Heartsy: A New Way to Save Money on Gifts

Last week I came across a new deal website: Heartsy. It's like Groupon, but they only offer deals on Etsy stores. All deals are at least 50% off and are generally offered for 24 hours, or until they are gone. There are generally 3-4 deals offered at the same time, and each day Heartsy will send you an email letting you know what the current deals of the day are.
 For those of you who are not familiar with Etsy, it's a marketplace for handmade items. You can find a multitude of different items, such as clothing, jewelery, gourmet chocolates, furniture, stationary, home decor and bath and body items. I have found many unique gifts that screamed 'Buy me for _____!' at Etsy. (And if you're going to find the perfect gift, why not save some money on it at the same time?)
 Sellers come to Heartsy offering a vouchers for discounts on their items for a limited time. And if you sign up through Heartsy you can vote on these deals so, they know which items you would be most interested in. Here are a couple of deals that I snagged last week. Bath and Body Items from Swan Mountain Soaps for 75% off and Gourmet Chocolates for 70% off from Sweet Sophia's Creations. (I was thinking Father's Day.)

And if you click on this referral link and sign up for their email notifications you will receive a $5 credit, making the deals that much better. :)

Most Successful Toys at Our House

Last week a friend asked about a toy that my son was playing with. It got me thinking about the toys that have been most successful at our house. To me successful toys are the ones that we have gotten our money's worth from, that our kids don't seem to tire of, don't have any tiny pieces that get lost or broken like Littlest Pet Shops, were reasonably priced (I have never spent more than $50 on any single toy) and don't make my life more difficult in some way or another like Playdough.  It seemed like the perfect post for Cyber Monday.

1. Leapfrog Tag Reader Pen When I first heard of this I was skeptical. My kids don't need a pen to read them stories, I read to them all the time. Plus the books are kind of expensive. However, this toy has saved my sanity on many a car ride. (Thank you, Grandma) The original pen only has 16 MB of memory, which is about 5 books. Now there is a pen out with 32 MB. Both of my kids love this. The pen is essentially a camera that works with the specialized paper to play words and music when it recognizes images. There are also learning activities and games that go along with each book. When these first came out they were $50 each, but last week I bought a 32 MB pen for $27. The books are generally retail priced at $14 each, but I have gotten several for $5-6 with sales and coupons. If you are buying this one for the first time and not finding a smashing deal somewhere else I recommend going to the Leapfrog website. A starter bundle is cheaper there and you can find numerous coupons on the internet, plus you can get an Ebates bonus. The only drawback is that they take AAA batteries and the pen will warn you that the batteries are low for a few hours before they actually need to be changed. :S
2. Leapfrog Tag Maps I love these maps! They have interactive games that work with the Tag reader pen and teach about geography and culture. And they have been another hit with the kids. (Or the one they have at the moment, the other one is for Christmas.) Amazon has the USA map for $20 and the world map for $50, but I found both of them for less than $28 shipped from Leapfrog.com with a sale and coupon. If you're feeling brave this holiday season, I've heard that Toys R Us has them for $20 each, but that place is just crazy this time of year. They are much bigger than I expected and are not a toy that can easily be used in the car.
3. Melissa and Doug Deluxe Band in a Box We have had this one for years and my kids still love to play with it. There are enough instruments that I can sit down with both of them and we can have a "jam session" trading instruments as we please. My son likes to slobber all over the recorder and then try share with others. It has pretty much become his exclusive recorder. (Amazon lists this one for $43. I swear I got mine for $22. Shop around.)
4. LEGO Duplos Yes, Legos are more expensive than many other building blocks out there, but they are good quality products that encourage imaginative play. My kids love to build things with them, and even though my kids can be kind of rough on toys we have yet to have any of these break. For my son's birthday last year I managed to score 3 sets in the Dino Valley series for $35 together shipped (retail at the time about $170) from Lego.com. (Part of the reason I got such a good deal was that the packaging had been smashed, but the toys themselves were still good.) I think it would have been worth it if I had paid full price for them, he plays with them that much. Here's a post I found awhile back on how to get good deals on Legos.
5. Melissa and Doug Puzzles We have about a dozen of these. (My kids are only grandchildren.) My kids love to put them together over and over again. I like them because they are sturdy. We may have lost a few pieces, put we have yet to break any. Another good quality toy. I have found that I can usually find these at reduced prices at Ross and TJ Max.
6. Melissa and Doug Pound and Roll Tower Whoever came up with this one either has spent a lot of time with small boys or is a genius. It involves balls, a hammer and a ramp. What more does a little boy need? (And at the moment it is only $13 on Amazon.)
7. Melissa and Doug Pound-A-Peg Funny story about this one: One evening my daughter was playing with this toy (she was two at the time) and my husband said to her "It's time to get ready for bed." She replied "No, it's Hammer Time!"
8. Bouncy Balls- The kind that are slightly smaller than a playground ball and you can get for about a dollar. My kids have just as much fun with those as their more expensive toys.
9. Fisher Price Little People A to Z Learning Zoo Ok, my kids haven't actually tested this one yet, but I have read several reviews before deciding that this one will be my son's "big toy" this year.  I'm excited about it, it plays music, it has little animals and it will help him learn his alphabet. They have a few other Little People toys that we have been happy with. (Another toy that was bigger than I expected.) I found this one for $48 shipped at FisherPrice.com, plus they gave me a code for $10 off $50 "10thanku4" and another small free bonus toy that will make a good stocking stuffer.

10. Pop-Up Pirate We kind of have a thing for pirates at our house. (See right.) This is a good game that all family members can play and enjoy together. Y'aargh! A pirate's life for me.
11. Playskool Ball Popper I can't believe I almost forgot this one. My son loves this and has spent countless hours playing with it. It's basically a fan with a tube slide and 5 plastic balls. Of course he figured out how to use it like a blow gun, but it doesn't pop the balls out hard enough to hurt anything.


Check out my post about tips for online shopping.

What have been the most successful toys in your family?

Utah County City Deals

Have you guys checked out City Deals yet? There are a hundreds of discounts available on gift card and certificates that will make good stocking stuffers. I love giving gift card/certificates for Christmas. Especially when I get them for less than face value. Here are a few of the Utah county deals that sounded good to me. (Didn't see much that's near me, but there were plenty that I can use when visiting family.)

• Heritage Piano in Orem, UT- $100 gift certificate for 60% off
• Spanish 8 Theaters in Spanish Fork, UT- 2 movie tickets and a large popcorn for $10 approximately 50% off (Ah, memories. :D My husband and I used to go there when we were dating.)
• Wandering Wardrobe in Springville, UT- $25 gift certificate for 50% off (It's super cute consignment store that I have actually shopped at. I wish it had been there when I was in high school. Really good stuff.)
• Maggie Moo's in American Fork, UT- Ice cream! $20 gift certificate for 50% off
• Gandolfo's in Provo, UT-$25 gift certificate for 50% off (This place has fantastic sandwiches. I miss them.)
• Los Hermonos in Provo, Ut- $50 gift certifate for 20% off (My husband and I went on our very first date here and have been back several times since. The fruity drinks are AMAZING.)
  

Reader Tips on Getting Ready for Christmas

And here are some of the great tips that people listed on how to get ahead on Christmas:

• Family History gift- time consuming, but valuable and they're doable if you spread the work out over a year
• The Target Clearance Sale- unadvertised and happens in January and July
• Make presents, start looking for ideas in September and start the making in October/November
• Buy one of those key locked large rubbermaid storage chests with three shelves. Buy things for each child,  wrap it and sit it on their shelf. Shop all year and not have a huge closet stashed with gifts to dig out
• Do most of my Christmas shopping on Black Friday, to make the holidays more stress free and enjoyable. Usually hit Target and Walmart and any other store that has an item I want or need.
• Look for free deals on photobooks at online sites like Picaboo and Shutterfly. Great family gifts for the price of shipping
• Enter giveaways for a chance to win presents
• Clip coupons 
• Cyber Monday & other forms of online shopping
• Do lots of shopping close to Christmas, businesses are dropping prices to compete for your dollar
• Don't travel more than twice in December and never back to back weekends
• For the holidays, make a list of all the goodies and extra traditional snacks. Then decide which ones to make this year. Then, put them all on the calendar for which days to make which things. 
• Whenever I see something that someone would like, I file it away mentally or make a note of it. I start doing actual shopping in September or October, usually, and it takes a lot of the stress off. 
• Used bookstores, they save a bundle, and used books have extra character. 
• Make photo calendars.
• Buying baking ingredients in bulk during the big loss leader sales in November. Check the store flyers and plan ahead! 

CityDeals

Have you guys heard of or seen CityDeals before? It's kind of like Groupon in that you can get a really great discount, but instead have a 24 hour window to snag the deal, there are just a limited number of each deal to snag. I have seen discounts upwards of 80%. There are deals on restaurants, recreational activities, services, spas and more. Sometimes you snag multiples of the deal and other times they are limited to one per person. There are a whole range of deals, many for places to that are a little far to be convenient for me, but there are several that will save me quite a bit. Here are some of the deals that I have grabbed in the past couple months.

• Giftcard to Subway for 50% off
• Gift Certificates to Gandolfo's for 60% off and again for 70%
• Walmart giftcard at 20% off (that one went super-fast)

Gift cards and gift certificates make great Christmas gifts and stocking stuffers. Plus they're just a handy way to save money on traveling or otherwise eating out. I always like to put one or two in my husband's stocking. (Giving him a gift certificate is a simple way to guarantee me a date, and we both really like Gandolfo's sandwiches.) The deals available depend on what area you live and the deals are always changing, but it is definitely worth checking out.

Getting Ready for Christmas & October Giveaway

Yes, yes I know it is not even Halloween yet. However my kids' birthdays are in November and December and if I don't start planning for the holidays way in advance, the holidays aren't fun. They're busy, stressful and more expensive.
 Here are some of the things that I've been stowing away over the past few months:

• a couple Littlest Pet Shops from Target (used a B1G1 coupon combined with a sale) 
• eight books (including some activity books) gathered from various sales (I generally only spend $4 or less on children's books)
• a wooden alphabet abacus from GraveyardMall.com ($7)
• a few Tag reader books from Walmart clearance & LeapFrog.com (used my coupons and the LF.com sale is still going through the end October)
• a couple movies (great deals + coupons)
• a few Melissa and Doug puzzles from B&N.com (@ 70% off)
• a couple M&D magnifying glasses from B&N.com (same sale)
• coloring books and new crayons (at $1 each or less)
• a Toy Story Lego set from B&N.com (that sale is still going through 10/24)
• multiple small items for stocking stuffers and "shoe gifts" (In my husband's family they have a tradition that on the 12 Days of Christmas, an elf left a tiny present in one of their shoes. It's one that we continued.) 
• plus I found a really great idea to make for the extended family (I'd share here, but once in awhile my family does read my blog and that would ruin the surprise.)

And this is the one that I am really excited about.

 One day my super cute friend sent me a text asking if my daughter like Disney Princesses. Of course. She collected porcelain dolls when she was young, was getting rid of stuff and was wondering if I would be interested in taking them off her hands. There were these, plus two others that aren't in the boxes. It is going to make a fantastic set-up for Christmas morning. My husband  plans on making her a cabinet to keep them safe from her little brother. I'm so excited for how excited she's going to be! I'm done with my shopping for her and some for my son and I've spent about $120. I'm pretty happy thus far, some items they have requested, a few they wouldn't have thought of, and several 'learning toys'.

Now for the October giveaway: Beauty and the Beast Diamond Edition Blu-ray/DVD combo pack plus Disney Princess soundtrack, to take one more item off your Christmas shopping list.  (Were you as excited as I was, to hear that this one was finally coming to DVD again?)

Here's how you can win it: 1. (Required) Be a follower and leave a comment stating your interest. 2. (Extra) Share one way you get ready for the holidays without losing your sanity. Be specific, not just 'I shop early', for example 'I hit x sale at y store', or 'I make z dish and freeze it' 3. (Extra) Share a deal you have found on one of your Christmas gifts for this year. 4. (Extra) 'Like' this post on Facebook (Button at bottom of post) and leave a comment here. 5. (Extra) Read one of these these posts Be A Hero, Be the Match or Folic Acid- A Key To Healthy Babies, share the info with someone and leave a comment here. (Because these are issues I care about, and I want people to be aware of how simple actions can make a huge difference.) Giveaway runs through October 31, 2010 at 23:59. The winner will be announced on November 1, 2010. The winner be selected using a random number generator. Only residents of the United States are eligible. Good Luck.