How's Your Driving? #TrySnapshot

Last month, I had the opportunity to try out the new Snapshot device by Progressive. Snapshot is a small device that plugs into your vehicle and monitors your driving habits. Using Snapshot is easy. It's quick to plug in (just a minute or two), and then you have a portal where you can check your progress (and hopefully, your savings!) Most drivers save, on average, $150 a year!

Progressive's new Snapshot program measures three things: hard brakes, how quickly you accelerate, and how much you drive. If you score well in these three areas, Progressive might be able to save you money on your car insurance. We ended up scoring well on rate of acceleration and okay on hard brakes, but not enough to overcome the amount of miles we drive.  

I would not have thought we spent a lot of time on the road but we were in a month of transition while we were using Snapshot. My husband started a new job that was 45 minutes from our house, the kids went back to school, and then we had our normal daily driving to the drug store, Wal-Mart, Publix, and various restaurants. Our life has been a flurry of activity over the last 2 months! 

Want to take Snapshot for a trial of your own? Visit progressive.com to find out how you can enjoy a 30 day Snapshot trial -be sure and let me know if you end up saving money!  

Interested in the science behind the program and why Progressive can offer such great savings? Here's more information:

Content and/or other value provided by our partner, Progressive.

I received a 30 day trial and gift card for being a part of the Progressive Snapshot Blogger Program.

Show Your School Spirit With Crayola

Crayola has, once again, come out with some great new products and I'm thrilled to get to share them with you.

We received some fabric markers, perfect for decorating jeans, backpacks, and tshirts. These markers are designed so that the colors really pop when used on dark fabrics. We tried them first on Britain's black backpack. It's plain and we though it could use something to make it personalized and fun. Now I admit, writing on black is obviously iffy, but the box showed the markers working on black fabrics. I went over and over again on the line I was drawing before it (barely) showed up. Britain lost interest and decided he didn't want to decorate his backpack after all. I'm going to try again with some of the girls jeans and see how that does. I would love to also get the girls a pair of cheap, plain shoes from Wal-Mart and let them decorate some shoes. I think they would love that!

I love the new Wild Notes products. The Wild Notes products use a special pen. Instead of writing with a boring black or blue pen, this pen writes a rainbow of colors. I think I was probably supposed to give them to the kids, but I really didn't want to. So instead, I used them to write some notes and place them in the kids backpacks. The fun colors make even mundane tasks, like grocery lists, more enjoyable. 

I also received the Wild Notes Sticky Notes and Wild Notes Index Cards. The index cards and notebook are both spiral bound and the pages/cards are perforated for easy removal. Even Jaxon, at 19 months of age, is able to remove the pages without ripping them! He loves this notebook and pen, by the way and constantly steals it from me. He has a bad habit of writing on himself when he has a pen - I love that this pen does not allow him to do that. 

We also received the Dual-Sided Dry-Erase Board. It's about the size of an iPad, so it travels well. One side is black, the other side is white. The included dry erase crayons write in bright colors, so they work well on both sides of the board. There's a (machine washable) cloth for cleaning the board and a crayon sharpener.  

Finally, we received the Crystal Effects Window Markers and the Window Mega Markers. My kids adore window markers. We just use ours for fun drawing on windows & mirrors, but these would be great for decorating the minivan for a football game! Great way to show your school spirit! For all you homeschoolers out there, my kids have always loved practicing writing and math facts with these markers. Writing practice is more fun when you get to write on the windows! The Crystal Effects markers are very cool - the effect does not transfer well to a picture, but as we drew on the windows, the colors "crystallized" before our eyes. Very neat!

Thanks to the generosity of Crayola, one lucky reader will get a prize pack containing 6 Crayola products!

Packaways -The Best Way To Move, Organize, And Store Your Stuff!

Sometimes I get to review a product that I know I'll be using for many years to come. This is one of those times. Originally, I wasn't sure what to expect when I found out Packaways was sending me their new storage boxes. I had read that the boxes came folded flat. I didn't think they could possibly be very sturdy since they had to be put together. But I was wrong! These boxes are made from durable corrugated plastic and they are truly great. They are super easy to put together - no extra pieces or packing tape required. 

They ship to you flat. When you're ready to use them, just press the opposing corners and the bottom folds into place and locks. Just reverse the process to make them flat (and easy to store) again. 

We just moved, and these boxes were extremely handy. We made multiple trips when moving and I took these boxes back and forth several times. I loaded them up with everything from bedding to toys to picture frames. They worked very well and were extremely easy to use. The carry handles on the ends make them easier to carry than standard moving boxes. They have panels  for labeling, and if you use China Dry Erase Markers, you can wipe the panels clean and relabel them as you change the contents of the boxes. They stack neatly and for those of you who don't unpack quickly (like me), they look a whole lot better sitting in a corner of the room than the cardboard boxes do. They are also not prone to breakdown like cardboard is since they are immune from the effects of moisture and humidity. In fact, the first thing I put in them were our toiletry items. I knew if shampoo or lotion spilled in the bottom I could just wipe it clean once we arrived.

Now that we're getting settled in, I plan to use Packaways to store toys. I don't like for my kids to have access to all of their toys at once- it's much better for them and for me if we rotate some toys in and out of their playroom. It keeps things fresh and it keeps them from having too many things to get out at one time. I love that these boxes will be easy for me to move in and out of the garage or a closet. 

Packaways come in 5 different sizes and 4 colors and are made in the USA. Prices start at 8.75 per box, and bulk pricing is offered for orders over 25 pieces. Visit Packaways.com for more information or like them on Facebook at facebook.com/PackAways. 

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.