New Cinnamon Burst Cheerios

Pretend there is a super amazing video embedded right here.



Because there should be, had everything gone as planned, of course you know it never does.
Myblogspark.com and Cheerios sent me a package of their new Cinnamon Burst Cheerios and a flip so I could tell you all about their new product. I’ve spent the last two days trying to get my video off the camera. Trust me it isn’t a problem with the camera it is all user error I’m sure. I’ve uploaded videos before, I know I can do it. Maybe it’s the fatigue of still not sleeping through the night, apparently no one has told little Owen that the hours of 10pm – 8am are for sleeping.

Anyway, video aside let’s talk about the new Cinnamon Burst Cheerios.
We eat a lot of dry cereal here, well let me rephrase that, I eat a lot of cereal. It’s simple, easy to make and even easier to eat, especially when you have a five month old who demands constant attention. I love that the new Cinnamon Burst Cheerios is flavored with real cinnamon; so many products found on store shelves in today’s market cannot make the same claims. For the many of us out there who are trying to make sure we eat more “real” foods it is a definite selling point.

Then there are the other perks, the ones that are found under the label Nutritional Facts. Over the last year I’ve been paying much more attention to this side the box on the products we eat. One cup of Cinnamon Burst Cheerios contains 110 calories. Sodium; a very important ingredient for us right now runs in at 125mg, so much lower than many other products. Seriously take a look at some of the sodium content of your favorite foods, I bet you’ll look at your cupboards much differently afterward. Yet, the new Cheerios doesn’t just boaster low calories and sodium; you can also find 5 grams of fiber in each cup, that’s 20% of your daily value. We look for products that offer 3 or more grams of fiber when shopping so it is nice to know just once cup of Cheerios meets those requirements.

But don’t just take my word for it. Give the new Cheerios a look the next time you’re in the store. Compare the side bar to that of the cereal you normally buy, I bet you’ll be surprised at what you see. And should you take a box home to try you won’t be disappointed with the flavor.

I also promise I’ll keep working on that video and once I get it up I’ll leave a link of where you can find my in-depth look into the cardboard box.



You know I would never endorse a product here if I didn’t actually find it enjoyable even though there was also a sample sent, but per disclaimers I need to make that known.

Have a shutter filled Christmas this year!

Have you heard? Bloggers of all sized and topic blogs are eligible to receive 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly In order to qualify you have to write a post about your Shutterfly experience and then spread the word. If you would like to participate in this promotion you can find out more information here. I wouldn’t write a post about their products if I didn’t think they were great so please know that even though I hope to qualify for this promotion all my comments are 100% pure. OnOurWay would not and will not endorse a product I feel to be inferior.

Now on to my Shutterfly review.
I’ve been using Shutterfly for quite a few years and have always loved their products, in fact they are the main reason I gave up scrapbooking. It is so much cheaper, cleaner, and quicker to design and order a Shutterfly photo book than it is to sit around all day designing and making scrapbook pages. Plus, to sweeten the deal even more Shutterfly often has great sales or coupon codes floating around that I can use to create a photo book or other product for much less than I used to spend on scrapbooking supplies. I love to pass them out for Christmas presents and have documented all our vacations, wedding, and now new baby in Shutterfly albums.

Last year for Christmas we used Shutterfly to create our holiday cards and used a picture of our adorable puppy with Santa. This year with our new addition to the family I plan to pick a card that will allow us to display more than one picture. Right now I am loving this card from the Flat Stationary card selection. It is the 5x5 classic red square Christmas card. I love the modern square shape and the simplicity in the design. I want people to be looking at the pictures of our adorable son and I know that with Shutterfly quality printing the pictures will come out looking great. I like knowing that when we use a photo card from Shutterfly people will take notice of the cards we send and enjoy them for more than just the holiday season. My grandmother hangs them on her fridge to enjoy our pictures year round. Having a great card to send to friends and family makes paying the forty-four cents worth it, especially for a frugal family like ours.
It is super easy to make your own Shutterfly holiday card or photo book to use this holiday season. To get you started use a few of the links below to view all the different designs available to you, I know you’ll be sure to find something you love.
Christmas Cards – includes photo and stationary cards
Thanksgiving cards
Hanukkah Cards
Religious Christmas card options
Christmas address labels to really complete the project

Have you used Shutterfly for any holiday photo projects? What did you think?

Friday Finds - August 20th

Owen is officially one month old today!
We're made it a full month so we'll celebrating by getting his picture taken and taking extra naps.

To make your Friday special take a few moments to check out the following great post by other sites out there this week.


the Hierarchy of Cleaning at The Small note book

I love Trent's opinions on How not to Fail at Frugality at the Simple Dollar

This Ten minute challenge from Holly at Mommies with Cents will come in handy with a new baby in the house.

Love this easy craft from Scribbit on Growing a head - think cheap chia pet

The cause of all my commotion

I said I'd share what has been causing all the upheaval in the OnOurWay household and here he is...





Owen Joseph
7/20/10


We had an "interesting" delivery and first few weeks home but it looks like everyone is on the mend. I can't wait till things can get back to their new normal. I've officially quit my job and am ready to do the whole stay at home Mom thing for a few years. I'm excited to start the whole new Journey we're about to embark on, and of course you'll be getting updates. We'll still be couponing, saving money as we can at home, but also hopefully adding a whole new green lifestyle to our way of life. As always it's going to be an interesting ride.

Kroger Giveaway Winner!

The winner of our $25 Kroger gift card was...


Richelle

who said:

I usually save nearly as much as I spend, especially with one of their great promotions. So if I spend $50 I usually save close to $50.


Richelle has been contacted and her gift card is on its way.

Keep checking back for more great giveaways right here at OnOurWay

Another great Giveaway!

Things are finally starting to get back to normal in the OnOurWay household… I’ll have major updates on what caused all the commotion at a later date. With getting back into the flow of things around here I also want to get back into the flow of things on the blogosphere as well, but give me a little bit these things take time you know.

Thanks again to Kroger, General Mills, Kimberly Clark, and MyBlogSpark the readers of OnOurWay have a chance to win a $25 gift card to any Kroger or Kroger family store. This card should be used during their latest promotion to help you maximize your savings even more.

I know I love when Kroger runs their 10/$10 or buy 8 save $4 promotions and their current “Add up the Savings Event” has lots of great deals for you to stock up on your favorite items until August 21st.

For every 8 participating items you purchase you’ll save $4 off your grocery bill, and you get to select from great brands like Cheerios, Yoplait Yogurt, Pillsbury Cookies, Kleenex, Huggies, Betty Crocker brownies, Cottonelle and Lucky Charms… truly something for everyone.

And check out the links below to see some great deals you can get this week and an ad match up.
Jane4Girls has a stock up deal on Granola Bars

Mommies with Cents has the Kroger coupon match up

Some of the great deals I’ll be looking for when I visit Kroger later this week are:

Kroger eggs 10/$10
Kroger Bread 10/$10
Kroger Peanut Butter 10/$10
Purex $1.99


Save $4 when you buy 8 participating products (prices shown reflect discount)
Sobe $.49
Tuna $.49
Hamburger Helper $.99
Betty Crocker Potatoes $.99
Powerade $.49


You can also use all your new products to get a head start on Box Tops for your school. Right now when you register at www.rewardyourschool.com you receive 5 bonus Box Tops and many custom offers for bonus tops.
Right now offers include:
Buy any 4 Box Top products and get 10 bonus tops
Buy any 8 Box tops and get 25 bonus tops


So on to the giveaway! There are three ways to enter and you can do so until Saturday the 14th at midnight. We’ll pick a winner Sunday.

1.Leave a comment below stating how much you normally save when shopping at Kroger

2.Follow OnOurWay on facebook - Make sure and leave a comment in the post letting me know you did

3.Sign up for the OnOurWay Rss feed (link above) - Make sure and leave a comment in the post letting me know you did

4.Tweet, blog or facebook about this giveaway and leave me a link to where I can find it.



The gift card and all information pertaining to this giveaway was provided by The Kroger Family of Stores, General Mills and Kimberly Clark through MyBlogSpark

Friday Finds July 9th, 2010

Friday Finds


Quite possibly the best Dr Seuss birthday party can be found over at Annie's Eats. I'd love to have a candy table like that.

Craft Leftovers has a tutorial up on How to make your own frappuccinos I have to try this in the near future.

I love this article by Retirement a Full time job on Is youth wasted on the young - it contains many of the ideas I've been trying to express to people. Why are we working so hard now so that we can retire when we are too old to live life?

Find a great tutorial on Making Strawberry Lemonade smoothies over at Polka Dot Cottage. I'm sure this is better for me than the one's I keep buying from McDonalds.

Now that I'm learning to sew maybe projects like this Skirt from a thrifted sheet over at sew mama sew wouldn't seem so intimating.

This Anthropolgie inspired pendant light from Ashley ann photography.com is amazing. I'm thinking a run to the dollar store is in order. They always have tons of baskets.

I've been crocheting...

Do you ever start a craft project with the intentions of only making one of the particular item and before you know it the project has taken on a life of its own?

Yeah, that’s exactly what happened to me with crocheting baby hats. I started out with simply wanting to make the baby Owen a hat, but after making one I wanted to just tweak the pattern a bit and before you know it I had found four more sites with hat patterns and even created a few of my own. So far Owen has two hats both I’m only semi happy with and a few others I’ll probably donate. The hats are just so easy to make and you can do a full one in about an hour. It was a perfect project for me while I spent a few hours in the recliner.

If you want to make your own hat I used the following links for my patterns.

Hats! Hats! Hats @ Bevs Country Cottage

Newborn Set @ Crochet4fun.com

Raspberry toque @ Canadian Living

50 FREE Swagbucks for new sign ups

For one week (May 2rd – May 7th) all new sign ups who enter the code SWAGNATION5 (case sensitive) wile enrolling will receive and extra 50 swagbucks!

There is also good news this week for everyone who currently uses Swagbucks they will be doubling the amount of winning searches each day. This means a bigger chance for us to earn Swagbucks each day.

I also win a ton of swagbucks, normally at least two/three a day minimum from using the new toolbar. This is your reminder to download it for yourself. And starting this Tuesday you can also gain swagbucks by answering the new daily polls. Every poll will be from a Swagbucks user and those that submit a featured poll will win 100 Swagbucks.


If you aren’t using Swagbucks yet now is the time to give it a shot, sign up today by using this link and start earning free stuff!

Seventh Generation Winner!

So I was just reminded by Matt that in all the excitement of starting the weekend I forgot to post our Seventh Generation giveaway winner on Friday like I promised.

First many of you answered the question correctly in that there are 63 hazardous products found in the average American home. (according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission).

And the winner of our giveaway was Lois S. who liked the OnOurWay page on facebook

Keep checking OnOurWay because there will be more giveaways coming through the month of May.

Great Deals at Diapers.com

Get $10 off

your first order of diapers

use code OnOurWay$49 min. total order

Angie at Baby Cheapskate clued me in to a great deal going on at Diapers.com right now.

There are multiple rebates and coupon codes going where you can really cash in on some money. I just placed my first order and saved a bundle on things we'll need in the near future. I might even place another order tomorrow to make use of the codes I couldn't tonight.

And to make it even sweeter if you use referral code: OnOurWay we'll each get five dollars in our account to use on our second order.


Use code SGEARTH1 to receive 10% off when you buy a Seventh Generation case of diapers and wipes.

Code 5FORMOM will save you $5 when you purchase diapers (5/9)

If you use the seventh generation deal above you can save another $3 when you use code 7THGEN2

And all new customers save $10 when they buy $49 in diapers and code OnOurWay

If you place your first order by 4/30 you can receive $5 credit on your next purchase

When you spend $75 you qualify for a $10 mir or a subscription to Parenting magazine

And everyone gets free shipping on orders over $49

Good Reads 4/23/10

Don't forget to enter the giveaway going on right now for a free Seventh Generation gift pack.

I'm still behind on reading everything in my rss feed but here are a few good things I've read in the last few days.

Sign up for the new Home Made Simple coupon book

Four Atypical things to do before you buy a home from The Simple Dollar

Win a months supply of Marcal Small steps products from The Northern Cheapskate.

Get Rich Slowly Can you afford to go Green?

How to make a tshirt apron from Craftzine

Ten tips for having a successful garage sale from money saving mom

Seventh Generation natural cleaning GIVEAWAY!

Thanks to myblogspark.comand Seventh Generation I was able to try out a few of their environmentally friendly cleaning products and so can you!



Seventh Generation sent me (and maybe you);

2 Jumbo rolls of 100% recycled paper towels
1 bottle of disinfecting multi surface cleaning (Lemongrass & Thyme scent)
1 bottle of disinfecting bathroom cleaner (Lemongrass & Thyme scent)
1 bottle of disinfecting wipes
The book “The Conscious Kitchen” by Alexandra Zissu
And a nice carry all to keep it in.

I absolutely love the disinfecting multi surface spray. With our first little one on the way I like the fact it kills over 99% of germs naturally, including influenza A and H1N1. Since the cleaner is natural you can use it on anything including high chairs and children’s toys, a feature we’ll be using in the near future. The disinfecting spray isn’t something Matt and I would have even though could be all natural so we would have never tried it without this opportunity.

I also however really like what I’ve been able to read in the book. “The Conscious Kitchen” by Alexandra Zissu – I’ve only had time to flip through it so far but I can tell I’ll be using this book for reference a lot in the future. She list things to buy, foods to look for and questions to ask while you’re shipping. My favorite tip so far is her advice to start small. Don’t switch out all your cleaning products right away – instead start with just one, preferably the one you use the most. And she’s right I’m not ready to swap out everything right now but I can definitely start the change by buying the Seventh Generation multi surface cleaner for now on.

So now on to the giveaway!

There are four ways to enter and you can do so until next Thursday, April 29th at midnight.

Option 1: Leave a comment answering the following question.
“ According to the Consumer Product safety commission how many hazardous chemical products can be found in the average American home?”
*Take your best guess – answers do not have to be correct

Option 2: Become a fan of OnOurWay on facebook from the link HERE
Or leave a comment letting me know you already are

Option 3: Sign up to receive new post via email or RSS feed
you can sign up along the left hand side of the blog – or let me know if you already receive our updates

Option 4: Post about this giveaway somewhere and include a link back here
It can be a forum you visit, facebook twitter or your own blog – just make sure and leave me a link back to your post if possible.


Pick any of the four ways to enter or enter four times by doing all of them but just make sure for each entry you leave a comment with your contact info so I can contact you in case you win.

Remember you can enter until Thursday, April 29th at midnight. I’ll post the winner on Friday the 30th.



Free Sweepstakes and Contests

More Big News

So Saturday I posted the big news about Owen and a promise that my posting would get better, but didn’t explain how/why that would happen. Well folks there are big changes coming for OnOurWay and the Harrison household. Yes, we’ve having a baby but there is also so much more that is going to happen.

July 1st will be my last day of work with my current company. Matt and I have worked really hard to lower our expenses, pay off debt and save up a nice emergency fund. Since January we’ve been paying all our bills with Matt’s income and saving mine (with a few exceptions). This has allowed us to also save up enough money that we plan to purchase a new “to us” vehicle in the next few months. For some odd reason GM did not design the two door Cavalier to be car seat friendly.

Our plan is for me to do the whole stay at home Mom thing for at least a few years (one minimum), but of course I’ll always be on the look out for ways to save/make money. I have quite a list started already.

But like I said I also have some ideas on how to improve OnOurWay. Of course the first few months after Owen is born will be hectic but once we get things settled down I plan to spend more time enhancing things around here. There are quite a few things I’ve wanted to do for a while but with working 45+ hours I just haven’t had time…. Ok ok I’ll be honest, what time I have had has been spent making/reading/preparing for a baby.

I do however plan to start adding many more reviews of not only local areas but lots of product reviews as well. I want to add more book reviews, ways for you earn money, and I’m expecting a lot more reader participation from you guys.

We’ll also get ourselves back on a blogging schedule (to be announced) and I’m willing to consider any ideas for items you guys would like to see on the blog. Feel free to send them my way through email. And remember these things won’t happen all at once but there will be steady improvement.

Where have I been?

So I’m not going to lie or make up excuses of why I haven’t posted. All I can say is I’ve had baby brain – which is all I’ve thought about the past few weeks are babies – well mainly my baby, but I promise I’ll get better.

In the last month Matt and I found out we’re having a boy and have even picked a name; Owen Joseph, and no we will NOT be calling him OJ. Anyway, since learning about little Owen all I can think about are baby socks, baby blankets, baby toys, the list goes on and on.

I actually have about 5/6 post hand written out where all I need to do is type them up, but alas rather than doing that I’ve spent my evenings crocheting baby Owen a hat and matching blanket.

Yet, I do promise to stop researching the best highchairs and safest cribs soon so I can get back to blogging. I’d do it now but I really need to finish reading every article/review on cloth diapers ever written first.

Master Your Debt - Book Review

Last month I was sent Jordan Goodman’s new book, Master Your Debt: Slash your Monthly Payments and become Debt Free and asked me to review it for all the OnOurWay readers.

I think everyone knows by now just because someone sends me something does not mean I’ll gloss over a review, so when I say I really like something it’s the truth, and I really liked Master Your Debt.

In each chapter Goodman walks you through ways to decrease your expenses step by step. Whether you are just getting started or ready to make those final adjustments there is something for you to learn. This book is the most up to date listing of all the new policy and rule changes happening as we speak. My favorite chapters were those on the new mortgage and credit card regulations. Goodman not only shows readers how to use these programs to your advantage but also provides great resources to expand your knowledge.

In fact those extra resources are the thing that makes Master Your Debt unique. There are links and/or other contact information provided for just about every service Goodman writes on.

While Matt and I don’t need to pay off any credit card debt reading this has helped us re-focus our pay off plan for the debt we do have (mortgage and student loans). Everyone, no matter where you are your financial life, can use a little refresher now and again.

Of course the one thing that makes this book great for the reader today is the one downfall for the reader tomorrow. Goodman’s book is so up to date on current policy and programs it probably won’t be useful for most readers ten years from now. If you think you’ll want to give this book a read do it sooner rather than later. Right now you can pick it up for about $15 on amazon.com or join the three other people on the waiting list at pbs.com


Books Read in 2010: 3
Books to Read in 2010: 47

Good Reads 3/19/10

Looks like this edition of Good Reads is all crafts!

Dollar Store hair bow holder from Creations By Kara - These would make a cute little gift for someone special.

I LOVE these Vintage puzzle piece magnets from Lindseys craft list. - I have a ton of old puzzle pieces that would totally work for this project


Shamrock dishtowel tutorial from Creation corner - but really you could use this tutorial for any holiday design

Wow! This Dino play suitcase from at second street is AMAZING! You have to at least have a quick look.

Fabric birdies and nest from Lemon tree creations

Make a jewelry bust for about a buck found on the examiner.com

Make a Personalized name sign from Three men and a lady

How to make a Spunky pin board from Walnut & Ivory

Find out how to make your own Chalk board tins from Some day crafts. - I bet I can find some great tins at the dollar store or Goodwill this summer.

Reusable Swiffer duster cloths from Sew Much a do.

New Yoplait Smoothie Review

Myblogspark.com and Yoplait sent me a coupon to try their new Yoplait Smoothie mix and a small blender so I could try them out. I really wanted to share my review via vlog but with my ongoing cold and all the household drama we’ve had lately (more to come) it just wasn’t possible.

I will say though, the new Yoplait Smoothies are great. I love all the new products Yoplait is coming out with; each and every one is an improvement over your plain yogurt options of yesteryear.

This new product not only tastes great it’s super easy to use as well. Literally you cut open the bag, drop in the frozen mix and a cup of skim milk, then blend for 1 – 1 ½ minutes. Then enjoy your ready to eat smoothie. I tried both the Strawberry Banana and Triple Berry mixes. While both were good I will say I did preferred the Triple berry mix the most. I also love the fact that the Smoothie mixes make two servings and each serving contains one full portion of fruit.

Don’t believe me? You should give them a shot for yourself. And if you have already tried the new Yoplait Smoothies feel free to leave a comment with how you felt about the newest product.

Good Reads - 3/12/10

Here are the good reads for the week.
Also if you're a facebook fan of OnOurWay you've already learned about lots of different coupons and deals that didn't make it in to today's run down. Click Here to sign up as a fan now.

Lots of craft stuff this week

How to make a reversible swiffer sock from craftzine.com - What a great way to save on buying those expensive refills.

Learn the ins and outs of using kool-aid to color Easter Eggs at Gingerbread Snowflakes

Fuzzy knitted Easter Chicks from the Purlbee.com - I love this site

A great article from The Simple Dollar How much do Half Mortgage payments really save also make sure to read the article Cult of the new

Check out these amazing greeting cards you can plant from Makes and Takes

Adorable St.Patty's day baby booties from Vickie Howell

I also really can't wait to try these Mini Apple Pies

Quick Updates

So I have about three book reviews to post and a few other things I want to share with you, including a financial update. We've blown a lot of money over the last few days and now that our dryer is officially cooked it looks like we'll be spending even more.

Unfortunately, all that stuff is gonna have to wait. I am battling a horrible cold right now. it started out as a scratchy throat and quickly turned into a full blown head cold. I'm hoping to get at least one post done tomorrow and be back up and running full force this weekend.

Good Reads - 3/5/10

Mad in Crafts has a cute and quick tutorial on how to make a fabric wreath

Tater tots and Jello has an amazing tutorial on how to make subway art. I love how all these crafters are creating their own catalog worthy items for a fraction of the cost. I hope to one day steal her idea. And then once I finish ripping off borrowing her idea for the subway art I hope to use her tutorial on making a serving tray from dollar store items

In my Free time has a quicky tutorial up on Making a personalized travel mug she makes it seem very easy... I'm not so sure but I'll be adding it to the must do list anyway.

You can find post up on how to make baby sock roses at Hayseed in the City - This would be a great baby shower decoration.

Mrs.Priss (interesting name) has a post up on how to make a headband from fabric it's quick, it looks easy and I'm probably going to have to make one.

There is a How to make a baby shirt from an old mens tshirt at Made.com you can then use that tutorial to make a personalized shirt like the one found at Ballet Shoes and Yarn

And then I also came a cross these Valentine burlap frams from The Tidy Nest. I have some burlap in the garage and Matt has been asking me what I'm going to do with it, for a buck I'll make some of these, non V-day themes obviously.

Fiber One Giveaway!

So the very generous folks from Fiber One through myblogspark.com provided me with a healthy gift basket full of items to maintain a healthy life style.

Now obviously since I’m 18 weeks pregnant I’m not trying to lose any weight at this time I am; however, trying to stay semi active and the pedometer has been a great reminder to get up and move every day.

I’m also love the cute water bottle they sent along and the reflective snap bracelet (anyone else remember those?). Yet, surprisingly enough my favorite item was the Fiber One sample they included. I hate to admit it but often times in the morning I don’t have time for breakfast. I took the samples to work and stuck them in my desk, once I became snacky hungry rather than grab a doughnut I was able to eat a bar and hold myself off till lunch. The bars are not overly dry like I find most “breakfast” bars to be and they are such a better alternative to the bag of chips or other junk food option I would normally buy from our vending machine. I’ll be picking these up in future grocery shopping trips.

And the best part for you, my readers is Fiber One and myblogspark.com would like to send you your very own gift pack so you can try out their new product.
I’m only going to run the giveaway until March 3rd so make sure and get yourself entered soon. There are two ways to enter and you can enter once with each option.

Option One:
Leave a comment on this post with a way that you make weight management easier on yourself.

Option Two:
Become a fan on our new facebook page HERE and leave me a comment letting me know (this will work if you are currently a fan as well).

REMEMBER: It’s very important to leave me a way to contact you in your comment so I can notify you if you should be our gift pack winner!

Sweepstakes Advantage - Free Online Sweepstakes

_____________
Also don't forget about the 60 FREE swagbucks for new sign ups now until March 4th. Make sure to use our REFERRAL LINK and the special Code: MEGANSCODE2

42 Free Swagbucks...

Swagbucks has just posted 42 FREE swagbuck codes throughout their site!

If you're following OnOurWay on facebook you already know where to find these codes but if you haven't yet Stop by sign up as a fan and get yourself 42 free swagbucks!


And don't forget all new sign ups who use our referral link and code MEGANSCODE2 receive an additional 60 FREE swag bucks. Read the full post HERE

Swagbucks Celebration!

The day has finally arrived. Starting today until Thursday, March 4th at 6AM all new Swagbuck sign ups will receive 60 extra bucks just for using our special site code: MEGANSCODE2 (case sensitive). You can sign up HERE


Swagbucks has added many options for how you can get a pay out. I like to use my bucks on gift cards and few of my favorites are;
$5 Amazon.com card = 45 swagbucks
$5 cash in Paypal = 70 swagbucks
$10 Barns and Nobel = 125 Swagbucks
$15 iTunes card = 185 Swagbucks
$20 Target gift card = 235 Swagbucks

But have no worries if you are already a Swagger, this week is special for you too. To celebrate their 2nd birthday Swagbucks plans to giveaway lots of codes for FREE bucks throughout the week. Make sure you keep checking their blog, twitter and facebook page to get yourself some free bucks!

Remember our code: MEGANSCODE2 expires at 6am on Thursday, March 4th so make sure and use it quickly.


Not sure what Swagbucks is or why you should be using it? Read up on the program HERE

And don’t forget you can now follow OnOurWay on our new Facebook page. I hope to use this page to post lots of limited time freebies and other offers that wouldn’t normally make it on the blog so make sure to sign up as a fan.

I've jumped on the band wagon

So it's official I'm followed lead and created a facebook fan page.

Right now the page is in the early stages of development but head on over and add us to your pages if you'd like. I hope to start adding new and different material to the fan page and of course I'll use it to let you know when there is an update online as well. I also hope to get some discussion threads going in the future for people to weigh in on.

If you see anything you'd like me to add to the page just let me know. I'm open to suggestions.


You can find OnOurWay on Facebook by clicking HERE

Extra Swag codes on their way

Just wanted to drop a line and let everyone know starting February 25th there will be an extra code available at OnOurWay for new sign ups allowing you 6 extra bucks when you sign up for an account.

And to celebrate their 2nd birthday Swagbucks has a slew of things happening that you'll want to get in on. I'll have the full scoop on the 25th so make sure you check back in.

Good Reads 2/19/10

I promise some actual thought required posting soon. (hopefully this weekend) until then here are a few of the great post I've found online this week


how to make an accordion fold envelope from recycled crafts

How to make paper out of lint from instructables - I am going to start saving my lint

A big list of lunch boxes for you to make from sew mama sew

Friday Good Reads 2/12/10

Sock owl tutorial from Whimsy Loft - I love this tutorial, you have to look at it.

My second pick are these amazing Recycled crayon Valentines from the long thread. Trust me making these crayons is so easy and they'd be hit in every classroom, especially with their Oscar Wilde like word play (as Matt likes to say)

9 Cheap date night ideas from Mom Advice.

Daily Danny has an interesting post on How to upcycle silk flowers

Google Map Envelopes from Craftzine

Craft Envy has an adorable craft on how to make a headband from a recycled tie

How to make Anthropologie Flowers from Happy Together.

Pink Peppermint Heart marshmallows from Create!

Create Studio has a tutorial on Glass Etching Tutorial

Salt Dough hearts from the Long Thread - I love her idea of sticking a magnet on the back. I tell you our future children have Valentine's day cards figured out until high school.

Fabric Rose Wreath from Smashed Pees and Carrots

Snail Valentines from Zakka life - Such a cute idea.

Pinwheel coasters from the long thread

Sweetheart Valentines Day cards adorable and easy cards from Bunny Cakes

Vintage Holiday cards from Vintage Holiday Crafts

How to make matchbox candy holders

Free Patchwork Scottie Dog pattern from Craftzine

Comlicit - Book Review

Complicit – “choosing to be involved in an illegal or questionable act, esp. with others; having complicity.” (dictionary.com)

The second book read in 2010 was offered to me as an advanced copy by Bloomberg press. Complicit: How Greed and Collusion Made the Credit Crisis Unstoppable, written by Mark Gilbert offers an in-depth look at the events which lead up to our current economic conditions.

The book is basically just that – an in depth look at our latest financial crisis. Gilbert provides readers with dates, places, and even names of those responsible for our current situation.

I will however provide a warning to some readers. I found the reading to be a little dry. The book is packed with facts but doesn’t leave readers a lot of time to digest the information.

If you are just getting into the world of finance reading I would not suggest this book as one of your first five.

Books Read in 2010: 2
Books to read in 2010: 48

2010 Goals

I haven’t shared our 2010 goals yet for one reason – they weren’t done. Our 2010 goals aren’t done yet because I’m not sure what we want to accomplish and I’m not sure what we want to accomplish because we have some big changes coming in 2010.

In July of 2010 the Harrison household is expecting a new member! Matt and I are thrilled and the dog is still trying to figure out how this will affect his ability to sleep till 10 on weekends. We’re very excited and nervous to be first time parents. And as you can imagine the whole future being unknown part has made it difficult for us to set goals.

If all goes well I hope to be able to stay home with the baby for a while, but we have some things to work out before that could happen.

Because of all these interesting development we have two segments of goals; 6 months before the baby and 6 months after.
They look like this.

6 months before (Jan – Jun)
- Increase emergency fund by $10,000
- Begin living 100% on one income
- House prep for a baby (list below)

6 months after (Jul – Dec)
- Have baby
- Try to survive

I also want to continue to save for retirement and other things like home improvements but again we’ll have to see how things go before we make any concrete goals for after the baby. Before July there are a few house projects I would like to finish. I’m hoping that making them part of my 2010 goals it will help me to focus on them and get them finished. I’m also counting on you guys to keep me on track

House projects for 2010
- Rip up bushes in front of house
- Hang shelves in basement for books
- Hang shelves in basement for stockpile and craft storage
- Paint kitchen (long story)
- Put in cat door
- Paint the upstairs stairwell
- Hang pictures (yes four months here and there is nothing on my walls yet)
- Get upstairs closets set up
- Touch up paint job

I’m sure I’ll add to the list as time goes on and I see/remember other things we need to do but for now I think this is a decent size to start with.

There you have it folks our very thought out goals for 2010. We really just don’t know if/how long we can live on one income so trying to live on just Matt’s paycheck for a few months will help us determine what our goals will be in the future and how to better allocate our money.

Friday Finds January 29th 2010

Create studio has a great post on Making a wreath from book pages

Joys Hope has a tutorial on making a crinkle square for babies. This involves scrap fabric, ribbon, and an empty wipe wrapper. I've made these squares before but without the crinkle effect. I might have to try this one out.

I love Get Rich Slowly he always has great articles and this week is no different. Stop by to read How to talk to your spouse about money. Getting both parties on the same page financially is the first step to reaching financial freedom.

The Simple Dollar (another favorite) has some great information on what it takes to be a Census Worker


Did I miss anything great out there this week? Let me know and I'll make sure we get it added in the future.

Friday Reads - January 22nd 2009

Ok so this post is a day late, but there are still some great reads

Sign up for free subscriptions of Lowe's Creative Ideas for Home and Garden and/or Lowe's Creative Ideas for Woodworkers. Use the Following Link

Poppytalk has a tutorial on how to make polymer gift tags. I love these and you could use the directions for any and all holiday tags. Wouldn't they be cute on Christmas gifts and then you could hang them on the tree.

Wikihow has an article on creating homemade cough drops

Frugal Home Ideas posted this mirror project back in October but I've just stumbled upon it and love it so I wanted to share. Also check out her tutorial on faux wainscoting

Soft Scrub coupons for you to download.

love this Valentines day Kissing Ball from the Domestic Fashionista.

How to make your own homemade gummi candies from craftzine.

House – Book Review

Wow – I really did not know what I was getting into when I picked up House: The Only Way Out is In by Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker. I read the product description on Paperbackswap.com and the dust jacket when it came so I was expecting something scary and suspenseful. And really it was, but there is a big twist which takes the book to a whole different level. (a religious level).

The new direction for the book isn’t a bad one it just caught me off guard. Overall, it was a good read but know that I’m warning you to: Read at your own risk. I don’t want anyone coming back here and complaining that the book goes in a totally different direction and I didn’t warn them.

Books Read in 2010: 1
Books to Read in 2010: 49

Your Money or Your Life – Book Review

Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin is the last book I read in 2009. I had heard such amazing reviews of this book I knew I had to read it. Yet, I’m unsatisfied with the book as a whole. I didn’t find anything life changing about it.

The book is packed full of advice and money tips but its all stuff we’ve heard over and over. Maybe I’ve just become desensitized to finance books since I’ve read my fair share at this point, but this isn’t one I’ll have dreams over. If you’re looking to read your first finance book you should put this one on your “to read list”.

I went ahead and saved the room on our bookshelf by putting it up for swap on PBS.

Books read in 2009: 33

Bright Lights, Big Ass – Book Review

Bright Lights, Big Ass by Jen Lancaster is another book I read in 2009 but wanted to share the review with you anyway. Bright Light is about the day to day life of Jen Lancaster, a writer living in Chicago trying to write a book. Throughout the book Jen deals with temp jobs, the dreaded annual Dr. visit and searching the city for a new place to live.

None of these events seem overly interesting but Lancaster is able to put her own comic light on things and you’ll be laughing all the way through. If you’re looking for a good laugh I suggest this one.

Books Read in 2009: 32

Yankee Candle - Final Sale!

In case you haven't heard Yankee Candle reduced their prices even more today.

Gift sets are now 75% off
Large Candles $12
Medium jars $10
Small Jars 3/$10

and shipping is only $5 for all orders under $100

But hurry the sale ends Monday and products are going fast!

The Lost Symbol - Book Review

I read Dan Brown’s new book The Lost Symbol in December so it counts for 2009 counts even if I didn’t get it posted right away.

I really don’t have a lot to say about the book that won’t give most of the plot away. It was a really good read, but very familiar in the sense almost identical to his other books in layout. Robert is thrown into a mystery against his will, meets a cute girl, goes through puzzles and old myths to solve said mystery, escapes death a lot, and of course a Brown twist. There I don’t think that should give away anything since we’ve all read it before : )

Worth the read but don’t have overly high expectations.

Books Read in 2009: 31

2010 Entertainment Book

I just received my 2010 Entertainment Book last month. There are a ton of coupons and I can see how this book could help families save a lot of money – if you live in the right area. Unfortunately, Matt and I don’t live in the right area. We are located in Lansing, Michigan – there are books for the Grand Rapids and Saginaw areas, both of which are over an hour away from us.

Lansing is a larger city so I’m no sure why we don’t have a book (we are the capital city after all), but I suppose they left out Detroit as well. Anyway, driving over an hour to use a coupon reduces how much we’re actually savings. Even the coupons for major food franchises can only be used at select locations none of which are near us.

Because of this I’ll be giving away all of the local food/shop coupons or trying to sell them on ebay. There are a few national retailer with coupons listed and I do plan to make use of those throughout the year.

And I would suggest if you have a book for your actual area it might be worth looking into.

Military coupon reminder

Just a quick reminder to send out your expired coupons.

This month I'm sending mine to

Ramstein, Germany

Ramstein Air Base
Attn: Family Services
Bldg. 1200, Flugplatz Ramstein
APO AE 09094 Germany

Make it easy on yourself and just copy address


Have no idea what I'm talking about? You can read up on the military coupon program in my Original post here

2009 Goal Update

So I’m a year late but I wanted to do a quick run down of our 2009 goals. We hit some and fell short on others, but I think analyzing what did and didn’t work for us is important to deciding how we’ll conquer our goals in 2010.

Last year Matt and I set a few optimistic financial goals.


~ Reduce our monthly spending by 5% ($250)
We were able to reduce our spending but I’m not quite sure by how much. We have more defined goals for 2010 to help track this.

~ Save $4,000 for a car
This goal we hit and actually exceeded. To date we have $4,724 in our car fund. After we reached our $4,000 goal we continued to put an extra 5% of our savings into the fund

~ Save $5,000 in an emergency fund
This is another goal we were able to hit and then some. We have $5,218 in our emergency fund.

~ Save $12,500 for our retirement
This goal we fell very short on with only $1,014 in savings. But this is where the analysis kicks in.

Once Matt and I fully funded our car and emergency fund we just said “let’s put everything extra into our retirement fund” so of course there was never anything extra. We did purchase a new home with some of the money as a down payment and basically refinished most of the home before moving in. I’d say in totally we spent about $7,000 + on all of that, which means we were actually able to save a lot but put it to good use in other ways.

One of our goals was to purchase a long term home which we were obviously able to do, I plan for us to live here at least ten to fifteen years hopefully longer. Having a stable place and reasonable home payment will help us reach our other financial goals.


Along with our financial goals I also set some personal and health ones as well.

~ Read 50 Books in 2009
I didn’t hit this goal either but made some great improvements in my overall book reading. So far I’ve reviewed 30 books for OnOurWay but have actually read 33. While I didn’t hit the goal of 50 I read more books in 2009 than if I hadn’t set the goal at all so I’m counting it as a win.

~ Reduce our material possessions by 30%
Matt and I did a really good job of this while we moved but I want to step it up even more and reduce reduce reduce in 2010

And we didn’t do so well in the health side of goals as I didn’t hit any of them. I think they were just too ambitious to start with right away.

So one Lesson Learned in 2009: Set defined and track able goals in order to help us stay on course I hope to take this new knowledge about how Matt and I handle goal accomplishment and use it to set even better goals in 2010.

What goals did you hit or miss in 2009 and how to you plan to use that information to kick butt in 2010?

Friday Januar 1st 2010

Wise Bread has a post on how to uglify your stuff to keep it safe

The Dollar stretcher has a post ways to make the best new years resolutions

CNN Money has a list of Ten ten places that will get raises in 2010 and the 10 best places for employment

The Dollar Stretcher also has 8 ways to make money without any extra work