Money Saving Sites

We all love saving money - but sometimes it's difficult, especially when we're tight on time. Here are some of my favorite sites for saving money on everything from clothes to groceries to home decor.

If you like to DIY: These sites offer great tutorials on making your own clothes and decorations as well as an occasional (yummy) recipe or two.
Make It and Love It
HoneyBear Lane

If you're on Facebook: These pages will post great deals right to your news feed. Don't forget to check out their blogs/websites for even more money saving tips.

Jessica's Coupons
Faithful Provisions
Posh on a Budget
Faithfully Free
Wichita Kids Eat Free
Rose Knows Coupons
Adventures In Savings
Saving and Giving
Wichita Coupons
Money Saving Mom
The Frugal Girls

If you like to have parties: Try joining one of these programs. You can apply to host a party in your own home - the party packs are free and you get tons of great products to try yourself and pass on to friends. You will have to provide feedback, but it only takes a minute.
Moms Meet
Vocalpoint
House Party

If you want to save on food: These sites have great printable coupons and most also have online coupon codes as well. There is some overlap among most of the sites, but each has its own unique benefits.
Mambo Sprouts has lots of organic and all natural coupons
Commonkindness donates to your favorite charities for each coupon you print
coupons.com, smartsource.com, redplum.com all post lots of coupons for every day foods and household items

If you're into designer stuff: Consider joining one of these 'invitation only' discount sites. You get access to up to 70% off designer products (everything from cookware to decor to clothing to toys).
zulilly
totsy
ideeli
ruelala
haute look
guilt group
the mini social
no more rack

If you formula feed: Sign up on the manufacturers' websites for free samples. If you join Similac's Gold program you'll receive up to 3 coupons for free formula (the big cans) among other perks.

If you spend a lot of time on the web: Check out swagbucks.com. You can earn points for surfing the web, watching videos, playing games, making purchases, using coupons, and many other activities you're probably doing anyway. 450 points gets you a $5 Amazon gift card and you can easily earn 3-5 cards/month. So check it out and sign up!
If you use this link you'll earn me some points, too - but I promise, I wouldn't recommend it if it weren't fantastic.
or check out their facebook page

If you're ok with secondhand:
Craigslist is an online classified site. Check your local listing, or anywhere in the country! (I recently found my 3 yr old's entire summer wardrobe for $65 on Craigslist - most of it in new or like-new condition).
Freecycle is a great place to find items that people are giving away for free. Sometimes it's junk, but sometimes you can score a real deal.
Shop Good Will is a site dedicated to selling donated items - much like your local Good Will store.

Happy saving, everyone!

Author of the Week: Mercer Mayer

My boys are crazy about Mercer Mayer's Little Critter series. They identify with the antics of this mischievous critter and empathize with the challenges he meets in his every day life. There is a Little Critter book for just about every major event in childhood - the arrival of a new baby, potty training, going to school, going to bed - as well as tender stories about special times with family members (Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Little Sister). There are also Little Critter stories written in several different styles for different stages of reading comprehension. Books like Snowball Soup have only a few words per page making them easy for preschoolers to read and toddlers to learn by heart. And the stories are engaging enough that even adults will enjoy reading them over and over (and we sympathize a bit with Mom and Dad critter as well). These are our current go-to bedtime stories and there are so many books to choose from that we won't run out any time soon.

Ga Ga Deals

I recently stumbled upon a fun website that's perfect for money-saving moms. Ga Ga Deals displays new products every so often and the price continues to tick down as the time runs out. The only catch - quantities are limited, so you have to make a purchase before the item sells out. It's a fun balance trying to get the lowest price you can while the item is still in stock. The items are always baby related and there's usually a carseat on the widget (see bar to the right)- so check back often!

Burt's Bees Giveaway winner

And the winner of our Burt's Bees Giveaway is Sarah O! Congratulations Sarah, I'll be in touch with you soon! And thanks to everyone for entering.

Moms that Rock

I'm always blown away by all the moms I know who manage to take great care of their families and their homes and sometimes work and run a shop or write a blog or do some other useful craft. Frankly, I don't know how they do it. So, as a tribute to all those hardworking moms, I thought I'd give them a little press. If you've got a spare moment and want to be impressed, please check out the following:

If you need an extra dose of positivity in your life, head on over to this fantastic blog for some great advice on fashion and recipes as well as some awesome art and some humorous and cheerful running commentary.

If you're looking for great advice on green living and eco-conscious parenting, check out Om....And Then Some. She has tons of articles on how to be earth-friendly along with lots of product reviews and the occasional (fantastic) giveaway.

If you're looking for a great gift for the baby or child in your life (or a great photo prop, too) then you'll love Petal Babies General Store, Dulu Designs, Sling-a-bye-baby and The Little Ballerina.

And if you also have a mommy blog, etsy shop or other online business, please feel free to leave us a link!

Burt's Bees Giveaway!

I love Burt's Bees products. Not only are they almost all natural, and therefore super gentle, but they smell wonderful, too. We've been using Baby Bee products on all three of our kids since the day they were born and it has never once irritated their sensitive skin. And I love their line of gentle face products for adults. Therefore, I wanted to pass on some of their wonderful products to one of you! I'm giving away a Burt's Bees Baby Bee Bundle of Joy basket to one of my readers. There are several ways to enter - please leave a separate comment for each. The giveaway will end Friday Feb. 18th.

1) Visit the Burt's Bees website and leave a comment telling me which product you most enjoy, or which you'd most like to try.
2) Become a follower of the Stuff I Love blog.
3) 'Like' Stuff I Love on facebook.
4) Share this giveaway on facebook. (one entry per day)
5) Share this giveaway on twitter. (one entry per day)

That's all. I will randomly choose a winner on February 19th. Thanks!

Method Baby

I am officially obsessed with this line of baby products. Not only is it 99% natural so it's gentle on my babies, it smells delicious! My kids come out of the tub smelling like big, snuggly s'mores. And they are crazy about the adorable bottle. The products come in rice milk + mallow, sweet pea, crisp apple and peach scents and they range from dryer sheets to body lotion to diaper cream (and more). And at $5-15 they're totally affordable, too. I'm a pretty die-hard Burt's Bees fan, but I may be stocking my pantry with a load of these baby products as well!

Author of the Week: Anna Dewdney

My kids absolutely adore Anna Dewdney's books. They are full of fun, fast paced rhymes and colorful, energetic pictures. The boys certainly relate to little Llama's drama in the Llama Llama series and my 3 year old regularly begs to read Roly Poly Pangolin. These books teach children about patience, bravery, kindness and love. And they're just plain fun to read!

Sophie the Giraffe

When it comes to toys for tiny babies I've generally considered them to be useless. My babies were rarely interested in anything but faces and patterns until they were practically sitting up. Then we discovered Sophie The Giraffe! She is just about the perfect toy for even the tiniest babies.

First of all, Sophie is non-toxic. She is made of natural rubbers and dyes so we don't have to worry about the little one chewing all over her. Her neck and legs are easy for even newborns to grasp, and she makes a very pleasant squeaking noise when squeezed. In fact, my 2 month old has smiled more at her Sophie toy than she has at Mommy so far!

The only drawback to Sophie is that she is so adorable and squeezable the older kids keep stealing her from Baby! Fortunately, Amazon sells 2 and 3-packs so you can buy enough for the whole family!