I'm a full-time mummy

Hi! My name is Jenny! This is going to sound pretty embarrassing... I have a confession to make.

I am an online shopaholic.

Yes, I go crazy at buying things online ESPECIALLY when there are discount codes and vouchers which help me save money in my purchases! I hope I don't come across as a cheapskate but with prices of things getting more and more expensive nowadays, why not consider saving while still be able to buy the things you wanted to buy?

I just came across a website offering Debenhams discount code and Next Voucher Codes. Boy oh boy! They are calling me! Must-resist-and-finish-typing-this-post-first!!!

OK, back to my post, I mean, if you are going to buy the things anyway, why not scout for the best deals?! After all, who wouldn't want to save some money and still feel good knowing they get the best deals right?!

To be honest, the main reason why I prefer to shop online nowadays is the convenience of shopping. From the comfort of my own home, I can easily compare the items across different websites, choose the best deals, not easily be swayed by the salesperson (I am easily convinced to buy things and feel guilty if I stepped into a shop without buying anything!), purchase them and wait for the items to arrive to me!

So far, I have bought stuff like books (tons and tons of it!), clothing for myself and my 2 kids, toys, household items, cupcakes, organic puffs for my girl, heck, the latest online purchases I made (just a few weeks ago) was the survival kit I got for my hubby's 32nd birthday!

So, what sort of things have you bought online with awesome savings?

Ever since I could remember, I love reading books! When I was young (less than 12 years old), I remembered going to my eldest aunt house and got mesmerised by this giant Disney book - all short stories and rhymes about princess, animals and fairy tales and the colors are so fascinating and beautiful and it slowly became a habit of mine to read and read and read.

In highschool, I'd borrowed books after books from the school library. And also rented books as well.

When I started working, a portion of my salary goes to books and magazines.

Now that I'm a mother of 2 kids, I'm still reading. Of course nowadays, I'd prefer e-books anytime since I can read it using my iPad at night after my kids went to bed. But that doesn't mean I've given up reading paperbacks. Just that nowadays, I only buy paperbacks if it's a good book worth keeping and also those crafts and activities books for my boy.

And since I'm a SAHM, I don't have much luxury to go out and browse around books for myself or my kids, so what else but to buy them online? In fact, I actually love buying things online as I get to compare the prices and read other people's reviews on the products before making a decision to buy.

For books, the first website I go when I want to buy books are of course: The Book Depository

What I love most about them is they offer worldwide shipping FREE!

OK, if you take a look at their books and compared them to Amazon, of course you can clearly see Amazon's prices are cheaper but because I'm living in Malaysia, a lot of books are not allowed to be shipped to Asian countries (like Malaysia!) and even if Amazon do ship over to Malaysia, the shipping fees is very very high! There are times when the shipping fees cost more than the books itself!

This is definitely the website I go to and I've bought loads and loads of books from them. Delivery takes from 3-4 weeks time and so far I've only experienced one time where my delivery was lost in transit and happy to note, The Book Depository honors my purchase and promptly resend a new set of books for me free in charge!

If you have never try them before, do give it a try!

** Updates on 8th August 2012:

My buying tips are as follows:

- Check out the books on Amazon, better if they come with preview function so I can have a look at the contents and outline.

- Read through the customers feedback (I always read those with 1-2 stars first)

- Copy the book's ISBN code (every book has their own unique code) from Amazon website and paste to The Book Depository

- Buy from The Book Depository!

I read the press release of these new books with great interest especially when it mentioned "...the books illustrate everyday scenarios that can challenge parents and young children: getting ready in the morning, sharing toys, and going to bed at night. Along with simple dialogue and full-color illustrations, the books include color-coded text to cue parents about positive language to use with their children. The ParentSmart/KidHappy series teaches four positive parenting techniques: (1) how to validate a child’s feelings, (2) how to offer choices, (3) how to promote problem-solving skills, and (4) how to encourage alternative behavior." 

So I immediately wrote in asking whether there is any possibilities of me reviewing the printed copies of these awesome books and a month later, these books arrived safely into our hands! Yes!!!

Without further ado, here goes my final review for the "ParentSmart/KidHappy™ Series" book entitled "Ready for the Day! A Tale of Teamwork and Toast, and Hardly Any Foot-Dragging":

Title: ParentSmart/KidHappy™ Series (Ready for the Day! A Tale of Teamwork and Toast, and Hardly Any Foot-Dragging)
Author: Stacey R. Kaye, MMR  Illustrated: Elizabeth O. Dulemba
Publisher: Free Spirit Publishing
ISBN-13/-10:  978-1-57542-268-8
Paperback:  32 pages
Dimension: 8 1/4" x 8 1/4"

Description from the product page:
" Getting a preschooler out the door in the morning can be a frustrating battle of wills complete with crying and complaining—by parents and kids alike. Ready for the Day! offers healthy, lasting solutions for a stress-free morning routine.

This book, and others in the series, provides a BONUS for parents and caregivers. With honesty and gentle humor, Ready for the Day! shows how to handle typical morning routine struggles by modeling three parenting techniques using color-coded text to teach the language of positive parenting:
* Giving encouragement
* Validating feelings
* Offering choices

These techniques are explained in detail in a section at the end of the book that is just for adults. The result: you get through morning routine challenges with less stress while building your child's emotional intelligence and your own parenting skills. Ready for the Day! features:
* An engaging, realistic story that will ring true for parents and kids alike
* Easy-to-use techniques and positive language highlighted in color-coded text
* A section just for adults that explains the language of positive parenting
* An easy, fun way to improve parenting skills—by reading with your child"

As I go through the book with my 3 years old son, I can see him nodding in agreement and I relate it to my boy on how similar he is with Maya (the main character in this book), that they both have to get ready for the day and dady has to get ready too to leave for work.

I love the beautiful and realistic illustrations! I I love that daddy let Maya choose what to do by giving her 2 options. I love the ideas of letting a child feel important and independent bt making their own decision and yet able to accomplish what I want hence the 2 options set!

My verdict? Definitely a must have book!

You can get this book from Amazon and Free Spirit Publishing website.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a copy of the book in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous book reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My Book Reviews"