Helping Families Save Money Cent by Cent
I thought you might like to have a glimpse into my day in the life of a mom blogger and see how I manage the days with my kids, keep the house clean, feed my family meals and run a blog. Most days are busy at the Park house. Leave a comment and let me know what your days are like.
If you can’t view the video above, head over to my YouTube channel here.
As you might know, our family went to Disneyland at the end of September. It was so much fun! If you missed reading How to Vacation to Disneyland on a Budget (Part 1), head over here. I share how much our trip cost and how to save money on Disneyland hotels, tickets and souvenirs. I’m not an expert at Disneyland, but I researched a lot of information about how to save money and save time at Disneyland. I’ve compiled the tips below and am sharing our experience with you how we vacationed at Disneyland on a budget.
While we were at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, I put together a video of how we vacationed at Disneyland on a budget, as well as fun rides and parades we did as a family. After you watch the video, be sure to read this post and also How to Vacation at Disneyland on a Budget (Part 1) to get even more details. If you can’t play the video above, head over here to my YouTube channel to view it.
This post is sponsored by Owlet, but all opinions are my own.
I’m so glad you stopped by! The month of September is Baby Safety Month, and a blog hop is going on throughout the month of September where each day one blogger has a post about a baby safety topic. If you didn’t have a chance yet, head over to The Salt Project to read Melinda’s baby safety article about creating an emergency kit for your baby. My family and I recently updated our 72-hour emergency kits for the whole family, and it gives me a peace of mind to know that if an emergency happens, we can grab our 72-hour back packs and run out the door. And tomorrow, head over to Lindsey from The R House to read about baby proofing your home with older siblings.
With today’s baby safety topic, I am working with Owlet to share tips on the best baby thermometers. As a mother of three kids, it is extremely important to me that I have a reliable thermometer. There have been countless nights where I have monitored my children when they were sick and had fevers, and I would wake up to check my child’s temperature once or twice an hour just to make sure it wasn’t too high. Luckily my children’s temperatures never reached a point that I had to run them to the emergency room. I’ve gone through multiple thermometers over the years and have found some that I really like.
Even though school has started where I live, I went back to school shopping with my kids to find some deals on clothes. It was a great way for me to teach my oldest daughter that you can find cute clothes that don’t cost tons of money. I also share in the video 7 ways to save money on children’s clothing. There are great deals on clothes right now as the stores are trying to close our their fall inventory to make room for their winter inventory. If you can’t play the video above, head over to my YouTube channel here to watch it.
It’s almost time for kids to be going back to school, and back-to-school shopping can be hard on your wallet and can be a huge expense when it comes to spending money on the kids. Buying new school supplies, clothes, shoes, backpacks, lunch boxes, and electronics adds up quickly and can be expensive.
Watch the video below about 6 tips for going back to school on a budget. If you can’t see the video, head over to my YouTube channel here.
You can also read the post below with the 6 tips on how to budget for back to school.
You probably knew I would say this first. It’s important to set a budget so you don’t overspend or go into debt. Set a dollar amount that you can afford for each child for all of the back-to-school necessities and don’t spend more than the set amount.
To help you plan ahead, determine how much you spend on back-to-school items each year and set aside money each month for these back-to-school expenses. Since school will be back in session soon, you can still begin saving money now from each paycheck over the next month or two to help with the costs.
Shop at home first by walking around the house and seeing what items you have that are on your children’s school lists. Rulers, backpacks, lunch boxes, pencil boxes or pencil sharpeners don’t need to be replaced if they are still in good condition. Once you know what items are still in good condition, write a list of items you still need to purchase.
Every year, I stock up on school supplies when they are on sale and have a container in my basement where I keep them. When I receive the school supplies list, I go downstairs and am able to collect many of the items on the list.
I am so excited for summer and am looking forward to doing activities with my kids. Recently I had a friend ask me about easy, fun, cheap and free activities that she could do with the kids during the summer, so I’ve compiled a list of what you can do with your kids this summer that won’t cost you too much money.
Cinemark Theaters has the Cinemark Summer Movie Clubhouse where you can see kid-friendly movies all summer long for $1 or less. If you purchase 10 movies for $5, then it’s just $0.50 each show! Or there is an option to pay $1.00 for each show you attend. And all movies are rated G or PG. To get the tickets, go to the ticket office the day you are seeing your first movie and you can purchase a punch pass for $5.00. Parents and kids all get in for the same price. Head over to Summer Movie Clubhouse to see which Cinemark movie theaters are participating near you.
Register your children at KidsBowlFree.com to receive two free games of bowling for each of your children daily during the summer. Keep in mind that you do have to pay for the shoe rental. To see which bowling alleys are participating near you, head over here.
I try to do a weekly cleaning of bathrooms, but there are some weeks that I fall behind. I’ve noticed, however, that if I regularly keep on top of wiping down or cleaning the bathrooms then spring cleaning them doesn’t take me hours. Here’s what I do when I spring clean my bathrooms. First, I take a minute to gather all of my cleaning supplies. Below is a list of my favorite supplies I carry with me in a Plastic Tote Caddy when I spring clean the bathrooms:
Use these 7 Steps when Spring Cleaning the Bathroom:
Since we spend so much time in the bedroom, it should be a relaxing and refreshing place to be. My husband and I do our best to keep our bedroom picked up and our bed made each day. Making our bed is the first thing we do when we get out of bed in the morning. But there are a few areas in our bedroom where things collect in a pile. So a few times a year, I go through our bedroom and organize and clean these areas. I feel like I think more clearly when the rooms in my house are clean and organized, and I feel that I accomplish more with my time. Here are 7 steps to spring cleaning the bedroom.
My 4-year-old daughter is doing a Joy School preschool where she rotates going to friends homes to learn. I am part of the rotation and teach the kids every 8 weeks. For one of the days I taught preschool, I decided to make blue homemade play dough because we were learning about ice. I thought it would be fun to have them make igloos with the play dough, as well as practice their letters. A friend sent me this play dough recipe and it’s so easy to make! Plus, it’s much less expensive than purchasing play dough at the store. Here are the step-by-step instructions of how to make homemade play dough:
September is national emergency preparedness month, and it’s a good time to get an emergency car kit together before winter comes. Since purchasing our new vehicle with cash this past year, I’ve been thinking a lot about compiling an emergency car kit just in case anything happened while we were away from our house. We had some of the needed items in our car, but there is definitely more things that would be important to have on hand in the case of an emergency or being stranded by the side of the road.
While looking online, I found pre-packaged Emergency Car Kits
There were many items on the list that I had around the house that I didn’t need to purchase. I just had to take time to put them in the container in the car. And there were some items I was able to find for a good deal. For those items that don’t go on sale, you’ll want to set aside and save money each month until you can purchase them. Here’s how to build an emergency car kit on a budget.
