Thursday, January 29, 2009

I am embarrassed to say that I have fallen so behind on the baby book with my second child. Alright, not fallen behind so much as not even started. That is when I started to look for a book that would make it easy for me and look great in the process.

I found Brella Baby and fell in love!! She has the cutest baby books I have seen and they are completely functional.

One of my favorite features in the monthly calendars that you can fill in.

Brella Baby has uniquely modern designs and their books are designed by moms, for moms.

If you are working your way out of debt, you must first know where you stand. Make a list of all your debts, credit cards, car notes, etc. and how much you owe on each.

Work on you smallest debt first, paying minimum on the rest and any extra to that one. This is the easiest way not to become discouraged. Once the smallest one is paid move on to the next, and make sure to roll what you were paying on that one to the new smallest. You will be surprised at what you can accomplish.

Keep a running total of all your debt and watch it shrink down!! You will love having the extra money to put towards other things in your budget once that debt is gone.

Friday, January 23, 2009

How many times have you had to remind your husband about an appointment, school function, or meeting. I know I have my planner, but my husband never sees it, and forgets most of what I tell him. LOL I began looking for a calendar that we could share and write everything on in one place.

I came upon Say it with Style and found exactly what we were looking for. Her calendars are not only wonderfully functional, they are reusable, which means never having to replace it!! This calendar will not only look great on your wall, but it takes away your husband's excuse of "You didn't tell me about that!!"

This is a Personalized Dry Erase Calendar specially designed and perfected by Say it with Style.

This Calendar fits a standard 16x20 Frame and the vinyl is applied to the BACK OF THE GLASS so your front side is nice and smooth!

You can use any Fine Tip Dry Erase Marker with your calendar. Different colors could be used for each family member!

You'll receive the whole vinyl piece and a fool proof, detailed set of instructions. What you will win is an entire calendar vinyl piece and then YOU PURCHASE YOUR OWN FRAME and INSTALL YOURSELF.

Each little box on the Calendar is approximately 3 inches wide by 2 inches tall, which gives you plenty of space.

Monday, January 19, 2009

I hope you have tried to start a monthly budget. I find that nothing eats away at our budget quicker than eating out. Going to a restaurant will run us at least $30, and when I can only budget around $125 for restaurants, you find it doesn't stretch far.

So, we mostly dine-in, and I find planning a menu for the week before I go to the store is a huge help. This not only keeps us from playing the "what's for dinner?" game, but also helps us stay on budget.

If I plan my meals out before going to the store, I can check which ingredients I have in stock, which keeps me from over buying. Your $30 at the grocery will go much further than at a restaurant. I try to keep my dining out for the end of the week when I am more tired.

Remember back in grade school when you got to make a mailbox out of a paper lunch bag? You would write your name and decorate every inch of it. Then you would go to the store and pick out your cards to hand out.

On Valentine's Day, everyone would hand out there stuff and you couldn't wait to see what was left in your bag!!

I let Wyatt look through their selection and he was so excited about the Moonstruck Martian he chose!

Let the folks over at Tiny Prints take care of all your Valentine needs this year, and thanks to them, one lucky ready will win a $50 gift certificate to shop with!!!

How to Win:

1. Head on over to Tiny Prints and design a Valentine card for you or your little one. Make sure you "Save to Favorites" the card you design, and note that this requires that you log in to Tiny Prints. You can NOT win if your card is not saved to your favorites!

Additional Entries (leave each entry as a separate comment):2. Tell me one thing different that Tiny Prints does.3. Blog about this giveaway.4. Follow my blog.5. Subscribe via email to my blog.6. Follow me on Twitter (whatmommiesneed) or tweet about this giveaway.7. Favorite me in Technorati.

Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on January 25th. Prizes must be claimed in 72 hours on they will be forfeited. Contest open to U.S. residents only.You must leave valid email to be eligible!!

Monday, January 12, 2009

The same advice will not work for everyone. I read a lot of articles, but sometimes I take away ideas and not actually what they suggest.

I read this article the other day off of yahoo finance by Brett Adams, and thought I would share it with you.

There's no such thing as a hot stock tip right now, but these small investments could add thousands to your bottom line.

History says few people ever beat the market consistently. And even those who do don't beat the market by much.Any tip that comes close to that would have to be remarkable. Here are seven that will do better. Yes, they will produce a greater return on investment than Wall Street's greatest boom year.

And, unlike your typical investment tip, these returns are pretty much guaranteed. What's more, you won't have to call your broker to make any of these moves:

Buy a bread maker. You can buy one for $55. If it saves you just $4 a week on store-bought bread, that's $208 a year. A 280% return.

Take out a local library card. Cost: Nothing. If it saves you $10 a month on books, that's $120 a year. Return: Infinite. Note: Some libraries now let you borrow electronic books over the Internet as well.

Replace your premium cable package with a Netflix subscription and a $100 set-top box. You can download movies and TV programs as well getting DVDs through the mail. Cost: $100 for the cheapest set-top box, plus $17 a month for a three-movie subscription. If it replaces a $50-a-month cable package, that's a 98% return on investment.

Order a packet of seeds and plant them in a window box or garden. Growing your own herbs, spices, and even vegetables – depending on the amount of space you have – is a great investment. If you spent just $10 on seeds and saved a mere $50 in the year, that's a 400% ROI.

Switch to a prepaid cellphone. Cost: $20 for the phone, and maybe $100 a year for minutes. Move the rest of your talk-time to free Internet calls, and stop hemorrhaging $60 a month on a cellular plan. ROI: 500%

Start making your own coffee to take to work each morning. Cost: $20 for a Thermos, $10 for a filter and papers, and $60 a year for ground coffee. Then skip the $4 a day drive-thru. If that saves you $1,000 a year, the return is more than 1,000 %

Now I have yet to attempt planting a garden, but we do frequent our local library. My son loves to go and get books, cds, and they usually have a craft table. He can spend hours in there and it is free!

See what you can find that will put a little extra of your own money back into your pockets!!

Friday, January 9, 2009

How much time have you spent fumbling through your diaper bag looking for the diaper, wipes, and diaper cream? Have you ever left to run a quick errand and forgot the diaper bag? Of course, that is when they seem to have diaper explosion and then you are stuck!!

Well I have found the solution to those problems. Over at Rock A Bye Baby I found the cutest Dipes and Wipes quick change pack and Changing Pad/Stroller Blanket Baby Gift Set. Now that sure sounds like a lot, and since it serves so many purposes it really is. I have decided I need this to keep in my car, but use it any way you see fit. Feel free to organize your diaper bag with this, or remove the diapers and wipes you have shoved in your purse.

This gift set is a great idea for any mom!

The set includes one Dipes and Wipes quick change pack and one plush Changing Pad/Blanket. The Changing Pad/Blanket is made from high quality and soft materials to comfortably protect baby from germy surfaces, not sticky vinyl! 100% cotton designer fabric is backed with warm vanilla chenille to provide a little extra cush for baby's tush! Double top-stitched with decorative stitching for added charm and durability. Coordinating velcro strap holds it all together.

Large enough to cover any public changing station, this changing pad measures approximately 18x25 inches. Size is just right to double as a car seat or stroller blankie! It folds up easily and is the perfect addition to your diaper bag,This adorable Dipes and Wipes holder is the perfect size for a travel case of wipes and 3-4 diapers. And there is still enough room left over to include any other lotions or potions your baby needs during changing time.Keeps all changing supplies together and neatly organized.Or, just grab your quick change pack when you don’t want to haul around the whole diaper bag!They are made with high quality, fashionable fabric and lots of attention to detail. (Does not include diapers and wipes.)Makes a wonderful shower gift, or treat for yourself. This set is 100% cotton and machine washable. All materials have been pre-laundred to prevent shrinking.

Monday, January 5, 2009

It's here, yet another new year filled with resolutions to be more organized.But fret none, because this year whatmommiesneed is coming to your rescue.Every week from now until I run out of sponsors and or ideas, whichever comes first, I will be bringing you organizational tools of all sorts.

This will all be kicked off this Friday January 9th, beginning with a diaper and wipes organizer from Rock a Bye Baby Boutique.

About 2 years ago, my husband and I decided that the way we were living was not working. We both worked hard and made decent money, but yet every month we were coming up short. I couldn't figure out what we were doing wrong. Then I read My Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.

Oh, now I saw what was happening. Our outcome was surpassing our income!! After time, this will add up to accrued debt, that will not only cost you more in the long run, but take forever to pay off. By the time you finishing paying for what you bought, you can't even remember what you charged in the first place.

Here is what Dave has to say about budgeting:

"The dreaded "B" word. Budget. The only other word that starts with "B" that might generate a worse reaction in most people is the word bankruptcy.Unfortunately, the word budget has gotten a bum rap - it is basically just a PLAN. When you budget, you're spending on paper, on purpose, before the month begins. But many people view a budget as a straight jacket that keeps them constrained. Freedom and budget just don't seem to go together. However, when you see that a budget is just spending your money with intention, you'll actually experience more freedom than before. Many people say they've found even more money when they created a realistic budget and stuck with it. "

Sunday, January 4, 2009

For I am bound to be extremely bitchy!! I have officially began the diet. You know the one you have to do in order to remove the nine months of baby growing. How come I seem to grow so much more than just the baby?

But, I promised myself that once he began sleeping through the night there were no more excuses. So here I go!!

To help keep me on track, I will be participating in Think Thin Thursdays over that The Not So Blog.

I will be carb and sugar free for the next two weeks as I restart the South Beach Diet. This is what I used to get the weight of the first pregnancy off and it worked, so I will do it again.

Wish me luck!! I will let you know when I reach goal, although it might not happen till 2010.LOL

Saturday, January 3, 2009

If most of you are like me, you spent much time watching this movie as a child. So when given the opportunity to review The Princess Bride Game, I was ecstatic. I always loved the characters and was curious how they would be portrayed.

The game invites you to "Experience true love, high adventure and 5 games in 1! Experience the magic and adventure of the beloved fractured fairy tale with the official Princess Bride Game which combines spectacular animation with the best of casual, narrative and adventure games all based on the classic hit movie. You've probably seen the movie, now play the game. Help Princess Buttercup and Westley manage life on the farm, defeat dastardly villains, survive the Fire Swamp, concoct miracle remedies, and vanquish the evil prince in order to live happily ever after. "

The day the game arrived, I loaded it on the computer and told Wyatt, my 4 year old, that we had a new game to try. He sat on my lap and away we went. First we started off with helping Westly on the farm (time management), then it was on to the battle of wits (series of questions), next we had to make it through the fire swamp (Buttercup and Westly must work together), and then to mix potions (following Max's recipes) and find hidden items. After all of that, we were able to vanquish the evil prince using items that were collected along the way.

Although he needed help to play, it held both of our attentions for almost 2 hours straight. We have even played it since to finish some other levels. Needless to say, we were into this game!!

Whether you loved the movie or not, this game is sure to be a hit at your house!!