Theraisa K's Blog

It must be hard for these contest sites to post original content, it seems they all share the same sources. Freebie Radar just blends into the mix without really offering anything new and exciting to viewers who are hardcore freebie go-getters. The site offers freebies, free samples, coupons, hot deals and sweepstakes categories along with a monthly giveaway draw to subscribers for a $25 Amazon gift card. The content is also not entirely exclusive to Canada, some offers are for USA only and its not frequently updated.

I Googled "Contests Canada" and came across Contestgirl . Figured it wouldn't hurt to check it out. It seems to be primarily a sweepstakes style directory with daily, weekly and monthly contests ranging from getaways to food to pretty much everything in between. I'm not much of a vacation destination go-er but I did find myself checking out a few of the contests and signing up. There's pages and pages of contests to browse through, mostly for US and Canada (it even lets you know the required age, province, and expiry dates), so if you're like me and need a one-stop directory, this is probably one of the better ones I've seen as of late.

I've used Kotex for my feminine hygiene needs for quite some time, so when the offer came by to try the new U by Kotex, I couldn't resist signing up. My main problem during that time of the month is leak protection, especially at night. I was a little leery of the maxi pads with wings that they sent, normally I'm a thin pad kind of person (I don't like the bulk), but was surprised at how comfortable and unnoticeable it was. It held everything in and kept it from leaking over even during the night, which is a definite plus in my books! I don't know if I'd go as far as switching to a maxi from the thin pad, but if it means better protection, I might just reconsider. The panty liners I don't normally buy or use (they seem to be a waste of money to me, since the thin pad is like a liner, except longer) but figured I'd give it a shot. I used it at the end of my cycle when the flow was down to a few dribbles and they were alright, a little too short (small) fo

I came across this duo by chance while browsing for free CD demos to review. Though I was looking for a physical copy;  Zunior had a free download version of " .. Makes Ghost Noises ". I didn't end up downloading it; instead I just went to the band's website http://dogisblue.com/ and listened to the sample music there. Their music reminds me of Jack White (White Stripes), but a more stripped down and raw version - they have the same artsy quirkiness that makes the music different and fun to listen to. Looks like the duo toured over the summer, so I'm under the impression they're still together, even though the music on their site only goes up to the year 2011. It'll be interesting to see if anything else comes from this duo in the future.

Chick Advisor is a site I'm proud to be a contributing member to. Its a perfect place for females (mostly) to go and share their thoughts and ideas on every day products. The site serves a dual purpose - for members you gain points and badges for content you contribute and for non-members you get feedback from real people on the products you may already use or are considering purchasing. The site offers select members a chance to be apart of special product reviews through their Product Review Club. Really all you have to do to be considered is join the site (its free) and submit 5 product reviews (of your own or that has been reviewed by other members). It took me under an hour to sign up and submit my reviews so really its not that time consuming or hard. So long as you have an opinion - good or bad - you're in!

Free Stuff My Way is similar to a lot of sites I've reviewed so far in this blog, except one major difference, they award you points for visiting the contests / giveaways. If you're one of the first members to get 100 points in a given month you have a chance to win $100 from the site. Each month the counter is reset so all members have an equal chance of winning. You get 5 points for logging in daily, another point for visiting the freebie and another 5 points for sharing it via Twitter, Facebook and Google +. I believe they also give new members 25 bonus points just for signing up. The only downfall I've seen so far is many of the giveaways are expired, can't be accessed (high user demand), or you must be a specific type of professional to enter (such as a teacher, business or chef), which limits your chances of racking up points for the month. Also if you're a member of other similar sites (like I am), you may have already applied for the freebie and unless yo

Free.ca is a directory of the latest Canadian contests, freebies, coupons and more. Its much like Free Stuff Finder  (in fact they have much of the same content), but more streamlined, less detailed oriented and way more advertisements. I found the way they formatted and styled their content to be rather irksome. Everything is lumped together in the same format regardless if its an advertisement, random blog post or the actual giveaway/contest being showcased - I like to refer to this as "disguised content". In other words, you have to pay attention to what you're clicking on or you'll spend a lot of time back-tracking. With that said, there is a pro to this site, it has lots of user feedback. User feedback is great for prize claimers for many reasons, but mostly to find out whether the product is worth the effort in claiming and to provide a sort of technical support group for when you come across a glitch. For example, sometimes the way you type in your posta

Jamberry Nail wrap on my pinky finger (left), and regular nail polish on all my other digits I received a trial pack of Jamberry nail wraps from an old childhood friend and current Jamberry Consultant ( check her page out here ). My cousin is also a consultant ( view her page here ). I've been tempted to become one myself but was a little hesitant mostly because it looks like a product that's too good to be true. Like all products it has its pros and cons; most of these are in comparison to standard nail polish: Pros:  No smell . I'm highly sensitive to harsh scents, and paint of any kind is one of those things that sets me off. I can't stand the smell of nail polish, especially when it lingers. These wraps, thankfully are odor free! No drying time. Once the wrap is applied you're good to go, no waiting for minutes to hours for the paint to dry. No extra coating. Unlike nail polish you only have to apply one nail wrap to get the benefit of pretty shin

Love the name, but not a fan of the content layout. Maybe its the Graphic Designer in me, but wow this site is busy - at least until you get used to it. Once you adjust to having to scroll halfway down the page to get to the actual content, its not so bad. Much like Free.ca you have to pay attention to what you're clicking on because many of the advertisements (pro: they at least put headers on the ads!) are disguised as content within the page. Another pro, they seem to update their content daily, unlike their competitors who claim to but really only post once a week or every few weeks. Even though they have much the same content as other directories like Free Stuff Finder  they do seem to have more variety for each topic such as store offers, contests, print coupons, mail coupons, etc. I'd say after you get by the visual chaos its a fairly decent site and one I will bookmark and return to regularly for the latest deals.

Getting Ready for #GameNight with Monopoly Jr Last night we received our Hasbro VoxBox courtesy of Influenster containing Monopoly Junior for testing*! Our family was so excited to try it out that we had our #GameNight right away. When you have two kids jumping off the walls with excitement to play a game that you've never played before and have never opened the box to... the number 1 most important aspect is: how fast can you set up the game and learn to play before the kids loose interest (or drive you crazy). Am I right? Luckily, we managed to get rolling in about 2-5 minutes. The longest part was counting out the currency for each player (the paper money was stuck together making it hard to separate) and popping out the cardboard "house" pieces. The next time we play (which will probably be tonight!) it should be easier since the money has been played with and the gaming piece are all separated. Learning how to play the game may take longer if you've never

I received a sample pack of Tide Pods from P&G  the other day. It arrived just in time too! One of the cats pee'd on our bed comforter and it just happened to be a day that we were all out of our usual laundry detergent (we use Cold Water Tide). My main concern was I didn't want it to just mask or cover the smell (of the cat pee) but get it out as much as possible. My other concern was staining - some detergents if they don't dissolve before you add the clothes can sometimes leave stains on them. When I pulled the comforter out to put it in the dryer it had a very refreshing scent (no lingering cat pee smell) and it was stain free. So I'm very happy with the outcome of the product. I don't know if we'll switch from Cold Water to Pods, the last time I checked it wasn't economical for our family. We do 1-2 loads a day and up to 4 on bad days. With the Pods you have to use 1-2 depending on the size of the load (1 for small, 2 for large), whereas with the

I signed up to Swagbucks the other day and wow, there's a LOT to sift through. This is definitely not a user-friendly site for those who are "website challenged". My mom would quit on this site in a heartbeat - and I wouldn't blame her. I'm overwhelmed and I've been using, building and viewing websites for over 15 years. There's just soooo much "stuff" and no clear direction. With that aside, it's basically a site where you earn tokens (or swag bucks) which you can then turn in for prizes / rewards which are mostly in the form of gift cards in the price range of $10-$100 value from shops like Amazon, Foot Locker, iTunes, Facebook and more. I even noticed you can make donations to charities like the Red Cross and UNICEF using swag bucks, which is nice for those of us who lack credit cards for making online donations :) I ended up downloading the Chrome browser extension just because its one of those sites that you literally have to spend

I'm a newer user (within the past month) of this website: Free Stuff Finder: Canada , and so far its proved to be very helpful in finding the latest freebies, coupons, contests, giveaways and more. Its one of those websites that you add to your bookmarks and check it every now and again to see what's new and happening in the world of free stuff. Its updated quite frequently, at least a handful of new posts per week from what I've seen so far. They go as far as informing you of what the giveaway includes, how to access it, what you need in order to participate in it, any special info (like if you have to sign up to participate or if you can just go to the site and cash in) and even let you know when the promotion is out of stock or expired. As far as being a hub for a collection of the latest freebies, its by far one of the better sites I've come across. Its easy to use, easy to read and easy to get to the freebies, contests, coupons and giveaways of your choice.

I signed up to Wannawin.ca a few years ago. I'll admit I'm not a hardcore user - more of a sporadic on again off again user - but I am kinda disappointed that I haven't won anything since the first week I signed on. I won a $25 gift card to Golf Town - which naturally ended up in my husband's wallet - but still it was exciting getting a free gift card in the mail and having your name scroll across their website as a winner. Part of me still thinks it was a "sign on" gimmick to get me to continue using their site. I mean, who wouldn't go back and try, try, try again after getting something for free?! The theory behind many of these sites is that unknown variable that you MIGHT just be the next big winner (its like the lottery) and they sucker you into coming back day after day to test your luck. So like many I click on those pretty green "participate now" buttons in hopes that I'll win something; and occasionally I'll blow a few toke

What This Is All About Lately I've been scouring the web for freebies (contests, giveaways, etc.) and wanted a place to report back on not only my findings, but also my 2 cents on the products themselves. My plan is to include product reviews, feedback on contest websites, and more than likely you'll also see advertisements courtesy of the contests themselves! Get Reviewed If you have a product you'd like me to review, feel free to get in touch. I plan on reviewing everything from music to websites to shampoo and pretty much anything in between.

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