In time on DVD Today!

Looking for a thrilling movie to watch this week? Pick up In time with Amanda Seyfried and Justin Timberlake out on DVD today! This is the perfect flick to pick up for weekend date night in! My favorite thing to do with my hubby when we don't have a sitter (which is often!).

In the future, time has become the ultimate currency and genetic alteration has allowed people to stop aging at 25 years old.  Upon reaching 25, the countdown begins and in order to stay alive everyone must work to buy themselves more time or die within a year.  The rich can buy their way out of the situation, while the rest are left to negotiate for immortality.  When a struggling young man, Will Salas  (Timberlake), comes in contact with a “millionaire,” he is gifted more time than he can imagine.  Falseley accused of murder, Will is a fugitive on the run and becomes determined to bring down the entire system by any means possible.

Showcasing stunning visual effects and gravity defying stunts, the IN TIME Blu-ray is loaded with bonus materials including an exclusive featurette “THE MINUTES” to discover the origins of the film’s time based society, deleted and extended scenes, and access to the enhanced IN TIME THE GAME APP.  DVD special features include deleted and extended scenes. 

This is a great film that will keep you on the edge of your seat. It definitely makes you think!

Buy It! IN TIME will be available on Blu-ray for an average retail price of  $24.99 and on DVD for $19.99 starting today!

Boob Design Ready Flex Fleece Nursing Top Review AND Big News - Available in the US!

Every nursing mama should know about the fabulous nursing tops from Boob Design. I did a review of their B Warmer Nursing Hoodie (pictured above) back in 2010 when I was nursing Aiden. I instantly fell in love with it and knew that I needed more pieces from their collection.

After owning the hoodie now since 2010 I can attest to it's quality and how well it has held up to multiple washings, getting spit up on and frequently worn. It has held up great and I continue to wear it now that I am nursing Carson. It's so comfy and it's one of my favorite nursing tops.

After delivering Carson I knew the first place I wanted to shop for nursing tops was Boob Design. After experiencing firsthand the quality and great fit of their clothes they are a definite favorite of mine. I found this fantastic Ready Flex Fleece and instantly fell in love. It is absolutely perfect for our chilly Winters and I couldn't be more happy with how comfortable and warm it is.

This hoodie can be worn while pregnant and nursing. Thanks to the deep, lined slits with zips to adjust the fit even during pregnancy. It also features built in cuffs with thumb holes to keep your hands warm and a practical sleeve pocket for mobile phone, etc.

With Boob Designs practical nursing function built in all you have to do is lift the front panel and pull down the inner fabric in order to nurse your baby. No more lifting your shirt and exposing your belly and back to nurse. This top makes nursing in public a breeze. I absolutely love it!

One of my favorite features is the extra length in the back which keeps you warm even when sitting outdoors. Soft and warm fleece in 100% polyester, made from recycled PET bottles. How cool is that? I always have to laugh because Boob Design has done such a great job creating stylish nursing clothes that no one realizes they are nursing tops. I've had more people ask me where this top is from than any other shirt I've worn lately and when I tell them it's a nursing top they are surprised. It's been very popular!

Buy It! I have some very exciting news as up until recently it has been difficult to find Boob Designs products that were available in the US. They just launched their site to include shipping to the US now! I am over the moon about this and I've had fun shopping for more tops :) You can head over to their site and check out the B Warmer Nursing Hoodie and Ready Flex Fleece which are 2 of my most comfortable, well fitting nursing tops I own. I highly recommend them!

 

*I was provided product for review purposes only and was not compensated for this review.

1 Giveaway Ends Tonight + Bonus Entries!

The Entenmann's Big Book of Baking Cookbook Giveaway ends tonight at midnight. Enter now for your chance to win! You may have 2 extra entries for any relevant comment you leave (or have already left) on the following posts: Garlic Cream Cheese Chicken Pockets Recipe or QuickSmart Easy Fold Stroller Review.

Good Luck!

Tips for Saving Money & Cutting Household Costs!

Following up on my post on making the decision to become a stay at home mom I wanted to show you some ways that you can save money on everyday things. As I mentioned in my previous post, where there is a will there is a way and if you really want to stay home with your kids you can find a way to cut costs and make it happen.

If you are contemplating becoming a stay at home mom then there are certainly things that you should take care of before taking the leap. If you have credit card debts then you need to think about coming up with a plan to pay off credit card bills before they accumulate more and more interest. When I was still working my husband and I made it a priority to pay off all of our loans and debts and we reached our goal before I stayed home with the kids. In order to pay off debt in the most timely manner you need to make the minimum payments on all of your debts/loans and then choose the one with the highest interest and make an extra payment on that one each month. Once you have paid that one off then you will still be paying out the same amount each month but applying it to the next highest interest rate debt you have. So now the next loan you have will still be getting the minimum payment, plus an extra payment, plus the same amount you were paying monthly on your last loan (the one you just paid off). You keep this going until all of your loans are paid off. It is the best way to pay off your loans in a timely manner.

Once you have your debt under control then you can look at cutting costs around the house. The one thing we started doing was looking at our monthly expenses and where our money was going. If you don't know where your money is going then you don't know where to make cuts. We kept track of our spending in a spreadsheet and got some eye opening numbers.

We saw that we needed to reduce the number of times we ate out every week. By meal planning I was able to cut down on those last minute "oh no, what's for dinner?" moments and eliminate the need to eat out or get take out.

I was hooked on hair salon, brand name hair products. I have thin, lifeless hair and I was convinced that if I didn't spend the big bucks then it just wouldn't look nice. I've since found some great products at a fraction of the price. Rather than buying my favorite Kenra hair spray at $20 a can I switched to Tresemme for $3.50 a can. It works just as well and I can get almost 6 cans for the price of one can of Kenra. I've also learned to watch for buy one get one free sales on those hair products that I find I can't live without and I stock up on them when they are cheap.

I also started couponing. I found the site Hip2Save.com and learned SO much about couponing. Now don't tell me you live in a small town and can't coupon. I live in a rural area with a Target and Walgreens and that's pretty much it! I have learned how to coupon and save. My grocery store doesn't double coupons but I can still match up store coupons and sales with my manufacturer coupons and typically save 50% on our grocery bill WITHOUT double coupons.

You can save money on everyday household items by substituting favorite brand name products with make your own alternatives. You can make everything from cleaning supplies to laundry soap and diaper paste at a fraction of the cost of buying it.

These are just a few ways to cut your costs and save money! What are your favorite ways to save on everyday items?

 

Sunday Sweeps! 1/29/12 Edition!

It is Sunday again! Link up all of your family friendly giveaways below. Please leave them in the following format:

Blog Name-Prize-End Date

The link MUST go to your giveaway page and not your home page. No spamming or affiliate links! Don’t forget to check out my giveaways while you are here and grab my blog button!

Once you’ve linked up here head on over to Sugar Pop Ribbons to link your giveaways there too!

Internet Options for Rural Areas, My Struggle!

When we moved to the country I couldn't wait to have privacy and solitude. This is my yard! We have 10 acres and it's absolutely awesome. To be able to go out in my yard and play with the kids and not have my neighbor come over to see what we were doing is heaven for me. Now don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like people. I just like my privacy. I want to be able to run around the yard with my kids and not have to talk with my four neighbors that each come over to chat meanwhile my kids are hollering for me to come play with them instead of talking. I was raised in the country and that is where my hear is. Hey, I gave living in town a good try. We lived in town for 6 years and it just wasn't my cup of tea.

One convenience of town that I definitely miss was affordable, reliable high speed Internet. I didn't really realize how hard it would be to find a high speed Internet provider in the country. It's not like I was looking for dedicated internet, all I wanted was high speed Internet for my personal use! After giving Hughes Net satellite Internet a try and banging my head against the wall at the slow speeds and horrible customer service, I gave up on them. After researching my options it seemed the only way I was going to get decent Internet at a bearable speed was to get a wireless MyFi device. We ended up getting one and the Internet is great. I love that I have high speed Internet again. My two complaints about this option are that it's pricey ($80/month) and the data is limited (10 GB/month). With how much time I spend online blogging, uploading pics, videos, etc you'd be surprised at how quickly 10 GB goes in a month. That means no catching up on missed TV shows by watching them on the Internet because it takes up too much data. It's frustrating to have to watch my data use each month and faithfully connect and disconnect each time I leave the computer.

I'm anxiously patiently waiting on the day they run fiber optic cable past my house so I can get DSL or some form of affordable, unlimited high speed Internet. Hey Quest, are you reading this?? Hurry up please :)

Luckily thanks to our Wilson DT Cell Booster I don't have to worry about my cell phones not working so I don't need xo voip services or anything crazy like that to make a phone call but please someone send some high speed Internet my way :)

Are you living in a rural area? What do you do for Internet?

Bosch Wiper Blades Giveaway!

With the crazy Winter weather you are always looking for ways to keep your family safe on the road. Bosch is proud to introduce the new ICON wiper blades which do just that! These bracketless wipers are designed without metal or plastic brackets, joints or hinges, which means they’re an improvement over conventional wiper blades.

To celebrate their release, Bosch is holding a contest where one lucky Facebook fan and a guest will win an experience of a lifetime: an all-expenses-paid, five-night VIP Storm Chasing trip for you and a guest, with Reed Timmer of Discovery Channel’s STORMCHASERS.



Reed is documenting his experience with the Bosch ICON wiper blades in a series of webisodes, the first two are available to view right now at the FB contest app: http://on.fb.me/yLyBBX

• “Why I Chase”
• “The Dominator”
• “In The Lab vs. In The Field”

You can learn more about the ICON wiper blades over at http://www.boschcleartheway.com

Win! One reader will win a Bosch Prize Pack valued at $195!!

The prize pack includes:
• A set of Bosch ICON wiper blades ($50 value)
• “Storm Chasers - Season 4” DVD ($55 value)
• A signed copy of Reed Timmer’s book “Into The Storm” ($20 value)
• A Bosch C3 6V/12V Fully Automatic 4-Mode Battery Charger ($70 value)

Here is how to enter to win:

• Tell me about your closest call with a storm or storm chasing.
  *Remember to include your email address in your comment if it is not visible on your profile or you will be disqualified.

After you have completed the above mandatory entry you are eligible for additional entries. If you are unfamiliar with how to do this please see my post here. Remember to leave a separate comment for each additional entry and include your email address in at least one entry. Each bullet is one entry unless otherwise stated.

1. Subscribe to Minnesota Mama's Must Haves by Email (not feed)-remember to activate your subscription! Current subscribers count too. (1 entry)
2. Follow my blog publicly-Current followers count too! (1 entry)
3. Follow me on Pinterest (if you need an invite to join then email me sarah (at) minnesotamamasmusthaves (dot) com and I'll send you one!)
4. Enter any of my other giveaways- Leave a comment saying which giveaway you entered-you may leave a separate comment for each extra giveaway you enter. (1 entry for each giveaway entered) 
5. Blog about my giveaway and link back to my site-must link to this specific giveaway and include a picture of the prize-Leave the URL where you blogged-(3 extra entries)
6. Grab my button-leave the URL where it is posted (1 entry)
7. Follow Me AND Bosch Auto Parts on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway-You may Tweet daily and gain an extra entry each day that you tweet-limit 1 per day. Leave the URL where you Tweeted. Copy/Paste this tweet:
   
   Win $195 Bosch Prize Pack! #giveaway #mnmamamusthave Enter here: http://tinyurl.com/7ro6all ends 2/15 @BoschAutoParts
   
8. Like Minnesota Mama's Must Haves on Facebook-leave your facebook name with your comment.
9. Like Bosch on Facebook
10. Update your facebook status with a link to this giveaway. You may update it daily for an extra entry per day that you do it. Leave me the link to your update and make sure it links to both me and the sponsor (you can do this by following both and selecting us from the list when you type in @) You can copy and paste the following into your status:
    
    Win $195 Bosch Prize Pack from @Bosch Auto Parts and @Minnesota Mama's Must Haves! Ends 2/15 http://tinyurl.com/7ro6all
    
11. Leave a relevant comment on any non-giveaway post (review only posts are great). One entry per comment left.

Open to US only. Giveaway ends February 15th at 11:59pm. Winner will be drawn by random.org and announced on this blog as well as emailed. Products reviewed were provided to me free of charge. No compensation was given in exchange for this review. My opinion is my own and is an honest view of my experience with the product. Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be drawn. Email address must be in at least one comment or visible on your profile to win. Good Luck!