Kids Ain't Cheap

But They Sure Are Worth It

3 Principles for Teaching Children Gratitude Lessons

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Image for teaching children gratitude lessonsWhether your income is $25,000 or $250,000, you have the same tremendous opportunity with your children. You get to help them shape their worldview as they wrestle with topics like entitlement, gratefulness, greed, and contentment. It’s not always easy, but gratitude lessons can sprout up from everyday moments, as we’ll see in today’s article.

Little conversations about money, life, and more can become common place on car rides, around the dinner table, or before lights out at night.

Getting started is the hardest part.

So here are a few conversation starters for you and your child.

3 Principles for Teaching Children Gratitude Lessons

1. Show them what they have.

One powerful way to help your children understand how much work goes into the things they own is to show them.

For example, pay for your groceries in cash the next time you’re all at the grocery store. Let them see the 50’s or 100’s you hand over to the cashier in exchange for your next week or two of meals.

Show them how you choose a product (i.e. whether it’s on sale, you have a coupon for it, etc.). Talk about why you don’t spend a great deal on certain products or why you’ve cut back on others.

Encourage your children to ask questions on the drive home. If they’re old enough to understand, talk about how many hours it took you or your significant other to work in order to pay for a month’s worth of food.

2. Be consistent with your “No” and explain why it can be a good thing.

Not all negative experiences for your children are bad. One of the greatest and most challenging gifts we can offer our kids is our healthy use of the word “No.”

For example, I recently won a large container of Tootsie Rolls in a guessing game at a family reunion. My 2-year-old knows they’re in the house, so he drew a simple conclucsion: Chocolate candy for breakfast. Every morning.

Did I say “Yes” to his requests? No. Did he ask again and wail when I turned him down? Yes. It would feel better to make him happy, but I kept saying “no candy for breakfast” because:

  1. I love my son.
  2. The Buddy the Elf diet isn’t going to cut it.

It’s the same with saying no to other things in your kids’ lives. Sticking with your answer – however difficult – will give them a healthy dose of boundaries if you also take the necessary time to explain your reasons.

Bonus Tip:

Sometimes, you can offer a positive alternative without giving in. If they want candy for breakfast, my answer could be “No, but if you finish your breakfast, you may have one later as a snack.” If my daughter is fixated on a new toy she can’t have, that gives us the chance to talk the cost of toys. We can discuss bringing some of her own money next time – or doing chores to earn enough for that item.
OR just stick with your answer. You don’t owe your kids a Disney experience at the store or the breakfast table.

Gratitude lessons can feel harsh, but, like I said, they can produce some terrific discussion opportunities between you and your child.

3. Show them how others live with less.

One way to really generate discussions about gratitude versus entitlement is to take your kids to a homeless shelter or soup kitchen. Hunger and poverty are so prevalent around the world. Children in stable living conditions don’t grow up understanding how other children suffer each day – unless someone shows them.

For example, Audra Rogers from Real Honest Mom did a brave thing for her 8-year-old son. After noticing a few cases of what she called “affluenza” in her son (acting entitled or ungrateful for having a lot of things), she loaded him into the car and spent the day serving in a homeless shelter.

Their experience was so powerful that Disney’s parenting blog, Babble, picked up Audra’s story and published it for other families to see.

Recommended Reading: “What Happened When I Took My Spoiled Kid to a Homeless Shelter” 

You can teach your kids about gratitude through experiences, conversation, books, and the like. I believe, however, the most effective gratitude lessons are simply taught by example. Easier said than done, I know, but the struggle yields a tremendous return: Children who love and appreciate the world in which they live.

When did you begin to understand gratitude as a child? Share an example in the comments below.

Why a Costco Membership is Beneficial for Our Family

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When I was first married I felt my Costco membership was a waste of money. Now as a family of four our Costco Membership is beneficial in many ways. Here's why.When we first became homeowners six years ago, the first thing we did was go out and invest in a Costco membership.

I couldn’t wait to buy 30 rolls of toilet paper, an enormous bag of coffee or 5kg of chocolate chips whenever I wanted. It didn’t take us long to realize we really didn’t yet need a Costco membership though. We were only two people and one of whom was traveling a lot for work and rarely home.

When the year was up we let the membership expire and didn’t really miss it. This all changed four years ago though.

Looking at Why It Didn’t Work

The biggest mistake we were making at the time of our initial membership was not pricing out our groceries. We were horrible at meal planning and figuring pricing out. We were wasting money in not planning. We also hadn’t looked outside food enough such as baby items (at the time not relevant) or stuff like cat litter.

After I started my first maternity leave, and were forced to have a good long look at how we were spending money, and when I look at our big areas of spending I realize how beneficial the membership actually is to our family.

Baby Stuff

I think my newborns entire infant wardrobe came from Costco. They have amazing and affordable baby clothes. Their price on things like diapers and wipes also made the drive over well worth it.

After we got our membership back I no longer had to scour the sales and wait for a deal when it came to things like diapers because I knew they would be cheaper at Costco than any regular store sale. Now that we’re expecting baby #2 I know exactly where we’ll stock up on diapers and wipes!

Propane

We have always loved to BBq and try to do it year round as it can be an affordable way to cook. The price of propane at Costco is more than half the price that we were paying at the local gas station. Given that we fill it up every few weeks in the summer we save quite a bit of money.

Coming next year we’ll also get our gas from Costco too.

Produce

With an official third mouth to feed, and a husband who was now home more than before, we were going through quite a bit of produce. I did the math and for a lot of our favorite items, it is more times than not cheaper to buy at Costco.

Sometimes it’s cheaper for us to buy seasonal items from local stores (like when we have local apples) but non-seasonally, Costco prices and quality is always much better than most local grocery stores.

Services

We have capitalized on many services that comes with our membership such as photocenter or pharmacy. Again the pricing always makes the trip in worth it.

Our city has had a Costco for as long as I remember but the 30 minute drive made it hard to justify becoming a member given than we’d be driving at least an hour return for our trip, but about six years ago we got one closer to us and now it’s a part of our regular grocery shopping routine. Costco also has a really great return policy, so I know that pretty much anything we buy at Costco we can return – no questions asked.

I’ve become price-savvy enough to be able to shop around and know if and when to wait for our Costco trip. It’s a fee we don’t mind spending as we definitely do save way more per year than our membership costs. We’re also at the point now in terms of Costco spending to justify getting the executive membership which, if anything like I expect to earn in cashback, will end up being essentially free for us.

Do you have a Costco membership? How do you make it work for your family?

Hosting a Bridal Shower on a Budget

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Throwing parties can get expensive fast. Here's how to host a bridal shower on a budget and still have a great party and great time.I think most of us have at least attended a shower before. Baby showers and bridal showers are both pretty common events. Though I have attended many, including my own, until this year, I have never been involved in hosting and organizing one and let me tell you, it is a lot of work! If you’re not careful it can be so easy to go overboard and bust your budget.

Along with my Mother-in-law, we have been busy planning a bridal shower for my sister-in-law this coming week. In the past few months I have discovered quite a few tips to help make the process a little easier in both work load and finances. Though we are planning a bridal shower, the same could be applied to any baby shower as well.

Timing is Key!

Be conscious about the time you want your event hosted. Originally we had the time set to start at 4pm to accommodate someone who would be working in the day but we quickly changed it when we realized people would likely be expecting a full meal to be served.

Avoid hosting the event over a time where a meal would likely be served. You can save a ton on food costs by having it at an ‘’in between’’ time. For us we decided to have the event from 1-4pm, after common lunch time but before supper.

Instead of needing to provide a meal we will be having finger foods like small sandwiches, fruit, cupcakes and treats. This is much easier on the wallet. A late morning works well too- you could simply have tea/coffee/mimosas and fruit and sweets. Aside from the financial side of things, it is so much less work!

Don’t Go Crazy with Decorations

I did a quick walk through at a local party store and quickly got turned off. While there were quite a few cute decorations they really were a one-time use only and cheap in quality.

I could have easily spent over $50 in that store alone on stuff simply because it said ‘’Bridal Shower’’ or ‘’Bride-to-Be’’. Instead we went to the dollar store and bought some (of the exact same) balloons, streamers and a local craft store to make our own signs. It was less than half the price and not much effort.

(Here are some more tips on throwing themed showers.)

Designate Tasks

As the shower got closer and we realized how much we both still had to do we asked for help.

I knew the maid of honor wouldn’t mind helping so we asked her to take care of one of the games as well picking up a few items from a specific store. She didn’t mind at all and now something we didn’t have to worry about. The day of the shower some cousins will be coming over to help set everything up too which will help while we prep the food.

Especially around a wedding or baby shower, people are often all too willing to lend a hand, just don’t be afraid to ask.

Skip formal invites

Shower invites are very tempting. I looked and really wanted to buy some but I knew they’d just end up in the garbage so we opted not to do it instead choosing to do everything online instead. It was easier to communicate with people this way too. I don’t think anyone minded not getting the formal invite and it saved us a few bucks!

I’m happy to say we managed to get everything we needed to host the 20 person shower for less than I was expecting because of a little extra planning on our behalf.

Have you ever hosted a baby or bridal shower? How did you manage everything?

Helping Family With Financial Problems

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Helping family with financial problems can be extremely tough to do. These are the guidelines I set when a family member needs financial help.Money issues can often become a family issue. When we were younger, my sister was the saver and I was the spender. At any given time, my piggy bank was likely empty as I had just bought something while she probably had the first cent she ever saved. Things have drastically changed as adults.

My sister tried to justify every tiny purchase and as a result has a hard time getting out debt and putting money into savings. She may be my younger sister but she is an adult and should probably be able to manage her finances on her own, but she has come to me (multiple times) for help. She’s never actually asked for money, just help with managing things which I don’t mind doing.

Knowing when to step in and help a friend or family member with their finances can be hard. Even advice can be hard to give sometimes as money is so personal. You really need to know and understand each other’s spending habits to really be able to help.

Establish Boundaries

Before you agree to help someone you need to establish boundaries.

I agreed to help my sister with a budget and getting everything set up but that’s it. At one point she asked me if I would actually control her money for her, only giving her an allowance but that was too much for me.

Not only does she really not learn anything about managing her own money, it would be a lot of work for me as well to actually manger her money as well as mine. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for accidentally screwing something up. Some people may be ok with actually taking over someone else’s money but I wasn’t so I made sure she understood exactly what I was willing to do and not do.

Make Sure You Have Time

Helping someone with their money- even if it’s just setting a budget up can be very time consuming. If you’re willing to help make sure you actually have time set aside to help them or it won’t be beneficial. I agreed to help her again set up a new budget but I won’t have time for a few weeks to set aside and actually discuss everything with her. Especially with little ones around, I will need a few, uninterrupted, hours to dedicate to her. I’ve agreed to help but she will have to wait until I’m ready.

Be Prepared to Walk Away

The first time my sister approached me to help (a few years ago) I could tell it was going to be a total waste of time and effort. She wasn’t in the right mindset and shot down every suggestion I made. Even though I knew she needed to follow the advice I was giving her, I just knew she wouldn’t. For my own sanity I walked away. I told her we’d come back to it when she was ready to take it more seriously which, a few months later she did. If you’re both not on the same page, walk away.

Helping a friend or family member with a financial issue has the potential to divide people. I totally understand why some people refuse. Thankfully my sister and I are able to maintain a good relationship despite these things and I’m happy to take responsibility for the positive changes she has made.

Have you ever helped a friend or family member with a money issue? How did it work out?

What to Do When You’ve Busted Your Budget!

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Even with careful planning it's easy to spend more money than you want to. Here's what to do when you've busted your budget.We’ve all had months were costs have gotten a bit out of control. Sometimes it’s a missed item that you forgot to budget or sometimes you do budget for something but it ends up costing way more than expected. Busting your budget is bound to happen.

If I’m being honest we can be bad for busting our budget. Rarely do we hit our numbers perfectly. I do my best to estimate our variable expenses but I’m often off the mark. Sometimes it’s a few dollars which doesn’t make much difference but sometimes I can be off by a few hundred. This is why I’m glad we have a loose budgeting system in place- I often don’t have a hard time attempting to fix our ways come next pay. Here are a few ways you can ‘’make up’’ a budget-busting month:

Make More Money

This can be the easiest way for some people. If you don’t want your future weeks or months effected than simply earn more to make up the short fall.

Both my husband and I have a side hustle which earns us a little extra money we can use if necessary. We also both have a cash-accumulated vacation-time bank through work which I can withdraw from if needed and finally we can also work more at our day-jobs. For us, it’s often easiest to just earn more if we need to make up the shortfall. Then we don’t have to worry about messing anything in the future up.

Move Money Around

I don’t like doing this but sometimes we need to shift funds around a bit. For instance, even though our water bill is only due every three months I usually make a payment on it, every month. If needed, I could skip one or two of these payments and still be able to make it up before the bill is actually due. This is my least favorite way of making up a busted budget but is still an option. I also have a small buffer in our account after bills are paid that I don’t like touching but know it’s there if needed.

Give Something Up

Maybe there’s something in your budget you need to cut down (or cut out entirely) to make up your shortage. If you have something like an ‘’eating out, or entertainment’’ category, maybe consider skipping out on it for a month to make up your shortage. Most people have categories in their budget they can play with like how much they spend on groceries. Got through each category and see if there is any room to play with.

Emergency Fund

This is an absolute last case option but it has to be suggested anyway. Really, ER funds should not be used to make up a budget shortfalls but sometimes if it means taking from ER fund versus take on debt, the choice is easy. Just be careful not to make a habit out of it!

Everyone will experience months where their budget isn’t perfect. The goal is to avoid taking on debt and making up the shortfall as fast as possible.

How do you mange months where your budget gets busted?

Planning for Baby #2!

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When I found out I was pregnant with our second child I started planning for all the things I need. Here's my $500 budget and ideas for planning for baby #2We finally announced that we are happily expecting baby #2 this year. If all goes well, by Christmas this year we’ll officially be a family of four. Our daughter, who just turned four this month is beyond excited and all to ready to start prepping for baby– more than mom and dad I think!

Thankfully we held onto a lot of stuff from our first pregnancy which saves on what we need to get for baby #2. There were a few things though that either didn’t make the journey with us or quite simply didn’t work as we had hoped and really need to replace. I’m hoping that we’ll be able to get everything we need for less than $500.

Maternity Clothes: $150

This pregnancy is the opposite season of my first. My first was due in June, this baby is due in December. This of course means most of my seasonal maternity clothes don’t make sense or I just don’t have. I didn’t need to buy maternity summer clothes with #1, where I can no longer fit into any non-maternity summer clothes. Given that I’m in scrubs most of the time (something else that doesn’t fit great anymore), I needed to buy some summer items. I decided to buy two pairs of shorts and a few tops (which I don’t need quite yet) on clearance.

I waited until I had a 40% off coupon and bought two pairs of shorts at one of the only maternity stores in town (we don’t have anything like a Target and none of our WalMart’s carry maternity items so we’re forced to shop at maternity clothing stores which are crazy expensive).

I tried our local thrift stores first with no luck at all. I also thought I could get away with buying a few bigger sized shorts at a cheaper store but had no luck there either. In the end, the shorts were $45 each but I had the coupon which helped. The tops were bought only because I knew I’d need them in a few months and were on clearance for $10-20 each. I also bought a maternity dress on clearance in preparation for a wedding I’ll be attending in the fall at 6.5 months pregnant.

When this pregnancy is done I also plan on selling all my maternity clothes to help the cost a bit!

New Crib Mattress: $120

I was hoping we wouldn’t need to buy this but after looking at our current crib mattress, which our daughter used for 3.5 years it’s not in great shape. It’s quite stained and I think one of the springs is broken (possibly from toddlers jumping on the bed while trying to escape?).

I found a really nice organic one at Marshalls recently that was on sale from $220 for $99. I’m hoping one will be there in a few months when we go to buy. Worst case, there’s always Costco which sells them for $100 year round.

Breast Pump: $100 (or less)

I have every intention of breastfeeding again as I did with our daughter for 14 months. I had a pump, lent it to a friend and she accidentally broke it. She felt pretty bad and ended up giving us some gift certificates towards the purchase of a new one despite be trying to tell her not to worry about it.

I think with the gift certificates and sales that are ongoing, $100 is more than enough. I may also be able to borrow one from another friend who’s been having breastfeeding issues but has a very expensive high-end pump that we could just buy new tubing to.

Diaper Bag: $45

We were given a diaper bag with our daughter which I used literally until she was out of diapers and didn’t have to worry about an outfit change every outing we made. Some people don’t use them but I loved having the dedicated bag to our daily needs to take a quick notice. Near the end of it’s life though the zipper tore off and though I had intentions of having it repaired, when I went to look through our baby stuff recently I couldn’t find it. I did eventually crumpled up in a ball in the corner of our damp basement storage room full of mold.

I’m not storing our new baby stuff in a broken moldy bag so I threw it out. As fate would have it, I found a really nice bag online through Zulily at a great price. The bag normally retails for almost $200 but they were selling it for $35 plus $6 shipping. I haven’t received it yet but it’s reviewed very well so I’m sure it will serve our needs just fine.

Infant Car Seat: $85

Since car seats expire we need a new infant car seat. We happened to be in a store recently while they were marking down their infant seats (50% off) from last year’s fabric pattern. We scored a new infant car seat for $80 and it’s compatible with our current stroller.

Planning for baby #2 is definitely less stressful than your first that’s for sure. I’m glad we held onto as much as we did and won’t need to but much beyond what’s already listed!

How did you plan for baby #2?

How to Prepare for Maternity Leave

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When my first baby came I was so unprepared. Now I would do everything differently. If you're expecting here's how to prepare for maternity leave.I am the first to admit that I was 100% unprepared for maternity leave. My baby was due at the end of June and because of some complications I was having (which was hindering my ability to work), my OB was talking about putting me off as early as the beginning of March. Given my unpreparedness, there was no way we’d be able to handle an additional three months on top of what would be a yearlong leave from my job. The only thing I did know was that money would be tight.

It was a huge wake up call to find out my income would inevitably be almost 60% decreased on leave for twelve long months. To say it was an adjustment would be an understatement. I learned a lot though and when the time comes for future children we will be much more prepare following these few self-imposed rules.

Beef up the Savings

We had zero savings when our daughter was born. Not even an emergency fund. Thankfully we got our act together and stashed a small one away once we realized how unsafe we were being but it wasn’t easy. If we have more kids I will be spending the whole gestational period saving more money. If my doctor wants me to go off early again I need to be able to do it and not worry about the financial repercussions. I need to be able to take care of me and my (potential) baby.

Adjust Your Budget

Again, we didn’t have a budget when I went off with our daughter, big no-no. Now that we have a money monitoring system in place, if we have more kids I will adjust it to accommodate the changes. You need to figure out what your new baby will need (diapers, clothes, potential formula, medical appointments etc.) and make sure the money is allotted. Also make sure any income changes are addressed for the time off work.

Prepare Your Life

Do as much prep as you can before your income and time is potentially reduced. There were things we didn’t necessarily need right away (high chair, crib) but we bought when we had more disposable income and had time to shop sales.

Also spend time preparing for the first few weeks at home. While you have time and energy, prep your freezer for easy meals or you may find yourself eating out more than you’d like. Those first few days, weeks, are exhausting and if you are the primary cook, you will really want easy meals. Your spouse will be tired too and be so thankful when you tell them there’s a meal already prepped in the freezer for them to throw in.

Whether it’s your first or fourth, being pregnant and bringing a new baby home will be a change in every aspect of your life. Don’t be like me with my first pregnancy, sit down as soon as you find out your pregnant and figure out what changes you need to make in your life!

What things did you do to prepare for maternity leave?

4 Expenses Your Family Can Start Cutting Today

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If you need to save money in a hurry here are four expenses your family can start cutting today! These small changes can have a big impact.It wasn’t that long ago that we were living so close to the edge while I was on my (yearlong) maternity leave, that I was forced to have a good, serious, look at our spending. I knew there had to be areas to save but I didn’t know where to start. To save you some time I will give you five areas your family can likely start cutting today.

Beauty

One thing I was still doing was maintaining my short hair style, with a cut every six to eight weeks. I had long ago stopped coloring to save funds, now the time had come to evaluate my haircuts. I was spending almost $50 every two months to cut my hair. It wasn’t a terribly complicated cut, the truth was that I was friends with my stylist and enjoyed seeing her every few weeks. I sucked up her salon prices and continued.

It didn’t take me long to realize this was an expense we could, at the very least substantially cut down. I knew I would still want my hair cut just not for $50. I asked around to a few friends and family and found a lady who worked at a salon in the day but on weekends and evenings cut hair out of her house, for cheap. She’d cut my hair for $15. Done.

(Here are more ways to save on beauty.)

Clothing

I’ve never been a big spender on clothing but I still find ways to save. Unless it’s underwear or a staple like my husband’s undershirts or my tank tops, I almost always looking for second hand first. Between thrift stores and online classifieds I generally have quite a bit of luck (especially with woman and kids).

Food

This can be one of the hardest ones, but if done right it can be so beneficial.

Before we started budgeting, we really had no idea how much we were spending on food but I knew it was a lot. While I was on maternity leave we were forced to budget very well since money was tight and though we’ve loosened things up a bit in the years since, it was a great learning opportunity for us.

Transportation

If you have more than one vehicle, consider selling one. If possible, look into public transit or car share programs. Be conscious about how much gas you’re using. If you can carpool with someone maybe consider sharing costs. If you pay for parking and there are options around, look into parking options. I could park at work for $225/month but I can think of quite a few other things I’d rather spend that kind of money on, so I park at a free park and ride and take the bus the rest of the way in. The bus costs me $2 each way and saves on my gas and wear and tear. In the end, I’m only losing about 15 minutes by taking bus (vs driving the whole way).

Where, and how much, each family can cut will vary but these seem to be a few obvious ones most people can relate to and are a good starting point.

What areas has your family cut down or totally out to save money?

Would You Buy a Home For Your Child?

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While paying for your child's college is noble if you can do so is there ever any reason to buy a home for your child? Let us know what you think!I work for a successful dentist. Part of his success definitely comes from his frugality which I admire. When most think dentist, they think big beautiful home, fancy cars, great work schedule and exotic vacations on a regular basis. While his house is nice, it’s large by necessity not lavishness, he and his wife have four kids and live well within their means. He’s been in practice for 30 years, still works five (long) days per week, by choice, until recently he drove a 16 year old van and when he does take time off it’s usually incorporating a little work with a little play.

He’s extremely modest, except when it comes to his kids.

I totally respect parents who can afford to put their children through school. While I don’t think it is the parent’s duty to do so, if you’re able to afford both putting them through post-secondary while taking care of your own long term financial goals, that’s great. What I can’t wrap my head around is parents who, beyond post-secondary years, continue to financially support their children. For so many reasons I think this is a terrible idea.

Should You Buy a Home for Your Child?

One of the dentist’s children is getting ready to graduate from university this month. He’s finishing with a degree in engineering and already has a job lined up with, what I’ve been told, is a good competitive salary- even better given he has zero debt to manage. He is in a much better position than most all of his peers that’s for sure.

Needless to say I was a little shocked to hear the dentist say he and his wife were considering buying a house for this son to live in, rent free.

Here’s the thing. The kid has already gone through life never having a ‘real’ job, he’s made money doing some sports coaching stuff casually but his only responsibilities were to do well in both school and sports, again given his upbringing that’s fine and I’m not judging, but continuing to baby him beyond university is setting him up for failure. It’s high time he takes care of himself.

If they were genuinely interested in investing in real estate in this city (second highest in our country), because they planned on living there or something, maybe I get it but the kid shouldn’t be allowed to live there rent free that’s for sure.

Thankfully the wife of the dentist spoke some sense in to him and explained where my head at is well, basically that it’s not their responsibility to provide for him anymore and instead are going with him to see a finance person about how he can save for his own place should he choose to stay there (he’s thinking of going back to school).

Though his children are well taken care of, they really do understand how fortunate they are and see how hard their father works to provide for them (probably why of the four kids not one went into dentistry). This story had the potentially to end tragically- like it does for so many families of parents to hold onto their kids way too long, but thankfully they came to their senses and backed out of the idea.

Would you buy your kids a house to live in?

How to Find Good Deals on Kids Sports Equipment

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If you're feeling the financial pinch from your child's extracurricular's here's how to find good deals on kids sports equipment.So far our daughter has been involved in both soccer and ballet classes. We’re pretty fortunate that neither has been overly expensive but the fact still remains that we’re still at the point of needing new equipment every year because kids grow so fast! Last summer we managed to get away with only needing a soccer ball and outdoor cleats for kiddo and this year was a bit more expensive adding her ballet gear (suit, tight and slippers). Compared to my husband who can spend $50 on a pair of soccer cleats and get a few years out of them, we spend close to $40 for kids cleats and are only able to use them for a few months.

At the end of her soccer year I looked at her cleats and realized they looked brand new. They were literally on her feet for a total of about 15 hours and now, one year later, they don’t come close to fitting her. I figured if she’s in this boat, there has to be other local kids who are too which is how I started my search for less expensive sports equipment.

Facebook groups

This seems to be the best for me locally. There are many (usually private) Facebook groups advertising the sale or swap of all things related to kids. Though they tend to be heavier on baby items there is definitely a good selection of other things. It also gives you an opportunity to reach out to a group of parents with young kids for inquiries about what you’re looking for, if someone in the group doesn’t have any of the equipment that you are looking for they may know someone. I’ve seen many successful transactions in the mommy groups I am a part of.

Online classifieds

I have looked both internationally and locally at different classifieds for stuff that we needed and in there were deals to be found, but in the end we had more luck with Facebook and word of mouth. Still definitely worth checking out.

Local Kids Swap

This is a huge help if you have access to one. Every year one of the huge arenas on town hosts a weekend long kids clothing and ‘’stuff’’ swap. You can attend looking to set up a table and sell or swap your stuff or you can gain admission to buy things that you may need. These tend to be hugely successful and you can find some amazing deals the only downside is that they are usually very busy especially if they’re advertising that they have a ‘’multiples’’ section for twins and triplets (a hot commodity).

Word of Mouth

This is probably my favorite way to find things we need. How successful you are will depend on how connected you are though so it may not work for everyone that well. At my work I see tons of patients every week and I’ve grown to form quite a few relationships with people. When I couldn’t find shin pads that fit kiddo last year I started asking parents whose kids I knew played soccer and in a few days I had a brand new pair sent to me at work from a kid who never used them. It never hurts to ask around! Moms at dance also swap dance gear between kids as new kids start and older kids grow out, though it’s not advertised the receptionist at the studio usually keeps a list of dance gear people have looking to swap if asked.

I feel that it is important to involve children in all kinds of different activities, and while they’re young and have a lot of energy, sports especially. It can be overwhelming when it comes to equipment but don’t let equipment cost alone prevent you from having your kid try a different sport out!

How do you save on your kids sporting activities?

The Benefits of Doing Your Own Taxes

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This post is part of the TaxAct #DIYtaxes blog tour which empowers you to take ownership of your finances by doing your own taxes. TaxAct provides the tools and guidance to help you confidently file your taxes easy and fast. Do your own taxes today at TaxAct.com. You got this.

Taxes can be stressful. However, if you choose to look at doing your own taxes in a different light you’ll see that there really are some major benefits and that filing yourself is not as hard as you may think.For many people taxes are a total pain. I get it. Once a year you’ve got to scramble to gather up all of your  documents, then sit down and sift through numbers and try to figure out what’s going on. Just the thought of it can stress you out.

However, if you choose to look at doing your own taxes in a different light you’ll see that there really are some major benefits and that filing yourself is not as hard as you may think.

Here are the biggest benefits of doing your own taxes.

You’ll Get a Closer Look at Your Finances

Would you be shocked to learn that only 40% of US adults keep a written budget or track their expenses and almost two-thirds of American families live paycheck to paycheck?

Having a better awareness of your financial situation is the first step in making improvements to your personal finances. Doing your own taxes can help you get a closer look at where you stand.

When you file your own taxes you’ll be taking a good hard look at how much you and your spouse earned last year, the investments you’ve made and any capital gains you’ve earned or lost, how much you’ve paid in interest on your mortgage or student loans and so much more.

You can get a big picture of where you stand in one day by simply doing the work yourself. This is an enormous benefit.

You’ll Learn A Lot and Be More Prepared for Next Year

Tax software these days is pretty great. It walks you through the tax filing process step-by-step all while teaching what you need to know to make the most out of your tax situation. You’ll learn about credits and deductions and will be more prepared when it comes to do your taxes next year.

You’ll also know exactly what you need to file your taxes and will be able to prepare accordingly.

As a bonus most tax software comes with maximum refund guarantees and accuracy guarantees if you’ve entered in all of your information correctly.

You’ll Save Money

Hands down, it’s cheaper to file taxes yourself than to pay an accountant to do it for you. You can save yourself a few hundred dollars by preparing your own taxes. (And who doesn’t like to save money?!)

It’s Easy

Filing taxes yourself is a very simple process thanks to tax software.

With good tax software, like TaxAct, you’ll be given prompts that will tell you exactly what to enter from each of your tax forms. When you’re done you’ll be able to run alerts which will scan through your information and look for any potential problems.

If you’ve got a simple tax situation filing taxes yourself is a very straightforward process. Even if your situation is slightly more complex you can still easily do taxes yourself by following the prompts and answering the questions.

Tips for Getting Started

If you’re ready to started here a few tips to make the filing process go smoothly:

Collect Everything You Need – Before you sit down to do your taxes gather up all of your documents so that they’re right in front of you. This includes things like income documentation, interest and investment tax forms and personal information of any dependents you’ll be claiming.

Choose the Right Software – Look at all options on the tax software you’ll be using and select the one that is most applicable to your situation right from the start. This will save you from having to upgrade half way through the process.

Check Your Numbers and Run Alerts – After you’ve entered all of your information go back through and double check your numbers and then run all alerts. Fix any problem areas and then file.

After that you’ll be done with your taxes and can walk away with a better understanding of your financial situation and the sense of satisfaction that comes from doing something yourself.

Beating the tax deadline doesn’t have to be stressful. With TaxAct, everything you need to confidently prepare and e-file your taxes is right at your fingertips. You got this. File your simple federal and state return FREE today with TaxAct.

Three Things That Are Worth The Splurge

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As much as I love saving money there are things that are definitely worth spending on. Here are three things worth the splurge.As much as I love saving money, there are a few things in life that I believe are worth spending money on. Most of the time I’m more than happy to buy generic products or forgo buying something altogether, but when it comes to a few areas in my life, quality services and products are non- negotiable and here’s why.

Skin care products

Since I was a teen I have struggled with various skin issues. Acne as a teen, sever pregnancy-induced rosacea as an adult and still, as a non-pregnant adult, oily acne prone skin is still present. I can’t even begin to tabulate what I’ve spend on internal and external products looking to help me with my skin issues, almost always being dictated by the bottom dollar.

In the last while though I have started paying more attention to quality products instead of just how much they cost and have noticed a huge difference in my skin. I’m not spending hundreds of dollars or anything, but my $40 cream and $25 facewash is about 5x what I was spending on my cheap stuff which I used for years. It didn’t take long to convince me that spending the money is well worth it.

Bedding

Have you ever slept in a bed with crappy bedding? The kind of bedding that can actually keep you awake because it’s rough and scratchy or doesn’t stay on the bed and rolls up around you? It’s incredibly annoying and considering how much time we spend in bed, quality bedding is worth it!

Quality bedding doesn’t have to cost boatloads of money though. Sure you could easily spend $500 on a nice sheet set but when you can buy name brand sets at discount department stores, why would you? Stores like Marshalls and Winners sell name brand bedding at a fraction of the cost. Just this past summer I bought new sheets which originally retailed for $199.00 for the set, I paid $69.00. While I could get cheap generic sheets at Walmart for probably half the price it’s just not worth wasting the money.

Vacations

Vacations and time away are important to our family. We enjoy spending time together and making memories during our new experiences. We make sure we have the funds to enjoy a little time away every year. It doesn’t mean we’re going on international excursions every year though. Some of our best memories have been from quick road trips not far from home. While we’re working on major financial goals (for us right now it’s debt repayment), lavish vacations aren’t an option but we still make sure we have some money in our budget for something, even if it’s a quick weekend away. Vacations as a whole though are an expense we prioritize and when we do plan a getaway (even if it’s a camping trip) we make sure we don’t leave ourselves feeling short and enjoy time away. Here are 7 great tips to save money on vacation.

This list has changed drastically for me over the years. It wasn’t that long ago that I would have included hair cut and color, something I used to do religiously every six to eight weeks. I stopped doing it when funds were short while I was on maternity leave, I found a cheaper haircut option and let my natural color come back, four years later and I still don’t miss spending the money.

We all have different priorities and I try my hardest not to judge how anyone does or doesn’t spend their money what is important to me may not be for another person.

What are areas that you don’t mind spending a little more on?

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