The school that Madison is going to next year collects Box Tops.  If you don’t know what Box Tops is, let me explain.  There are a ton of items that you can buy that have the image to the left on the box.  You collect these for your local schools, and they get 10 cents for every one you turn in.  Now, that doesn’t sound like a lot, but when if you can get a bunch of people together, it adds up quickly.  Now, the school’s goal is to earn $750 from Box Tops.  Last year, they made $536, and I would love for them to meet their goal for this year (even though Madison is not even enrolled yet.  I understand that any extra money to the school with benefit her).  Now, there are several ways we can do this for our local schools.

First, you need to log into the Box Tops site and create an account.  You enter your state and your school or if you don’t know that, just enter your zip code.  I personally entered the school and state.  From there, you are able to see how your local school is going.  Now, how do you increase that number?  Well, you can collect box tops with that logo on it.  They also have a Marketplace.  Now, until recently, I did not know about the Marketplace.  This works so awesome too!  There is a list of stores that will give a percentage of whatever you buy from them back to the school.  There are stores like Avon, Gap, Kohls, Best Buy, Leap Frog, Target, and Walmart (this is just a couple of them — the whole listing is on the site).  All you have to do is log into the Box Tops Site, click on marketplace, then click on the store you want to shop it.  That’s it.  Once you checkout, the percentage you purchased will then be applied to your school.  If you are Christmas shopping online anyway, why not help out your local school (and if you don’t want to help any of them out, I’ll tell you the school we are sending our money too, and you can use them).

Did you know that Box Tops has donated more than $250 million to schools nationwide since 1996?  Would you like to help raise that number?  Then start collecting Box Tops and use their Marketplace to do your online shopping!  To help you get started, I am giving away a $50 gift card to Barnes & Noble (thank you Barnes & Noble for your support of such a great program!).  What do you have to do?

Each one of these things will give you one entry:

1. Leave a comment on this post. I want to know why you want this $50 gift card to Barnes & Noble!
2. Twitter about this contest. Please leave me your username so I can verify.
3. Stumble this post. If you don’t know what Stumble Upon is, please read Lori’s post at Blogging Cents. She explains it extremely well.
4. Add this post to other social media sites like Digg, Kirtsy, Blogging Zoom, Reddit, Propeller, Etc.

For 5 additional entries,

1. Blog about this on your blog. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.
2. Add this to any forums you belong too. Please give me the URL, so I can verify.
3. Subscribe to this blog using either my email or RSS feed
4. Add my badge to your sidebar:

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This contest will end November 26th at 8:00 pm CST and is for US residents. Good Luck!

Amazon, if I could, I would seriously make out with you right now.  Yes, I said it.  Whoever came up with frustration free packaging is a genius.  They deserve the Nobel Peace Prize.  I also have to give a shout out to 37 Signals and Remarkable Parents for letting me know about this.

Now, you can see from this picture how the packaging is different.  The one of the right is what it looks like now.  The one on the left is the new packaging.  I find it weird that a lot of bloggers find this wrong.  However, as a mother of a 4 year old and a 1 year old I find this genius.  I remember when Madison turned one.  It took 6, yes I said 6, adults over an hour to open her toys.  Now, that is crazy.  I remember my fingers hurting from the twisty tie things and just the waste and the mess.  How would you like to get just a brown box, and all you have to do is open it?  Sounds much better, doesn’t it?  How many of you have had kids whining “do you have it out yet??!!??”?  I know I have that here.  They don’t have the attention span while you find a screwdriver and everything else you need to get some of these toys out of their packaging.  Heck, I remember cutting my arms on the clamshell packaging when you are trying not to saw the entire top of the packaging off.  Plus, this new packaging is so much better for the enviroment.  I would love to be able to recycle that box (where I live, the more the community recycles the less we pay for our garbage to get picked up).  Now, this packaging is done right at the factory too, and only effects Amazon.  You will still find normal packaging at your favorite brick and mortar store.

The main argument against this is that the kids can’t see what they are getting.  My response to that is what is worse — they have to actually open the box or have the toy stuck in packaging so the kids can see it but can’t play with it because it will take me 20 minutes to get it out?

I am interested — what are your thoughts on this?  If you can’t tell, I give Amazon two thumbs up on this move!

Have you started your Christmas shopping?  I have.  As soon as I finish this post, I will be ordering more Christmas presents online.  Why do I start so early?  I hate shopping in December.  I hate the crowds.  I do not mind shopping on Black Friday, but that is about the only time I truly do enjoy it.  I have found it easier on me and my pocketbook if I start early.  I have been getting Christmas presents over the last month or so.  So far, most of the things I have gotten have been non-house related for the people have to buy gifts for (sorry, no kitchen faucets this year).  Mostly, I have picked up toys for my kids and the kids we have to buy for.  I found Shrek 3 unopened in my closet.  Let’s say Santa will be bringing that to my kids :).

When do you start your Christmas shopping?  Have you even started it yet?

Seriously, I love Sony.  You all may remember that I received a Sony Cybershot camera in April.  However, when I went to Izeafest in September, my camera was dead.  I thought it was the battery.  However, it was not.  Instead, I ended up contacting Sony about getting it fixed.  All I can say is that their customer service team rocks.  They were able to send me a label, and I sent my camera back.  In a little less than two weeks, I had my camera back working good as new.  They also able to help me when I lost the cables that connect the camera to the computer.  Since my Cybershot saves to the hard drive first, I need this cable.  They were able to send me one. This kind of customer service makes me want to buy more products like a Sony Vaio the next time I have to buy a new laptop (which should be about a year since that is about as long as my laptops last).

Do you know of any companies out there that have given you excellent customer service?

You all know that I love to shop.  Well, actually, I like to shop when things are on sale or when I have a coupon or a voucher to get a better deal.  Now, I do some international purchases, but I do know that I have several readers who live in the UK, so this post is for you!

Now, the best spot that I have found to get voucher codes for shopping is a site called Discount Shopping.  They have a voucher code for pretty much anything you could want or need:  5% off character toys, 10% off Dell Computers, and free delivery for Woolworths.  As you can see, they have a great selection of places that you can get these voucher codes for.  I know it makes me want to shop more.  How about you?

Not only do they have great voucher codes, but they are way easy to find.  There is a great search feature on the site.  Also, along the left sidebar, there are listing for hot offers, popular retailers, PC’s and laptops, and gifts and gadgets. Right now, under most popular this week, they have an awesome Pizza Hut deal (which all of you know is my favorite pizza place ever!). The voucher code would allow you to get 3 pizzas, 3 side orders or 3 cookie dough deserts all for the price of 2! What a great deal!  This is one of the easiest sites out there to navigate.  If you aren’t quite sure what you are looking for, you can search by categories or even by store.

If you are wanting to do some shopping, make sure you check out Discount Shopping first for voucher codes, so you can save some of your hard earned money.