Me and @MommyInstincts at BlogHer09 – Glitter Guts Photos

‘Nuff said, right? If you are going, I’ll see you in NYC (please find me – I have sponsored Feld Entertainment goodies for you…or maybe gummy bears.) If not, I’ll be back to my regularly deal posting schedule on August 9th.

If you have absolutely NO idea what I’m talking about…then see above picture. That, my friends, is why I haven’t been posting. Though, please don’t fear…I hope to be back to somewhat normal very soon! I have all sorts of giveaways and money saving tips for you…they just have to wait until Monday. *wink*

Until then, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, twitter me or drop me an email. I’m always available my frugal friends.

Does your collection of Swag Tote bags resemble THIS? Or maybe even…e-hem, WORSE? Just to be honest here, I came home from this year’s BlogHer event with around TWENTY-FIVE physical bags. Not that I really WANTED that many totes, but some companies were giving me 2 or 3 of each one, asking me to take them because they had so many left. Knowing in my head what I was going to do with them, I took them.

Out of the slew of cloth and print, I did keep a few. I do try VERY hard to be an environmentally aware citizen of this Earth and use cloth bags whenever possible (and I encourage YOU to be frugal with our resources as well!) Some of the bags were very nice – I LOVE the Clorox Green bags, the BlogHer Blue Avocado bags & the Pepsi ones. How nice that some of them fold up so small that they clip to your keychain! You can’t beat the convenience (and have no excuse not to have them with you at all shopping moments.)

Let’s see here…so if I kept five of the bags for myself, that still leaves me with 20 bags laying around. If there were roughly 1500 people at THIS convention alone and each and every person has 20 leftover tote bags – that equals about THIRTY THOUSAND bags that will either end up in a landfill or find themselves wadded up in a pantry somewhere for the next ten years.
That’s not good.

Would you like to put them to use? I have a worthy cause.

It’s called Operation Classroom.

As the Chairperson of Missions in my church, I have done collections for this organization over the past 4 or 5 years. There are many facets to this volunteer program, one being the collecting of school supplies and the assembling of “Y.E.S. Kits” out of tote bags. Once collected, Operation Classroom ships these MUCH needed supplies to their teams in Liberia and Sierra Leone. When received, they are handed out to the citizens there in hopes of helping them to rebuild their societies. Can’t you just imagine the excitement in a small child’s face when they are handed one of YOUR tote bags filled with longed for school supplies? Though it may be difficult to imagine in our country, but there, supplies are scarce. For instance, each teacher is allowed ONE stick of chalk to last the entire school year. You CAN make a difference!

I recently contacted Carolyn Wagner, one of the founders of Operation Classroom. She said these colorful tote bags would make GREAT Y.E.S Kits! Please consider sending yours. You can pick up soft Priority Mail envelopes for FREE at your local post office. Stuff them full of bags and send them to:

Operation Classroom Totes
PO Box 246
Colfax, IN 46035

They will make sure the bags get filled and boxed from there. If you are feeling EXTRA generous, tax-deductible donations can be made through their website. Also, if you would like to send your totes already filled with school supplies, please follow their shipping directions. Those types of donations will be sent to a different address with different procedures.

Please help me FLOOD the Wagner’s mailbox with these totes (can you imagine 30,000 bags in your mailbox?) BlogHer sponsors gave so much – let’s give back!!

If you are sending your bags to Operation Classroom, can you please leave a comment letting me know how many you are shipping? Let’s watch this running total climb!

If you have any questions, please comment or email me at cheapo[dot]mcfrugalpants[at]gmail[dot]com . I will do my best at getting the answers you need. Thank you!!

***Added: I was able to pack all 12 of my tote bags into one of the USPS soft Priority Mail envelopes. I probably could have at least fit 15 in one package – it cost me $4.95 to send. It may cost more or less depending on where you live. I feel like that was a very small price to pay to donate free bags to a charity. I love being able to spread the love.***

Corrin from Oh Hey gets a Cheapo gold foil star for shipping SEVENTEEN bags!!
Thanks Corrin!

In taking a closer look at all of the business cards and flyers that were generously given to me at the conference, I noticed that some of the BlogHer savings codes expire on August 1st. Sorry people, that’s like…tomorrow.

Anyway, I don’t know if you happen to use any of these companies, but I thought I would pass along the savings. So…here ya go!

• SlimPerfect Swimwear & Activewear – Code “BlogHer” – good though 8/1/09
• Sittercity.com – 15% off with code “BLOGHER” – no exp. date
• Leap Frog – Receive 20% off Tag or Tag Junior when you order – enter code BHTAGJ9 at checkout – good through..um..today 7/31/09
• HP Mediasmart Server – $100 off the EX485 or EX487 : code AC8942 or $75 off the LX195 : code AC8371 – exp. 8/31/09
• Blue Avocado reusable bags – 40% off with code goodkarma40 – exp. 8/15/09
• La Grande Dame Plus sized clothing – 20% off with code “PLUS MOMMY” – no exp. date
• Happy Panda bigger baby clothing – 25% off with code “3Ps” – no exp. date
• Poken – 20% off with code “SP20″ – no exp. date
• GoGirl - save $2.00 on web purchase with code “BLOGHER09″ – exp. 8/1/09 OR save $1.00 on web purchase with code “ACTIVEGIRL” – exp. 1/1/2010
• Doodlekins – 15% off any order with code “BLOGHER09″ – exp. 10/31/09
• My Precious Kid safety products – 10% off online purchase with code “10EVENT09″ – exp. 12/31/09
• Yummie Tummie – there is a secret code “BLOGHER09″ but unsure of what it does
• Good for the Kids – $5 off $15 or more with code “5bucks” – no exp. date
• Eden Fantasy sensual products – 20% off with code “EF704″ exp. 9/30/09 OR 15% off with code “TOYHER9″ – exp. 8/31/09 OR 15% off with code “KISS09″
• Skin Free Skincare – Free Shipping on orders of $25 or more – no code

Basically, over all – if you plan on ordering anything online in the next month or two, try entering a BLOGHER09 code and see what happens. *wink*

Did you receive a code that is not listed here but want to let others know? Is YOUR company having a promotion? Leave your links in the comments and share the code love.

**No, I am not getting paid or receiving free samples of these items to list them here. I am doing it on my own free will in order to possibly help someone save a little moo-lah. Just Sayin’.**