review - Stuff Parents Need

How to Coupon 101: Learning How to Coupon Effectively

February 12, 2016 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Friends I’m bringing back a great post that was originally published on 11/28/2010. I continue to credit this course with teaching me how to coupon effectively, and I thought some newer readers could benefit. Plus, the cost of the program is now less than half of what it was when I first tried it out! Affiliate links included at no cost to you.

Before Darah was born, I was a pretty good coupon user. I wouldn’t have ranked myself as one of the very best, not by a long shot. But weekly I would get some pretty sweet deals and keep our pantry and freezer rather stocked for cheap. Our toiletries were borderline out of control, because almost every week I could get toothpaste, shampoo, etc. for free or really close to free.

This, again, was all BEFORE Darah was born. Once she hit the scene, I just ran out of steam. Making a quick trip to one store became an act of Congress, so the idea of hitting up 3 or 4 different places was pretty much out of the question. So, I just stopped using coupons. They say that if you don’t have time, you’d better have money. This isn’t the case for online shopping, though. Nowadays, there are so many websites like Raise out there that help you to save money at shops like Kohls, it’s hard to avoid using them! I made the choice to just start spending more of our money on groceries and household items and spend that extra time with Darah. I don’t think it was a bad choice.

Fast forward to present-day. I’m staying at home, so I do have a little bit more time (although I’m most definitely BUSY!), and money is a more precious commodity now than it was when we had two incomes. I’ve known for a while that I needed to get back into couponing, but the thought really overwhelmed me. Where do I start? How do I do this on the terms that work for me? How do I learn about all the different ways to get good deals? All these questions were making me put off getting back into it, even though we really needed to be saving more money.

How to Coupon Effectively

And then I heard about an audio series called Grocery University. It is described as, “a 2 hour 19 minute audio course that will teach you everything you need to know about making the most of your grocery budget – regardless of whether you’re new to bargain shopping or have been a super-shopper for years.” I thought this would be a good thing to try out, but I honestly didn’t think it could teach me anything I didn’t already know about saving money in the stores. But perhaps it would get me excited about getting back in the game.

Well, it did get me excited again, so that’s good. But I also learned a ton. I took notes as I listened to the series (each section is between 4-12 minutes, so you can really pace yourself with this course, which I love!). Now I have 9 pages of notes, and everything I wrote down was something I didn’t know before!

And, if you aren’t so much of a note taker, that’s no problem! Grocery University comes with a really detailed student workbook for you to look through while you listen and refer back to later. It also comes with a price sheet that can help you with that initially daunting task of finding rock bottom prices of items you frequently buy. If you just can’t bring yourself to do it, this has a general guide for several items, though do keep in mind that prices vary by region.

So after going through Grocery University, I had the motivation I needed to start my coupon binder (a task I’d been putting off for a year, seriously). I also had a specific game plan for how to slowly get back into couponing. If you try to go all out right at the beginning (as I’m inclined to do) you will burn out and give up. Grocery University shows you how to take it slow and focus on the most crucial things first.

I’m very glad I had the opportunity to review this product. I think it is absolutely worth the $9.97 price. Just this week I did my very first trip to CVS and I didn’t even go nuts with the couponing there, and I still walked away with $60 worth of products that I could use for $23. Not too bad for a first try! So you can see how very quickly you’ll recoup your investment (week 1 for almost everyone!).

Buy it!: Grocery University is bargain priced at just $9.97. You will most definitely not regret the purchase!

Honest Beauty Product Reviews: Deep Hydration Cream

January 28, 2016 · by Tiffany Merritt · 2 Comments

Referral links included at no cost to you. Honest Beauty product reviews are based on my own purchases and my own experiences. Honest Beauty did not request these reviews.

If you have dry skin, I think you are going to absolutely LOVE this product from Honest Beauty. Definitely get your hands on the Younger Face Deep Hydration Cream. Because it is from Honest Beauty, you can trust that the ingredients have been thoroughly vetted to be honestly good for your skin and good for the environment. This particular cream has ingredients such as chamomile, calendula, radish seed oil and boabab fruit. Pretty neat, right? And my skin feel and looks great when I use it.

It does take a few minutes to soak in, so if you typically apply your makeup just a minute or two after applying your moisturizer, then you might want to save this as your night time cream. But if you can give it about 10 minutes to get soaked in before applying your makeup, then it’s great as a daytime cream, as well.

How to Pay Less

Younger Face Deep Hydration Cream has a retail price of $34, which is not unheard of for high quality moisturizers, but still stings the pocket book (at least it does mine!). You can pay MUCH less than that by signing up for Honest Beauty Bundles. You can select any 3 products from a very large offering, including this cream, and the total is $50.00. That makes your per item cost just $16.67, which is less than half the retail cost. If you fall madly in love with the product you could stock up and get 3 in one bundle for a steal, but I’ve been so pleased with what I’ve tried so far from this brand that I’d recommend that you try out a few other new products.

Bundling is super easy and super relaxed: you get a notification when you bundle is close to being shipped just in case you want to log in to your account, make changes, and even push back the date when it will be shipped (I just logged in a few minutes ago and pushed my order date back by a month). If you want to cancel, you do have to call in, but my experience with The Honest Company has been that they don’t give you any hassle about canceling, which is a relief.

Before you sign up for your first bundle, though, check out my post on the Honest Beauty trial offer to see if it’s right for you.

Sea Salt & Sugar Body Scrub: An Honest Assessment

December 30, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Referral links may be included at no cost to you. All thoughts and opinions are my own as always.

One of the products that The Honest Company launched this year was the Sea Salt + Sugar Body Scrub. I tend to think that this type of product is severely overpriced in the retail market and that homemade versions are quite comparable and cost so much less.

However, in this particular case, I do believe we have a winner for the best organic body scrub. I don’t think I could replicate the perfect balance of soft and gritty that Honest Company has developed. And the smell? Oh mercy, this is a good one! Every time I use this product I not only have very soft skin for quite a long time, but I also smell amazing (I know Honest Company makes use of essential oils rather than going with artificial perfumes, so know that your scent will be a natural one, and not one made in a lab somewhere).

And thankfully, a little goes a long way, so you won’t run out of the product too terribly quickly, which makes the $16.95 price tag much more justifiable.

So for those of you who do bundles with the Honest Company (pick 5 products from an extensive list for just $35.95), here’s the bad news: this one doesn’t qualify (well, sort of). It DOES qualify to get added as one of your 3 bonus items (when you bundle you can select 3 additional items to add to your order, and each of those items is 25% off). So definitely try this as an add-on, because it will bring down the cost quite a bit (it becomes $12.19…not bad at all!). And if you are new to Honest Company and have no idea what to pick for your bundle, I’ve got a very lengthy list of Honest Company reviews you should check out. Spoiler alert: most things rock, but there are some lemons in the lot, so you’d be wise to read up before filling your cart!

How to Boost the Immune System for Kids: the Simple Way!

December 26, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Referral links may be included at no cost to you. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

My kids take a multi-vitamin each morning (ok, most mornings…) and we also use essential oils to help provide some support to our bodies to help us stay well. But sometimes we need an extra dose of immunity boosting goodness (especially in the late fall and winter when the sniffles seem to be almost impossible to avoid).

Today I want to show you a product from The Honest Company that is formulated for kids, but that my entire family actually uses. The reason we all use it has to do with the way I choose to use the product: in our smoothies.

I’d say that my crew has smoothies as part of breakfast 2-3 times each week. During the fall and winter (and if needed, other times of the year as well), if I’m making a smoothie that is going to have a dominant berry flavor, I go ahead and add some of this Kid’s Immunity Boost.

It comes in powder form (and a berry flavor) and it can be used in smoothies, on yogurt or even in juice. I’ve simply found that my crew likes it best in smoothies, so that’s the route we take.

I think this is a great wellness tool to add to your arsenal as a boost to help your kids’ bodies be primed for fighting those germs that most definitely will head their way.

Since this product retails for $19.95 it is slightly more affordable to sign up for a wellness bundle, which is $35.95 for 2 products in the list of options (so you could buy 2 and save $2 per container that way). Since shipping is free once you spend $50 or more, take advantage of the fact that bundles allow for up to 3 additional items to be added at 25% off the retail price per item. At 25% off, your price for that third container would be $14.96. I think the most fun thing to do would be to order several different things from the selection, but you could just stick to the Kids’ Immunity Boost and order 4 of them through the bundle service. Your grand total would be $65.87 (that’s $16.46 per container), you’d get free shipping, and you’d likely be all set for a year or even more with your immunity booster.

If you want to look at some of the other wellness products, be sure to check out my Honest Company reviews to see which ones I recommend!

Best Gifts for Makeup Lovers

December 20, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Referral links may be included at no cost to you. I only promote what I love!

I have been loving my Beauty Box 5 Subscription (click that link to sign up and use my referral code: HALFOFF, for 50% off your first box!) for over a year, now. In each box, you receive 5 beauty items (some are full-size, some are sample size). You ALWAYS get more value than what you spent on your box (sometimes the box is worth well over twice what you spent on it!) and you always get to try out some really cool new stuff. You can purchase one box at a time for $12, but I really suggest going for the year subscription, because that brings the per box price down to just $8.75.

This is the absolute PERFECT gift for makeup lovers: fun new items shipped straight to their house each and every month, and the price tag is great so it can work with your budget, whether you can only spring for 1 box, 6, or an entire year of goodies.

This month subscribers got 5 FULL SIZE products. Merry Christmas, indeed! 😉 The products for this month focused on creating a smoky eye, which is a perfect thing to do this time of year with all the great holiday parties.

I absolutely love this subscription service. If you check out my Youtube channel you can see several video reviews I have posted, and you can see that I’m not always thrilled with every single product (I’m a tough critic!) but the value is so great that it’s really no problem if a box has one or two duds in it. And lately the boxes have been having more and more winners. Yay!!!

This is one worth giving a try for sure. And if you need a last minute gift idea for a makeup lover, you can’t go wrong with Beauty Box 5!

Honest Company Best Multivitamin for Men Review: An Honest Assessment

December 19, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

Referral links may be included. My family buys and loves Honest Company products.

My husband has been using the Honest Company’s Men’s Complete One a Day Vitamins for over a year now, and they the best multivitamin for men for a few key reasons.

I think the biggest benefit of this multivitamin is the fact that it also has probiotics included. We both have felt a noticeable difference in our overall health when we take probiotics, so having it included with the multivitamin instead of being a separate pill is awesome.

I’m also really impressed with the specific ingredients in this multivitamin and the fact that it is truly targeted for the needs of men. It has a stimulant-free combination of ingredients to help give an energy boost throughout the day.

Tim doesn’t like to take this pill on an empty stomach, so it’s best to pair it with some food. But otherwise, it’s so great to pack so much great stuff into one pill. I wish they could find a way to add in some Omega-3 vitamins, too (although they do offer a separate pill to get those vitamins, too).

And just like all Honest products, here’s some of what you WON’T find in these multivitamins: made soy, gluten, yeast, wheat, casein, gelatin, sodium, dairy, eggs, shellfish, sweeteners, HFCS, artificial flavors, starch, dyes, preservatives, parabens, or phthalates.

A one month supply retails for $19.95. You can subscribe to a bundle and get 2 items from their listed of choices for $34.95 (which will save you about $5 on two containers). You can also get 25% off up to 3 additional items when you subscribe to a bundle, so if you wanted to buy a third bottle, that bottle would cost just $14.96. It’s important to note that there is a shipping charge unless you spend $50 or more, and then shipping is free. So my recommendation is to buy 4 bottles of the vitamins at a time. You’ll get the price per bottle down to about $16.21 that way and you won’t pay for shipping.

And as far as being a bundle subscriber, it is truly hassle-free. You can push back your order as much as you want online, and you receive a notification when you order is a day or two away from processing in case you forgot and need to change anything, want to push it back again, or call in and cancel. I love being a bundle subscriber and the cost savings is totally worth the miniscule amount of time you have to spend pushing back order dates until you are ready to order again.

Want more ideas about which Honest products are awesome and which ones you should pass on? I have a complete list of Honest Company reviews. And don’t forget to get all those great Honest Company free trials before you spend a single penny, too!

My Little Flower Child (December Fashion from FabKids)

December 16, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

Thanks to FabKids for providing this month’s dress. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Referral links may be included at no cost to you.

Earlier this week I had Darah’s hair in several different braids. When we took them out the following morning, she had such pretty waves. Since her hair is long and sun-kissed, she looked like quite the flower child!

And she had the perfect dress for the look. This month she selected the Flower Power dress from FabKids. As I snapped some photos of her I was simply awe-struck at my baby girl. I spy a 16-year-old in there, and getting that glimpse just threw me for a loop!

If you aren’t familiar with FabKids, it’s a hassle-free subscription service and a great way to get some fun, functional and on-trend outfits for your boy or girl from sizes 2t-12. At the start of the month you are shown a great selection of options (most priced at $29.95 for a top and a bottom) and you can choose one or skip the month with just the click of a button. It’s so easy!

My girls both have several FabKids outfits, and we find that they wear really well at school because they are comfortable. We’ve also given outfits from FabKids as gifts, and they have always been well-received!

Have you tried FabKids, yet? They are offering brand new members a BOGO opportunity, so there’s never been a better time to try them out!

The Gift of Time Together: One More Reason to Love Kiwi Crate

December 2, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Sample provided for this post. However, we are monthly subscribers to Kiwi Crate on our own, and we adore it! Referral links may be included at no cost to you.

Earlier this week my girls and I spent an hour putting together a gingerbread house. This particular house wasn’t sticky, messy or tempting to eat. And this particular house came with all the supplies we needed to create it, while still leaving plenty of room for creative license.

We got a gingerbread house kit from Kiwi Crate and we absolutely LOVED it. We had such a blast coming up with different ideas (with a little help from the included inspiration cards) and cutting and gluing and just being merry together. It will be one of my favorite holiday memories this year, for sure.

Kiwi Crate is such a reliable company. I am consistently pleased with the products I receive from them each month as a subscriber. I’m so impressed, in fact, that I’ve also done some of my holiday shopping with Kiwi Crate, as you can purchase individual crates or special craft kits like this gingerbread house. They even offer some awesome book titles!

If you haven’t yet tried Kiwi Crate (or their sister brands designed for younger or older children) I want to strongly encourage you to go for it. It’s our favorite subscription service and it’s worth every single penny we spend on it each month. We get good quality time together, fun crafts (that don’t stress this non-crafty mama out) and we learn fun new things, too!

Honest Beauty Mascara: An Honest Assessment

December 1, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · 2 Comments

Referral links may be included. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always. Honest Beauty did not request or sponsor this review.

I have been searching for years for an eco-friendly mascara that issn’t worthless. I know that’s a harsh way to put it, but in my experience, every non toxic mascara I’ve ever tried has given me the end result of it looking like I didn’t put on mascara, and that’s not the look I’m going for.

I’ve been pleased with the products I have tried so far from Honest Beauty, so I included the Truly Lush Mascara and Primer in my most recent bundle order. Here’s what it looks like:

Friends, I love it! I think the primer makes a big difference with this particular product. You apply the primer first to your lashes. I think it plumps them up and gives the mascara more to cling to which helps your eyelashes look thicker and longer.

I would suggest using a eyelash curler before you apply your primer, as I tried it once without first curling them and thought they looked rather straight. Also be careful with the primer not to apply it too close to your lash line, not because of possible irritation, but because it might be hard to get your mascara to fully cover it so close to your eyelid (learn from my mistake!).

I thought the end result looked great and wore really well throughout the day. It gets passing marks from me. I can’t say it’s the best mascara I’ve ever tried, but given the fact that it’s a non toxic option, it’s a winner for me, and I will most definitely order it again and plan to make it my primary mascara choice. I’m so glad to have one more item that I use regularly be a healthier choice for my body and for the environment!

The retail price for this item is $22, but remember, you can sign up for a bundle and pick any 3 items for $50, total. That’s a much better deal. Need some more ideas on what to include in your bundle? Check out my Honest Beauty reviews page, which I’ll be updating as I try more products.