Luv Saving Money – Page 1009

What’s the Most Surprising gift you ever received?

Twittermoms.com and Target are doing it again. Another great blogging contest. 10 winning bloggers will be selected to receive a $100 Target giftcard. I have so much fun with these. You can enter yourself. Go to this page: http://www.twittermoms.com/forum/topics/what-was-the-most-surprising

What’s the most surprising gift I ever received? I gave birth to my 3rd son this year. Son number three though was the first child for my 2nd husband (I know try to stay with me here). I kept complaining about my old computer (had it for 7 years. The cd/dvd burner didn’t work anymore, it was too slow and didn’t have enough memory to do what i wanted it to do). My husband said “maybe for christmas” But I had my son in june. Jokingly I said to him “well you know I’m carrying your baby. Dealing with morning sickness, fatigue, and eventually pain you’ll hopefully never experience. I think that deserves a computer” I said this when I was around 6 months pregnant. Of course I didn’t really expect a computer for that (my son is reward enough) but about 2 weeks after I gave birth my husband said “I ordered you a computer it should be here this week”. I thought he was kidding until it showed up at the house a few days later.

I’d like to hear about your surpring gift. http://www.twittermoms.com/forum/topics/what-was-the-most-surprising
and check out http://www.target.com

How do you get your kids to sleep at night?

http://www.dramau.net/ and www.twittermoms.com is sponsoring a blogger contest. Answer teh question: What are your five tips & tricks for getting your kids to bed on time and getting them to stay in bed?

I’ve rarely had a problem getting my kids to sleep at night. I’ve stuck to the same ritual since I was able to start them on a regular bedtime.

1. Start them off early around 1 1/2 to two years old.

2. Decide on a bedtime and stick to it as much as possible. My kids bedtime is 8 pm except weekends and special days it’s 9pm. (2 of my boys are 5 and 7).

3. Make it a soothing routine for bed. Take a bath/shower, then brush teeth then it’s story time so there’s kind of reward for completing the things they have to.

4. If you have to change the routine for a night or 2 (for example staying up for new year’s eve) let them know what time it is and why they got to stay up for example: IT’s new year’e eve so you get to stay up until midnight which is really late but it’s a treat for the holiday”

5. Cut off any junk food such as soda and sugary snacks at least 2 hours before bedtime. This will help them to sleep better.

Most importantly stick to the routine as much as possible. My kids never give me trouble about going to bed because I’ve done the same routine for several years. As they get older you can adjust as you see fit.

Don’t forget to check out http://www.dramau.net/ and www.twittermoms.com. If I win the blogging contest one of my lucky readers will also win.

What are you doing to go green?

I have to admit. Up until about 5 years ago I didn’t make a valiant effort to go green. In fact I was even entirely sure what it meant. Now, a lot of companies are making it easier for you to go green.

Annie Chun soup bowls for example, Their soup bowl containers are made from cornstarch so they are biodegradable. (their soups are delish too!)
Seventh Generation is another company that all their products are environmentally friendly. Buying products like these can not only help the environment but maybe encourage more companies to do so.

My kids learn about helping the environment in school. Our community building has recycle bins you can drop your items for free for cardboard, newspapers and plastic. I’m still pushing for a community recycle collection. Until then my son reminds me to recycle and help take our recyclables to the bins.

Think about reusing your empty packaging or give it to someone who may use them. I use empty jelly jars for my soy candle making. My kids school takes the empty plastic baby food containers to sort items, painting, and other classroom needs. Search the web for cute kids craft projects to do with empty coffee cans, toilet paper rolls, empty baby food jars, and more.

For more ideas check out: Recyclebank.com

Favorite Holiday Drink Recipe

Hot Buttered Rum Mix

1c butter softened
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1c plus 2 tblsp packed brown sugar
2 cups vanilla ice creams softened
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tsp rum extract

ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS (for each serving)
3/4 c boiling water

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the ice cream, cinnamon, nutmeg and extract; mix well. Transfer mixture to a freezer container, freeze overngiht.
Yields: 3 1/2 cups

To prepare hot drink: Dissolve 3-4 tblsp of mix in boiling water; stir well
Yields: 14-18 servings

This recipe is non-alcoholic. You can add actual rum to rum when adding water to drink if you wish

getting high style clothing at a good price

I’m always looking for a good deal. It’s like a game for me. One way I’ve found to get good quality clothing for a fraction of the cost is to buy at the end of the season. For instance, a store is getting ready for their winter merchandise so they put their summer clothes on clearance. I buy them out of season for my kids and just buy them a size or 2 bigger. I have 3 boys and I’ve gotten pretty good at estimating their size for next year. Buying things like jeans, khaki shorts, polo shirts is easy too because they are classic and don’t go out of style.

I also use store reward programs. If it’s free to sign up i’m there. So even if I don’t accumulate enough rewards it didn’t cost me anything extra AND I have a tendency to lean toward the stores I have a rewards program with when i’m planning on a purchase.

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