Category: Family Life

Even though the number of babies born in the US each year is dropping, 3.8 million couples still welcomed a new member of their family into their homes last year. A baby is a bundle of joy, and is totally worth every penny, but with every bundle of joy comes a bundle of costs, too.

If you’re one of the people who’s letting a new child into their life, one of the most important expenses you’re going to be looking into is a bassinet for your baby. After all, every parent wants to make sure that their baby is comfortable, gets sound sleep, and stays healthy.

Here, we’re going to help you figure out how to choose the best bassinet, all while keeping the upcoming money-crunch of having a baby in mind.

Research Different Options

The most important thing that you can do when choosing a bassinet for your little one is to look online at all your different options. When you’re buying on a budget, it’s important to look at different websites to find the best deals.

Even if cost is a huge concern, though, don’t just buy something because you see that it’s cheap. Look at the online reviews for it, too, and make sure that other parents find it safe and comfortable for their baby. You wouldn’t want your baby not getting restful sleep, or worse, falling out and hurting herself.

And speaking of hearing from other parents, try asking people you know in real life, too, what worked for them when they had a baby. Even if you aren’t in a group for new parents or parents-to-be, you likely have friends or family who’ve been there that you can ask.

To get started, check out this review of the top five rocking bassinets!

Safety First

Remember earlier when we said that cost wasn’t the only factor in choosing a bassinet? Well, it isn’t the most important one, either. All good parents value the safety of their children above all else, and since your baby will spend a lot of time in her bassinet, you might want to make the investment to get a good one.

There are bassinets out there that can keep your baby safe by detecting their movement and making sure that she doesn’t take a tumble. It also has microphones that can tell the parents when she starts crying or making sounds, so you can take care of your baby when she needs you.

Plus, these bassinets can perform other functions like regulating temperature and rocking, depending on which ones you decide to get. So you aren’t just investing in your baby’s safety, but their comfort, too! Plus, a comfortable, sleeping baby means a good night’s sleep for you, too, so it’s a worthy investment on all fronts.

There are a lot of bassinets like this. They’re meant to keep baby comfy by mimicking the shape and warmth of the womb so the baby can make her transition into the world as smoothly as possible.

Look For Discounts And Used Bassinets

That being said, smart bassinets like this can be super expensive. The good news is that there are a lot of used bassinets out there just waiting for you. Since bassinets are really only used for the first few months of a child’s life, getting a used one really isn’t all that different from getting a new one. It’s definitely worth it, too, because it’s a lot less money.

If you don’t like the idea of getting something like this used, there are also a lot of discount bassinets out there. A lot of these are new and completely safe and comfortable. Heck, you can even get smart bassinets like we talked about earlier used, if you want!

If you get discount or used items like this, it’s probably just as good as getting a new one. Just do your research and make sure that what you’re getting is really what you want, and you’ll be golden!

Buy In Bulk

When you have a baby, you’re going to be buying large quantities of a lot of items. Mushed bananas, diapers, you name it–you’re going to have a full cart and a suffering wallet.

This might sound weird, but a great way to save money on bassinets is to buy multiple at the same time. If you have more than one child, you’re going to need more than one of these items, and so you probably will want to get more than one at once. To save money, look into a bassinet set.

This is especially important if you have twins. If you’re lucky enough to be welcoming twins into your family, check out a twin bassinet set for your little ones. With these, you can put both your twins to sleep at the same time and get some sleep- no need to take turns!

Plus, lots of these sets match, so your friends will envy how cute your twins are as a set.

Get An Amazing Bassinet

Even though having a baby can be stressful, it’s entirely worth it when you hold a new life–and one you created, at that–in your arms. Get a bassinet that will keep that life and love safe and happy, but don’t break your bank! After all, saving money will let you give more to other expenses in raising your baby.

Now that you know the best tips for choosing bassinets at an affordable price, check out this link to discover free samples for parents of new children.

Get ready to welcome your baby to the world and for a lot of love and a lot of laughter!

It seems like raising a child is becoming more expensive every year. It’s currently estimated that raising a child born in 2015 through the age of 17 will cost $233,610. This is a three percent jump from the previous year.

You may feel prepared to pay for the basics like food, clothing, and even extracurricular activities. But have you considered the cost of birthday parties? Especially as your child enters school and wants to celebrate their special day with friends, this event can get costly.

You don’t have to worry, though. There are plenty of ways to make your child’s birthday fun and memorable without breaking the bank. Read on for some inexpensive birthday party ideas.

Center Your Inexpensive Birthday Party Ideas Around a Theme

One of the easiest ways to make a budget party look and feel top-notch is to make it a themed party. Theming a party can create such a fun and exciting atmosphere that nobody will notice if you didn’t splurge on the most expensive decor or food. From Star Wars party ideas to princess parties, the options are endless when it comes to themed parties.

Cut Costs with Homemade or Discount Decor

While wedding guests may ooh and ahh over decorations, the guests at your child’s birthday party won’t take a second look. Save money by making some of your own decorations. Pinterest is a great resource for DIY ideas, like creative streamers and banners.

When it comes to shopping for decorations and materials for DIY decor, browse your local dollar stores or Wal-Mart. Themed decorations can be pricier, so choose colors that match your theme instead. Red, black, and white are great for a Mickey-themed party, while white and light blue is perfect for your Frozen fan’s birthday.

Make Sure There is An Interactive Activity to Keep Kids Entertained

Unlike adults, children don’t want to spend their time mingling and chatting at a party. Ensuring the young guests at your kid’s birthday party have entertainment or activities is most important. Whether it’s a bounce house, yard games, or face paint, investing in even one activity is a great idea.

Keep Food Simple and Don’t Overspend on Cake

Like decorations, the food at your child’s birthday party shouldn’t eat up too much cost. If the kids are having fun (especially with that entertainment or activity you invested in), they won’t want to sit still to eat for too long, anyway. Choose foods that are simple, well-liked, and easy to hand out to a hungry crowd.

If you’re serving lunch, pizza or pre-made sandwiches are good options. For an afternoon party that only calls for some snacks, go for kid-friendly fruits, crackers, and cheese. When it comes to cake, think about saving the special one for the family celebration, and choose a simple sheet cake or cupcakes for the big party.

You Can Raise a Happy, Well-Rounded Family on a Budget

In the end, all that matters is that your child feels special and that they and their friends have fun. This mindset goes beyond inexpensive birthday party ideas. Browse the blog more tips on family living on a budget, including ideas for healthy, cheap snacks, budget tips for traveling with a baby, and more.

While going to parties isn’t for everyone, some people are natural born hosts. If you’re one of those people, you’re going to love the idea of having people over in your backyard to enjoy some food and drink on a summer day. Hosting a family party or just having friends over requires some clever backyard decorating ideas if you want to impress people.

Here are five ideas to try out before your next big gathering.

1. Keep It Classy

If you want to get people excited about your next party, make every party at your house as classy as can be. Life can be busy and messy but when you’re able to spend time with friends and feel special, you get more out of your time together. One of the ways to make your friends and family feel special it so roll out the red carpet in clever ways during a backyard party.

Even if everyone’s in shorts and t-shirts, some moody lighting set with candles goes a long way. It’s cheap and easy to put votives in a jar and place them inside open white paper bags. This method lights way on a dark path and can lead people from the parking area to your outdoor space.

Add more candles all around your backyard area. Get metal tables and chairs instead of plastic if possible. Make sure the cushions for the chairs are nice and clean and everyone will take the party more seriously.

The more you put into the efforts to class up your backyard, the more fun you’ll have. Metal tables and chairs last longer and look better year after year if you invest in quality.

2. Choose The Right Lighting

Lighting is important as noted above and if you’re having an evening party or a party that turns from day to night, candles aren’t always possible. Candles are finicky and take a lot of time to set up, so that might not be the direction to go for a party that drags from day to night.

Getting some outdoor lighting that’s either solar powered or plugs in could make the transition easier. Solar powered lighting is going to start coming on as soon as the sun starts to go down which means the transition will be seamless. However, if you’re looking for a string lighting setup to demarcate your space, you’ll have to plug that in.

There are lots of lighting solutions that plug-in but stay safe from shorting out or starting a fire. Birddog Lighting has lots of examples for outdoor string lights that you can hang up everywhere. When you think of string lights, you might just think of Christmas lights, which can be nice but don’t always serve the same purpose as high-end outdoor lights.

3. Make It Tropical

When you’re looking to have a permanent theme to your backyard for future parties, go with a colorful tropical theme. There are so many great ways to decorate your backyard to have a getaway whenever you want but a tropical decor could get you in the mood quickly.

Choose lots of colorful decorations to put around starting with multicolored lighting. Add some furniture that shows off the color scheme that you’re looking for. Choose pinks, sky blue, and orange to bring the tropical look alive.

If you have a fence surrounding your backyard, painting it in one of several of these colors might inspire your guests to get into the mood. Consider painting in sections of choosing a pattern to paint the pickets of your fence in. 

Adding tiki torches helps you to light the outdoor space while also keeping insects away while your guests are having fun. If you’re going to have long parties into the evening, these torches stay lit for hours at a time, well into the evening hours that you’ll be hosting your party in.

4. How About a Theater?

If you’re living in a nice climate, you might have access to your backyard all year round. Even if you have an enclosed space that you enjoy your backyard from for part of the year, you can still make use of the space.

With a projector, you could throw a large image out onto a wall or a building next to you. So long as you’re not shooting the image into anyone’s window, no one will be bothered by your projector.

Invite friends and neighbors on and watch the latest releases on Netflix or some old DVDs with the right setup. Move your speakers into your porch during colder months or bring them out onto the lawn in warmer months. Make some popcorn and get comfortable enjoying some quality time with friends and family.

5. Make It Quirky

If you’re open to a lot of different styles, you could get strange and quirky with your outdoor setup. One of the ways you could make it interesting is by collecting a lot of strange, colorful, but interesting outdoor ornaments.

A few gnomes here and some pink flamingoes there makes a lawn look odd and fun. If having a good time is what your backyard is all about, you could throw the rules of decor out the window and just pick up things that look interesting to you. Some vintage lawn furniture, old birdbaths, and fountains will give your backyard a magical and quirky vibe that’ll keep people coming back.

Backyard Decorating Ideas Should Be All Your Own

When you’re trying to think of backyard decorating ideas, don’t tear your hair out. It’s important for you to have ideas that are fun to you since you’re the one who has to live there every day. Even if you’re just decorating for a single summer event, think carefully about how you would want to feel to make sure you share that with guests.

If you’re tasked with the challenge of putting together a sweet 16 birthday party, check out our guide for tips to make it easier.

 

 

 

A road trip can be the most exciting time for you and your family. The freedom of the open road and the sense of adventure you can only get when you travel cross-country. 

But for a lot of Americans, a vacation is actually more stressful than relaxing. In fact, 67% of people said that planning a vacation causes them stress. 

Does that sound familiar?

Well, fear not! There are loads of road trips hacks that can turn your vacation from a headache into heaven.  

Want to find out more? Then check out these nine tips for road trips.

1. Plan Your Journey

Preparing for a road trip does not have to be stressful. So, before you even start the engine, you need to plan your journey. 

For each stage of your road trip, you should know:

• Your destination
• The route you will take
• What the terrain will be like
• What weather conditions you might encounter
• How long the journey will take

You can involve the whole family in this planning stage. It can be fun to let the kids help you plot your route on a map, and it’s a great learning exercise for them too. 

Make sure you check the weather forecasts for the areas you’ll be traveling as well. You might think you know what the climate will be like, but even California can get hit by heavy rain and floods. You can read more here about what to do if that happens. 

2. Check Your Vehicle 

The next thing you need to do when you are preparing for a road trip is to check your vehicle. 

As well as being important for safety, you do not want the hassle of having mechanical issues when you are on the road, especially if they are avoidable.

So, before heading out on your road trip always check the following:

• Tires
• Gas
• Windshield wiper fluid
• Lights
• Water 
• Oil

If you are are not confident checking these things for yourself, it is advisable to get a mechanic to check your vehicle before any long journey.

3. Pack Like a Pro

Even if you are hitting the road in a state-of-the-art RV, you will still feel like you don’t have enough space. A family of four sure can take up some room when they have packed all their stuff!

You can help yourself out here by making sure you all only take what you are going to need for the trip. Try not to double-up on items, so if one of you takes a big bottle of shampoo – you don’t all need to pack your own.

There are loads of cool tricks and tips to help you pack like a pro and make the best use of the space you have. 

4. Take Snacks and Drinks

You will plan for meal times in your road trip, but we all get hungry between meals. The last thing you want is your kids complaining that they’re hungry or thirsty when you still have a few hours until your next stop. You also never know when you might hit delays or have any technical issues. 

Therefore you should never set off without packing plenty of bottled water, and some snacks to eat. You don’t need your kids to have sugar highs (or crashes) on the road, so make sure you pack some healthy snacks for the whole family. 

5. Choose Your Music Carefully

There’s nothing better than having a big old sing-along when you are on a road trip. So never leave home without a selection of music and something to play it on.

Make sure all members of your family get to pick the music. While it won’t be to everyone’s taste, it could avoid arguments down the road.

Also, think about how long you are on the road for. If you only take a few CDs and you have 50 hours of driving to do, you’re going to get sick of them. So why not take a mobile device and speaker so you can take loads of tracks in one go, and never get bored of the same tunes. 

6. Fun and Games

Boredom can be the enemy of a happy road trip. When kids get bored, they start to complain and fight with each other, so it’s in everyone’s best interest to keep them entertained. 

Always make sure you pack books, tablets, and other fun things for them to do that don’t take up much space.

One of our top tips for road trips is to devise some fun travel games to keep everyone entertained. you can count vehicles of certain colors, or try and spot plates from different states. Anything with a competitive element tends to go down well!

7. Take a First Aid Kit

Unfortunately, accidents do happen, but they don’t have to be the end of the world (or your vacation). So always pack a first aid kit when you go on a road trip.

As well as bandages and Band-Aids, also take some antiseptic cream, painkillers, and insect repellant. And if any of your family has any medical issues, like asthma or diabetes, make sure their medication is accessible and not in the trunk.

8. Reward Your Kids

Going on a long trip can be quite a big ask for small kids. It can be quite hard for them to stay focussed and not get bored. 

So one way to make the trip even more fun, and keep those arguments at bay, is to implement a reward scheme for them. For example, for each hour that they don’t squabble or complain they can get a cool treat.

9. Take It Easy!

Finally, one of the best tips for road trips that you can have: enjoy it!

This is your vacation, and it will be amazing. So even with all the packing and planning and looking after your family, don’t forget to chill out and relax. 

If your schedule slides a bit… so what? Don’t get too caught up in a strict timetable, just enjoy each moment.

Tips for Road Trips… and So Much More!

So those are nine top tips for road trips.

Remember: do your planning before you set off, keep the troops entertained, and don’t forget to enjoy yourself.

If you found this guide useful, then why not check out loads more great tips and hacks for family life right here?

New parents spend a whole lot of money on diapers. Did you know those first weeks you may find yourself changing your little one 10 times a day? If you do the math, 240-320 diapers a month are on your shopping list.

Multiply this out by the number of months your child will spend in diapers (hint: 2.5 to 3 years) and you can see that it’s quite a large amount.

That you spend. 

On waste.

We can help you save money and find cheap diapers. The average baby uses nearly 4,000 diapers before potty training.  Let us share our hints to help you save.

What’s in That Diaper?

We know what your baby will put in that diaper, but do you know what’s there already? All disposable diapers have virtually the same construction. Generic or brand-name, all disposable diapers have the same premise.

Starting next to your baby’s skin, you have a top sheet. Often it is a one-way permeable membrane made to wick moisture away from the skin. After that comes the absorbent core. The core is usually made up of a wood pulp fluff and some sort of absorbent polymer.

The fluff is meant to spead moisture around so the absorbent polymer can soak it up. Finally, the diaper has a waterproof outer cover. This cover is made out of a petroleum-based or plant-based plastic material.

Money-Saving Tip #1 Avoid Disposables

Cloth diapers, even part-time, can save tons of money. Although there is an upfront cost, using a cloth diaper and laundering it at home works out to pennies per use. Also, no icky chemicals or iffy plastics next to your baby’s skin.

Least expensive are the old fashioned rectangular cloth, pins and waterproof pants. But if the idea makes you cringe, there are cute all in one diapers with buttons, snaps or velcro fasteners.

You can save even more by purchasing used diapers and covers from other parents. Use word of mouth, yard sales, and eBay to find bargains. Cotton diapers get more absorbent with use, so a hot, sanitizing wash and extra rinse make even used cloth diapers good to go. 

Don’t Be a Brand Snob

The major disposable diaper manufacturers want you to believe there is a huge difference between brands, store-brands and even styles of diapers. Given the basic construction of all diapers, you probably won’t find a huge difference between cheap diapers and brand names other than price. 

That said, you may want to experiment to find what works for you. Babies with narrow backs may find one brand better than another. A brand that works for your baby’s chubby legs might not be the right fit for a lighter limbed child.

The only exception we make is for parents choosing organic and eco-friendly diapers. In that case, brands and construction matter. 

Break Out the Spreadsheet to Find Cheap Diapers

Sales, coupons, buying in bulk and online programs can save you money! Unfortunately, you can’t tell if you are actually saving money without doing some calculations to get the cost per diaper. Sometimes it isn’t easy, with different diaper counts per package and coupon plus store discount policies.

Diapers go on sale very frequently. How do you know what is the real price? If you aren’t one for frequent coupon cutting and cost comparisons, sign up for an online buying program. Be aware that sometimes buying two small packages is less expensive than one large purchase.

Amazon’s family discount will keep you in diapers automatically for months at a time. Also, they calculate the cost per diaper for you. If you are more of a Costco, Walmart or Walgreens shopper, bulk diaper buys are frequent on their websites and there are often coupon combos to lower the price further.

Bulk Up!

Other than the very smallest sizes, don’t be afraid to stock up when you find a bargain. By bargain, we mean diapers for less than $0.20 each. Remember, you will use nearly 4000 diapers before you are done.

Combining coupons, discounts and bulk buys, it is possible to purchase diapers for HALF the regular price of premium brand name, full-price diapers. You can get as low as $0.17 per diaper, but that isn’t always feasible. Try out a small number of diapers before committing to a bulk buy.

Two to four months worth of diapers can take up a large space. Be sure to factor in storage space when buying your bargains. Most people recommend no more than two weeks worth of Size 1, a month of Size 2 and then three months or more of Sizes 3 and 4.

Larger Diaper Sizes Mean Fewer Per Package

When you purchase larger size diapers, the package size stays the same. This means that your product will include fewer diapers and each one costs a little more. Remember that the weights for each size diaper are suggestions. 

Your baby might fit into a smaller size for some time. This gives you time to find some comfortable bargains. Only move up when your baby is no longer comfortable in their size. This will maximize your baby’s time at the lowest cost per unit diaper.

If you find yourself with unopened packages of diapers, many stores will take them back for exchange. Check with your retailer. Opened packages can be traded for other things need. You can also give them to charity.

Save 40% or More

Remember to use these tips to find cheap diapers for your thrifty baby. With some careful comparisons, you can easily diaper your child for 40% less than retail. With online purchases, you can avoid impulse buys and save even more money.

Want some helpful tips to wring out even more spare change? Keep reading our blog to save money on pets, education, funerals and more. This Momma has you covered!