Guest post from Miriam:
Getting a job (or a second job) isn't always feasible… especially for parents.
Fortunately, there are many ways to bring in some additional income without leaving your kids to daycare, sitters, or nannies all the time.
1. Swagbucks and Bing Rewards.
If you are just looking for a little bit of fun money to spend, Swagbucks and/or Bing Rewards are the way to go.
Searches, videos, and surveys can earn you small gift cards to places like Amazon.com, Target, and Starbucks in just a few weeks.
Read more about how Swagbucks works here and read more about Bing Rewards here.
2. Babysitting.
If you are already caring for children at home and aren't too overwhelmed, consider babysitting for another family. Done regularly, this kind of work can really add up.
3. Mystery Shopping.
This is a bit more involved, but signing up to do this a few times per month can easily get you $50 or more. You just need a Paypal account in order to receive the payments.
Read more about becoming a Mystery Shopper here.
4. Online Surveys.
Typically, the points received from taking these surveys take a long time to accumulate. But you can earn some fabulous rewards.
I once earned a $20 Amazon gift card; it took a while, but refusing to check on my points totals for several months made it seem much faster!
Read more about online surveys and the best companies to sign up with here.
There are many other simple, creatives ways to earn a little extra fun money without getting a “real job”, so i’d love to know…
How do you earn fun money?
photo source
Today’s giveaway is for something yummy, yummy, yummy! Weaver Chocolates™ is offering a 5 pound sample box of chocolates to five different winners.
They sent us a sample box to try out and we’ve had fun testing the various chocolates. {I know, I know, life is so rough. I had to suffer for your sakes and test the chocolates for this giveaway! ;)}
Weaver Chocolates™ is a line of premium panned and enrobed chocolates that are manufactured using only the highest quality centers and ingredients. This 5 pound sample box contains the following samples:
I’d always wanted to try a Chocolate Covered Potato Chip. It was interesting. Not something I’m going to be going around eating on a regular basis, but now I can say I’ve tried one. 
Our favorites were the Dark Chocolate Covered Cherries and the Dark Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans. Yum!
Would you like to enter to win one of these delicious sample boxes from Weaver Chocolates™? Just click on the graphic below and type in your name and email address. Five winners will be chosen and posted next week.
This giveaway ends Monday, April 13, at 11:59 pm, CST.
Since I got such great deals on bulk produce this week, I decided to keep the rest of my grocery shopping pretty simple. We still have eggs leftover from last week, and I will be using milk and meat from my freezer stash. I went ahead and stocked up on cheese even though we still have some and don’t actually need it right now. It was a good price, I had wiggle room in my budget – and there is no such a thing as too much cheese, right? 
Sawyer’s Produce
(We will be eating lots of strawberries and grapes over the next week, and then freezing or dehydrating the rest. This is ALOT of produce – much more in real life than it looks like in this picture!)
16 1-lb pkgs Strawberries – $10.00
18lbs Green Grapes – $12.00
4 2-lb bags of Green Leaf Lettuce (these are huge bags!) – $5.00
Total: $27.00
Walmart
2 32-oz bags of Baby Carrots (price matched Aldi @ $0.69/each – fantastic price for the big bags!) - $1.38
2 huge heads of Cabbage (price matched Aldi @ $0.99/each) – $1.98
1 24-oz container Cottage Cheese (price matched Bi-Lo) – $2.69
1 32-oz container Half and Half (price matched Food Lion) $1.97
1 32-oz container Egg Whites – $4.44
1 bunch Bananas – $1.11, plus receive $0.25 back from Checkout 51 – $0.86 after rebate
Total: $13.32
Harris Teeter
10 bags of Shredded Cheese – $13.00
1 box Reeses Puffs – $2.50, used $0.75/1 printable (doubled) – $1.00 after coupon, plus receive $0.25 back from Ibotta – $0.75 after coupon and rebate
1 box Honey Nut Cheerios – $2.50, used $0.50/1 printable (doubled) – $1.50 after coupon, plus receive $0.50 back from SavingStar – $1.00 after coupon and rebate
Total after Coupons and Rebates: $14.75
Weekly Grocery Total: $55.07
Weekly Menu Plan
Breakfasts
Oatmeal and Strawberries x 3
Toast and Eggs (Veggie Omelettes for me) x 2
Cereal x 2
Lunches
Baked Potatoes with Cheese, Grapes x 2
Build-Your-Own Tossed Salad Bar, Strawberries x 2 (I plan on eating a tossed salad everyday for lunch since we have so much lettuce to use up!)
Peanut Butter and Honey Sandwiches on Easy Whole Wheat Bread, Baked Carrot Fries, Fruit
Leftovers x 2
Dinners
Three Cheese Baked Spaghetti, Tossed Salad with Homemade Dressing, Dill Bread
Chicken Gravy over Brown Rice, Steamed Broccoli, Tossed Salad, Easy Whole Wheat Bread (I will make a double recipe)
Egg Roll in a Bowl, Brown Rice, Fruit Salad
Homemade Cheese Pizza (meatless), Tossed Salad, Carrot Sticks
Ham and Potato Soup (using this recipe and subbing ham instead of hamburger – we still have a lot of ham in the freezer from a friend), Leftover Dill Bread, Tossed Salad
Leftovers x 2
Snacks
Coconut Almond Crunchies, THM Shakes, Strawberries, Grapes, Carrots, Strawberry Oat Muffins
