Gadget Mommy

Today’s Deals

Trish — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:26:51 +0000

With Black Friday coming up, I thought I would share some HOT deals that I have found:

Leapfrog Leapster Star Wars game $4.99 with free shipping. Link

Terrain Titans, Buy one get one free at Amazon ($17.99 for 2 ) Link

Unwrapping Presents Nightmare

Trish — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:08:39 +0000

You’ve spent the time to find that perfect gift. You’ve wrapped it up with care. Christmas morning comes and the kids rush to open their presents and that’s when the nightmare begins. That cute little toy that they had to have will now take 30 minutes to excise from the packaging. The easy part is getting the main box open, then comes the invisible rubber bands, 1,000 twisty ties, tape hidden in random places. By the time you get one present done, you are so frustrated that you can barely stand the thought that there are more presents to unwrap. Let’s face it, most of this stuff is plastic and is in no real danger of ever breaking. So why must they secure each toy like it’s a matter of national security. Barbie is not going to escape her box and runaway with Ken. The Littlest Pet Shop animals aren’t going to run wild. Last year I had the pleasure of trying Amazon’s Frustration Free Packaging. It was great. I purchase the Matchbox Mega Rig Space Shuttle for my son. The box was a plain cardboard box, no fancy pictures like the traditional packaging. The excitement came when we opened the box. The parts were in simple plastic bags. We had it out of the box and he was playing with it in less than a minute. We saved ourselves the annoyance of all the extra packaging and my son actually got to play with his toy right away. Another benefit, is that it’s less packaging to throw away. We were able to just put the box in the recycle bin and not have to worry about disposing of all the other junk that comes with traditional packaging. So this holiday season, if you have the opportunity to try frustration free packaging, I highly recommend it!

The Atypical Blogger

Trish — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:35:10 +0000

I don’t think I fit the mold for the typical “mommy blogger”. It’s not that I don’t want to be in that category, it’s just that I don’t think I’m that devoted or talented. I started this site hoping to help people. Maybe I was a little too ambitious. I’m not that eloquent and I don’t have a lot to say. I like to keep my posts short, sweet and to the point. I don’t have a world of extra time. I like to read other people’s blogs, but I don’t have the time to be a devoted follower to many of them. Perhaps that will be my downfall. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea and I should leave it to the more eloquent writers out there. The thing is, I have this little thought nagging at me, that there is a place in the world for me. So I’ll keep plugging away, sharing the tidbits of information that I find useful. Hopefully someone out there learns something from me, and if not at least I can say that I tried something new.

I am connected!

Trish — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:37:52 +0000

I put it off for a long time. I said I didn’t need it. I was wrong. On Friday I became the proud owner of a smart phone. I didn’t go the iPhone route. Instead I opted to stay with my current carrier (T-Mobile) and got the brand new Motorola CLIQ. I love it! My favorite part is the full slide out keyboard. Texting is no longer painful and I can use complete sentences. In addition I am constantly connected to Facebook. I can update my status, as well as browse my friend’s statuses and comments. There are other social networking sites that you can use on the CLIQ (such as Twitter and MySpace), but Facebook is the only one I use. The CLIQ runs on the Google Android operating system. Much like the iPhone, there are a variety of applications to choose from. Many are free, others are available for a small fee. It also comes loaded with all your favorite Google applications such as GMail, Google Calendar, Google Maps and Picasa. For me, there is nothing not to love about this phone. Now I can’t imagine why I waited so long to get connected.

Ideas, ideas, ideas….

Trish — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:22:50 +0000

Sometimes I feel like I am just out of ideas for presents for my kids. In a way I think it was easier when they were babies when they were entertained by an empty box. I remember our first Christmas together. I was so excited to see them open their presents. They were more entertained by the wrapping paper than by what was inside. Oh how I long for those days. Now I am bombarded by “Mom, I want this” every time they see a toy they don’t have. So the pressure is on. With a little over 2 months until Christmas, I have no clue. No inspiration. I aimlessly browse toy websites and stroll up and down the aisles at Target hoping for some glimmer of inspiration. So far…nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. So now, I’m feeling panic set in. I need the perfect gift. I MUST find the perfect gift. There has to be someone out there that can help me. I call on my trusted friend, Google, to come through for me. And here is what I found:

Gifts.com: Not only can you find gift ideas for your kids, but also for any other person and for a variety of occasions. Their holiday recommendation are sorted by age group so that you can easily find recommendations.

Amazon.com: Offers a variety of ways to sort by available toys, as well as lists featuring the best selling toys. Also browse other parent’s lists for their children to get ideas.

Wishlist.com: Not only can you search for toys, but you can add them directly to your child’s wish list. You can then share that list with friends and family (See my previous post on Wishlist.com)

Finding Trustworthy Product Reviews

Trish — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:26:22 +0000

I just heard a story on our local news channel that focused on the importance of finding reputable product reviews. I do most of my holiday shopping online and I depend on product reviews to help guide me in the decisions that I make. The trick is finding good, dependable and honest reviews. One of the main problems out there are companies who have their employees post positive reviews that are obviously not impartial. There really is no way to know if it is an honest review, but there are a few things you can do to help ensure you find reviews that will help you.

1. Look for reviews that include personal experience with the products. A good review will give you the positives and the negatives.

2. Avoid reviews that are sponsored by the company/product being reviewed. Many review sites promote the positive & sponsored reviews to the top.

3. Check out a variety of sources for reviews.

THE Hot Toy for the Holidays

Trish — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:36:38 +0000

Every year we hear that phrase; “It’s the hot toy for the season” or “A must have this year”. So what is the hot toy this year? Apparently it’s something called a Zhu Zhu Pet, hamsters to be precise. The commercials started airing about a month ago, and now it’s all people can talk about. Parents are obsessed with obtaining the elusive little critters. Apparently they are in short supply and in large demand. I believe they usually retail for about $10 per hamster, but that is IF you can find them. There are some vendors online that have them at ridiculously marked up prices. I have heard that you can pre-order some items at Toys-r-Us.com, but they won’t ship until mid-December. These little hamsters have driven Moms around the country to stalk their local toy stores in the wee hours of the morning hoping to score a couple of hamsters. While my daughter is at dance class I listen to all the Moms talk about their search for the hamsters and of course their matching accessories and habitats. So if you feel like you need to add some critters to your household this holiday season, this may be the toy for you. For me, I think I have all the critters I can manage at the moment.

It’s that time of the year…

Trish — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:15:37 +0000

So here we are, day two of fall. You wouldn’t know it,as you go into many major retailers, that we still have a few holidays between now and Christmas. It seems a little unnatural to me to see Christmas decoration on display while we are still in September. What happened to Halloween and Thanksgiving? Are they not important enough holidays anymore? There shouldn’t be Christmas lights on display next to the Halloween costumes, it’s just not right.

But, as they say, if you can’t beat them…join them. So today I’m going to tell you about a website that simplified my holiday season last year. Wishlist.com is a great site that lets you create wishlists for any occasion. I used it for Christmas, but you can use it for birthdays, anniversaries, or even baby showers. I found Wishlist.com after becoming frustrated by my kids receiving gifts that they had no interest in. In turn, my house was becoming cluttered with stuff that they didn’t play with. So last year I created a wishlist for each of my kids and sent it to family members. The result was that they got things that they wanted and family members weren’t frustrated by trying to figure out what to get them. I encouraged all our family members to follow suit and it was a great time saver for me to know exactly what to buy. It was a win-win and I plan on doing it again this year.

How does it work? Got to Wishlist.com and sign up for an account. Create a wishlist for each family member. Add the ‘Add to Wishlist’ shortcut to your browser’s favorites. When at any website (such as Amazon) just click on the ‘Add to Wishlist’ in your favorites and it will be automatically add that item to your wishlist of choice. You can also search on the Wishlist.com website for items. Once your wishlist is complete, you can e-mail it to your family and even share it via Facebook. You can update the list as often as you want!

My Favorite Money Saving Sites

Trish — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:59:14 +0000

In this uncertain economy we can all stand to save a little cash. There are tons of resources available on the web that enable you to do just that. I tend to do a majority of my shopping online. It saves me time, money and patience. I never ever, ever , ever, place an order for anything without searching for a coupon code. The easiest way to do that is to just enter the name of the website and the word ‘coupon’ into your favorite search engine (I use Google). Usually this will give you results for various website that may have coupon codes that you can use. The trick is finding a code that is still valid. A majority of the time I can at least find a coupon for free shipping and often time for a percentage off the total order. There are lots of sites that offer coupons, codes and savings. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. RetailMeNot- Enter the name of the website into their search box and view the results. They also give you a success rating of others who have used the codes. They also offer local vendor coupons and grocery coupons.

2. Coupons.com- Enter your zip code and chose which coupons you want to print, some you can print multiple times. Redeem them at your favorite grocery store. You no longer need to get your Sunday paper to have access to coupons for your favorite national brands.

3. Shop It to Me- A friend of mine turned me on to this cool site. You sign up and tell them your sizes and favorite brands. Every day they will send you an e-mail filled with sale items that fit into your profile selections. You can also refer friends and earn gift cards for every 10 friends that sign up.

3. UPromise- Upromise lets you save money on your purchases and add to your kids’ college funds at the same time. Participating vendors give you back a percentage of your total purchase. That amount goes into your account and you can transfer it to your children’s 529 college saving account. If you don’t have a 529, you can sign up with one through UPromise. They often have exclusive deals and coupons from the participating vendors.

4. eBates- eBates works in the same way as UPromise. The big difference is the money back from vendors is sent to you via check quarterly. So if you don’t have a 529 or would rather have the cash in hand, this is a great alternative. You do have to have at least $5 in your account before they send you your cash

Gadget Mommy’s Top 5 Kids’ Educational Websites

Trish — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:36:56 +0000

Sometimes it’s tough to sort through all the websites out there that are marketed to our kids. It seems that every TV show, channel, and toy has a website. Often these site are nothing more than glorified advertising for their product. We all want our kids to enjoy their time online, but it is an added bonus when they can learn something at the same time. So, I put together a list of 5 excellent educational sites that your kids will enjoy and that you will approve of.

Starfall : A great resource to supplement what your kids are already learning in school. Filled with fun and educational games and activities.
FunBrain: Fun games and parent resources for kids of all ages
PBSKids: Games and activities from your kids’ favorite PBS characters.
Kids’ National Geographic: Explore the world of National Geographic with games, stories, videos and activities.
Discovery Kids: Fun and interactive science themed games.