Looking for Guest bloggers

Matt and I will be out of town the week of August 8th and pretty busy during the month of August so I'm looking for a few people to do some guest posting.

I'll consider new or previously published material as long as it "fits" with the OnOurWay theme (green living, saving money etc).

If you'd like to have something published email me at meg@onourwayonline.com


Thanks

2 FREE Shamwows!

Have you picked up your 2 FREE shamwows yet?

Mommies with Cents has the full scoop. The survey is super quick and you should receive your free shamwows within 2 months. Hurry I doubt this will last for long.

Yoplait Delights Parfait Video Review

Thanks to myblogspark.com and Yoplait I was sent a Flip MinoHD camera and 2 samples of the new Yoplait Delights Parfait Yogurts to give my first video review. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anyone else here to take the video so you won’t get to see me on the review… oh wait, maybe that’s a good thing. : )

You will have to hear my voice though; anyway, my 50 second review of the new Yoplait product is below.

Let me know what you think if you watch it.

Lets take a virtual shopping trip...

So I think I’m ready to make a semi announcement hopefully without jinxing anything…. drum roll…. Matt and I will “hopefully” be moving in the month of August! More to come on this new development in a future post – once papers are officially signed. Until then I wanted to take you on a virtual shopping trip.

The main problem with moving into this new house is our furniture situation. Matt and I have such an odd assortment of furniture, most of our stuff is all hand me downs or was purchased on the cheap right after college, making it either old or low quality. We really need some new things, so with a possible move in the horizon I've been spending a lot of time looking at furniture online. I really want to get quality pieces that will last for years and years this time around. I recently learned about Bedroomfurniture.com and Simplydesk.com while on my quest for great furniture and we'll be touring their sites for this fantasy shopping trip.

The CSN branch of stores started in 2002 and is now a top 3 online retailer for home and office goods and was also recently named on the Hot 100 list of online retailers for 2009. So you know they are a safe and reputable company to do business with.

Now let me take you on a virtual shopping trip to outfit a new place with all my favorite items if I could purchase anything available.


For the Office
Every house can use a desk and I love this piece from the Simplydesks.com site

The two drawer writing desk would be great behind a sofa or other space and I love the dark wood color although it also comes in a white variety as well.
And best yet it's a total steal at $199.99 + FREE shipping



For the Bedroom

We need a lot of bedroom furniture since we're still using the first bed we ever purchased back in 2002 and an $8 night stand from Wal-mart. Yes, it's really that bad.

Our new space has low ceilings so I'm not sure how big of a bed/head board we can get but I love this queen size platform bed with TWO storage drawers. Our new place will also be a little smaller so we really have to maximize space which these drawers would help with. We could fit all our extra linens in there.
Price: $214.99 and FREE shipping!!


Ok so apparently I have a thing for dark wood lately but I also love this headboard. Again I'm not sure how much clearance we'll have but if we could fit it this is the headboard I would pick without hesitation. It's a bookcase, would you expect anything else from me, of course not.

It's another steal at $112.50 + FREE shipping!



And lastly for the bedroom two night stands in espresso. List price for one $64.99 plus of course free shipping.

Price for 2: $129.98


Odds and Ends


What would my house be like if it wasn't filled with bookcases? Not my house more than likely, so of course I would HAVE to have this Bookcase with glass doors. I even love the white color although all my other pieces have been darker. At $179 you could get two, one for books and the other for china. I'm sending Matt the link hopefully he'll remember it come Christmas.
Price: $179 + Free shipping ($358 for 2)



Ok so this next piece is a little "early" but I love this dresser/changing table. I think it would be a great changing table with its flat top and the dark wood would look nicely in any decor... ok at least any decor we would have. It's one of the pricier items I picked out coming in at $310 and you guessed it FREE shipping. Are you noticing the theme with shipping?


I also love this Dollhouse bookcase for $165, it would be perfect for the young reader in your life and this $89.99 heirloom stand up mirror made honorable mention, again I'm just not sure how much clearance we'll have in this new house. And lastly this funky stand alone bookshelf for $119 just because I love it. Ok that's it, no more future, I promise.


Total for my entire fantasy shopping trip: $1325.46
Who could believe a house full of furniture for less than fifteen hundred dollars and FREE shipping.

And thanks to Bedroomfurniture.com I was able to pick out one item to conduct a product review on. I ended up selecting the hanging corner shelf because it's a very unique and different piece that I can’t wait to get some books on, plus I'm hoping it will be a great conversation starter. Keep checking back for a full review in the future.

So what do you think about my fantasy home furnishings? Did you find a favorite piece on their site, I'd love to hear about it.


You can also check out all the CSN online stores at the following links...
CSNStores.com
AllModern.com
Cookware.com
Luggage.com
CSNLighting.com
Strollers.com

Yoplait Gift basket winners!

The two winners of our Yoplait yogurt gift baskets are...

# 20 Beth

and

# 48 Denise


Congratulations!


Winners were selected by random.org


I’ve sent you both an email asking for more information. If I don’t hear back from a winner by Wednesday I’ll pick another commenter to receive a gift basket.

Thanks to everyone who entered I hope you keep coming back for more giveaways.

More yard sales

Matt and I hit up a few yard sales on Friday and I purchased some great finds.
I spent $3.75 and picked up three items I’ve been looking for.



Green Pyrex bowl $2.50
I love the old Pyrex and have had my eye out for pieces for months now. I actually found three matching bowls at a flea market a few months ago but passed them up. I’ve regretted it every since but finding this little bowl has restored my resolve to finding more

Corbel $1
I can’t wait to paint this a nice shade of black. The original owner paid over $10 for it, but I picked it up for a buck. I love how Joys of Home used her corbels and hope I can do her proud in how I decide to use this one.

Glass dish $.25
I’ve become a little obsessed with terrariums lately and hope to turn this little dish into one very soon…I just need to get my hands on some moss

So there are my great weekend deals. Did you pick up anything this weekend, I’d love to hear/see what you were able to find.
The flea market season is almost over only a few more weeks of great sales… I’ve got to get out there more.

And remember to stop by the new Southern Hospitality blog to share your weekend finds.

CVS 7/26/09

I went to visit my Mom and was able to make a quick stop at her CVS; sadly, so had apparently half her town since they were out of almost everything. I didn’t want to deal with rain checks so I just picked up what I could.



I was able to get

2 easy touch pens (.99) $1.98
1 CVS tampons $1.89

I had $5 in ecb’s to use to I grabbed a few fillers
1 M&M package $.67
1 Caramel $.33

Total (no coupons used): $4.87
ECB Used: $5 (marked down to $4.87)
ECB’s Earned: $3.87


I was a little upset with this CVS as they had lots of things priced but not a single sign listed the return ecb’s although they were printing at the registers.

Giveaway reminder...

Don't forget to enter the Yoplait Yogurt giveaway before it ends Sunday, July 26th!



You can find the entry form HERE and enter four different times.


Good Luck!

Good Reads 7/24/09

Another addition on how to get free books - Stop by Random house and their read it forward promotion to receive one of three free books for the month of July.

Lower your expectations increase your happiness at Get Rich Slowly
I love this article and agree with pretty much everything JD says - I am much happier now that I realized I don't need that fancy car or huge house


New home loan application rules from Wise bread
New rules pertaining to home loans will become effective July 30th make sure you know what they are

Can you over save for retirement? Trent at the Simple dollar says "yes" - read his post to find out why

Should you refinance your student loans? from Redeeming Riches
This is a question Matt and I have been pondering for some time - hopefully we'll have a decision once all our loans come due in November

Looking to make a new car purchase? Find out about the Cash for Clunker program at Frugally Green

Learn how to make Glow in the dark slime at the Idea Room

You'll take a new look at your current life after reading What do you wish you did ten years ago ten years from now from one of my favorite bloggers Retirement: A full time job

Learn how to make soap crayons from Scribbit

Check out this Jacket made from Capri Sun pouches from Sue

Ask yourself Would you accept $200,000 if you didn't know where it came from? - maybe not after reading this post from wise bread.

Where to find free books....

Do you like to read? Do you like to get your reading materials for free? So do I – that’s why I wanted to take today and tell you about two programs that send me free books so you can get in on the action.


Thomas Nelson - has a Book Review Blogger program. You need to apply to the program, have your blog approved (takes about a day) and then select a book to review. Quite a few of their selections are of a religious nature but not all of them. I reviewed The X & Y of Buy thanks to TN. The available book selections change often and you can only review one book at a time so read fast.

After your blog is accepted in the program, you can log on to select a book for review, once your selection arrives, read it and write a 200 word review for your blog and one online retail site. After you report the links you can select another book.


PaperBackSwap.com – I’ve talked about PBS before but wanted to highlight it again. PBS allows you to post books from your collection that you’d be willing to send away to another member. Once someone receives a book you’ve sent you’ll receive a credit and request a book on your “to read” list.

And once you become a member of PBS and post ten books to swap they’ll give you two free credits to get you started. One a side note: With PBS you do have to pay the shipping cost for mailing your book to the requester, but considering on average a paperback cost about $2.50 to mail you’re still cheaper than buying on Amazon (shipping alone is at least $3).

These are two great programs which allow you the opportunity to keep the book if it’s something you want. Of course if you aren’t interested in adding to your collection you should take advice from, Andrew Wesoloski who says the library is still your best bet.
And I must concur.

Yoplait Thick and Creamy giveaway!

Thanks to myblogspark.com I was able to try out one of the Yoplait Thick and Creamy Yogurts. I’ll be honest, I’m not always a huge yogurt fan, I think it’s a texture issue, but I do love taking one of the Yoplait Thick and Creamy options, sticking them in the freezer and eating it very cold.

On my way home from work after a night shift I’ll call Matt and have him throw one in the freezer for me. That way when I get home I have a healthy snack available. Have you ever tried them semi-frozen? I highly recommend it.

The Yoplait thick and creamy is so thick it’s said you can write in it with a toothpick and it will keep the design. I unfortunately didn’t try this because I ended up eating it too fast, but I’d love to see someone else give it a shot.

And just to show Yoplait means business about their great product they are allowing me the opportunity to give TWO of my readers their very own Yoplait gift basket.


Each basket includes
A coupon for free Yoplait yogurt
A stationary packet
Sticker collection (post its and other office supplies)
A box of adorable note cards and envelopes
A pen to finish off the package

The giveaway will run until Sunday, July 26th at midnight and there are lots of ways to enter. Just make sure to leave a new comment with your contact information for each entry.

1. Leave a comment stating which Yoplait yogurt flavor is your favorite

2. Follow Onourway on Twitter and tweet the following message (or something similar)
Just entered a great giveaway for #Yoplait products from @Onourway visit: http://blog.onourwayonline.com/

3. Follow my RSS or email feeds.

4. Blog about this giveaway on your blog or other social outlet. Make sure to include a link back to Onourwayonline.com and leave me your perma link in the comment form.

Stop by for other great giveaways

Join the Kashi Community

Have you joined the online Kashi community yet?

When you sign up for their program on line you have access to tools to help with living healthier, a newsletter, and emails for future special promotions. There is also a tester panel you can join - hopefully with samples to come.

Once you sign up they'll also give you a $1.50 off any Kashi cereal or kashi TLC Snack. (until 8/31 or while supplies last)


You can sign up for the program HERE I wouldn't miss out on this opportunity.

Weekend Deals

The third Sunday of every summer month a local antique mall has a huge out door flea market. I almost missed it this month but we were able to take Matt’s parents and make a quick run.



As we were getting ready to leave I was disappointed because I hadn’t found anything and then I spotted the yellow fairy light in the distance. I’ve seen a few others in not so great colors for anywhere from twenty to eighty dollars so priced at four bucks, this was a steal!

Matt’s mom purchased a huge set of these vintage tumblers and a pitcher which she so kindly gave me five of. I’ve been craving a set of my own vintage 50’s tumblers since The Thrift Shop Romantic highlighted her set back in January.

That’s the thing about thrift shopping if you just wait sooner or later you’ll find exactly what you’re looking for.


Now that you've seen what I picked up this weekend check out some other great finds at Southern Hospitality - she has a Mr.Linky going.

Good Reads - 7/17/09

Some good reading around the internet this week....

Craftzine.com has the link where you can download a free Starling Handbag pattern from Alice at Futuregirl.

I'm a money magnet has a great recipe for strawberry cake balls. I think these would be a great way to make cake for the next office event or school birthday party.

Wise Bread has 15 low cost ways to beat the stress

Frugal in Virginia has the details on how you can get over 2,000 free book downloads in honor of the world ebook fair.

Cold play is offering a free download of their new album. Check out Coupon Cravings for more information.

Northern Cheapskate has a great article on 5 things to buy used and 7 painless and frugal ways to go green

Frugal Dad will let you know how you can become a debt killing machine in five easy steps

Found a great article from the list, make sure to tell the author where you found the link and what you think of their blog.

One of those days...

Do you ever just have one of those days?

That day is today for me. I had planned to go to work, grab a quick dinner, answer all my emails and write a post about the seminar I attended Tuesday.

In reality what happened was I had a not so great day at work. When I came home Matt and I decided to grab a quick dinner to bring home so I could work and eat. After leaving the restaurant with our food we returned to the car to find the front passenger tire completely flat. It was about this time we discovered that neither Matt nor myself had a cell phone. Thankfully I had our AAA card on us, but the number on the front of the card was incorrect and therefore I couldn’t use the pay phone (don’t even ask). After begging a mall security guard to let me use their office phone I find out that even though we’ve paid our car insurance they haven’t processed the check for our membership (and roadside assistance); therefore, I had to pay the bill with my credit card again.

After getting all that taken care of the process was fairly easy and after the spare tire was put on we drove to Wal-Mart to have the tire replaced. $72 later; 59 for the tire and 13 for the movie Get Smart, (hey I think everyone is entitled to an impulse buy after my day) we were home and eating. That my friends is why there isn’t a great seminar review this evening, hopefully it will be up by the weekend.

I will say though this experience made me realize a few things. First I’m proud of myself for keeping my cool. If you were to ask any of my close friends or family they would tell you that normally an experience like this would cause me to totally stress out. It has been said that my patience fuse is shorter than the memory of a goldfish. I just personally don’t like dealing with stupid and normally make my opinion known. (see I say it nicer). Oh and I will ALWAYS have my cell phone on me whenever I leave the house, even for a quick trip to the mall.

And with that I’m going to bed. I’m hoping to tomorrow will be less “exciting”

Free water at Walmart!

Whenever another blogger post a freebie deal I'm always a little hesitant to spend a ton of time printing off coupons, I've been burned before. I don't know what it is but apparently stores in Michigan don't feel the need to stock or price things at the same levels as elsewhere, too many times I've read about everyone getting a great deal only to find a local store doesn't stock the items.

So today when I saw a few blogs advertising free water at Walmart I was skeptical, since we were going shopping anyway I figured I'd print two coupons and give it a shot. And I'm glad I did.



I found these 6 packs of water in the Wal-mart dollar aisle (not with the other water products) and was able to use my two coupons to score 12 free bottles of water! As we were checking out the couple in front of us had a 12 pack of the same water - I so wanted to stop her and tell her she could have bought two packs for free; but sometimes I think I Matt thinks I'm crazy when I talk coupons with total strangers so I refrained myself.

Anyway check out the Everyday Eating site to print your coupon HERE - I was able to print two per computer.

Baby Coupons for Alcohol??

No I haven’t lost my mind but I understand you are probably wondering why I am posting pictures of Catalina coupons huh?

I just thought it was a funny situation. Last weekend Matt and I made a quick run to Meijer to purchase two products, some Neosporin and an alcoholic beverage. At the check outs we received three Catalina coupons; diapers, baby laundry soap, and Juicy Juice.

The only thing I can think of to explain this is that Meijer thinks alcohol leads to babies.

The X and Y of Buy - Book Review

You’ve got to get out and read The X and Y of Buy written by Elizabeth Pace. This book textbook is written unlike any other. In fact if I would have had more books like this in college I may have opened them.

The X and Y of Buy is billed as a way to “sell more and market better by knowing how the sexes shop” and it delivers.

Pace has a great writing style, there were many times while reading that I actually laughed out loud. The X and Y of buy is jammed packed with facts and pertinent stories.

I honestly enjoyed reading this book and learned so much, it’s written with a corporate sales person in mind but the techniques can be used in so many ways. I’m already thinking of ways to use the ideas with people at work and am highly contemplating giving the book to my Realtor. I can see it boosting sales in any field or in my case if you’re not in it for the sales, the ability to connect with those you work with on a new level.

Book Sale Manager - Site Review

As anyone who has read this blog for more than a few weeks knows Matt and I LOVE books and book sales. We are total book geeks – in fact books are one of the reasons I didn’t post on the Fourth of July – we were at our annual Bargain Books sale. I forgot to take a picture of our purchases but trust me there are some great reads.

And since I’ll take any opportunity to talk books I wanted to let you know about a great resource for how you can find out where local book sales are taking place. When we first started shopping at book sales we never knew when they were happening and missed out on some great opportunities. I have our three favorite sales memorized but we still missed one in April – it was horrifying.

That’s where the new site Booksalemanager.com steps in – by using their site you’ll never miss a sale again. There are a few sites out there that list book sales but they often don’t have a search feature so you’re left scrolling pages of sales trying to find the right one. It can be very frustrating trust me. Booksalemanager.com is an easy to use search function with a clean page design so you only get the information you’re asking for.

Booksalemanager.com allows you to search for sales within a few miles of your zip code. You can also search sales by their size and varying time frames. Once you find a sale or sales you want to attend you can add them to your calendar and receive email notifications reminding you. See I told you you’d never miss a sale again.

Right now the site is still growing and will be adding sales significantly in the future so if your search didn’t find anything too close today keep checking back. They provide all these services for free, to the buyers and sale organizers which I find amazing.

Book sales are a great way to find reading material at a severely discounted price, I highly recommend you give one a shot. Take a few minutes right now and search the Booksalemanager.com site to find a sale nearby.

Right at home is offering a Ziplock gift package for the first 10,000 to apply.

You'll receive one full pack of Ziplock Brand Sandwich bags and one small fresh sheild twist in lock container.

sign up HERE

Expired Military coupons

I’ve forgotten to send out a military coupon reminder the last few months but I wanted to make sure we all get our expired coupons mailed out this month.

If you have expired coupons take the time to mail them to a military family overseas.
This month I’m mailing mine to:

Stuttgart, Germany
Army Community Service
Unit 30401
APO AE 09107

To find out more about sending military families your expired coupons check out THIS post.

How Could you do That?! - the abdication of character courage and conscience - Book Review

This weekend I finished Dr.Laura Schlessinger’s book “How Could you do That?! - the abdication of character courage and conscience”

The book is a collection of stories from the callers on her radio show and a discussion of how we as humans make less than desirable choices in life. The book is only 269 pages so it should have been a quick read but I found reading it to be slightly tedious. I just couldn’t get into, like I said the book is full of examples but lacks any flow to the stories. The only connection being we all make dumb choices in life.

Dr.Laura used the book to express a strong opinion on childcare and relationships in general. She often uses the pages to convey her stance on two parent families and having one parent at home. I have to agree with her, I’m sure the best solution is having at least one parent at home rather than two full time working adults. Yet, there are times I felt like she was saying if your children are raised with two working parents or in a single parent home they will turn out to be hooligans. I am the product of a divorced, single parent working mother home and I think I turned out ok. I finished high school, went to college, and didn’t have any children at a young age, as Dr.Laura would have you believe happens to everyone from this predicament.
There are a few parts of the book that made me stop and really think about the situations and how they applied to my life so it wasn’t a total loss.

The book has a two star rating on Amazon.com so I’m guessing other readers feel the same way I do.


Books Read in 2009: 22
Books to Read: 28

5 FREE SWAGBUCKS!

If you haven’t seen it all over the web by now then you need to know that Swagbucks is now offering a paypal payout option. Just when you thought the program couldn’t get any better it does.

I almost exclusively turn my Swagbucks into Amazon gift cards but this new paypal option has my attention. You can change in 80 Swagbucks for $5 in paypal cash which can then be used for anything. Pay a bill, buy something nice, heck transfer the money to your savings account and draw some interest on it. If you didn’t have a reason to sign up for Swagbucks before you definitely have one now.

PLUS to make it even better if you sign up as a new member now and use the registration code CASHISKING you’ll receive an extra 5 Swagbucks just to start. But hurry the code expires on July 6th at 12pm PST. If you sign up HERE you’ll also be helping me with a referral.

Seriously, I can’t stress it enough, give the program a chance if you like free money you won’t be disappointed.

CVS 7/5

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend. I had big plans this weekend and wanted to do a lot of reading and blog updating, unfortunately I ended up doing everything but. It was a productive weekend though; we cleaned up the house a little and put up new trim in our bathroom. I’m hoping my Mom will be able to come over next weekend and help get it all painted.

This morning I made a quick and interesting CVS run. I pick up all the following items.



2 Dawn Dishsoaps 2/$2
- Used (2) $.50 off any Dawn – from P&G savings mailer
Receive $1 ECB wyb 2

3 Post Trail Mix Crunch 3/$10
- used (3) $2 off any Post Trail mix
Receive $5 ECB

2 Colgate Wisp 2/$4.50 - They were out of the transparent tape so I had to improvise
Receive $1 wyb 2

CVS Pantiliners $.89
Receive $.89 ECB

Used $4/$20 CVS Coupon
I also picked up the pencils that were marked $.99 get $.99 but my ECB did not print so I returned them, that is why I was able to use the $4/$20 coupon.


Paid With: $8.98 in ECB
OOP: $.61 from gift card and received $3.15 on gift card
ECBs Received: $7.99 ($5 post, $1 colgate, $1 dawn, $.99 for pantiliners (.10 extra))

In total I purchased $24.52 in merchandise for a profit of $1.55.

The Hangover - Movie Review

It was a great weekend and we decided to end it by watching The Hangover Sunday afternoon.

Although it’s not my typical type of movie I saw a preview for it a when it first came out and knew I wanted to see it sooner or later, and I’m glad we did. The movie was hilarious. Totally that dumb humor you need when you don’t really want to think about why you’re laughing.

The movie will also provide you with lots of one liners to use the next day at work, as I did all day Monday. (Just make sure you use appropriate ones)

Oh an you can all be in my wolf pack… it’s a big wolf pack.