Mommy Musings

I must first start off this post by saving Disney is expensive.  Yes, that's a little strange to say on a post that is about saving money, but it's true.  But while you can't think that Disney is going to be an inexpensive trip, there are ways to cut corners and make it more realistic for your budget.  There are tons of articles out there with tips on this, so I'm just going to tailor this one to explain how we saved money for what we wanted to do. {one} Make a plan for the kind of Disney trip you want.  This will help the most when trying to plan your trip.  Figure out what's most important for you to do and experience. {two} Stay in one of the cheaper resorts at Disney.  I believe that the All-Star resorts are the cheapest, but our hotel, the Art of Animation, was only slightly more expensive than those.  It may be a little farther away from the parks, but they are filled with the same amount of magic. {you can save even more money staying off-park, ...

While there are some affiliate links in here, this is not a sponsored post.  I really just wanted to pass on info I found helpful this year! After the tough year we have had, I'm trying to give the girls an amazing Christmas this year.  Lots of traditions, warm memories, and hopefully everything on their Christmas lists.  However, we are also planning a trip to Disney for a week in June, so there's not a ton of extra money in the budget these days.  So if I wanted to get them everything they wanted {plus some awesome gifts for my family and friends}, I was going to have to get creative.  I also was not prepared to go Black Friday shopping, which is a huge money saver sometimes, so I had to find other sales and savings.  The first thing I did was get a list early .  Charlie is really too little for a list still, but Emmy has very strong feelings on what she wants from Santa.  So I had her write down what she wanted about a week or two before ...

As a one-income, two-kid family living in one of the most expensive places to live in the country, I am always looking for little ways to save money, or make a little on the side.  So when I was contacted about checking out Play2Shop , I literally jumped at the chance! A website where all I have to do to get free stuff and earn up to 70% cash back is play games and shop?  Count me in!! " Play2Shop is more than a reward and gaming site, it is a fun, friendly community where you can play games, earn points, and turn those points into free stuff! Play2Shop has developed an extensive affiliate shopping program where you earn cash back at over 1,000 retail partners plus earn an additional 10 Play2Shop points for every dollar spent. Get more for you time and dollars at Play2Shop . Founded in 2012, Play2Shop was created by Merchant Marketing Concepts, Inc. The company was funded by loyal friends and family and CrunchFire Ventures." As soon as you sign up, you can immediately start...

I always love when I see other people post about deals and whatnot that they find, so I thought I'd do a little of my own!  I'm sure most of you have already heard about Ebates .  But here's the info for those of you who haven't yet.  We all love to shop online right?  Well who wouldn't want to earn cash back at almost every place your shop?  You just sign into Ebates {and you get a $10 gift card when you sign up} and find the store you want to shop in.  You click on it and just shop away!  You earn different percentages back depending on the store.  And every few months Ebates sends you a big fat check for the money you earned.  Who doesn't love free money?!? ThredUp is one of my new favorite sites both for shopping and getting rid of old clothes for the girls, AND NOW ME!!  It is an online consignment shop for both kids and women's clothes.  You order a bag, fill it with clothes you no longer want, and they will either give yo...

As a mother of a preschooler, parenting has quickly taken on another turn.  Emmy is no longer a snugly baby that just wants to eat, or an unsteady toddler who can't quite communicate yet.  She is a little girl who needs discipline, independence, and a way to help out around the house.  She yearns to "help Mommy" and I sure like the extra set of hands too! That is why I am so excited to partner up with My Job Chart !  According to their site: My job chart is the free, easy to use, online chore chart and reward system for teaching, organizing and motivating your kids to Save, Share and Spend responsibly. My Job Chart makes it easy for parents to assign chores and more motivating and meaningful for children to fulfill them. My Job Chart facilitates fun, engaging, hands-on learning for kids on the ABCs of prosperity including saving, sharing and spending. My Job Chart gives parents the satisfaction of seeing their kids gain the foundation skills of a strong work ...

I've never really been that into decorating my house for holidays.  Christmas, absolutely, but everything else has normally fallen by the wayside.  When Skip and I were first married and living in our tiny condo, I didn't really have the space for housing decorations, nor the drive to put things out just for us.  When we moved into our current house four years ago, I originally had grand plans for decorating for all holidays, but I soon found myself miserably sick and pregnant, or caring for an infant pretty much the whole time we've lived here. But as my baby shop is closed, the girls are a little older now and starting to appreciate the holidays, I figured it was time to start decorating!  I really didn't have much to start with, and with expensive decorations not really in the budget, I really had to squeeze my creative juices. First I started off with some fall-like place mats I scored at the supermarket for 93 cents a piece.  They're vinyl place mats, which...

When Emmy turned one , we gave her an Elmo birthday party {quick rant, why do people hate giving their kids character parties?  Isn't the party supposed to be for the kid and what they want?} but since Charlie hasn't shown any real prefence to characters, I decided to go with a butterfly theme.  I'll be breaking her party recap into two posts...today is all about the theme and decorations! I actually picked out this theme MONTHS ago and have been grabbing butterflies every where I saw them.  This actually made it really easy and helped spread out the cost!  Now with the invention of Pinterest and having photo evidence of these parties for centuries to come, my desire to throw the 'perfect' party is always in full force.  But as a SAHM with a mortgage and two kids, extra money for expensive party invitations and personalized labels is rarely in the budget.  So I have to get a little more creative on things. Most of the things I bought for this party were ...