Perfectly Imperfect Mom: shopping

So I am probably the last person to discover Swagbucks but I am obsessed. I didn't realize you could get money back for shopping online. All these years I spent shopping online and getting nothing back really annoys me, ha! After discovering Swagbucks I also discovered Cardpool, a place to buy discounted store gift cards. Combine this with Swagbucks and store's discount codes you can get serious savings from the stores you are shopping at online. Here is how I saved and earned over $60 at Old Navy. Swagbucks gives you a certain percent back when you shop online through their site. You just open up Swagbucks.com and click shop then pick the store you want to go to. Super easy. It can vary depending on the season. When I went shopping you could earn 5% cash back. I also had a 30% off coupon for signing up for their email list. Next I went to Cardpool to see what type of savings they had on Old Navy gift cards. They had an 11% discount on the gift cards, combined that with the 30% off and 5% cash back I was saving and earning a nice little chunk of money I wouldn't have had without these nice little options. I ended up buying three $25 gift cards. I got $75 worth of gift cards for $66.75. I then used my 30% off coupon for my order.

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Here is how it broke down. Total cost (before taxes): $93.00 30% Discount: $27.90 Shipping Promo: FREE Taxes: $3.91 Order Total: $69.01 Order earned me $30 in Old Navy Cash Savings/ Earnings Savings from Cardpool Gift Card (11%): $7.59 Savings from Old Navy Promo (30%): $27.90 Swagbucks 5% back: $3.25 Old Navy Cash: $30 Total Saved/Earned: $68.74 Total Savings: $35.49 Total Earnings: $33.25 You can earn Old Navy cash up until January 26, 2017. Free shipping is on orders over $50 and they have a lot of sales going on right now so take full advantage of this. The Swagbucks percentage is also high since it is the holidays so take advantage of that as well. And of course check out Cardpool for any stores you plan on shopping at. You will seriously save so much if you can combine it with other promotions. And honestly even if there isn't a promotion going on it is still worth it to save money at a place you know you will be shopping or dining at. Join Swagbucks!

You Can Get Free Gift Cards For Shopping, Searching and Discovering What's Online at Swagbucks.com facebook ♥ instagram ♥ twitter ♥ pinterest ♥ bloglovin

December 07, 2016 1 comments

We are slowly but surely getting ready for Christmas. We bought our tree last week and decorated it on Friday. It was so sweet watching the kids get excited and put the ornaments up. There is nothing better than seeing Christmas from your child's eyes.

This post contains affiliate links which means I may make a small % off the sale of an item. This in no way affects you.

Of course with Christmas comes Christmas shopping. I really hate putting things off to the last minute when it comes to holidays so I did a lot of my shopping online. I knew I wanted to just get it done as simple as possible.

This year I feel like Christmas shopping was a lot easier than years past. I didn't want to buy a bunch of stuff just to have a bunch of things for my kids to unwrap. I don't want that to be the main focus of Christmas for them. I wanted to get them items they were going to really love and use. I have noticed that some toys they love for a hot minute and after that they are over it and they just collect in a basket and come out randomly but aren't really played with. Super fun when we need to clean up.

With each child there was something we knew they specifically needed or wanted. With Ace we knew he needed a bike. He is too tall for his Thomas bike he got when he was 3 so that was going to be his main "big" present. Branden actually found a bike someone was getting rid of and painted it, got new grips and put his old seat on it so that ended up being close to free. Score! Everly has now taken over Ace's old bike so it was just in time. He also is very into LEGO Dimensions. Branden got him a bunch of those since I know nothing about them. Although I did find an ET one I had to get him. I mean how cute is he?

For Ashlyn I found this KidKraft Savannah Dollhouse with Furniture on Offer Up for $50 originally $150. Again a total score for us, if you are interested it is on sale right now for only $89. She has been into Barbies so I knew that was going to be my focus for her. We also got her and Everly the Holiday barbies. I loved that they had a blonde and brunette one. Last year Branden found the Disney Princess pack for super cheap on like a 50% off day at Target so we have that but will probably only take 2 dolls from it and save the rest for birthdays.

Everly is still obsessed with baby dolls so I wanted to get her a doll diaper bag and crib. Last year we had gotten them the Step2 Love and Care Deluxe Nursery but it didn't really have a crib area more of a changing table, so I wanted one for her to have for bedtime. She is such a little mommy. She is always putting her baby dolls on pillows and covering them up to go to sleep. She also carries them around on her hip. It's so sweet. I felt like I was a grandma buying for my grandbabies because I wanted to find a nice doll diaper bag so it would last. This one was seriously so precious to me so I snatch it up. It also has a matching highchair set that I might get her for her birthday.

We got them some little extras like these Strawberry Shortcake dolls (I just had to!). They actually smell like the ones from when I was a kid. They each got a small lego set since they like to play legos before bed and a lot of outdoor art stuff. These cute LEGO Friends Party Cakes ones were only $3.99. I love these sidewalk chalk paint. I had some for the longest time and we finally used them a couple weeks ago and it kept them busy for the longest time. I also got regular sidewalk chalk as well. We go through them like crazy.

I did go to Target's "dollar" section and get some cute things for their stalkings so overall I think we are pretty much finished with them. I still need to get a couple things for my nieces and nephews but they are pretty easy. Are you done with your shopping yet? facebook ♥ instagram ♥ twitter ♥ pinterest ♥ bloglovin

December 04, 2016 No comments

I am so excited to share with you some of my favorite toddler and baby games and puzzles from Diapers (dot) com! Being a Mom of three I know the true value of finding toys that will not only hold up under the craziness of little ones but ones that will last from the first child to the last. Not only do we want the toys to last through the ages but also through the children we have. Here are our favorite picks and these were all built to last!

1. Wooden Puzzles / 2. Mega Bloks / 3. Board Books / 4. Wooden Tool Bench / 5. Green Toys Boat

As you can see majority of these toys are made from wood or durable materials. My favorite item above is the tool bench. It can start as a great toy for your little one to pull up on, gaining strength to stand and eventually walk. Then when they get older they can use the tools to gain fine and gross motor skills.

Puzzles are also a great way for babies to gain fine motor skills. I love thick wooden ones because they are easy to pick up for little hands. Mega Bloks also grow with your little one because my kids would play with these as babies even before they could built with them and are still building with them now. I have had the same set since my son was a baby so that is almost 5 years of use by 3 children and they are still in excellent condition!

Board books get a lot of use at our house. The Brown Bear one is my children's absolute favorite. It helps them recognize colors and different animals. They love making the noises too. This is a book we have also had for almost 5 years and it has held up well because of the thickness of it.

And last but not least this tug boat by Green toys is such an incredible product. We got one of these as a gift once when Ace was just learning to walk and it seriously is the best water toy ever. All of their toys are thick and do not break like the regular beach toys you buy because of how thick it is.

I hope this list helps other Moms who are looking for great toys, games and puzzles to invest in. If you just had your first baby you definitely will want to always look at how long toys will last. I know we have had some toys that break so easily that it was such huge waste of money. That really stinks because I always feel like it is just another item in the trash taking up space in the landfill which is horrible for our environment as well.

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