Reader Appreciation Week: Giveaway #3 - Clever Container

Giveaway #3 comes from Ashton, an independent consultant for Clever Container. Clever Container is the catalog party company for organizers! They have so many awesome products all packed into one catalog.

Enter for your chance to win a File the Pile storage container (a $17.95 value). Here's the product description:

You got the piles, we got the file; box that is! This pretty opened top file box will hold hanging files. It can also be used for everyday storage of magazines, directories, or catalogs. Pairs nicely with the PANIC No More System. (11 x 12 x 7 ½)

Prize: File the Pile container

Number of Winners: one

To Enter: You must use the Rafflecopter widget below. It's really easy to use and makes giveaways a lot easier for me to manage. The widget will tell you what your commenting topic is! (mandatory)

Giveaway Ends: Thursday, September 6 @ 12:01 a.m. (Eastern Time). One winner will be chosen using the Rafflecopter widget. The winners will be announced on this post and will be emailed to claim their prize. The winners have 48 hours to respond to my email to claim their prize.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Giveaway Rules & Disclosure:

• You must be a follower (through Twitter, FB, GFC, or RSS/email) of The Nest Effect to win.
• The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter.com.
• This giveaway is open to readers living in the U.S.
• Please make sure your email is either linked in your profile or on your blog OR that you include it in your comment. If I can't find your email address, I can't contact you as the winner.
• You must comment as your first, mandatory entry. All entries will be verified when the winner is chosen.
• One entry per method per person (3 total).
• This giveaway is sponsored. The prize, information, and giveaway have been provided by an independent consultant for Clever Container. I was not compensated for holding this giveaway. Any opinions about products stated in this post are completely honest and purely my own.

Reader Appreciation Week: Giveaway #2 - The Nest Effect Printables {5 Winners}

I am giving away the Home Organization Bundle {includes 7 sets}, the 2012 - 2013 Monthly Calendars, AND the Finances & Home Information Set to FIVE lucky readers. Yep, you read that right - FIVE readers will win ALL of those sets!

 

Prizes: Home Organization Bundle {includes 7 sets}, the 2012 - 2013 Monthly Calendars, AND the Finances & Home Information Set

Number of Winners: five

To Enter: You must use the Rafflecopter widget below. It's really easy to use and makes giveaways a lot easier for me to manage. The widget will tell you what your commenting topic is! (mandatory)

Giveaway Ends: Tuesday, September 6 @ 12:01 a.m. (Eastern Time). One winner will be chosen using the Rafflecopter widget. The winners will be announced on this post and will be emailed to claim their prize. The winners have 48 hours to respond to my email to claim their prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway Rules & Disclosure:

• You must be a follower (through Twitter, FB, GFC, or RSS/email) of The Nest Effect to win.
• The winners will be chosen by rafflecopter.com.
• This giveaway is open to readers everywhere.
• Please make sure your email is either linked in your profile or on your blog OR that you include it in your comment. If I can't find your email address, I can't contact you as the winner.
• You must comment as your first, mandatory entry. All entries will be verified when the winner is chosen.
• One entry per method per person (4 total).
• This giveaway is not sponsored by a company. These are my files that I sell on Etsy.

Reader Appreciation Week: Giveaway #1 - Rubbermaid LunchBlox Sandwich Kit

Are you ready for the first giveaway?

Rubbermaid never ceases to amaze me. Every single time they send me something to review and giveaway, I am just SO excited.

I'm sure you've seen Rubbermaid's new LunchBlox Sandwich Kits in stores. The first time I saw them at Smith's, I knew I had to have it. Then, as luck had it, I received a message from Rubbermaid a day later asking if I was interested in reviewing and giving away a set. Yes, please!

I've been using my kit for the last week and a half to take to work. I use the bottom, larger container for salad, a sandwich, or pizza. In the two smallest containers I take fruit and veggies. And in the medium size container, I've been taking crackers or another snack. All of the pieces snap together on top of the large container's lid or the ice block. They all stay cold on my way to school AND I feel like I now have some portion control. I absolutely LOVE it.

Rubbermaid has also created other products in the LunchBlox line: salad kit, entree kit, and lunch bag. The LunchBlox Sandwich Kit is currently available for purchase at Rubbermaid.com, Target, Kmart, Kroger, Safeway, Bi-Lo, Winn-Dixie, HEB, other grocery stores, and select Wal-Mart stores.

 Prize: Rubbermaid LunchBlox Sandwich Kit

Number of Winners: one

To Enter: You must use the Rafflecopter widget below. It's really easy to use and makes giveaways a lot easier for me to manage. The widget will tell you what your commenting topic is! (mandatory)

Giveaway Ends: Monday, September 3 @ 12:01 a.m. (Eastern Time). One winner will be chosen using the Rafflecopter widget. The winner will be announced on this post and will be emailed to claim their prize. The winner has 48 hours to respond to my email to claim their prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Giveaway Rules & Disclosure:

• You must be a follower (through Twitter, FB, GFC, or RSS/email) of The Nest Effect to win.
• The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter.com.
• This giveaway is open to readers living in the U.S.
• Please make sure your email is either linked in your profile or on your blog OR that you include it in your comment. If I can't find your email address, I can't contact you as the winner.
• You must comment as your first, mandatory entry. All entries will be verified when the winner is chosen.
• One entry per method per person (3 total).
• This giveaway is sponsored. The prize, information, and giveaway have been provided by Rubbermaid. I was sent a product for free to review and give my honest opinion on. Any opinions about products stated in this post are completely honest and purely my own.

Life Lately

At the end of July I was finally able to move things into my classroom. It took 2 days to move everything from my old classroom to the new one {with only one trip each day}. Then I found out that we would only be provided with student desks and chairs, a teacher desk and chair, 2 filing cabinets, and a small table. No bookshelves!? No counter space!? What was an organized girl to do? I had to go shopping. Not that it was a big deal or anything though since I love shopping. =] I bought bookshelves, tables, drawers, a cart, and stools.

During this same week I was getting ready to go on a road trip with my brother to Pennsylvania. He moved back. =[ I'm super bummed that he's no longer living out here, but hopefully he'll find what he's looking for back in PA. I spent a week and a half away from home with super slow internet and lots of time with family. It was a nice break before I came back to the chaos.

The day after I left on my trip, my husband left for his four weeks of training in Washington, D.C. for his new job. He'll finally be back in SLC this coming Saturday. I can't wait. I miss him terribly.

Since my husband is away, I've been letting my classroom consume my life. I figure it's better that I get as much done as possible now, so that when he comes home, I can spend time with him and not live in my classroom. I've had training and classroom set up for the last week and a half. Let me tell you, setting up a classroom from scratch has it's pros, for sure, but it is absolutely exhausting. School starts tomorrow and I'm so excited. {If you'd like to see pictures of my classroom, click here.}

As for the 2013 planner, I will not be making one. =[ I really don't have the time to create one right now and don't foresee myself having the time to before 2013. I purchased a calendar yesterday at Sam's Club, which is kind of similar to the BusyBodyBook. I'll write a post about it soon.

And for some encouragement, take a look at my desk situation from the last two weeks. My home isn't always organized. I've been too lazy and exhausted lately to do anything about this. Life happens. I hope that my organization pictures encourage you to find a way that works for you, but don't lead you to believe that my home looks like that at all times.

So with all of that being said, this week will probably be a little crazy for me since I'm getting into a new routine/schedule with school. This week is going to be reader appreciation week because I really appreciate you sticking with me while I've been away. I've surpassed 5,000 likes on my Facebook page, which is exciting, so be ready for some giveaways. Come back tomorrow for the first post. =]

Friday Favorites: 5 Finance & Bill Management Websites

I haven't written a Friday Favorites post since the beginning of May! The last 3 months have seriously just flown by. So many life changes right now - all for the best. I'll catch you up soon enough, once the dust settles. Until then, I'll be sporadically posting {not that it's any different than what I've been doing lately}.

Today I want to share my 5 favorite finance / bill management websites. Last month I shared my finances binder. I used it all through July and love it. But I do still use a few online resources to help me manage by finances and bills. They keep me reminded at times like these when my mind is fried by 3 p.m. {On a side note - I seriously used to have the best memory. I don't know what's happened. I don't want to say "aging". I'm only 25, after all. But I think it's the hypothyroidism. I noticed the memory-decline around the time I was diagnosed. I don't even know if that's possible - but I have major "brain farts" all of the time.}

#1 {Mint.com}
Perhaps you've heard of Mint? I have been using it for quite a few years now and absolutely love it. Here's my financial confession: we don't balance a checkbook. *gasp* I keep receipts, but I'm far too lazy to take the time to add/subtract from a check register. Everything is online, after all. I monitor our bank accounts closely, so I don't see the big deal. Mint helps me with this by nicely managing all of my bank, credit card, and student loan accounts in one place. I can see transactions and balances. I can categorize so I can see our spending "trends" each month. {A little to heavy on the dining out "trend" last month. Oops!} Besides all of the cool stuff I've already mentioned, Mint has a smartphone app. I absolutely LOVE this. I can easily log in to the app and see our current cash balance {as well as that lovely negative debt balance - which actually has, at times, caused me to rethink purchases}. Our bank accounts would be a mess if it weren't for Mint - seriously.

#2 {ING Direct}
Hear me out. I'm not trying to "sell you" on a bank - I just really love ING Direct. We've had an account with them for 3 years now. We also have an account with a local bank, but I love ING more. The whole reason for opening this account was so we could save money. Save in a place with a decent interest rate. Save in a place that's "out of sight, out of mind" - ING is an online bank. They have a super cool smartphone app as well. The app lets me take pictures of checks to deposit them. The debit card is awesome as well - it's electric orange {like the name of the checking account}. They currently have a promo where you get $50 for signing up. It was seriously one of the best decisions we've made to open an account with ING. I have 3 savings accounts and one checking - all with zero fees. Why have 2 accounts? We use our local bank for spending cash {Chris' paycheck is automatically deposited in this account} and the ING account for savings and bill pay {my paycheck is automatically deposited in this account}.

#3 & 4 {Manilla & Pageonce}
Manilla and Pageonce are bill management made easy. I linked up all of my bill accounts - credit cards, utilities, insurance, rewards accounts, and even magazine subscriptions. I like that I can log in and view all of my accounts in one place. I seriously can't choose between the two. I like them both equally, even though they pretty much do the same thing. Both have smartphone apps that are great. I really love that both sites will send me bill reminders automatically {right now I only have the Pageonce alerts turned on}. If I haven't paid the bill at the time of the email, I'll star it in my Gmail account so I get to it ASAP. Since I check my email all of the time, I see that reminder constantly.

#5 {Credit Sesame}
Credit Sesame is the ultimate tool for viewing all of my debts and my credit score in one place - for free! They analyze my creditworthiness and current debt, and then give me advice on ways to lower payments and save money when looking for a new loan or credit card. I mostly use this website for keeping up with my credit score. I want to make sure I'm keeping things in excellent standing so that when we're finally ready to buy a house, we can get the best rate possible.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my favorite finance & bill management websites. I'd love to hear what your favorite financial websites are as well!