It’s only 10 days until Christmas, but who’s counting? Are you feeling the stress yet?
Isn’t it ironic that the season for joy and family and friendship can be so darn stressful? So let’s push the pause button for a second and do a little planning….
I’ve been working with the following companies to share some great ideas.
If you, like me, are still frantically shopping then you’ll want to know about Shopkick. Shopkick is a free app that you can use on your Android or iPhone that gives you rewards for simply walking into some of your favorite stores. They have over 2600 participating stores nationwide and some of their retail partners are stores we moms often frequent, like Best Buy, Target, Macy’s, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Crate ’n’ Barrel, Sports Authority and Toys “R” Us. You earn the rewards, or “kicks,” three ways: 1) by simply entering a participating retailer, 2) by scanning bar codes of featured products and 3) by paying with Visa. Easy-peasy. And you can redeem these “kicks” for real-life rewards like music downloads, gift cards, games, fashion and more. I guess you can view it as the app that gives to you while you’re busy shopping for others! It’s no surprise that consumers love Shopkick… It grew to 2.5 million users in its first 15 months. Check it out!
If you’re wrestling with finding a gift that will make lots of people on your list happy consider something we all love to start off our day with: coffee! Eight O’Clock coffee has been a favorite for generations and with twelve flavors it’s a great gift for anyone on your list. You can even get creative and make an eye-opening gift basket with a variety of roasts and mugs or you could buy it as a stocking stuffer for the grown-ups on your list. You can find Eight O’Clock coffee at most grocery stores and superstores and at only $6.99 a bag it won’t break the bank.
Of course shopping isn’t the only thing that keeps us busy during the holiday season, if you’re the gal who’s doing the entertaining you have a whole other list to attend to. With only 10 days left you’re likely to not have time for making everything from scratch (even if you want to!) so go to your local grocer and grab yourself some delicious frozen Marie Callender’s dessert pies. You simply bake the fruit pies and thaw the cream pies. They have 19 pie varieties and personally, they bring me back to my childhood because growing up in the Midwest one of my favorite treats was going to Marie Callender’s restaurants for dinner and pie. The Chocolate Satin pie is crazy-good and their Razzleberry Pie is like nothing you’ve had before as it is a delicious combo of raspberry, blackberry and apple. Yum!
A final tip… If you’re flying this season consider shipping your baggage or gifts with a service like FedEx instead of lugging them around and paying airline baggage fees. FedEx has a number of convenient shipping options like printing labels online, pick-up service, thousands of locations to help you pack your items and over 50,000 FedEx drop boxes around the country. If possible, plan ahead. You can ship with FedEx Ground or FedEx Express 2-day and Express Saver (3 day) services to save money on shipments. In fact, shipping with these services often costs less than airline fees to check luggage. And if you sign up for an online account with FedEx you can receive 8% off ground shipping and 16% off express shipping. It’s worth the 2-minute effort! Just remember, the last day to ship FedEx Express is Thursday, December 22 and for the big procrastinators (You know who you are!) you can even ship priority overnight delivery on Friday for Saturday delivery.
Happy Holidays ladies!
* This article is sponsored by FedEX, Marie Callendar’s Desserts, Shopkick and Eight O’Clock Coffee
