Savvy & Smart Savings with Walmart Saving Catcher

I shopped savvy using Walmart Saving Catcher, as part of a sponsored post for Crowdtap #WMTSavingsCatcher.

I always try to do my best to look for sales, clip coupons, and get the most bang for our buck. But let’s admit it- sometimes it’s just not realistic.  This time of year especially – with work, kids, preparations for the holidays and sometimes pure exhaustion forces us all make quick runs into the store without so much as looking at an ad, let alone search for coupons. I always cringe a little when I see the total of the few bags of groceries that I ran in to pick up before I make a mad dash to the sitters to pick up the kids after work.

On occasion I will have  make time to look through ads and plan a grocery shopping trip (or three). This store has what we need on sale, but another store has something I want – who has time to run from store to store to save a few bucks? Trust me, I know every penny counts,  but so  does every minute. What’s the answer to saving time and money??

walmart_savings_catcher_store

When I heard of Walmart Savings Catcher I was a bit leery – I mean, if I didn’t have the time to shop at other stores and check the prices in the ads and such, how would I know if it really worked? Maybe I would think I was getting all the sales but in reality I wasn’t?

I decided before I trusted the app one hundred percent that I would give it a trial run. I did a bit of comparison shopping with the ads from Sunday’s paper. I found a few items that were cheaper in the sales ads versus the regular prices at Walmart, so I wanted to make sure I picked a few of those up along with other groceries and test the app to see if it caught the sales.

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I was pleasantly surprised to find that it did catch the local sales prices and rewarded me with $5.86 back! I’m sold! No longer will I spend any time stressing over finding the best deals, or driving from store to store – I can get all my savings in one trip at Walmart!
Not only am  I able to get money back, but right now  when you open a Bluebird card you can get 2x the reward dollars! (This offer extends until Feb 2015 – I am saving up my rewards and opening my card in December, just in time for the holidays!)

If you haven’t tried Walmart Savings Catcher, what are you waiting for??
Right now if you give Walmart Savings Catcher a try and share it with your friends you can be entered to win a $2,000 shopping spree!

 

 

 

Posted in Money Matters | 26 Comments

GoPro Camera Hero 4: The Perfect Holiday Gift

 The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.

I have been not-so-secretly lusting after the Go Pro cameras at Best Buy ever since my first color run. The action shots and videos that I’ve seen from other runners are amazing. I know it would of caught some epic shots when my family participated in the Tough Mudder last year. Not to mention the kids playing soccer, cheering, or marching in band. The Go Pro camera could be a perfect gift for any friend or family member.

Best Buy is the home of the latest cameras and camcorders, including the full line of new GoPro cameras, plus a broad assortment of accessories. GoPro cameras make perfect holiday gifts for everyone, from kids and teens, to gadget gurus. GoPro’s new line of cameras allow you to beautifully and authentically capture and share the experiences that bring purpose, adventure, and joy to your life.

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GoPro specs for the 3 new cameras to include in your review:

·         GoPro HERO4 Black: the most advanced GoPro ever, featuring improved image quality and a 2x more powerful processor with 2x faster video frame rates1, HERO4 Black takes award‐winning GoPro performance to a whole new level.

·         GoPro HERO4 Silver: the first-ever GoPro to feature a built-in touch display. Controlling The camera, playing back footage and adjusting settings is ultra-convenient—just view, tap and swipe the screen. With 1080p60 and 720p120 video, and 12MP photos at a staggering 30 frames per second, HERO4 Silver combines powerful, pro-quality capture with the convenience of a touch display.

·         GoPro HERO: Featuring high‐quality 1080p30 and 720p60 video, and 5MP photos up to 5 fps, HERO captures the same immersive footage that’s made GoPro one of the best-selling cameras in the world.

12x more powerful processor with 2x faster video frame rates

 

Learn more at www.bestbuy.com/GoPro or visit your local Best Buy to check out the latest cameras in person.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Weekend Fun in Corydon, Indiana #ThisIsIndiana

As some of you may know (anyone that follows me on Twitter and Instagram) a few weeks ago my family took a road trip down to Corydon Indiana to take in the sights, visit the caves and caverns, play a little putt putt, do some shopping, and hit the zipline. Corydon Indiana is the perfect weekend trip to take, especially for local Cincinnati-ans (the drive is bearable even with 3 kids asking “Are we there yet??” every 20 minutes) and anyone looking to enjoy a bit of history and have some fun. 

corydon_indianaI’m going to cover our trip in a few separate post (there is just too much to share with you in one), but I want to give you a breakdown of the educational, affordable family fun that can be had in historic Corydon Indiana starting with some of the most important aspects – where to sleep, and where to eat!

Lodging – There are plenty of places to stay in the town of Corydon, and I love that we  got a room at the local Holiday Inn Express. Holiday Inn Corydon is a great place to stay – between the free wifi and complimentary breakfast everyone in my family was happy (good morning waffles and coffee) !!

Food – Corydon does offer your typical chain restaurants if you are looking for them – when we are traveling I become a foodie and want to taste the local cuisine. Some of my most favorite local restaurants are family owned, so I knew I wanted to try some local places. One of our favorites was the Point Blank Brewing Company. A family owned restaurant and microbrewery, Point Blank is located in the heart of historic Corydon. We started with loaded fries, and with brick oven pizza being served a majority of us chose our own individual pizzas. They offered chicken, bacon, ranch (um my favorite) BLT, and a meat lovers. My daughter who loves fish chose the Deb’s Fish & Chips, and my son mac n’ cheese with fries. My husband of course, enjoyed one of their local microbrewery beers. Definitely a local place I would recommend.

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Also one of my favorite places was Kentjava Bar a family-owned coffee shop in Historic Downtown Corydon that serves fresh coffee, espresso, teas, hot chocolate and other gourmet coffees. Fresh baked pastries served daily and free Wi-Fi is available. Coffee and espresso beans are roasted weekly by Quills Coffee. They offer panini’s and some of the best pastries you’ve ever tasted.

kentjava-bar

 

Last but not least, is the historic Butt Drugs Inc. Yes, I said Butt Drugs (I had to re read it twice too). Butt is a family name, and a family business. This old fashioned soda fountain and pharmacy rolled in one has been around since 1952. Straight out of a 50’s sitcom, you expect to see poodle skirts and a jukebox when you walk in. They carry only the best candy, (which you can buy in bulk) and use only the best ice cream and ingredients for their cream sodas and ice cream sundaes. I only wish that we had a local Butt Drugs Soda Shop/Pharmacy in my neck of the woods. They had one of the best root beer floats I’ve ever tasted!

butt-drugs-collage

 

I’ve only touched the surface of what Corydon has to offer- stay tuned this weekend for the  as I’ll be sharing all the activities and family fun that can only be had in Indiana! 

 

 

Posted in Cincinnati, Travel | 30 Comments

Creepy & Creative Candy Apple Ideas

 

One of my favorite things about the holidays is the baking and fun projects that the kids and I can do together. This weekend we decided we are going apple picking, and we wanted to find a few recipes that we could use the apples in. I was super impressed with the assortment of candy/caramel apple ideas that I found online, and wanted to share them. Enjoy!
Creepy_candy_apple_ideas2

 

 

SpiderMan Candy Apples by Rosanna Pansino

Witches Cauldron by Hungry Happenings

Candy Apple Cats by Hungry Happenings

S’more Candy Apples by The Tomkat Studio

Pumpkin Caramel Apple by a Little Tipsy

Vampire Caramel Apples by Erica’s Sweet Tooth

Jack Skellington Caramel Apples by Bombshell Bling

Mummy Candy Apples by Great Wolf Lodge

Caramel Apple Spiderwebs by Karen in the Kitchen

Blood Dripping Caramel Apples by Edible Crafts

Posted in Holidays, Recipes | Leave a comment

Holiday Prep Tips for Busy Moms from Best Buy

The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.

Holidays can be a hectic time for everyone, especially Moms- there’s family pictures, and relatives in and out of your house, cookies to be baked, hams to be cooked, gifts to be bought, and did I mention more food to be made?? I know that I have spent many, many, late nights and early mornings staying up baking , cooking and  decorating for the holidays. It’s absolutely exhausting. 

best-buy-holiday-prep

To make things a little easier, (and help you get a bit more sleep and enjoyment out of the holidays) I’ve made a list of tips for preparing for the holidays for busy moms. 

Make a Grand Entrance – you only have once to make a good first impression.  So making sure that the outside of your home and entry way is clean, organized and decorated is key. If you are too busy to get everything done with the decorations that you  want, having the main part of your home  decorated and cleaned will keep you from feeling completely overwhelmed.

Follow the “Party Path” – So you may not have time to clean the entire house from top to bottom before the in-laws come in town for the big Thanksgiving feast. Concentrate on the ‘party path’. Walk into each room/entry way/hallway your guest will be in and take a look around – does the door to the bathroom have dirt marks on the bottom from your son kicking it open with his muddy boot? Are there smudgy chocolate hand prints on the cabinet from when your daughter got herself a glass of milk after eating cookies?  Take  care of the major issues from room to room – including the ceilings,walls and light fixtures. You will feel a lot more comfortable the time you have to  clean.

Beautify the Bathroom –  Especially focus on the vanity and the sink, tuck stray items from the countertop into drawers, clean the mirror, wipe down the counter, sink and fixtures. Have fresh towels, extra toilet tissue, clean fresh rugs, and air freshener available.

Hit the Kitchen –  making sure that your kitchen is sparkling clean (floors, baseboards, cabinets, frig) dishes are washed, and groceries are bought. You (and your guests) will probably spend a lot of time in the kitchen. With the hours upon hours of cooking and baking that you’ll have to do, you want to make sure you have everything you need to be successful, and quick.

One thing that I’ve always wanted was something to make the cooking and baking easier – and I completely am in love with some of  the latest appliance technology they are offering at Best Buy. The Frigidaire FGIF3061NF has induction cooking that enables you to boil water in less than two minutes, plus induction reduces clean up time because spills don’t burn on. This Frigidaire range also includes a convection oven which circulates the air in the oven for quicker baking time.  Another great innovation within cooking are double ovens that let you cook two dishes at two different temperatures at once like the Whirlpool WGG555S0BS but still fits within the space of a standard range.  All of this technology will allow you to get the food the way you want it prepared and saves you time so you can spend it with the ones you love.

Check out all the other holiday prep items over at Best Buy!

Posted in Holidays | 24 Comments