Sunshine and Sippy Cups — Page 259 — Smart Solutions for Busy Moms!

{Frugal Fun} Stylish French Picnic for under $12 per person!

How to plan a stylish French picnic for under $12 per person… Sparkling wine included!

Check out the newest post today on LearnVest to find out how YOU can host a fancy-pants picnic on a budget! A picnic is so much fun in the summer… You can pack one for the park, and let the kids run off some energy after dinner, {yayay for easier bedtimes!} or even just put together a great picnic style lunch to entertain at home with friends.

A few of the tips you’ll find on the site:

Have a French picnic potluck! Ask each guest to bring one of the simple items needed… Baguettes, cheese, fruit, and of course, most important, the wine.
Read some of their favorite inexpensive summer wine choices, like the $9 Château Montaud Rosé 2009, and how to keep them chilled during transport.
And how to set up a fun spot for your picnic, including blanket placement, music, and more!

I love LearnVest!

I am such a huge fan of their daily email tips, and I know you’ll love them too. Really helpful ideas for living the frugal lifestyle, while also having fun!

“Delivered to you five days a week, the LearnVest Daily is packed with money-saving tips and financial how-tos to enrich your life. What’s Inside: Discover the best places to travel on a dime. Learn tips to help you build your wealth. Plan the perfect dinner party for under $10 per person. Understand and manage debt. Get beauty tricks for any budget, and more…”

Posted by Meagan Paullin on July 14, 2011 Filed Under: Freebies, Fun Stuff | No Comments

{Free Advertising} Interested in having your products featured?

Happy Birthday Abby!

My little girl is getting ready to have her very first birthday! {That’s her in the pic above, when silly mommy made a cake to celebrate her 6-month half-birthday} I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by. She is just such a big girl these days… Got her first tooth {finally!} a couple days ago, and started walking last week. It’s hard to believe…

Party like it’s your birthday…

I’ve been planning her party for quite some time now, as many of you already know. Her dad thought it was crazy to be thinking about her birthday months in advance, but this momma is pretty excited!

We have the big in-ground pool up and running finally, so we’re doing a huge Luau Party. I’ve got boxes of decorations, and have made loads of fun stuff. This is going to be a blast…

Would you like to have your product featured?

I have a few companies that have reached out to have me review their items, so to give them more exposure, I’m going to have some of them featured during the party. I thought it would be a fun way to do some reviews, get a ton of feedback from guests, and a share some great products with my too!

I have a fun Luau game pack from Tomoson.com, we will be testing out some new vegetarian dishes with some great products from Harmony Valley, Abby will be wearing an absolutely adorable headband from Wild Crush, and more. If you have a product that you would like to feature too, shoot me an email over at sunshineandsippycups@gmail.com. All products donated will be seen and featured in multiple party posts after the event, and will get their own stand-alone review post as well.

Goodie Bags and Swag Bags!

Also, I am putting together bunches of great goodie bags for the kids, and I’m also putting together some amazing swag bags for some of the moms at the party. These will be filled with samples of some great products from companies I’ve partnered with lately, as well as lots of product info, catalogs, business cards, and more.

It’s kind of last minute, but I’d like to open up this opportunity to my readers too: If you have anything that you would like to add to these swag bags, and get into the hands of a great bunch of momma’s, email me with your idea! Even if you’d just like to share your business card, feel free to send them my way, and I’ll include them for the guests to see.

As a work-from-home momma myself, I understand how tough it can be sometimes to get your business out there, and get seen by new faces, so I love to help give other moms new easy ways to promote their business.

Everyone that is in the bags will also get a shout out on the blog, I’ll have a link up of any of you ladies that added something. Just a fun and easy way to get yourself a little bit of exposure. You can send anything from 10 business cards, to 50 samples, whatever you want to share with people.

I also use sponsor goodies in swag bags that I add to every giveaway winner shipment that I send out, to get your info out to more people! If you’re interested now, or in the future, let me know.

Stay tuned… The BIG party is coming soon, July 24th! I can’t wait to share all of the pictures with you….

Posted by Meagan Paullin on July 13, 2011 Filed Under: Fun Stuff | 2 Comments

Text to Win: Really great odds!!

Really Great Odds!

Grab your phone, and text EXTRA228990, to 47647. {This is totally safe, it’s sponsored by Wrigley’s Gum} Now wait a sec, and they’ll send you a text back with a promo code. Well, at least that’s what I got, saying I was a potential winner…

Translate it…

Then you’ll log on to extra-soccer.com {it’ll remind you of the site in the text!} and enter your code. BUT, it’ll show up all in spanish! Hit the big logo in the bottom right corner, the same one I show above. On the next page, to fill out your info, look to the top right corner, and you’ll see a little box to change it to English!

Did YOU win?

Now enter your code and info, and see what you’ve won! Lucky me, I won cellphone wallpaper, lol. But I read about someone else this morning that won the TV! There are a TON of prizes for this, and since it’s a little trickier to enter, the odds are going to be really good.

Let me know if you win! And you can enter once a day too!!

Posted by Meagan Paullin on July 12, 2011 Filed Under: Freebies, Shopping | 13 Comments

Airline Ticket Price Dropped? How to Get a Refund!

Yapta gets you refunds from the airlines

The irony of airline travel is that the prices are highway robbery. Maybe it should be called airway robbery? No matter what tips and tricks you may have heard about finding the cheapest airfare – you can’t always get the lowest possible price. So – we found a way to avoid buyers remorse even after you’ve purchased your tickets. How cool is that, right? I love bringing you new Busy Mom Solutions!

Yapta is your Personal Airline Spy!

It’s called Yapta and it’s a site that not only will help you find flights and track prices, but once you decide you’re ready to go ahead and press the buy button Yapta will keep tracking the price for you to see if it drops. If it does then Yapta will alert you and help you get a refund for the cost difference per ticket. Important!! You must go to Yapta which will redirect you to the airline’s website when you’re ready to buy your tickets so you can qualify for the refund. And fear not, we were able to find the lowest airfare prices like all those other travel websites.

Find out in this week’s Twirl the ins and outs of beating their airlines at their own game.

Super Simple Tool for Savings

I have to admit, this isn’t a problem that I’ve ever had. I’ve never really traveled much – a trip with my class back in high school, I flew to Nevada once with my mom, and went on my very first “real” flight, on my own, cross-country to visit a friend in Florida, just a few years ago. I haven’t flown since. I kept thinking we’d go on a trip again “later.” You know, when the baby is bigger, when income is more steady, when I look good enough in a swimsuit to take a vacation on a tropical beach….

Back to Reality

Where was I? Oh yes, Yapta! The next time I DO need to buy airline tickets, I can tell you 100%, without a doubt, I’ll be booking MY flight through Yapta.com. And, since I’ll be traveling to a few conferences this year, I am SO super glad that I found this sweet savings tool. I’m one of those people who just cannot pay full price for anything. I’m a deal junkie, which is pretty obvious if you follow my blog :) And airline tickets are one of those big purchases that are so hard to make, because you always worry if you’re really getting the best deal. Knowing that Yapta’s got my back, and give me a heads up if my ticket price drops so that I can get a refund, makes the thought of buying airline tickets MUCH less stressful! Check them out on Facebook to read some real life savings stories!

How about you?

Do you travel much? Have you ever used Yapta? Have you ever bought tickets only to find that they dropped a ton after you purchased?? Share you stories with me! I love hearing from you guys…

Carley's Byline Pic

Digitwirl.com – Great Busy Mom {tech!} Solutions!

Digitwirl is the weekly web show that offers simple solutions to modern day problems. In 3 minutes, Digitwirl brings busy women the very best time, money, and sanity-saving technology, and then teaches them how to use it, step-by-step. Digitwirl was created by technology lifestyle expert Carley Knobloch, who uses lots of technology to manage her busy life as mom of two and entrepreneur. Become a subscriber to get weekly show alerts and exclusive deals at Digitwirl.com, or follow Digitwirl on Twitter at @digitwirl.

Posted by Meagan Paullin on July 11, 2011 Filed Under: Busy Mom Solution | 3 Comments

Don’t BUY it, BIDZ it! {Money Back Guarantee!}

Are you using Bidz.com yet to score awesome deals?

I’m very new to this, but have heard great things, so I’m excited to start using it more! If you’re already using it, I’d love some feedback in the comments. I’ve always been a little nervous about using auction sites, but they have an amazing guarantee.

Bidz.com Guarantee:

Bidz.com is the largest brand name & jewelry auction. All of our items are 100% authentic and almost all are brand new. We offer outstanding jewelry, watches, sunglasses, and other accessories from leading brands, including Gucci, Chanel, Roberto Coin, Autore, Disney, Chrome Hearts, and many more.

Bidz.com offers the experience of “Live Auctions” to give you the feel and excitement of a real auction. Try it and you will not be disappointed. Customer Satisfaction is our number one priority. We at Bidz, guarantee that all of our listings and items are 100% as described. If you receive an item that is not as described we will refund 100% of the purchase price, plus any shipping costs that you may have incurred.

What do you have to lose?

Nothing! Except money, if you pay higher prices for the same goodies somewhere else! Check it out, and let me know what you score :)

Posted by Meagan Paullin on July 11, 2011 Filed Under: Shopping | 1 Comment

Are you a Frugal Quiznos Fan?

Quiznos is one of my FAVORITE restaurants!

I love the Honey Bacon Club… One of my favorite sandwiches, anywhere, of all time. But they’re a little spendy, so we only stop in when I have coupons.

If you’re a frugal Quiznos fan too, print all 4 of these new coupons to save on YOUR favorite sandwich too!

Posted by Meagan Paullin on July 11, 2011 Filed Under: Freebies | No Comments

{Making Money Monday} How to Earn Extra Income From Home

How to Earn Extra Income From Home:

There are tons of ways to earn some extra money from home. Some add up really quick, some are one-time type deals, some have extra perks, some are easier than others.

Earn Money Online

Today I’ll share a few ways to earn some extra money while surfing the web. I’d also LOVE for you guys to share some of your own tips for earning extra money from home, since I’ll be posting new ideas each week. I’d love to feature YOU and YOUR story!

My Favorites

I love survey sites. I used to have a lot more time {pre-baby, and pre-blog} to complete surveys, and earned about $150 a month with them, which is a nice extra bit of income for such easy work. Plus, I got a ton of free products to test out in my home too! See a couple of them…

Free Salad Dressing from Synovate

I got two different bottles of Italian dressing {both super yumm-o!} to test out from Synovate. This was a really great freebie since we eat a ton of salad.

Cover Girl Mascara from MySurvey

I also got to test out the new Cover Girl Lash Blast Length Mascara from MySurvey. Not only did I get a FREE mascara, but I also earned rewards for giving my opinion on it later!

How to Get Started:

My best advice is to sign up for as many survey sites as you can. That means you’ll have more opportunties coming your way. Some sites send a survey several times a week, some only once or twice a month. You might get a chance to complete them all, or only a few. But you really maximize your earnings and product test opp’s by working with as many companies as possible!

Plus, all companies reward you differently. Some pay in cash checks, some only via PayPal. Others reward you with FREE gift cards to places like Macy’s, Amazon, or Target, which are just as good as cash to me. If I know I’ll shop there anyway, I can use the free gift card, and save my cash. I also like to save lots of gift cards for the holidays.

Here are some of my favorite {trusted and safe!} companies:

Unfortunately, my VERY favorite site, Synovate, is not taking new members right now. But as soon as they open up again, you’ll hear about it from me, and the rest of blogland! It’s a big favorite.

MySurvey: Great product tests! Sign up here, Join MySurvey.
MyView: Earn rewards super fast with MyView! Join me there my signing up, Join MyView today!
Mindfield: Really great rewards here, I’m new to it, but lovin’ how fast you earn! Join Mindfield.
Toluna: You may have seen my posts lately, that Toluna has been sending out lots of big money surveys lately, $20-$30 surveys at least once a week! Rockin’. Toluna Sign Up.
Dollar Surveys: Earn a buck per survey, deposited every Friday into your PayPal account! Click Here to join.
Synovate Tobacco: This is a new one, from my favorite, Synovate, but only for tobacco users. I don’t qualify, but maybe you do? Synovate Tobacco Board.
Inbox Dollars: Get $5 FREE today just for setting up your account! Loads of ways to earn cash, get checks at $30. Click Here to start!
Survey Spot: Fun, short, easy surveys. Great rewards, and you’re automatically entered in lots of giveaways! Click Here to join me!

That’s just a few of my favorites! Each site is so different, and I love being a part of so many different ones. Plus, most sites have exclusive sweepstakes and giveaways for MEMBERS ONLY, and I love having more chances to win. If you have any questions about any of these sites, ask away!

Also, if you have a different favorite to share, post in the comments! Or share your best tips on maximizing your rewards with these sites. Also, how do YOU earn extra money from home? Do you sell stuff on Ebay or Craigslist? Did you open an Etsy shop or other business? Are you a BIG survey site junkie who makes good money with it? Share your story… I’m looking for fans to feature on “Making Money Mondays” each week!

Posted by Meagan Paullin on July 11, 2011 Filed Under: Product Testing, Freebies | No Comments