Are you and your significant other in need of a night out on the town?  Do you need to go to an appointment and can’t bring the kids?  If you are a parent, especially if you don’t live near family, you will inevitably find that you need a babysitter, at least every once in awhile.  However, babysitters are expensive; in our area they can run $15 an hour.  At that price, enjoying a night out is hard to do.  Yet with a little creativity, you can find ways to save on the cost of having a babysitter.

Swap with another parent.  If you have a friend with kids close in age, you may want to consider a swap.  She watches your kids for 3 hours one day, and you watch hers for 3 hours another day.  You each get some time away without spending the $45 it might normally cost to hire a sitter, and your kids get to play with other kids their age.

Start a babysitting co-op.  If you have a group of parents you are friends with, perhaps from an organized play group or preschool, consider setting up a babysitting co-op.  Every time you babysit kids from the co-op, you get a “credit” in your account.  Then, when you have someone from the co-op watch your kids, the hours are deducted from your account.

Consider bartering.  If the other party is receptive, you may be able to barter part or all of your child care costs.  If you love to cook, perhaps you can supply your babysitter with meals for a few days.  If she is single, you may need to supplement the meals with pay as your meals for her probably won’t add up to the equivalent you would pay her per hour.  If she, too, has a family, she would probably welcome taking a few nights off for cooking for her family if she watches your kids for two or three hours one night.  Another alternative might be to change her car oil when she needs it, assuming you know how to do this and already do this for your own car.

Set up a traveling “school”.  If you are a stay-at-home parent and live in an area with several stay at home parents with kids the same age, consider an educational swap.  Maybe on Mondays, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. you host the kids and have an English theme—you read them stories and play games with nursery rhymes.  Maybe on Tuesdays, another neighbor has a science theme and takes the kids on a leaf finding expedition and teaches them about how leaves lose their color.  If you have three families involved, you host one morning a week, and two mornings a week your kids go to a different location.

While hiring a babysitter can be expensive, there are creative ways to save on this cost while still providing your child with a good care experience.  The key is to make friends with other parents and set up a mutually beneficial situation.  Just make sure that you know the parents well and are comfortable with them watching your kids.

Baby pools are a fun way to get your friends and family more involved and excited about your new baby’s birth.  They’re pretty easy to run and you can even outsource the details if you don’t feel like running the pool yourself.  Here’s how to get your baby pool, also known as a pregnancy pool, up and running.

The exact rules of the baby pool are up to you to decide, but typically you allow your friends, family, and co-workers to guess on the date and time when your baby will be born.  For each guess they make, they have to chip in a dollar or two for the pot.  When your baby little one arrives, whoever’s guess came closest to the actual delivery time wins the pot of money.  Some baby pool winners are required to split their winnings with the new parents since they’re going to need lots of baby stuff!

Of course you can add lots of other details to your baby pool to make it more challenging and fun.  In addition to guessing the date of birth, some baby pools also let you guess on the baby’s gender, height, weight, or even how long labor will last.  If you have a lot of friends who like to gamble they might really enjoy this!

 How to Organize Your Baby Pool

In the old days, all that was needed to run a baby pool was a piece of paper.  The organizer kept a master list of all the guesses made and also tracked the total amount of money received for the jackpot.  The problem was that guessers were in the dark as to what everyone else picked.  Things improved a bit in the computer age as most baby pool organizers starting tracking everything in Excel.  Guesses and results could be emailed out to participants regularly, though that was still far from perfect.

These days there are websites that allow you to run your baby pool completely online and in real-time.  Participants can set up their own free accounts and log in to see what kind of guesses everyone else has made before making one of their own.  They even let you send an invitation email out to your friends so you can get as many people to sign up as possible.  This system is much more user-friendly and it almost feels like you’re taking part in a fantasy baseball league and not a baby pool.

Whatever method you choose to set up your baby pool, you’re bound to have some good laughs and enjoy spreading the good news about the new addition to your family.

If my son had his way, he would be taking tap dance, playing soccer and baseball, and taking piano and guitar lessons.  However, we simply don’t have the money or the time to put him in that many activities.  If you have children who want to explore many extracurricular activities, here are some ways to keep them active without spending more than you can afford.

1. Institute the one activity rule.  Allow your child to participate in only one activity that costs money at a time.  I instituted this policy because, while I want my son to participate in activities, I don’t want it to be a financial strain.  We have two little girls who will soon also be participating in extracurricular activities, and another motivation for this rule is so I won’t be spending my entire day in the car driving from one activity to another.
2. Pay upfront and save.  Some places allow you to pay for the entire season upfront and receive a discount.  My son is currently taking tap dance, and the dance class for nine months cost $500, but because we paid that all upfront, we received $50 off, bringing the cost down to $450.
3. Explore free options in school.  Even in elementary school there are plenty of free extracurricular activities such as choir, band and sports.  Of course, you will have to pay for the instrument or the personal equipment, but there will be no fee for the actual activity.
4. Look into park district services.  Our local park district offers many classes for kids from dance to karate to soccer at a very reasonable price.  However, I have found that you often get what you pay for.  In my experience these classes are best for small children who are just beginning to explore their interests.
5. See if you can barter.  Though many of us don’t feel comfortable doing it, bartering is alive and well.  Seeing if you can barter may be worthwhile.  When I was a teenager, I used to take piano lessons from a woman with three young kids.  I watched her girls for a few hours a week in return for free piano lessons.  At my son’s old dance studio, I used to clean the studio for two hours one Saturday a month in return for getting his lessons for free.
6. Use daily deal sites.  Many people are familiar with using daily deal sites such as Groupon and Living Social for restaurant deals, but these sites do occasionally have deals for kids’ extracurricular activities.  These vouchers can give your child the chance to try something new at a fraction of the cost for you.

Having well-rounded kids is important for both their personal development and their future college applications.  Most kids are interested in learning and practicing new activities.  As a parent, you can foster their interest without breaking the bank by using some of the strategies given.

What are your favorite ways to save on kids’ extracurricular activities?

There is an image of the 1950s housewife, complete with her red and white ruffle apron, presenting her husband a nice roast fresh from the oven after he has returned from work and had time to read the paper.

Obviously, we are now far from those days; in many families both parents work and the six o’clock hour is a busy one filled with tired, hungry kids and parents stressfully finding a way to put dinner on the table quickly.  Even if one parent stays home, life can be busy with extracurricular activities and other events.  While there are pre-made foods you can buy to feed your family, it is healthier and cheaper to make your meals from scratch.  By utilizing intentional leftovers, you can present a healthy dinner quickly, making both your budget and your family happy.

Intentionally using leftovers only requires a bit of advanced planning.  Often, you can do the prep work on the weekend, making weeknight meals even quicker

Rotisserie Chicken

Buy a rotisserie chicken on Sunday afternoon and remove all of the meat from the bone.  That night, place all of the bones and extras in a slow cooker with 10 cups of water, 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks, 6 cloves of garlic, a quartered onion, and a squirt of lemon juice.  Let it cook over night and strain in the morning.  Put the broth in ice cube trays to freeze for quick, homemade chicken stock.

For one meal, simply mix some chicken with salsa, heat and serve on tacos with cheese, lettuce and tomatoes.  This meal can be on the table in less than 15 minutes, and it is cheap.

Later in the week, make a simple tortilla soup.  Saute a diced onion, diced red pepper and garlic in olive oil and then add the chicken, some of the chicken broth, frozen corn, black beans, a can of diced tomatoes and spices such as cumin, red pepper.  Simmer for 15 minutes and serve.

Pork

One morning, place a pork tenderloin in the slow cooker along with diced sweet potatoes and a diced onion.  Add a can of diced tomatoes mixed with some brown sugar.  Pour over the tenderloin.  When you come home, you have a complete meal waiting for you.  Save some of the pork for later in the week.

A few nights later, simply mix the shredded leftover pork with bbq sauce and heat on the stove.  Serve the pulled pork on buns with the side of your choice.

These examples are just a few of the infinite possibilities.  Eating healthy, homemade food doesn’t have to be time consuming or expensive.  Take a little time on the weekend to do some prep work, always plan your first meal with an idea of how you want to re-purpose your leftovers for another meal, and take advantage of your slow cooker.  You may not be cooking for hours as a 1950s housewife might have, but you will still be able to feed your family nutritious meals in about as much time as it takes to go through the drive thru.

One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is cuddling up on the couch with my kids and watching our favorite Christmas specials.  There’s just something special about watching holiday shows and movies by the light of the Christmas tree.  But there’s so many classic Christmas specials to choose from…which should you watch first?

Well everyone has their own favorites so your list might look a bit different than mine, but here is my family’s list of the top ten Christmas specials.

10. A Charlie Brown Christmas – Who doesn’t love this cartoon classic where lovable loser Charlie Brown seeks the true meaning of Christmas amid all the modern commercialism?  The scary thing is that this special is from the 1960s, and the holiday season is infinitely more commercial than it was then.  Although a bit slow-paced, Charlie Brown’s Christmas holds up well and is still a hit with kids.

9. Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town – One of the popular Rankin/Bass claymation specials, this tells the origin story of Santa Claus.  Learn how a young man named Kris Kringle grows up to be our beloved Santa.

8. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer – Poor Rudolph is laughed at and excluded from all the holiday fun at the North Pole just because he’s a little different.  After running away he meets a band of fellow misfits and proves everyone wrong as he single-handedly saves Christmas.

7. Dr Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas – Based on the classic children’s book of the same name, this beloved special tells the tale of grouchy, green Grinch who resolves himself to destroy Christmas for the peaceful town of Whoville.  While he steals their presents, trees, stockings, and pretty much everything else that wasn’t nailed down, he can’t take away their Christmas spirit.  At the last moment he learns the true meaning of Christmas and returns everything he stole.

6. Yogi’s First Christmas – You’ve probably never heard of this one.  It’s never on television and it was out of print for many years.  Only recently did I find a DVD for sale and I snatched it up!  And it’s a good thing because my kids love it too!  Yogi Bear wakes up early from his usual hibernation to find the gang preparing for a Christmas celebration at Jellystone Park.  Since he’s always slept through the holiday he has no idea what’s going on.  Herman the Hermit and Snively trying to ruin Christmas, but Yogi and Boo Boo manage to save the holiday and leave all the kids happy.

5. Mickey’s Christmas Carol – This classic retelling of Dickens’ Christmas Carol was one of my absolute favorites as a kid.  With Mickey as Bob Cratchit, Scrooge McDuck as Ebeneezer Scrooge (who else?), and Goofy as the ghost of Jacob Marley, all your favorite characters are represented.

4. A Muppet Christmas Carol – Although I still love Mickey’s take on Dickens, it has been surpassed in my mind by A Muppet Christmas Carol.  I’ve always loved The Muppets and this version starring Michael Caine as Scrooge and Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit is truly special.

3. The Year Without a Santa Claus – I don’t see why this Rankin Bass claymation classic doesn’t get more respect.  Santa isn’t feeling very well and he’s worried that no one cares about or needs him anymore.  He decides to call cancel Christmas so he can stay home and get some rest.  This leads Mrs. Claus and a pair of elves on a journey to prove that people still need Christmas.  With a ton of catchy songs and cameos by the Snow Miser and the Heat Miser, what’s not to love?  And I challenge you not to tear up a little when the little girl sings to Santa about her Blue Christmas.  Seriously if you haven’t seen this one, do so.

2. Christmas Eve on Sesame Street – I remember this one being on every year when I was kid, but these days it is nowhere to be found and that’s a shame.  When Oscar the Grouch tells Big Bird that Santa will never be able to deliver presents to Sesame Street because he can’t fit down the chimney, Big Bird makes it his mission to find out how Santa can pull it off.  In the end he ends up camped out on the roof waiting for Santa but falls asleep and misses him.  Meanwhile the whole neighborhood is worried sick and out looking for Big Bird.  Of course it’s a happy ending as they all meet up and there are presents for everyone.

1. A Muppet Family Christmas – This out of print and little-known gem is all but impossible to find these days.  I’ve seen copies going on eBay going for $100 or more!  Thankfully, I already have one. Fozzie Bear brings all his Muppet friends back to his grandmother’s house for an old-fashioned Christmas.  Before long the whole gang from Sesame Street shows up and so do the Fraggles.  The Swedish Chef mistakes Big Bird for the Christmas turkey and Fozzie tries to form a comedy duo with a snowman that keeps melting.  When Miss Piggy finally shows up after being lost in a blizzard the whole crew sits down for a holiday sing-a-long.

Children are bundles of joy and bring so much love, but they can also bring financial burdens onto a family. You hear all the time how expensive they are, which deters some people from having children either for a while, or altogether. There are many ways to save money on raising a kid, but here are just 9 of them:

1. Don’t Move: When many parents find out their having a baby, one of the first things they do is start searching for a new place to live. Hold that thought! Don’t start depleting our funds for a down payment or a security deposit just yet. Do you really need to move? Chances are, where you’re living right now is just fine, at least for the first couple of years. Your newborn doesn’t need their own room right away, so take some time to save up before you decide you need a change in scenery.
2. Don’t Upgrade: Another thing new parents start considering is a new method of transportation. If your car was good enough to get you from point A to point B, you’re more than likely to have a good enough car for your child. This is, unless, you have a two seater or a motorcycle, then obviously things need to change. If you have a sedan, you’re just fine. You should only look into getting a new vehicle if you’ve got more kids than you have room in your car.
3. Ask for Help: So many parents are overwhelmed yet too prideful to ask for help. Your family and friends are probably more than willing to help you out, whether it’s with babysitting, childcare, or even hand me downs. They can’t read your minds, so if you need assistance, let your loved ones know and watch the support pour in.
4. Borrow: You don’t not need brand new things for your kid. Especially as a baby, they won’t know the difference between you going out to Babys R Us and you borrowing it from a neighbor. Borrow things like baby gates and high chairs, which can be really expensive and only used for a certain period of time. You can save a lot of money this way.
5. Choose Public School: I recently watched a documentary on how aggressive it is in New York’s Upper East Side to get your toddler into a private daycare. It was absolutely ridiculous, especially when I started hearing tuition numbers I wouldn’t pay for college, let alone for nursery school. As a child who went to both public and private schools, I suggest choosing a public school. Tuition at such an early age will put you in debt, and you can get your child the A grade education you’re looking for with tutors and helping them with their education yourself or programs online.
6. Don’t Spoil: I can say this because I was spoiled by my mom growing up. When you have a kid, don’t spoil them by giving them every single thing they want. Focus on the things they need and require to live a safe and healthy life. Friends and family will jump at the chance to spoil them with toys and games. Your child will go through those things so fast, your ROI is almost immediately 0 once you walk out the store with it. Just focus on providing the necessities for your kid.
7. Go Green: A lot of child raising can be wasteful. Think of the amount of diapers people go through alone. I’ve heard from many moms that cloth diapers have saved them hundreds of dollars a month. Reusing items is the best way to save money, both in the short term and long term.
8. Stay at Home: Many parents go from DINKS (dual income no kids) to both parents working and paying an enormous amount on childcare. If your budget can handle it, you should consider one parent staying home and the other parent bringing in the household income. Really sit down and consider the pros and cons to see if it’s doable. Childcare is not cheap, but who’s a better teacher and sitter than the child’s own parent?
9. Bargain Shop: Babies products and supplies can be absolutely ridiculous in price, and that’s because companies know parents will go all out for their kids. Instead, shop around and bargain shop. I’m not saying be cheap, but don’t pay top dollar just because.

I can’t tell you what a relief it is to write those words.  It’s like a giant stone has been lifted off my shoulders and I can finally think about other things again.

To bring you up to speed…my father-in-law passed away last year after a valiant battle with lung cancer (my mother-in-law had just passed the year before).  Needless to say it has been an emotional time for our family.  My wife is an only child and literally her entire family outside of her parents lives in Italy, so she had to rely on me a lot.

Even though my wife and I agreed from the start that we would sell the house, it was a long time before she was emotionally ready to do anything about it, and there was a lot that I just couldn’t do for her such as signing documents.

There were many things to sort through, organize, and either keep or toss.  In the winter I had to dig my own house out of the snow and then drive 20 miles to dig another house out.  And in the spring we had to have a landscaper clean up the yard because it very quickly looked like the Amazon.  We had to get the floors refinished because the dog destroyed them.  I had to install a new vanity, sink, faucet and light fixture in the bathroom and paint much of the house as well.

But thankfully it went quickly once it hit the market.  Of course there was some last minute drama (suspicions of an underground oil tank, problems with the electrical panel, etc) but it all got straightened out in the end.

So where to from here?

Well we crunched some numbers and it looks like once the estate’s remaining debts are paid off we’ll have enough to pay off all of our credit card debt and the rest of my student loan.  That’s right…we’ll be debt free outside of our mortgage!

I can’t stand seeing how much money we throw down the drain to interest payments every month, so it will feel good to be over that.  The key now is to use this opportunity to our advantage and make sure we never find ourselves in debt again.  That means careful spending and paying ourselves first so we can start accumulating some serious wealth.

When we were first married and just starting out, no one did more for us than my wife’s mom and dad.  Somehow I feel they’re still looking out for us.

So many of us take hundreds or thousands of pictures but fail to follow-up on that dream to create photo albums that we can look back on for years to come.  Digital photos sit on memory cards or computers.  Actual photographs sit in boxes or at the bottom of our nightstand drawers just waiting for that planned day of crafting you always put off.  We all do it at one time or another.  The first step is to choose whether you will be going digital or sticking with the photo albums you grew up around.

Digital Albums

Instead of trying to fit hundreds of pictures into a few albums a year, think digital.  As long as you have copies, your albums will last and you can store thousands of pictures into whatever themed albums you would prefer.  Your digital photos are already set to go into the digital albums and you can scan your actual photos in as well.  You can even find deals online like a Scan Cafe coupon code to help you save those photos you cherish.  If digital albums aren’t your style, you could consider donating a weekend to album creation.

Normal Photo Albums

If you do prefer real photo albums but just haven’t gotten around to putting them together, consider scheduling a weekend (or two or three…) just for that.  The trick is to gather all of your photos into one location and sort them into the piles you would like to use for each album or album set.  You can be as simple or fancy as you’d like.

Whether you simply stick photos in or take your time with scrapbooking magic, the key is to actually get your photos squared away for posterity.  You may want to make sure to label each photo or at least make a note on the album itself about the time period or event it was created to save.  Imagine trying to remember dates or places when you have 70 or 80 years behind you.

In short, the way to create all of those albums you have been putting off is the same way you accomplish anything, you tackle it head on and pick a way to go.  Yes, that is way easier said than done.  But it really is the only way any of the activities we put off for years are ever achieved.  Whether you go completely digital or finally create the physical albums you’ve always wanted, if you put aside the time, you can get photo albums off of your mind.

Have you ever been out in a crowded place, turned around for just a second, and then realized that you had no idea where your child was?

Words can’t adequately describe the emotions that hit you like a freight train and leave you shaken to the core.  We experienced those feelings last week while on vacation at the NJ shore town of Wildwood.

There were 10 of us walking down the boardwalk together…my family of 5, our friends and their two kids, and my sister who came down just for the day.  The boardwalk was crowded and full of distractions, and as we walked we decided to make a detour into a pizzeria for a quick bite to eat.

We strolled inside and made our way to one of the larger tables and began to sit down.  As a parent of 3 little ones who can take off without warning, I’ve trained myself to do a quick visual scan every couple of minutes to make sure no one is missing.  I must do it 200 times a day.

1, 2, 3.

1…2…………….ok, there’s number 3.  Whew!

Well as we began to sit down for a few slices of pizza I did a quick scan…and this time I came up one short.

My three were all accounted for but our friend’s 4 year old daughter Lauren was missing.

Oh Shit.

My sister stayed inside to watch the kids and the rest of us ran outside and split up in different directions.  I searched through the arcade next door hoping she got distracted by the games and wandered inside.  No luck.

I headed back to the front of the restaurant to regroup and started scanning the crowd until I saw Lauren’s mom headed toward me…with Lauren safely in tow.

Fortunately we got lucky and no harm came to Lauren or anyone else.  But she was missing for about 10 minutes, and let me tell you the thoughts going through our heads were not pleasant.

As we belatedly sat down to enjoy our pizza, the adults laid down some rules to keep the kids safe at the boardwalk and at other events in the future.

Tips to Keep Kids Safe in Public Places

1. Discuss what could happen to your kids if they get lost.  You don’t need to go into lurid detail, but this isn’t the time for sugarcoating either.  They need to understand that there are bad people in the world who can hurt them or take them away from their mommy and daddy.  A little fear is good.

2. Right before you go out, take a picture of the kids with your cell phone.  If the worst happens and one goes missing, you might be so upset that you can’t remember what they were wearing.  Having a picture handy will help you provide a description to searchers.

3. Choose a landmark to meet at in case anyone gets separated.  On the boardwalk we told our little ones to go straight to the carousel if they got lost.  They could see it from anywhere on the pier and we would all meet there together.  This gives them an idea of what to do so they don’t panic.

4. Specify which adult is watching which child.  Don’t just assume that your spouse is watching the kids…he or she may be assuming you are keeping an eye on them.  If you have more than one it’s helpful to actually decide who is responsible for who on that particular night.

My wife and I haven’t had much success growing our own fruits and vegetables since we bought our house a few years ago. There are a ton of trees and we get very little direct sunlight. And since our yard backs up to a pond we have all sorts of animals running around including rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, raccoons, deer, and the occasional fox. As soon as we get some nice ripe tomatoes that are ready to be picked, they disappear. In fact about the only thing we’ve had luck with is some herbs like basil and parsley.

photo credit: tillwe

But despite our lack of success we understand the benefits of growing your own fruits and vegetables. If you don’t already have your own backyard garden, here are 4 benefits of gardening that should convince you to get started.

1. You can save money on groceries. For the price of a few small tomato plants you can have all the tomatoes you’ll need through the entire summer. And the same goes for green beans, squash, and whatever else you want to grow.

2. Fresh is best. Forget about sifting through piles of fruit that have been sitting around for a week or more and are no longer ripe. There’s no substitute for freshly picked foods delivered right from your garden to the dinner table.

3. When you grow your own, you know what’s in it. No unwanted pesticides, fertilizers, or contaminants in your food.

4. You’ll get off your butt and get some exercise. Gardening isn’t like running a marathon, but it does require a little elbow grease. A little fresh air and exercise could do you some good!

So what are you waiting for?  Grab some seeds or plants and start enjoying the benefits of gardening!