Pinch This Stretch That - Finance | Family | Food | Faith

LEGO for every age Giveaway!

May 21, 2013 by Gina Leave a Comment

My kids love LEGO! I love seeing their creations and I love how they get hours of play out of each set. If your kids or you know kids that love Lego’s then you’ll want to join in the fun of this giveaway.

This week I’m teaming up with The Joys of Boys and some other fun bloggers to bring you an ultimate LEGO giveaway in celebration of The Joys of Boys 1 year “Blog-iversary.” The great thing about Lego’s is they make perfect gifts so be sure to hold on to these and give them out for an upcoming birthday or holiday event!

One lucky winner will receive a LEGO Duplo Brick Box, perfect for the a baby’s first LEGO experience (recommended ages 1 1/2 – 5), a LEGO Bricks and More Box (recommended ages 4+) and Power Mech perfect for older boys (ages 7-12). There is definitely something for kids of all ages.

All you have to do is click the link below and follow along with us on social media and someone will win the ultimate LEGO package. It’s that easy. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Filed Under: Giveaways Tagged With: giveaway, lego, lego bricks, lego creator, lego power mech

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Dealing With Disappointments in Life

May 17, 2013 by Gina 2 Comments

Dealing with disappointment is hard and often times you’ll hear the saying…. things happen for a reason? Do you believe it?

If you are saying yes, how do you feel when it happens to your children? As parents we want to encourage our children and shield them from any type of disappointment they may receive in their lives and it gets even harder when you find yourself as disappointed than they are.

For the past few months, our family has been praying for our daughter to pass her tests. Today we found out that she didn’t pass the test and God hasn’t answered our prayer and to be honest I’m mad. In Matthew 7:7 it states “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

What I have to remember is that I’m not on God’s timeline. Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Dealing with disappointment is hard on any level and it’s not an easy pill to swallow. Sometimes it takes a painful disappointment to teach us how to strengthen our faith and skills. For we don’t know God’s will, we just have to trust in his promise.

Dealing with disappointment is easier if you try to follow these 4 tips:

1. Continue to Pray. Remember that God is true to his word.

2. Turn the negative into a positive. This event can be a life changer or make a difference in yours or someone else’s lives. You can also ask yourself if you could have done something different?

3. Be Patient. We are on God’s time not our own. He will answer our prayers when he is ready to and sometimes his answer may be no.

4. Let it out. It’s OK to be upset and angry and talking with someone can help. Just be sure that the person you are talking with is positive.

What suggestions do you have when dealing with disappointment?

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: dealing with disappointment, encouraging children

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Private Selection Upside Down Cakes – Simple Dessert Solution

May 15, 2013 by Gina Leave a Comment

This post brought to you by Private Selection. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you ever had one of those days, when you totally forgot that you were supposed to make or bring dessert? This usually happens to me when I need to bring something for a potluck or if we are having dinner at a friends or inviting friends over. I know I’ve had several of these occasions. I really don’t know what happens, the day was just so busy and time seemed to slipped away from me. Frustrated that I have to rack my brain for a quick dessert solution and that’s when I usually head to Smith’s.

I find they have some of the best dessert selections at very resonable prices. Their Chocolate and Lemon Pudding Cakes have always been one of my favorites until I saw…

The New Private Selection gourmet quality Upside Down Cakes. They come in 3 different flavors – German Chocolate Fudge, Double Chocolate Molten and Amber Honey Apple Spice. Making my mouth water. I was sold when I saw that it was a Private Selction product. I personally love Private Selection. You get premium quality without the premium price and plus they use the best ingredients too.

This is definitely a simple solution to solve any of your quick dessert needs. The Upside Down Cakes didn’t require much maintenance either. Just warm, flip and serve. Pretty Simple huh?

The Private Selection brand is is a premium private label brand carried exclusively at the Kroger Family of Stores and affiliated stores including: Baker’s, City Market, Dillons, Fry’s, Gerbes, Pay Less, QFC, JayC, King Soopers, Owen’s, Ralphs, Smith’s and Fred Meyer. Use the Store Locator to find one near you.

While your heading to the store to the store to pick one up. Don’t pay full price. Be sure to print/load the following coupon:

Private Selection Upside Down Cakes coupon

Disclaimer: Coupon ends 6/2/13. Official Rules. In order to load these coupons to your card, you will need to sign into your Kroger account or set up a Kroger account and enter your card number. Limit one use per digital coupon. Digital offers are not eligible on Manager’s Specials, cannot be combined with manufacturer paper coupons on the purchase of a single item, and do not double. Not all items are available in all stores. A limit of 150 coupons can be loaded per household at one time.

Visit Private Selction Private Selection Upside Down Cakes on Facebook and Private Selection Upside Down Cakes on Pinterest to stay up to date on all of their wonderful products.

Do you have a simple dessert solution? Comment below and share your tips.

Filed Under: Coupons

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Paying For College Isn’t the Parents Responsibility

May 13, 2013 by Gina 6 Comments

Paying for college isn’t the parent’s responsibility in our family. At least that is how we are starting our trend since our oldest child is graduating this year, her college education will be her responsibility.

The reason why we will not be paying for college is simple. We cannot afford to take on a new debt.

I don’t know how or when it started.. but people assume that as parents we should automatically pay for our children’s college education and I’m here to say I don’t believe this to be true. Here’s why!

In our current situation, we are not debt free and we did not plan accordingly to start a college savings fund for our children. Should this be our child’s fault? No, but does that mean I’d feel differently if we had the means to pay for it. Absolutely Not!

I can’t tell you how many people I know, whose parents have handed over sums of money or took out loans to help their children pay for college to find out their child lacked motivation, never graduated and they were left with the crazy bill.

Since birth we‘ve been assisting our children with their education and I feel that it’s time for them to take the next step on this important journey on their own.

If I don’t pay for their college education I feel that my children will…

Work harder because it’s their own money
Continue to look and put effort into scholarships, getting better grades
Be more motivated to graduate, knowing they are responsible for their debt.

My job going forward is help them make a plan, give them options and provide encouragement to help them succeed.

If they succeed and accomplish their goals, then… the fun begins. I would love for it to be a surprise and take over their loans or help make double payments and payoff the loans faster.

As parents, with debt, do you feel you should be paying for college?

Filed Under: Parenting Tagged With: 529 college savings plan, college education, parenting tips, paying for college

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How To Pay Less for Unlimited Plans on Your Cell Phone Bill

May 4, 2013 by Gina 2 Comments

“I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Walmart Family Mobile. #FamilyMobileSaves #cbias #SocialFabric All opinions given are all of my own.

Our cell phone bill is something I constantly think about. I feel like I pay a fortune for unlimited plans and what started as a luxury has turned into a have-cessity. I’ve got to have a cell phone, I’ve got to have a phone that has all of the bells and whistles and I really don’t know how I can live without it.

The price of my first cell phone plan was $9.95 a month plus $0.35 a minute and would you know that I’ve had my same cell phone account since 1991 and I have never switched companies. Now the cell phone companies did some transitioning on their own which resulted in my current cell phone provider being Verizon. I really love having that back story and being able to say that I’ve been a loyal customer since 1991. I love the service I get and have been very happy with the cell phone coverage, especially when we travel. What I don’t like is the price I’m paying. Our 2 lines, both smartphones with unlimited talk, text and 4GB combined data, along with an employee discount we pay roughly $144.00 a month.

Unlimited Plan Cell Phone Bill 1

My husband and I have been looking for ways to cut our expenses and the cell phone always comes to mind. I’ve seen so many no contract plans, all of which have cheap wireless plans, but I’ve been afraid to make a switch.

The Walmart Family Mobile Plan really has me considering switching services. For $40 a month, I get unlimited minutes, text and 1 GB of data. Very equivalent to what I get with Verizon. You’ll also need a phone to activate. If you have an unlocked GSM phone, you can use that phone and activate it otherwise you’ll need to purchase a phone which can be expensive.

Let’s say we purchase the Samsung Galaxy II on the Walmart Family Mobile Plan, which is currently priced at $324.00. Yes that is a lot of money, but don’t let that freak you out. We’ll compare that to a similar phone at Verizon. Though the price may seem cheaper, in the long run it will not be. Take a look at the comparison I put together:

What an amazing difference on one phone and if I add a second line to it the price my total is $75.00 a month. That’s just $3.00 more than what I’m paying for 1 phone.

So when I was offered the opportunity to try out the plan, I was jumping for joy with excitement. I headed to Walmart and picked up my starter kit, to activate my Samsung Galaxy S III. (Check out my Google+ album about my shopping experience). When I checked out, the cashier in electronics asked me if I brought my phone. I told her no. She informed me that she could have set my phone up right in the store, but not to worry I could also do it online at myfamilymobile.com.

The starter kit was $25.00 which included the Walmart Family Mobile Sim card. You had the choice of porting a number or choosing a new one. I chose a new one and within a few steps my new phone was activated. The activation was so simple and I’m loving my new phone and features. I’ve only had it for a few days and have been playing with the video and camera options at my boys baseball game. We took this at the end of right field. So far I’m very pleased.

Samsung Galaxy Camera

Over the next 30 days, I’ll be really testing out the phone and coverage. Be sure to check back with me for my final review. In the meantime comment below and tell me which is your favorite non contract provider and does your current cell phone bill give you an unlimited plan?

Filed Under: Product Reviews, Ways To Save Tagged With: #FamilyMobileSaves, Cheap Wireless Plan, No Contract Plan, Walmart, Walmart Family Mobile

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