Finances & Budgeting

Disclosure: this post is sponsored by Costco. We are thrilled to be working with them for our second Costco Mom Hour next month.  Costco :: My Solution to Buying Organic for Less Green I joined Costco about a year ago (at last year's popular Costco Mom Hour, in fact!). I never thought of myself as a "buy in bulk" type of person, but I figured I'd give a shot and see how it went. Here we are a year later, and I'm pretty much hooked on Costco. Why? For me, it's all about the availability of certified USDA Organic products, often at a fraction of the cost when compared to other sellers of organic products. Buying organic food is something that is important...

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by our partners at Pelican State Credit Union, who have been providing financial services to individuals and families in Louisiana for almost 60 years. I remember when I hit the lottery. At least, I hit the lottery according to 12 year-old me’s standards. I found out about the Accelerated Reader, or “AR,” program in school. It gave students a chance to earn prizes by reading books and taking tests on them. Anyone who reached 100 points was rewarded with a $100 savings bond! I saw that dollar sign and made it my goal to get 100 points. My friends would want to play video games, but I had books to read. If they only knew about...

Budget Backyard Beautification The weather was getting nicer, but our backyard was boring and bland.  In fact, I didn't even want to go out there. One Friday night, I'd had enough. I did what any normal mom would do and searched Pinterest for ideas. I didn't want to spend a lot, and there was no shortage of ideas. And if you know me, you know that coming up with an idea on a Friday night means that it needs to be done by Sunday afternoon. We hit up Lowe's and got blocks for a retaining wall, spray paint, patio pavers, and sand. We (and by we, I mean my husband), started by transplanting the grass to other parts of the yard...

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by VarageSale. All thoughts and opinions are my own. It's that time of year when spring cleaning posts have made their way around social media and where you've felt the guilt for not washing your mini-blinds and for having "too much stuff." All you really want to do is hang out by the kiddie pool on a brand new patio set and soak up the sprummer sun. Now, we all know we'd feel more relaxed if the house wasn't so messy and if we could get control of "all the things." So, I'm here to help. I've got three ways to declutter your home. They are fast and easy and may even make you some...

If the outside of your family's refrigerator looks anything like ours, there are multiple invitations to children's birthday parties scattered among the art work and expired coupons at any given time.  And while it's great to see the joy in a child's face as they blow out their birthday candles, the financial burden of buying birthday gifts can be a bit much.  I have a few stand-by gifts that are not only easy on the budget, but are a lot more useful than yet another toy that will get lost in the black hole of the toy chest. Several of these gifts can be purchased in advance and are easy to store to keep a few on hand for...