Archive for Reviews and Giveaways

It’s Your Money: A Talk and Giveaway with Gail VazOxlade

This week I got to have a phone call with one of my favorite money people, Gail Vazoxlade.

It was Tuesday and I had just visited Gail’s blog which is a norm for me and discovered she had just launched the Gail way which she said came because of a conversation with a girlfriend. Gail’s way came about because her friend tracked what she spent but didn’t understand what to do next. She wasn’t sure about the next step. The Gail way gives you the paperwork and steps to get you tracking and budgeting step by step.

As we talked more about It’s Your Money we talked about women and our mindsets and how we got this way. Gail said ” You as a woman are going to watch your life change and you need to adjust your plan when it does”.  We are in constant flux as we live our lives and we need to be ready for it.

In Gail’s newest book she first examines our mindset and explores how we got thinking like we do . First she looks at your money personality..and has suggestions to help you with each.

In the middle of the book she goes over the financial foundation that each of us should have.

Then she closes the book with what I think is the best advice what to do in case of the just in case section. For me I know just in case well. I have lived just in case but wasn’t prepared, hopefully by reading the book you will be prepared just in case.

Now Gail was gracious enough to let me give away 2 books on my blog, and not just any old books but these two are signed by her. The inscription can be made out to you or who you choose, nice, eh.

So to win Gail’s newest book I am using Rafflecopter once again, and please leave a comment telling me one of the biggest money lessons you have learned.is

This contest runs till Feb. 12th
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Saveland Celebrates I Don’t Know How She Does It Release with Contest

Saveland.ca is celebrating the January 3rd release of I Don’t Know How She Does It with a giveaway. They are giving away a $500 Molly Maid card to help out that juggling mom.

I Don’t Know How She Does it stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Bronson, and Greg Kinnear. Kate (Sarah) and her husband Richard (Greg) juggle work, life and kids in this comedy. This movie with its adult humor is great for a girls night in as it looks and plays at all the juggling a working mom does. I really liked the cast of characters so was glad to preview an advance copy of the DVD.

Haven’t we all heard I don’t know how she does it? Moms juggle, it is simply what we do. We buy the pie, or stay up way too late baking cookies needed the next day, we know when and where every member of the family needs to be. Moms are amazing folk. Trust me we do not need to feel the guilt seen in this movie, it is ok to take the time to breathe and know it is all going to be ok.

Be sure to check it out as you can get it on DVD as of tomorrow.

and don’t forget to enter the Saveland contest.

 

 

She’s Connected Adventure: Check Out the Toshiba Tablet

Toshiba HH BrandAmb 125x125 Shes Connected Adventure: Check Out the Toshiba Tablet

 

You all remember how this past fall I attended She’s Connected. Well more recently I was lucky enough to be selected to work with Toshiba and review their wonderful Thrive Tablet.

I decided to check out the tablet at Best Buy. I love the Dundas St location right downtown here in Toronto. Right next to the famous Yonge/Dundas Square. This is where I bought my desktop and laptop earlier this summer.

I went on Friday night along with my Toshiba Camileo to check out the tablet. Guess what? When I got there guess what is on sale? The tablet. Here is a link to Best Buy flyer for $319.99 you can get the 8 GB one. Now that is a great deal!

TOSH0012 300x225 Shes Connected Adventure: Check Out the Toshiba Tablet

So what did I find out that I love about the tablet?

  • Love the colors. I am a girl so yeah I like color! an I get the blue please.
  • 2 cameras!! For this girl who loves photography that works.
  • A replaceable battery. We all know batteries lose their usefulness over time so this is a wonderful feature
  • Lots of ways to connect: SD Slot, Full Size USB 2.0, Full Size HDMI are all there
  • a speedy processor-that is always a good thing.
  • a more than decent keyboard that was easy to use, important for the person who lives with their tablet more than their laptop or desktop.

There are lots of reason why I would want this under my tree, and with it on sale this week at Best Buy, what a great buy.

Now on the way home from this wonderful adventure I had the misfortune of losing my Toshiba Camileo that I had received for free from Toshiba and She’s Connected for participating or you would have seen more pictures and I had even shot a video.

You can check out Toshiba’s website. You can also find them on facebook and twitter.

After playing with the Thrive Tablet can’t wait to see the Excite coming out in February.

 

*I am participating in the Toshiba Brand Ambassador program by ShesConnected.com. I received a Toshiba Camileo in exchange for my participation in this campaign. The opinions on this blog are my own.

 

 

 

A Thank You Using Touchnote

Touchnote Eid Campaign2 A Thank You Using Touchnote

I pray that my Muslim readers had a very joyus Eid Mubarak! My weekend has been more then crazy! Moving and a major Muslim holiday don’t mix really well. Thankfully I have some great friends who made moving and unpacking seem easy. I am ever so thankful for them and wanted to share an idea about a quick way you might want to say Thank you this Eid, or anytime you need to thanks.

A little while ago I wrote about Touchnote, an app( for Iphone,droid or desktop) that let’s you send postcards using your own photos  Instead of buying a thank you card  I used one of my favorite photos and uploaded it to Touchnote.

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A Touchnote Thank You

I was able to thank both of my friends who were in valuable in the message box. I then went on to the next screen where I added an address and guess what they will have a thank you note from me in just a few days from now. How many times have we forgotten how important thank you’s are. I think getting a thank you postcard shows appreciation and thanks and is a simple easy way to convey what is in the heart.

Thinking of all the ways I can use The Touchnote app, and I can think of a few: a thank you card, an appointment reminder, an invite, or a just because card. What can you think of?

Since I have started playing with this app it has become more and more valuable.

You can find out about Touchnote here;

How would you use the app? Who would you send a postcard too?

Disclosure: I was selected for this campaign by American Muslim Mom Media Network, and received products free of charge. The thoughts and opinions of this campaign as always are my own.

Enter, Gift and Win with the Heart and Stroke Foundation

Calendar Logo Wincredibles shadows1 300x131 Enter, Gift and Win with the Heart and Stroke Foundation

It is back!

The Heart and Stroke Foundation is back again this year with the Heart and Stroke Calendar, and your chance to win every day of the year.You can even win 2 calendars here on my blog, one to keep and one to give. There will be 5 winners right here.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation is very near and dear to me for a number of reasons. My father who died 10 years ago this week had issues with his heart for years, in fact he lived through 7 heart attacks! My uncle died of cardiac arrest very young at the age of 42. Then 3 weeks ago I started having chest pains, in fact while I was at Blissdom Canada, I was sitting next to my friend Theresa Albert as we got our nails done and was telling her about this reoccurring pain, that seemed to come every time I exerted myself even a little and sometimes I didn’t even have to exert myself much to get it going. Theresa was more than a little upset with me. She told me to get it checked immediately….like leave conference and high tail it to doctor. Well, I went right after conference. I was ever so thankful it wasn’t my heart this time, by I am over the age of 40, overweight, and have a strong family history of heart disease. So it could happen.

This organization does great work, that does a lot to help in the fight of this the number #1 killer of women.

The sale of calendars goes to a great cause, and when you buy you can win too, so that’s a bonus. How about buying and giving? They make a great frugal gift at $25.

There are THREE chances to win cash every day of the year. That is up from last year when there was only one. Every winning calendar number is automatically re-entered into the draw so you can win again and again. Plus, there are the Funtastic Friday’s $10,000 draw,the Month-end Madness $100,000 CASH PRIZE draw – and the special Monthly Holiday Jackpots, worth a cool $25,000!

You can help  the Heart and Stroke Foundation to “Pay it Forward” by gifting a Heart&Stroke Calendar Lottery to someone who touches your life. It could be a neighbour, a teacher, a family member, anyone who you feel deserves to be recognized! What a frugal way to show support!  By purchasing a calendar for $25 you’re supporting the Heart and Stroke Foundation life-saving research and giving the possibility of winning daily cash prizes every day of the year. It’s simple; we want to create a chain of giving and paying it forward: get a calendar, give a calendar.

Now the calendars themselves are works of art and contain the beautiful photography of some amazing amateur photographers from the Facebook group.

Now when join the movement, let people know if you’ve bought them a calendar! Tweet @theHSF and use the #GiftAndWin hashtag on Twitter to join the conversation. Don’t forget to like them  on Facebook on the Heart and Stroke Foundation page as well as the Heart and Stroke Calendar Lottery page, where the daily winners are announced.

The Heart& Stroke Calendar Lottery is on sale from October 3, 2011 to December 20, 2011 at midnight (while supplies last). Calendars will be available for purchase online, by phone at 1-888-514-7767, or by mail. Purchasers need to be at least 18 years of age Calendars cannot be purchased in the name of a minor. Please note that the Heart&Stroke Calendar Lottery is intended for Ontario residents only.
For more information or to make a purchase, visit calendar.heartandstroke.on.ca

HURRY! Buy before November 10, 2011 and you’ll get a chance to win an extra $25,000 in our Early Bonus Prize! Order your Calendar before December 15, 2011 and you’ll automatically be entered into the wonderful  Early Bird Prize of a cool quarter million – $250,000!

It is the Perfect Gift – Calendars make a perfect choice for the holidays! Orders received by December 1, 2011 will be delivered to the primary purchaser by December 24th!

 

Now to win on my blog..

You can be one of 5 winners here on my blog by doing one of two things or get two entries and do both.

1. The Calendar Lottery celebrates Paying it Forward to those who help you in big and small ways. By giving a calendar, you’re supporting the Heart and Stroke in life-saving research and giving the possibility of winning daily cash prizes every day of the year. Who do you want to Pay it Forward to and why? Comment counts as one entry

2.Simply tweet “Give your friends a chance to win big & support @theHSF by paying it forward. Get a calendar, give a calendar. #GiftandWin.” make sure u cc @commoncentsmom on your tweets. As well please leave me a comment with a link to your tweet. You can tweet a maximum of once a day…so that means if you start today, you could have 12 entries.

This contest is open to Ontario residents ONLY and will end Nov 12th, 2011 at 11 pm

There will be 5 winners who will each receive 2 calendars!!

 

Win with Kinder Moments

One of my favorite brands, Kinder comes out with a wonderful new Facebook application called Kinder Moments. If you have a holiday photo or really any fun funky photo you want framed you can simply upload it and voila within moments you have a beautiful framed photo to share.

I have already gone and played with the application. My daughter loved to tree climb and we had a perfect weekend for it awhile back and enjoyed our day in High Park so I had to capture that moment in a frame.It was a day of laughter and joy, that I was able to capture and now it is a framed moment that will be around for a very long time.

527920906 gallery 778 Win with Kinder Moments

 

I love that we can add frames to those special moments of our lives, what a great way to remember and stay in the moment.

 

Have you liked Kinder on Facebook?  Look on the left side of the page is a tab labeled My Kinder Moments; this is where you can frame your Kinder Moments.  And this month there is a prize!! Think the framed memory and a prize, I think that is awesome.

Right now, when you load a picture this month, you will be entered to win $500 gift card to treat yourself to a new Fall Wardrobe. I can’t win as I am a #kindermom but would love for my friends to win. I have loved working with Kinder these last 3 months, and if you know us Kinder and Kinder Eggs  have been a will always be part of our lives. Thanks Kinder for another great way to capture the simple moments that bring us pleasure.

*Disclosure: I am part of the Kinder Mom program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Win a New Smile with Invisalign Teen

2642841727 084242f23e Win a New Smile with Invisalign Teen

Look at my braces! © by valentinapowers

Are you a mom who has a teen who needs braces? or maybe you are like me and you do?

Personally since I was young I have hated my mouth. But I have been too afraid to go to the dentist to get the work done, after all who wants to have a metal mouth?

When I was young we could never afford the expensive work, and well the cost of dental work can be scary especially when you have teens in the house so I was actually excited when I saw that Invisalign Teen were giving away a full treatment with the value of $7000 to a lucky Canadian.

Why do teens want it,instead of the good old metal mouth? Why do moms love it?

It fits teens’ busy lives
Invisalign aligners are comfortable and durable (they are made of plastic), so it’s easy for teens to continue the activities they currently enjoy (like playing sports or musical instruments) which might otherwise be challenging or uncomfortable, wearing traditional metal braces.

They looks great.
Invisalign’s near-invisibility is still one of the most popular features for teens; treatment is very inconspicuous, making it easier for teens to “fit in” without calling attention to their orthodontic treatment.

They can remove them.
Since teens can take the aligners out to brush and floss, they can maintain normal, healthy hygiene during treatment. No more gross, gunky braces to worry about!
They can eat what they want – no “forbidden” foods.

It’s comfortable.
Invisalign Teen aligners are made of lightweight plastic that is custom-fitted to each patient’s teeth.
There are no wires or uncomfortable metal brackets poking or scratching their mouths or gums.

Sounds great right? To enter to win the treatment you enter here

Contest Banner Option3 300x146 Win a New Smile with Invisalign Teen

Now for my blog readers Invisalign Teen is giving one reader a cute outdoor sports chair. All you have to do is leave a comment. Remember you have to be Canadian to enter.This giveaway ends November 17th, at 11:00 pm EST.

So leave a comment and dont forget to go and enter on the main site as well.

*Disclosure – I am participating in the Invisalign Teen program by Mom Central Canada on behalf of Align Technology, Inc. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own.

 

 

TouchNote Eid2Eid Challenge

Touchnote Eid Campaign2 TouchNote Eid2Eid Challenge I am very excited as I was asked to share the TouchNote Eid2Eid Challenge with my readers, and guess what is the best part you don’t have to be Muslim to participate. Everyone can get in on the fun. I am part of a 5 blogger challenge!

From today , until Eid al-Adh, which is around October 25th, 2011 Touchnote wants to see how creative we can get.  We will be using their fabulous app and website. You can turn your digital pictures into physical postcards.Yes, postcards mailed to your family & friends. So if you are away or just want to send a friend a note you can use the app to do so.

Here is the challenge:  Touchnote and American Muslim Mom wants me and you to Show & Tell how we can creatively use Touchnote to send personalized postcards from Eid al-Fitr to Eid al-Adha. All you have to do is comment at American Muslim Mom using all your creativity. 50 Commentors will recieve a credit for a free post card, and the most creative comment a $50 Visa gift card.

Do you remember the days of getting a real old-fashioned postcard? I do. Well that is because a person I know who was visiting Paris sent me home a beautiful postcard, and what a delight it was to get it..what might of even made it better, if they had taken the picture themselves and uploaded it to Touchnote. Touchnote does mail internationally. In the days of email, facebook, google+, etc isn’t just sweet when you get real mail.

I am planning on sending postcards this Eid to friends overseas, and to 2 girlfriends in the USA. Who would you be sending too? Remember you can send them anywhere. I can’t wait to be part of this challenge.

Get this if you participate in the challenge, and simply comment,  besides sending off a beautiful postcard you could end up winning a $50 Visa Gift card.

Here is how you can join in the fun :

How Your Readers Can Participate:

  1. Comment at American Muslim Mom.  The 50 most creative to comment & follow instructions in the Touchnote Eid2Eid Campaign will get a Touchnote postcard credit.
  2.  Deadline: Tuesday, October 25, 2011 11:59 Eastern Time. Credits will be dispersed asap.

You can learn more about TouchNote..

At their website, or become a Facebook Fan, or even follow them on Twitter

tn logo TouchNote Eid2Eid Challenge
Disclosure: I was selected for this campaign by American Muslim Mom Media Network, and received products free of charge. I was not influenced in anyway to provide only positive statements. The thoughts and opinions of this campaign are my own.

Making Time for Family Fun

0351 300x300 Making Time for Family Fun Most of us who are parents right now are settling back into routines and things of that nature so there is much that must be tackled. If your house is anything like mine it sure is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle and forget to stop with the hustle and simply stop and have some family fun, some play time.

One of the most important things we do or try to do every day is tackle fun. I make it a point to spend part of our day simply in play and since I parent a young teen that is not always an easy thing to do let me tell you.

Whether it be something as simple as Egging my daughter, with a Kinder Egg that she still finds to be fun and yummy so we have a bonus with that one, to getting her to play creatively with our dinner menu when it is her turn to cook, to sharing a video, or a really good song we try and take time to simply have a little fun and to have some daily play time.

One of our favorite joint activites is to pull out a board game. My young teen still loves these thank goodness! We have spent many an hour tackling a good game of Monopoly or Risk.

I am grateful that play and fun do not have to cost alot, and well it sure helps us save our sanity.

Now getting back to egging my daughter with Kinder Eggs, it is something I have done since she was little and she has loved it and I am so thankful that I can say I am a #kindermom.

Have you checked out their Facebook Page yet? They are giving away  ten $200 Kinder gift baskets? Draw is October 12th! Think of the fun you could have with that.

How do you tackle play and family fun?

*Disclosure: I’m part of the KINDER® Mom program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

*this post will be shared as Tackle Tuesday on 5 Minutes for Mom.

Back to School Savings with CentrSource

cs love logo.en CA Back to School Savings with CentrSource Well it is that time of year again when our kids are settling back into the school routine. I love that my own teen is loving being back in school and absolutely loves her new school. Now the one thing her new school uses lots of is computer technology.

Since my teen daughter’s new school day is made up of mostly playing on the computer and learning at the same time our school supply list has changed quite a bit. She needed a new laptop, we need ink and toner for the printer because you know as this year progresses there will be lots printing going on in this house. One of the things my teen loves to do is take lots of photos and she loves to print them off for art projects for school, and the other is scan her work and upload to her favorite art community that she is part of.

So that left this mom needing to shop. I was first introduced to CentrSource a few months ago by a good friend and as there tag line goes it truly has become a place to find things we love and need where we live and work.

I  love that I can simply type in what I am looking for, and my postal code and voila there are offers that I can choose from that are all local to me.What kind of offers can you find?

An Offer is a product or service a Seller wants to share with you. For example:

  • Incentive
  • Coupon
  • Promotion
  • Discount on an item or service
  • Event
  • Free Trial

And get this the best part about shopping on CentrSource is the Stores want to reward you with SourcePoint$ so when you request product samples, download a discount coupon, try a new product or whatever else a Store has to share.You can collect your points so you can cash them in on great products at the SourcePoint$ Store. If you really like something you can even follow the store and share offers with your friends so they don’t miss out on any great deals. Think of it as letting your friends share in your shopping trip and share in your savings too. Personally I think checking out CentrSource before you head out the door is a smart money saving solution.

* I was paid for this post by CentrSource but in no way does payment effect the content of the post. I was simply asked to review the site.

PS..Seriously if you need ink and toner you do want to check out the deals and save yourself some cash.