PRG Loves

Cashback websites www.quidco.com Cashback websites have changed the way I shop online. Any time I shop online or buy insurance, I log on through Quidco to see how much cashback they are offering. There are a few websites, but I like Quidco the best as I find them the easiest and clearest to use. In the past three years I have been paid over £700 for buying things I would usually have bought anyway. The way it works is that you log onto Quidco and browse their offers, for example in car insurance. You choose which offer you like the most ie whoever is offering the most cashback, often over £50 for new customers, and click to go through to the company’s website. You can then shop as normal but if you buy, your purchase will be tracked by Quidco and money will appear in your bank account a few months later. I’m prepared to pay a bit more for something if the cashback offered means the final cost is less. Quidco are now offering voucher codes as well so you can enjoy special offers as well as get cashback. The key thing is not to have logged onto the shop and put anything in your basket before going through Quidco, as the sale has to be tracked entirely through Quidco. If you forget, though, you can just clear your history and cookies and then log on through Quidco. I hesitate slightly to share this one as it does make online shopping slightly longer as I like to check what cashback is being offered, but the deals are too good to miss. For example, one year a betting website was offering £50 for those opening an account and betting at least £10. By the time my husband and I did it, we were £80 up. Unfortunately, our bets didn’t come good! Quidco withholds £5 a year as an admin fee, but they take that from your earnings so if you don’t use them you don’t pay. Topcashback.co.uk is another decent site. I don’t think they have a US equivalent. Happy shopping!

Where's the volcanic ash cloud? www.radarvirtuel.com/ This is brilliant for anyone flying in Europe and worried about the volcanic ash cloud. This shows the details of the planes currently in the air. Just click Layers and click the box for Volcano Ashes Layer to see where the cloud is.

Capture baby's first Footprint www.hellobabydirect.co.uk/products/92060-babyfootprint---... This lovely gift from the Berlin based artist, Marlies von Soden, is a unique way to capture baby's first signature - its footprint. You have to wait unit it is asleep though!

V-8 Fusion www.v8juice.com/Products.aspx A mixture of vegetable juices combined with fruit juices. My favorite is Strawberry Banana. This is the best on-the-go drink. Healthy and tastes good. Enjoy!!

Great Present for Mothers' Day www.amazon.co.uk/Woman-Who-Saved-Children-Biography/dp/18... Remember PRG's interview with Clare Mulley, who wrote the biography of Eglantyne Jebb, all-round formidable woman and founder of Save the Children? Well Clare's book has just come out in paperback and would make a great present for your Mum (or for you, if you are good at dropping heavy hints to your kids).

My Parents Were Awesome myparentswereawesome.tumblr.com/ This is a great site - the premise being that parents are people who once used to be hip, or cool, or carefree - before they had kids. (Something long-forgotten in my household - as it was when I was growing up too). It is very sweet-natured and frequently hilarious!

Lipstick to Crayons www.lipsticktocrayons.com A Web site designed to help Moms do their job, stay grounded and remain hip and stylish while also juggling the many balls that all Moms must keep in the air. Dig around to find product reviews, giveaways, tips for living frugally and tons of posts on fashion, shopping, parenting, traveling, kids toys, topics of interest to teens and tweens, organization, decorating and much more.

Create your own chocolate bar www.createmychocolate.com With Valentine's Day less than a month away, it's about time to nudge that gentlemen by your side. And as your at it, you might want to tell him your preferences between cashews, gold flakes or chilli pepper in your chocolate. For this week, German startup chocri launched its US website (http://www.createmychocolate.com) for customized chocolate bars. With three base chocolates and over 100 toppings, more than 10 billion different chocolate bars could be created - assuring that the chocolate bar of your dreams is somewhere in there. Your beau can even give your chocolate bar a name! The chocolate bar is lovingly hand-made in Germany with delightful, fair trade, organic chocolate. There's a free shipping promo until Monday, and V-Day orders can be received until Feb 1. After that, there's always gift certificates, in case you didn't make your points about the gold flakes clear enough...

Script Frenzy! www.scriptfrenzy.org/eng/whatisscriptfrenzy Thanks to Eleanor Patrick for alerting us to this script writing challenge from the creators of NaNoWriMo. Script Frenzy is an international writing event held in April. The challenge is to write 100 pages of scripted material in any genre. Just like NaNoWriMo, there are forums and other resources to help you.

Writing Contest begayaboutit.wordpress.com/2009/12/29/shine-your-light-sh... MaggieDammit Tweeted this to us. Erika is looking for a wide range of stories - coming out, being an ally, belonging to an open & affirming church, being an LGBT parent -- really anything that shines a light on the positive aspects of the LGBT & Ally community.