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{Rafflecopter Giveaway} Fall in Love with Seneca Farms NEW Product!

My Story: The Quick Version.

So… Two years ago, I lived in a big 4 bedroom house, just the cat and I. I was working in Retail Management and Fashion Merchandising- Long, hectic, and unpredictable hours, with high stress; but lots of creativity and a great paycheck. I had a huge social life, little sleep, but loved it all. I was in my late 20’s, but had NO desire to change anything… I LOVED being an Auntie Meagan, no tickin’ clock urging me towards kiddo’s.

Fast Forward to Now…

Now, due to a lot of unplanned life changes for everyone, I’m living in a new house, with my mother and 4 dogs, my brother and his two sons {5 and 7}, a new baby, her father, and our new puppy. Wow, right? {Are you wondering where the cat went? Well, she didn’t dig the new roommates, and went to live with the other cat-folk at my old neighbors house. We’re friends, but she wasn’t a fan of all of the commotion!}

I am a B-U-S-Y Momma!

My mother, brother, and boyfriend all work, so I stay home with the kids all day. I buy the food, cook the food, and clean up after the food is eaten. {Some days I can hear that song from Cinderella… “Cinderell-y, Cinderell-y, Night and Day it’s Cinderell-y”, remember?} I’m always on the look out for healthy snacks I can feel good about serving, but are super quick and easy. It was a big change to go from single lady to house-momma of 2 kids and a baby… Plus taking care of laundry and house work for such a large new household!

A healthy pre-packaged snack? Yep, it’s true!

These amazing new Seneca Farms New Oatmeal & Fruit are meant for breakfast, and they are a super yummy choice for a morning meal. But we’ve been eating them as our afternoon snack! They’re so quick and easy, and the fruit and whole grains keeps the kiddo’s {and ME!} full until dinner time.

Read more about why they’re so great:

“Just launched in April, it is the perfect choice for anyone who has trouble finding time for breakfast in the morning. In less time than it takes to make a cup of coffee, heat the six-ounce microwaveable cup – no milk or water necessary – in the microwave for 45 seconds. Seneca’s Oatmeal & Fruit has no trans fats or cholesterol, and is a great source of Vitamin C.

Currently available in Apple Cinnamon and Vanilla Peach, Seneca Farms Oatmeal & Fruit can be found nationally at Walmart and at a wide variety of retail grocery stores. For a detailed store list, visit www.seneca-farms.com. Seneca Farms plans to expand its flavors later this year with Oatmeal & Fruit Cranberry Apple, and Oatmeal – Maple & Brown Sugar.”

Some Quick Facts:

Did you know that*…

  • Nearly 60% of U.S. parents of children ages 3-17 admit that their child skips breakfast, with more than half of U.S. Moms wishing their child ate a more nutritious breakfast.
  • 58% of U.S. Moms say they skip breakfast regularly. 46% of Moms who skip breakfast say they do so because they do not have enough time to prepare or eat it.
  • 57% of single adults say the number one reason they skip breakfast is that they don’t have enough time to prepare it.
  • While 71% of U.S. adults agree that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, 67% of those admit to skipping breakfast.

{*Results of 2011 Children’s Nutrition Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive for Seneca Farms.}

Perfect for busy back-to-school mornings!

We’ll probably eat these way more often as a breakfast item once the weather gets colder, and when the mornings get hectic again, at school time {can you believe it’s going to be here soon?}. This is an easy snack to send them off to the bus stop with on an especially busy morning!

Here are a few of my favorite things about them:

  • The first 4 ingredients are Water, Fruit, Thick Cut Oats, and Juice. Love that, right? It’s so hard to find packaged products that aren’t filled with weird ingredients.
  • Their easy to find! Most grocery stores {Store Locator Tool} should carry them, including almost all Walmarts.
  • They taste SUPER DUPER yummy. There is no processed or artificial taste to these, like you get with a lot of other instant oatmeal’s. Probably because, these actually have REAL ingredients!

Want to try them yourself?

Win the same set of Seneca Farms Oatmeal & Fruit cups that I got to test out in my home: One lucky winner will receive one full-size package of the Vanilla Peach {my favorite!} and another full-size package of the Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal {the kiddo’s favorite!}. You’ll love ’em… Even the baby is a big fan! And check out their Facebook page to get a coupon too!

{This review was made possible by the amazing Mom Spark Media! I was provided a free sample set of products to review, but as always, this is my own opinion, and 100% honest! You know I only speak the truth… :)}

Rafflecopter Giveaway:

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How to Save money on Formula + Rafflecopter Giveaway!

Babies = Expensive!

I’ve said it before… Babies are darn cute, but they’re also darn expensive. I was on a very tight budget while I was pregnant, and was really careful about what baby items I bought. There is SO much stuff, it’s all SO cute, and it’s all marketed as MUST HAVE items, it can be hard to know what you really need and what you can skip! I asked around to friends- What 3 items did you totally rely on, and what do you wish you’d skipped? That helped me prepare a nursery without overspending. {FYI- Boppy Pillow, extra baby sheets, a baby swing, baby medicine/first aid kit were the top must-haves, bottle warmer was the one I heard from EVERYONE that I could skip.}

Baby Arrives, Along with MORE Expenses!

Then, when baby gets here, there are even more unplanned expenses. A big one for me was formula. I had planned to breastfeed for at least 6 months, and was really committed to reaching that goal.

Unfortunately, things {as so often happens with a new baby in your life} did not go as planned. My little one arrived 3 weeks early, and had a lot of trauma during delivery. She spent a few days in NICU, then more time in the Pediatrics wing…And in all of the stress and confusion, no one ever brought me a pump or allowed me to feed her {I couldn’t even pick her up until the second night}, so we had a rough start. More complications followed, and after a month and a half of tears and frustration from both me and baby, we finally switched to formula.

The Switch to Formula

While I was really disappointed in switching to formula, baby was much happier with the change. But I could not believe how expensive formula was, or how fast we went through it! My oh my. We started out on Similac, and that worked great for her… Until she got sick for a week, and we found out about the Similac recall. They insisted that it probably wasn’t related, but many other moms were reporting the same symptoms! So we looked for an alternative.

Check out Parents Choice–

A wonderful choice for us, and your baby too, is Parents Choice formula. We switched to this line, and I was worried about how she would react to a new formula, but there was no change at all, and she loved it. But the big change for ME was that it was SO much more affordable. They have a really cool tool to help you discover how much you can save… Our savings switching from Similac Advance to Parents Choice is $634.91 per year. Wow, right? Try it yourself, Parents Choice $avings Calculator.

Great Quality at a Great Price

There are tons of other items for your baby in the Parents Choice line… My little girl is a HUGE fan of the banana puffs :) And, Parents Choice is generously offering a $10,000 Scholarship to one lucky winner in their new sweepstakes!

Win Your OWN set of Parents Choice Products!

Parents Choice Formula

One lucky winner will win this whole set of products:

  • 12.9 oz can of Parent´s Choice Premium to try.
  • 12.4 oz can of Parent´s Choice Advantage to try.
  • Two $3.00 off coupons for Parent´s Choice Infant Formula (redeemable at all Walmart stores).
  • Parent´s Choice Starter Set – a complete nurser system that includes a variety of bottles, nipples, liners, leak proof caps and retainer rings.

Rafflecopter Giveaway

{Disclosure:  The Parent´s Choice Infant Formula product sample, information, and giveaway have been provided by Parent´s Choice through MyBlogSpark.}

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FAN-tastic Freebie Friday! {20+ New Freebies!}

I love freebies...

Sign up for some {or all!} of these free offers, so YOU can have a mailbox full of free goodies like this each day too.

Today is a round up of new samples, plus some of the most popular of the week, in case you missed them!

FAN-tastic Freebie Friday:

Cash4Gold

Has anyone ever tried this “Cash for Gold” deal? If so, I’d love to hear some feedback on whether you think it’s worth it. Leave me a comment if you’ve got any info! Thanks.

  • $20 Free Gift Certificate: Enter the Peeled Snacks Recipe Contest, and you’ll get a $20 Gift Certificate! Every one who enters gets one.
  • Free Cat Products: Sign up for a new branch of my FAVORITE SURVEY SITE EVER- Synovate Cat Lovers Panel, and have the chance to try out new cat products and be rewarded for your opinions. Love it.
  • MySavings: Get todays new Free Samples- Coffee, magazines, haircare, salad dressing, and more! Free Samples.
  • Stakkd: Get a FREE sample of this new caffeine mixer. Sample Request.
  • LearnVest: Sign up for FREE! You’ll love their daily tips to live frugal and fashionable. Today you can learn 10 things to do with $10 bucks! LearnVest Free Membership.
  • Pampers: Join Gifts to Grow, get 100 FREE points, and redeem them for kids toys, free diapers, and more. Join Here.
  • Free Allergy Med’s: See if you qualify here- Allergy Study, and be eligible to get FREE allergy medications, FREE doctor visits, and even be paid for participation.
  • Depends Sample Pack: Get a sample pack by requesting it with a quick form. Click Here.
  • Free Samples with sign up: Get Free Nestle Nido Milk samples. Join the community here- Click Here.
  • Free Food at Chili’s: Print a coupon to bring with you on your next visit to Chili’s and get FREE Chips and Queso with your order!
  • Free ProForce Cleaner: Hover over the images of the bottles on the Sams Club site, and it’ll bring up a little box to request a sample! Don’t need to be a member.
  • Prescription Discounts: Sign up for this card to get up to 75% off meds- Click Here, or – Click Here to find printable med’s coupons.
  • Freebies for Women: Some great daily coupons, giveaways, and samples. Sign up for their daily update or just check out what’s available now- Click Here.
  • Free The Google Story Book Summary: Click Here to get it.
  • Make your own FREE tshirt: Great for the kids. The T-Shirts are made of 100% Pre-Shrunk cotton and are available in sizes from S to XXL The T-Shirt is FREE, just pay for Shipping and Processing! Click Here.
  • Vindale: Get FREE products to try out at home, just like I do. Sign up give your opinion and win! Click Here.
  • Free Gift Cards + More: Start earning bucks today and you’ll soon be cashing out for Free Prizes. I redeem all points for Amazon Gift Cards. Start today! Click Here to join me!
  • Free $3 Credit: Introducing the Animated Photo card! Move your hand to reveal as one image blends into the next. Get an instead Free $3 credit. Click Here to get one. These are SUPER cool.
  • Daily Freebies: Check out That Freebie Site for each days new updates. They’re new, but have some good stuff.
  • Freeflys: Most of you are already using this, but did you know you can search by category too? Search for your favorites on Freeflys.com today.

Free Laser Hair Removal: LAST chance! Get this months entry in to win a FREE treatment! Enter here to win!

If you have some freebie lovin’ friends, feel free to use the social buttons to share this! Everyone loves free stuff, right? Have a great weekend… And watch for a couple of BRAND NEW Rafflecopter Giveaways starting later today! :)

Totsy

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{Giveaway} Win a Black & Decker Steam Mop!

Your housekeeping routine is about to get a little bit hot and steamy…

I’m a Cheating Housewife.

I hate mopping. HATE it. Always have. But I am a bit obsessed with cleanliness. Ok, maybe a lot of obsessed. So, when the Swiffer first came out, I was in heaven. FINALLY, I thought, a new way to keep my floors clean without the mess and frustration of a mop and bucket. And yes, the Swiffer worked good… But it didn’t work great.

Things are getting steamy…

Then, I was contacted by Black & Decker, to see if I’d be interested in trying out their new Steam Mop, and sharing my opinions of it with you guys. I’d been eyeing these for awhile, but after having such high hopes for the Swiffer, and being a bit let down, I was a little  hesitant.

Then the steam mop arrived. And I thought, well, I’ll just give it a try- and the cheating began. It was just going to be a casual fling, I thought I might go back to the Swiffer if this didn’t work out… But my oh my, I fell in love. Yes, my affair with the steam mop has turned into a long-term commited relationship. This is one of the greatest cleaing tools that has ever come into my life. Seriously.

See it in Action:

Steam Mop, How do I Love Thee? Let me Count the Ways…

  1. Economical: Unlike a Swiffer, you don’t need to spend big bucks on cleaning fluid refills or cloths and pads. The Black & Decker Steam Mop uses just water, and comes with 3 reusable pads. When they get dirty, you simply throw them in the wash! Easy peasy.
  2. Good with Kids: This is EXTREMELY important for me. I have a baby who crawls around on the floor all day. If a product is toxic enough that it needs to be locked in a cabinet, then why would I want to use it on the floor that she is playing on? I love that the Steam Mop gets rid of 99.9% of germs with just water!
  3. It’s got sweet moves: I can’t even tell you how awesome the swivel action is on this Steam Mop! It tilts all the way down flat to reach under furniture, swivels around cabinets without any work at all, can sneak right around corners and into tight spaces…. Very impressive.
  4. It gets the job done: Not only does it have all of these cool features… It has serious cleaning power too! Our floors get super dirty, super quick. The kitchen is our most used room, and has two doors that lead to the deck outside. There are 5 dogs, 2 boys, a baby, and 3 adults in this house…. You can imagine how messy it gets in here! But this Steam Mop cleaned the floors so easily… It honestly is so simple to use, and does an uh-MAY-zing job.

Win one of your own!

This is my very first Rafflecopter giveaway! If you have ANY problems at all, please let me know right away!!

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NEW!! Fresh Ideas Panel– Join Now!

Become a member of our Fresh Ideas Panel!

Please share your thoughts with us on our product ideas and offerings.
By sharing your opinions with us you are eligible for monthly giveaways!

Fresh Ideas Panel – Become a member of our Fresh Ideas Panel! Please share your thoughts with us on our product ideas and offerings. By sharing your opinions with us you are eligible for monthly giveaways!

Your ideas are important! That is why we would like to invite you to join Fresh Ideas; an exciting new panel designed to collect your thoughts and feedback regarding food and what you are looking for in the foods you choose for yourself and for others, such as your family and friends.

This is a brief survey that should only take about 5 minutes to complete. If you choose to join and are accepted into the panel, you will receive one to two surveys a month. In addition, you will have the chance to participate in our rewards program, where you can win gift cards for up to $200.
Click Here

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{Win it Wednesday} Shave-Free Summer!

American Laser Skincare

Enter to win FREE Laser Hair Removal!

I’ve told you guys about this before… Fill out the quick entry form, and make sure to add a valid phone number so they can contact you if you win!

I had a friend win last year, and I’ve been entering once a month ever since :) Plus, after posting this a couple of times, I’ve heard from a couple of you readers who’ve won too!

They also do lots of other prizes… Coupons and gift certificates for other treatments, and I’ve heard from a TON of you who have won those too.

So get your name in there! You can enter this one once a month, and it’s a super simple entry form. Good luck!

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{Blogging Tips} Tips for Running Successful Giveaways

In the previous post, {Blogging Tips} How to Host a Giveaway, I covered some of the basics of why you should consider running giveaways on your blog, how it benefits you and your readers, and most importantly, how to connect with partners to sponsor fun prizes!

This post will go over some of the “nuts and bolts” of setting up your giveaway… How to make sure it’s fair, some tips, and how to promote it so people will find it.

Rules and Regulations:

There are a few types of rules that need to be considered when running a giveaway. One, if this is part of a product review, remember to add a disclaimer to the page, with a “received a sample product to try, but all opinions are my own” type of message. Or, if it’s simply a donated prize, I still like to add, “This giveaway is sponsored by XYZ company and the prize will be fulfilled by them,” or something of that nature.

There, there are YOUR rules. How do you want your giveaway to run? If you are the one shipping the prize, do you want it to be open to US only, or will you open it up to Canadian residents too, or even worldwide? If you’re working with a sponsor, this is an important question to ask them before posting your giveaway. It’s frustrating for a reader in Canada to read your giveaway post, and not see it listed as to whether or not it’s open to them.

So, make sure to add your rules to the giveaway post- Here is an example: “Giveaway is open to residents of US and Canada, 18+. Giveaway starts on June 22, 2010 and ends on June 30, 2010 at midnight. The winning entry will be verified. Winner will be chosen by Random.org, and will have 48 hours to respond and confirm, or an alternate will be chosen.”

You want to make sure the date is clear, because someone might stumble across an old post and not realize it’s closed. {I have dates on mine, and still have people leave entries on old giveaways!} It’s important to verify the winning entry, to make sure they followed your rules. Example, if you have a mandatory entry, did they complete it? If they say they are a facebook fan, are they? Make sure everyone plays by the rules.

Next, there are some wordpress plug-ins that you can use to choose winners, such as And the winner is…, and I may start using that. I just use Random.org, which is super simple to use. Do you have 200 entries in your giveaway? Then enter 1, and 200 in the generator box, hit “generate”, and it gives you a winning number. Find that comment, and you’ve got your lucky fan!

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How to promote your giveaway:

Running a giveaway is a lot of work, so you want to make sure that you promote it well, to maximize the benefits that both you and your sponsor will get from it.

Adding your giveaway to contest listing sites can give you a major boost! Here are a few that I use:

  • Online Sweepstakes: This is by far my favorite, and is always one of my #1 sources of traffic for giveaways! You have to set up an account, but it’s free and pretty simple. Online Sweepstakes Sign Up.
  • Prizey.net: Another site where you’ll need to set up a quick account, but very easy to use. Prizey.net Sign Up.
  • Contest for Moms: Submit your giveaway for a free listing in their directory, or pay for a featured listing. Contest for Moms Sign Up.
  • Giveaway Scout: You have to set up an account, and link back to them from your site, {by adding their button}. This site is super cool though; they automatically search all registered sites, and send out daily newsletters with new giveaways, coupons, or freebie posts. I’ve been in it many times. Giveaway Scout Sign Up.

Another great way to promote your giveaway is on blog linkys. I’m sure you’ve seen these… It’s super easy, you just go to the linky, add the direct link to your giveaway, your email, and the name of your event, and hit submit. The linky will automatically add you to it! Easy peasy.

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Some great linkys:

  • Ice Fairy: This is my “go-to” linky list. Check it out, Icefairy’s Master List, and you could spend all day finding new linkys. You can go straight to the sweepstakes sites to list your event, or search blog linkys by day.
  • Savings Lifestyle: This is another big list of blog linkys, and you can search by day. Savings Lifestyle Linky You can go to this one daily, and link up.
  • Brag all About it: She has a great Sunday link up! Sunday Linky.
  • Golden Ticket: Great low entry linky, if you have 200 entries or less. Your Golden Ticket Linky.
  • Mommy’s Sweeping: Another low entry linky! Momma Sweeps.

There are TONS more out there too. If you have a linky that you host on your blog, or even a favorite one that you use regularly, share the link in the comments!

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Do’s and Don’ts for Giveaways:

Ok, every time someone posts their do’s and don’ts, there is someone who disagrees. I’m ok with that. I’m just giving my opinion as someone who entered tons of blog giveaways before starting my own… The things that I love, and the things that prevented me from entering. If you have different thoughts on these, feel free to share in the comments, so people can get different views!

  • DO make sure that the giveaway is easy to enter. The mandatory entry should be somewhat simple, like- “Check out XYZ website and tell me another favorite product”, not, “Check out XYZ website, tell me your favorite product, then go to their Facebook page and leave them a comment and follow them on Twitter”. I’ve seen this before. It’s great to give lots of bonus entry options, but make the mandatory one simple and easy to understand.
  • DON’T have your CAPTCHA’s on! I’ve given up on entering in so many giveaways because I got tired of fighting with the CAPTCHA every time.
  • DO remind people that they should leave a NEW, seperate, comment for each new entry. One comment = One entry. Don’t leave one comment listing all of the tasks you did, or it’s just one entry. A lot of people don’t understand this.
  • DON’T forget to share your giveaway on your own Twitter and Facebook pages, both blog and personal!
  • DO give people a giveaway entry option to get a bonus entry by sharing your giveaway to their own Facebook and Twitter. This can really help get your giveaway out there quickly!
  • DON’T forget to pick your winner promptly when the giveaway ends, contact them right away, and ship the prize quickly. I’ve had a couple of times where life got in the way, and I shipped a prize a little late… And I hate making someone wait! So plan ahead, to make sure you give yourself time to get it wrapped up.

I’d love to hear what you guys think… And what your best tips are. Please share some of your thoughts in the comments: Is there something that stops you from entering giveaways, or something you find confusing? Do you agree/disagree with my list? Do you have a tip that you’ve found to be super helpful?

Also… RAFFLECOPTER. This is the hot new thing in giveaways right now. I don’t have much to share, except that like most of you, I love it, and it makes me MUCH more likely to do the bonus entries in a giveaway. So much faster and easier. I just got an account with them, and will be using it for the first time very soon…. Until then, I’d love to hear feedback from those of you who ARE using it: Have you had any problems with it? Is it easy on the bloggers side too? Any tips?

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Related Content:

Day 1: {Intro} What are your blog goals?. Who I am and why I started blogging, share your goals, and what to expect in this series.

Day 1: Day 1: {Blogging Tips} Earning an Income from your Blog. How affiliate marketing works, how to use Ad Networks, and Selling your own Ads.

Day 2: {Blogging Tips} How to Host a Giveaway How to build partnerships for prize sponsorships.

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