Totino's and Box Tops for Education Winner

The winner of the Totino's coupons, Box Tops, and school supplies is...

#32, LaVonne!

She became lucky #32 because she tweeted. :)

I've sent you an email already... I hope you enjoy your prize-pack, LaVonne!

Totino's and Box Tops for Education Giveaway!

Guess what? I haven't purchased Totino's Pizza Rolls for over a year. I used to pick them up occasionally when they were part of those "10 for $10, get $3 off instantly" promotions at Kroger but, alas, we no longer live anywhere near a Kroger. While my family hasn't suffered as a result of not having these snacks around, I will say that my middle child- my former micropreemie- absolutely adores the things. I think she prefers the little bits of meat in these snacky-size rolls to the bigger chunks I'm apt to put on my homemade pizza.

Convenience snack foods aren't typical fare around here, but I'm also not above taking a hand when I get it! I'm practical and easy-going enough to know that a couple of pizza rolls are not an indication that my children aren't fed a balanced diet.

I was excited to learn that Totino's is now helping to support our schools!

• Totino's Party Pizzas will now carry Box Tops for Education.
• Through September 14, Totino's is offering TWO Box Tops for Education on every Totino's product.
• Totino's is giving away 10,000 Bonus Box Tops, school supplies, and free Totino's snacks to eight lucky schools through the "Make School a Better Place Sweepstakes!"

To enter the sweepstakes, please visit here.

Want even better odds? Stay right here for a chance to win a prize pack containing:

• A backpack (it's a cool backpack too... no big logos or anything that would turn your kid off.;))
• School supplies (including glue sticks, highlighters, a calculator, and more!)
• Coupons for Totino's Party Pizza and Pizza Rolls Snacks
• 25 Bonus Box Tops (that's money for your school!!!)

To enter, simply leave a comment letting us know:

What is your best tip to make surviving the back to school season easier?

(If you choose to share about this giveaway on your blog, Twitter, or Facebook, please just leave additional comments letting me know you did so!)

(General Mills provided me with information, a prize pack, and the opportunity to offer this giveaway to you, my readers. All opinions are my own.)

A winner will be selected via Random.org on Friday, September 17th.

BJ's Gift Card winner

The winner of the BJ's gift card is...

Result: 5 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Ryan!

Thanks so much to all of you for participating. Please don't forget that, even if you didn't win the gift card, you can still get a 60-day free trial to go see if being a member of BJ's could save you some serious cash.

BJ's Giftcard Giveaway

Recently- well, in truth, almost a month ago- I was contacted by MyBlogSpark and given the opportunity to receive a gift card to BJ's Wholesale Club. I hadn't "warehouse shopped" for quite some time though I try always to find someone with a membership to pick up my yeast for me... if you use yeast and you're not already buying it in bulk this way, you simply MUST start- you'll save a bundle! Anyhow, I digress...

It took me awhile to even GET to BJ's because the closest one to us is fifty minutes away. This past weekend, we found a pocket of time and off we went!

Here are a few notes about my shopping experience at BJ's:

• I was very leery about shopping there so close to Christmas, but they were very well-staffed and had adequate parking.
• The young man at customer service was polite and informative, but not pushy- he told me about their current offers, but didn't drone on and on when I explained how far away I lived.
• The carts are very generously sized making it easy to put our infant seat IN the cart and our skinny 3-year old in the front... with plenty of room to spare.
• BJ's is the only wholesale club I'm aware of that allows manufacturer's coupons AND they encourage you to stack them with their store coupons.
• The annual membership fee at BJ's is $45 and comes with a money back guarantee. This means if a month before your year runs out you decide you haven't saved enough money to make it worthwhile, you can cancel and receive a refund for your entire $45. I was impressed that they stand behind their value that way!

I had all sorts of thoughts on how I was going to print off some great coupons and match them to bulk values and come out way ahead. The fact that our printer was on the blink halted those plans. And... truth? If you don't shop sales and coupons, you can save money just by buying in bulk at a warehouse club. If you are used to matching coupons to the deals, you can really do just as well at a grocery store on most things, in my opinion.

So... what did I buy? Well, with the $25 gift card I was given, I walked out with two organic, free-range chickens, four avocados (which my 6-month old has been enjoying!), three hearts of romaine, a 3 lb bag of limes, eight anjou pears, a 600-ct bag of coffee filters (another item I always try to buy at bulk stores!), and a giant bottle of vanilla extract. The chickens, especially, at $1.09/lb were a fabulous deal as far as I'm concerned.

The verdict? There are deals to be had! I think you have to have a pretty good "unit cost" established in your mind (or in a "price book") before you head out, but you can certainly score some great deals.

Would you like to give it a try yourself?

For a limited time, BJ's Wholesale Club is offering a free 60-day membership to anyone who wants one! You can get more information about setting up your own trial here.

For a chance to win a gift card so you can see how far $25 goes for you, please leave a comment on this post telling me what items you'd like to stock up on at BJ's!

For a second entry, follow @micropreemies on Twitter and let me know you did in the comments!

For a third entry, you may tweet about this giveaway on Twitter. Please include @micropreemies in your tweet and leave me a comment back here letting me know that you did!

**This giveaway will run through Friday, Dec. 18th.**

Thanks and best of luck to you!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Disclaimer: I received the gift card, information, and giveaway from BJ´s Wholesale Club and General Mills through MyBlogSpark. As always, my choices and my opinions are strictly my own.

Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters... Oh, My, My...

Okay, so let me just tell you that I will not even hesitate to say that I love these little things (well, except for the cashew variety. Hubby ate those- I don't like cashews). I make my own granola- vanilla/cinnamon, peanut butter, and chocolate/almond- and I start out just about every morning with a half-cup of the stuff. I love it! The truth of the matter, though, is that I sometimes run out before I manage to make up a new batch. I found these Nature Valley Nut Clusters to be a fantastic substitute when that happened. They were also much easier to eat on the road one day when I found myself rushing out the door!

The lovely people at My BlogSpark sent me that whole nifty set you see pictured above-- four (yep, FOUR) bags of Nature Valley Nut Clusters, binoculars, a stainless steel water bottle, a hiking pack, and a super-cool flashlight that you can manually power- my preschoolers thought that flashlight was about the niftiest thing ever and they took turns carting it to school for show and tell. We haven't taken the whole set on a hiking test-run just yet but I'll tell you this- when we do? We'll have to buy some more Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters because the ones we received are long gone!

I like that Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters are made with 100% natural ingredients and include nuts for protein. I'm a sweet/salty snacker myself (I love chocolate covered pretzels too!) and this snack fits the bill perfectly. Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters come in four yummy flavors: Nut Lovers, Roasted Almond (my personal fave), Roasted Cashew, and Honey Roasted Peanut. The pouch reseals easily but, to be perfectly honest, we usually didn't need to utilize that feature. Ahem.

Would you like to win a Nature Valley Granola Nut Cluster gift set of your own? Of course you would! They're yummy. And it's fun to get gift packs in the mail!

Here are a few ways to enter:

1. Leave a comment sharing what you enjoy doing most out in nature. (I like walking rocky shorelines the best!)
2. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment letting me know you did (please mention @micropreemies).
3. Mention this giveaway on your blog and leave a link in the comments.

That's it! Good luck!

This giveaway will remain open through Sunday, November 29th. A winner will be announced and notified on Monday the 30th.

**Disclosure: This prize pack was mailed to me by General Mills through My BlogSpark at no cost to me. I am asked to share my opinion with you all but my views are strictly my own. I am not being compensated for this review.**