If my car were a person, she’d be getting her driver’s license this year.

When I was 17, my parents gave me the amazing gift of a used car. I named her Mollie Malibu. She was mine to take to college and drive through young adulthood.

As she approaches 17 years of age and 200, 000 miles, I have a strange a mixture of pride and shame. An old car certainly has benefits, such as no car note and low insurance and tag fees. By driving Mollie and my husband driving his 18-year-old car, we’ve saved thousands of dollars, yet in a culture that’s fascinated with the new and nice, it’s not always a fun decision to make.

There’s so much pressure to have the nicest and the newest.

Newer cars offer security. They’re outward signs of success and financial well-being. On some of my less proud days, I’ve parked away from events and walked farther so I wouldn’t have to be seen with my car. The plan has been to drive these cars until they break past the point of being worth the cost of repair. Each day we’re surprised they’re still going. We’ve had a handful of moments like when a belt broke on a rural stretch of road, stranding us while I was pregnant. It was unnerving to scramble for help, but not only did we survive, Mollie’s gone another 40, 000 miles since then.

Though they run, the truth is neither car is in great or even good condition.

Mollie’s engine idles rough, and the small oil leak a mechanic previously told us about has grown noticeable. Her paint’s peeling. Interior plastic has dried out and cracked. The turn signal is temperamental. We had to disable the theft lock system that started to lock the engine more and more frequently. I haven’t had a driver’s vanity mirror in years, and please do not try to open my glove box.

Yet, I love this car. For all her flaws, she’s mine. She’s been there for me for my entire adulthood. Time and use are wearing on her not unlike they wear on me. Mollie has gone from moving me into my dorm room to carting around my babies.

Mollie’s got her quirks, but she’s been one of my best assets.

To be able to get in a car and go has been a huge privilege. She’s taken me to work, on trips, to our wedding and honeymoon. She’s carried so many friends, so many groceries, and so many books from story time. She was there to get me to every job interview I’ve ever had. Last year, she was about 15 minutes from being where I had my second baby. Sure, reliable A/C would be nice, but it’s a luxury we’ve learned we don’t have to have. Saving for our family and an unknown future has been more important than climate-controlled comfort.

With the ongoing budget crisis facing higher education, we have been very cautious about adding additional bills. After relocating for my husband’s professorial career, we were glad that we didn’t have those additional expenses as I searched for a new job. I had no income when the state government released a projected budget that cut 83% funding to the university where my husband had been working less than a year. As we had hard conversations about contingency plans, I cannot understate the relief we felt knowing our monthly bills, besides housing, were so low.

We’re not living a life of poverty by far. Though I cannot buy everything I would choose, we eat well and regularly. This past year we had to use our emergency fund for the first time, and we were so glad it was there. It gave us so many options, allowed me to pass up undesirable employment and hold out for something better. Better things have come along, including buying our first house. The loan we were able to get was thanks in large part to Mollie, our other car, and the money we saved driving them even when they were inconvenient, embarrassing, and hot.

The other day my husband’s car stalled out at a red light.

Though it started again and the problem hasn’t reoccurred, we know we may be nearing the end for these cars. It’s hard to think about moving on when they have been so good to us even when we don’t always think so kindly about them.

To my beater, my clunker, my hooptie, my friend, please forgive me when I fail to acknowledge all you’ve done for me. You’ve taken me where I’ve needed to be for over 15 years. You’ve taught me thrift, humility, and a hard kind of pride that’s made me more kind, patient, and appreciative. Though I will miss you when you finally go, I will be forever grateful for every mile.

Запись My Hooptie, a Love Story: The Amazing and the Terrible Things about Driving an Old Car впервые появилась Baby & Blog | Celebrating Black Mommyhood.

Money habits are learned at a very young age. When children see mommy and daddy spend money, they do not actively see where the money comes from. They see deliveries come to the doorstep without knowing if the money was earned or donated.

Watching you spend, they can mistakenly think that money is infinite and meant just for spending. Online shopping with credit cards can add more confusion.

With all this is mind, it is imperative that we teach our babies about money. These simple activities will grant your preschooler a solid foundation of financial literacy that will help them build wealth the rest of their lives

1. First, teach them about choices. Whether they receive money as a gift or they earn it by completing chores, they should know they can save it, spend it, share it, or invest it.

2. To emphasize the concept of choice, create 4 money jars and designate one for saving, one for spending, one for investing and one for giving. You can also purchase a piggy bank or football with these categories pre-designated.

3. Teach them the concept of waiting for something they want to buy. Delayed gratification is a concept that is difficult for some adults to grasp. It is a true sign of maturity, and the sooner we teach it to our children the better. Fun saving goals include:
– a specific toy
– a new app for a tablet
– a trip somewhere like an amusement park or movies. Factor in the cost of extras like snacks and have them save up for that too.

4. Make savings charts for both you and your child, then hang it on the wall or refrigerator. Seeing the chart on a daily basis can help you and your child visualize your savings goals accomplish them. Let your child watch you save toward something while they do to inspire them.

5. Teach your child the importance of giving and donating. Periodically count the money in the sharing jar, and ask your child how they can use this money to help others. If you are a member of a church, temple or mosque you can include the teachings of your faith.

6. Read books about money like Trouble With Money or Dollar and Sense from the Berenstain Bears series.

7. Discuss Elmo’s Adventures in Spending, Saving, and Sharing, an audio podcast produced by Sesame Street to help preschoolers learn the value of money. Also these Sesame Street videos offer more lessons.

8. Teach them to decipher between a need and want. Reduce their desire for unnecessary new things by making sure any media your children consume is ad free. When children view advertisements, discuss how ads make us want to spend money and confuse our needs and wants.

9. Have frank discussions about money with your children often. Do not assume that financial matters are concepts they cannot understand. Make financial literacy a natural part of life.

10. Teach them about coupons and sales. If you are at a department store and have a coupon code on your phone, show them the receipt and let them know how the discount saved you money. If you are using a physical coupon, let them cut it out and present it to the cashier.

These practical everyday lessons go a long way to show, not just tell, children about financial responsibility. Along with their ABCs, teach them about money. If you don’t, who will?

Mommies, how do you incorporate lessons about money with you child?  Please share.

Запись 10 Ways to Teach Young Children the Value of Money впервые появилась Baby & Blog | Celebrating Black Mommyhood.

1. Invitations

Check out the Disney family website for free printable invitations and once the party is over, head back to the website to print the thank you cards.

2. Decor

Party City has lots of options for a Doc Mc Stuffins Themed Party.  Check out their commercial here.

3. Gift Bags

I used clear wrapping, and added few Doc Mc Stuffins toys I found at Dollar Tree, like a maracas.  Currently they have these cute little Doc Mc Stuffins flashlight pens that would go great in a gift bag.  I also tried to keep the treats somewhat healthy, so I added little boxes of raisins, organic fruit leather, and cookies w/o high fructose corn syrup. We also included a little first aid kit from the travel section at Target, bubbles, and other small toys.

4. Cake

I did not make a cake.  I went to a grocery store bakery that printed photo cakes.  I took an image, edited it on Photoshop and had them print it on the cake.  Easy peasy.  However looking back at all these neat designs I have seen online, I kinda wish I had made my own cake.  Check out this tutorial on how to make a beautiful fondu Doc Mc Stuffins cake.  Also you can make little cake pops, or make cupcakes and add these cupcake toppers.

5. Doc Mc Stuffins Character

I am lucky to have a sister who is always down to go all out for her nieces.  She dressed up as Doc Mc Stuffins to serve as the children’s entertainment.  Although there are many pre-made Doc McStuffins costumes for kids found at places like Target or Toy R Us, and adult costume had to be made from scratch.

The easy things to find were the doctor jacket and stethoscope from a medical uniform store.  The headband and tutu were from Claire’s and a striped shirt from a local clothing store.  We could not find the polka dot pants, so we took regular stretch pants and used fabric markers to make the purple dots.  I know, I know, the real Doc Mc Stuffins pants are purple with pink polka dots. However using a light color marker on a darker fabric wasn’t working.  If you don’t have a creative talented sister like mine, you can look into hiring a Doc Mc Stuffins character like this young lady.

6. Games and Activities

Pin the Nose on Chilly — This is a variation of Pin the Tail on the Donkey.  Print out a poster size of Chilly.  We used pom pom balls with tape on the end for Chilly’s nose, but you could also use orange paper cut out in circles.  To keep with the theme we used medical masks (from Dollar Tree)  to cover the children’s face.  Check out this precious children as they play Pin the Nose on Chilly

Alternatively you could get some Band-Aids and play Make Stuffy feel better, by printing a poster size stuffy.  Party City also sells a pre-made kit as well.

Cotton Ball Tongue Depressor Race — Get a bag of cotton balls and some tongue depressors.  Place the cotton ball on the tongue depressor and have children race to see who can make it to the finish line without dropping the cotton.  If you have younger children who may not want to race, you can have each child walk one by one to the finish line like these young children did.

Freeze Dance — Get the kids moving by playing some upbeat songs from the Doc Is In album.  Have someone pause the music and tell the kids to freeze.  Each time someone moves when they should be frozen, they are out.  The last child on the dance floor is the winner.

Doctor Role Play — We purchased small stuffed animals for each child from Dollar Tree.  My sister, aka Doc Mc Stuffins gave each toy a check up as each child brought her their broken toy.  Each child made up a scenario for what was wrong with their toy.  Doc gave a diagnosis and a band aid to each toy.  This was cute and fun. Alternately you could set up a clinic area and have kids give their toys the check up themselves.

In closing, I have seen many variations of Doc Mc Stuffins parties online, and if I were to rank them, this one right here would definitely be number one!  The level of detail in everything is awesome.

Mommies, have you ever thrown a Doc Mc Stuffins themed party?  Have you considered throwing one?  What ideas would you add to the list?

Angele is a wife to a wonderful creative husband, mother to two beautiful intelligent daughters and a lover of art, education and laughter.  She is the creator and author of ABC remix.

Запись How to Throw a Doc McStuffins Themed Birthday Party впервые появилась Baby & Blog | Celebrating Black Mommyhood.

America is a land of opportunity. But if you don’t have a plan, it can also be a land of financial pitfalls.

I’ve been consumer debt free for 4 years. The only debt I carry is the mortgage on my home and the student loans that my husband is currently incurring in graduate school. In addition to paying off all our consumer debt, we’ve paid off my husband’s undergraduate student loans and purchased a used car with cash. Put simply, unless it’s a major investment — a house, education — I’m not going into debt over it.

This journey began with my husband and I paying off $10, 000 in consumer debt in 5 months. We also eliminated my husband’s student loan debt, about $27, 000, over the next two years, but this article focuses on the 5 month period.

Before the 5 Months Began

1. I attended a college I hated — because I got a full scholarship
Looking back, I could never have paid off my and my husband’s consumer debt in 5 months if I had college loans. It would have taken much longer. I attended a conservative Christian college and honestly, I kinda hated it, but my father kept telling me that I would be grateful for the free education when I got older. After graduating and spending a few years in the real world, I began to see exactly what he meant. Today I’m a huge proponent of INEXPENSIVE education. Scholarships, community college, city college, bypassing a more prestigious school to go to a cheaper one; all of these things help your financial bottom line.

2. In my senior year of college I attended a seminar on real world money management
It is one of the BEST thing I ever did in college, and one of the few things I remember. I studied Media as an undergrad… Can I break down Marshall McLuhan’s “The medium is the message” philosophy? NO! I have long forgotten that. But the money management lessons I learned in that two hour seminar have stayed with me for years. The most important takeaways were a.) depreciating assets, like vehicles, should ALWAYS be paid for with cash and, whenever possible, bought used b.) credit cards should ALWAYS be paid off in full lest you incur obscene amounts of interest and c.) you NEVER have too little money to start investing. These lessons shaped my philosophy on money, and helped me to stay motivated during my 5 months of intense debt payment.

During the 5 Months;

So my husband and I were about to get married, living together and broke. We’d managed to pay for our wedding with cash, mainly because a.) we had a shoestring budget and b.) we didn’t want to go deeper into debt. My credit card was all charged up, his credit card was all charged up, and we had multiple hospital bills, fines on our car, and consumer cards that were unpaid. Here’s how we got rid of our $10, 000 in outstanding debt;

3. We found out our credit scores and tracked them on a monthly basis
Signing up for a credit score service was sobering — because our scores were really crappy — and it helped us to locate some of our open debts. Don’t do like I did and sign up for FreeCreditReport.com. It’s been proven to be a scam. Instead, go with AnnualCreditReport.com, which is legitimate and federally approved.

Seeing how low our scores were really put a fire under our asses. We knew we’d need another car soon, and that we eventually wanted to be homeowners… we didn’t want dismal credit scores to hold us back.

4. We moved out of our apartment, and in with my mother-in-law
This was, by far, the biggest sacrifice we had to make. As we looked around our cute, spacious apartment, we knew that we could keep spending $800 a month on it, or move in with family and put the rent money towards our debts. So we made a deal with my mother-in-law to pay $300 a month for rent, and moved back into my husband’s old room. We slept on a twin bed and yes, we were mildly depressed. But we tacked a “debt countdown” on the bedroom door and it reminded us why we were making the sacrifice.

5. We stopped eating out, going out and buying clothes
Our gym clothes became our “default clothes”. I wore my tights and he wore his sweats to run around town. Because we didn’t really want our friends to see us like this, it eliminated another money spender — going out. No more Jay Z concerts, no more weekend trips to Michigan. We found cheap ways to entertain ourselves, like borrowing his mom’s bikes and riding around the neighborhood, renting RedBox movies and going to the botanical gardens. Someone gifted us Dunkin Donuts coupons and we used them whenever we wanted to “go out” and have a treat.

6. We paid for things with cash — and quickly learned how hard it is to spend money when you are using physical, paper bills
I will tell you this; there is a HUGE psychological difference between swiping $80 on a credit card and taking four twenties out of your wallet and handing them to a cashier. GUARANTEED you will be at that register with the cash in your hand like, “Do I REALLY need this?” Paying for goods with cash gave us an appreciation of the value of a dollar, and put frivolous spending in perspective.

6. My husband got a better job
If we wanted to pay our debt down quickly, cost-cutting was only going to do so much. Don’t get me wrong — it is a powerful way to reduce debt — but increased income is also a major factor. My husband managed to get a new job that paid significantly better, and it helped to accelerate our debt payment.

7. We decided against cosmetic fixes for our broken down car
Was it fun rolling around in a 2005 Hyundai Elantra with a busted grill AND a busted bumper, both due to fender benders I’d been in? No. Sometimes it was straight embarrassing. More than once we parked around a corner and walked a block or two to our final destination to avoid being seen in our crap car. But we made peace with it and decided that, as long as the engine was running fine, we wouldn’t bother with cosmetic fixes.

8. We let go of friends who were overly materialistic or pressured us to “Keep up with the Joneses”
The funny thing about our period of brokeness is that it tightened our circle of friends. There were people who were embarrassed for us, or looked down on our situation. Those individuals, we realized, were not worth keeping around. The friends who stuck by us didn’t feel that they — or we — were defined by possessions. We didn’t have to look cool or afford cool things to hang out with them.

9. We kept a debt counter on our bedroom door
I mentioned this earlier, and it was really a motivating factor. Every time we paid off a debt, we adjusted our tally. Seeing our debt number decreasing gave us a sense of urgency and helped us remember what our sacrifices were for.

10. We switched our money to a Credit Union to avoid predatory bank practices
Once we had enough financial cushion to actually save a little bit, we took our money out of the bank and put it in a credit union. The primary difference between banks and credit unions is that banks are aggressively for-profit while credit unions apply their profits to reduce fees and provide better rates for members. Credit unions tend not to have any predatory fines, and are far more supportive of personal financial goals. Here’s a great article that breaks down the difference between banks and credit unions.

11. We applied our tax refund to debt payment
Our refund slashed a huge chunk of our debt!

12. I followed early retirement blogs and forums
Not because I wanted to retire early, but because they are CHOCK FULL of cost-cutting and savings advice! They are populated by Americans who want to either retire or gain full financial freedom early in life. It was motivating to learn from people who were so financially disciplined, and it really put my situation in perspective — Did I want to be a slave to my debt forever? Or did I want to make tough choices to gain my freedom. My favorite early retirement site is Early Retirement Extreme.

13. We accelerated our car payments by paying more and applying it to the principal
With the money freed up from our decreased rent, we opted to pay off our car loan more quickly (in addition to paying down credit cards and miscellaneous debts). We did this by tacking on an extra $50 to $100 to the payment each month, and making an explicit request that it be applied directly to the principal. If you accelerate loan payments, but do NOT specify where you want the surplus to go, it will be applied primarily to interest. We made sure that our bank knew exactly where we wanted the extra money to go.

14. We did NOT throw out our credit cards! But we only used them for essential items
Remember how I said that we wanted to improve our credit score? For better or for worse, we needed credit cards to help us do this. Instead of getting rid of our credit cards, we put a recurring bill on one — our cell phone service, and used the other for groceries. At the time we did not trust ourselves to use credit for anything non-essential, so we paid for goods in cash. Now that my discipline has improved, I do have a credit card that I use for both essential and non-essential items. It is a mileage card, so we earn miles that we can reimburse for travel. But it is paid in full at the end of each month.

After about 5 months of living with my mother-in-law, we had eliminated $10, 000 in consumer debt and began focusing on saving, investing and paying down my husband’s undergraduate student loans, which we slashed in another 2 years.

My story is not unique. I’ve read countless debt payment stories, and they almost always involve extreme austerity measures over a short period of time.

Mommies, what tips would you add for aggressive debt payment?

Запись How My Husband and I Paid off $10, 000 of Consumer Debt in 5 Months впервые появилась Baby & Blog | Celebrating Black Mommyhood.

You all know I’m a single-stay at home-mom and I homeschool. I’m sure you also wonder how in the world I’m able to pull this off.
There’s no way I could do it on my own…I have my very supportive parents and friends. They have been a shoulder to cry on, they watch my kids, they encourage me when I’m feeling down.

I’m sure many people thought and still think that I should put my children in school or daycare, get a 9-5 and keep it moving. That just won’t work for us. I guess I could make it work if I tried really really hard, but I’m not much for following the mainstream way of doing things. I like going against the grain.

Here’s a short list of the things I do to keep the cost of living down for us.

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I work from home doing several things – I work as a virtual assistant, helping to mange social media networks. I also make blog buttons/badges. My two main sources of income are writing and being a Independent Distributor for Itworks Global.
I’ve always wanted to earn an income doing what I love and feel blessed that I’m able to.

I‘m on government assistance for insurance and receive food stamps. The food stamps don’t last the entire month and they aren’t meant to. They supplement us. There have been a few months where the kids were sick for a week and didn’t eat much, so they lasted longer during  those times.

I don’t cook a lot of big meals. My kids graze throughout the day, so I keep lots of fruits, chips and salsa, crackers, etc in the house.
Grocery shopping usually happens once a week and I do my best to stick to my list.

Запись How I Make Ends Meet As A Homeschooling Single Mom впервые появилась Baby & Blog | Celebrating Black Mommyhood.

So if you’re interested in cloth diapering, here’s everything you need to know:

Cloth diapers are more economical
This is the #1 reason why we chose to make this huge transition. At the time I had a two year old who was potty training with disposable training pampers and a 9 month old who was in pampers. You do the math! We were literally throwing money away every time they pooped. Reports show that parents spend $2000 per child on disposable pamper from birth to 3 years, while cloth diapers cost anywhere from $200 to $400 per child from birth to 3 years. Can you say SCORE!

Cloth diapers may facilitate faster potty training
Some parents think it’s because they are less absorbent, so children feel more uncomfortable when they are wet or have a poop. Others think it’s because, from a young age, kids see you shaking the cloth diaper out in the toilet, so they have a better understanding of what a toilet is for. You can read more about this here.

1. Changing a dirty cloth diaper
This was my main concern when I was considering cloth diapers. After little man poops in his diapers I easily shake that poop out in the toilet then rinse the cloth diaper with warm to hot water and put it in what’s called a wet diaper bag or a diaper pail. These come in handy because they hold all my soiled diapers until wash day.

You can get away with putting the dirty cloth diaper directly in the bag or pail without rinsing it, but I personally like the thought of a semi-clean diaper going into the washing machine.

2. Frequency of washing cloth diapers
This depends on how many cloth diapers you’ve stocked up, but you’re typically looking at washing every 3 to 4 days. To save money hang your washed diapers outside in the sun. This naturally sterilizes them and kills any leftover bacteria. The dryer works well too, but we’re trying to save money here.

Make sure to wash your cloth diapers separate from the rest of your laundry, and to use detergents that are free of perfumes, enzymes, brighteners, and fabric softeners so you don’t irritate your baby’s skin. I found a cool detergent chart here.

3. Finding the right cloth diaper for your child
This is where things got very overwhelming for me. Cloth diapering is not what it used to be. We’re far from the days of pins and a white cloth diaper. Now there are diaper covers with snaps that fit just like a pamper would! There are so many options out there right now, it’s kind of ridiculous. And some can be very pricey. My goal was to find cloth diapers that were affordable, easy to use and easy to take care of.

So far I have bought all of my diaper covers, cloth diaper, and inserts on Amazon.

The All-In-One size works for me right now because they grow with my lil man. These were especially perfect because I started him at 9 months. The cool thing about the All-In-One is if we were to ever have another child, I could use the very same diaper covers for him or her from newborn to toddler size. All you have to do is adjust the diaper covers according to their size and voila!

4. Cloth diapering overnight and for heavy wetters
Now if your baby is a heavy wetter like mine don’t freak out. Just double up on inserts at night. Inserts go into the diaper cover and help to hold in pee and poop. You can buy micro fiber or bamboo inserts like these;

Or just use a couple regular prefold cloth diapers overnight.

5. Alternatives to pins for fastening
If you choose regular prefold cloth diapers, you don’t have to use a pin. You can use what’s called a Snappi to fasten it. It easily secures the diaper underneath the diaper cover and never comes off.

6. Prepping your cloth diapers for improved absorbency
In order for cloth diapers to have the best absorbency, they must be washed two to three times (and dried in between). This is particularly important for natural fibers like cotton and bamboo. If your diapers are made of man made and/or micro fiber, then you only have to wash and dry once.

I found this out the hard way. I only washed my cotton and micro fiber diapers one time before using them, which led to countless wet beds. Once I did the research and increased my washing, baby Micah was DRY!

7. Cloth diapering is not for everyone
Trust me! It’s not! It all depends on your motivation. Do you want to keep the environment a little cleaner? Save more money in your budget? Potty train your little one faster? Then I’d say that cloth diapering is for you.  If you need more information on cloth diapering, check out these videos:

Ladies, are any of you cloth diapering? Share your tips and experiences!

Kim is the author of  where she discovers what it means to be a woman of GOD, wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend and entrepreneur.

Запись The Mommy’s Guide to Cloth Diapering: Everything You Need to Get Started впервые появилась Baby & Blog | Celebrating Black Mommyhood.

During high school, I did a course called ‘Home & Family Management’ and I learned all sorts of practical and useful things like how to clean kitchen a stove and refrigerator, how to make a budget and spend wisely. I really enjoyed writing out menus and creating meal plans, but, my teachers never grabbed the opportunity to show us the connection between the content in our textbooks and real-life. Since I’ve had to manage my own home, I have referenced my old textbooks, on a number of occasions, for the guidelines and strategies that make my life a little less insane. The fact is, we all have to eat and manage our homes, but most of us have a hard time figuring out how to keep the tummies fed, stay within our means and not waste time while we’re at it. Most days, you’ll find yourself going from the fridge to the cupboards to the counter, trying to decide what to make or you’ll end up grabbing last minute meals on the road, which are usually costly, unhealthy or both and this cycle keeps repeating when you don’t have a plan.

Planning your family’s meals is an easy, time-saving, budget-friendly and healthy process that every home manager should master. It requires just a few minutes of brainstorming and a quick inventory of your kitchen cupboards to start off. Once you’ve selected the meals you want to prepare, you can shop for the needed ingredients and then just follow the menu plan. Choosing your daily meals in advance is easy, because you already have a history of your family’s food likes and dislikes. Plus, you know what dishes you can make well and enjoy making. The menu planning habit saves time because you will not spend time wondering what to cook, wandering around the store because you don’t have a list or making repeat visits to the grocery store to pick up ingredients you suddenly ran out of. You will also save money by using up the ingredients you already have at home and buying only what you have planned for. More than anything else, properly planning your meals will ensure that your family is eating healthy, balanced meals, that you have lovingly prepared.

Planning Your Menu
1. Make a list of your family’s favorite meals, or meals you know how to prepare.

2. Once you’ve made the list, take a look at your kitchen/pantry to see what ingredients you already have in store, then choose the dishes you can prepare based on those ingredients.

3. Once you’ve decided on that, get a calendar or notebook and choose which days you plan to make which dish. Start with just 7 dinners and once you’ve made it through a week successfully, you can plan for 7 breakfasts and 7 dinners. As you come up with new meal ideas, rotate weekly menus to add some variety.

Shopping From Your Menu
Having checked your cupboards and refrigerator for what you already have on hand, make a grocery list of the ingredients you will need.

4. When making your grocery list, try to determine which items you’ll want to purchase weekly, bi-weekly and monthly. This will help you to spread the cash around appropriately. Then, you can plan to buy the staple items in bulk, e.g. whole grains, cereals, dry and canned beans, nuts, dried fruits, pasta and spices.

5. Try to reduce or eliminate the amount of heavily processed and packaged foods you buy – to save money and improve your health.

6. Choose locally-grown and seasonal produce, because they will be the freshest and most nutritious. If your menu plan has shredded cabbage as a side salad, but you get to the grocers and realise that romaine lettuce is on special, it is perfectly fine to switch things up if the savings are significant. Just be careful to stick to your list (don’t waver too much from the original plan) and avoid buying on impulse.

7. If your supermarket or green grocer delivers items, ordering online is another excellent way to cut down on the time and money spent.

Cooking From Your Menu
8. The most important thing to do when cooking from a menu plan, is to use the perishables first. If you got a deal on lots of fresh produce, try to portion, package and freeze them for using later. Otherwise, you end up with spoilage.

9. Practice stock rotation: Don’t pack all the new groceries in the front of your cupboards while the older items get pushed to the back and eventually go bad.

10. Try cooking in batches and storing meals in the freezer. It doesn’t need to be a month’s supply of bean stew, but if you can make two or three dinner’s worth of stew and pack them in separate containers for freezing, then you will have dinner ready in 10 minutes on those nights you’re too busy to cook. If you get around to it, you can also pre-pack and, even flavour, your cereals for breakfast. For example, serving oatmeal for breakfast 4 days a week doesn’t have to be boring if you’ve flavoured it with cinnamon and brown sugar, dried apples and walnuts, peanuts and raisins, or coconut flakes and ginger. Besides, if you cook enough for two or more nights, you can announce that you’re serving ‘rechauffé’ (a French cookery word which basically means ‘left overs’). Rechauffé doesn’t just mean re-heating the dish you ate the night before, because you can always take a dish and ‘remix’ it. This means, a main dish that was fried, can be simmered in some barbecue sauce and served as a brand new dish the following night.

11. If you’re a bit lost for ideas, browse the internet for an avalanche of menu plans and recipes. But remember that it is best to start with things you already cook on a regular basis. This is an example of 7 dinners I would make for my family, and these dishes are pretty easy to make once you have a plan. Aside from the Chow Mein (stir-fried), all the dishes are ‘boiled’ or tossed in the oven:

 
12. If you don’t know how (or don’t want) to make 5 or 6 different main dishes for the week, serve the same main dish and just switch up the starchy side dish and veggies. Some of the options for sides include:

 
13. To make things easy, decide on nightly themes, for example: soup on Saturdays, pasta on Wednesdays, and left-overs on Mondays. If you enjoy foreign cuisines, try Asian stir-fry or African stew nights.

14. Plan for nights off, whether you go out to dinner, get take-out delivered or just have rechauffé.

15. In planning for leftovers, choose dishes that you’ll want to ‘Cook Once and Eat Twice’ or dishes that you’ll want to ‘Fix then Remix’, e.g. a side dish of rice turned into a main dish of fried rice.

Once you master these tips, you’ll feel comfortable to try new dishes and increase your repertoire in the kitchen. Then you’ll wonder why you weren’t planning your menus all along.

How do you do your meal planning? What challenges do you face with it? What tips would you add to this?

Didan Ashanta is a natural living enthusiast who blogs at DidanAshanta.com. A native of Jamaica, she currently lives in Tokyo with her husband and 1-year-old daughter.

Запись No More Wasting and Overspending: 15 Essential Meal Planning Tips впервые появилась Baby & Blog | Celebrating Black Mommyhood.

I first started looking into natural cleaning products to try something new. But once I really started doing my research and getting involved, I noticed I was saving money and keeping my house free of harsh chemicals. The best part is that the majority of the products were right in my house tucked in a cabinet somewhere. And the items I did not own were less than $3.00.

1. Lemons and Lemon Juice
This fruit can dissolve soap scum and hard water stains on your appliances, sinks and tubs. It’s especially good for cleaning and shining brass and copper. Just mix it with baking soda to a paste-like consistency and get to wiping. To clean pots and pans, cut a lemon in half, sprinkle it with baking soda and start scrubbing. Not only does it get it clean but the fresh aroma will have you thinking you really did something ? Keep in mind that lemon juice can lighten surfaces, so do a patch test first.

2. Baking Soda
This has truly become my best friend! It is so versatile and I use it for almost everything. Just mix it with hot water and scrub away. It evens works as a natural deodorizer for smelly odors in the fridge, sneakers, garbage cans and smelly clothes. You can also use it to unclog drains. I just tried that this week. Just combine 1 cup of baking soda with 1 cup of vinegar down the drain, followed by boiled hot water and BOOM! It works just like the store bought drainer fluid, if not better. Oh and every now and then I like to add baking soda to my tooth cleaning regimen. Can we say so fresh and so clean?!

3. White Vinegar
I am very impressed with this one. Vinegar has a natural acid that kills germs and destroys bacteria. I’m not a fan of the smell, but if you dilute a cup of vinegar with a cup of water and add 8-10 drops of your favorite essential oil (like lavender, tea tree, or orange citrus), you can easily bypass it. This mixture has cleaned my windows, tubs, sinks, and even my floors! There’s nothing like having your husband ask why the room smells like lavender and how you got the floors so bright. Ha!

4. Hydrogen Peroxide*
If you need a stain remover for laundry, just use this! Now I have not tried this one yet, however I have seen it done and I have to say that I am looking forward to trying it.

5. Borax*
When added to laundry detergent borax is known to lift stains and odor from clothes, and I now. Check out my directions. I have also used borax with a scrub brush to clean my toilet. Just sprinkle some in there and let it sit for five minutes and scrub away with your toilet brush.

So how do these products protect mommy, daddy and babies?
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), most chemicals in cleaning products contribute to polluting the air quality within the home. I am a stay at home mom with 4 children and 2 of them are home with me all day. This means I am constantly wiping and cleaning different surfaces in the house. The majority of the time they are in the same room with me while I am cleaning. What they inhale or touch concerns me so I’m glad I’m now using more natural products.

So there you have it. No more harsh cleansers, a safer home and more money in your pockets!

How do you clean naturally? Would you try any of these natural products to clean your house?

*Both Borax and Hydrogen Peroxide are safer alternatives to chlorine bleach. Read more about it here and here.

Kim is the author of  where she discovers what it means to be a woman of GOD, wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend and entrepreneur.

Запись 5 Safer, Cheaper and More Natural Alternatives to Bleach впервые появилась Baby & Blog | Celebrating Black Mommyhood.

By Kim of 

When it comes to being a first time mommy (!) you believe that you will need EVERYTHING there is to have for your newborn, if not MORE! But not true ladies. If your baby does not have every baby essential I am pretty sure she will not be upset with you. She won’t even know these items exist.

After having four kids, I have been able to narrow down what is a baby essential and what is not. Items that are not essential have either ended up in a closet or are just decoration. I’ve even given some away to friends, and I have to tell you, they came to the same conclusion.

Here are some things I find to be more of a nuisance than an essential;

1. Baby Shoes
Yes I know, they are so cute! But if your newborn is not walking yet, he/she will not need them!!! If your babies are anything like mine they will kick them off or either grow out of them the next day:) A pair of socks or even two pair will do the job. Or better yet a full length onesie that covers their tiny little feet.

2. Baby Mittens
I know these are handy for protecting your little ones from scratching their face but unless they’re attached to a full length onesie, they will fall off because of your baby’s movement.

3. Baby Bath Robes
Aren’t they just adorable? Do you have time to put this on your baby? Please don’t be like me and forget that you didn’t put a pamper on your baby because he was looking so cute in his bath robe. Not to mention, they grow out of these very quickly. I found that full length towels that come with a hood attached do just fine.

4. Changing Table
I may have used this once to change my baby. Oh wait! I also used it to throw their clothes on top of and even mine and my husband’s stuff because it was there. A changing mat will do just fine. You can fold it up and take it with you where ever you go. This way you won’t have to leave one room to go to another to change your baby.

5. Expensive Themed Bedding and Decor
I always wondered if this was really for the baby or the parent! All the hard work put into a room will inevitably change as your baby grows. Neutral colors work best for paint and bedding. This way you are free to change it up as they get older. Keep it simple!

6. Baby Wipe Warmer
Really??? Can you whip this out while on the road? Besides, I found that a cold wipe will help with waking your baby up when its time for feedings.

7. Baby Genie
When left in the room for more than a couple days it emits a terrible funk. Its better to just stick with the old fashion way…tie that little bomber in a plastic bag and chuck it in the bathroom or kitchen garbage.

8. Baby Nail Clippers
Can you imagine mistakenly clipping your precious darling skin as oppose to their nails? I can and have! I find that a soft nail file will do the job safer and more effectively.

9. Lanolin
Now this stuff actually works! But don’t buy more than you really need. Nine times out of ten you will leave with some from the hospital (please ask if they don’t offer) and once the phase of chapped sore nipples are over with, you will still have some left over from the hospital. Besides a little goes a long way.

10. Bottle Warmer
These are cool if you don’t mind waiting while your precious little one is screaming in the background. I found that bottles made on the spot at room temperature (from formula) work just fine. It also makes it easier when you’re on the road because… where are you going to stop to warm up the bottle?

Of course, individual needs vary. These are all based on my personal experiences. All the things listed have been used once or twice, then ultimately ended up in a closet somewhere. When you really think about it, all your newborn will really care about and want anyway is their mother’s touch, comfort and most importantly that Mommy Love!

What “baby essentials” didn’t work for you. Please do share!

Kim is the author of  where she discovers what it means to be a woman of GOD, wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend and entrepreneur.

Запись 10 Newborn “Essentials” That You Don’t Really Need впервые появилась Baby & Blog | Celebrating Black Mommyhood.

By DeAnna

Raising kids is expensive. The USDA estimates that the cost to raise a child to the age of 18 in the United States is over $241, 000. Today, I am going to share some tips with you that will hopefully help you get that bill down in one area: clothing.

1. Don’t pay full price for anything. As a person who worked for many years in retail, I can tell you that you should pretty much never pay full price. All clothes in the store will eventually go on sale, and it will usually be the same selection of sizes as when the clothes first arrived. Additionally, most retailers nowadays will have coupons that you can use on your purchases. Just “like” your favorite stores on Facebook, sign up to receive promotional emails on their website and/or text messages on your phone, and wait for the opportunities to save to come rolling in. Even thrift stores typically have sale days where everything is 50% off, and will send coupons to their best customers. The only time I would advocate paying full price is if you needed an outfit right away, and couldn’t come across any current coupons. But if you follow Tip #2 that shouldn’t really happen…

2. Plan ahead. This is something you can start doing as soon as you find out you’re pregnant. Figure out what season it will be when your child is 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, etc. and look for clothes in those sizes when you are out shopping. Since you don’t need the clothes right away–you can wait until they are a really good deal. Just don’t do this if you live in Colorado and have a 3 year old boy or 5 month old girl and like to shop the Target clearance rack. ?

3. Handle with care. The better care you take of your little ones’ clothing, the longer it will last. When washing clothes, turn them inside out, wash them in cold water, and dry them on low heat. This will put less stress on the fabrics and also help keep the colors brighter longer. Another care tip is to pretreat stains as soon as you can. I keep stain remover by the washing machine, and also in my kids’ bathroom so I have quick access to it when stains happen. And if you exclusively breastfeed your babies, remember that you can remove stains from diaper leakage by putting the clothes out in the sunshine. Who knows why it works, it just does (I told you breastmilk was full of magic. ;))

4. Keep things organized. If you keep like items together in your children’s closets and drawers, you can quickly see what you have to work with, and what you might need more of. Keeping like items together also help you avoid buying duplicates of the same things.

5. Look for basics. Long sleeved and short sleeved shirts in solid colors are really an essential part of anyone’s wardrobe–kids and grownups alike. These items can be used as layering pieces to help you get more wear out of other more interesting items in your child’s wardrobe. Long sleeved shirts can be worn under t-shirts or short-sleeved button downs to carry those items from summer into winter. And short sleeved tees can be worn under long sleeved shirts made out of thinner material, as an extra layer of warmth to carry those items from spring to fall.

6. Invest in what matters. Take some of the money that you have saved on clothing and use it to purchase high quality shoes. Shoes are something that kids wear everyday, and with little ones that are just learning how to walk and run, the construction is important. I like stride rite because they have something called SRT, a technology that helps your kid balance and fall less when they are first learning to use their feet. And remember that babies don’t need shoes, socks will do just fine. Yes tiny shoes are cute, but they are a not necessary part of a wardrobe. Well constructed shoes are more expensive, but if you get a pair in a versatile style and color, your kid can wear the same pair pretty much everyday. And if you use tip #1, you’ll wait until they go on sale/and or use a coupon to bring the price down too.

7. Remember your priorities. Whenever you are tempted to buy something really cute for your child that you know he or she doesn’t need, ask yourself, “Is this really is the best use of my money?” Yes, your child might get a fly outfit, but I bet they’d rather have a parent with a healthy retirement account that won’t need financial support in 40 years. Or, you could put that money in a fund for your son or daughter’s education. Now, if you’ve already got those and other important financial issues covered, then hey–splurge away. But if you don’t, it is important to remember to plan and save for the future–even if that means going without things we might really want (but don’t really need) today.

8. Pay it forward. Obviously, if you are planning on having more kids, you should save your clothing and other baby items so you don’t have to buy them again for your next kid. But if you know you’re finished having kids, consider donating the things that you no longer need. You can give them to a relative, a friend of a friend, or your local thrift store. Even if you could possibly make money by selling the clothes, you are going a good deed and helping your community by giving the items away. Additionally, If you believe in the idea that you put out what you get back, you are opening yourself up to perhaps being on the receiving in of someone else’s generosity in the future.

So, those are my tips on how to make the most out of your kids clothes. What did you think? Do you have any other tips you’d like to share?

DeAnna is a former psychotherapist turned blogger and stay-at-home mom. You can read her thoughts about race, racism and other forms of inequality on her blog: www.myblackfriendsays.com

Запись 8 Ways to Save on Kid’s Clothing впервые появилась Baby & Blog | Celebrating Black Mommyhood.