The Benefits of Renting Your College Textbooks!

We are currently in December which means that a lot of college students are looking forward to a new semester and putting the old one behind them. That means one thing...it's crunch time and also it is time to start shopping for new college textbooks. Ok, I am a college graduate and have an Associates Degree in Administrative Assisting. I remember my college days very well and the one thing that seems to be an issue for any college student is money. I never had any. Ha ha! I worked two jobs and made it through about 1 year of college by paying cash. However, the cash soon disappeared no matter how hard I was working and I ended up getting loans. Yuck. Anyway, I think the biggest financial drain of college besides tuition was having to buy books. Books that seemingly were never used and just sat in the book bag, only opened on a few occasions. That drove me nuts. I spent hundreds on books and never really used them. Many of them were in brand new condition at the end of the semester and the textbook company was the only one that benefited.

Well, if you are a college student and are dreading having to buy new books, I wanted to let you know that there is another option that will help stretch your pennies a bit further. CampusBookRentals.com is an online company that RENTS out college textbooks and the perks are wonderful! Here are just a few...

-Save 40-90% off of bookstore prices
-Free shipping both ways
-Can highlight in the textbooks
-Flexible renting periods
-We donate to Operation Smile with each textbook rented
-21-Day Risk-Free Returns

To me, this would have been such a huge help...I dreaded having to buy my books and since I rarely wrote in my books, this would have been a great option. I am just spreading the word so other college students know about this wonderful company.

In conjunction with the CampusBookRentals website, there is also an option to rent out your textbooks to other students. This is also a fantastic way to make 2-4 times more money that selling books at the end of the semester (which hardly gives you any money at all). RentBack.com rents you books to students and you get paid for it! Waaaay cool. Check out this quick video on how it works.
So, whether you are looking to buy or sell your books, be sure to check out these sites as they have some wonderful options that will save and make you money! Both of those options are a big plus for any college student.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post for CampusBookRentals. All opinions and thoughts are my own .

Preconception Tips, A Good Book on Preconception Health & Fertility Prize Pack Giveaway

Having a baby is probably one of life's greatest accomplishments. I can remember when we found out that we were expecting our first, second and third babies...oh wow. The feeling is so unforgettable! The pure joy, excitement and fear that accompanies new parents is so amazing, it is hard to believe that such a little person could cause such elation. Well, for some couples, having a baby just is not that simple. Some can become pregnant only to lose the baby from a miscarriage. Some just can't get to the point of conceiving and this is a heartbreaking position to see them in. I have known couples who struggle with infertility and have been on forums in which mothers are constantly trying to conceive...most do not though. With us having three beautiful children, it is difficult to truly understand infertility as I have never had issues getting pregnant. However, I am a blogger and want to use my voice to help bring products to my readers that can help them overcome infertility and become parents. I am NOT a infertility expert, but hope that this next review will bring someone out there some hope.

Today, I am going to tell you about two products that can help answer questions about infertility and give you some easy tools and solutions as you walk down the road of infertility. “Before Your Pregnancy: A 90-Day Guide for Couples on How to Prepare for a Healthy Conception" is a book that was written by Amy Ogle. Amy wrote this book to educate couples on how they BOTH can best prepare for conception and she covers so many essential areas...I could not wait to check this book out!

ProXeed Plus is a dietary supplement for men that is meant to optimize sperm health. Many men (I am sure) don't realize that the infertility issue may be with them and that sometimes their sperm may just not be strong enough to do what they are designed to do. That is where ProXeed comes in...it deals with sperm quality, count, concentration, mobility and speed.

So, for this review I was sent the book “Before Your Pregnancy: A 90-Day Guide for Couples on How to Prepare for a Healthy Conception" as well as a month's supply of ProXeed. Because I do not struggle with infertility, it was important for me to take a deeper look into the issue that is not always talked about but is so devastating to so many. How does infertility happen and what can we do to help ourselves? These are some questions I had going into this review.

First off, ProXeed is a super easy way for men to give themselves a little boost when it comes to sperm health. Like it or not, those little swimmers are necessary for conception and their health matters too! This dietary supplement is a fruit flavored powder that will dissolve into any beverage and should be taken twice a day. This is why there are two packets attached to each other...so your man doesn't forget to take both during the day. This is something that is simple, quick and easy to do and does not require a lot of time or thought...I love this idea!

Ok, so I love the cartoon in the introduction of the book...so cute! It really brings parenthood into perspective and hits on the reality of of middle of the night feedings. :) Something every wanna-be parent should think about. 

Amy Ogle is a registered dietitian and I truly appreciate that she takes a good portion of this book to address dietary health. Having a healthy body is key to a healthy pregnancy and body. Even before you conceive, the body needs some important things to prepare for conception and because we eat so much junk food in our society, it truly is refreshing to see the benefits of a good diet highlighted. 

Another aspect of preconception is the fact that exercise needs to be a part of your life...male and females alike! I remember after my first baby was born...I immediately dropped 30 pounds and weighed less after her birth than I did before I was pregnant with her. My next two babies...the weight didn't come off as easily and I still carry some of that around, unfortunately. However, I go in spurts where I really want to exercise and honestly, as a family we do a lot of walking so exercising has always been a part of my life in one way or another. I love how Amy highlights exercise in her book and gives some nice illustrations on how to do certain profitable exercises.

I wanted to share a quick infographic with you that highlights some great tips on preconception for him and for her...take a look:

That pretty much sums up the entire point of this book...take care of yourself. When you really think about your overall health, you tend to think you are doing pretty good. BUT, there are always areas that could use work and when you are thinking about having a baby, you need to take these tips and hints very seriously. Ladies, your body will carry a child so it needs to be as healthy as you can make it. Guys, your little swimmers are the only way you will become a daddy so take care of them and they could change your life forever! I really enjoyed checking out the book “Before Your Pregnancy: A 90-Day Guide for Couples on How to Prepare for a Healthy Conception"...it really opened my eyes to how I can take better care of my body and I also learned alot about infertility. It is a sad topic for many, but thankfully there is much that can be done to help! 

ProXeed retails for $125 for a one-month supply and the book “Before Your Pregnancy: A 90-Day Guide for Couples on How to Prepare for a Healthy Conception" retails for about $15. If you know of someone who has been wanting to have a baby, please tell them about these products and how they can soon be on the road to parenthood. 

One of you now has the opportunity to win a two week supply of ProXeed as well as Amy's book: “Before Your Pregnancy: A 90-Day Guide for Couples on How to Prepare for a Healthy Conception". Here are your entry options...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I received no monetary compensation for this post. I did receive free products for review purposes. All quotes and stock photos are from the sponsor's website and email. Prize is being provided and shipped by the sponsor. This blog is NOT responsible for lost, stolen or damaged prizes. All thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.

Greene Bark Press ~ "Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again" Board Book Review

I am a huge fan of teaching my children the basics about road safety as soon as they are able to grasp the concept of danger...which is typically when they are still very young. When our first child was a toddler, she was very much an explorer and she loved to wander. I didn't let her out of my sight when we were outside because she could take off in a heartbeat and if I wasn't paying attention, she would disappear. At the time, we had a very short, black-topped driveway but lived on a very quiet street. She loved to go outside and play so most nice days, that is exactly where we would be...out in the front yard playing on all the riding toys. I remember one day like it was yesterday. She was playing on the driveway and I was sitting there watching her. In the blink of an eye, she was racing towards the street as fast as her little legs could carry her and no matter how loud I yelled, she wasn't stopping. I finally caught up with her and carefully and FIRMLY explained that we do NOT run into the road. Ever. She learned quickly with dedicated training sessions in which I would let her go and give her voice commands as to when she should stop. Surprisingly, she learned quickly and didn't enter the road unless I was with her.

Now that she is older, she has begun to ride a bike and we go for long walks in our neighborhood. She is learning the concept of stopping at stop signs, riding on the SIDE of the road rather than down the middle and how to start and stop her bicycle safely. These are all things that she needs to know in order to ride her bike and we have had fun teaching her! Today, I am going to introduce a cute board book to you that will help YOU to teach your child all about road safety and this book is from Greene Bark Press and it is called "Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again", which retails for $8.50. I was sent this book to read through with my children and wanted to share my thoughts with you today. :)

Oh goodness...this is such a cute little board book! Perfect for children ages 3 - 8, it is full of cute characters, adorable, brightly colored pictures and wonderful lessons to be learned about crossing the road safely. The story line is all about a little duck named Wally Waddlewater, who wants to mail his grandmother a letter...but needs to cross busy streets in order to get to the mailbox.

Packed full of action and scenarios that are perfect for teaching children, this book is very well put together for little ones. Before I had the chance to actually read this book TO my children, they had grabbed it and ran off with it simply so they could look at the pictures! They absolutely loved the drawings and they are good enough, you really don't need words to fully understand what is happening in the pictures.

One of my favorite sections in the book is when Wally Waddlewater was walking and they used the words "Wadda, Wadda" to describe the walking...I thought that was sooo cute! You can use voice inflections to make it seem cuter too...which....*ahem*...I did. :) 

Wally Waddlewater has to wait for many things to come down the road before he can cross (elephants, trains, etc.) and if his mommy was not there to guide and teach him, he would have been badly injured. The good news is that he did learn how to cross the street and was able to get his letter into the mailbox safely.

This book has been GREAT for teaching all of my children about crossing the road. I also love how it teaches obedience...immediate obedience. This is something we strive for in our children and I love it when a book comes along side my teaching and helps to reinforce the lesson we are trying to get across to them. So now, when we go for a walk as a family we always repeat the phrase "look left, look right, look left again" at each intersection, making sure the children stop walking/riding. They all turn their heads in both directions and ultimately, we make it safely across the street.

I would DEFINITELY recommend this book to anyone who is looking to teach road safety to their children. It is a fun way to teach a very important lesson to your child without scaring them or, God forbid, having them get hurt because you failed to teach them. 

So, check out Greene Bark Press' board book, "Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again" and invest in your children's safety today! You will be so glad that you did. Our family enjoyed this book and hope you will check it out! Be sure to read what my other crew mates had to say about this book, by clicking the banner below.

Christi the Coupon Coach "Couponing Made Simple" Book Review

Couponing. That word to me always meant hours upon hours of work, tons of time spent and grocery stores and saving loads of money. Well, the last part is totally true and so much fun when you get to experience it. I have always wanted to be a couponer but was never "brave" enough. Being a mommy of three little ones is tiring and I don't have a whole lot of extra time to spend doing things like couponing - or so I thought. As we have added children to our family it has become painfully clear that groceries and shopping trips are getting expensive. Our economy is terrible and the cost of EVERYTHING is going up. I used to dream of saving money at the cash register but honestly, never really looked into it because it is easier to just run to the store and buy what you need when you need it regardless of the price. Let me tell you...I am learning a few things about being wise with my money and being frivolous with what God has given is foolish.

Today, I am going to talk to you about a book I have been reading written by Christi the Coupon Coach and it is called Couponing Made Simple. Christi is a homeschooling mom of four children and obviously, is a busy lady! I was excited to read more about her ideas and tips for using coupons. At first, I was skeptical but as I began to read her book, I suddenly became aware of just how easy saving money can be. (!) I will say first and foremost, I appreciate the fact that Christi loves the Lord and talks about God in her book. Saving money to her is important spiritually because it is being a good steward with the money that God has entrusted to her and her family. This spoke volumes to me because I can be very frivolous with money and she really made me think about that aspect in relation to being a good steward.

Christi graciously sent me one of her books to read through and review and I have to tell you that I am feeling better equipped and EXCITED about being a good coupon user. My first observation was to note Christi's philosophy when it comes to using coupons. She is not an extreme couponer but holds to the idea that she teaches REAL couponing for REAL people. Here's a bit more about her book...

There is a lot of buzz about couponing.  A lot of people are excited about couponing and want to do it well, but I have found that many become overwhelmed, confused and unorganized.

That is why I have taken the new world of couponing and put it into a book that gives a step by step plan to follow.  I have also developed an organization system.  This allows people to be successful on their very 

first trip.  One lady read my book and saved 70% on her 1st trip!  Another attended a workshop and saved 84% on her 1st coupon run!

This is not "Extreme", but Real couponing for Real people.

I teach buying a reasonable amount of products using an organizational system that takes a reasonable amount of time for great savings! 

So, my first goal was to learn the steps that are necessary to be successful at couponing. Christi has the easy steps laid out in one chapter where she step-by-step explains what you need to do to get organized, use coupons and save money. I was first stumped by a phrase I read in this chapter and it read as follows...

"Buy at least one Sunday newspaper per person in your household. If you have an uneven number of people (i.e., five), bump up the number of newspapers to the next even number, six."

I am used to buying just one paper and using the coupons found in the inserts included in that one paper and didn't know the benefit of having more papers. So, I emailed Christi for clarification. The reason for doing this is because you want to have the most coupons for one item that you can. I experienced the negative side of this when I went to buy yogurt this past week. Chobani Greek Yogurt was on sale for 10 for $10, making each cup of yogurt $1 each. I found a coupon for $.30 off and my grocery store doubles manufacturer coupons up to $.99. Sooo, I only had ONE coupon. :( If I had clipped more, I could have really purchased alot of yogurt for just $.40 a cup. RATS! So, this is why you want to buy alot of newspapers and I am glad that Christi mentions this in her book.

Another thing I love that Christi talks about is how to find coupon matchups in your area. I have been wanting to find a blog or website that does the coupon matchups for the grocery store in my area and using her suggested method, I was able to find one!! This makes finding and using coupons sooo easy. It really takes out the work in figuring out how to use your coupons. She tells you what to look up when searching the Internet and this is something I knew NOTHING about. So, my favorite site that I have found I now subscribe to and every week, this gal gives me the coupon matchups and best deals for my store. Hooray!! Christi has her favorite coupon matchup sites listed on her website so check those out as well.

I have not yet implemented Christi's method for organizing coupons but fully intend to. She suggests using a recipe box and small accordion file. I love the idea of organizing your coupons in the order of how you shop through your store. I am really leaving out alot of detail when it comes to her organization system but basically you file all your coupons in your box and use the coupons as your shopping list. In your box you will have a section set up for coupons you don't use on the current shopping trip just in case there are no sales for that particular item. You can then re-file your coupons and use them on a later date. I love her idea because frankly, I went to the store with all my coupons stuffed in a small envelope and this is VERY disorganized and stressful. So, want to see how I did on my most recent "couponing" shopping trips? Check it out...

Ok. So, this picture represents two different stores. One was Walgreens and the other was Tops Friendly Markets. In my area there are two major grocery stores...Wegmans and Tops. The closest Wegmans to me is about 1/2 hour away so I don't shop there hardly at all. Tops is my main go-to store. I also love that they have so many 10 for $10 deals and also they double all manufacturer coupons up to $.99. This is so cool, especially if you have $.75 off coupons...they double them so you are actually getting $1.50 off!!! Anyway, here is what I have in the picture above. General Mills cereal was on sale 4 for $10 and if you purchased 4 boxes, you got a free gallon of milk. So, because I was just trying out couponing, I didn't have a huge stash of coupons. I was able to get my four boxes of cereal and used two $.50 off coupons on two of the boxes...which meant I actually got $1 off two boxes. When the cashier rung up my groceries, I didn't get a coupon for the free milk so after I finished checking out I went to the head cashier station and showed my receipt to the girl working there. She checked the ad, verified that I was supposed to get a free gallon of milk and then refunded us for the milk. Awesome! See the three packages of Bic Soleil razors? I only paid $3.99 for each of those thanks to my $2 off coupons.

My shopping trip to Tops would have cost me $43.31 but thanks to store discounts and coupons, I only paid $24.70.  Now, that isn't a HUGE savings but it is pretty good, considering I have never used coupons like that before.

Now, we get to Walgreens. Schick Disposable Razors were buy one, get one 50% off. I had coupons for BOGO so I used two of those coupons on four packages of Razors. Then, I had three individual coupons for Gillette razors. They were priced at $5.99 each and I had three coupons...two for $3 off and one for $5 off. So, I paid only $.99 for one of the razors!

I ended up spending a total of $18.92 and SAVED $36.48 with bonus points and coupons. WOW! For me, that was a HUGE savings.

Real quick, one last receipt I wanted to show you was from a quick, emergency stop at a local Dollar General. We were at church and my son had a HUGE poo poo diaper and blew out his pants. Completely. I had to run to the store and buy him a new pair of pants. Well, I chose a pair of denim blue jeans and they were marked $10. I also bought diaper cream. I get to the checkout and was floored when my total came to just the price of the diaper cream. I remarked to the cashier "Wow! The pants must have been on sale!" She had the personality of a brick wall and didn't respond and I went on my way. When I got in the car, I looked at my receipt. The pants rang up for $.01!!!!!!! What a BLESSING! I asked my sister about this because she worked at Dollar General for several years and she said that when they want to push inventory, they mark down items like this but you have to know what to look for. I was thrilled that I only paid a penny for my son's pants and that is a deal I got when I used no coupons! Ha ha! :) 

Soo, I think it is safe to say that I am officially hooked on using coupons and looking for good deals. Christi talks about keeping your eyes open for thrift store deals, garage sales and online deals as well. I blogged recently about a FANTASTIC deal Maidenform was having for their $10 bra sale. I purchased two bras for a total of about $17 + FREE shipping. So, you have to keep your eyes open for special sales and take advantage when you can. 

Christi the Coupon Coach's book retails for $18 or you can purchase the ebook for $4.99. I would recommend buying the book itself because there are pages in the back for you to write notes and that is great, especially if you are trying to learn how to coupon. I am grateful to Christi for giving me the opportunity to review her book and hope that this review helps you to see how simple it can be to save your pennies. Be sure to check out more reviews for Christi's book by clicking on the banner below and happy couponing!!! :)

Preserve Home School Memories With Picaboo Yearbooks!

Even before I was a mother, I loved taking photos and using those pictures in photo albums and scrapbooks. The many missions trips I took are now preserved beautifully in handmade scrapbooks and I love looking back at those memories safely tucked away for easy viewing. Now that I am a mom, I have continued on with my scrap booking and each one of my children has a scrapbook from their first year. It takes some time to do these books but it is well worth the effort. Being that we now home school, we have yet another big part of our lives that can be preserved via pictures and scrapbooks and I have taken full advantage of that. I have just this week completed my daughter's Pre-K and it feels GOOD to be done! I also am very pleased that we have finished and she progressed so well. Homeschooling can make you feel like you are missing out on things that public educated children receive...like graduation ceremonies and yearbooks; until now.

I am a home school graduate and never had a yearbook. It is NOT silly to have a yearbook for your family's home school and I am here today to introduce you to Picaboo Yearbooks! This is a company that allows schools - public, Christian and home school to create their very own customized yearbooks...something that I had never dreamed of having for my own children.

For the purpose of this review, I was given the opportunity to create a 20 Page Softcover Yearbook and I took my ideas to the Picaboo Yearbooks website and began to let my creative juices flow. Before I started anything, I watched the tutorial that is offered on the site. I had tried to give it a go on my own first, but quickly realized that this would take a bit of learning first. 

The first thing you need to do is create a book and then label your sections. You can use whatever section names you wish such as Field trips, Writing Class, etc. These category titles won't be printed in your book but are just guidelines to keep you organized. I did have problems adding more pages to each section though and still don't know exactly how to do that. When you are setting up the sections, you choose ahead of time how many pages you want for each section. Well, when I started my project I had no idea how many pages I would want for each section so when I got into the book and started designing, I realized there were some sections that I wanted more pages for and some that I wanted less. Changing that seemed impossible and so I just added extra sections at the end.

Next, you upload the images you want to use and put them in the different sections. One thing that I struggled with was figuring out how to move images from one section to another. For instance, I had some pictures in the wrong section and wanted to move them but could not figure out how. I played with the application for awhile and finally figured it out. Watching the tutorial helped some but I still dealt with a bit of confusion. Once you have organized your pictures you can get to work designing your pages. As you can see in the photo above, I have all my pictures for those two pages on the bottom of the screen. You can pick out different layouts, backgrounds and fonts to use and this is where I had the most fun! :) There are many MANY backgrounds to choose from and so you can really customize your pages to fit the photos and your "tastes".

Here is an up-close photo of two pages from my Yearbook. One feature that I loved was when it came to moving around the pictures, you would get notified if your picture was out of the printable area. This really helps to prevent your pictures getting chopped off or cropped. As I would move a picture around, the areas that would not be printed would highlight yellow so I knew I had to rearrange my pictures/text differently. For schools, Picaboo Yearbooks allows you to have multiple people working on the yearbook at one time so you can really experience diversity and personality in each section.

Designing each page was SO MUCH FUN. :) It brought back so many memories of our first year of home school (which is a monumental accomplishment for me) and it feels good to now have these memories all in one place to look at in the years to come. I now want to show you some of my favorite pages of my year book. :)

This is the front and back of my Yearbook. I chose the background, font size and type and also the text. I love how it turned out!

On this page, I was able to document some of Hannah's days of writing. Teaching a child to learn how to write is such a wonderful feeling, I wanted to remember that. Her concentration and focus was adorable! I really liked this page's background because it looks like a child's writing.

This was also a fun page because it shows how we utilized the iPad for certain subjects...here she is writing letters on our handwriting app. 

This is quite possibly my favorite page of the entire book. Hannah was having one of "those" days and I happened to capture her mood in a photograph.(This also proves the importance of documenting the good along with the bad...it is all memorable!) We had MANY of those days and this just goes to show that being a homeschooler is not always easy but we do make it and survive the hardest of days! :)

These two pages were fun to create only because they show our first days of home school and the transition from homeschooling in the old house to doing school in our new house...an important time of our life that I want to look back on fondly. 

Last but not least, I wanted a really good final page for my thoughts about the school year. I found this amazing background that and I was able to type right in it, giving a black board look. Isn't it cute?!? I wanted a place for me to reflect on the year and give honor and glory to God...for it is HIS strength and grace that saw us through our very first year of home school! I am THRILLED with my Picaboo Yearbook. I would love to get one for each year of home school because I believe it is truly a wonderful way to record and preserve your school memories. Cherishing these years is so important because they fly by so quickly.

Pricing for a yearbook identical to the one I received is $8.49 with additional pages costing $.22 each. You can get a FREE eYearbook as well! Not bad! The only thing I don't like is that shipping is $10.99...EEK! I think that shipping could be a bit cheaper as this book is super light and really would not honestly cost much to ship. **UPDATE** Shipping is now $8.99, which sounds so much better! :)

You can check out other review for Picaboo Yearbooks by clicking the banner below. My fellow Crew mates have some wonderful reviews and if you are still on the fence about if you want one or not, check out these reviews...I am sure you will be VERY excited about creating your very own Yearbook after reading what they have to say! :)