Free Women’s or Kids Clothes!

I love Thredup, and I shop there frequently.
Thredup is like an online Goodwill, and all of their stuff is very, very nice and priced very reasonably.

When you sign up for an account through my referral link you'll get a free $10 credit in your account.

Since items start at around $4.99, you can get a couple items free! (Just pay shipping, which is very reasonable.)

If you have kids, you can also find tons of kids clothes on there as well.

Seriously, there is no reason for you not to take advantage of this deal.  Who couldn’t use free clothes?!

Let me give you one little tip, though.  It’s very easy to get overwhelmed on there because of the sheer volume of clothes available.  You’ll want to look through every single page (and there are hundreds!).  Not a good idea.  What ends up happening is that it takes too long, and you realize you don’t have time, so you just end up closing it down without getting your free stuff.

What I’ve found works a whole lot better is just to pick the first thing(s) I find that I like, put it in my cart, and go right to checkout.  Then I still get something, but I don’t spend forever browsing only to end up with nothing.

What are you waiting for?!  Go shopping!

Have fun!

Lowest Price on Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil!

It is no secret that I love coconut oil from Tropical Traditions.  It is about the highest quality coconut oil that I have found.

This weekend, you can get 2 quarts of virgin coconut oil at a cheaper price per ounce than you can get an off-brand!

Here's the deal:

• Go here and add 2 quarts of coconut oil to your cart.  They are buy one get one free right now.
• Use the coupon code 11328 at checkout to take off an additional $10.
• The final price is $30 for 2 quarts, or $.47 per ounce.
• If you don't need coconut oil, another great deal is the coconut cream concentrate that is Buy One Get One Free.  It comes out to $8.00 for 2 jars after the coupon!

Disclosure: the links in this post are my referral links.  I will receive a store credit when you order through these links.  Thank you for helping support this site!

Shutterfly Cards and Photo Gifts {$50 Giveaway!}

Have you ordered your Christmas cards yet?

Shutterfly has some awesome new designs for 2013!

Their collection includes:

o   Classic: Traditional colors, iconic illustrations, aspirational sentiments, snowflakes, monogram

o   Contemporary: trend forward colors, texture and layering, water color techniques, shine, glitter, Instagram pictures are perfect for this style

o   Whimsy: humor and nostalgia meet, fun sentiments

o   Merry and Bright: all about color and having fun

o   Religious: metallic type treatments, incorporated story ideas

o   Photo Basics: multiple colors, vertical type, family name highlights

How fun are these tri-fold cards?!

If you like something more simple, they've got that too:

I love this one too because it can be used for Christmas and New Year's combined (especially great if you get your cards out a little late!)

One of our family's favorite gifts to give grandparents is some type of photo gift, and Shutterfly has tons of them.

We have given these blankets in the past, and they were definitely a favorite!

I think a pillow with updated pictures would be a great addition this year:

I love Shutterfly's selection of  photo gifts – they have a lot of really unique stuff that isn't available elsewhere.  Their selection of both products and designs is really above-average.  Check out all their gift selections here.

The giveaway has now ended.  Congrats to the winner Trish!

Win a $50 Shutterfly Gift Card!

Shutterfly is offering one of my readers a $50 Shutterfly Gift Card (includes free shipping)!

To enter, just leave a comment telling me which photo card or photo gift you would choose if you won.

If you'd like an extra entry, share this giveaway on Facebook or Pinterest and leave another comment telling me you did so.

This is a quick giveaway, ending Friday at noon EST, so be sure to get your entry in right away!  The winner will be contacted by email Friday evening, and will need to respond by Saturday at noon EST, or you will forfeit your prize.  Be sure to keep an eye out to see if you won!

Disclosure: I received a gift card from Shutterfly in exchange for posting this.  As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

Birth Center Vs. Hospital Birth

It is entirely possible for a mom to have an unmedicated, natural birth in a hospital surrounding.  I know from experience that is true because my first 3 children were all natural hospital births. Yet each one was increasingly more difficult to “hang in there” and not cave to the pressures of medication or unnecessary intervention. I basically labored at home as long as I possibly could so that I could be in my own relaxed atmosphere.  I went to the hospital just in time for delivery. (My first was actually born in the car just before we got to the hospital.  Whoops!)  With my second, I was not at the hospital too terribly long before delivery, but I was miserable the whole time.  With my third I was only there a few hours, but that was long enough to make me so miserable that I wasn't sure I wanted any more children. The longer I sat there, chained to IV's and monitors, with unfamiliar faces rushing in and out of the room, the less relaxed I became.

• I got to answer what seemed like hundreds of questions for paperwork while needing desperately to concentrate on breathing through contractions.
• I got to be poked and prodded for an IV line by a nurse who acted like she was bored out of her mind and extremely inconvenienced by having to care for yet another patient.
• When I was finally left alone, I was told I could be in whatever position I wanted – sit, walk around, etc.  Really???  I have yet to figure out how I was supposed to do that while chained to all that stuff.  Trying to change positions would have been a whole lot more uncomfortable than just staying put and leaving things as they were.
• When the doctor came in to check my progress, he also broke my water before I even realized what was happening.
• When it came time to push, I was basically placed into the position which was most convenient for the doctors and nurses, even though it certainly was not the most comfortable for me.
• After delivery, my baby was whisked away to be washed and weighed, and I was not allowed to move to a recovery room until my IV line was finished. It wasn't until that point I discovered that it was loading my veins with pitocin.
• Once in the recovery room, I was not allowed to leave the hospital until 48 hours from the birth.  By that time I was thoroughly exhausted — not so much from having a newborn, but from having my sleep interrupted every few minutes by nurses coming in unannounced to check this or that or offer me some type of medication.

Now, all those things in and of themselves are not the worst thing that could happen, and I still managed to have natural births in spite of them.  I'm sure a natural birth would be even more attainable if I had a very assertive advocate along with me to make sure everything was done according to my wishes. I could have had another natural hospital birth if I had needed to, and it wouldn't have been the end of the world, but I wanted to experience giving birth at a birth center and see for myself if there was a big difference.   Here's a little about my experience:

• At every prenatal appointment, I saw the midwife who would be there for my delivery.  I wouldn't have to deliver with a doctor or nurses whom I had never met before.  I also met the other midwives just in case my midwife were to not be able to be there for some reason.
• Throughout the pregnancy, I was offered advice for natural treatments for common pregnancy complaints rather than medication.
• When labor began and I arrived at the birth center I didn't have to sit through a long process of complicated paperwork to be admitted.  I was immediately allowed to rest or move around as I wished.
• Throughout labor, I could go wherever I wanted in the birth center.  The bedroom was homey and comfortable, and I was able to relax and sleep a little.
• I did not have to be hooked up to any IV's or monitors; baby's heartbeat simply had to be checked every 30 minutes.
• My midwife had gotten to know me and what I wanted ahead of time. She was ready to help or simply leave me alone. (She knew that I just like to be left alone, and that's what she did, although she was available to support me as needed if I changed my mind.)
• When it came time to push, she encouraged me to get into whatever position felt most comfortable.  After the first push, she thought that position wasn't going to be effective, and offered her suggestion as to a better position. But she didn't make me feel like I had to do it that way.  (She was right, though, and I was glad for her suggestion!  Baby was out in one push!)
• At the birth center, I had my first water birth.  At the beginning of the pregnancy, I wasn't so sure what I thought, but I finally warmed up to the idea, and now I am glad I did!  I wouldn't exactly call it wonderful, because I don't exactly enjoy the process of giving birth no matter where I am, but it definitely felt better than delivering hospital-style!
• 2 hours after the birth, I was allowed to go home if I wished, or stay and rest as long as I wanted.  I stayed for about 5 hours and rested, then went home.  I felt more rested after the first afternoon home than I did after an entire 2 days staying at the hospital.  Sleeping in my own bed, uninterrupted by nurses barging in every time I doze off, has been absolutely wonderful!

I am thankful for the experience of using the birth center, and if we have any more children, I plan on going there again!

Free Photo Book and More Frugal Gifts

Here are some great deals for Christmas gifts that I thought I'd pass along this weekend.  I know we can all use help getting gifts crossed off our list without spending a fortune:

Free 5×7 Photo Book

Just pay shipping of $2.99 – this is a great deal, and a great gift for grandparents! Get it here.

$3 photo ornament

Get it here

Free photo mug (just pay shipping)

Get it here

I'm excited to get some Christmas shopping done!  I love photo gifts, and I especially love the prices on these!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I will receive a small commission from purchases made through these links.  Thank you for supporting this blog!

The. Most. Frugal. Gift. Ever.

Ya'll.

This is the last you're going to see of the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle.  Your time is almost up, and these items will never be available at this price again.

Okay, so here is the awesomest idea ever. I saw it on somebody else's blog and thought it was genius.

Use the books as gifts.

There are 86 of them.  They're 35 cents each.  Some of them are worth 15 bucks a piece.

I'm the kind of person that likes to give gifts to all my friends at church, all my sisters-in-law, and everything like that, but it can get a little expensive.

But now I can give something pretty and nice and worth more than a buck at the dollar tree.  At first I was thinking “Well, that's kind of cheesy to just email somebody a book file with the subject line “Happy Birthday!”

But, I don't have to do it that way!  I can have it wrapped up all purdy-like.

Here's what I'm gonna do:

I can burn the book I want to gift to a CD, print out a pretty insert for the case, and bingo! Really nice gift for dirt cheap! (Don't tell my friends!)

If you want to copy me, here are a couple images you can print to use for the cases.  (Just click the pictures to enlarge them and save  to your computer.)

 Use this one for Christmas presents (duh!) and use your photo editing program or Picmonkey to type in the title of the book.

Use this one for birthdays or general occasions and do the same thing with using photo software or Picmonkey to type in the title of the book before you print.

Or…go to the website where the ebook is sold, save a picture of the cover and crop it to 4.75 in. by 4.75.  It will fit perfectly in the cover of a CD case.

Excited to cross off ALL your gifts for pretty much the entire year?