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Luv Saving Money – Page 991 – Life on a Budget

Review and Giveaway: Soapsoundz Hand Soaps and Sanitizers–CLOSED

I work in a hospital. There are signs up everywhere about washing hands. There are hand sanitizer foams outside patient rooms. It’s drilled into us as direct patient care workers, wash your hands! This is all for a good reason. Not just hospital workers but everyone. Washing your hands is one of the best and easiest ways to prevent from spreading germs and getting sick.

I have to remind my kids to wash their hands in the bathroom. They sneeze into their hands, either wash or use hand sanitizer. Children, especially now that most schools are back in session, come in contact with lot of other kids. How many kids touch the restroom stall handle? Maybe more importantly, how many kids actually wash their hands if someone isn’t standing right over them? Maybe best not to dwell on that. With the start of school I’m a little more diligent about cleaning and sanitizing the door knobs, the flush handle on the toilet, and the knobs on the faucet. But how do I get my kids to wash their hands and wash them properly? Soap Soundz comes along!

hygiene heroes 3 pack

Soap Soundz has hand soaps and sanitizers that appeal to your children. There are also Soap Soundz for the seasons (Halloween, Christmas, etc). So what makes Soap Soundz so unique from other hand soaps and sanitizers? When you pump the hand soaps it plays a song or recording for 20 seconds. That’s the amount of time that you should wash your hands. Did you know that? Yep it’s true. 20 seconds, warm water, and friction. (I know, it’s drilled into me remember?)

Soap Soundz come in different scents as well. My boys and I were looking over the varieties. The boys were all about trying the Hygiene Heroes soaps. You can listen to the sounds they make online: Click here to listen to check it out

I was interested in trying some of the holiday soaps. They come in great scents like: apple cinnamon, sugar cookie, and winterberry to name a few. They have soaps for Halloween and Valentine’s day too! 

Some seasonal Soap Soundz

We got to try the Soap Soundz hand soaps in Seasons Winterberry and Sugar Cookies, Hygiene Heroes Lord Viral (scent Meteor Melon) and Captain Clean hands (in Rocket Rasberry).  We also received the Hand Sanitizer.  It makes really cool robot/computer like sounds when you press the pump like “Dispensing sanitizer solution” .  It says 4 different phrases.  The scent of these products are great too.

As an added Mom bonus I could hear if my kids were actually washing their hands or not if I was outside of the bathroom.

Check out the website.  There is a fun and informative E-brochure on Soap Soundz site as well.

There’s an old saying “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”  So true.  This is an easy and fun way to help prevent colds and flu.

Review Summary:  Soap Soundz is reasonably priced and offers benefits that other hand soaps and sanitizers just don’t.  It’s a great reminder for all of us just how long we really should be washing our hands.  The customer services is friendly.  Shipping was fast and accurate.  I would say yes definitely get this to use in your house for back to school and flu season. 

GIVEAWAY
Soap Soundz is offering THREE FFCandM readers a three pack of Soap Soundz! 
Mandatory Entry:  Follow Soap Sound on twitter: @SoapSoundz
Mandatory entry must be complete before any bonus entries will count. please remember to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win.  
Bonus Entries:  Please leave a comment for each entry completed.  If then entry has a +1 after it leave one comment.  A +2 leave 2 comments for that entry and so on. 

1.  Like Soap Soundz on facebook (+1)

2. Visit www.soapsoundz.com and tell me what hand soap or sanitizer you would love to try (+1)

3.  Tweet this giveaway message (if using the RT button please remember to include @angiewith3 and @soapsoundz)  (+1 can tweet twice per day at least 2 hours apart)

I entered to win a 3 pack of @SoapSoundz from @angiewith3 3 winners http://bit.ly/spsndzrev 9/20 #giveaway

4.  Follow me on twitter: @angiewith3  (+1)

5.  Like FFCandM on facebook (+1)

6. Follow FFCandM with google friend connect and/or networked blogs (+1 for each one)

7.  Blog about this giveaway (+5)

8.  Leave this message as your facebook status:

”  I entered to win a Soap Soundz three pack from Free Stuff, Fun Sites, Contests, and More www.luvsavingmoney.info 9/20

9. Stumble this post (stumble button is at bottom of the post) (+2)

10.  Enter any of my other active giveaways (+1 for each one)

3 winner will be chosen using random.org.  Giveaway ends Sept. 20, 2010 at 10 PM EST.  Winners will have 48 hours to respond to winner email.  If no response in that time, a new winner will be chosen.

***I recieved the hand soaps and sanitizer mentioned in the review above at no cost in order for me to complete this review.  I did not receive any monetary compensation for this post.  All opinions expressed are my own.***

RANDOM.ORG DREW NUMBERS 94, 75, AND 76.  WINNERS HAVE BEEN EMAILED AND HAVE 48 HOURS TO REPLY OR A NEW WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN.  THANKS EVERYONE FOR READING AND ENTERING!

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Go green, Save the Earth, Save some money

I don’t claim to be an expert in the movement to live greener. I’ve had an interest for a few years. After all, our children, grandchidren, etc, have to live on this planet after we’re gone. My interest really peaked when I realized I could be saving some money AND living greener at the same time. I wanted to share some of my tips on how living greener can save you money.

I know some of these are seemingly obvious. Remember I’m a green newbie. If you have any other tips to share with me and my readers I’d love to hear them.

1. Recycling

We all know recycling reduces waste, reuses items to give them a second life. My town does not have a city wide recycling program. They have a few bins scattered in town where you can take minimal items like newspapers and clear glass. We save all of our aluminum cans. There is a local recycling company not far from my house. You can take your recyclables there and they pay you depending on the weight of all the items you bring. It’s not enough to quit your day job over but we average $12 each trip. Hey $12 a pack of steak at walmart. If your town has a city wide recycling program it can cut down on the amount of garbage going out.  In my town you are allowed so many bags per week.  If you have more than the allotted amount they charge you extra.

2.  Organic Gardening

This is still something I’m learning more about. What I do know is, that instead of buying all those fertilizers, pesticides, special soils, etc you can make your own at home AND it’s safer for the environment AND your kids and pets.  As I said I’m still new to this but little facts like planting marigolds around your garden will deter rabbits.  Or use a soapy water spritz as a safe pesticide (bugs don’t like the soapy taste).  Composte bins are great.  Save your potato peels, rotting veggies, etc and use them in your garden.  Used coffee grounds are good for your acidic soil loving plants like Azaleas. 

3.  Energy Savers

We just recently put insulation in our house.  I could not believe the different in our heating oil bills from the year before.  I didn’t really think it was going to make that much difference but it did.  The year before We had to fill up our tanks 3 times (I live in PA and it was a cold winter).  Last year only twice.  We also installed a digital thermastat.  We set it so the temp automatically goes 60 over night but kicks on in the morning around 7 just before we start getting up.  While there is an initial cost for these things the savings are long term.    I had also heard that installing solar panels will eliminate your electric bill and in some area electric companies will even pay you!  My husband and I are trying to gather all the facts on this in our area.  We’re considering.  If anyone in PA has these I’d love to talk to you. I worry about how they work in the winter when the snow piles up.  Other smaller steps like changing to energy efficient light bulbs, turning unneeded lights off, washing clothes in cold water, and taking shorter showers, can all add up. Not only energy saving for the earth but also money saving steps for you on your electric and heating bills. 

4. Green living rewards programs like Recycle Bank

I’ve found a couple programs that reward you for living greener.  The best one I know of is Recycle Bank.  You earn points for green choices such as recycling in your community, sending in old electronics to recycle, signing up for their newsletter for green tips and more.  I recently became a Recycle Bank Insider.  I will have more green tips on my blog and Recycle Bank Reward codes.  You can use your Recycle Bank reward points to cash in for products, gift cards, coupons, sweepstakes, and more. 

Those are just a few tips for now.  Please share some of your tips with me.  I’d love to learn more.

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Review: Marie Veronique Organics–Kid Safe Sunscreen

In an effort to switch products over to more organic and earth friendly products I welcome trying out organic and green products.

I received a bottle of Marie Veronique Organics–Kid Safe Screen with SPF 25+.  Upon first receiving the Kid Safe Screen I looked over the bottle.  Bottle is recyclable and Contents are biodegradable.  In reading over the ingredients, I was refreshed to see items that were familiar like, green and white tea, for example.

We decided to go to the public pool.  I decided this would be the ultimate test of how the Marie Veronique Organics Kids Safe Screen would work.  I did like that it has a pump top.  I applied it to my kids.  One thing i did notice was it didn’t seem to rub in.  The kids were left with, what appeared to me and them to be, white streaky skin.  I tried to take a picture of my one sons belly:

You can see the white patches that just wouldn’t rub in on the left side of his belly button and a little above.  The kids were joking with each other and said they were ghosts.

The scent of the product was mild.  I think it was the combo scent of green and white tea along with the mango butter and ylang ylang. 

The bottle clearly states to “shake well.” and “Reapply every two hours and after swimming, perspiring, and towel drying.”  I made sure to follow the directions as stated.  It did prevent any sun burns.  I even applied it to my 14 month old son and he did fine with it.

The bottle states it is safe and gentle enough to even use around the eyes.  I did apply it to all of our faces.  Some sunscreens can sting when you sweat and it runs in your eyes.  This did not do that. 

I reapplied it several times since the kids were at the pool for almost 4 hours and they were swimming. I applied before we left the house and twice at the pool.  For the the size of the bottle and what the directions say I don’t know that this Sun Screen is the best choice for a day at the pool.

Review Summary:

Pros:  Kids Safe, Organic, did protect from sun if followed directions, recyclable bottle and biodegradable contents

Cons:  Expensive for the size ($24 for a 2.7 oz bottle), left streaky residue, need to reapply frequently

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What We Won Wednesday—3rd week

What We Won Wednesday” is a place to share our wins for the past week. It doesn’t have to be just blog giveaways it could be: a scratch off ticket win, a basket party win, a national sweepstakes, twitter party or whatever you’d like to tell us about. If you can remember where you won it too,that would be great.

There are several purposes to this post

1. To encourage others
2. To share in the joy with our fellow readers and bloggers
3. To show that people really do win

So Congratulations every body. I hope you all have wins to share!

My wins:

1.  Davinci Beads from http://www.mnmspecial.com/  I won a bracelet in the length i wanted and my choice of 3 beads!

2.  Himalayan Salt Lamp from

http://tnshadylady.blogspot.com/2010/08/salt-power-himalayan-salt-lamp-giveaway.html
So excited about this one. I thought they looked really cool and took advantage of about
 every entry offered then came back to tweet several times lol
 

3.  Huggies wipes from @huggies #wipeswednesday on twitter.  I just found out that every wednesday you answer a certain question they tweet and they pick…i think it’s 10 winners from the answers.  Oh boy can i use these!

4.  $50 Chocomize gc from  www.busy-mommy.com  
I was so lucky this week to win so many things I really wanted.  If you haven’t seen the chocomize site you get to make your own chocolate bars with whatever ingredients you want.  I’m interested in trying one with the gold dust just because I can lol. 

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Wholesale Keychains Digital Keychain Review and Giveaway—CLOSED

I received a cute pink Digital Photo Keychain from Wholesalekeychains.com.  I love my pink stuff especially since I have 3 boys and the only pink in the house comes from me.  The digital photo keychain was a nice size.  Not too bulky, slender design, and a nice easy to use clip to attach it to a key, purse, backpack etc.

I attached it to the zipper on my purse for easy access to those proud momma moments.  The Digital Photo Keychain I received holds 140 of my photos! I think that’s great for a digital keychain.  There are easy to use buttons on the back that let you toggle through pictures and turn it off and on.

The Digital Photo Keychain from wholesalekeychains.com came with a usb cable to plug it into your computer for uploading pictures and charging.  The software automatically loaded on my computer when i plugged it into the computer and turned it on. The uploading software was easy to use. 

The picture screen is a nice size for a digital photo keychain.  You can adjust the timer to have it shut off automatically after so long.  It can automatically scroll the pictures when turned on or you can toggle through yourself.

The instructions are pretty easy to follow.  It only took me a couple minutes to figure out how to use it.

Review Summary:  At only $9.99 for this particular keychain I think this is a great value.  It is nicely made and easy to use.  This would make a $10 gift or stocking stuffer for the upcoming holidays.  Think about this for your teenager, a grand parent, or just about anyone who owns a computer.  You can even have them engraved for an extra $5.99.  I think this is a real bargain if you’ve ever wanted a digital keychain.

Check out wholesalekeychains.com digital photo keychain selection.  They have many more colors to choose from. There are also ones with more memory to hold even more pictures. 

GIVEAWAY
 Wholesalekeychains.com is offering one of my readers the same pink digital photo keychain I received!
Mandatory Entry:  Visit this link: digital photo keychains and tell me what other digital photo keychain you like (please include color).  Don’t forget to leave an email address so I may contact you if you win.  Mandatory Entry must be completed before any bonus entries will count. 
Bonus Entries: Leave a seperate comment for each entry completed.  If there is a +1 after the entry leave 1 comment, +2 leave two comments and so on. 
1.  Like Free Stuff, Fun Sites, Contests, and More on facebook (+1)
2.  Put this message as your facebook status:  (+2)
” I entered to win a digital photo keychain from wholesalekeychains.com and Free Stuff, Fun Sites, Contests, and More  www.luvsavingmoney.info”

3.  Tweet this giveaway message:  (+2) (Can be done twice daily at least 2 hrs apart)

“I entered to win a digital photo keychain from @angiewith3 and wholesale keychains http://bit.ly/wskdpk 9/14 #giveaway”

4.  Follow me on twitter (+1) : @angiewith3 

5.  Blog about this giveaway (+5)

6.  Leave a thoughtful comment on any non-giveaway post and leave a comment telling me which one.   (+1 for each different post commented on)

7.  Enter any of my other active giveaways (+1)

8. Vote for this blog on Top Mommy Blogs (+1) (can vote once daily)

9. Follow my blog with google and/or networked blogs (+1 for each one)

***I received the pink digital photo keychain at no cost to me.  I did not receive any monetary compensation for this post.  Any opinions expressed are my own***

This Product Was a Free Giveaway

RANDOM.ORG CHOSE NUMBER 35.  WINNER HAS BEEN NOTIFIED VIA EMAIL AND HAS 48 HOURS TO RESPOND

Sponsored by Tomoson.com
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