Mommy Pehpot, Author at Mommy Pehpot

Give Great Gifts and Still Save Money This Season

It’s that exciting time of year again, when kids start making wish lists and ideas for gifts start swirling around in your head. It’s also the year you’ve been cutting corners on just about everything, saving money by shopping smart, avoiding unnecessary trips, and even trying out homemade laundry soap. Although it’s more than tempting to go hog wild and shell out a small fortune on gifts for friends and family, you don’t want to undo all the hard work you’ve done to save cash.

It can still be a fabulous holiday, though! There are still ways you can pick up great gifts for your kids, family members, and friends without going budget overboard; you just need to shop smart. Whether they want toys, electronics, or that “awesome” Ecko hoodie, you don’t have to pay full price for anything. This year, make the internet your gift-getting buddy; you can pick up some pretty great deals via the web. Stores with websites post their ads online, so you can see what’s on sale and when. You may have to get up before sunrise to snag a deal, but the savings will be worth it.

Many companies offer special coupons and savings to customers who sign up for email newsletters, like free shipping offers. Don’t overlook coupons either; clothing stores offer great discounts with coupon booklets or mailers. Plus, buy-one-get-one free offers mean that $10 lotion just became $5, and you just checked off two more gifts. Certain websites also offer special reduced prices on a selection of items every day. If you keep tabs on what’s new or upcoming, you could save a significant amount of money. If you want to save a bit of cash this holiday season look at Answers.com coupons for great online savings. These are all things you may have been doing to some extent throughout the year, but when it comes to a long list of gifts and a tiny budget, more adventurous money-saving shopping is worth it!

Turning in Your Handbag for a Diaper Bag

Posted: 29 Nov 2010 PST
Being a full time mom can be just as stressful, if not more stressful, than any other full time job. Though many change out handbags for diaper bags, and business suits for sweats, staying home full time with the kids is a challenging job. Many people don’t really understand what being a stay at home, full time mom means.

Not only do you have to deal with the kids all day, you also are expected to take care of the house. At first glance, this may seem easy. Pick up a few things on the floor, throw some laudry in the washer, and put some dishes in the dishwasher. But when trying to juggle all of that with everything else, the house doesn’t always get as clean as you may want. Depending on the ages of your kids, in fact, very little may get done. For example, if you have a newborn, you may think that you will have all the time in the world to clean when they are napping. When reality sets in, though, you will frequently find yourself falling asleep when they do.

Another thing to keep in mind when being a stay at home mom is that you rarely actually stay at home much. Running the kids to school and activities, doing the grocery shopping, and random other errands such as doctor’s appointments, take up a lot of time. These are things that need to be done, and so, they get done. Usually these things come before cleaning the house.

Taking care of the kids is a difficult chore in and of itself. It’s something that most love to do, but it can also be exhausting. Running around the house, playing hide and seek, and building castles can take a lot out of a person by the end of the day. It’s the best part of staying home, though!

Making Special Occasions Special On A Budget

Your life as a mother can be very stressful during the holiday season. One minute you’re looking up insurance information and the next thing you know, you are planning to entertain family and make all of your children’s holiday dreams come true. The task can be quite daunting. It’s enough to make anyone a little bit crazy, but that doesn’t mean you have to worry about breaking the bank to make the holidays special. You can do a lot on a little and for a working mother, that’s very important.

When focusing your attention on the holidays, think about the spirit of the season instead of the madness. For kids, the holidays are all about having a special feeling. It’s not about what presents they get. Sure, they will focus on that for a time, but that doesn’t mean they’ll only remember the presents when they become adults. Chances are they won’t be able to tell you much about what you gave them, but they will remember the experience of the holidays and how it made them feel.

Take them out to see the decorations and visit with people who are in the giving spirit. It’s a great chance for them to see the magic and wonder of the holidays with you and the rest of your family.

Let them visit with family because that will create many Christmas memories. Don’t waste a second thinking about what a hassle it will be to get to the grandparents’ house. Just take them there. It will be a wonderful experience for the entire family.

When you finally get to the presents, don’t worry much about those. Kids value quantity over quality in most cases, so whatever you get, make sure to wrap it all separately. That will help the child focus on the number of presents. Make the holidays about the moments and not about the money.