I was recently contacted by the owner of Beanie Designs about reviewing one of their adorable hats. I took one look at their site and quickly agreed!
About Beanie Designs
Beanie Designs makes cute baby hats and head pieces for children. From infants to 10 year olds, they have adorable hats for boys AND girls. I love that the owner’s husband is actually the person that taught her how to crochet. Yacine started off crocheting just as a hobby and it quickly grew into Beanie Designs when she realized just how satisfying it is to create handmade items for other people (I can totally relate to that!).
The site is very easy to navigate and I love the bright colorful pictures, the majority of which are photographed on actual children. No stiff mannequin pictures on this site, see how the hat will actually look on your child before you purchase it!
Take a look at some of these adorable designs available:
The customer service I experienced through Beanie Designs was fantastic. Yacine was great to work with and our hat arrived quickly and in perfect condition.
The hat
There was really no choice for us when I first looked over the hats available on Beanie Designs website. My eyes were immediately drawn to this adorable brown hat with a big pink flower:
I asked my husband which hat he was interested in, and he chose the same.
When the hat got here we tried it on our daughter and she didn’t want to take it off all night long! She tried to sleep in it!
The next day at church, she wore the hat and we were sure she would take it off. When we went to pick her up from Sunday School, 2 hours later, she still had her hat on. We were pretty surprised because she’s never really liked wearing hats or headbands (she’s more of a bow girl).
Lizzie wears her hat all the time now and is even able to pull it on and off by herself now.
Here’s a short video of her enjoying her favorite hat:
Would you like to win a hat from Beanie Designs? Of course you do!
The Giveaway
This giveaway will be done via a Google Doc form. There is no need to leave a comment(unless you just want to say Hi!).
****I will not count comments towards entries.****
Complete any or all of these steps before filling out the entry form. The mandatory entry IS mandatory. Without that entry, no other entries will count.
Mandatory Entry (DO NOT LEAVE A COMMENT TO ENTER-use the form only. Comments will NOT be counted as entries):
This giveaway will run until April 8, 2011 at 9pm CST. It is open to US/Canada 18+
I was not compensated for this review or giveaway. I was given a hat free of charge from Beanie Designs. My words and opinions are my own. They are a great company with a quality product!
I will be dictating this entire review via Dragon NaturallySpeaking. I will not be making corrections, so if there are grammatical errors or words appear to be misused it is certainly not intentional, but is an accurate representation of how Dragon NaturallySpeaking works for me.
(Begin using Dragon)
I am on the computer well over 8 hours a day. The majority of that time is spent typing, and I have to admit…it can get a bit annoying and tiresome. So when I first heard about Dragon NaturallySpeaking from Nuance, I was absolutely sold. A software program that enabled me to be hands free while I worked? Yes please, sign me up!
When I was offered the chance to review the software for my blog, I jumped at the chance.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking is speech recognition software, which was created by Nuance. There are two versions available for PC’s:
Dragon Home–this is for the home computer user, and will run you about $99. 99 although you can typically get a pretty good deal on it through Amazon. although this version is pretty basic it definitely has enough interesting features to keep most computer users intrigued.
Dragon Premium –this is for professional use mainly. The premium version of Dragon definitely has a lot more bells and whistles to it. Consider it a personal assistant, except this personal assistant will do basically anything you tell it to. From basic speech to text to more complex computer commands, Dragon premium can revolutionize your home office. Dragon premium generally retails for around $199.99, however once again you can generally find it for a bit less on Amazon.
**** December 2012 UPDATE: Just wanted to give an update to this review! Nearly 2 years later and our blanket STILL looks brand new! It knocks the socks off of everyone who sees it! It’s still the blanket we fight over when it’s TV time as well 😉 . The colors are still vibrant and the pictures still look amazing!
Monday, March 7th, was my 5 year wedding anniversary. I knew I wanted to give my husband a really amazing, knock his socks off, kind of anniversary gift. I knew that I wanted it to be personalized, but I also knew that I wanted the gift to be useful. One of the things I love most about our marriage, besides our dedication to each other, is our dedication to our children. So I knew I wanted them to be included somewhere in this gift as well.
A pretty tall order for an anniversary gift.
Must knock his socks off
Must be personalized
Must be useful
Include our children
When I first came upon the Photoweavers website, I was intrigued. Photo blankets were not new to me, but quality ones…well I’m not sure if I had ever come across one of high quality. Upon first glance, I knew Photoweavers photo blankets were different.
***My Experience***
First I checked out their Inspiration Gallery, because I wasn’t exactly sure what kind of layout I wanted (or if what I wanted was even possible!). Once I saw the layout I was interested in, I decided to jump head first into creating my blanket.
The hardest part of this process was choosing what pictures I wanted to include. I decided to use a wedding picture and a picture of the children that my husband had really liked from Christmas.
After that, the process was incredibly easy. I chose the format, uploaded the pictures, placed them where I wanted and added the text I desired. It was that simple!
The blanket was shipped to me incredibly quickly and I remember being shocked to see it at my door in such a timely manner! I took the blanket out to look it over and initially was shocked at the size. A 70″x53″ blanket is much larger than I expected it to be! The kids were so excited about seeing the blanket, that they actually let the cat out of the bag and we had to give my husband his anniversary present a few days early.
Our photoblanket from Photoweavers is now the most sought after blanket in our blanket loving household! The children love it, my husband loves it and I do too. I don’t worry about the kids playing with it or getting it dirty because you can tell it is tough and made with top quality materials.
The best part is that it’s a blanket that we can all cuddle under together during family movie night!
***About The Company***
Photoweavers has more than just blankets. You can order totes, purses, pillows and even wall hangings! Their products are jacquard woven, 100% cotton and never printed. They will never fade and their blankets are machine washable.
They are a family owned company who has been weaving at their present facility in North Carolina for over 30 years. However, their ancestors were weavers all way back to the time of the American Revolution!
My experience with this company was remarkable. Correspondence was always timely and friendly, shipping was expedient and the product went beyond expectation.
In my opinion, Photoweavers photo blankets are in a league of their own. I specifically reviewed the 70″x53″ blanket and I chose a 3 Photo Layout. I kept one of those photo spots blank so I could write my own text. The result was this:
I tried hard to think of a negative for this product, I even asked my husband if there was anything he disliked. The entire process from start to finish was incredibly simple and the blanket itself is incredible. There simply are no negatives to point out. Don’t just take my word for it though, just check out their reviews on their site.
***Where To Order***
Interested in ordering a photo blanket from Photoweavers? Or any of their other incredible products? Head on over to the Photoweavers website for pricing and helpful tips and tricks to get the most of out of your ordering experience. Photoweavers even gave me a coupon code just for my readers! Use the coupon code familyfriendlyfrugality for the next 90 days and you will get 35% off your order from Photoweavers!
***The Giveaway***
You all know that Photoweavers is a great company that produces great products. You know where to buy them and you know how to get the FFF hookup 😉
Now, you have the chance to win one!
You will win a beautiful 70″x53″ large photo blanket that you get to create and design yourself!
How to enter:
This giveaway will be done via a Google Doc form. There is no need to leave a comment (unless you just want to say Hi!).
****I will not count comments towards entries.****
Complete any or all of these steps before filling out the entry form. The mandatory entry IS mandatory. Without that entry, no other entries will count.
Mandatory Entry (DO NOT LEAVE A COMMENT TO ENTER-use the form only. Comments will NOT be counted as entries):
Head on over to Photoweavers website and look around. Tell me why you want a photo blanket and what you would use it for!
Bonus Entries:
“Like” Photoweavers on Facebook (you don’t have to leave a comment unless you just really want to talk about how much you love them! Facebook rules state giveaways cannot be held there, so let’s be careful to abide by the rules!)
Tweet and/or post on facebook about the giveaway. Sample Tweet: Enter to #win the @Photoweavers Photo Blanket #Giveaway! $119 Value! @familyfrugal http://tinyurl.com/4bv3gxb Sample Facebook post: Enter to win a Photoweavers Photo Blanket ($119 Value!) from @Family Friendly Frugality. Enter the giveaway here http://tinyurl.com/4bv3gxb
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This giveaway is open to US residents 18+. The giveaway is also open to Canadian readers, however if you are in Canada you will have to pay postage. It is open until March 21st, 2011 at 8pm CST.
Photoweavers provided me with a blanket at no cost to myself for review. They did not pay me for this review, and I wouldn’t have accepted payment if they tried. Their products stand tall all on their own! Thanks Photoweavers!
Growing up, money was kind of a taboo topic in my household. We didn’t really talk about money at all to be honest. I have a vague recollection of an allowance, but I’m not sure if it was just given to me to spend or if I was encouraged to save? Either way, my husband and I have known from pretty early on that we wanted to be really open with our kids about money. You might recall a few months ago I wrote an article on Momtastic about How To Teach Your Kids The Value Of A Dollar. Well about a month ago, I decided it was time we really started practicing what we preached.
The problem was that explaining money to a preschooler is kind of like talking into the wind. Without concrete visual and tangible examples, our son didn’t have any way of understanding the concept of money (let alone it’s many uses!).
Enter the Money Savvy Pig.
This is by no means your typical piggy bank. Money Savvy Pig is an educational tool first and foremost. It’s a fun way to learn the basic fundamentals of finances that even adults struggle with.
One slot piggy banks have been around for….centuries. But the world h
as changed. Now we have a highly sophisticated financial system, a system whose complexity has outstripped the ability of most adults, many of whom grapple with credit card debt, even bankruptcy.
Personal finance education needs to start young. How? With the same universally loved childhood toy, the piggy bank….but with a 21st century twist! The Money Savvy Pig piggy bank has four chambers, one for each of the four money management choices a child should be taught from the time they are small. They are SAVE, SPEND, DONATE, and INVEST.
Amazing, right? I definitely thought it was something that we could have fun with. Something that would help us teach the building blocks of financial education. Gradually. I did not have any illusions that they would really grasp the concept this early on in life. I do think that the Money Savvy Pig has exceeded my original expectations.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I know that my son is not a financial whiz worthy of Wall Street at this point. I will argue that he probably has more financial knowledge then most children his age. I will also argue that using the Money Savvy Pig as a teaching tool, bridged the gap between a concept that would otherwise be considered abstract and foreign to something touchable and identifiable.
I filmed a short little video showing you the highlights of the Money Savvy Pig and how we use it in our household. Sometimes it’s easier for me to understand a product when I see actual customer videos, so I hope it is helpful. It is my first web video (self made with my Flip camera…nothing fancy!) so please forgive me for the total lack of professionalism.
As you can see, we are big fans of the Money Savvy Pig. We will likely be ordering another one in a year or so for Elizabeth to use. Are you interested in purchasing your own Money Savvy Pig? You can order one on the Money Savvy Generation website for just $16.99!
What about winning one? Money Savvy Generation has been so kind and so generous and will be giving away a Money Savvy Pig, right here on Family Friendly Frugality!
Here are the rules to enter:
MANDATORY Entry
Sign up for Money Savvy Generation’s free monthly e-newsletter “Helping Kids Get Smart About Money” (here’s the link to subscribe: http://tinyurl.com/MSGenNewsltr).
Blog about the giveaway! Just leave a comment letting me know where to find the post…you can give yourself TEN extra entries for this one!
Tweet and/or post on facebook about the giveaway. Possible 10 entries (5 for tweeting, 5 for posting on facebook) for this step
Sample Tweet: Enter to #win a Money Savvy Pig from @familyfrugal . This #giveaway is great for #preschoolers #parents #teachers http://tinyurl.com/5rrrdbm
Sample Facebook post: Enter to win a Money Savvy Pig from @Family Friendly Frugality. Enter the giveaway here http://tinyurl.com/5rrrdbm
For each action you complete, write it in the comment section. I will be using random.org to pick the winner. So if you earn 5 entries for tweeting, post 5 comments saying “I tweeted”. Be SURE I have a way to get in contact with you. You can leave a link to your blog, or preferably your email address (I recommend breaking it up like heather dot familyfriendlyfrugality dot com).
Entries open NOW and are open until March 4th 2011! Sorry but this giveaway is only open to US residents 18 years of age and over.
Money Savvy Generation provided me with a free Money Savvy Pig to review. They will be providing a free Money Savvy Pig for the giveaway. I have not received any compensation to write this review. The opinions are 100% my own.
Because Every Girl Should Have Flowers In Her Hair
One of the best things about having a little girl is getting to shop for her. At least for right now, Lizzie loves what mommy loves and I’m enjoying it! I make a lot of her clothing, but I have a confession…I cannot make a bow to save my life. Oh I’ve tried. I’ve burnt myself with my hot glue gun more times then I can count. So I tend to outsource my bow making! I have a great friend who makes the majority of Lizzie’s bows. One day though, I was searching for a bow and came upon a site called Flowerz In Her Hair. I immediately fell in love!
I mean look at all there is to love!
They have Loopy BowsPretty boutique bowsFunky FlowersEven teeny tiny bracelets!
So I immediately emailed Amy Jackson and asked her if she’d be interested in me reviewing something from her wide inventory. She was so nice and quickly wrote back that she’d love to! She asked what I would like to review and I hesitated. There was so much I wanted, but of course I didn’t want to seem greedy! So I told her we like purple and we like medium sized bows and told her to pick what she would like to send us.
Saved By The Bow
The day of Lizzie’s birthday party we were rushing around trying to get everything ready, when I realized we didn’t have a bow for her! My husband had just ran out to the mailbox and walked in with my review package from Flowerz In Her Hair. There is no way Amy could have known, but her package arrived in the knick of time!
These are the items that were in the review package (along with a really sweet note!):
A pretty pink bow, a purple bow and the most gorgeous little bracelet. Now Lizzie is a total bow diva, so I knew she’d love the bows. I was not so sure about the bracelet though. I was nervous putting it on her tiny little wrist (one time we were at party city and she just *touched* one of the play bracelets and it broke all over!), but it was very sturdy. She admired it for a minute and then went back to playing.
She enjoyed showing off the bracelet to everyone that came in and it looked so cute on her! The bow stayed perfectly in place the whole time and was the perfect compliment to her party outfit.
She has worn the bracelet and each bow several times since we received them and I am still so impressed at the quality and beauty of each piece.
I enjoyed conversing back and forth with Amy, and my entire experience with Flowerz In Her Hair has been overwhelmingly positive. I would definitely recommend this company to everyone I know!
The Giveaway
Would you like to check out Flowerz In Her Hair? Amy has agreed to giveaway a $15 e-giftcard to one of my readers!
Here is how to enter:
There will be one mandatory entry required for this giveaway and several optional entries. Please leave a comment for EACH entry method you complete (and if you get extra entries for a specific task, enter those seperately as well). VERY IMPORTANT: Please leave me a way of getting in contact with you if you are the winner. I suggest typing out your email address like this: heather @ familyfriendlyfrugality dot com
Mandatory Entry:
Visit Flowerz In Her Hair and tell me what you love! What products catch your eye?
Tweet or post on facebook about the giveaway (5 entries per social media outlet. For example: If you tweet AND post on facebook, you will have 10 entries). On twitter be sure to include @familyfrugal in your tweet. Here is an example tweet: Head over to Family Friendly Frugality and enter to #win a #giftcard to @amysflowerz http://tinyurl.com/4to67d5 @familyfrugal On Facebook be sure to @Family Friendly Frugality in your post as well. Here is an example post: Head over to @Family Friendly Frugality and enter to win a $15 Gift Card To Flowerz In Her Hair http://tinyurl.com/4to67d5
This giveaway will be open until 8pm CST February 18th 2011. I will close the giveaway to new entries and announce the winner soon after. The giveaway is only open to residents from the US/Canada who are over 18 years of age.
Flowerz In Her Hair provided me with their products to review at no cost to me. They are sponsoring this giveaway 100% and I have not received any compensation for holding this giveaway.
Recently I was contacted by a company called Skin MD Natural to review some samples of their Skin Care products. Now I am not a big lotion user. In fact, if I do use lotion, it’s generally for the scent. Not for the moisturizing. I guess you can say that the teenage acne I dealt with also blessed me with skin that is hardly ever dry. So when I received the packets of Skin MD Natural in the mail and smelled them, I wasn’t impressed. No vanilla scent, no peach scent, just plain old lotion scent. Being the good blogger I am though, I put them to the test and used them faithfully for a few weeks.
I received a good handful worth of samples. The Shielding Lotion with SPF 15 and one without the SPF 15. Despite my reluctance to use lotions, I have been thinking recently about my age and what that means for my skin. I am 28 years old and I am just now starting to become concerned with the youthfulness of my skin. I know that sun damage is one of the leading causes of premature aging, so wearing some kind of a lotion with SPF has been starting to become more important to me.
The problem is, the majority of SPF lotions I have tried on my face made my face oilier. I already have oily, acne prone skin so I found myself making a tough decision. Look like a teenager with breakouts to avoid premature skin aging? Or have clear skin now and watch my skin age rapidly due to excessive sun exposure? I started wearing the Shielding Lotion with SPF 15 under my makeup daily and was immediately impressed from the very first application. Each sample size has 3-5 applications in it, so a packet lasted me almost a week each time. The lotion glided on easily and immediately felt light on my face. Within a few moments, it would dry and I no longer felt as if I had just applied it. Except, when I would put my makeup on it would glide on with ease. I noticed my complexion looked much nicer and much more clear (a welcome change for me).
This lotion not only protected my skin from the elements of nature, it also made my face feel healthier and look more vibrant. I used the other lotion without SPF on my hands and on the kids a few times. It glides on just as easily as the one with SPF and it smells better (the one with SPF obviously has a sunblock smell to it. It fades really quickly though).
My final review? I like it a lot. The lotion has made my makeup glide on easier and improved my complexion. I know I’m protecting my skin from further aging when I go out in the sun and a little goes a long way. The package I received had over a dozen samples in it and I’m not even halfway through them. I recommend this product without hesitation.
Here is some info from the site:
A shielding lotion does the real work to prevent dry skin in two ways.
Click on the picture to read
First, it assists the inner layers of skin to absorb moisture. The humectant (an ingredient that attracts moisture) used in Skin MD Natural is unique to it and has been laboratory tested to be 6 times more effective than any other you will find in common creams.
Second, a shielding lotion enhances the power of the top layer of the skin to resist environmental irritants while protecting the inner natural moisture.
This can be a big benefit for those who cook, wash dishes and garden because Skin MD Natural helps skin retain its natural moisture and oils in the face of all those irritating soaps and chemicals.
The manufacturer’s website www.skinmdnatural.com has hundreds of dermatologist and user reviews including many addressing severe dry skin problems such as eczema and psoriasis. People with sensitive skin — and those of us who like to live as naturally as possible — will appreciate that Skin MD Natural is hypoallergenic, free of fragrances, parabens and colorants. It is made with more than 90% natural ingredients and 100% food-grade ingredients that are on the FDA’s “most safe” list
I would say that Skin MD Natural delivers on its promises!
Would you like to try Skin MD Natural Shielding Lotion? Skin MD has generously offered to provide one of my readers with the same packet of samples that I received. This packet has the potential to last you for several months and I promise you’ll be impressed by the quality.
Here is how to enter:
There will be one mandatory entry required for this giveaway and several optional entries. Please leave a comment for EACH entry method you complete (and if you get extra entries for a specific task, enter those seperately as well). VERY IMPORTANT: Please leave me a way of getting in contact with you if you are the winner. I suggest typing out your email address like this: heather @ familyfriendlyfrugality dot com
Mandatory Entry:
Visit Skin MD Natural and tell me what you love! What products catch your eye?
Tweet or post on facebook about the giveaway (5 entries per social media outlet. For example: If you tweet AND post on facebook, you will have 10 entries). On twitter be sure to include @familyfrugal in your tweet. Here is an example tweet: Head over to Family Friendly Frugality and enter to #win #Free Lotion From Skin MD Naturals http://tinyurl.com/4w38tsw @familyfrugal On Facebook be sure to @Family Friendly Frugality in your post as well. Here is an example post: Head over to @Family Friendly Frugality and enter to win Free Lotion From Skin MD Naturals http://tinyurl.com/4w38tsw
This giveaway will be open until 8pm CST February 11th 2011. I will close the giveaway to new entries and announce the winner soon after. The giveaway is only open to residents from the US/Canada who are over 18 years of age.
Skin MD Naturals provided me with their lotion to review at no cost to me. They are sponsoring this giveaway 100% and I have not received any compensation for holding this giveaway.
Do you like cake? Cupcakes? Candy? If so this is the review for you! Be sure to stay tuned until the very end for a very exciting giveaway!
Recently, Wilton contacted me about doing a review and giveaway of their products on my blog. I love to bake and I’ve always enjoyed Wilton products so it was a total no brainer! Of course! We worked out the logistics and they sent me the package for review.
I received the box and at first was rather surprised by how large it was. We had not really gotten into what exactly they would be sending, I just knew it would be Valentine’s Day themed. When I opened up the box I was shocked! Here’s the breakdown of what they sent me:
My daughter’s birthday was this past Monday so I decided to put this box of goodies from Wilton to good use! I baked 24 cupcakes at one time. I baked 12 in the Wilton muffin pan and one in another brands muffin pan. The difference was really obvious. The cupcakes in the Wilton pan glided right out. They were a beautiful color on top and very moist. The other pan didn’t fair as well. Those cupcakes were a bit harder to get out and a few tops tore off unfortunately. Score one for the Wilton muffin pan!
Next I frosted the cupcakes (I opted not to use the rose liners at this time. I’ll use those closer to Valentine’s Day!) and sprinkled some of the Sweetheart Sprinkles on top. They looked so festive and fun! I loved having several different choices of sprinkles to choose from, and this container will last us a really long time.
I purchased some candy bark at the grocery store and melted them in the microwave to make the candypick hearts. I spooned the chocolate into the mold and put them in the refridgerator. In no time at all, I had perfect candy chocolate hearts to stick in the cupcakes!
Now it was time to put the stand together. Let me tell you, I’ve always wanted one of these fancy cupcake stands. I thought originally that it was going to be tough to put together, but I actually put it together in less then a minute. Super easy. The cupcakes went on easily and felt totally secure. I even picked up the stand with all the cupcakes on it and moved it several times.
I did not use the Decorative Red Icing Roses, but did take them out to look. They are beautiful and I can’t wait to put them on our Valentine’s Day cupcakes in a few weeks!
I almost wish I had something negative to say about anything I received in this kit (sometimes totally glowing reviews can seem cheesy to me!), but honestly I don’t. Everything worked as it should and helped make my daughter’s otherwise ordinary cupcakes anything but! I’m excited to use this kit of supplies over and over again and even went out and purchased a Wilton piping bag on my own so I could ice cupcakes in style from now on!
What do you think of Wilton products? Have you ever tried any Wilton products? Would you like to? Well, you are in luck!
Wilton has also graciously offered to sponsor a giveaway here for Family Friendly Frugality readers! One lucky winner will win the following prize pack (identical to mine):
Sweetheart Variety Container of Sprinkles (6 different kinds):: Suggested Retail $5.99
12 count Muffin Pan::Suggested Retail $6.99
Decorative Red Icing Roses (6 pack)::Suggested Retail $5.99
24 count red roses cupcake liners::Suggested Retail $3.99
Heart Candypick Mold::Suggested Retail $1.99
Cupcake and More Stand (holds 13 cupcakes)::Suggested Retail $13.69
Total Suggested Retail Value: $38.64
There will be one mandatory entry required for this giveaway and several optional entries. Please leave a comment for EACH entry method you complete (and if you get extra entries for a specific task, enter those seperately as well). VERY IMPORTANT: Please leave me a way of getting in contact with you if you are the winner. I suggest typing out your email address like this: heather @ familyfriendlyfrugality dot com
Mandatory Entry:
Visit Wilton.com and tell me what you love! What products catch your eye?
Tweet or post on facebook about the giveaway (5 entries per social media outlet. For example: If you tweet AND post on facebook, you will have 10 entries). On twitter be sure to include @familyfrugal in your tweet. Here is an example tweet: Head over to Family Friendly Frugality and enter to #win a #ValentinesDay Cupcake Kit From Wilton! http://tinyurl.com/4mqlosj @familyfrugal On Facebook be sure to @Family Friendly Frugality in your post as well. Here is an example post: Head over to @Family Friendly Frugality and enter to win a ValentinesDay Cupcake Kit From Wilton! http://tinyurl.com/4mqlosj
This giveaway will be open until 8pm CST February 4th 2011. I will close the giveaway to new entries and announce the winner soon after.
Wilton provided me with a kit of products to review at no cost to me. They are sponsoring this giveaway 100% and I have not received any compensation for holding this giveaway.
I recently reviewed a month long plan from E-Mealz (you can see my review here). E-Mealz also allowed me to host a giveaway to give a 3 month subscription to one lucky reader!
For the past month I have had the luxury of reviewing a meal plan from the popular site E-Mealz. E-Mealz considers itself “a meal planning resource for busy moms and frugal family cooks”. They offer a wide variety of menu plans, including:
Point System
Low-Carb
Vegetarian
Couples-Only
Low Fat
G-Free
Kroger
Publix
Walmart
Aldi’s
Ralph’s
Any Store
You purchase a meal plan in 3 month increments, at $5 a month ($1.25 a week) that’s only $15. They actually recommend that you just work that into your grocery budget each week (so if you normally budget $100 each week, budget $98.75).
Most of their meal plans hover around $75 a week, but they only include dinner options. So you will need to budget a bit more for breakfast, lunch and snacks. They also assume that you have certain staples in your pantry (salt, pepper, eggs, etc), so that cost is not factored into the meal plan.
My Review of E-Mealz
So now that I’ve told you the basics of the plan…let’s move on to the fun stuff. My review! You can see my 3 weeks of grocery shopping with E-Mealz here: Week 1–Week 2–Week 3. I actually did 4 weeks of grocery shopping with them but due to the Thanksgiving holidays my shopping that last week went a bit overboard (buying Thanksgiving goodies for 2 families!), so I did not post it because I felt it didn’t really represent an E-Mealz only shopping trip.
I took advantage of the Kroger meal plan because Kroger is the store that I shop at most often and the most coupon friendly in my area. They make it clear that the Kroger store they base their list off of is the Tennessee/Alabama/Georgia/South Carolina area, but I figured it was worth a shot since Kroger seems to be a favorite amongst my readers.
The Shopping Trips
The list was set up very logically and it was nice not having to put too much thought into gathering my coupons and making a meal plan for the week. That said, when I got to the store I realized that their sales were quite a bit different than mine when it came to proteins. Luckily protein is easy to swap, so I just looked at the meal and subbed in what was on sale at my store. It didn’t personally bother me to do that, but if you would be bothered by that I don’t recommend getting the Kroger list unless you live in the region specified above.
Shopping was a bit different at first because I set up my shopping very differently and pretty much buy the same things most of the time. This isn’t a bad thing though! I wanted creativity and change in my meal planning, I liked buying different ingredients!
I shopped with coupons, so my totals were almost always around what they projected they would be or only slightly higher(even with breakfast, lunch and snacks included). They highly recommend the use of coupons and stocking up, ladies after my own heart!
The Food
So how was the food? I have to admit, it was really good! We have several new favorites as a result of using E-Mealz this past month! There were some short cut ingredients used that I don’t typically use, but there is plenty made from scratch as well. In all honesty, even with more processed food than we are used to, we probably ate healthier on E-Mealz than we’ve eaten in months. Every meal is balanced and includes all the major food groups. Now don’t worry, I hope I’m not making it sound like they have you eating frankenfood! Remember, we don’t eat much processed food around here! I’m talking about frozen garlic bread and pre made ravioli. Not canned spam!
I have to admit I appreciated the shortcuts, and I appreciated getting a break in the kitchen while still providing my family with a quality meal!
The Result
I highly recommend E-Mealz for anyone who needs a break in the kitchen. Does your mind spin when you think about grocery shopping and meal planning every week (“Didn’t I *just* grocery shop last week!?”)? If so, E-Mealz might be something that will ease your burden and make meal planning fun again and less of a chore. Are you having trouble coming up with balanced meals for your family? E-Mealz takes the guess work out of dinner. Follow your meal plan and you can be guaranteed to have a healthy, frugal meal on the table night after night.
The Giveaway!
In addition to allowing me to review a meal plan of my choice for the past month, E-Mealz has also graciously agreed to give away a 3 month subscription of the meal plan of your choosing right here on Family Friendly Frugality!
For each requirement you fulfill, leave a comment below this post. You must fulfill the mandatory requirement for all of your entries to count. The winner will be chosen by Random.Org December 10th at 12pm CST, and will be announced shortly after.
Mandatory Entry:
Head on over to E-Mealz and tell me which meal plan you are interested in. Leave your answer in the comments!
Optional Entries (you can do as many of these as you wish, or none at all):
Blog about the giveaway and leave a link in the comments to your post (5 entries)
Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter, be sure to use @FamilyFrugal so I can track your tweets (1 entry for each tweet, can be done once daily)
Post on Facebook about the giveaway, be sure to use @Family Friendly Frugality so I can track your facebook posts. (1 entry for each post, can be done once daily!)
Good luck to everyone! I can’t wait to see who wins 3 months of free meal planning!
My name is Heather and I am a frugal mommy saving money! Want to learn a bit more about Family Friendly Frugality? First subscribe to FREE daily emails. Next, learn more about our frugal blog by reading our about me post or read the popular series Our Story. Or jump in head first and learn how to reduce the family grocery budget, play the drugstore game, or catch up on the hottest frugality finds!
