Each month, I write several guest posts for different blogs — here are some of my favorites from this month.
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Raising an Infant on a Budget: Recap & FREE Printable
In the months since Nora was born, I’ve received a crazy number of emails asking what items I would suggest for soon-to-be-moms looking to stay clutter-free and stick to a tight budget. While I definitely don’t have ALL the answers; after almost 5 months, I can at least share the items we regularly used for the newborn/infant stage.
All week long, I’ve been sharing my “must-have” items for infants — and today, I’m rounding out this week-long series with a few more money saving tips… and a FREE printable!
Raising an Infant on a Budget: Items for Mom
In the months since Nora was born, I’ve received a crazy number of emails asking what items I would suggest for soon-to-be-moms looking to stay clutter-free and stick to a tight budget. While I definitely don’t have ALL the answers; after almost 5 months, I can at least share the items we regularly used for the newborn/infant stage.
All week long, I’ve been sharing my “must-have” items for infants — but today, I’m talking about some of my favorite items for new moms!
Raising an Infant on a Budget: Clothing
In the months since Nora was born, I’ve received a crazy number of emails asking what items I would suggest for soon-to-be-moms looking to stay clutter-free and stick to a tight budget. While I definitely don’t have ALL the answers; after almost 5 months, I can at least share the items we regularly used for the newborn/infant stage.
All week long, I’ll be sharing my “must-have” items for infants — today, I’m talking about baby clothes!
Organization Should Be Practical, Not Always Pretty
I’m sure we’re all guilty of looking through home and garden magazines and wishing our homes, kitchens, closets, pantries, garages, etc. looked as amazing as the spaces in those magazine photos. Right? I know I am!
And while I’m simply ecstatic with the outcomes of our home renovations, I can’t help but compare them to those perfectly decorated spaces inside my favorite magazines. I do it without even realizing it. If you’ve struggled with this too, here are a few things to remember…
Raising an Infant on a Budget: Food, Medicine, Toiletries
In the months since Nora was born, I’ve received a crazy number of emails asking what items I would suggest for soon-to-be-moms looking to stay clutter-free and stick to a tight budget. While I definitely don’t have ALL the answers; after almost 5 months, I can at least share the items we regularly used for the newborn/infant stage.
All week long, I’ll be sharing my “must-have” items for infants — today, I’m talking about our favorite food, medicine, and toiletry items!
How to Clean and Sanitize Your Sponges
I’ve always had mixed emotions about cleaning and re-using sponges… because they honestly kind of gross me out! However, since I’m always looking for ways to save a little cash (and help the environment) I figured I should try reusing them… but only if I felt like I could really clean and sanitize them.
So I did a little research, and came up with a three simple ways to clean and sanitize the different sponges you might have around your house.
Raising an Infant on a Budget: Baby Gear
In the months since Nora was born, I’ve received a crazy number of emails asking what items I would suggest for soon-to-be-moms looking to stay clutter-free and stick to a tight budget. While I definitely don’t have ALL the answers; after almost 5 months, I can at least share the items we regularly used for the newborn/infant stage.
All week long, I’ll be sharing my “must-have” items for infants — today, I’m talking about baby gear!
Raising an Infant on a Budget: Nursery Items
In the months since Nora was born, I’ve received a crazy number of emails asking what items I would suggest for soon-to-be-moms looking to stay clutter-free and stick to a tight budget. While I definitely don’t have ALL the answers; after almost 5 months, I can at least share the items we regularly used for the newborn/infant stage.
So for the rest of the week, I’ll be sharing my “must-have” items for infants — starting today with my must-have items for the nursery!
Simple Almond Pound Cake
Two weeks ago, I was asked (at the very last minute) to bring a dessert for an event I had previously agreed to attend. I was a bit annoyed at the lack of planning — and I seriously contemplated buying something from the bakery on my way — but my “frugality” won over and I decided to make a simple dessert with the ingredients I had on hand.
It was my first time trying this recipe and it was SO good that I’ve already made it 2 more times!
When All Else Fails… Wake Up At 4:30am
Most of you know that I am a HUGE advocate for getting enough sleep. However, I’m also big on productivity and “getting stuff done”… so with a new baby who rarely takes naps during the day, I’m often forced to use the time when she’s sleeping at night to get stuff done.
Since I’m definitely a morning person, I’ve started getting up at 4:30am ONE day per week — which gives me about 3 totally uninterrupted hours to buckle down and get a whole bunch of stuff done!
What Type of Cookware Do You Use
My sister is getting married this summer and a couple months ago, I went with her to register for gifts. It had been while since I did much shopping for home items and I was simply amazed by how many different types of cookware was available in the stores!
We questioned some of the sales associates and I also did a little online research to figure the different pros and cons for each type of cookware — here’s what I came up with:
My T-shirt Quilt
During my spring break “staycation” I showed a few pictures of my fabulous t-shirt quilt… but I didn’t really go into much detail about the process, or about how you could create your own t-shirt quilt.
And since I absolutely LOVE the fact that I was able to transform a bunch of t-shirt clutter into an extremely useful, practical, and memorable item — I figured I should share a few more details!
Dealing with Burnout and Why I Took a Break
I’ve always been the type of person who likes to be REALLY busy (I think you probably knew that already!)
I thrive when I’m busy and am actually more productive, more efficient, and feel more “alive” when I have a long to-do list. I can usually handle a lot of stress and don’t often get overwhelmed. However, in my adult life, I can think of two very distinct times when I felt completely overwhelmed and “burnt out”.
Five Social Media Time Savers
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Tumblr, LinkedIn, StumbleUpon, Instagram, Quora, Digg, YouTube, etc. etc. There are so many different social media venues… I find it impossible to keep up with them all!
While I think it’s absolutely essential for small businesses to utilize the massive {and totally free} advertising and promotional opportunities provided by social media; I’m also the first to admit that they can be a HUGE time-suck.
Spring Break: Our “Staycation” Comes to An End
After yesterday’s fun giveaway, I have to catch you up on the last 2 days of our Spring Break!
We’ve been hard at work around our house and in our yard… and had such a great week catching up with family and friends.
I’m a little sad that our week-long “staycation” is coming to an end… but I think I’ll be ready to get back into a routine next week. Plus, I’m really ready to start making my to-do lists again!
Spring Break: So Much “Work” To Do!
Nora woke us up nice and early again… and even though Dave and I were both super tired, we pumped out a bunch of house work before it got nice outside.
At the end of the day we had a fairly clean house, freshly washed sheets, a 10-yard dumpster filled with yard waste, and a freezer full of delicious baked goods… not bad!
