Merry Christmas!

"Christmas is the end of thinking you are better than someone else, because Christmas is telling you that you could never get to heaven on your own. God had to come to you."

--Tim Keller

Explanation/Excuse

I finally realized why my blogging always comes to a screeching halt in December after NaBloPoMo each year. How is it that I manage to post every day for 30 days, then completely stop posting except for gratitude lists?

It's because my online time in December gets consumed by Christmas shopping. I do about 95% of my shopping online--so time spent sitting here is easily eaten up with browsing and spending money. Frankly I would much rather be blogging!

For those of you who are procrastinators like me:

Shop through Ebates and get cash back for your purchases--it costs you nothing, just gets you free money!
Check RetailMeNot for coupon codes before you checkout
The Children's Place is having free shipping and 25% off everything today--combined with clearance prices, that gets me things like fleece sweatshirts for $5.

Invisible Hand: Internet Price Comparisons

My newest favorite thing on the internet is Invisible Hand. It's an add-on for Firefox (also available for all the major browsers...but seriously, you should be using Firefox...trust me, I was an IE holdout for the longest time) that does price comparisons for you.

When you're looking at a product available for purchase (on participating websites--but Amazon is a participating website and I start the majority of my shopping there), a thin bar shows up at the top of the screen saying either, "Save [percentage]! This item is [dollar amount] cheaper on [other website]" or "This is the lowest price." You can then click directly through to the competing retailer's site, or click a button showing other prices with those websites' shipping rates.

It rocks.

Paid to Shop

I keep waiting for an opportunity to catch up on...life. You'd think that with my mom here all last week, I would have had all kinds of time to blog and get a thousand projects done...not so much. I find myself baffled as to how I ever managed to post every day in November! Same old story around here: so many post ideas, so little time...

In the meantime, I wanted to quickly pass along a free money tip. I basically started and finished my Christmas shopping yesterday. I had bought a couple of things earlier, and I still have one or two things to pick up, but the vast majority of it was accomplished with a fast-clicking mouse and a smoking credit card yesterday. I am soooooo thankful for online shopping--give me that over a crowded mall any day of the week.

This Christmas season's greatest shopping find has been Ebates. My friend Lydia tipped me off to this great little website: You sign up, and then if you're going to shop online, you hit this website first and see if your store is one that offers cash back. If it is (and hundreds of stores are), you click to the store's website via Ebates, and then you get a set percentage of cash back on your purchase.

Sounds too good to be true, but it's for real--I got my first check from them a few months ago. I can't wait until the next checks go out, because yesterday I earned:

10% cash back from Snapfish
8% cash back from Shutterfly
8% cash back from Barnes & Noble
3% cash back from iTunes

Nice, huh? I may be too late to help you out this Christmas shopping season, unless you're a crazy procrastinator like me, but go sign up for Ebates and you can reap the benefits next time you have some online shopping to do. And if you use the links in this post, I get a referral bonus, so that'd be great :)

Surfin' Saturday: Vitacost and Little Moon

I have two completely unrelated websites to share today, one utterly practical and the other just plain fun.

My first discovery is an online store called Vitacost. I ordered from them several weeks ago, and though I felt overwhelmed by the selection, I was thrilled with the prices and the service. This is now my go-to place for buying vitamins for our family. It's got much better quality vitamins than I can find at Target or Kroger, and at wholesale prices! It's also (as far as I can tell) the best price on the web for Nutiva extra-virgin coconut oil.

The more I look around, the more I am suprised to discover how many items they carry. Recently I found low prices on Dr. Bronner's soap and Bac-Out there, and I believe they carry many mainstream health and beauty items--the same things you'd find at your local store, only probably cheaper, and tax free. Shipping is flat-rate (only $4.99), and I was able to find a coupon code that made my shipping free (check RetailMeNot.com). I plan to do more and more of my health-related shopping at Vitacost--from nutritional supplements to specialty food items to cleaners to cosmetics.

Totally changing the subject...one of my favorite just-for-fun blogs is a photography blog called Little Moon. Amber Scruggs is a Virginia-based child and family photographer who specializes in natural light portraits. All her work is gorgeous, but the newborn shoots she does are absolutely breathtaking! Much as I would love it, I could never afford to have someone like her take photos of my family--so I just drool over her photos, and learn from her too (she does really helpful FAQ posts every now and then about her techniques, equipment, etc).


Related:
Surfin' Saturday: Shop 'Til You Drop
Surfin' Saturday: Coupon Codes

Crazy Sovereign Grace Music and Book Sale

They're doing it again!

Last February, I cleaned up when Sovereign Grace had a mega-sale on their music and books. Apparently the sale was such a success that they're offering similar deals this month. Bob Kauflin reports:

From February 1–28, at the Sovereign Grace store, you’ll find these prices:

~23 books (including Worship Matters, Worldliness, and Living the Cross Centered Life): $7 each
~all CDs produced by Sovereign Grace Music (including Together for the Gospel Live, Psalms, Come Weary Saints, and Valley of Vision): $6 each
~all books in our Pursuit of Godliness series (Why Small Groups, This Great Salvation, and others): $4 each

But wait…there’s more! During February, we’re offering our normal free shipping in the continental US (library rate). But on all international orders we’re offering a discount of 50% on USPS First Class International shipping.

I can personally vouch for all of the CDs he mentions--they are fantastic, as are the three I mentioned in my post about last year's sale. And Living the Cross Centered Life was a HUGE paradigm-shift book for me. Go check it out!

Surfin' Saturday: Shop 'Til You Drop

A couple of hours of Christmas shopping on Tuesday with Elijah reminded me of several reason why I prefer to do most of our shopping online. And now that the Christmas shopping season is well underway, I thought I'd highlight a few interesting websites I've found and then ask for your favorites in the comments. I'm always on the lookout for great tips.

We like to keep things simple when it comes to toys for Elijah; we'd rather have a few quality, well-made toys that encourage creativity and learning than a house full of cheap plastic junk. We're not extreme about it; our little guy certainly has and enjoys plastic toys (and of course some of his favorite things to play with aren't even toys at all--an empty Coke bottle, a pair of sunglasses, a pot and a wooden spoon...). But in general we're trying to avoid batteries, licensed characters, etc. (not to mention all the concerns about toxic chemicals in toys--it's overwhelming!). In looking for these kinds of toys, I've found a few websites with really nice-looking products:

Oompa Toys
Hearthsong
Nova Natural Toys & Crafts

Speaking of handmade, there's a great website you may not know about called Etsy - it's a place for individual people to sell all kinds of handmade goods, from paper crafts and handbags to children's toys and clothing. You name it, you can probably find it at Etsy - and there are all kinds of unique ways to browse and search if you don't know exactly what you're looking for.

Once you've purchased a gift, do yourself a favor and head to PriceProtectr.com, where you can set up a service to monitor the price and notify you if it drops--very helpful for those companies who offer a 30-day price guarantee. Amazon used to, though I've heard they rescinded the offer this fall (bummer).

And finally, a little personal plug: if you plan to do any shopping at Amazon.com, feel free to click over via this link (also in my sidebar). I get a small referral bonus if you get there from my blog, and it costs you nothing :) Plenty of other blogs offer this, too, so if they recommend a specific product you're going to buy, by all means support them, rather than simply typing Amazon.com in your address bar!

What about you - what are your favorite sites for online shopping?

CDs for iPod Trade: Update

A few months ago, I blogged about a cool website I'd found that offers a trade service--you send them your old CDs, and trade up for a new iPod (you can make up the difference with cash if you don't have enough CDs to trade). I finally got around to submitting our CDs a couple of weeks ago. First I emailed the company a list of what we had; to my surprise, they were interested in physically reviewing nearly all of the 50 or so CDs I listed! Since they offer a 4GB Nano for 75 CDs, I was optimistic that we would get a great deal and only have to pay a little cash.

Well, I just got a phone call from the company today. Out of 50 CDs and 2 DVDs, we're only getting $20 worth of credit. I'm pretty disappointed. They're only willing to give us full credit for two of the CDs--out of FIFTY.

I'm blogging about this just as a warning to any of you who might want to try the trade after hearing about it in my previous post. I'm not implying that the company is fraudulent. I was just under the impression that if the CDs looked good and played okay, they were acceptable. Almost all of our liner notes and jewel cases were in mint condition--but many of the CDs supposedly have surface scratches. To be honest, I didn't inspect the playing sides, because I knew they played okay. Big mistake. Apparently if they *look* scratched, even if they *play* fine, they aren't acceptable for trade. So if you're thinking about submitting CDs for trade--inspect them carefully. If they are not absolutely picture perfect, you won't get credit for them, or at least not full credit.

Basically I wasted a lot of time and $5 shipping and won't be getting an iPod after all. Bummer. The company did offer to ship my old CDs back at no charge, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with a box of CDs I don't listen to anyway.

Barack Obama Is Your New Bicycle

He remembered my birthday AND subscribed to my feed? Maybe I should vote for him after all.


This website is crazy--but funny, in that "huh?!" kind of way.

(HT: Shauna)

UPDATE: Never mind. Obama quoted as saying: "I make no apologies for being able to talk good." Oooo-kay.

Babywearing Gear Contest

Along for the Ride is having another contest! This one is huge--a $250 shopping spree for the winner, plus $400 in runner-up prizes. Enter to win here. (I bought my Moby Wrap from this store and the customer service is great!)

Surfin' Saturday: Long Distance Photo Sharing

For those of you with family or friends far away--let me pass along a photo-sharing recommendation. We're using Hello, a free download from Google/Picasa. (Does Google own the world? Oh, how I wish I would have invested in their stock about five years or so ago...) It enables me to send pictures to my mom and they pop up on her screen immediately if she's logged in. Much better than huge, time-consuming email attachments. And then, she has hi-res versions automatically saved on her computer so she can print them if she wants to. (Ha..."if she wants to"...not that she has a grandma brag book she carries with her at all times or anything :)

Not only that, but Hello has instant messaging, so if we're on the computer at the same time, we can comment back and forth about pictures (I can even see which one she's looking at). Bonus: It's integrated with Picasa, a helpful (and also free) photo organizing/editing program, making viewing/tweaking/sharing your pics even easier.

I highly recommend Hello for those of you with kids and parents/in-laws who live far away! (And if you sign up, add me as a friend--it's "schmamy," of course.)

Surfin' Saturday: Free Rice and Word Nerds

I know I am not the only word nerd out there. Come on, 'fess up. Some of you are language nuts just like I am. So I think you will appreciate this little game I found courtesy of my friend Kristin.

The concept is simple: It's a multiple-choice vocabulary test, with right answers earning not good grades, but grains of rice. You click on the answer that best defines the word. If you get it right, you get a harder word. If wrong, you get an easier word. For each one you get right, FreeRice.com donates 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.

The FAQ page explains:

The rice is paid for by advertisers. This is regular advertising for these companies, but it is also something more. Through their advertising at FreeRice, these companies support both learning (free vocabulary for everyone) and reducing hunger (free rice for the hungry).

The rice is distributed by the United Nations World Food Program (WFP). The World Food Program is the world’s largest food aid agency, working with over 1,000 other organizations in over 75 countries. In addition to providing food, the World Food Program helps hungry people to become self-reliant so that they escape hunger for good. Wherever possible, the World Food Program buys food locally to support local farmers and the local economy. We encourage you to visit the United Nations World Food Program to learn more about their successful approach to ending hunger.

So next time you have some extra time to kill, or feel like polishing your vocabulary, check out FreeRice.com. It's especially great for those of you mamas who are often surfing on the computer one-handed :)

Surfin' Saturday: Coupon Codes

The thing that most aggravates me about online shopping is getting to the checkout page and seeing a place to enter a coupon code--and not having one. It's like that little box taunts me: "Lookie here, you could be saving money, if only you knew the secret code...neener, neener, neener!"

I've often spent a few minutes frantically googling for a code, to no avail. I thought NaughtyCodes.com looked promising when I first discovered it a couple of years ago, but it's not often been helpful. Generally my search yields only expired codes, and I end up resigned to paying full price.

Not anymore!

RetailMeNot.com is built on the same principles as BugMeNot.com--another useful site I take advantage of occasionally.* When you're completing a purchase and come across one of those tantalizing "enter coupon code" boxes, simply head over to RetailMeNot.com and do a quick search. The site provides up-to-date coupon codes, along with details about the discount and a success rate (after you try the code, you indicate whether it worked for you or not, thus boosting or lowering the code's rating). You can then copy the code you want and paste it into that box.

But wait, there's more! That one simple search for your store will also turn up a sidebar comparing discounts at similar stores, as well as an option for you to enter your email address and be notified of new coupons for the same store.

You can also search differently--if you do your coupon scouting before you are already in the process of purchasing, you can find your preferred shopping website at RetailMeNot.com first, and then click a link that will take you straight to the website with the code activated. Or, you can search by product category and look to see which store has the best coupon code.

Unlike my last two Surfin' Saturdays, I can really vouch for this one. On Tuesday night I was ordering prints from Snapfish and saw that little coupon code box. Aha--an opportunity to test out RetailMeNot! I headed over to the site and whaddaya know? Twenty-five percent off my order with just a few clicks. Niiiice.

So now, you can do your online Christmas shopping and taunt those coupon code boxes right back. And with the money you save, you'll have enough left over to buy a Christmas present for me. ;)

*BugMeNot, for those of you unfamiliar, offers bogus login usernames/passwords you can use on sites that want you to register to read an article--like the NY Times online. Rather than taking the time to create an account with your personal information, and thus get yourself signed up for more spam, you can hop over to BugMeNot.com and find a generic username/password to obtain access. Nifty!

Surfin' Saturday: Sell Your Old Books

After I graduated from college, I spent several hours listing old, unwanted books on Amazon.com and Half.com--the places I'd bought most of my used books. I did sell some of them, but between the time it took to list them, the hassles of shipping, the low prices to make sure they sold, the fees and the postage costs, it probably wasn't all that worthwhile. Steve and I have had a box of unwanted books sitting in our office ever since we got married and merged our libraries--it got moved untouched from the apartment to the house. I keep meaning to list them online, but I just never seem to get around to it.

Enter Cash4Books. You simply enter the ISBN(s) from your book(s) and check to see if they're buying the book. They pay the shipping with a free pre-paid mailing label that you print from your computer. Then they pay for your books! No hidden fees or anything.

They do have a list of books they are generally not purchasing; if you're looking to get rid of paperback fiction, for example, you're out of luck. But it's simple enough that it's worth checking out! If you decide to sell your books, could you be so kind as to click through the link here on my website? They also have an affiliate referral program :)

I haven't tried selling any books yet, but it looks and sounds a whole lot more convenient than selling via the Amazon Marketplace or Half.com (much as I do love those sites for book-buying). I'm definitely planning to get out that box of books and see if we can get some cash for them...just as soon as I get around to it :)

Surfin' Saturday: Kickoff

I often run across websites I'd like to share with you, though they don't really merit a blog post all their own. For that reason, and because my Favorites folder is ridiculously overloaded, I recently opened an account at del.icio.us. (A side note: It was the longest time before I realized that website was "delicious"--I read it as "dell/eeseeo/u-s" for quite a while :) I love being able to easily keep track of articles I've found interesting--and to be able to save one memorable line from the article along with the link.

I'm working to get my del.icio.us feed on my sidebar, but I can't get it to look right (and I need to update templates to have two sidebars--the current one is way too long already). In the meantime, and to help me get through NaBloPoMo, I'm instituting "Surfin' Saturday"--when I'll point you to interesting things I've found around the internet.

This week's kickoff is "CDs for iPods" at Feed Your Player. Got old CDs lying around that you never listen to anymore? If you have enough of them, you might be able to trade up--way up. Forty CDs will buy you a 1GB iPod shuffle; 75 will get you a 4GB iPod Nano! You can also trade DVDs or a combination of both--and, you can make up the difference with cash.

Steve and I had some duplicate CDs when we combined music libraries, and I just had my parents bring down my old CDs last weekend--I know I have several I don't listen to anymore and wouldn't miss. We've been eyeing mp3 players for quite a while now, so I'm hoping we'll be able to get an iPod pretty cheaply through this site! For the details, and to find out what CDs are acceptable, check out the exchange rate and FAQs.