone HERE 

3. Organizing Your Home, $1.19 for the Android

Let's face it:  cleaning and organizing at home is a painful process for many of us.  With Organizing Your Home, chores become so much easier to tackle.  This app is the go-to source for practical tips and strategies to clear out the clutter that is in every room in your home. Better, yet, this app also help you keep organized once you've finished the initial job.

Download Organizing Your Home for the Android HERE

Definitely comment on what you think of these apps.  Also, would love to hear about other apps that you recommend that help with spring cleaning, organization, and/or home maintenance.

FTC Disclosure:  MommyBlogExpert did not receive any payment or other compensation related to this post.  See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.