You are here: Home / Archives for Random / Posted before 11/11

$10 off $10 purchase at TFH Special Needs toys

May 11, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Found this offer when the catalog came today in the mail. “Register for TFH’s Birthday Offer by emailing your child’s birthday to melanie at tfhusa.com and we will mail/email you a $10 certificate to use on any merchandise over $10.”

I looked through their online catalog, and their are many items for around $10-$15. They also have a great music selection. And, toys & activities for everything-sensory, tactile, auditory, vestibular, you name it!

Definitely worth checking out and getting the offer!

Filed Under: Posted before 11/11 Tagged With: ,

School Fundraising Ideas

May 10, 2011 by · 1 Comment

I know I’ve posted before that I help with fundraising at my son’s school. Most people are surprised to know that I support most fundraising efforts given my penchant for frugal living. Sure, for the most part, most items that I purchase via a fundraiser, I could have probably found cheaper elsewhere. But I view fundraisers as smart spending–I mean, if it’s an item you need, or an item you’re going to purchase anyway, why not purchase it through a school or charity that you support? Then you’ve gotten the item and you’ve supported your favorite school. Some of you might be thinking, “Why are we talking about school fundraising? School is almost over.” Yes, it is, but we are already planning for next year!

Where I struggle is in finding decent rewards for the kids. I mean, do the kids really want another sheet of stickers or another ice cream party? As I plan what I’m going to do, I have to offer incentives. So check out these prize incentives. Those are not the fundraisers, the splash party IS the prize. How cool is that? I know my boys would love the reptile party too. But with all those prizes offered, there really is something for everyone. Say goodbye to junky prizes and ice cream parties!

Then I took a look at the fundraising products they offer. Decent stuff! (As an aside, whenever I buy one of those tubs of cookie dough, I make very few cookies-it usually gets eaten right out of the tub, with a spoon, while I’m making dinner. But there’s probably a warning on there telling me not to do that. So don’t do it.) But look at this fundraising idea-how cute are those cows? In any event, if you need any fundraising ideas, make sure you check them out. They are on Facebook too. Even if you’re not the person responsible for fundraising for your school or team, maybe you want to pass this along to the person who is. I mean, I’d rather have my kids work towards a Splash Party or Magic Show, instead of an ice cream party.

I am definitely going to look into this more closely!  Has anyone worked with this group before? Please let us know if you have, and what your experience was.

Filed Under: Posted before 11/11 Tagged With: , ,

Kill your television!

April 11, 2011 by · 1 Comment

I just submitted my weekly newspaper column. For those of you that don’t know, I also write a weekly outdoors column for the Kennett Paper in Kennett Square, PA. For the upcoming column, I focused on National Turn Off Your TV week, which is April 16-23 this year. I first heard about this week over ten years ago, and my husband and I have been doing it every year since then. Of course, you won’t hear about this event on TV, lol.

Smart spending isn’t just about money, it’s about how you spend your time. Here are some facts about television in America:

  • Number of 30-second commercials seen in a year by an average child: 20,000
  • Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 38.5
  • Number of minutes per week that the average child watches television: 1,680
  • Percentage of children ages 6-17 who have TV’s in their bedrooms: 50
  • Percentage of day care centers that use TV during a typical day: 70
  • Hours per year the average American youth spends in school: 900 hours
  • Hours per year the average American youth watches television: 1500
  • Percentage of Americans that regularly watch television while eating dinner: 66

    • Don’t get me wrong, my kids watch Sesame Street every morning and sometimes at night they are with us in bed watching it. But for the most part, I am pretty militant about not letting them watch it mindlessly for hours on end. And I am pretty strict about our “dinner together every night at the table” rule. I know that on the whole, I watch much, much less tv than many of my friends and acquaintances, because they post (on facebook) about watching more tv in a day than I do in a week.

    I like this no-tv-week in April, because it really jars my system out of the winter doldrums. Certainly by the time February and March roll around, I am watching more tv than I was in September. This event really helps me snap out of it and not get sucked in any further.

    So now I’m thinking of some extra things I want to get accomplished next week. One is that I have a new website that is being launched. Two, I want to get back on track with my deal-posting schedule on here. And now that it’s light later in the day, I want to do outdoor play every day from 3-4:30 with my boys.

    Will you take the no-tv challenge? And what would you like to accomplish?

    Filed Under: Posted before 11/11, Random Tagged With: ,

    Eagles/NFL merchandise-25%-75% off

    April 11, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

    Yesterday I took my kids to an Eagles-sponsored event at Lincoln Financial Field. Prior to going there, I really had no intentions of buying them any Eagles shirts or anything, because I assumed that it would be overpriced and more than I wanted to spend. I love when I’m pleasantly surprised and find a sale! At the end of the event, we went into the Eagles pro shop, which is adjacent to the stadium. It’s not normally open on Sundays, but they opened yesterday because of this event going on.

    There were several racks of merchandise that were 25%-75% off. And it was decent stuff, not crap that you look at and say “Oh, no wonder it’s on sale….” Kevin already has both a long-sleeved and short-sleeved shirt, but Brian didn’t have anything. The sweatshirt that he wore this past winter is too small for him and we don’t have anything in 3T. I was able to find him this shirt for about $18. Yes, $18 is more than I would normally spend on a toddler shirt. *But* tah-dah! It’s actually two shirts! A long sleeved shirt over a short sleeved shirt, and both have Eagles stuff printed on them.

    I found  a really cute s/s tee for myself for $10.

    The store at the stadium is open Monday to Saturday. Can’t get there? They have almost all the same deals online. If you’re not an Eagles fan, check the web for your local team’s shop. It is the off-season for the NFL, so I bet most of them are trying to sell of last year’s merchandise.

    Filed Under: Posted before 11/11, Random Tagged With: ,
    «Older Posts
    Newer Posts»