Citrus Lane July 2014 with referral code

This is the 7th month we've gotten a box from Citrus Lane. We received a box for free and then bought a six month subscription, $126 total (no additional shipping cost) so each box is $21. My favorite box was the May box. This box might have been my least favorite so far but it wasn't as bad as the infant box that was shipped out, which had a mobile included even for a 10 month old. I'm not sure I'm going to renew this subscription. I'm still wavering. I just love grab bag ideas and Neil really likes opening these boxes and seeing what's inside. (Update: Between writing this and the post going live I found a coupon code that made 6 months $105 and I did sign up for the next 6 months. The next 6 boxes will be $17.50 each.)

Here's a breakdown of the items and how much they would cost on Amazon as of today:

My First Camera from Plan Toys 

This was the option with the sneak peek that I was allowed to pick. It was either this camera or a cell phone that was similar. I figure that Neil keeps taking our cell phones enough, there is no way he'll be happy with a "fake" one. Plus, when we get new phones we might leave the kids' applications on one of ours, make sure credit card/internet is disabled, and let him have ours.

This camera seems to be built well (although Dave says there is a lot of glue on part of it). Neil doesn't get what it is or how to use it, which is fun to watch in itself. It turns out the camera part is one of those kaleidoscope type things. Neil turns it upside down, looks in it backwards, etc. I feel old now.

Looking through the camera

$17.99 on Amazon but on sale for $13.52 and eligible for Amazon Prime. 

Aqueduck Faucet Extender from Peachy

I think this is a little early for Neil. We did just get him a stool and he likes me to hold him up to the sink so he can rinse his hands. But he barely reaches even this while standing on his stool. I'm sure this will come in handy in time though.

$9.99 on Amazon but on sale for $9.73 and eligible for Amazon Prime. 

Silicone Placement from Oogaa

I was kinda disappointed in this placemat. We have those disposable ones and Neil just rips them off the table at this point so we don't use them. Maybe we will get more use out of this as he gets older and isn't sitting in a high chair anymore. This is the whole point of a grab bag and things recommended by other moms, right? Anyway, I know that for the younger kids they sent spoons from Oogaa and honestly I would have rather had that than this placemat. When I first saw this package I thought we got the spoons and then realized it was the placemat.

$8.99 on Amazon and eligible for Amazon Prime. 

Mighty 4 Pouch from Plum Organics

We had the box for a few days before I let Neil open it. Luckily, this time, I peeked in the box myself (mostly because I was curious if we got a mobile too) so I pulled this out before Neil opened the box. Otherwise he would have been grabbing for this immediately, he loves these pouches. We still only use them when we're on the go but they definitely come in handy. I've had some of the other Mighty 4 pouches; this is a new flavor to try. It is supposed to be a healthy blend of all four food groups.

$1.50 in the store. I buy these all the time.

Pur~Protect SPF 30 from Pur~Lisse

I can always use sunscreen.  I haven't tried this out yet though so I can't comment more than that.

I couldn't find the price for this size bottle on Amazon. I found a price of $16.50 on this blog with a review of a 4 year old Citrus Lane box.

Plan Toys, Peachy, Oogaa, and Plum Organics included coupon codes as well.

Overall counting the "sale" prices on Amazon the value of the box was $50.24. I'm surprised at this (that it's this high), but the sunblock puts it over and I'm not sure that's a good price for that. The items we received this month are those that will take some time to see how much use we get out of them. We used to get a lot of books, and they haven't included any recently, so I hope they start getting back to that. Although as I said in the beginning, this is probably our last box.

I also need to keep in mind that this IS a grab bag. There are going to be things I do like and things I don't like and that's the whole point of these boxes. From what I've read they choose things recommended by moms (not sure who they poll to find out what to get) and I assume they also choose things that they get in a huge quantity.

There was also a special code for any referrals (similar to the one a few months ago). Click on this link to get 50% off your first box. If you do this I get $20 credit at Citrus Lane. Again, no pressure though. Just use it if you're interested and would like the discount on one box. Here is the link.

Another side note, they often have a "shop the box" on their site (Citrus Lane) where you can buy what was in the box. Most of the time the items we receive aren't on the page but this week 3 of them were. If I bought the items off Citrus Lane it would be $16.00 for the camera (compared to $13.52 sale price on Amazon), $8.95 for the placemat ($8.99 on Amazon), and $12.00 for the faucet extender ($9.73 sale price on Amazon). Just to be aware that the prices on Citrus Lane aren't necessarily as good as those on someplace like Amazon.