Stuff Parents Need - Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

Cheerios, a Weight Loss Secret and a #BetterBreakfast ($15 Paypal Giveaway!)

March 18, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · 95 Comments

Last week I wrapped up a 10-week exercise and weight loss challenge with a group of people at my local workout facility. Most of us were not exercising at all at the beginning of the challenge and by the end, we were working out an average of 5 times a week, doing a combination of cardio and strength training activities.

The participant who lost the most weight during the challenge (it was a man…of course…) shared about how he got over a plateau in his weight loss journey that happened about halfway through the challenge. It really struck me as something to take to heart, because he made a change that few people would expect to be the key to losing more weight: he started eating breakfast.

A photo posted by Tiffany (@stuffparentsneed) on Mar 18, 2015 at 7:12am PDT

He was in a long standing habit of just having coffee for breakfast, and even though he knew what we have all heard time and time again, which is that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, from his perspective, it was tough on his crunched morning schedule and since he was trying to lose weight, it was just more calories, so why bother? But our nutritionist encouraged him to give it a try so that his body wouldn’t think it was starving and needing to hold on to any fat already stored. And guess what? It worked!

Historically, I have always been a BIG fan of breakfast. In fact, for many years of my life I had to eat within 15 minutes of waking up or I would feel physically ill. I think my coffee habit has put a damper on my appetite first thing in the morning, and as a result, I haven’t been skipping breakfast, but it is not uncommon for me to be awake 2-3 hours before I eat breakfast. This is not good, friends! My body needs some water and some good nutrients right off the bat in order for it to not be out of whack and to assume that it isn’t getting fed and therefore needs to hold on to what I’ve already got.

A #BetterBreakfast Routine

Inspired by my workout buddy’s great success with a good breakfast, I headed over to Publix to pick up a winning combination: Cheerios and 100% Florida Orange Juice. They actually have a SWEET coupon in their Lucky Saving flyer right now(which you can find at the front entrance of your local store OR at the customer service desk). If you purchase both of these products, you can take $2 off the total bill. You can also find a Cheerios digital coupon for $1/2 boxes at ReadyPlanSave.com. Awesome! So why this particular combination? Well, Cheerios makes for a great choice because it is made from whole-grain oats and it does not have artificial flavors or colors. Those are two things I’m trying to eliminate as much as I can from our diets because they sort of freak me out. It is also a low fat and cholesterol-free choice. Finally, in case you haven’t noticed, boxed cereals can be absolutely loaded with sugar, but Cheerios has just one gram of sugar per serving. Nice!

Pairing cheerios with an 8 oz glass of 100% Florida orange juice will give you lots of vitamin C (100% of your daily need, in fact!) and vitamin C helps maintain a healthy immune system. Orange juice also contains potassium which is great for heart health. Also? It’s delicious! 🙂

I personally like my Cheerios best with sliced bananas. And for an extra special treat, try it with a small drizzle of honey!

Win it!: I want you to get to experience the super fast, super simple and super awesome breakfast pairing of Cheerios + OJ (and don’t forget that $2 off coupon!), so I’m hosting a giveaway for $15 PayPal so you be on your way to a #BetterBreakfast routine, my treat!

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Keeping Play Time Cute and Affordable: Garanimals (Plus 6 More Tips!)

March 16, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

So this quick commercial totally cracked me up because it is SO true!!!

I know you feel me on this. Between shoes and clothes, you can certainly tell when your kids have those little growth spurts. It’s always just enough for their stuff to stop fitting and for you to have to make a run to the store for some more duds. So how do you keep their carousel of clothing going in and out of your house from becoming a financial land mine, especially when you need the next size up RIGHT NOW? Well, I have a few tips and tricks that I personally use and I hope they will help you out!

1. Special Clothes for Art Time

I’m sure we have all experienced our kids getting an outfit dirty during a paint or craft session, and realizing after the fact that they were NOT playing with washable paints. Rather than tossing that ruined top, set it aside and give it new life as the “art time” shirt. This will save you from having ruined shirts down the road as you won’t care if this one keeps getting paint on it! It was never my intention for this shirt to get ruined, but it is what it is, and I’m glad that we were able to give it a new and important job in our home. It gets worn at least twice a week, now.

2. Pop Some Tags (at the Thrift Store!)

I am a big fan of shopping for children’s clothing in thrift stores, especially infant clothing since babies grow so darn fast that they rarely have a chance to ruin their clothes before they have outgrown them. The downside of shopping in thrift stores is that it is very hit or miss, so heading into the shop with very specific things you are looking for will likely only yield disappointment. But if you head in with an open mind and an open range for sizes you will buy, you will likely have some success.

3. Buy Off Season and Off Size

On a related note, whether you are shopping in a thrift store or shopping retail, be willing to purchase larger sizes and set them aside. You can usually make fairly accurate guesses about the size your child will be in a year from now, so when you see the holiday shirts or pajamas on clearance, go ahead and get what you need for next year at a great price. The key to this strategy is having a decent storage system so that you can store your finds with other items in the same size and so that you’ll know what you have when the time comes to wear them. I have been SO grateful to my past self on many occasions when I have gotten out the next size box for my kids and found several fantastic pieces already on hand.

4. Buy New Clothes at Unbeatable Prices

While thrift stores are a great option for scoring some deals, you can’t really count on them to put together your entire wardrobe. I have a specific brand I LOVE to buy new for my girls when I know, for example, that I need solid color long sleep tops or a few pair of fun shorts. If you don’t yet know about Garanimals, let me introduce you! This line is exclusive to Walmart, and it features clothing options for sizes newborn-5T that mix and match really well. And the prices? Honestly they are just as great as what you’ll find in thrift stores! I routinely get Garanimals tops for my girls for under $4. Seriously. And my oldest will be out of size 5T in a handful of months, and then we’ll just check out 365 Kids, which is the sister line to Garanimals that goes up to size 8.

5. Kids Dress Crazy. Embrace It

While it is great to have pieces in the wardrobe that will mix and match easily, this is also the season to embrace your child’s fashion sense. As babies become toddlers and then preschoolers, they will want to have more and more say in how they dress. Let them pick and choose from their closet and wear what makes them happy, even if it doesn’t perfectly match. They will feel confident and happy that they dressed themselves, and in my experience at least, their fellow classmates are not yet overly concerned with what they are wearing, and they are dressed just as wacky, too. Just roll with it!

6. Buy/Borrow/Trade/Take

When it comes to dressing your kids, be sure to make great use of your network of family and friends. I can guarantee you that you personally know people who have clothes that would fit your child sitting in a box in their attic or their storage shed and that they would LOVE to let you have, let you borrow, or let you buy those clothes from them. Barring a happy accident, we are finished having kids, and I seriously delight in passing down the clothes my youngest has outgrown. I love getting to see them live on in other kids’ closets, and quite frankly, I love freeing up the space in my home! Don’t ever be afraid to ask!

7. See What You Can Repurpose

There are a few items in my girls’ wardrobes that I have discovered can take on new lives, even after they are too small for their intended purpose. For example, a twirly dress might become too short as your child grows, but they could still fit in it, otherwise. Pair it with some leggings and the dress turns into a top! As your child outgrows their pants, in some cases they might be able to pass as capris, or if you are handy with a sewing machine, you might be able to turn them into shorts. We’ve even successfully repurposed baby legs that my girls used as infants into leg warmers during dance class, or even arm warmers as a wacky fashion statement (see #5).

These are just a few ideas I personally use to help keep my girls outfitted for school and play without breaking my bank. I hope they give you a few ideas to try out. And I’d LOVE to hear some of your strategies so that I can learn from you! Be sure to leave me a comment below!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Garanimals. The opinions and text are all mine.

How to Stop Someone From Snoring

March 12, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · 13 Comments

Disclaimer: I am sharing my own personal experience, but I am NOT offering medical advice of any sort. PLEASE take great care when deciding which brand of essential oils to use in your home, as 98% of the oils on the market contain synthetic chemicals and additives and could cause reactions when applied to the skin or ingested. Please consult your physician should you have any questions or concerns. Essential oils have not been tested by the FDA.

The day my premium starter kit from Young Living landed on my doorstep, I was excited, overwhelmed, and most of all, scared. I was scared that I had just spend $150+ on oils that wouldn’t do squat. I decided to put them to the test by starting with the reason I was so intrigued in the first place: I wanted to know how to stop someone from snoring, and I had heard that one of these oils blends could handle it.

Oh, by the way, the “someone” I wanted to get to stop snoring was me. 🙂

So here’s how it works, and I promise you it is every bit as easy as it sounds. What you need is an essential oil blend from Young Living called Valor (fyi it’s available to purchase via Amazon if you don’t want to go through an MLM, which I completely understand). Valor contains the following oils: spruce, rosewood, blue tansy and frankincense. So you take 1 drop of this oil, and put it on the top of the back of your big toe. Repeat for the other side. Then go to bed. Done!

Why the Big Toe?

Ok, so my first question about this was why in the heck putting an oil blend on your big toe would cause snoring to stop. If you check out information on Vita Flex Points on your body, you will learn that the top of your big toe is connected to your brain, an the brain is the place where some stuff needs to go down in order for snoring to cease. I wish I could explain the science of the oils better, but we’ll just have to leave it at that!

How I Know It Works

When I told my husband that I would going to rub some essential oils on my big toe and stop snoring, he looked at me like I had totally lost my mind. I actually remember pausing for a minute after I told him and thinking about just how crazy I sounded! But after trying it for a night I had proof positive that it worked. My husband did report that he couldn’t recall if I had been snoring the night before, but that’s not really sufficient evidence. What was most telling was the fact that my husband’s sleep app that he had been using faithfully for a few months and that registered the quality of his sleep indicated that he had the best night of sleep he had experienced in over 2 months that night. BOOM! No snoring! And of course, I continue to use it and continue to NOT snore. It’s a beautiful thing, people!

photo credit: Ärlan via photopin (license)

meQuilibrium: 14 Days to Cooler, Calmer and Happier (Book Review)

March 10, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Book provided by Blogging for Books for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

There’s a cloud on the cover of this book that has the following sentence on it: “The clinically proven plan to banish burnout.” This got me very intrigued. When I saw “14 Days…” I was sold. Yes, I would love to be able to change my life in 14 days! I will read this book and amazing things will transpire!!!

You know where this is going, right?

I’m sure your mama taught you that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Mama’s right. meQuilibrium is not going to radically change your life in 14 days, especially not with 15-20 minutes of your time each day, as the book also promises.

Now, that’s not to say that this book doesn’t have very sound advice, and that it doesn’t lay out many different very real stress triggers and some great ideas for ways to diffuse those little ticking time bombs. But the amount of time that they suggest you might need to “fix” these problems strikes me as ridiculous. I actually found myself getting all stressed out after I realized that they were suggesting that I learn how to correctly identify, categorize and then appropriately diffuse my emotional triggers all in one day. Seems like quite the lofty task! Do you struggle with sleep issues? Don’t worry, you’ll fix that in day 2. All you have to do is stuff that you have probably tried 100 times before like do a little yoga, not eat too much before bed, etc. It will fix itself in one night…aren’t you excited?

Ok, I know I’m being a little grouchy. So I want to state what is true again: this book really does do a nice job of uncovering stress trigger points and giving you some long term as well as some short term stress relief ideas. But I think that the promise of being able to radically transform how a person deals with stress in 14 days, 15 minutes at a time, is not realistic, and frankly, it encourages folks (or at least me) to just put the book down and walk away. Why not be honest about the fact that changing decades old habits is just going to take time, but that working slow and steady on making those changes is going to be worth all of the hard work (because it IS hard work…it isn’t 15 minutes of your time work).

Is it worth the read? I would say yes IF you are super stressed out and you can’t even put your finger on what the heck is wrong. If you are lost, this book will shed some light on what might be happening with you. But if you want to be cooler, calmer and happier in just 14 days and with minimum effort, I’m not convinced that this book will help.

DazzlePro Advanced Sonic Toothbrush: Are Electric Toothbrushes Better?

March 9, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Product provided for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

Ok, so electric toothbrushes have been around for long enough that most people are at least familiar with the concept. We even own a set and my husband faithfully uses his, while I have fallen off the bandwagon for some reason. I think I felt the need to at least use up all the manual toothbrushes that I collected during my couponing days when I could frequently get them for free or really close to it. While I knew using an electric toothbrush felt nice, I suppose I thought that I had a duty to use up what I had stocked away, and I wasn’t really sure if electric toothbrushes were necessarily better, anyway.

So DazzlePro asked to send along their Advanced Sonic Toothbrush for me to check out and I decided that since my manual toothbrush supply was pretty much tapped out, this was the perfect time to give electric toothbrushes another shake.

I did a bit of reading about how the toothbrush is designed to work, and I shared some of my initial thoughts on Youtube. Take a second to hear more about the features that impressed me, as well as the ones that left me a little confused!

Anyone out there a big fan of massaging your gums? Care to educate the rest of us about why we are supposed to be doing this? I’m all ears!

Ok, so I have been using the toothbrush for a few weeks, and I have even compared setting a timer for 2 minutes and manually brushing vs. using the Advanced Sonic Toothbrush for the 2 minute session just to see if I could tell a significant difference. I came away with 2 conclusions:

1. My teeth felt cleaner than normal using the manual toothbrush simply by setting a timer and adhering to it.

2. Still, there was no contest about which toothbrush seemed to perform the best in that 2 minute cycle. My teeth felt freakin’ awesome after using the DazzlePro Advanced Sonic Toothbrush. There’s just no other way to put it! I have been thoroughly impressed.

I’m going to have Tim start using the DazzlePro since there are other toothbrush heads that come with the base. I’m curious to hear from him if he prefers his old unit over the DazzlePro, or if he prefers the DazzlePro, or if he feels that they preform pretty much the same.

70% Savings!

Um, woah! I was sent a 70% off coupon just for my readers to use to try the DazzlePro Advanced Sonic Toothbrush. I just went to the website to test it out and make sure it wasn’t a typo. It’s legit! The Advanced Sonic Toothbrush retails for $179.99 but if you use the coupon code SONIC4TM then 70% comes off the bill and it drops down to $59.99 plus tax. Very impressive! If you haven’t tried out an electric toothbrush yet, I can’t think of a better time to take the leap, friends. I am really enjoying the toothbrush and do not have plans to go back to the manual style, myself. At a price like this, it might be time for you to do the same!

Honest Company Lunch Box: An Honest Assessment

March 7, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

Affiliate links included. I love the Honest Company and I was not provided with complimentary products for this review. I always give it to you straight! 🙂

I’m someone who subscribes to the Honest Company bundles (though I recently eliminated my diaper bundle…three cheers for the end of potty training!). As such, I’m always paying attention to the emails I get from the company announcing their new products. So when I recently learned about their lunch boxes I knew I wanted to get one right away, especially since my husband had recently commented to me that our kindergartner’s lunch box was getting “kind of gross.” Yikes.

There are 4 designs currently available, and I’ll be honest and tell you that I’m not wild about any of them, in terms of their prints. I ultimately settled on the tribal stripe print. Here’s what it looks like:

And I will say this about the print: I like it more in person than I did on the website. Or perhaps I was just impressed with the overall look of the lunch box. It looks sturdy and of a good quality (which is much more than I can say for the Honest Canvas Tote!). It just looked well designed, so now that we have it, I really quite like it!

Here’s a peek at the inside of the lunch box:

There’s a place on the inside to put your child’s name, though at our school, identification has to be on the outside of the lunch box. Darah really loves the shiny, silver inside. I really love that the lunch box comes with a detachable insert, which makes cleaning it much more simple to do. This will help this lunch box last longer before it, too, becomes “kind of gross.”

Now for the price: if you go to the Honest website and just purchase this one item, it is going to cost you $29.95 plus tax and shipping. And as much as I like the lunch box, I think that price point is a smidge too high. Here’s what you need to do to get the price down and to score free shipping.

1. Sign up for the everyday essentials bundle if you aren’t signed up already. It is, indeed, an auto ship program…BUT…you can switch your delivery date effortlessly online. You are NOT required to place an order every month and there is no hassle to be had for moving your date around. You do have to call in to cancel the service, but I can tell you from personal experience cancelling bundles that this is also not a pain in the rear and that the reps you speak with are wonderful and happy to help you.

2. Once you are signed up for a bundle, pick out the items you want for your household for that month. Not sure what to get? I can help you! I have an extensive list of the Honest Co reviews so you can learn what is worth buying, what is worth skipping, and exactly how to place things in your cart to save the most money. Some things are best saved for the 3 bonus items you are allowed to tack on to your bundle order for an extra 25% off! 🙂

3. The lunch box should be one of you “+3” items. You are not allowed to count it as one of your bundle items, but you can score 25% off if you add it on. This will bring the price down to $22, and it is absolutely worth $22. Once your entire order totals $50, your order ships free, and adding this on to a bundle will take care of that for you!

If you haven’t ever ordered anything from The Honest Company, you should actually start with your free trials, though. I’ve got the inside scoop on how to get free Honest Company products for you. .Start there, and then move on to your super smart bundle orders! 🙂

What I’m Learning: How to Grind Coffee Beans and How to Use a Pour Over Brewer

March 5, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

I am proud to be serving as a Starbucks Ambassador this year. Complimentary coffee products were provided. My experience and my opinions are mine alone, as always. Affiliate links included.

It’s been a rough couple of weeks, y’all. I’m not yet able to face things day to day, but I can go hour by hour. Some of those hours feel quite normal. Others feel just plain awful, and it’s during those hours that I have a really hard time doing much of anything. I know so many of you who read this have experienced loss in your own lives and you understand the feeling. I take a lot of comfort in hearing from others, as it helps me to not feel so alone with the pain of losing a loved one. And I am also on the lookout for interesting little distractions that can help me keep my mind off of sad things.

Coffee is one of my happy things. I make no secret about that. I’m an iced coffee gal, and am hopelessly devoted to my Keurig, unless I’m getting the occasional chance to swing by a Starbucks, where I will promptly treat myself to, you guessed it, an iced coffee. I brew Starbucks at home, and it tastes fantastic. But it’s even better at the store. I used to think that the taste difference was in my mind…perhaps because I had the cool cup I thought it tasted better? But actually, it’s because of the beans that are getting ground just before being brewed. Having the very freshest coffee really does seem to make a taste difference.

how to grind coffee beans

So when Starbucks sent me a few different types of their coffee to try out (oh twist my arm!), I was a bit perplexed to discover that the packages were whole bean coffee. I mean, I knew that people ground their own coffee at home, but I never took the time to try it myself. Probably because I didn’t have a bean grinder. After researching these gadgets a bit and realizing that I could get one that is rated highly for just under $20, I decided to just go for it and see if the extra effort was really worth it. If you don’t own a bean grinder, let me tell you about my experience!

First, I appreciate that the bean grinder doesn’t take up a lot of space. We have a small kitchen so we have to be quite picky about how many gadgets we own. One friend pointed out to me that coffee bean grinders can also serve as spice grinders, and I thought it was just so sweet that she thought I would ever take the time to grind my own spices. What an adorable and completely delusional idea! I mention it because maybe you are the type to get your grind on with your spices. I’m not. I’m barely willing to try it for coffee, and coffee is my great love (aside from my family and all…). But if this helps you justify the purchase, well there you go.

how to grind coffee beans 3

I filled the bean grinder to the top of the silver portion and pressed the button for 9 quick pulses and got this result. This is a coarse grind, which I read was appropriate for pour-over brewers (more on that in a sec). I will say this: I could tell a difference in the scent potency of the freshly ground beans in comparison to the pre-ground stuff I normally buy. I thought that was a good sign for things to come! FYI, this was Cafe Verona. Darth Vader and I like our coffee the same way: on the dark side.

Ok, so now it was time to figure out this pour over brewer that Starbucks sent to me. When I first opened the package, I thought I was going to have to email the company back and very awkwardly have to tell them that the giant coffee mug with the cemented-on saucer that they sent me had a big hole in it.

Fortunately, I took a second to research it just in case it wasn’t, in fact, a giant coffee cup with a cemented-on saucer and a major product flaw. Turns out, this is called a pour-over brewer. It requires a coffee filter, a coffee mug, some hot water, and some ground coffee beans (preferably coarse).

You simply pour your hot water into the pour brewer, which is balanced on top of a cup. Not gonna lie…this did NOT look like a smart idea. And as it turns out, I definitely spilled some hot water in the process of trying it out. So there’s your warning from me…careful with pouring hot water!

I got my hot water from my Keurig to save time, and I couldn’t help but wonder if all these extra steps were worth it. I will say that the brewing process was super quick…totally done in about 30 seconds. And I did, in fact, have coffee waiting for me in my mug. Now, I’m not really that into hot coffee, as you all know, but for the sake of the experiment, I added a touch of sugar and a bit of cream and gave it a try. And it was quite good, I have to say. I drank the entire cup, and that’s just not something I normally do with hot coffee.

So after trying the pour over brewer, I have to conclude that it isn’t the right product for me just because it seems like some extra steps that I’m not really interested in going through since my Keurig has a permanent spot on my kitchen counter. I could see this being a great gift idea, though, for a friend who loves the ritual of making coffee, as it certainly adds an element of fun and even intention to the process. It is also a good choice for someone who doesn’t own a Keurig or any sort of coffee maker, because there’s no denying that this is quite the space saver!

I think the taste difference didn’t come from how the coffee was brewed, but instead from the fact that the beans were so freshly ground. I can’t tell you that I’m going to grind coffee beans every single morning because that’s just a lie, friends. But I can see myself doing this twice a week so that I have fresher coffee to look forward to each day. When you start with high quality beans, which you can count on receiving when you purchase Starbucks coffee, you are 80% of the way to an amazing cup of coffee. Go ahead and get the coffee bean grinder to get you the rest of the way to an absolutely perfect cup of joe. It takes a pinch of time, but it’s worth it.

How do you take your coffee, friends? Are you a bean grinder or do you think it isn’t worth the extra effort? Anyone out there tried the pour over brewer, yet?

8 Thrifty Strategies to Get the Best Essential Oils for the Lowest Possible Price

March 3, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · 2 Comments

Disclaimer: I am sharing my own personal experience, but I am NOT offering medical advice of any sort. Please consult your physician should you have any questions or concerns about how essential oils will interface with any medication you are currently taking. Essential oils have not been tested by the FDA.

There was a season of my life when I was pretty darn good at rockin’ the coupons. I didn’t have a spare room in my house dedicated to my stash of freebies, or anything, but I did have a closet, and it was stuffed with mouthwash, shampoo, toothpaste, diapers and razors that I’d gotten for free or close to free. My pantry and my freezer were the same way…plenty of boxes of super cheap food at the ready!

The only problem was that most of the stuff I got for free was actually quite terrible for us. The food was, generally speaking, loaded with sodium an preservatives and the toiletries had all sorts of questionable chemicals in them. What I learned over time is that everything comes with a price, and if you aren’t paying that price in dollars you might well be paying it in other ways. I was compromising my family’s health to cut some costs in our monthly budget. I was the perfect example of being penny-wise and pound foolish.

I’m sharing this story with you because I get a lot of push back from people about the cost of Young Living essential oils. And on the surface, I can totally understand why it might seem ludicrous to pay $23.50 for a bottle of lavender when the health food store down the street sells lavender oil for $9. But I can promise you, this: when it comes to essential oils, you get what you pay for. Do you only want your house to smell good? Then go for that $9 bottle, friend. Do you NOT want to be inhaling chemicals and synthetic additives when you diffuse your lavender oil? And do you want therapeutic benefits from your oil? Then you might want to hold off on that $9 purchase, because it will only be a waste of your $9.

We’ve talked about the unparalleled quality of Young Living’s products. Their seed to seal guarantee will leave you absolutely confident that you have made an investment in quality that will pay dividends for you as a consumer. The difference will be like night and day, and I speak from experience on that one.

But still…the price is the price, and while the per drop price point for most of the oils is actually quite thrifty, it may still sting a bit at the point of purchase, especially if you are the type of person who loves a good bargain. I can totally empathize with this point of view because it speaks to me and to how I am inclined to shop. So with that in mind, I wanted to share with you all some thrifty strategies that I have put into place so that I can get the best essential oils for the lowest possible price. Now that I have experienced the quality difference, I can’t go back to lower grade oils. So I have to work the system for the best possible prices. Here are 8 strategies you can use to get the best possible prices, too!

1. Ask for a Coupon

Young Living distributors, on occasion, have $20 off coupons for their brand new members who purchase the premium starter kit. I have been with Young Living for a year now and have earned 3 of these coupons. I want to emphasize that they aren’t regular occurrences, and that the distributors EARN them. So they aren’t freely available, I promise. But it never hurts to ask, and you just might get lucky. If you are thinking about signing up for a wholesale membership, reach out to the person you’d like to sign up under and see if they have a coupon to use when signing up. They just might! (hint, hint…I might have one right now! stuffparentsneed (at) gmail (dot) com).

2. Get a Wholesale Membership

If you are budget-conscious, you may think it is NOT a good idea to sign up as a wholesale member and purchase the premium starter kit on account of the $150 cost. But let me break it down for you, friend: this is the best deal on the entire Young Living site! The kit comes with a difuser, which retails for $99 (and trust me, the $25 diffusers on the market are not at all like this one…another case of getting what you pay for) and it comes with a collection of 10 oils that retails for $163 AND a bonus Citrus Fresh oil which retails for $20 and some great samples and the product catalog and….are you starting to see what I’m saying, here??? I’ve purchased the kit three times because the value is just that great. You literally cannot buy the components of the kit without spending FAR more on your purchase. And guess what? Because you bought the kit, you have a wholesale membership which means that any purchase you make from here on out is 24% off. BOOM.

3. Share the Love and Get Your Kit Paid For

So what if that $150 price tag is just a bit too much for your budget, even if you totally get that it’s a great deal? I understand that situation, for sure, and I have more good news for you. As a wholesale member, in any given month when you spend at least 50PV (which for the sake of simplicity is like spending $50), you can earn referral bonuses for signing up your friends and family with Young Living. You will have a unique referral link that you can share with anyone who asks you about your oils and if they sign up under you and purchase a kit, you earn $50. So all you need to do is get 3 of your friends to try out the oils with you and your kit is basically paid for, simple as that.

4. Get Additional Discounts Through Essential Rewards

For us thrifty folks, this next idea is also not going to sound like a good idea, at first. But just hear me out and you will see how this strategy is GREAT for getting your oils at a better price. Young Living loves to reward its regular customers by offering additional discounts to them through the Essential Rewards (ER) program. You commit to purchasing 50PV/month on oils, and in return, you earn a percentage back on your ER purchase in the form of credit that you can later spend on products. Additionally, there are special bonuses offered for higher volume orders each month exclusively for ER members. This means that there are FREEBIES to be had (and I have more details in strategy #6 on how to snag those freebies without spending your own money). By placing these monthly orders, you will save money on your oils and other Young Living products, and you will also get discounted shipping on your order. In the last year and a half I have personally earned enough credits to “purchase” over $900 in Young Living products FOR FREE. 🙂

5. Continue to Share the Love Get Your Essential Rewards Order Paid For

So the ER program sounds like a good deal for folks, but $50/month is still $50/month, and might be a tough thing to build into your budget. No problem, though! Remember how you got your Premium Starter Kit paid for? All you need to do is make a goal of referring 1 friend each month to Young Living and that will cover your Essential Rewards expenses. You will be totally shocked by how easy it is to refer your friends, too. Pinky promise. You are going to be having an amazing experience with the oils, and just by sharing your thoughts with others, you are going to pique their interest. The oils really do sell themselves. The post I did on Facebook just a few weeks ago got 8 comments. People are totally curious and want to try the oils, you’ll see! 🙂

6. Earn those Monthly Freebies Without Spending Your Own Money

I mentioned in strategy #4 that Young Living offers monthly promotional items to Essential Rewards members who place higher volume ER orders. Here’s the example from March 2015 just to give you an idea.

This month with a 190PV or higher order, you get a 5 ml of Marjoram free. If you are on Essential Rewards, you also get a 5ml of Idaho Balsam Fir for free. If your order goes up to 250PV, you earn a $20 enrollment coupon (like the ones mentioned above) to gift to someone else. And if your over goes to 300PV+, you also get a free Ortho Ease. The retail value at the 300PV level is $117.37. So as you can see, you can place a large order and get totally free products from Young Living as a thank you gift. And friends, there’s no reason for all of that money to be YOUR money! All you need to do is let your friends and family who are curious about Young Living and who want to try a few oils go in on your monthly ER order. Every single month, for example, I am ordering the weight loss trio for at least 2 different people. That adds $100 to my order that I didn’t have to spend and helps me earn more ER credits (yay!) AND pushes me towards those bonuses. I personally typically spend $75-$100/month on my own oils and other products, and the rest of my order, which is almost always over 300PV, comes from other people going in on the order. They try the products for a good price. I earn the credits and keep those freebies. Win/win!

7. Start Replacing Products You Need to Purchase with Young Living Products

Another way to make the most of your Essential Rewards orders is to start replacing those chemical-filled products you likely have stuffed in your bathroom with products that are SO much better for you. I have donated my old toothpaste, mouthwash, deodorant, shampoo, body wash, lotion, and household cleaners and have replaced them with Young Living products that are absolutely AMAZING. I’m not spending that time clipping coupons, running from store to store to try to get the deal, and I’m feeling absolutely great about the products that are in my home. They are worth every single penny, and I get them for free now because that’s what I like to spend my earned Essential Rewards credits on. 🙂

8. Consider the Business Opportunity

If you are finding that your referrals are more numerous than the amount you need to cover your kit and your monthly ER purchases, then you might want to take a minute to explore the business opportunity that is staring you in the face right now. You may have started out looking for a way to get your essential oils for free but instead discovered something even more lucrative. I order a generous amount of product every month and my commission checks FAR exceed what I’m spending on products. I have turned something I enjoy sharing about into a legitimate business, and all on my own terms and during the hours that I choose to work. It’s a beautiful thing, and it is leading my family in the direction of financial peace and security. All that time spent clipping coupons got me on the path to thinking strategically about my purchases, which eventually led to me thinking strategically about my family’s health, which led me down this path toward abundance. If that sounds like something you might want to explore, I always love sharing my story with others, so don’t hesitate to reach out and we can talk more about it. stuffparentsneed (at) gmail (dot) com.

On the Loss of a Parent

February 28, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · 23 Comments

We have had such a horrible week here at The House of M. My husband’s father, a very special person in our lives, unexpectedly passed away Sunday evening from a ruptured aortic aneurysm that we didn’t know existed. To say we have been devastated feels like an understatement.

When life deals you such a mighty blow, it’s amazing how quickly your entire world gets laser-focused on what matters the most. I have spent a lot of time this past week crying and grieving, a lot of time just being with my family (thank goodness for Skype so I could see their faces and feel that much closer to them). And I’ve also spent a lot of time just holding my babies.

I’m so thankful for this blog and for being my own boss, because I had the luxury and the freedom to step away and take the time I needed. I will continue to take time as I need it over the coming weeks and months, so if a handful of days go by without a post, just know that I’m taking time to be with my family and to celebrate and enjoy life the way my father-in-law taught me to. This guy was truly the life of every party. Always a smile on his face. Always an adventure right around the corner, waiting to be discovered. I’m going to follow his example more closely than ever before and savor the joy that can be found if you just take a second to look for it.

We love you so much, Dad. You are so very, very missed. And we are so grateful for the time and all the fun we had together. We promise to keep your legacy of prioritizing fun with family alive. Cheers to the next adventure!