I'm still here

Just a note to say that I'm still around and plan to do more blogging in the future! Keep posted...

Afrin PureSea Hydrating Nasal Rinse

I was chosen to take part in a new BzzAgent campaign last week for Afrin PureSea hydrating nasal rinse. You may have heard this concept referred to as a netti pot before. Basically you use saline to clear out your sinuses and it's supposed to remove toxins and allergens that cause allergies and sinus issues. I've been allergic to mold for a long time and take a handful of allergy medications to keep my allergies from driving me crazy. They don't always work. Therefore I was pretty psyched about trying this new product, but admittedly apprehensive at the same time. How would it work? How would it feel? Weird I should think. I'm excited about the opportunity to test something and let my friends know how it goes. Here's my first report.

Tried it for the first time about twenty minutes ago. I've used a saline spray before but never a rinse that is designed to go through your sinus cavity. Ick? The pictures show to lay your head to the side so the saline will go in one nostril and out the other. Tips suggest breathing through your mouth. This seems like a wise suggestion. I start out with deep breaths because I'm terrified of what will happen if I inhale through my nose. It starts out feeling just like the spray I use but then I feel a cold feeling under my eyes (where my sinuses would be). I'm waiting for it to work it's way to the other side and all I can feel is an uncomfortable trickle down the back of my throat. I didn't expect that. Maybe my head wasn't quite horizontal? Anyhow I tried the other side too and it was pretty similar. I'll try again later and see if it follows the directions better. Afterward I found I could breath a lot better and my ears popped a little (again, kind of weird). If this helps my allergies, I'm all for it. Will let you know more as time progresses. If you're interested in trying Afrin PureSea I have several coupons good for $3.00 off that I would be happy to give you. Just email me or reply to this blog and I'll make sure they get to you.

On a completely different note, if you are in need of warm weather hoodies, fleece blankets or sweat pants. Check out your local CVS. You can save 90% with your ExtraCare card. I was able to get a hoodie for $0.75 and a fleece blanket for the kitties for $0.25!! And the hoodie is really snuggly and roomy. Try to look for the hoodie UPC that ends in 816 (some aren't on sale). It's always a good idea to scan it before you bring it to the counter because some CVS's have different discounts.

Victoria's Secret Freebie!

I learned about a great freebie the other day. If you're a fan of Victoria's Secret (I am!), check out their new club: VS Pink Nation. If you sign up now they will send you two coupons: one for a free gift, and one for $10 off of a $35 purchase (amounts of coupon may vary). Rumor on the web was that the free gift was a tote bag. I figured it would be pretty cheap, but we're stocking up on reusable grocery bags and it would have come in handy. When we visited the store I made an effort to browse and find something to buy (with the coupon of course). They have these really great Pink body products that are 100% vegan and don't test on animals. I almost picked up some but then decided to stick to my meager budget. Lo and behold I get to the counter and my freebie is not a tote bag, but a really cute travel bag with a hodgepodge of the body products I was looking at. A great freebie, because it's worth $25! It comes with the Energizing Body Wash, Energizing Body Lotion, Lip Butter and Everything Refresher Spray. FYI, the lip butter is awesome and the scent is very energizing as they proclaim. I highly encourage anyone interested to take advantage of this deal; although your mileage may vary as to the free gift.

While I'm on the subject of vegan products, I wanted to recommend a few other products I've tried last week. Kashi just introduced two new frozen Vegan meals and they are mind blowingly good! I'm so impressed by Kashi's ability to include chunks of healthy veggies that actually taste fresh. The two new meals are Mayan Harvest Bake and Tuscan Veggie Bake. Tried both and they're very delish. Right now Kashi is offering a coupon for a free meal via snailmail (doesn't have to be Vegan). I haven't gotten mine yet, but I've heard from others who have. I seem to recall that Kashi's promotions tend to take a while. I'll try to be patient!

Yesterday Mike and I tried the peanut butter filled Newman-O's. I think Mike's in love. I think I'm starting to fall hard too. They're very rich but subtle too. Mike's pronouced them better than the regular Newman-O's and he's a huge Oreo fan. No free coupons for this one, but Deep Roots has them on sale right now.

Swagbucks is in!

Swagbucks has officially passed my test. I had thought it would take a really long time to accrue enough points to get anything of value, but as it turns out Swagbucks.com offers a lot of different options for your points. While you can hold on to your points for a long time for a gift card, occassionally they will have some pretty cool CDs, posters, etc that cost less points and are a pretty good value. The options are pretty random which kind of adds to the fun. I was able to find a promo CD by a comic Mike really likes and get it for him as a surprise. And the prize arrived just a few days ago. Ergo Swagbucks is officially a site worth belonging to in my opinion. I'm kind of psyched to build my points back up and snag something cool for myself. You can read an earlier post with more detail about the site. Click the banner at the bottom of this post to join or at the bottom of the blog. It's fun and painless!

Latest Harris Teeter trip!

Mike and I took a special trip to Harris Teeter last week and we got all this for only $0.22 and it's not even triples!

There was supposed to be a free 50 oz bottle of Harris Teeter brand laundry detergent as well but they were all out. Hopefully they'll have some in stock when we go again on Tuesday. Otherwise I'm going to look into getting my first raincheck! We did have a $2.50 harris teeter catalina coupon earned from previous purchases that helped pull the cost down, but the rest was just sales and Sunday coupons.

We had hoped to get a few more good deals today at other stores but the sleet has kept us inside.
I've been finding a lot of deals on on-line shopping. I got a Victoria's Secret Penn State hoodie sweatshirt (weird, I know) for about $25 including shipping. Plus got a free Victoria's Secret energizing body lotion in-store. I got gold cloth napkins for the holidays for free from Macys.com(including shipping) using a coupon and gift certificate earned from registry gifts from our wedding. I also finally earned enough swagbucks to order a used CD for Mike. Yay!

Birthday Tips

I recently celebrated a birthday and wanted to let everyone know about some really great birthday freebies that are out there. If you have a local Hollywood Video, make sure you've get a card before your birthday. They let you rent a free movie on your special day. Many restaurants offer birthday specials. Cold Stone Creamery will give you a free creation. Ruby Tuesdays, Macaroni Grill, and sometimes Olive Garden will give you a free dessert (usually cake) on your birthday. If you sign-up for Sonic's e-mails, you'll get a birthday e-coupon for a free slush drink or tater tots. Moe's will give you a free birthday burrito (I think you have to sign up for it first). I even got an offer for free shipping from Macys.com. There's enough deals out there that you can treat yourself many times without spending a dime!

Shopping & Cash!

This weekend I did a little shopping at one of my favorite stores: New York & Company. I used one of the coupons I get for being a member and saved about $20 bucks on mostly already discounted clothes. Got a new pair of jeans, a sweater, and tons of really cute underwear (I'm a sucker for really cute underwear). Lots of their merchandise is 70% off right now and lots of jeans are 50%. You can sign up on their website to get coupons or check out the link below for some great online coupons.

New York and Co coupons powered by RetailMeNot.com

Good news to report about the surveys I've been taking. The checks are still rolling in. I got $20.50 this month and my associated content views are accumulating faster. I also got a free cutting board, regal cinemas gift card, and a book!

Also, as a side note, the diet's still going good. I found out how to fit Quizno's into meal plan tomorrow and Mike is pretty psyched about that.

MyPoints and a new diet

Two things I'd like to tell you about today and they're kind of related. The first is a program called MyPoints. I got involved with them through BzzAgent and soon came to spend more of my time with MyPoints then I did with the other! MyPoints is different than a survey site. There are several ways you can earn points. You can make purchases from online retailers using a link on their site (you earn points based on what you spend). You can visit websites they promote (you get five points for going to the website and sometimes more for signing up or making a purchase). You can print coupons off the site (you get points once the coupons are redeemed). The points can be redeemed for gift cards, like Barnes & Noble, movie theaters, Bath & Body Works, Amazon, etc. So far I've gotten three gift cards from them and it's all very legit. If you're patient enough to deal with the e-mails they send, this might be a good fit for you. Once a week I sort my email so I've got only MyPoints emails in front of me and click on each, get my points, and delete them. If you're interested in joining, I'd love to refer you (another perk is you get points for referring friends!), or you can just go to the website (http://www.mypoints.com/) and sign-up.

One of the sites I discovered recently through MyPoints turned out to be a bit of a life saver. It's called SparkPeople.com. I know; it sounds hokey. It's a diet/fitness website to help people lose weight and meet various other health goals. The idea is that with support and help you can reach your health goals. It's free to sign up; no catch or gimmick I've seen yet, except some videos and fitness equipment you can buy from the website. I was amazed how much there is to do! There is a nutrition planner that has been vital to me sticking to the diet. They give you meal plans (and yes, you can specify vegetarian) and it helps you count calories. You can adjust all the plans to what you eat and have handy. They give you a goal weight and goal calories to burn, as well as a fitness planner to help you exercise. They have online workout videos. You can create your own sparkle webpage. There are a multitude of groups you can belong to (including a vegetarian/vegan group) that provide community to give you the support and answers you need. You get sparklepoints whenever you do well sticking to your plans. Honestly I don't think you can do anything with the points, but I guess it's a nice gesture. Kind of like the gold star you get in grade school. Check it out at http://www.sparkpeople.com!

Tips on Grocery Shopping

I just wrote an article for Associated Content about grocery shopping tips. You can check it out here. I also have an article with tips on how to create a budget. Associated Content is a great way to make some extra dough. I usually get anywhere from $2-3.50 per article (paid via PayPal) and for every 1000 views you get $1.50, so it does the work while you're not working.

It's a short blog entry today because Lost is about to come on. Woohoo! Mike and I are making our own pizza to celebrate. Pillsbury pizza dough with soy cheese and soy pepperoni. I can't wait!

Kashi TLC Cereal Bars!

Kashi TLC Cereal Bar. Strawberry, 6-Count Bars (Pack of 6)

I got a neat freebie last week. It was a new cereal bar from Kashi. It's vegan (if you don't count the honey) and pretty tasty. They also sent me a slew of coupons good for $2 off. I couldn't find them at Harris Teeter but rumor has it you can get them at Wal-Mart for only $2.50. That means with the coupon they'd only be $.50 a box! The coupons expire 3/31/09 and there's more than I could use in a lifetime. Please, if you're interested, let me know and I'll send some to you.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone is having a great new year so far! After a short break from my blog, I am looking forward to having more posts. I love interaction so feel free to comment on anything you like! I just finished reading the first book in the series True Blood is based on:
I recommend it if you enjoy the show. I haven't decided yet if I'll read the rest of the series as I don't want to get too ahead of the show.

I'm planning on trying a new non-survey program called Swagbucks. Basically you use the site to search and you randomly get "bucks" of random amounts. Supposedly you can't get more than two bucks of some denomination per day (although you can sometimes get codes that automatically award bucks). So far all I've gotten is $1 bucks, but I've heard that it can happen that you get more. You use the bucks to get prizes on the site. You can get a $10 Bath and Body Works giftcard for 115. So yes, if you're only getting $1 or $2 a day that will take a while. The way I see it is it doesn't take long to do (you can use it to look up a site you were already going to) and it's kinda fun (you never know when your buck will appear or how much it will be). I think there's also a deal where you get the same bucks your friends do when they sign up under your referral so it might be easier to rack up the bucks depending on how many you refer. The jury's still out on this one since I've just started, but I'll keep you posted!