Family Entertainment on a Budget

We, as so many, are trying to cut back costs everywhere possible. We have cut out as many “luxuries” as possible and accounted for almost every penny that goes out. Have we given up everything from morning lattes to dry cleaning. One area we haven’t sacrificed is our addiction to good movies. Do we buy them? Not anymore. Do we go to the movies? No, on that one too. However, we have become totally enamoured with Netflix . One reason? We don’t have to get organized enough to get the movie back on time - instead we just mail it in when we are done (even if it takes us weeks to get it back). Another reason? For just over ten dollars a month we can watch as many movies as we like, and now Netflix offers a “watch instantly” feature, which means you now have the choice of watching over 10,000 movies on your computer with the click of a button. Now that is what we call bang for the buck.

Mom’s Favorite Chocolate Treat

Yes, I admit it - I am addicted to chocolate. I figure that there could be worse things to be addicted to, and although I do *try* to limit my chocolate in-take, I have to admit it is hard. Recently the health food store near us started stocking one of my favorite chocolate bars which is now widely available in the United States- Green & Black’s Organic Chocolate. I know I should be more skeptical about all the “health benefits” of dark chocolate - but this company makes me sold - as I rationalize every little piece away. Their Maya Gold bar is especially good, as it has a hint of orange & spice. So when you need a little mommy treat, you might want to try one of this mom’s favorites - because a little does go a long way (honestly).

Favorite New Children’s Books

Our son recently turned two, and he received some great items for his birthday. One of our favorites are several “hide & slide” books from Priddy. At night our son now rushes to bed because he wants to get back to his new set of books. His favorite? Probably all of them - but for now the Slide and Find - Colors wins!

Back to Life…

Back to reality. You have to excuse the absence of posts lately - but this quite legitimately can be blamed on what I have been dreading all summer - my return to work. Yes, it is here and I am in shock. I have now gone from full-time soccer mom who enjoyed baking bread for my family to full-time mom and employee who is lucky to remember to eat a granola bar in the morning. Work is upon me and leaves me feeling the same guilt and apprehension as it does every time I step back into work - welcome to the world of working moms all over the world. So though the posts will keep coming, they might just have to be a bit more brief - as family comes first, work second, and I am sad to say blogging might just have to find a smaller place to squeeze into. But keep those comments and product suggestions coming, because goodness knows working moms have little time to buy items, let alone return them, so it is important to find good, safe, and reliable items and that is what Mom’s Favorite is all about!

Five Reasons Why I am Not a “Posh Mom” (and I Am Okay With That)

Several years ago the concept of “posh mom” was born. I suppose this label was meant to be a homage to all those moms out there that continue to possess style even once the little bambino is born. I believe the other day I ran into one of these “posh moms” and quickly understood I did not belong in this camp (not that I ever thought I did). I ran to the grocery store to pick up two items - wearing what could only be described as “my comfy clothes.” Did I look in the mirror before I left? Of course not. Did I put on makeup? No way. Was I wearing high heels? Nope. So needless to say I probably didn’t look my best, but I was only going to be gone five minutes, and I felt lucky to get away sans family for even that long. As I scurried aisle to aisle I heard my name and cringed in response. Please don’t tell me someone knows me here. I kept my eye on the cereal aisle full swing ahead when I heard my name again. Here we go…When I turned around there she was in all her posh glory - an acquaintance from work daintily pushing her two kids in the cart, wedge sandals and all, her tiny clutch held in her newly manicured hands (who carries a clutch with two kids in tow???). And then I knew that forever there would be a division between “them” and “us” - “poshs” and “nots.” As we chit-chatted I tried to end the conversation quickly and made the 200 yard dash to my car to see what I looked like - and it was not pretty. As I pulled away I saw many other “posh moms” heading into the store and after looking at them I knew there were at least five reasons that I was not, and could never be, one of these…

5. I don’t own, and never intend to own, anything Bugaboo. No offense to the company or anyone that owns one of their products, I am sure they are great, but who needs a $800 stroller that doesn’t even come with all the accessories?

4. I venture out sometimes wearing tennis shoes. I actually try not to wear them unless I am running but if I know I have a lot of errands to do I slip them on and hope nobody looks down.

3. I don’t see a diaper bag as an accessory - I see it as having a specific function - holding all of our junk. My diaper bag has milk stains, crumbs in the pockets, and other sticky substances in it. Yes we wash it, but it looks beat up and I am of the belief that is what it is for.

2. I am lucky to get out of the house with chap stick on, let alone a full face of makeup.

1. I don’t have a nanny, cook, gardener, manicurist, or personal trainer. I am not saying posh moms have all of these things - but I think many just might. I get my hair cut twice a year and have never had a manicure (seriously).

So why am I okay with this? I guess it is because I feel that I am like most moms out there - I am just trying to survive and keep our family healthy, happy, and safe. I know that to get everyone in the car and actually get somewhere on time might mean not having time to comb my hair until I am in the car (and probably without a brush). Most other moms get it because that is their life too. It is not that those in the “unposh” category don’t have style, but we sometimes sacrafice because of the daily realities of our life - and that is a very authentic experience. So yes, I am not posh but I am really okay with that.

Averting a Garage Sale Disaster

I have only hosted one garage sale in my life - and it was a bit of a disaster. Yes, we made money but I ended up giving away almost everything we had in the house. I walked through taking old pots and pans out of the cupboards and throwing a tag on them - hoping to get rid of as much accumulated stuff as possible. In the end I probably spent all the money I earned on new items to replace the old ones I had just sold. I had people showing up at 5 a.m. knocking on the door asking when we were going to start.  I under-priced most items and overpriced a few. It didn’t take me long to realize that I was an amateur at all this and we just started giving things away instead of trying to sell them. Well as times get more economically tight, we have talked about pooling together with some friends and having a joint garage sale. I am not sure if I can face another garage disaster, but before venturing into this domain again, I felt the need to look for a “dummies guide” to garage sales. Luckily for me, I just caught a version of this on Good Morning America and am happy to pass the link on. There are some good tips here for averting a garage sale disaster.

Our Family Budget Report Card

The challenge we set ourselves this month was to try and live on $20 a day. The first of the month we were able to do this remarkably well, and on average we spent only our allotted amount of money. It wasn’t easy and left us all cranky and tired of being so stingy. For the first half of the month - I would give us an A (and I am a tough grader). The second half of the month I wouldn’t want to say that we totally fell off the wagon of our family budget challenge - but we totally fell of the wagon. I can provide all sorts of reasons to rationalize this (unexpected bills, a trip out of town, house guests) but really I have to meet it square in the eye - we get an F for the second half of the month. It doesn’t feel good to publicly declare this - but we have to be honest with ourselves and others - $20 a day just didn’t cut it. All told, our average is a C for the challenge, which technically is passing, but it doesn’t feel like we passed. I look at the lack of savings we have at the end of month and I sigh in annoyance at our balance sheet.  But it’s not all bad. We have learned many things to help us manage our money in the future:

1. Even if we give ourselves more than a $20 a day budget, we need a budget to live by and to follow as closely as possible.

2. We will continue to use cash so that we actually see and feel the amount of money going through our hands each day.

3. We will keep looking at receipts and using coupons, because we saved over $40 this month by doing these two things.

4. We will continue to use cloth bags at the store - in total we received $5 from grocery stores this month for using our own bags.

5. Items that we consume a lot of (milk, yogurt, bread, eggs) we will buy in bulk.

6. We will continue to cut out luxuries (I haven’t bought chocolate the second half of this month to make up for our spending sins).

7. We have to spread out our spending.  If we get an item of clothing or book one pay period we have to wait until the next pay period to get something else.

8. Spending money now doesn’t feel good and we need to preserve that psychology. That might sound strange, but it is true. If we ever want to get ahead, we have got to spend less and save more - that is all there is to it!

How Kids Turn Introverts Into Extroverts

I am not saying that I used to be an introvert, but before I had children I sort of kept to myself. I always thought of myself as friendly and would occasionally say hello to people as I passed, but for the most part I guess I really was a bit of introvert. Boy how kids change that. Yesterday when I was walking around with my son, he happily greeted every single person we passed. He would say “hello” or “hi” or “hi ya” and insisted on repeating his friendly salutation until the person would respond (which sadly enough some did not). As we went into everystore my son continued his chorus of greetings. As we entered the park he ran up to all the kids (and their caregivers) and would continue his mingling and socializing, as if he were hosting some sort of party for all of his new friends, and wanted to put them all at ease. I looked on in amazement and sheer joy at his forthrightness, friendliness, and pure love of other people. In his actions he reminds me that it is okay to smile, wave, and say hello to those we pass or interact with. As he encounters every individual with this same friendliness regardless of their age, race, job, physical appearance, ethnicity, or religion, he reminds me not only to be more open and outgoing than I might be comfortable with, but also to embrace all those around me, no matter who they are or where they come from. Now that’s what I call the kid teaching the mom a lesson!