Lots of Mail

Vacation........on the road for 11 days.  I wouldn't have really called this a vacation, it was more of a trip of obligations.  We logged over 3,000 miles ...... a lot of travel.  We began our trip with helping our oldest child get settled into her new place, almost 900 miles from home.  From there we went to a family wedding.  While in the midwest we then ventured to Michigan for our youngest to attend an elite softball camp at the University of Michigan.  I am in love with Ann Arbor...... the city... the people.... everything was impressive.  The camp was definitely enlightening for us, as our youngest will be on the search for a scholarship to play softball.  We definitely learned a lot, but I'll save that for another blog.  From Michigan, we made another brief stop to see our older daughter as we ventured across the midwest to Philadelphia to see my mother. Each stop along the way was an overnight, or two at most.......but we managed to squeeze in a visit with lots of family (children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, brothers, and mom).  Overall, it was a great adventure.......but we were definitely ready for our own beds by the time we returned, even though we arrived home after dark to no air conditioning.......it was a toasty 89 in our house upon arrival.  Fortunately, I am married to a mechanical genius......he was able to take a few pieces apart and fix them to get us up and running again.

Now on the to mail.......lots of mail.  If you have been following the tshirt project..... Tara is emailing lots of colleges this summer for information.....and t shirts.  We took a break the week before travel to cut down on the amount of mail we would return to.  She has received lots of informational packets and many tshirts.  Currently, the pile is well over 30 shirts and growing, I will update with an exact count next week.  I also send emails out when I really like a product that is on the market.... the end result is lots of coupons, many of them for free stuff.  This is also an ongoing experiment that I started this summer (I will blog about this next week as well).  If you have read my other posts, you know that I also review items for Amazon, which arrive in my mailbox daily.  A ton of items arrived while on vacation.  Needless to say, it was a little like Christmas morning the night we returned, while we sat and waited for the house to cool down, we enjoyed opening many packages, new items to review, and information from many colleges.   This college project has turned into more than the tshirt project that it began as......we have learned a lot about schools that had never been on our radar......but now they are.  The schools that send personal communication...... tend to really peak our interest.  It's amazing the impression that a handwritten note can leave.  Please let me know if you have tried any of projects I've talked about.  Would love to hear your feedback and opinions.

 

Exploring Colleges = Free T shirts

Many of you have read my earlier posts which included talking about emailing colleges to ask for information ...... and of course promotional material such as t-shirts.  Initially, Tara sent out about 200 emails, and we have continued to email at least 5 colleges a day.....there are thousands across the country.  This is actually turning out to be quite educational, as it is interesting to see how each school markets themselves, the responses they give, as well as the information that is sent.  A lot has been learned about big schools and small, as well as public and private colleges.   I am most impressed by the schools that opt for personal communication, asking specifics, and following up.  Who knows, she may just wind up at a totally unexpected school in 5 years, simply because of this project.

The emails started getting sent 8 days ago, so far 10 shirts have arrived, about 25 packets, a few pennants, lots of pens and pencils, and couple of water bottles.   We had read on a blog where someone got over 1000 shirts in one summer, not sure this household will reach those numbers......but you never know.

This is an incredible and fun project for any middle or high school kid, such an opportunity to learn about schools around the country.  I encourage anyone to try it, and please let me know your results!!!!

I'm pretty certain that my mailman is less than thrilled about the amount of mail that she has to leave on my doorstep every day as it won't fit in the mailbox :)

How I came to review items sold on Amazon

Several months ago I heard that one could get free items sold on Amazon, just for writing a review.  I did not think that this could even be legit.  After doing some research, I decided to give it a whirl.  Basically, after signing up for a review site you pick items that you would like to review.  I chose to go with AMZ Review Trader, because the site is easy to navigate and has a great variety of things to choose from.

You can choose free items or deeply discounted items.  I only choose free, or items less than $1.  With Amazon Prime, the shipping is free.  Over the course of the past 6 months I have received and reviewed over 200 items.  Initially, it is a little slow getting approved to review items.  I signed up for lots of phone cases, screen protectors, and phone cords, all of which get used all the time in our house.  We simply cannot have enough phone cords.  Phone chargers are plentiful as well, I love the ones that charge 3 or 4 devices in the car.  We've also gotten several pairs of headphones, a balance board, jump ropes, essential oils, shampoo, a dog harness and leash, baby bibs that I pass on to a friend, towels, blue tooth speakers, a coffee pot, coffee grinder, and an electric wine opener.  The list is endless, todays mail included a dozen emoji beach balls.  Needless to say, every day is like Christmas.  It doesn't cost anything, and you get to try a ton of new products on the market.

As you write more reviews, your reviewer rating increases.  I had no idea that there was even a reviewer ranking on Amazon.  Apparently Amazon ranks you based on your reviews and approvals from people.  I started in the millions, literally.......now I am well above 150,000.  If you are in the top 200,000 you are considered a decent reviewer and you start getting solicited directly from companies to review their items.  Over the course of the past month I have been getting emails from start up companies asking me to review items that they are coming out with.  I usually try to oblige unless it is something that I simply have no use for.  It doesn't take much time as the reviews are between 75 and 200 words.  I spend about an hour a week writing the reviews.

If you like to read and read on a kindle this is also an easy way to never pay for books again.  I get more emails than I can count to review books.   Generally I choose one a week, as I can't keep up with anymore than that.

Try it, and let me know what you get in the mail. There is no financial obligation, if you have Amazon Prime shipping it always free.   I'm pretty sure that my mailman hates us......he/she always has packages to leave at our door.

Helping the Homeless Visa Porject

One of the things that I try to instill in my children is the desire to give back.  There is always someone less fortunate and in need.  Cooper approached me about doing a project this summer to help the homeless.  He is going to raise funds to purchase Visa cards and pass them out to the homeless within the greater Jacksonville area.  I am proud of his drive and determination to give something to those in need.  We will update the project as it progresses, and video some of our gifting.  Please watch for updates later in the summer.


Please consider a donation, no amount is too small.  You can click directly on the link.

https://www.gofundme.com/28975d8


Always keep in mind happiness comes from keeping things simple, making it easy......and of course always having fun!

One of our summer adventures includes emailing colleges to request information....and t shirts. I got the idea from a blog I saw online where someone had emails over 1500 colleges and received over 1000 t-shirts in the mail.  Tara thought this was a very cool idea, and t-shirts make great shirts for ball  practice.  This venture started 5 days ago, and amazingly they have started rolling in.  It is fun to see the marketing used by some colleges and the impression they leave.  West Point was the first package to arrive, it included a t-shirt, a bag, a water bottle, a pennant, and a great brochure that showed a beautiful panoramic of the campus.  This arrived just 2 days after emailing a request.

Three more t-shirts showed up in the mail today, along with a pennant, a bracelet, sunglasses, and lots of brochures.  We love the responses, and exploring what colleges around the country have to offer.  Personally, I love the SD Mines shirt.  The communication is amazing...even though Tara is just going into the 8th grade......this is a great way to explore colleges and career opportunities.

We are excited to see what comes tomorrow.....although I am sure that the mailman is going to tire of all the extra mail......FAST :)

Let's Get This Summer Started

One of the things I love to do is save money.  It's really so simple, it's easy, and it's always fun.  It's similar to riding a roller coaster or high thrill ride.  I have at times couponed and done quite well, and I even wrote a blog for awhile.  I wasn't very good at keeping up with the blog, but hey, this is a new summer and the kids are older......so......here I go again.  Actually, last week I had my largest haul for coupons, spending less than $30 for $500 of groceries.  Keep in mind, most of this will be donated to a Senior Center where I volunteer.

We are now officially in to our first week of summer.  Mornings are pretty quiet around here, so I use to time for anything on the computer that I need to get done, before the kids get up and we wander off to find something to do with our day.  One of the things that I have been doing for the past several months is reviewing items for Amazon.  It's kind of cool, and I have gotten a lot of free stuff, just by signing up for https://www.amzreviewtrader.com.  The site is totally legit, and I get free stuff every day.  In the past 6 months I have reviewed over 200 items, mostly phone cases and such, but I have gotten a few bigger ticket items.  Recently we got a balance board, not sure that I would have spent the money on it, but the kids have enjoyed playing on it.  We get a ton of phone cords, and trust me, we are always excited to get phone cords.

Recently, we..... as in Tara and I started another experiment.  After reading another blog, we have discovered that if you write to colleges expressing interest about their school and asking for t shirts or other promotional items, they will send them.  We have read that people have gotten upwards of 1000 shirts in a summer. So far over 200 emails have been sent, now it will be fun to see what kind of response comes back.  She has already heard from several, many are rejections, but some are on their way.  Probably the favorite to date is the email from the Air Force Academy promising her that goodies are on their way.  There have been several UPS notifications in my inbox, so it will be fun to see what comes rolling in this summer.  The goal is to send several emails a week, this is a great project while on our road trips this summer.

Also, did you know that if you email companies, they will often times send you coupons or other promotional items.  Emails have been sent to various companies for various items, so I am looking forward to keeping track of what we get.

Follow along to see what kind of responses we get as we perfect our email skills this summer.