Frugal Novice

It’s National Dog Week!

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This post is part of a compensated campaign with Purina. All opinions are honest and are my own.

We, just like many of you, think of our dogs as part of our family.

Sally, our 80-pound lab/golden retriever mix, is 4 years old. She is gentle and sweet, and loves to put her paw in one of our hands to have us hold it.

Ninja is about 12 pounds, and he’s a schnauzer/yorkie mix. He just turned 1 in April and he is still full of puppy energy. He’s finally turned a corner with his chewing habit and he follows us everywhere.

Food Subscription Options for When You’re Too Busy to Shop

We recently tried out a food subscription box – Hello Fresh – and really loved it! We found a new recipe to add to our collection – zucchini lasagna – and we adored the convenience the box provided for us. I thought you might like checking out some food subscription boxes to try!

Sam’s Club Baby Days + a Giveaway!

This post is sponsored by Acorn & Procter and Gamble. All opinions are honest and my own.

My sister-in-law Lauren (might as well be sister) is pregnant with her first baby, and I am almost as excited for her as I was for my own pregnancies. I can’t wait to see her be a mom (she’ll be amazing) and I’m ready to hold my niece or nephew!

Lauren’s due in November, so as that time gets closer and closer, being stocked up on baby gear is more and more on her mind. I started thinking about what all I was glad to have on hand when each of my kids were babies, and wanted to help get her and my brother-in-law all set for their new arrival. I headed over to our local Sam’s Club, because I knew it’d be a great one-stop location to find all sorts of must-haves for babies at cost-efficient prices.

First of all: diapers and wipes. Parents, you know how rapidly you use these, so it’s crucial to have a sizeable stockpile! Sam’s has huge boxes, so I grabbed some Pampers Swaddlers and Sensitive Wipes for Lauren to have ready when she comes home from the hospital.

And if you noticed, I got instant savings on the diapers, making them an even better deal than they already were. And I got 808 wipes for less than $20. Gotta love bargains like that!

Data Done Right for Our Family With Virgin Mobile

I participated in an Ambassador Program on behalf of Influence Central for Virgin Mobile USA which is one of Sprint’s prepaid brands. I received two Virgin Mobile smartphones to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation.

Our boys love screen time. If they had their way, they’d probably play video games every waking hour. We limit the amount of time they’re allowed to play, and it can be hard for them to share or take turns. If you have more than one child, you’ve probably experienced this very same issue.

Virgin Mobile is a parent’s dream – they have Data Done Right Single Line and Multi-line Data Sharing plans, which are available exclusively at Walmart. It’s incredibly easy for family to share data, and we can split up the time between the boys with minimal bickering.

And since these phones aren’t contract plans, but are pre-paid cards, we know we don’t have to worry about them going oveboard and costing us an arm and a leg. These plans make us really aware of how much time each person is spending on the phone, and we can make sure we don’t have a data hog in the family!

Online Shopping: What Not to Miss

Whether you shop for yourself or your kids, online shopping can be pretty tricky. You can easily miss some little and simply ruin the whole e-shopping experience – and nobody wants that! In order to help you out not to miss the most important parts of shopping at e-stores, here are a few main things you should look for and use. With these tips, soon you will become a real pro at online shopping – and you can even help others get the best deals on the internet!

Out of Season Sales

The first thing you need to learn about shopping online is that here most of the prices are already a lot cheaper than in retail stores. And the best part is that you can save a lot of money during out of season sales. Many e-retailers will drastically cut prices on seasonal products during certain times of the year. This can be exactly the best time to shop for everything you need and get it at an unbeatable price. Some examples include buying ski apparel in summer and shorts in the winter. Shopping for items to save for next year can provide great bargains and save you tons of money. You definitely don’t want to miss out of season sales.

How to Feed a Family of Five for Just $20 at Denny’s!

I’m a Denny’s ambassador, and this post is a part of that compensated partnership. All opinions are honest and are my own.

I guess I should clarify my post headline, because this is just one of several ways you could feed your family of five for just $20 at Denny’s… and if you eat on a Kids Eat Free night, you can make your money go even farther! We went for Sunday lunch, and we told our boys we were giving ourselves a challenge for the meal to make the budget of just $20. They had a blast helping us figure out various ways to spend the $20 (although some of their ideas consisted of just getting 5 Cookies & Cream Mega Sundaes).

Here’s the skinny: we decided to order from the $2 $4 $6 $8 menu because there are a ton of options and you can get a lot of bang for your buck! Here were our options:

Here’s what we got:

Ready for Back to School with Osh Kosh B’Gosh

I participated in a Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for OshKosh B’Gosh. I received a promotional item to thank me for my participation.

The days of summer are dwindling down. We have less than a week until school starts, and we’re hanging on to those last few days of relaxation before we fall back into earlier bedtimes, routines, and being on-the-go.

Of course, being someone who likes to be prepared, I’ve been in back-to-school mode for a while now, getting things organized around the house and making sure the kids have everything they’ll need for the new year. My favorite part of back-to-school preparedness has got to be the clothes shopping.

I can still remember the fun of getting a new outfit for the start of the school year, and I love finding new clothes the kids will look great in (and that will hold up to hours of play!). OshKosh B’Gosh is one of my very favorite stores to shop at because I know I can find something great for all three kids (if you don’t remember, we have two boys aged 6 & 8, and a daughter that’s nearly 3). One stop shopping is where it’s at, friends!

I always think of OshKosh for their jeans (these are some of the best jeans for little boys, by the way – the knees hold up better than MANY other brands), but they have so much else to choose from to add some fun style to your kids’ wardrobes.

Going Above & Beyond for Our Dog with Grain-Free Purina® Beyond®

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PetsLoveBeyond #CollectiveBias

We love our dogs. I don’t know if it’s nature or nurture, but we’ve ended up with two incredibly sweet and patient pups who follow us around loyally, dole out tons of kisses, and play with our kids like it’s their job. They also serve as willing pillows for little heads, and are just all around great members of our family.

Sally is our older dog; she’s 4 years old and is just getting out of her hyper puppy phase. We decided it was about time she had her own dedicated bed, and so we came up with a DIY project to pamper her a little: a knotted fleece dog bed.

If you’ve ever made a knotted fleece blanket, the concept is very similar. It’s easy, and there’s no sewing, so kids can get in on this project! I had a friend over and we each made a bed for our dogs.

WaterWipes are 99.9% Water & Chemical Free – Perfect for Newborns

I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for WaterWipes. I received product samples to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation.

My sister-in-law is pregnant with her first baby, so although my youngest baby is turning 3 soon my focus has been back on baby products again. I’ve told her all about products we used and loved, and when I learn about new products I think she’ll love, I definitely pass them her way. One of those products is WaterWipes.

When I first had my babies, I could see how it’d be easy to get overwhelmed with how many different things there were to worry about. Childproofing and which baby food to use and oh my word there were chemicals in everything.

With all of our kids we dealt with diaper rashes – it’s a very common problem for parents to encounter with their children, and I know some kids deal with chronic diaper rash that can sometimes get pretty severe! Our kids’ never got too bad, thankfully, but when they did have diaper rashes I always worried that the chemicals in the wipes we used would irritate their even more sensitive skin. If only I’d had WaterWipes available then!

WaterWipes are a solution for any mom worried about chemicals in baby wipes. They are chemical free baby wipes that contain only two ingredients! They are 99.9% pure Irish water and 0.1% grapefruit seed extract. I love this, that there are durable, effective wipes available to use on the sensitive skin of newborns. WaterWipes provide a safer, more natural option for babies, and that makes me as a mom feel great.

Little Remedies for Little Tummies

I participated in an Influencer Activation on behalf of Influence Central for Little Remedies. I received a product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for my participation.

I’m a mom to three kids now, and have been a mom for almost 8 years. Although I feel like I know what I’m doing now, when our first son was born we were definitely still learning the ropes. J had lots of issues with a gassy tummy, and boy did we ever know it! There was crying. And crying. And more crying (him AND us, haha!).

I din’t know prior to having children just how common gas pain can be for babies, but when they’re little and gulping down food it’s easy for them to take in excess air and end up with gas bubbles. Here are a few tricks that might help you out if you’re having issues with your newborn – or if you’re expecting, bookmark this list for future use!

Bicycling our kids’ legs helped a lot, and thankfully we discovered Little Remedies products. They don’t contain any artificial flavors, artificial colors or alcohol and are created with the very specific needs of children in mind. There are two products in particular from Little Remedies that were real game changers for us, and that really helped relieve our babies’ gas pains:

Sprint LG G4 is a Mom’s Dream SmartPhone: Here’s Why

I participated in an Ambassador Program on behalf of Influence Central for Sprint. I received a Sprint device to facilitate my review as well as a promotional item to thank me for my participation.

I take tons – I mean TONS – of pictures. The advent of the smartphone was a happy day for me, because I love having a camera with me wherever I go. And with the Sprint LG G4, I can have a really amazing camera with me to capture high-quality shots I want. The LG G4 is the first smartphone from Sprint with a total of 24 megapixels of crisp photo clarity – a 16MP rear-facing camera and an 8MP front-facing selfie camera. I can remember a time not long ago when dedicated digital cameras couldn’t provide that quality!

Here are a couple of pics I snapped with my LG G4 – and a couple Brian shot, too, when I gave him the chance to play with it:

Obligatory selfie. The front-facing camera on the G4 takes great pics!

Lots of wedding magazines. I’m a magazine designer at my day job & have a wedding magazine coming up, so I get to look through wedding magazines for research. Rough part of the job. :)

Patriotic Gift Ideas for Everyone!

We received blankets & necklaces to facilitate photos for this round-up. Affiliate links are used in this post.

With July 4 right around the corner, patriotic gear is all over the place! If you’ve got stars & stripes on the brain, you’ll love these gift ideas – there’s something for everyone, even your furry family member!

For Infants:

Aden + Anais Cotton Muslin Swaddle Blankets, in Twinkle These blankets were our absolute favorite with E, so I was thrilled to be able to give some to my sister-in-law, who’s pregnant with her first. The print is fun and neutral, perfect for boys or girls alike. The blankets are soft, thin, and stretchy, and are perfect for swaddling.