The cute camo backpack in the video, which is a perfect pre-k size, was ONLY $4.88!!!  It fits your regular 8×10 papers and is still small enough so that Truett doesn’t have to haul around a big bulky backpack.  We prefer Crayola brand so while you can get Roseart? colors cheaper, we happily paid $.40 cents for a package of 24 crayons.  The school box was $.57 cents and the scissors were $1.47.  The Kleenex boxes were the most expensive thing which was about $4 bucks so my shopping could have easily been well under $20 bucks.

See what’s in Truett’s Backpack and share with us what’s in yours!

Remember, Walmart does ad match so there’s really no need to head to the other stores.  Save your gas money y’all!!

Disclosure: Compensation was supplied by Walmart for my efforts to create this post. All opinions are my own.

For some, this is the only way they ever get those big ticket items.  Did you know that QVC has everything you can imagine from iPads to HUGE HDTV’s, to PedicSolutions Mattresses.   Can’t afford that $850 all at once?  Well can you afford $190 a month?

They’ll also be offering FREE SHIPPING on thousands of items!  While I believe QVC is great on keeping their shipping prices fairly low, I think having free shipping will be icing on the cake.

I’ll be making two purchases this month using the 5 easy payments.  One will be the PedicSolutions Mattress that I’ve been dying to have.  It’s got excellent reviews and is comparable to Tempurpedic.  In fact, they like to say they are better than Tempurpedic.  Since I’ve never tried either, I’ll let you know how the PedicSolutions turns out.

Start Date of 5 Easy Payments: June 13, 2011
Expiration: 6/13 at 11:59pm EST

Got plans to buy anything?  I’d love to hear if you decide to make a purchase!

So I’ll just start with the big problem I had and that was finding something to buy online that I could pick up the same day.  I think that our rural area proved difficult because it’s such a new service but was excited once I found the “Pick up Today” option on this ice cream maker.

You simply put your zip code for your nearest Walmart.  Then you surf to find a product to buy that has the Pick Up Today option, buy it, then wait for an email or text to say it’s ready to be picked up.  I put my phone number in but never got a text but I did get an email within the hour saying it was ready. It gives you all the instructions once you check out.

Once I got to my Walmart, I showed the customer service my bar code and within 10 minutes, I had my order.  It was that easy for me.  (You can also print it out for you all you old school folks) *teehee*

I think once it’s available to all areas, it will be a pretty nifty feature.  My shipping was free because it was going to the store and it got there SOOOO fast!  You only have 48 hours to pick up your items before they get returned so don’t forget!   Will you use the Pick Up Today service?

So now that I have an ice cream maker, I need some ice cream maker recipes!   Do you have any to share?  I’m totally ready to start using it to make some Summer Treats!   Perhaps even some Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches?

Disclosure: I am an official Walmart Mom. Follow me and my fellow Walmart Moms as we share our experiences and ideas! Walmart has provided me with compensation and gift card in return for my time & efforts to create this post. My participation in this program is voluntary and my opinions are my own, always have been, always will be.

It’s also your last chance to buy a gift before Christmas. Perhaps you are short on ideas??  I know that most years I am but this year, I experienced so many wonderful things that I had plenty of gift ideas and wanted to share a few of my favorites.

First up, we’ll start with something you might not have thought of, Rosetta Stone’s V4 TOTALe.

Now even though I am Mexican (half), I don’t speak any. I understand some but don’t speak much at all which is why I wanted to learn so badly.  I really like the way this teaches you and have picked up on enough already to have a small conversation with my husband is a full Spaniard.  It’s been fun and I highly recommend it!   A friend of mine used it to learn German so I know that it totally works and my small successes are proof as well.

Do you work at home like I do? Do you do any kind of contract labor and save receipts for tax time?  I was dying to try this out every since Amy from MomAdvice.com raved about it a long time ago.  I am that person, that person that walks in with the shoebox full of receipts.  It’s gotten ridiculous to be honest so I was thrilled when NeatReceipts offered to send me their product for review.  I am totally impressed by this machine. It’s amazing and I absolutely love it!!! It’s a must have for anyone who needs to keep organized with their receipts.  I only wish I had had it at the beginning of 2010 but I will have for 2011 baby!!  What a fabulous gift huh!  Look for a more thorough review of it, including video over at ELM.

Another of my favorite things is the new NOOKColor.  To be quite honest, this thing is pretty dang cool and I feel like it’s a fabulous alternative to those who can’t afford the high price tag of the iPad.  The features are endless and the quality of the screen images are amazing, just amazing.  You can listen to music, surf the web thanks to the wifi feature, download files, photos and of course read books and magazines and more.  At the price of $250, I can honestly say that it’s worth every penny.  I truly think it’s a great product.  I just attended a webinar that really allowed me to see all that it does and it just blows me away.  It’s such a huge change from the original Nook (B&W) that I also have.  Two thumbs up from this Mom!

BACK that computer up y’all!!  Over the past year, I’ve seen some blogging friends lose all their computer data and it something that just puts that pit in your stomach.  You know you never want it to happen to you but yet have you taken the precautions to make sure it doesn’t?  Probably not!  Another item in experienced in 2010 is Hitachi’s LifeStudio Desk External Hard Drive. Now while I can’t provide feedback on the stability of this hard drive yet since I’ve only owned it for a few weeks, I can tell you that it’s super easy to hook up and start backing up your computer.  You simply plug in the wall, plug in the computer and you’re on your way. It’s definitely priced right for the enormous size of the hard drive and it’s a must for any computer user.

If you’re looking for games, I have a few to recommend in that category as well.

Wii

• Active Life Explorer – Truett cracks me up with this game. It does what it says, it keeps you active and you’re totally exploring new adventures.  Fun for kids!
• Family Game Night 3 – I have to say that my favorite games on this are Clue and Life.  Me and Toby play both of them nonstop.  We’ve always played the board game Clue so I was excited to see this in action on the Wii.  It works the same in a lot of ways and it’s one of regular games we play before bed.  I don’t think I played the game of Life much as a young’un, however, we LOVE to play this.  It’s fun to see who wins at the end because it doesn’t always end how you think it will.  This is by far our favorite Wii game lately!! I must have for every family!
• Disney Epic Mickey -  Truett thinks it’s AWESOME. We’ve only played a few times but so far so good. It’s always fun to have the ‘new’ games out!

XBOX 360/PS3

• Tony Hawk’s Shred – I felt kinda silly at first doing this but once I got the hang of it, I was acting like Tony Hawk himself but on a high of Dr. Pepper.  Setup is easy just takes a tad longer than some things would to setup.  The older boys tried it and also felt silly because well, they’ve never been on a skateboard before. I cracked up at them flailing their arms about everywhere.  lol  fun stuff.
• HALO Reach!! – Anyone who has played Halo must have the final one. It’s awesome, we love it, we love all of them.  For teens and up.
• Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood – Great game. We have all of them and again for the older ones.  We really like the first shooter games.

Well, that’s all for now. If I think of anything else, I might write about it but if I don’t, keep an eye out on my facebook or twitter page for ideas because I’m always spittin’ them out!

How was everyone’s Thanksgiving?  I know I felt like a stuffed pig after it was all said and done but that’s a traditional part of the holiday I suppose; eating, eating, and eating.  Truett looked handsome for the event and was cracking up for some reason.  He can be so adorable when he’s not being a turd.  Cute photo, however, I clearly need to sweep.

Soooo, who did some Black Friday shopping??  Well you know I did because it’s one of my most favorite times of the year.  It’s an excuse to shop till I drop and still save a little money doing so!

Since Walmart changed things up this year with Open House (selling home, toys, and clothing at midnight vs 5am), I was able to get tons of shopping done before any of the other stores opened up at 5am.  Some of the things I bought were

• Mainstays Towels for $1.33 (we have 3 bathrooms)
• Storage totes for $2.80 each
• 500 thread count sheets for $19.80
• Buzz Lightyear for $12
• Scooter for $12
• BIG pack of Play-doh for $8
• Hot Wheel cars, pack of 10 for $5

By the way, I think the way Walmart did it this year was awesome.  It was still crowded but it really helped those of us who weren’t going after electronics.

I also got a fantastic ‘cyber monday’ deal online at Joann’s, buying the Cricut Cake Machine for (drumroll)…..$199!!!!!! HOLY HECK, that’s right, I said $199!!  ~~don-cha wish you’re shopping skills were just like mine~~  I know Cat is gonna be totally jealous. *sticking out tongue*

Over the weekend we watched MegaMind.  It was okay but I won’t be buying the DVD.  I decided to keep my iPad and bought an iPad Keyboard Dock for it.  I absolutely LOVE that thing!  I should have bought it from the start. It just sits over there all pretty.

So did you guys get any great deals during Black Friday?

I openly admitted to the Walmart team that I had a feeling that Kmart would give them a good run for their money so I would be very interested (and shocked) to see the results myself.

I have two high school boys that don’t need much for high school when it comes to supplies. In fact, they only really need the basics so my shopping experience was short. I started by making the list of school supplies needed for the shopping trip. It consisted of:

• 4 – 1 inch  binders
• 4 pkgs of dividers
• 4 pkgs of notebook paper (wide ruled)
• 4 pkgs of mechanical pencils
• 2 boxes of regular pencils
• 2 pkgs of pens
• 2 pkgs of highlighters
• 2 pkgs of their favorite pens
• 4 3 subject notebooks
• 2 boxes of crayons (for Truett)

I took that list and divided it in half and went shopping.

WALMART STORE

Walmart has their school supplies section setup like always.  Bins in the middle of the major aisle as well as two whole aisles dedicated to back to school stuff.  I headed over and grabbed every single item on my list, no problems.   I get to check out, ring everything up myself because I’m using self-checkout (<–whoever thought of that is genius), and pay the total of $19.05! Heck yeah!  UNDER $20 bucks!

KMART STORE

Kmart had 2 sections of school supplies. One right when you walk in, with mostly smaller children type of supplies, and the other one. I headed towards the back.  First of all, talk about slim pickins.  I was immediately disappointed that they had very little but what they did have was out in the middle of the aisle in bins so I started rummaging through for the items on my list.  I head to check out and I wait………and I wait some more……there are only two checkers and the lines are going out to the clothing section and curving around. 2 checkers on tax free weekend? Really?  This is why I use self-checkout at Walmart all the time.  Anyways, I finally get up there and watch the items pass through the scanner….with a slightly shocked looked on my face.  I NEVER expected Kmart’s prices to be as high as they were.  The grand total?  $38.57 WOW!  Shocked to say the least. I wanted to put everything back and head back to Walmart.

Walmart on the Left, Kmart on the Right

So let’s recap!

Walmart Back to School Shopping total was $19.05

Kmart’s Back to School Shopping total was  $38.57

That’s a difference of  ————————>$19.52

In case you’re wondering where the supply differences came in, here’s the breakdown of it.  I couldn’t find a big box of regular pencils at Kmart so I had to buy 2 smaller boxes to equal Walmart’s one big box.  I also couldn’t find any 24 count Crayola Crayons at Kmart (or any Crayons for that matter) so I had to buy the 16 ct Roseart ones.  The mechanical pencils were in two packages at Walmart but could only find bigger pkgs at Kmart so I had to buy one big, to equal Walmart’s two.  And finally, the 3 subject notebooks–Kmart only had one kind, Walmart had two. We chose the cheaper of the two at Walmart.  Even if Kmart had a lower price on their 3-subject notebooks, they still wouldn’t have beat Walmart’s price. Everything else was the same.

I actually like our Kmart a great deal and was saddened by the high prices.  I never expected to see almost a 50% difference. That is just crazy.    It was very hard for me not to just walk right out of there after having spent less than $20 at Walmart but I committed to the shopping comparison challenge and had to complete it.

So my questions for you are: Where do you buy YOUR school supplies at? And how much do you normally spend on school supplies?

Disclosure: As many of you know, I’m a participant in the Walmart Mom program.  Walmart compensated me for my time and efforts in tackling this shopping comparison challenge.  Opinions are my own, always have been, always will be…that’s just how I roll.

QUALITY

Unfortunately I think that too many people think that the products that are in these two stores are rejects of some sort BUT THE FACT IS, they are not.  Over 95% of what comes to these stores are FIRST quality like you would buy in finer department stores.

WHERE and WHEN

Do you ever notice how most stores get things in seasonally??  Well not TJ Maxx and Marshalls.  Nope, they get stuff in WEEKLY, insuring that you are getting the latest, hottest trends regularly.  These guys send buyers all over the world (60 countries and thousands of vendors) to bring you the latest fashions.  Huge buying power and it totally sets them apart from others.

COUPONS & SALES

You won’t find them at these stores and in all honestly, there’s no need for it. They already bring you rock bottom prices that are many times, un-freakin’-believable!

Which leads me to one of the games…….

After hearing about the company and how they purchase–etc, we were asked to play a game.  They showed you an item that can be bought in their stores.  You were told how much it would cost in a regular department store and then asked to write down what the TJ Maxx/Marshall’s price was.  Fun huh?? I loved it!  The folks that came closes got their name put into a hat where the winner drawn would win that prize we were determining the price of!  Soo much fun to play and I learned quickly how low the prices were.  Seriously.  I was wrong every time because I was pricing too high.  The final prize???  A Gucci handbag.  ((drool))  I’m sure many of you know what a handbag junkie I am so I wanted to win badly.  The price paid in the high end store??  Over $2,000.   The price paid if bought at TJ Maxx/Marshalls??  $599. OMG, I died  because everything else had been much lower than I thought with the other prices, I went too low. Sadly, I did not win it but was excited for the gal that did.  She hugged it and wouldn’t let it out of her site. Good thing too ’cause I was ready to sneakingly shove it my swag bag.

The point is, we played a super fun game but at the same time, learned all about the off-pricing and just what kind of deals you can get by shopping at these two fine stores.  THAT was my favorite part–Learning mixed with Fun.

HEELLLLOOOOOO EIGHTIES!

Tell me that you didn’t have an outfit like that in your closet!!  You know you did and heck, if you still have it, you’re SOOO gonna be stylin’!  How adorable are those looks??  They brought out some of the cutest fashions ever from Kenneth Cole to Nike and I have to say, they were all WAY under budget compared to what you would pay for them in a regular specialty/dept store.  And you see all those books and toys? Well they’re gonna have even more in their stores. I had no idea that the books were such a hot deal but Alli kept going on and on about it so now I have to check that out. I normally run to the handbag section. heehee

You absolutely MUST get your back to school fashions here, especially if you wanna save some  MEGA BUCKS!  I’m envious of those who get to shop their regularly. Mine is 2hrs away but lemme tell ya, I’d be in there every week to see what’s new.   I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t mean it and I hope you know that.  I freakin’ love these stores!

The event was one of the best.  I had fun, I learned, and I had some memorable 1am girl time with a few lovely ladies.  I met so many other great folks while I was there and since Susan linked their twitter handles, I’ll copy and paste hers. Hopefully she won’t mind!

@gograhamgo, @fashionablegal, @acowboyswife, @petit_elefant, @onechicmama, @alliworthington, @ADramaticMommy,@audreymcclellan, @bostonmamas, @5minutesformom, @susancarraretto, @mommieswithcent, @stacieinatlanta, @akblessings, @jentifa, @3PsinaPod, @mommygoggles, @busymomblog, @jodigrundig, @mindicherry

And  two of the very kind & lovely PR folks holding the event – @sdefino and @happysquid.

One last note…. SAVE THE CHILDREN

Something awesome that T.J. Maxx is doing is helping save the children and you can help too!

Beginning on August 3, all T.J. Maxx stores will carry limited edition reusable shopping bags for $0.99. The bags are designed with Save the Children original children’s artwork, and for each bag purchased, T.J. Maxx will donate one basic item such as; socks, underwear and backpacks to Save the Children’s U.S. programs, up to 25,000 items. This initiative marks 25 years of partnership for T.J. Maxx and Save the Children.

Even Jennie Garth took part by buying one of the reuseable shopping bags!

Save the Children is the leading independent organization creating lasting change for children in need in the United States and around the world. For over 75 years, Save the Children has been helping children survive and thrive by improving their health, education and economic opportunities and, in times of acute crisis, mobilizing rapid life-saving assistance to help children recover from the effects of war, conflict and natural disasters. It is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance, comprising 27 national, independent Save the Children organizations working in more than 120 countries to ensure the well-being of children.

Thanks so much for an awesome time guys!

(stolen pic)

P.S.  A HUGE thank you to JO-LYNNE for loaning me the extra cash to buy my beautiful leather Bob Makowsky handbag. I had left my wallet at the room but she saved the day for me!!  MWAH!

• maria jeff______01@yahoo.com
• Deanna D j___ill@yahoo.com
• Mandy m____r23@gmail.com
• alice ali____do@gmail.com
• The First Michelle bea____ls@aol.com
• Lethea Benson Lu____es@bellsouth.net
• Kristina La____a35@yahoo.com
• Shaunda sh____hn@hotmail.com
• Rebecca t__b@yahoo.com
• Myranda mc___n02@yahoo.com

My girl Tara got me hooked on this Old Navy Weekly site where you hunt for coupons to use at Old Navy and if you’re lucky enough, you might grab one of those $75 off $100!!  I haven’t been lucky enough to snag of the big ones yet but even the smaller ones like 30% is HUGE.  And with school coming up fast, these coupons can really come in handy.

I was just tickled to death when I was asked to host a giveaway for you guys ’cause I have learned how many people absolutely LOVE Old Navy and I’m a new lover of their stuff.  I even went their yesterday and bought me a cute camp shirt!

So guess what I have for you??

10 winners will receive a printable coupon for $50 off of $100 to use in-store only for the valid dates of July 17th through July 23rd, which means, this contest is gonna be quick!  2 days in fact!

All you have to do is comment here and tell me what you love about Old Navy, about the Old Navy Weekly site, and/or if you’ve won a coupon and what did you by. Chit chat I suppose;) . Is there a particular style they always carry that you love, the price, variety, what???

OH, and guess what?? Entering is unlimited!!! WOOT!  Have at it y’all!

Giveaway ends on July 16th at midnight CST so that you can use your coupon during the valid days.

Four products that one winner will receive are:

• 1) Bissell Little Mean (Green Machine) Floor Cleaner – Less packaging, PVC free tanks & hoses, and is great for cleaning spills & stains.
• 2) Brita Water Pitcher – Love ours! Great way to reduce using bottled water.
• 3) Green Works Cleaners – Great cleaners that do work, are eco-friendly and even include some biodegradable wipes.
• 4) Tide Coldwater – Huge fan of Tide here. Using Tide coldwater will help save  energy & money.  Just like it says, you’ll use it with cold water instead of hot and clothes come out very clean with the added cost to your bill!

TO ENTER:

Leave a comment with a ryhme using the word “GREEN”!

Additional ways to enter. Each must be left in a separate comment.

• Subscribe to my blog via email or by RSS reader.
• Tweet and/or Facebook this giveaway (including a link back here)
• Leave a comment on any one of my other posts, then come back here and let me know which post you left a comment on!

This giveaway ends on April 30th, the last day of the official Earth Month for greener living!  You can read official rules to all my giveaways if you like.

I’ve played around on several websites where you can upload a photo and had the darndest time figuring it out and getting my photo to fit just right! At Snaptotes, it really was a breeze. I mean, you upload your photo(s), you can crop, nudge up and down or side to side and like I said, even create a collage. Once you’re done, you get to preview and add to cart. Super easy! Wanna see mine?

Because I love my cowboys so much, I just had to put my favorite pictures of them on my handbag!!  Speaking of bags, they have a lot to choose from.  Very cute little handbags to big diaper bags like the one I chose.  What?  NO, I don’t have a baby but I do have a camera which is practically the same thing and it needs ample room for it’s lovely attachments!

If you are wanting to order a bag as a gift idea, say for Mother’s Day, then you need to act fast!  In fact, you MUST ORDER BY APRIL 30 in order to receive by Mother’s Day. And I also have a coupon code, SHAC10 for 10% off at SnapTotes.com!

I will be following up once I receive my bag and let you know of the quality of the bag and the custom photos that I had put on it.

Have you thought about a gift idea like this??  Or are you like me, selfish and thinking about getting one for yourself??