If you’re going into the new year with some baggage from the holidays… emotional and financial… now is the time to make some changes to start the year off right. (more…)
5 Steps To Kickstarting A Year Of Saving
categories: saving
Unicorn Lollipop Valentine – Free Printable
This valentine combines unicorns and sweet treats. Perfect for my daughter’s classmates this Valentine’s Day.
I always prefer to make my own valentines instead of buying a few in a box for $15.
And you can download and print these for free. All you’ll need to pay for is the lollipops. Here’s how it works. (more…)
Pokemon Card Valentine – Free Printable
On the list of things my kids love… Pokemon ranks pretty close to the top. So, what better way for them to tell their friends and classmates ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’ than with their favorite thing?
This Pokemon card valentine is super easy to download, print and make with these easy steps below. And the only cost is the Pokemon cards to stick inside. (more…)
3 Ways To Get Kids Running
According to KidsHealth.org, physical activity not only helps kids build strong muscles and bones and control weight, it can also help them sleep better, be more academically motivated and successful.
So, while you’re making New Year’s resolutions for fitness and better health, take your kids along for the ride. (more…)
20 Affordable Christmas Traditions You Still Have Time To Start
categories: Holidays
I LOVE Christmas. And starting and carrying on family traditions is a way to pass on that love to my kids. It’s also a great chance to spend time with them away from screens and enjoy a holiday based on love, charity, and joy.
If you’re looking for a new tradition to start, check out this list of my family’s favorite traditions… and more from some awesome fellow bloggers. (more…)
Coastal Christmas Gift Wrapping – 18 Free Printable Gift Tags
categories: Holidays, Printables
Do you live on the coast? Do you wish you did? Then show off your coastal style in your Christmas gifts.
Since moving to Florida last year, I fell deeper in love with all things coastal. The water, the sunshine… what’s not to love?
So this Christmas I married my love for the coast and my love for Christmas and gorgeous gift wrapping.
And I’m making it all available to you for free.
Rustic Chic Gift Wrapping On A Shoestring Budget
categories: Holidays, Printables
Christmas spending can be stressful.
You have enough to worry about, checking all your family and friends off your shopping list, without going broke.
Wrapping those gifts doesn’t have to be expensive. You can spend just a few dollars for a magazine-worthy rustic chic look.
3 Tools For Raising Money-Smart Kids
categories: Parenting
For most kids, money is an abstract concept. They need food, water, clothes and a home, and all those needs are magically already provided for them. And when they want a toy or game, those wants are usually met too.
But they don’t yet have a sense that the money it takes to buy those things, requires work.
That’s why I personally don’t pay my kids an automatic allowance. It takes away the sense of work equalling reward and replaces it with a sense of entitlement, a feeling that they deserve the money no matter what.
But I’m not at all against giving kids money when they earn it.
I think the three most important things to teach kids about money are:
1- You have to work hard for it
2- You usually have to wait for it
3- And you should spend it wisely
And you can do this with these three tools: (more…)
Turning 40… Kicking And Screaming
categories: Uncategorized
Eyesight really is the first to go. Or is that memory? I can’t remember.
But my eyesight is going. I went 40 years with perfect vision then BOOM!.. I’m blind. I have to pull things so far away from my face to read, they might as well be in the other room.
So I recently got my first pair of reading glasses. And I’m much less excited about looking smarter than I am sad that it’s not a fashion statement, I really need them.
It’s probably a coincidence this happened right around my 40th birthday. But it was sort of a double whammy of age creeping up that I wasn’t at all prepared for. (more…)
A Postcard to Key West – Alive & Well After Hurricane Irma
categories: Uncategorized
Months ago we booked a long weekend trip to Key West. Then Hurricane Irma happened. The category 4 made landfall 20 miles east of Key West before churning through pretty much all of Florida.
I’m not gonna lie, I was a little apprehensive to go, not sure what we would find. But our vacation rental company said their homes sustained no damage and the island fared well.
And if anything, I figured our presence would be beneficial to the businesses and the people who make their living off tourism. Which is a lot. According to the Sun Sentinel, tourism accounts for more than half of all jobs in Monroe County. And 60% of the money spent there comes from tourists, according to numbers from the county’s Tourism Development Council.
Long story short.. it was a great decision. Key West is still kickin’ and looks great. And it’s a great place for a family-friendly vacation, with lots of affordable things to do. Check out some of these reasons why. (more…)