Because I'm Me Sale

$8.50 | Fun & Creative Crayon & Pencil Roll-Ups - 10 Styles! 

These Because I'm Me pencil and crayon roll-up holders regularly retail for between $15 and $19, for this very special off at Very Jane they are only $8.50 each.

If you haven't "met" Very Jane yet it's a great site for daily deals on handcrafted items. There are four or so deals offered each day and the offers last for a few days, and all are at great discounts, like the Because I'm Me pencil and crayon rolls that are 56% off regular price.

The sale on the pencil and crayon holders ends Monday and quantities are limited.

Tip: Label Leftovers

Label your leftovers and always store them in the same place in the refrigerator. Everyone will know where to find them and what they are. No excuses for not eating leftovers!

Tip: Gift Cards

Search eBay for gift cards to purchase.

If you've got a purchase planned search eBay for a gift card for the store you're heading to (or shopping online). You can often save 10-20% by doing so, and shipping is usually very inexpensive and quick. A quick search returned 30,492 results for "gift card" on Ebay, plenty to choose from. Be careful to check feedback and read the fine print on the gift card.

The flip side ... eBay is also a great option for selling gift cards you won't or can't use.

Join Nielson Consumer Panel

Sign up with National Consumer Panel and voice your opinions to help manufacturers and retailers make decisions on what products to develop or improve.


Many moons ago, thanks to my friend/roommate (I have no idea how she got into the program) I was a "Nielson family". I had a box hooked up to my tv and all crap quality programming I watched was recorded and was a part of the Nielson ratings.


Back then I thought it was very neat that my viewing, my opinion, mattered. I was proud to be a Nielson family (of one - this was pre-kids). And I still think it's neat, which is why I love programs like this. And the "cash and prizes" aspect is great too.

Koopik collects daily deals from the best daily deal sites and then suggests deals for you based on your personal preferences. The daily deal industry is growing fast, but visiting multiple sites and receiving countless emails from these deal sites adds unnecessary clutter to your life. Koopik puts all the deals for you in one place.

Click for a video that explains the program.

January Savings From Double Ink

Enjoy a 10% discount on your order through end of January at Double Ink. On the checkout page type My10 (coupon code is NOT case sensitive) in the redeem box, and click on the Redeem button to apply your discount.

If you purchase through MyPoints you'll earn 300 points towards MyPoints gift cards and rewards, making it an even better deal.

FREE Valentine's Notecards from VistaPrint

Receive 10 Free Valentine's day Notecards from Vistaprint and cut them into 3's to make 30 Valentine's Day Cards.

Tanga - Shape Magazine Subscription Just $2.99

Another great magazine deal, Shape magazine subscription for just $2.99! Use coupon code "SAVINGS".  Hurry, this offer ends Thursday, 1-26-12.

Gift Cards: Ben & Jerry's, Pottery Barn, Build a Bear, Boston Market

There are some great gift card deals available through Saveology right now. Upon entering the site click on "all deals" and all these gift card offers, and more, will be listed.

Watch Free Films with Fandor

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$2 Ink Garden Valentine's Day Mug

While I'm not sure I'd give this to my significant other (if I had such a beast wonder) on Valentine's Day, this is a great idea for a gift from the kids or to the grandparents.

Customize an 11 oz. mug at Ink Garden, then use coupon code MUG2 at checkout to get your mug for just $2.

Tip: Repurposing Cardboard Boxes

Source: katydidandkid.com via Megan on Pinterest

Another reader tip:

"I'm really into making little cardboard boxes out of cereal (and other) boxes right now, to put in my drawers and sewing boxes as organizers. I just made one for rechargeable batteries with a little ribbon border around the top and happy and sad faces for the dead and charged batteries."

I love this idea. I've seen it before and finally tried it myself after seeing it on the side of a cereal box. We made a recycling junk mail holder and it is awesome. I can't believe how sturdy and handy it is.

Pinterest is a great place to find wonderful box uses, all of which are significantly fancier than our recycling bin!

Earn rewards points by taking surveys from J.D. Power Panel

J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services company operating in key business sectors across a variety of industries, providing customer satisfaction research, market research, automotive forecasting, social media research, and performance improvement programs. Take as many or as few surveys as you’d like and earn rewards for your input. The more survey opportunities you participate in, the more rewards you earn.

I do a few survey programs and they can be rewarding if you're willing to put a little time into them. To stay organized I have tagged all e-mail from the survey companies and other point earning programs and have them all go to one e-mail file. Once a week, or as I have time, I go through the messages and work to earn the points.

iMemories - Save 33% Now

Sign up for iMemories and get all your old camcorder videos, family films, slides and photos converted to digital masterpieces on DVD.

Good News / Bad News - Picnik is Closing

(Cross posted to Because I'm Me, no you're not experiencing deja vu.) 

FB profile pic, from Picnik

If you've ever used Picnik to edit photos you know how awesome all their tools are, and have seen the wonderful things that can be done on their site with a photo. A lot of it could be done for FREE. FREE collages, free frames, free text added in all sorts of awesome fonts. I love Picnik.

The bad news is that Picnik is closing.

An e-mail was sent out Saturday saying, "Since joining Google in 2010, we have been creating editing magic in Google products while continuing to keep Picnik awesome. But now we get to focus on even awesomer things. Picnik will be closing on April 19, 2012."

I don't know what the "awesomer things" are but I'm happy for them, and so so so sad for me. If you know of a comparable photo editing site please let me know. The e-mail from Picnik goes on to state, "We are excited by the photo-editing fun we have already brought to Google products, like Google+, where you can find many of your favorite Picnik effects in Creative Kit. We encourage you to visit Google+ and give it a whirl." Has anyone tried Creative Kit? If you know of another comparable photo editing site please let me know.

The good news, and the reason I'm sharing this, is that Picnik's premium services are FREE FOR ALL until they close on April 19, 2012. Folks, there's some fun stuff to play with there. I plan to spend the next three months colorizing, decorating, framing, doodling, skewing, collaging, and whatever else I can until my images bear no resemblance to their former selves. Well, maybe not that much, but I will be making some collages for Because I'm Me merchandise, and a back stock of banners for blogs, websites, and Etsy.

Also, if you are a Picnik premium member you'll be getting a full refund of your annual fee, whether you signed up last week or eleven months ago.

I'd love for you to link to some of your photo creations in the comments.