Parent's Choice Formula, Calculate the Savings.

Let's face it having children is expensive, even more so when they are infants. Having to buy diapers, wipes, soaps, clothes, and especially baby formula can really put a strain on a family budget. Today more and more parents are learning that name brand isn't always the smartest choice. I notice that I buy store brand a lot more than I buy a national brand, but I am picky, the store brand has to be just as good as the name brand.

For 13 years, Parent's Choice Infant Formula has helped parents to save an average of $600 USD a year and Parent's Choice Formula has nutritional equivalence of national brands. I don't know about you, but to me that is some much needed money that could be used to get other things a child needs. One of my favorite things on the Parent's Choice website is the Savings Calculator. It allows you to pick a national brand/type of baby formula. It then shows you a comparable Parent's Choice Formula. It shows you the average cost of each, and then goes on to show you how much you would save per year, month, week, day, and bottle, below you will see how it calculated the savings of purchasing Parent's Choice Organic over Similac Organic.



I was amazed that one could save $523.55 per year on average. *Total savings with Parent's Choice Infant Formula calculations based on a price per fl oz comparison of Parent's Choice Infant Formulas and their comparable national brands.

Parent's Choice, partnered with PBM Nutrionals, the largest manufacturer of store-brand infant formulas and nutrition products, wants to help one family save even more with the "Parent´s Choice Infant Formula" Sweepstakes. One lucky winner will receive a $10,000 college scholarship in the form of a College Savings 529 Plan. From now until 11:59pm on August 15th, 2011 you can choose to increase your little one´s chances of attending the college of his or her choice, by "liking" Parent´s Choice Infant Formula on Facebook and filling out the simple form.
Be sure to check out the official sweepstakes rules.

While Parent's Choice has always had my and my children's seal of approval, please speak with your baby's doctor prior to switching formula.

Still unsure here are some facts that may help ease your mind.

• In the US, all infant formulas are subject to the same regulations for manufacture and ingredients required for the growth of healthy babies under the Infant Formula Act.
• Store brand formulas sold at major retailers are a premium national substitute at a value price and meet the same FDA nutritional requirements as all of the major brands.
• The quality and safety of the manufacturing of infant formulas are also inspected by the FDA in the same way.

Want to try Parent's Choice Baby Formula? Visit their website to request a free sample or better yet, enter the giveaway below, one lucky reader will win the following:

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.



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

This Giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed, or administered by Facebook, giveaway ends at 11:59PM CST on August 15,2011. Winner will be emailed at this time and will have 24 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. Prize will be mailed directly from MyBlogSpark. This Giveaway is open to US residents only.

Testing 1 2 3

Just testing out some things.

I love hand-me-downs.

I do not personally know any mom who would turn down hand-me-downs that are in wearable condition. It just wouldn't make sense. Kids grow so fast that half the time their clothes are barely worn. I use to box all the clothes my girls had outgrown and either save them for friends and family or donate them to the Goodwill. Then I discovered Thredup.

Thredup is a clothing swap type of site that follows the fact that "Clothes don't grow, kids do." It is very easy to use. First you sign up for an account, which is free to join at thredup.com. Then you browse their list of thousands of boxes full of pre-loved kids clothes & toys, each box is just $5.00 USD plus the cost of shipping which is $10.95 USD for a medium flat rate box. Users who post the boxes list the items that are inside as well as some of the brands of clothing. You can search the boxes by size and/or gender. Most of the boxes are very full. I received my first box back in June and I received 3 pairs of shorts, one pair of jeans, a skirt, two shirts, and a jacket. Everything was name brand and in awesome condition.

Post your own box of pre-loved clothes/toys your child no longer wears on thredUP. It takes just minutes to list out the great items your kids no longer use. When another member picks your box, send it 100% free of charge. Thredup provides boxes, postage, and even schedule the pick-up. the only thing you need is a working printer.

Another great site I use, savemore.com, has a ThredUp deal for a day only. For $16.00USD you can get Two Boxes of Kids Pre-Loved Clothes, Books or Toys ($31.90 Value). Better yet if you are a new savemore.com user you can get a free $10.00 USD credit, which means you can get your two boxes for only $6.00 USD. That is an awesome deal on some great pre-loved clothing, toys, or books.

Deal terms and conditions: Expires July 23, 2012. May not be combined with any other promotional offers. Valid for new customers only. Redeem online at http://www.thredup.com/savemore . Limit one voucher for yourself and two as gifts.

The opinions posted in this post are completely mine, I was not compensated for my post. Any Links posted in this post are referral links and I do receive credit for those who sign up for either site via my links.

Coming Soon

I have some great things coming soon so stay tuned.

ZhuZhu Pets Movie "Quest for Zhu" trailer - Time for Action!

The upcoming ZhuZhu Pets movie "Quest for Zhu" is loaded with action that will keep Zhu-natics on the edges of their seats! Watch this week's teaser to get a sneak peek at the adventures of Pipsqueak, Num Nums, Mr. Squiggles, and Chunk as they travel through the Zhu-niverse. Coming in fall 2011 to DVD and Blu-ray. Check out http://www.zhuniverse.com for more info!

The girls and I are so excited, we can't wait to see all the Zhu Zhu pets in action, especially our favorite character Num Nums.

Handmade Gift Exchange Summer 2011

My friend Jennifer of Jennifer's Deals, let me know about a blog that was putting together a Handmade Gift Exchange. Being the crafter I am, she thought it would be something I would enjoy. I was paired with a 12 girl named Hannah. I sent her gift off and then my camera ate the pics, I have asked her to take some for me and email them to me, but she loves to read, loves butterflies and her favorite color is purple so I painted on card stock a picture of butterfly hovering over a flower and made it into a bookmark. I them took a metal tin with a hinged lid and covered the top with polymer clay. I took more clay and put the letter "H" and a small butterfly. i also made a purple butterfly keyring form clay and after both pieces were baked hard, I padded the tin with cotton and put the keyring inside. As soon as she sends me the pics I will update this post with them.

Here are the items she made for me. Four collages with a time theme and two ponytail holders she made for my girls.

It is hot outside.

Well after much complaining about the rain we were getting, we can finally complain about the heat. It is hot. We have not been able to get much geocaching done do to the rain flooding the caching areas out and now it is too hot to even sit on the porch, much less hike through the woods looking for treasure. My only hope is that it evens out before school starts back up, I know the girls are really bummed.

We attempted a beach trip the other day, but the lake is the highest I have ever seen it. Water up to the sidewalk.

Due to the heat and Rick's new schedule we have no plans for the fourth either, not that I am complaining, I would much rather enjoy a quiet evening at home with my girls.

I go to pick up my bike on Monday, I am super excited. I havent riden a bike in over 13 years, but with the present state of my knees, the doctors say the bike will be better for me than walking and will help me lose some weight, plus it is something we can do as a family in the evenings when it is cooler outside.

Another goal for this month, to feed us 3 meals a day for less than 100 dollars a week including beverages. i do not coupon as well as my friends so this is a challenge. I also prefer to make most things the old fashion way and well they just do not give out very many coupons for meat and veggies in my area. I created a Menu template on Google Docs to try and help me plan the week out. I usually have no issue in planning my meals, but when faced with little boxes I needed to fill in I drew a blank and the family was no help. I am confidant that if i stick to it, this will become routine and will get easier as i go along.

I hope everyone reading this is doing well and having a great summer. If you blessed(sarcasm) with the heat we have, I hope you find plenty of fun ways to stay cool. Please have a safe Fourth of July and drink plenty of water.