Reward Programs

I joined two reward programs - Vitacost refer-a-friend, where you refer new customers to Vitacost, the new customer gets $10 off his/her first order, and the referrer gets a $10 credit as well; and iHerb, where every new customer can get $5 off their first order and the referrer gets a small commission. (Anyone who makes a purchase from these websites can join, and earn their own credits! Go ahead, use my referral codes, and then start referring your friends! Read on to find out more...) (Use code QEJ101 and get $5 off your first iHerb purchase!)

My last order from Vitacost ended up costing me only $2.50 or so before shipping, as I redeemed my referral credits. Not bad! If you earn referral credits, be sure to redeem them before they expire - I think they are good for 60 days.

It was not an overly large order, nor was it a practical order. I decided to splurge on a few items I normally would not buy but would make certain family members happy - after all, basically I only paid for shipping! I kept to the 3 lb limit for their lowest priced shipping (in the US this does not apply. Shipping to Israel  starts at $10.99, for up to 3 lbs of goods. It goes up from there. US shipping is super cheap). I got a large bottle of my children's favorite salad dressing, some organic sprinkles (for topping ice cream and baked goods), my son's favorite cereal, some Endangered Species chocolate, natural, unbleached baking cups for our favorite muffins, and perhaps one or two other things.

When I ordered from iHerb, I had enough commission credits to place my 4 lb order (max international shipping weight for airmail is 4 lbs, but US orders or countries with DHL or UPS deliver can order larger amounts), and pay $2 plus $6 shipping. If you earn commissions from iHerb, be sure to watch out and use/redeem them before they expire - I think they last for 6 months.

I got Ghirardelli Sweet Ground Chocolate and Cocoa, which makes AWESOME brownies, though not cheap, 2 bottles of All-Terrain natural bug repellant, as some of my children are being eaten alive by mosquitos, some Mighty Maple Peanut Butter, my favorite specialty peanut butter at the moment, some fragrance free, mild soap, and more...

We are looking forward to feeling ever-so-spoiled for barely any out-of-pocket cost, and can't wait for our packages to arrive (ok, one of them is already here...)! Sometimes the little things can make a big difference (even though I know that when you look at the big picture they are not so important)...