Frugal for Number Two

Hello to anyone that has found this blog. Since my last post, we have welcomed Baby #2 into the mix, and I have quite a few money-saving tips I've been meaning to share for some time now. Some may be relevant to you, and others might completely miss the mark! Take what you can from this, and apply it to your situation accordingly.

The first tip I want to share is baby item storage between kids and what I did wrong. We have moved three times between our children's births and to some very different climates! We knew there would be a bit of an age gap given our circumstances. So, we kept anything that was small enough to fit into two totes plus the high chair. This included my breast pump, bottles, pacifiers, teething rings, cart cover, bottle warmer, crib sheets, mattress protector, bulb syringe, shoes and clothes.

What shouldn't I have saved of this, you ask?

For one, the pacifiers. Ours held up, but I was terrified the plastic would decompose, and he'd choke on a piece that fell off. To be fair, they were in the desert for almost three years, and our house didn't cool down very well. No matter the climate, though, I would have been terrified. Second, the teething rings! ALL THE WATER EVAPORATED OUT. Do not waste your time saving these things. Third, the bulb syringe. I saw a picture of the moldy inside of one going around on Facebook. They give you a new one in the hospital anyway. Just throw it out! Also, if you do decide to save items like cribs, swings, pack 'n plays, please check for product recalls. In addition, remember to take out the batteries of any items that will be stored long-term! I promise, you don't want to be scraping battery acid out of anything when you're pregnant and have other things to do.

My second tip is to still make a registry (or three)! I love samples. This is a must for the samples and coupons you get. I did the Amazon and Target registries. For Amazon, items had to be purchased off the registry to get the baby box in the mail, but it was worth it! I added items I would be buying anyway, and we used almost everything I got from Amazon. Because we had to buy some big stuff, it was great to be able to watch the prices fluctuate and buy when it was low. I checked the prices almost every day. We ended up scoring a Graco swing (orig. $120) for $46 on Black Friday. Our car seat and bassinet were also quite discounted that day. For Target, the bag was significantly less, yet still quite useful. The sample size baby washes, lotion and laundry detergents are perfect for packing up when visiting relatives. Side tip: Usually the coupons aren't too good. I didn't use a single one. We stuck with Target's Up & Up diapers and wipes, and those types of coupons are the most useful out of these bags. For someone that prefers the name brand diapers, the coupons would be more impressive. There were good coupons for Aquaphor and Mustela, but I only buy these kinds of items when necessary, and I never needed them.

Third, be prepared. Not every experience is the same. Assume everything that was easy with your first baby will be harder with your second. Keep your doctor's, lactation counselor's and pediatrician's information close by. My second baby was a dream compared to the first, but there were massive differences, and knowing that it wouldn't be the same was massively helpful. Also, if you can, store items that you didn't use with your first. There's a few things that I preferred to have years down the road, like swaddling blankets and burp rags.

My last tip would be to reflect on your first baby. What's important to you? Is there anything that you wish you would have bought the first time around to help you? Is there anything you really don't need? Circumstances change. With our first, we had a baby monitor, and it was used frequently. However, our current home is very small, and the baby is never more than 20 feet away. Our first monitor broke, and we did not need to replace it. Also, I realized we didn't need more than two crib sheets. There's no use in extra crib sheets when you're doing laundry every day. It's quite amazing how much laundry there is when you're a family of four instead of three. One thing that I didn't get with my first that I wish I had was newborn baby pictures. I did some in the hospital, and we also went through a studio for more when he was a month old. Overall, it cost about $150, but it is my one regret from #1 that I was too cheap to have nice pictures taken. Don't be too cheap.

I hope this was helpful for you, and good luck with baby number 2!

Sincerely,
Kristin

Halloween Themed Baby Shower!

I can't wait to share this with you! After months of planning and pinning, my friend and I threw the best Halloween-themed baby shower for one of our good friends!

First, the decor. The mama loves Halloween, so we wanted to make sure it resembled an actual Halloween Party. We did tulle wrapped pumpkins, wiry spooky trees that I got off of Zulily for $10 a piece, spider web tablecloths, plus odds and ends from Dollar Tree. The picture above was a black tablecloth wrapped around a picture frame, with spider web all over. I took 2 long sections of black tulle and draped it across, and then I used a hot glue gun to get the letters on it. After we were done, it was easy to pull off and discard!

However, it is a baby shower! We wanted to celebrate the baby and play all the typical shower games. We did 4 in all. One was a short game where the guests matched the "animal" with the number of days of gestation. Because its Halloween, we did bats, cats, spiders, humans, and owls. The second game was The Price Is Right, which had our guests match prices with different baby items. The decor surrounding this was Halloween themed, but the game itself was not. It was awesome that the mama got to keep all the items afterward, so I highly recommend this game! The third game involved 4 couples/pairs. One person fed the other person baby food, and the latter had to guess what it was. The first team to get all 4 right won! The last game was pregnancy bingo, where the guests all wrote down what they thought the mama would receive, and as she was opening presents, we played Bingo! For all the games, the winners got to choose between fall scented candles or Halloween decorated tumblers.

Now for the food! We did pizza and ribs for the main dish, but the extras are where you could see the theme shine through. I made fruit cups that looked like candy corn out of pineapple, mandarin oranges, and whip cream. We had cupcakes and a veggie platter (just standard things!), and for the main appetizer/dessert, we had a caramel apple bar! We served slices of apples on toothpicks that looked like pumpkins, spiders, bats, and ghosts (Thanks, Amazon!), and we had caramel dip in my crock-pot. There were 4 cups with assorted toppings, and this was by far my favorite! For drinks, I looked up some easy punch recipes on Pinterest. Honestly, the Apple Spider Punch was gross. The Dragon's Blood punch was delicious! It consisted of 1 container of Simply Mixed Berry, 1 2L of Sprite, and a bag of frozen mixed berries. Delicious!

For added effect, I filled the mason jars pictured above with candy corn, and added the letters to spell "Peek a Boo", which was probably the only true crossover touch of the evening!

I hope this article can assist anyone planning a Halloween-themed baby shower. Happy Halloween!

-Kristin

Family Photography

We all have our regrets when it comes to parenting, don't we?

My biggest regret was not getting professional pictures taken when Noah was a baby. Now that he's a toddler, we actually got around to having our pictures done, and I love that Noah was old enough to interact with us. Sarah from S. Hayes Photography in Twentynine Palms, CA (now located in AZ) was amazing. I'm sad she's not still in CA! She was so good with working with Noah, considering he's not the most cooperative child. I don't think anyone could have handled it better! These two pictures were my favorite.

 

I can't wait to do another family shoot! Maybe later this year or next year sometime. Kids just grow so damn fast!

-Kristin

Baby Savings #2

Good afternoon, everyone!

Pinterest probably led you to this blog, and you can find my first post about budgeting a few articles down. I would like to share some more thoughts. Months have gone by since I wrote that article, and I have a lot more to say now that I have some more experience.

Tip #1: Give this idea to the person that is organizing your baby shower. Any guest that brings an unwrapped pack of diapers (aside from the gift they're giving you) has their name entered into a drawing for a gift card. I did this for my sister, and she didn't need to buy diapers for months. I assessed what would be most valuable to the guests at her party, and I decided to go with a $50 gift card to Target. Most places are easy to exchange at, and I believe she only had to switch out a couple packs.

Tip #2: Ask your hospital what you will receive during your stay there. At mine, we received the remaining newborn diapers from the pack that was used for my son while we were there. By the time we had finished the pack, he was already in size 1's. I ended up giving away the newborn size diapers I bought myself (I used maybe 3 of them, but he was leaking out of them!). I also received lanolin for free, but I believe civilian hospitals make you pay for that, because its from the pharmacy. For his cord/circumcision care, we got free gauze pads, petroleum jelly, and alcohol wipes. For myself, they supplied me with everything I needed, as well as all the pain/healing medication and creams for at home. Again, your hospital might tack this on your hospital bill. I consider myself very lucky to not have had any medical bills. A little bit of witch hazel from any drug store will help you a lot with pain, and a big bottle of it is only $2!

Tip #3: Call your health insurance company early in your pregnancy. You need to know what's covered and how much of it is covered. There are a lot of ways to cut back on costs, especially if you and your baby are healthy. These three tips stand out to me the most: If you and your doctor see no reason for additional testing while you're pregnant, don't bother. Also, consider going med-free during labor. I tried and failed, but many women have success with this. Lastly, do not spend extra time in the hospital to recover. Always listen to medical advice from your doctor or midwife, but it's important to educate yourself, too.

Tip #4: Don't buy a changing table. Almost always you'll be changing your baby somewhere other than a changing table. In addition, when they start crawling, you'll be changing them on the floor anyways.

Tip #5: Any chair that rocks can be used as a rocking chair. I used our recliner in the living room just as much as I used the chair we purposefully bought for the nursery.

Tip #6: If there's a history of eczema and allergies in either of your families, don't even bother buying traditional baby wash and lotion. Just go ahead and buy the all natural/organic stuff. Its more expensive up front, but its very likely you're going to have to buy this stuff regardless.

Tip #7: If you have something that your baby won't use, try to find a new use for it before you try to sell it or give it away. For example, my son will not and never has slept in his Pack N Play. I turned it into a fort by cutting out one side and putting a fitted crib sheet on top, and he's used it every day since. If a onesie is just a little too short, and you have a sewing machine, then turn it into a shirt. I'd love even more suggestions. :)

Tip #8: Breastfeeding totally sucks at first. Totally. Freakin'. Sucks. You're going to save so much money if you never have to buy formula. This is the main reason we stuck with breastfeeding, and it sure as hell paid off. When it comes time for baby to be eating food, do some research on baby led weaning. Frugal moms swear by it, and also consider making your own baby food. I never did either of these things, but that doesn't mean its not a good idea.

Tip #9: Give up your idea of the perfectly coordinated room for your baby. You're the only person that cares about this, and you probably won't care as much when you're broke with spit up in your hair and sleep deprivation in your eyes. I struggled with this, too. Your baby is only a baby for a year. Likewise I think focusing on more coordination would be great for ages 1-4, when they actually might enjoy it and have an interest in it in general.

Tip #10: Consider cloth diapering and making your own reusable wipes. I didn't do these things, and I kind of wish I did.

Helpful? Please repin this article! Want me to adjust any of my tips or have a better suggestion? Feel free to email me at madde1km@gmail.com or comment on this article! I love helping people, especially in regards to finances, and I hope someone gets some use from this. Thanks for all the support!

<3 Kristin

PCSing and a TMO/DMO move

We're living in California now! Here's an update about how our move went :)


1) Moving was horrible, but Noah did pretty well. One of us had to sit back there with him and entertain him at all times, but overall it went better than expected!


2) We had TMO move us. This was actually more frustrating than I thought it would be. We did a DITY move from MI to NC, so we thought everything would be easier. We were wrong.


3) The company messed with our dates. They kept changing around when they were packing our stuff, then they kept changing the pick up date. They packed our stuff on the 9th. We sat in a packed house for a day. They picked it up on the 11th. Unfortunately, all of our utilities were turned off that morning, because we thought they were packing the truck on the 10th. No water. No AC. It was bad for everyone.


4) We went to Mississippi for a week, which was fine considering TMO said we wouldn't receive our stuff earlier than July 25th.


5) We spent 3 days driving from MS to CA. Not bad. We rested at night and spent about 10-12 hours in the car each day.


6) God, its hot out here at 29 Palms.


7) The house we reserved before we got here was perfect. Too bad neither AC unit worked for 2 days. Add on 2 more days of living in a hotel.


8) Our stuff was delivered on July 24th! We originally set it up for them to deliver our stuff and have them unpack it as well. Apparently, we were unpacking it ourselves. This really wasn't horrible, because there are always people looking for free boxes and packing supplies.


9) Ugh. We lost a bunch of receipts. Goodbye, reimbursement.


10) Next time, we'll just do it ourselves. Also, I'll have a better system for saving receipts.


So that is that. Also, follow me on Instagram @Kfryyy. It will be the kick in the pants that I need to stop only posting pictures of my child.


<3 Kristin

The Desert

It's official. Simon got orders to 29 Palms this past week. We're moving to the desert this summer! I'm mostly worried about the car ride...

DIY Denim Distress

At my job, sometimes people ask for me to distress their denim for them.

This makes my heart sing.

I learned this trick when I was a senior in high school. I had an awesome pair of jeans that I wanted to shred. Alas, there's a way to do it without chemicals/serious injury. Just kidding. You might cut yourself.

What you need:
An awesome pair of pants that fit you just right
Tailor's chalk
Really, really, really sharp scissors
A well-stocked First Aid kit
Patience

Step one:
Mark a box with the chalk where you want the hole to be. If you're doing knee holes, please put the pants on first and then mark. It's impossible to guess just by looking at them, I promise.

Step two:
Drag the pointed end of the scissors horizontally across the pants, about ten times or so inside the box you drew. This breaks the fibers that run vertically and will speed up the process. Do not press so hard that you cut the pants. Just enough to do a little damage.

Step three:
Use one side of the scissors, and drag the blade across the pants, back and forth, in the same horizontal direction. Apply a good amount of pressure. My hands hurt really bad by the end of this. You'll first see some of the fibers coming off, then you'll gradually start to see the horizontal yarns show themselves. This is the part where I start to bleed, usually in my thumb joints. Cue the bandages.

Step four:
Switch back and forth between step two and three! When your hand hurts really bad from step 3, do step 2 again. You need to keep things interesting. A hole about 1" in diameter takes me about 15 minutes.

Poof! A hole! I wish I had taken a full picture of the pants, but the customer has long since picked them up by now. If you're wondering where would be the best place to put a hole, the knee would be the most obvious place if you want to keep it looking real. Currently, holes in the thighs are popular. Another I get requests for is to do them at the bottom of the back of the hem. Or anywhere really. They're your pants.

Sleep well, my lovely DIYers.
<3 Kristin