When I was expecting my first child, I worked in a nursing home.  I really didn’t have to worry about my work clothes because it was pretty basic stuff and not too much room for individuality.

I really never showed until I was around 6 months pregnant.  At that time, I began to search for maternity clothes but our budget was so strained, I simply couldn’t afford to buy too many clothes.  A friend of mine decided to pass along the clothes she had sitting in her attic.  I was thrilled for the clothes!

When my pregnancy ended, my friend told me to just keep the clothes.  I was thrilled and stored them in the attic until my next pregnancy.  The one thing I didn’t consider though was the reality of  the timing of my pregnancies and how that would affect my wardrobe.

For example, I conceived my son a few summers ago.  I didn’t wear maternity clothes until fall, and then I could fit into small or medium outfits.  By the time he was born in spring, I had progressed to large maternity outfits mostly because I had a lot of excess fluid I was carrying.  This year, I began my pregnancy in early December and our child will be born in August.  I have NO summer maternity clothes because I was didn’t need them with my last pregnancy!

Sadly, at my “advanced maternal age”, I am the only one of my friends still bearing babies.  Sharing maternity clothes is not an option.  Oh well…looks like I just may have to go out and buy some NEW maternity clothes.  Part of me feels guilty splurging to buy new clothes when I know this is my last pregnancy.  What a waste of money!  Another part of me tells myself that I am worth that splurge.

What do you think? Did you buy new maternity clothes for yourself during your pregnancy? Did you wear second hand clothes?

Do you remember shopping at Sears when you were a kid? I am dating myself now, but I remember shopping for clothes at Sears when I was a child. My mother would put our clothes on ?layaway? until she could pay off the total amount of the bill.

Layaway, for those of you who?ve never heard of it, is somewhat like a reverse credit card. When you buy items on credit, you immediately get the item, but then you must pay back the balance and a hefty fee (interest) for the privilege. Unlike credit purchases, with a layaway account, the store keeps the merchandise until you?ve paid off your account in full. The fees to open an account are minimal, either 15% of the purchase price, or around $5-$15, depending upon the laws in your state.

Several years ago, Walmart stopped layaway accounts, and it was a sad day for many frugal shoppers. I figured that the concept had died for good, kind of like rotary telephones.

While talking with a sales associate at Sears last week, I found out that on November 17, 2008, Sears and Kmart will again have layaway accounts! I was thrilled because our local store had a great sale on winter coats which began on Friday. In addition, I?d found online coupons which I could use at the store to further discount the price of the coats. Even though I didn?t have the money outright to take advantage of the sale, I could use the layaway option and get the sale price. The online coupons I?d found would more than cover the layaway fees too!

This year, many families are dealing with strained budgets, lost jobs, and limited credit. As the holiday season is fast approaching, those budgets could get even more strained. You?ll have to ?do the math? for your particular situation, but a layaway account could help you to manage your holiday expenses.

Have you ever had a layaway account? Will you be using layaway this holiday season when purchasing toys for your family?

I can‘t even begin to guess how many shoes, socks, hats and mittens my children have lost. How many of you have ever re-traced your steps in a store looking for the missing article? Isn‘t it amazing that the article simply is not anywhere to be found - My friends and I joked that the earth immediately swallowed such items whole. That HAD to be the reason why we had so much trouble finding lost items.

Now that the weather is turning colder, most of us will be bundling up out little ones before taking them out. I say most because well, it‘s still rather warm where we are located and I don‘t have to worry yet about bundling my son up.

It is discouraging to keep replacing lost mittens and hats because, at least in my frugal mind, I‘m throwing away money. This year, I‘m going to use a different strategy when purchasing these items. Firstly, I am no longer going to purchase the expensive, but cute items. Instead, I‘m going to choose the cute, yet inexpensive items!

I‘m going to look for hats that can tie under the chin, or hats that actually cover the entire head and just have a hole for the face. I found quite a few choices at our local store! I‘m also going to buy hats that are slightly bigger than what I need. My son grew so quickly last year that the hats kept popping off because they didn‘t fit so well. This makes it easier to lose hats. I also like hats with ear flaps because they tend to fit better so they don‘t get lost as easily. They also cover more of the head and I believe keep baby warmer.

I like to keep my children in a snowsuit as long as I can because usually snowsuits that are made for infants have mittens built into the suit. This is convenient and keeps your baby warm! When you purchase mittens for you child, definitely consider purchasing the economically priced pair. There‘s nothing more discouraging than buying a cute pair of expensive mittens only to have one get lost the very first time the pair is worn. When possible, buy mittens in packs with several pairs. If you can‘t buy your mittens in quantity, definitely purchase an extra set “just in case“ a mitten (or the entire pair) gets lost.

I usually tuck hats into coat hoods and mittens into pockets when I take them off. It‘s a habit now, but it makes it easier to find the items as I know where they should be. If they aren‘t where they usually are, I can assume that they‘ve been lost. I store extra hats and mittens in a basket that I keep in the closet. I also look for sales on winter items and I‘ll purchase extras when I can. I find that although I am careful and encourage my children to be careful too, I can expect for each of them to lose several pairs of mittens and a hat or two during the winter season.

Do you have any tips that you‘ve found useful to prevent the loss of mittens and hats?

It’s a financially tough time for many, if not all, of us. If you don’t get your local Sunday paper, it’s worth spending the $1.50 or so per week, just for the coupons. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great if you can be informed and actually read some of the paper, too, but the coupons and store circulars featuring weekly sales, can lead to big savings.

Before going grocery shopping, look over your supermarket’s circular. Ours is delivered to our mailbox each Thursday. (Circulars for other stores, including pharmacies, Kmart, Target, AC Moore, etc, are in the Sunday paper.) This week, I added some ‘Buy one, get one free’ (or BOGO) items to my shopping list and, in addition, clipped a coupon for the items. I got two boxes of frozen soft pretzels for less than the cost of one! Granted, these aren’t a necessary part of my kids diet but they love hot soft pretzels, and the only way I’ll buy them at this point is at a very reduced cost.

Also, you can pair store coupons with manufacturer’s coupons. I’ve been putting off buying an expensive moisturizer I need. This week, though, I’ll pair my ‘$3 off’ manufacturer’s coupon with an in-store coupon from Rite-Aid and save a nice little chunk of money.

If there are certain cosmetics you buy from the drug store such as mascara and lip gloss, or toiletries, such as a certain shampoo or conditioner, keep an eye out for BOGO sales and stock up. You can regularly find manufacturer’s coupons for these things and get those BOGO bargains for less than the cost of one!

Another way to save money on your grocery bill is to substitute store brands for name brands. You may not always be satisfied but it’s worth trying. I have found that for me, some things, like oatmeal, are easily substituted; I don’t ‘taste’ a difference. But when it comes to mayo, only Hellmann’s will do.

I have also switched to store branded medicines, both prescription and over the counter. Just look at the labels and the active ingredients are exactly the same!

I’m wishing I had an extra fridge or freezer to stock up on things like meats and frozen foods when they’re on sale. I plan two meals ‘in my head’ when buying ‘BOGO’ meats. If ground beef or turkey is the sale du jour, I plan to make spaghetti with meat sauce (or meatballs) one night, and tacos another night. If I’m not sure if I’ll use both packages in the near future, I freeze one.

I have yet to venture into the world of buying in bulk from places like BJ’s and Costco, but with three growing boys, I’m sure I’ll be looking into what kinds of savings I can find there (plus, larger quantities equal fewer trips to the store!). This kind of shopping may really require an extra freezer in the basement.

I’ll continue to keep an eye out for ways to be thrifty in these tough times, and always!

My children love to dress up on Halloween. I think it’s a wonderful thing, but given that there are 5 of them, I need to be as creative and frugal as possible when creating costumes.

Last year was our son’s first Halloween. I admit, I went to the “big party” store in town and looked at all of the professionally done costumes and I thought–I want our son to have one of these! After all, it was his first Halloween… The price tag of the costume I picked was around $50. $50 for an infant’s costume! I decided at that moment that I needed to check out other options.

Ebay is a good place to find costumes for your children. The costumes are gently used and the prices are more affordable. I did end up buying my son’s Halloween costume there last year. My son went as Robin, and the dog went as Batman. It was too cute!

This year, we are creating a costume for my son. The dog will go as his horse, and he will be a knight. I got a pair of black pants and a black shirt for him. The Dollar Store has helmets and shields and we can make a sword from cardboard and tin foil. I have “borrowed” a pair of my husband’s socks and I am going to paint them silver with fabric paint I have in my craft box.

You may have guessed that I am not a seamstress! I might be frugal, and I am creative, but I just don’t sew very well. The truth is that there are plenty of costumes that you can create without sewing at all, or with a minimal amount of sewing.

For many costumes, you can begin with a simple sweatshirt with a hood and sweatpants. By painting black spots on a white outfit, and adding a felt tail and some felt ears, you have made a dalmatian. Use a green outfit and add some warts and felt eyes on the top of the hood and you have a frog. A black cat costume can be made from a black outfit. I am sure that you can think of other costumes to create using this basic formula.

The best part is that you can “re-use” your costume after Halloween is over because most children can always use and extra sweat shirt or pair or sweat pants! Now that’s a smart way to celebrate the season!

I have a 401K from my previous job. Right before the bailout hoopla started and the market started plunging with the alarming rate of a roller coaster on descent, I made the decision to switch all my funds to bonds. Before I did that, I saw my retirement fund lose a sizable chunk in just under a year. I’ve seen my neighbors putting up their homes for sale or for rent. I’ve received a letter declining my request for financial aid for school.

According to some experts, we’re heading for a recession so we should see even more decline in economic activity: low Gross Domestic Product, lower income, low sales, higher unemployment. To put it bluntly, I’m scared. Like millions of other Americans, I haven’t placed my family in the best financial footing. What if the declining economy affects my husband’s job, while he’s our family’s only breadwinner?

According to some experts, to prepare for a recession, a family should prepare itself for the possibility of losing their jobs. So what should you and I do?

• Start storing up for the winter so to speak, by way of an emergency fund. Experts say you should have at least 3-6 months expenses saved up. That can really add up for any family. So start being aggressive in cutting back on eating out, Starbucks lattes, maybe forgo that planned vacation and have a staycation instead. Make sure all those money saved goes to your emergency fund.
• Polish your skills. If your job pays for continuing education, or reimburses for it, get a certification that will make you more competitive or even desirable to keep, in a recession’s market.
• Stock up on pantry items. Yes, you read right. In some previous recessions, prices of consumables have gone way up. The ones with the advantage were families who prepared with lots of canned goods (theoretically unlimited shelf life), beans (can be stored safely up to two years), rice, and even meats which can be stored in a deep freezer.
• Put off major purchases such as cars, big screen TVs, or anything else that’s a luxury. You’ll be happy to have the money in your pocket when the lean times come.
• Look at where your 401k is going and redistribute if needed, and change elections if necessary. You may want to stick to bond funds, or you may want to change the percentage of your income going to your 401k. Just remember never to go below your company matched number. If your company matches every dollar up to 3%, stick to at least a 3% election.

I don’t want to alarm anybody, but I did want to give families some ideas on what they can do, and how they can be prepared. Good luck to all of us, and let’s hope the lean times don’t last that long.

When I was living in the Northern United States, Fall was my favorite season. I loved to watch the leaves change color! I am living in coastal southern Virginia now and Fall just simply doesn?t happen. Sometime around January, the leaves sort of fall off the trees and it gets cold. You know that Winter has arrived.

As a mother, I dislike the changing of the seasons because it means that I need to sort through clothing, and store the past season?s clothing away(or give it away) as well as stock up for the next season?s clothing. I must do this for all 5 children.

I suppose I could make less work for myself if I simply went out and bought all new wardrobes every season and gave away all of the outgrown or seasonally inappropriate clothing instead of storing them for the next child. Financially, that?s not possible.

For my son, I have decided to take advantage of the end of the season clearance sales. For example, Walmart has summer shirts on sale for $2 each. You can?t beat that bargain. My son is just almost grown out of his summer shirts and so I bought him the next size up to get us through until November, when the weather gets slightly chilly and we can actually wear long sleeves.

I didn?t plan ahead in winter time and I assumed he?d stay in his winter clothes until it was time to wear spring/summer things. I was wrong. He had a growth spurt and then, even though it was winter and ?cold?, all the clothes in the stores were summer clothes. I couldn?t find any long sleeved shirts or sweatshirts anywhere. I actually called my relatives who live in the northern United States and they bought my son long sleeved shirts and sweatshirts in the bigger size, packaged them up and sent them south to us!

I know of parents who purchase clothes a year in advance in order to get the best bargains. For example, I would buy clothes now for next summer for my son. There?s risk involved in this though because you are guessing as far as sizes go. What size will your child wear next summer? You can make a somewhat intelligent guess using their past growth as some sort of indicator, but you may be wrong. An ?intelligent guess? would go something like this: if your son is 6 months old now and wears 9 month clothing, you should buy 18 month clothing and purchase a few 24 month sizes just in case. If your child tends to be on the petite size or grows slowly, you may wish to purchase some 12 month clothes and some 18 month clothes.

When storing clothes, I always use a plastic bag or a plastic container. I store clothes according to size and season. For example, I would mark the container as 6 months Winter or 9 months Summer. This allows you to find clothing easily.

I?d love to hear from other moms on this subject. Do you have any tried and true tips to share when changing clothes from one season to the next? Do you have storage tips to share? Have you found a great source for gently used or inexpensive clothing? Please post!

I’ve wanted a sandbox for my son to play with since he was able to sit independently. I learned with my older children that sensory integration and sensory activities are a very important part of a child’s development.

The only thing that has held up the sandbox dream: sandboxes, at least the sturdy kinds with the nice lids that fit over them, are expensive. It’s important to get a box with a lid or cover the sandbox tightly when not in use because cats or other animals can use the sandbox as a litter box. The waste material can put your child at risk for developing different ailments, some of which can be serious.

When my older children were little, we had a bunch of friends with children who were slightly older than mine. We got a lot of second hand play toys and so I’ve been spoiled. Think about it though–what DO you do with all of those outdoor toys when your kids have outgrown them? For the price of sweat equity (I had to move and cart the toys off), I landed a lot of free deals, including a swing set, merry go round, and sandbox.

While driving past a church yard sale yesterday, we sighted a Tugboat sandbox. I made DH turn the van around and we went to look at it. They were asking $5 for it! I handed my $5 over and DH and I had the task of figuring out how to get it home. You know, it’s amazing what you can fit in a vehicle when you are motivated! After making another trip to buy play sand, we went home to set it up.

The steering wheel was missing and so I checked online to see if I could purchase the part. Many times, if you inherit or buy second hand toys, you can do this and make them almost as good as new. In this case, the sandbox is now retired, so I couldn’t purchase the part, but that’s ok too.

All 5 of my children and the dog spent yesterday playing in the sand and had a wonderful time. That was $5 well spent!

I watched the Olympics the other night, and twice, I saw parents hugging each other in joy, with tears running down their face, and I thought I saw relief mixed in with them as well. Finally, all the hard work has paid off. When Shawn Johnson, gymnastics gold medalist, saw her scores, her parents were one of the ones who hugged while crying. The commentator mentioned that her parents had at one point mortgaged their house twice to “keep her [Shawn Johnson] in the gym”.

Raising an Olympian comes with very high costs, not just in actual monetary terms spent on trainers, coaches, equipment. There’s also the time spent on the road, on auditions, competitions, often at the expense of spending that time on the job, or with other children.

The monetary cost can climb in upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars, especially for athletes who wish to compete in the most prestigious arena. It means a full day of practice perhaps six days a week, with an in-demand trainer, in an in-demand training facility. When I searched for Olympic training facilities like World Olympics Gymnastics Academy, which has produces national champions, no fees are advertised online. Some classes are invitation only, even for kid classes like tumble classes. I don’t think you can pay just $55/month as you notice your child’s talent emerging and being honed as they grow.

The cost of getting to the Beijing Olympics alone is estimated to be around $15,000 to $20,000 for three weeks. Let’s say a world championship, or a national championship is a fraction of that, and let’s say a gifted child athlete goes to about two major competitions a year. There’s $10,000, plus hotel accommodations, food, gas or flight costs, and all the other little expenses along the way that adds up.

Some athletes are lucky enough to enjoy corporate sponsorship, which wasn’t made legal by the way until 1978. Many more are footing the bill themselves, and asking family and friends to pitch in.

How many more talented kids out there had to abandon their dream of going to the Olympics because a practical parent just wasn’t willing to shoulder all that expense, or sacrifice family time, and, some would think, sacrifice their hopeful young athlete’s childhood? Most parents in Beijing now, it seems, were willing to do anything at the expense of getting in debt, hoping that it will pay off: in the form of that Olympic medal.

What about you: What sacrifices are you prepared to make if you find your child with a gift in arts, music, athletics?

Need some ideas for activities with your little ones this weekend? If you’ve already done them, they’re so much fun, they bear repeating!

1. Set up an inflatable pool in your backyard and have the kids wade around in it (with supervision, of course). Get beach paraphernalia, like buckets, scoops, etc., or other water toys and watch them splash around with glee.
2. Visit a children’s museum, they’re usually either free or have a nominal fee. Children’s museums are usually hands-on, and interactive, so you won’t be spending your time telling your toddler “No, don’t touch that!”.
3. Take a hike in the woods. Strap your baby in a baby carrier, and toddler in dad’s back carrier and enjoy what nature has to offer.
4. Check your library for story time and bring the kids. This is best for toddlers and preschoolers. Baby would probably be fussy so time it right when they are napping in a stroller or carrier, or have just woken up, diapered, eaten and in a good mood.
5. Buy a bottle of bubbles or make your own (I used to make my own when I was younger) and blow bubbles in the backyard, or in the park.

Got any other ideas? Share them here!

My grandmother says I know how to pinch a penny. She’s right! As we have 5 children, I’ve learned how to economize and make the budget stretch as far as it can go.

One of the ways to make your budget stretch is by making your own baby food. It’s actually not that difficult or time consuming and you probably already have the items needed right now in your kitchen.

I’ve used both food grinders and also blenders to grind the baby food. I find the only drawback of the blender is the clean up; it’s much easier and quicker to clean the grinder. The grinder is great for making one serving. If you would like to make a bunch of servings, then used the blender. You can experiment to find which you prefer.

Before you begin, it’s important to make sure all surfaces, utensils and appliances are clean to minimize any risk to your baby. Also make sure to wash your hands thoroughly.

I take the vegetables and meat I’ve cooked before I season the food and put some in the grinder or blender and process until it is the consistency I want. This might mean adding more liquid to the mix or adding more food. If I’ve made more than I need for the one meal, I fill up an ice cube tray with baby food. Cover with saran wrap and freeze, making sure to place on a level surface so it doesn’t spill in your freezer. When the cubes have frozen, take them out of the tray and put them in a ziplock freezer bag for storage.

When you need to use one of your frozen baby food cubes, put a pan of water on the stove, put a pot in the pan and put the baby food cube in the pan. This is, in essence, a homemade double boiler. The water in the pan will heat the cube in the pot. You should never re-cook the cube as it can make the texture rubbery.

It is also a good idea to still keep an emergency supply of baby food jars on hand just in case of an emergency. As my grandmother says–always be prepared!

As a new mom who unfortunately falls into the category of “low income” and “below poverty level”, when my daughter arrived I was very concerned about our finances and how we were going to afford all the bells and whistles that come with a new baby. My first attempt at finding frugal buys was to turn to an old fallback, good old Craigslist.com. This is a GREAT place to look for gently used items at garage sale prices without leaving the comfort of your old faithful couch. I was very pleased with the few items that we purchased off of Craigslist, and after talking to a few of the families we were buying from also made some friends and were given additional items from those families and from other families they knew. The most important thing to remember is that you have a common bond with all of the people who are looking for or selling baby items, and it is very easy to connect to others in your area who are also in the same band wagon. If you receive from those in your community, make sure to spread the good karma and give back when you are in the position to.

After finding some amazing deals on Craigslist I posted a help message on my myspace page asking for advice and help from those in my friends’ list. I was first turned on to the yahoo group called Freecycle, which you can check out yourself at www.freecycle.org, by a friend of mine that lives across the valley. What a blessing! I can NOT gush enough about how wonderful this group is, the Freecycle network literally has changed my life and enabled us to give our baby a great new start!
The Freecycle network is a social network run through yahoo that is committed to keeping the earth a greener place by giving away unwanted items to others in their community that are in need instead of throwing them away, keeping our landfills from getting out of control! With groups all over the world you are sure to find a group that functions near you. The idea is simple, give away unwanted things to those in need, find things that you yourself may be in need of, and help save the environment at the same time! The best thing about Freecycle is… IT’S FREE!!!!

It is easy to join, and once you offer an item up for freecylcling you are allowed to request up to five things a month. You can either receive emails of new posts or scan them on the group site, but either way the person who ends up getting your item is up to you. If you have an item someone else needs they will contact you and you can arrange for them to pick it up or meet you someplace! This is also great because you make connections with other people in your community that have kids or share interests with you! And most of the time people who have one item up for freecycle also have other things to give or know others that do.

Thanks to freecycle we have made many friends in the Las Vegas area and I have started attending a new moms’ group at the community center. This is a GREAT way to meet other moms and widen your “baby” base to people from all walks of life. From this group alone we were given a swing, two car seats, a walker, a bassinet, formula samples, diapers, baby clothes, a play mat, a sling, a diaper bag, a stroller, and a myriad of baby toys that would have ALL cost us a fortune to buy individually. We are so thankful for those in our community that have donated items to us and we are actively involved in returning the favor. It’s amazing what the power of community can do.

If you are a mom in need or know of a family that needs help, PLEASE REFER THEM TO THIS GROUP. It is a blessing and filled with people just like you who are ready to help! Spread the word and spread the good, and remember to help out others less fortunate to make this world a better and greener place! Cheers!

Http://www.freecycle.org