Ways To Save!

One of my New Year's resolutions this year was to work even harder at saving money and not waste money on piddly little things that we really don't need. 2 months in and we're doing really well. I'm rather proud.

Some stuff we started last year and have just continued into this year. We have implemented one new thing this year that has been very helpful to us though!

Anyway, I thought I would share some of the things that we do to save money on a tight budget!

1. A cash envelope for our monthly "fun money".
That's what we started this year. We are debit card people and very rarely carry cash on us. Last year after budgeting we decided $50 would be our monthly fun money. Usually this money gets blown on eating out or getting ice cream from DQ. Last year we consistently blew our budget. Sometime I would see that Jacob stopped for coffee a few times, so I would stop and get a frappe for myself.  I would just take money from here or there and find a way to justify it. We could easily spend over $100 each month.

This year I talked to Jacob we decided to try the envelope. I take out $50 at the beginning of the month and stick it in our envelope. That's our money. When it's gone, it's gone. Last month we rolled over a few dollars, but this month we ran out of cash last week. We occasionally get treated by one of our families, which is nice! We always go out for our birthdays and that is budgeted separately. We use gift cards though out the year too. Plus, I always set aside money for road trips. But the envelope works great for normal day to day life!

2. I called around to see if we could get any discounts. I was able to get our cable and Internet bill lowered for one year. They gave me a promotional rate on Internet so our bill is around $17 less each month. That's an extra $204 in our pockets just for asking! (Fingers crossed that come September I can convince them to discount me again. :))

3. I started doing probably 80% of our grocery shopping at Aldi. I was pretty skeptical at first. Not to mention intimidated. I know that's stupid, but I always get nervous going new places. You have to have a quarter to deposit to get a cart, bring your own bags and bag your own groceries. I wasn't sure about that. Turns out it's not really a big deal at all. I can fly through that store now, and it takes like 2 minutes to check out. Sometimes it's a pain to bag my stuff, but it's not that bad! The savings are THE BEST. We have found so many foods that we enjoy and most are way cheaper than WalMart! Not to mention, our Aldi just rocks in general. The customer service is through the roof. The cashiers and manager know who Daniel and I are. I just love it.

We still have certain things we like better or can only get from WalMart, but I would guess we save $40-$50 a month at least by shopping at Aldi.

4. We dropped our cell phone carrier. We had Verizon and were month to month because we hadn't resigned a contract. We were paying $120/mo (with a discount because Jacob works for the state...normally $140) for minutes (I can't remember how many), unlimited texting and a very limited Internet.

At the end of October we switched to Straight Talk. We had to pay more up front for our new phones, but we were able to get smart phones. We now pay $90 + tax for unlimited minutes, text and internet. We got phones that run off the Verizon towers and haven't had any issues yet.

5. Cutting back a bit on things we don't really need. I like those crock pot liners, so you don't have to wash the crock pot when you're done. Guess what? If we just let it soak over night it's not THAT bad to clean. Don't need 'em. I also loved Reynold's Non-Stick Foil, but it costs a lot more than regular foil. I quit buying that too. Convenient, but not necessary. I also try to reuse the gallon Ziploc bags whenever possible.

6. Search for the best deals. Whenever I want something...especially gifts, I do A LOT of online researching for the best deals. Plus, I try to find coupons or discount codes for things. My favorite deal website is www.hip2save.com. I've gotten some great deals and freebies. My favorite right now is just for taking a survey I'm getting US Weekly free for a year! I should be getting my free Cosmo subscription soon! Jacob's mom has also been saving coupons for me. Every few cents saved counts!

Those are my favorite ways we're saving money! Plus we've added a bit of income with me working which has been nice. We have more money to put into savings.

With gas prices rising so much and Jacob having to drive so far each day, and having to meet 2 different medical deductibles each year where we have to pay out of pocket until they're met, it's nice to have extra money in our pockets from saving.

Sometimes it's fun to be frugal...although I do catch myself feeling envious at times, I am thankful for what I have.

Family Fun

My mom and Kendra came to visit this weekend. They got here around 4:00, Friday afternoon and Daniel was happy to see them when they arrived!

Friday night we went to Krieger's for supper. Mom even treated us to an appetizer and dessert! The only foods from the restaurant that Daniel was interested in were the french fries and ice cream. That boy! I still have to bring purees along with us so that he'll at least eat something healthy without chucking it on the floor!

Saturday, I had such a good time! I got the day off as "Mommy". Mom came and picked me up around 9:00 to go shopping in Springfield. She and Kendra were staying at a hotel there, so we headed back there to pick up Kendra.

First we went to the mall and spent about an hour and a half there. Kendra was trying to teach me how to be stylish, but it turns out, I suck. I think I prefer my hoodies and tank tops. Ha! I did get a sweater that she approved of. We also stopped at Payless Shoes. Mom and I ended up both finding a pair of shoes on sale that we wanted. I'm quite excited that mine have hot pink shoe laces. After mom paid...yes...my mom is amazing and spoils us...she spotted Kendra and I trying on sunglasses.



While we didn't end up with these sunglasses, mom somehow ended up back in line with 3 pair of sunglasses. She then proceeded to call us both, "Hip" and  "Happenin'" when we put them on in the car. I'm pretty sure Kendra and I laughed our butts off at that.

By the time we left the mall we were starving and I requested Panera. I love that place. Lunch was quite delicious.

After that we went to Kohls. Mom and I went in search of some clothes for Daniel, as I didn't have much for summer yet! We found some really good deals. Plus on top of that I had $20 Kohls Cash and mom had $10. Then the awesome cashier gave mom another discount, so there wasn't too much damage there!

While we were there I had gotten a text from Jacob that things weren't going well at the moment. It was Daniel's nap time and he wasn't having it without me. I was really afraid we were going to have to go home! Thankfully, Daniel snuggled up with Daddy finally and then laid down in his crib and went to sleep. Yay!

We headed over to Goodwill because Kendra loves that place! I found a sweater and she found a few things, but it was super busy and Kendra can't deal with crowds, so we weren't there too long. Our Goodwill has a coffee shop in it, so we all got a treat before we left.

No shopping trip is complete without a stop at Target. We really went because I wanted to stock up on diapers. I love their brand and so I always grab a huge box when we're there. We picked up a few things to go with the chicken and noodles I had in the crock pot. I also decided to get Jacob a treat. I usually get him a candy bar, but decided to surprise him with some of his favorite beer. As we're checking out, mom points to my stuff and tells the cashier, "She's paying for the beer and diapers!" Haha!

We made one last stop before going home. There's a resale shop in Rochester, Remarkable Resale. I've driven past so many times, but never stopped. We hit the jack pot there! I found a couples of things and so did Kendra. Mostly though, I got a TON of stuff for Daniel. Got some stuff for next winter, plus clothes for this summer and a pair of swim trunks. I have no idea how much his stuff came out too...again Grandma to the rescue. (I did offer to pay though!) All I know is we scored some really good deals. A few of the Carters outfits we found still had the tags on them! I'll for sure be going back there again!

We finally got back around 4:30. Got a good report about the day from Jacob! Sounds like Daniel and Daddy had some great bonding time! Then we all hung out until mom and Kendra headed back to the hotel.

Yesterday they came back and we spent the morning and afternoon together! I let Daniel stay up from nap since they were going to leave around 4 to head home. I actually was just going to let him stay up a little later and he was in such a good mood that I just kept him up.





After we said our goodbyes and waved bye bye at the window, Daniel had a meltdown! I let him sleep on me for about 45  minutes. Last night he slept all night and I had to wake him at 8. Yay!!

Now...to plan a trip to Iowa!

The Stuff I Never Knew About Car Seat Safety PART 1

In this past year, I've become somewhat of a car seat fanatic. My original thoughts were, bucket seat, then rear face until age one. The AAP had come out with the new recommendations to rear face until age 2, and I have to admit I thought that was stupid. Who would want to scrunch their kid up until 2 years old? We most certainly didn't rear face that long, and we were fine!

For some reason though, I kept having this nagging feeling inside of me as Daniel approached 1 year. Was I seriously comfortable turning him around? Not at all. I decided to start doing some research to see if I could find anything to back up the idea of rear facing longer. Wow. My eyes were opened to a whole new world of car seat lingo and information. I seriously felt so incredibly uneducated. Car seat safety is sadly overlooked a lot.

I know most of my reader's (which isn't THAT many), probably aren't dealing with kids in car seats, but maybe you can help educate others. I just feel like, if I didn't know these things, many others don't either. Plus it's a way for me to share with other's who may wonder why I'm making the choices I am. :)

Anyway...some things I have learned:

Only 1 in 5 car seats is correctly installed and properly used.
How scary is that? People don't take time to read the manual and make sure their seat is properly installed. There are a million and one different seats these days, and installing can be a pain and somewhat nerve wracking. I've finally "mastered" installing ours correctly. I think it was okay, but I've got that baby good and tight!

I can't tell you how many babies I've seen improperly buckled into their seats as well. Many times the straps are far too loose. You should only be able to slide one or two fingers in between the straps and your child's shoulders. Also, the chest clip, is for, well, the chest. So many times I see kids with the chest clip practically sitting on their stomach's. A properly placed chest clip should be across the chest at arm pit level. Not following these two guidelines can result in serious injury during an accident.

Forward-facing children under the age of 2 are 75% more likely to be injured.
Seriously...that is huge and it's a proven statistic.



The recommended minimum of 2 years is just what it is. Minimum.
Because of the way that their bones grow, kids up to age 4 are actually safest rear facing. The recommendation also states OR when the child no longer fits properly in their seat. Car seat manufacturers are actually making seats with very high height and weight limits on them not, so that extended rear facing is possible.

While at this time, I'm not sure I would rear face until 4, I do know I will rear face until AT LEAST 2, but in all honesty I'm considering purchasing a new car seat at some point so I can rear face until at least 3.

I'm not sure why it's not letting me embed, but if you're still curious about this, go to YouTube and type in Rear Facing vs. Forward Facing. You'll come across some eye opening videos.

Car Seats Expire
Say Whaaa? Yep. I've actually had a few people very shocked recently to discover this. Every car seat has a sticker with the date it was manufactured as well as the date is expires. Many car seats have "lives" of 7-10 years. It's pretty scary that so many people on local buy/sell sites are selling expired seats and people are actually buying them! I see them frequently on our local site. The reason they expire is because new safety requirements happen often and all the straps lose their elasticity and in the event of a crash could actually break apart.

Putting Children in Bulky Coats is a HUGE No-No
And it says so inside every single car seat manual out there. Yep. We live in a very cold climate, but it's dangerous to put kids in bulky coats. The simple reason for this, is that they can and have in some instances compress under the pressure of an accident. There was even a recent story that I read about a child in a winter coat who was ejected from the car seat in an accident. Basically if you have to adjust the straps of your car seat to get your child in with a coat on, it's too bulky.

Here's the example I really like. She could actually fit "Scout" in with her child . That's how much slack there would be if the coat compressed.



Your best bet is to use a thin performance fleece jacket in the car seat. This is what Daniel has worn all winter and has been perfectly warm.



Alright...enough on car seats today. I'll put the rest of my info in another post. Maybe this will help just one child, but I feel like I need to share what I've learned. Also...if you have any questions, feel free to ask. :)