Welcome to the Dog Days Summer Giveaway Event hosted by

Mom Caboodle, Long Wait For Isabella, and Baking Beauty!

We are well into Summer and the heat of Dog Days has set in…. Beat the heat of Dog Days by entering to win some cool prizes in the first annual Dog Days Summer Giveaway Event!

The Hostesses of the Dog Days Summer Giveaway Event have teamed up with 42 other blogs to give you even more chances to win some awesome prizes. Each participating blog listed on the linky below will be hosting their own giveaway with a value of $25.00 or more! This event begins on August 1st at 12:01 A.M. and will end at 11:59 P.M on August 17th. This gives you over two weeks to go through the linky and enter all of the participating blog giveaways.

Don’t forget to enter for a chance to win one of three grand prize packages HERE [Read more…]

If you’ve followed my site, you know that I am a strong believer alternative and holistic medicine.  Using herbs, vitamins, and minerals in supplement form is great, but what about using it in your skincare routine and other beauty products?  There was a time in my life when I didn’t worry about anti-aging properties and all that.  Well, the time has come and now it’s something I definitely consider when looking for skincare items.  I’m also willing to pay more for products that really work for me.  For example, this sanitas vitamin c lotion is something I’d definitely splurge on if I noticed a difference in my skin.

Being able to shop at one store for all my healthcare and personal needs is important to me.  Saving that time and money means more time and money I get to spend with my loved ones.  Pharmaca offers an excellent selection of products for the whole family.  We don’t have a brick-and-mortar Pharmaca store in our area, but that’s okay because I can shop Pharmaca online.  It’s really easy to find what you’re looking for.  The website has a great search tool, but you can also use the drop-down tabs to find what you need.  One of the tabs even allows you to shop for the condition that ails you.  It’s always so helpful when websites take consumers into consideration this way!

Health and wellness are the forefront of their online store.  It’s not all homeopathic; there’s a section for over the counter products.    They also have a wide assortment of other items such as baby care, toys, and much more.  I was excited to find my favorite chewable Vitamin C tablets at Pharmaca.  These are hard to find in my area and the price on Pharmaca is less than half what I pay at the natural food store.  Such a deal!  My kids absolutely LOVE the flavors in this blend.  I’ll be ordering this for sure!

What’s your opinion on using natural products?   What product would you like to find at Pharmaca?

In some of my teacher inservice, I learned about the research on brain maturity and how just a year or two (or nine) can make a difference in things like judgment and impulsive tendencies.  Click here to view an interesting infographic about insurance.  I found it to be really eye-opening.  At the bottom, you’ll find some great tips on ways to save on insurance.  Obviously, some factors are just out of your control but some of the tips are really helpful.   My favorite was the advice to “stop hitting things.”  ha ha!  What’s the big deal about 25 and insurance?  I never really understood why 25 was such a magic number with insurance.   My husband and I were married when he was 21 years old, so we paid a higher rate of insurance for several years before starting to see that premium drop.  I can’t imagine what the premium must have been like when he was 16 years old!   And what’s the deal with people complaining about women drivers if insurance is so much more expensive for men?!

The infographic makes some good points.  We allow children to handle weapons in hunting, allow young people to serve our country to fight for freedom, even permit them to purchase alcohol…… yet charge them more money for insurance.  Numbers don’t lie, though, and statistically age appears to be a huge factor in car accidents.   There are many other ways that insurance premiums can be reduced, though, such as being choosy about where you live and even by getting married.  Now, I’m not suggesting that you should get married just to reduce your insurance costs….but it’s a perk!

No matter how pricey the premiums can be, I’m a firm believer that insurance saves me money in the long run. Whether it’s for my car, home, health, or life, insurance policies make sure that my family will be taken care of in case of an emergency.   We have had some random freak accidents—such as getting hit by a handicapped hit-and-run driver in the Golden Corral parking lot while on vacation—but insurance has always taken care of us. Peace of mind is priceless!

What are your thoughts about the infographic?  I’d also love to hear if you have any stories to share about insurance and how it’s helped you in the past.

I was compensated by Blogsvertise for my time investment on writing this post.  Still, the opinions and experiences stated are 100% mine.

How do you choose a hairstylist?  I am pretty easygoing about most things, but when it comes to my hair, I want someone who knows what they’re doing when they come at my head with scissors.  I want a stylist who takes her time and makes sure that I’m happy before I leave.   She needs to have great style herself (with a good haircut, naturally).  And of course, I need someone who’s affordable.  Yes, I’m worth the money but that doesn’t mean that I have it to spend.  And now I know about a fabulous hairstylist for hire.

So, hooray!  I found the perfect stylist for me.  Her name is Lauren and she’s cutting hair in Kingsport.  I’ve been going to her for quite some time, but she recently went off on her own and is offering lots of styling services including color, highlighting, cut, and kid’s cuts.  Her prices were comparable to the salons I’ve been to and she really takes her time to make sure I’m satisfied with the cut.  Lauren will even consider coming to you if it’s more convenient for you.   Seriously, where are you going to find that anywhere else?!   I think that would be a great opportunity for you to get some of your girlfriends together, kick back, and have a haircut party!!  Or maybe you could get everyone in your family’s haircut on the same day in the comfort of your home. That is my plan for next time.  Lauren would also love to come do your updo for a wedding or other event.

If you’d like to make an appointment, call Lauren  (email me to get her phone number….savingsinseconds @yahoo.com)  She’s really flexible on her scheduling.  I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!

Just look at my dog. Isn’t she the cutest little thing?

Now you would think that it’s a real treat to take her for a walk.  It’s actually the most frustrating thing ever.  She constantly pulls and chokes herself, even when wearing a harness.  When we get about ½ mile from home, she’s so exhausted that she must be carried the rest of the way.  Sometimes she even makes herself sick from all the pulling!!  I’m sure the neighbors get a big kick out of watching us struggle through the neighborhood.  When I received the Instant Trainer Leash, I was a little hesitant to use it and put myself my dog through all that.  But we gave it a go.

First of all, the Instant Trainer was really easy to hook up.  My dog weighs about 12 pounds and some leashes just overpower her with their bulk and weight.  I really liked how light this leash was.  It was a little confusing at first to get it on her, but I followed the instructions and eventually we figured it out.  It just attaches to your dog’s collar and wraps around the dog’s middle.  The problem was, we never made it out of the door.  Poor thing, she just kept spinning around in circles to try to figure out what was wrapped around her stomach.   I would have taken a picture but I didn’t have the heart, I had to get it off of her.  I think with more exposure to it, she could really get used to it and enjoy walking. I can definitely see how the Instant Trainer would be more comfortable than traditional leashes.  If my little dog could figure out that she controls the leash by not pulling, she might really enjoy walking.  For now, though, this wasn’t exactly instant for us.  We’ll keep trying!!

The Instant Trainer leash is available online.

So the other night my husband was watching TV while I played a million games of solitaire.  He was completely enthralled in the movie……..a kung-fu movie with English subtitles.  That’s right, he couldn’t even understand the words but he was spellbound with all the chop-chopping and high kicks.  I watched for maybe a few seconds but found that I was only reading the subtitles, not actually watching the movie.  That’s when it hit me.  What a great way to get kids to read!!  A reluctant reader would be highly likely to READ the subtitles if they were in English.

I have been teaching sixth graders for fifteen years and there are few things that they love more than kung fu.   I even use it to help them memorize information (we just do little made-up movements) and they absolutely loooove it.   Both boys and girls, that is!!   When you have something that is perfect for both genders, you’ve gotta use it in every way that you can.  There is some built-in violence in that genre but with a little digging you could probably find one that isn’t too gory.

So if you have a reluctant reader at home and you’d like to build a little fluency in the reading department, pop a bowl of popcorn and watch a good martial arts movie. The sillier the better, so you can laugh about it and have some fun at the same time.   If you try it, let me know how it works!

Most of us check the nutrition labels on food and drinks, but how often do you look at the nutritional information of your chewing gum?  That’s right, your gum.  When it says sugar-free, a red flag goes up for me because I avoid artificial sweeteners.  One of my favorite natural sweeteners for gum is xylitol because it’s the perfect amount of sweetness.  It also doesn’t have an aftertaste like stevia sometimes does.  Glee Gum sent me some samples that lasted about a day in my house!  My kids, husband, and even visitors went to town on it.  The gum was delicious.  It was small and square, kind of like chiclets.  The flavors were really yummy.  My daughter loved the tangerine flavor best.  The gum had a lot of chew to it and lasted a long time.  The flavor wasn’t overpowering but was still refreshing and left my mouth feeling clean.  I liked the packaging—since it was in a box, it was easier to open and share without having everyone’s hands in the gum pack.  I’ll be looking for Glee Gum the next time I need to stock up!

Their website has Make Your Own Candy kits and fun information for educators.  If you’re a homeschooling parent, imagine all the possibilities for great lessons with Glee Gum!!  I loved reading about the ways that Glee Gum helps the workers who tap the trees used in creating Glee Gum.  It’s also the first Fair Trade gum, how cool is that! Glee Gum comes in the following flavors:Tangerine, Peppermint, Cinnamon, Spearmint, Bubblegum, Triple Berry, Sugar-Free Refresh-Mint and Sugar-Free Lemon-Lime flavors! They are hoping to add even more soon— possibly Cranberry, Ginger Peach, or Licorice.

Glee Gum has provided a giveaway prize for one lucky Savings in Seconds winner.  To enter to win the Mini Glee Variety pack (21 4-piece) & a coupon, enter using the Rafflecopter form below. The giveaway is open to  US readers ages 18+ and ends August 11.  Good luck!

*Note: Entries will be verified.

Welcome to the Wish You Were Here Giveaway Hop!   This event is hosted by BloggerPR and will run from July 30-August 6, 2012.  While thousands of bloggers travel to New York City for a blogging conference, we thought it would be a great idea to kickoff a giveaway for our readers while we’re gone!  Each giveaway prize is valued over $25.00, so you are bound to find something you love. Good luck and have fun!

Savings in Seconds paired with two great sponsors to bring you some of the best parts of travel—-eating and sightseeing!

Our first sponsor is Mara’s Pasta.  You can read my review of Mara’s Pasta to find out how my husband used this whole-grain yumminess to make me a delicious spaghetti meal.   I definitely agree that Mara’s has a better texture than other whole wheat pastas that I’ve tried.  Take it from me, there were no leftovers of this meal!  It is something I’ll make again.   Next I plan to use the penne with some fresh zucchini and Juliet tomatoes from the garden, then top with parmesan cheese.   Mara’s is offering one lucky reader a gift box that includes three varieties of pasta.   As they say at Mara’s, healthy finally tastes good!

Our second sponsor is the author of the My Friend Paris books.  These children’s books are fun and educational.  The author of these books was a published author at age 11!    Now 14 years old, the author writes about kid-friendly topics such as the birth of siblings or family vacations.  I enjoyed reading these with my kids and I hope you do, too!!  Check out the freebies on the My Friend Paris site including coloring pages and a pumpkin-carving template.   The winner will receive two My Friend Paris titles (sponsor’s choice).

Enter using the Rafflecopter form below.  The giveaway is open to US readers. Good luck!
*Note: Entries will be verified; if you don’t include the required information your entry will be invalid. ‘);
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I’m Baa—aack….  and I have a WILD deal for you.

We had a crazy huge storm and it knocked out our cable bundle….so our phone, tv, and internet was all out for several days.   I felt like a fish out of water!!  It was nice to have an unplanned unplug week though.  I got to spend some precious days with my kids and we had so much fun.  I”ll share some of our outings with you on upcoming Tricities Tuesday posts!

I was all excited when it came back on because I had to find out if I had missed any great deals.  Here’s a really great one if you still have a summer trip planned….the Shop At Home WILD deal is to get the Entertainment Book for only 99-cents after cashback.  Our book always has good coupons for eating out and local attractions.  If you’re going on vacation, consider snagging one for your trip.  Even if you only use one coupon, it’ll pay for itself.  Most of the time the coupons expire November 1 but sometimes they are good through December.   Also, they usually give you the option to print more coupons from home which can be a huge savings.   The book for my area was sold out, but hopefully you’ll be able to grab one.

Also, while I was at Shop At Home I noticed a little banner at the bottom of my page that offered a $5 bonus when I installed the coupon bar.  I used to have it on my computer, but I guess it got deleted at some point.  Anyway, I installed it and am looking forward to that free $5!

(this post contains affiliate links.)

Enjoy a 10% off code at Totsy through July 29, 2012.  The code is FB300K.  As they gain more fans, they promise to unlock more prizes, so go over and like them if you haven’t already!

This would be a great time to snag some Christmas gifts that might normally be out of your price range.    I’m loving these ATV ride-on toys that start at just $28.  Check out this one!

I’m also seriously considering getting this drum set for my son.  Someone talk me down and bring me back to reality.  He played his cousin’s drums while we were in Pennsylvania and it was adorable…he smacked the sticks together and counted, “1, 2, 3, 4”  — who knows where he saw that?!

I thought Totsy was on Shop At Home but I can’t find it now.  If you know of any cashback sites that feature Totsy, I’d love to know!

This post contains my affiliate link.  The opinions posted are 100% mine.