Unjunk your Candy!

I'm a BzzAgent, which means sometimes I get to try out products for free, and receive some coupons and such to pass out as I review said products. This past month I've been trying out a few things, and this review is for UNREAL Candy.

I received one freebie coupon so as you can see I purchased three other types just because I wanted to try more than one. (Also ended up purchasing a few more just because some of my relatives finished these packages off!!)

So what is UNREAL Candy? Candy that has replaced the junky things such as corn syrup, hydrogenated fats, GMOs, artificial colors, flavors and preservatives with real ingredients, essentially "unjunking" your candy treats. You can find UNREAL Candy at stores such as Walgreens, CVS, Michaels and Kroger.

I tried every type of candy they have, except the chocolate covered peanut butter which is similar to a Reese's cup in the name brand world. Which saddens me, because that was the one I was most looking forward to.

Here are my thoughts on the ones I did try~

Chocolate Covered Pieces ~ essentially these's are similar to M&M's. Their colors, however, do not come from artificial food dye so you will notice a less bright appearance. It's milk chocolate, however I tasted a bit of bitterness and I'm not sure if it was from the chocolate itself or the coating. Either way it reminded me of dark chocolate, and I do not like dark chocolate. Dark chocolate fans, have told me it was okay.

Chocolate Covered Pieces with Peanuts inside--- Same bitter taste, but the large peanut in each one kind of makes up for the taste. These are very similar to the above product, but with a peanut inside.

Then there was one that resembled a Milky Way. Once again, I'm not a fan of Milky Ways in the first place, so I had to go off of what other people told me, and a friend said she thought they were okay and were what she expected taste-wise.

The last one I tried was a Snickers alternative..... loved it. It wasn't exactly the same, but it was pretty darn close in taste. I probably wouldn't know the difference in a taste test. And the fact that it's slightly better for you, makes it all the more reason to use it as a substitute when you're craving candy.

So give it a try. Check out their linked website by clicking on their name up above, or check out the products in a store near you. I know I will not be fully satisfied until I have tried the peanut butter variety.

IWG as of 7/10/12

Instant Win Games

Skinny Cow (Ends July 15th)
    Enter for your chance to win freebie coupons, a Dirty Dancing DVD, or a prize pack (you can win more than once!)

American Family (Ends July 18th)
     Enter for your chance to win gift cards, electronics, and other prizes.

U by Kotex w/Target (Ends July 27th)
     Enter for your chance to win gift cards, ipods, ipads and other prizes.

Citi Trends (Ends July 31st)
     Enter for your chance to win gift cards.

U by Kotex (Ends July 31st)
     Enter for your chance to win ipads or ipods.

Seattle's Best Coffee (Ends August 5th)
     Enter for your chance to win Walmart gift cards.

Movie Fone (Ends August 31st)
     Enter for your chance to win free movie tickets.

Game My Summer (Ends September 5th)
     Enter for your chance to win freebie coupons, games, or other prizes.

Sweeps and IWG 5/30

Instant Win Games


Dish Game of Thrones (Ends June 4th)
  For a chance to win the first season on dvd, a hoodie, t-shirt, mousepad, or other prizes.

Visa Prepaid Hear the Music (Ends June 15th)
  For a chance to win headphones or mp3 email gift cards in the form of Amazon gift cards you can use for     anything.

Olive Garden Taste of Tuscany (Ends June 24th)
  For a chance to win a $20 gift card or a year supply of olive oil.

CocoaVia Sweepstakes (Ends July 13th)
  For a chance to win free products, water bottle, tote bag, tumbler, or other prizes.

Skinny Cow & Dirty Dancing (Ends July 15th)
  For a chance to win the Dirty Dancing dvd, free product, or a prize pack.

Game My Summer (Ends September 5th)
  For a chance to win game consoles, games, free product, or other prizes.


Sweeps to Enter Daily Unless Noted Otherwise
 (I will only post the smaller items you have a better chance at winning, see the official rules to see what the grand prizes are)
FX Has the Movies Sweeps (Ends May 31st)
  For a chance to win a pair of movie tickets.


Oxygenics $50 a Day (Ends June 9th)
  For a chance at a $50 gift card to Bed Bath & Beyond

Hawaiian Tropical Splash Getaway (Ends June 15th)
  For a chance at free purex crystals.

Red Gold Tomatoes Apron Giveaway (Ends June 18th, Enter 1x per week)
  For a chance to win an apron

National Donut Day Sweepstakes (Ends June 23rd)
  For a chance to win a plush toy, mug, sports bag, or free donuts for a year from Entenmann's.

Silk Summer 100 Sweepstakes (Ends August 15th, Enter 1x per week)
  For a chance to win a free product.

Tide Pods Sample from Vocalpoint

Click to Sign Up for a sample of Tide Pods from Vocalpoint while supplies last

What are Tide Pods?

 It's a three in one detergent pack. It brightens your clothes, fights stains, and cleans all in one pack. Just pop it into your washing machine and let it do the work.

Instant Win Games 5/23

Here are the links to some of the Instant Win Games I'm Currently Playing ~~

Play the Dish Network Game of Thrones IWG
    For a chance at mousepads, t-shirts, hoodies, steins, a Season 1 dvd or other prizes.

Play the Olive Garden IWG
    For a chance at $20 gift cards or a year supply of olive oil.

Play the Skinny Cow IWG
    For a chance at freebie coupons, a Dirty Dancing dvd, or a party pack.

Play the Game My Summer IWG
    For a chance at freebie coupons, Xbox Live Gold membership, and other cool prizes.

Play the Family Guy IWG
    For a chance at dvds, games, tote bags, iTunes gift cards, and other prizes.

Play the CocoaVia IWG
    For a chance at mugs, product freebies, water bottles, and other prizes.

Samples and Freebies as of 5/23

Here are the links to some samples, coupons and freebies that are still around and available. Click on them to sign up.

Sample of TRESemme from Walmart Plus a $1 off coupon


Sample of Prilosec OTC to protect against heartburn


Sample of Propel Zero Powder Stick


Coupons for Vocalpoint Members to save $$ on Bounty


Sample of Clear Men Scalp Therapy


Splenda Sample

How Do You Sweep?

I admit it, I'm beginning to become a "Sweeper". No, not someone who enjoys using a broom and dustpan. I have made it a hobby to enter sweepstakes and try my luck at instant win games (IWG).
Now, I actually started entering them last year  (2011) around April. I didn't have as much ambition to enter them consistently, and due to this I rarely won. This led me to disappointment and even longer periods of time without entering sweeps or playing IWG. Eventually I gave up entirely. Still I saw various people proudly proclaiming their wins and I decided to give it a second chance.
My first step was developing a spreadsheet using Microsoft Excel. Pictured below is the latest version of mine, that I'm going to take a few minutes to update later tonight.

My main organization method is to put them in order of their ending date. That way, as soon as one ends and I've entered it for the last time, it gets deleted and the entire list can be moved up a spot. In the second column I list what type it is, if it's just a Sweepstakes where I continue to enter the entire length without knowing if I've won, or if it's an IWG where I'll know immediately if I've won and can therefore delete it if you can only win once during the promotional period. Third column is the brand name or name of the site of the particular Sweeps/IWG. This is just used as a bit of a reminder. Next comes the URL, so all I have to do is click on the link and it'll pop up in a new tab on Chrome which is my default browser. The last two I just added, one column which displays free codes if you need a code to play so I wont have to waste time looking at the rules for one each time, and the last column displays if I can enter more than once or if there are multiple ways to enter. Whenever I have free time I bring up the spreadsheet and go down the list.
The spreadsheet, always being up on my computer, serves as a reminder AND an organized way to store the info so I can get through my entries faster. This has allowed me to enter consistently over the past few weeks and win more often. I admit, I haven't won anything big.... yet, but I'll give it time. Mainly I've won freebie coupons for products, movie tickets, and my most recent win was a $50 Speaker System. I'm definitely looking forward to future wins.
~
Do you sweep? What's your gameplan/organizational method? Have you had any wins recently?

Making Money At College

I'm a college student, and this is the end of my second year at college. I live in one of the on-campus dorms and conveniently am within a reasonable amount of walking distance to some stores and fast food places including Target, Shopko, Cashwise, Arbys.... The only issue I seem to have at school is the lack of money. I definitely don't want to partake in a job while attending school (props to those that do), because with the multiple classes I take and the multiple clubs I'm in (including being an officer in some), I don't have a lot of time left over for homework and just time to hang out with friends.
Last year, my first year at the university, I decided to start not only saving money, but also earning it. This was when I began couponing. My mother has used coupons for as long as I can remember. She didn't take it too seriously, just used them if she had them and if it was a product she often bought. I never really thought twice about it, but when you're running low on cash, you realize how even a 50 cent coupon can make a difference. I began printing coupons (oh the joy of having print credits at school that I usually don't fully use anyway) for things I knew I would need eventually. Cleaning supplies, food, makeup, beverages.... but I couldn't survive on couponing alone. Even the overage coupons couldn't stop the inevitable reduction of money in my pocket. It was then that I turned to money-making sites.
It started with survey websites. Pinecone, Synnovate, MyView, Opinion Outpost, Swagbucks etc.... It seemed to take forever, but once I started earning enough to redeem my points/$$ on those sites it made the time spent worth it. A few minutes each night, and I was starting to earn Amazon cash. I chose the Amazon redemption option for a reason--- Amazon Prime. As a college student you can get a free trial of Amazon Prime for, what I believe was, six months. For some items this can lead to free two day shipping, and still sometimes make the product cheaper than what you can get in stores or from other sellers on amazon with shipping price included. So if you have a college email address, I recommend taking them up on their trial offer.
This was all fine and dandy, but I needed money I could use at the nearby stores when I needed it. So I joined a new site called Jingit. It was just starting out, but I looked into it thoroughly to figure out if it was legit before joining. Through watching commercials I could earn up to $10 a week, so I was hooked immediately. I could easily watch their ads during commercials while I was watching a tv show. Why watch the ads on tv when I could be paid to watch the ones online? Now, the site is up and running again, and now I can (and have) earn $15 a week. The money is transferred to a debit card immediately once you click to transfer it, and is ready for use at stores that accept Visa debit cards. It has definitely become my favorite money earning site.
Overall, I must say I made this post to show that you CAN earn and save money at college. I hear so many of my fellow classmates complain about being broke, and yet they continue to shop without even considering saving money or finding quick ways to an extra income. I can't wait to see how much I save on school supplies before the next fall semester comes around with couponing and the money I earn on the various websites.