Archive for October 2nd, 2009

UPDATE – PLEASE READ! From the Herbal Essence Facebook  ( not my giveaway)
UPDATE as of 1:37PM EST on 10/5

We apologize for the technical issues that have gotten in the way of the Herbal Essences Gorgeous Giveaway. While we have worked through the weekend, there are several issues taking longer than expected to resolve.

We want this to be a good experience for everyone, and so we are building in some of feedback we received. As a result, the event will now run 10/8 (11:30pm ET) through 10/12 (11:30pm ET). And because you’ve stuck with us, we’ve increased the number of coupons we’re giving away to 75,000 total (18,750 per day).

Thanks again for your patience and understanding!

Herbal Essence Gorgeous Giveaway – We’re hosting a Gorgeous Giveaway* from 10/2-10/6. (12,500 per day beginning at 2:00pm EST) It’s your chance to try an Herbal Essences shampoo or conditioner you’ve never used before (or get one of your faves) – totally on us!  We’ll be giving away 50,000 FREE* Herbal Essences Product coupons when you register at the link given.  (I have been getting Service Unavailable but this says it is from 10/02 until 10/06 so keep trying!  I got in after about 5 minutes.  See screenshot)

When my husband and I first got married and started talking about planning a family, all we ever heard was how expensive it was to have a baby. The numbers were quite shocking but still, we went ahead with our plans having faith that we could make it through anything. I was lucky enough to be a stay at home mom for 7.5 years.. We weren’t rich monetarily but we were rich when it came to a loving family and friends to support our decisions. When I did decide that I needed to “find myself” and go back to work – because obviously being a wife, mother, maid, chauffer and cook were not enough (dumb, dumb, dumb!) I had no idea that I would be taking on a full time job plus everything I apparently wasn’t satisfied with before. Like I said…dumb. What I realized is that when we had more, we wanted more. We were no better off with me bringing a paycheck home than we were before. We added the extra expense of child care, a 2nd car payment, gas, clothing, lunches and eventually a house payment. We still struggled and by the time I realized it was not as rewarding as I thought it would be, it was too late. I couldn’t go back to being just a wife and mommy ever again.

Move ahead 10 years. Our daughters are now 14 and 18 and are into many of the same things most average teenagers are in to these days. Social networking either via the computer or the cell phones, hanging out with friends on weekends, going to movies, eating fast food, shopping for make up, clothes and whatever else is new & trendy. For the most part, my girls have everything they need. I admit, they both have friends that have cars, wear designer clothes and shoes, carry expensive purses and live in nicer homes than we do but what I don’t see is that they have the same morals or attitudes that my girls do. (Keep in mind, I am not talking about every teenager in every family in the world…only what I have seen over the years with my kids and their social enviornment.) We have tried to raise our girls to appreciate the simple things in life. We want to instill in them the idea that having more doesn’t mean you are better, it just means that someone out there is probably more in debt than we are. We have always wanted more than anything to be able to give our children anything and everything they have ever wanted but unfortunatly it hasn’t worked out that way…and in my eyes, this hasn’t been a bad thing. It has taught my kids not to be spoiled (well, not too spoiled) and to appreciate what they have. Teaching them that love can get you through things that money couldn’t touch. In these frightening economic times, I hope that they will see the importance of living within your means and not beyond them, especially since my husband lost his job in August and has not been able to find a new one. Children tend to follow by example and I pray that as parents, our frugal ways will be a good example. We weren’t prepared to be a one income family but somehow, we are making it and it’s not really been all that bad. In fact, it has been a blessing in disguise in a lot of ways. We are learning to make due with what we have and are able to afford and are spending a lot more family time together.

A couple of frugal entertainment ideas we have implemented are making “copycat” fast food recipes in our own kitchen which saves us a ton of money. I can feed my family of 4 for what one meal might cost at your kids favorite taco drive thru. It’s also a little healthier because I control what goes in to the food. If I throw some fat free refried beans in their mock “crunch wrap” they never even know. We also watch movies on the Internet from sites like ineedpopcorn.com or hulu.com.

Do you have any special things you do with your kids that are fun & frugal? I hope that you will share them – I’d love to hear your ideas!