Frugal Living Archives - Page 9 of 37

How to Organize Family Household Chores

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March 28, 2020 by Ashley at Frugal Coupon Living Filed Under: Facebook, Frugal Living, Instagram, Parenting, Pinterest, Social Media

I cannot do it all and to get it done, I have to involve the kids and husband. Follow these hacks and tips for How to Organize Family Household Chores – timers, zones, music, charts, rewards and more!

How to Organize Family Household Chores

In the pass couple years, my “work” has exploded. I don’t mean business, I mean the responsibilities I hold. I learned, from friends, that would happen with older kids. There are more assignments, activities, responsibilities and more stuff. My bigger issue, though was there was also more kids. I had three kids in fourteen months. Yes, that is possible with twins. That took our family from a family of four to a family of seven rather quickly and I needed help. I had to involve my family to get things done.

Getting your family to help with household work doesn’t need to feel as though you are pulling teeth. Believe it or not, but there are methods out there that get your whole family involved! You don’t have to do everything yourself.

Make doing chores something the whole family gets involved in. Here are ways to how to get the whole family involved in Household Chores!

How to Get Your Family Involved in Household Chores

The more important jobs of the house shouldn’t only fall on mom. Of course, it’s easy to get frustrated when you feel as though your family isn’t helping you like you need them to. If you’re a busy mom and need some creative way to get the kids and husband to help with chores, I’ve got some ideas for you!

Set a Household Timer

Can’t get your family to help clean? Why not set a timer? Timers are great for getting something big done in a short period of time. When a timer is set, you don’t have time to get distracted. Plus, even the little ones enjoy having the time set. This is a cheap inexpensive way to get your family involved in housework.

Consider adding on our Daily Cleaning Checklist or Deep Cleaning checklist (found in our Busy Mom Binder). You can assign each person an area of the home (from the list) during this time.

A household timer let’s your kids know, something won’t last forever! Consider adding music during this time. It just makes it more fun.

Shop The Busy Mom Binder

Assign a Zone

A friend offered me this tip. Each child (depending on their age) had a zone of the house. For mom it as the kitchen and master bedroom. For dad it was the porch, patio and garage (and offer flow of the kitchen). For my oldest it was her bedroom, the living room and the dish washer. For my second oldest it was her bedroom and the shared bathroom. For some of my younger children it was the playroom and they could do that combined. Set a timer for 10 minutes and everyone gets to work daily for cleaning up their zone.

Don’t Expect Things to Change Too Fast

Your family isn’t going to automatically wake up on a Saturday and start cleaning. When it comes to family household work or chores, it’s going to take time to make these changes happen. Start implementing smaller tasks at a time.

Start by having your family help with one thing at a time.
Change things slowly and not all of a sudden.
Expect a little pushback from your family, they’re not going to love these changes at once.

Give it time for these changes to take place. You’ll be glad you didn’t go into this whole household chores thing thinking the whole family was going to jump on board right away. Lower your expectations.

Give Rewards When They Are Due

Kids who do chores shouldn’t necessarily get paid, but they can be rewarded. You don’t need to pay your kids with money to get them excited about doing chores. If you have younger kids, they may not even be at an age where they get excited about the money.

Find what really motivates your child and reward them with that. Rewards can be stickers, a favorite show, or even an ice cream treat. Our screen time tickets are very popular and might be the perfect fit for your child. Finding out what motivates your family will help save your sanity.

My Kids Need These Screen Time Tickets

Make it Fun and Not Stressful

If you are yelling at your family to help you clean, it’s not going to turn out well. One of the best things you can do for your family is to make it fun and not stressful. Think of housework like working as a team. The more you do together, the faster it will all go! Turn on the music and have a dance party while you clean.

Don’t Forget the Chore Chart

The chore chart may be an oldie, but it’s still a goodie. There is a lot of creativity in chore charts! In our our Busy Mom Binder you can download this detailed chore chart which tells kids HOW to clean their room so you aren’t busy hovering like the helicopter mom you don’t have time (or desire) to be. You could also make your own chore chart to personalize it to your home and needs.

The Busy Mom Binder to Fix Your Organizational Needs

Stick with It

As a mom, it’s easy to see that getting everyone to help you is harder than it’s worth. NOT. Don’t give up on this and stick with it. Hold your family accountable and they will come around. Consistency is key! Make them help you do it every single time.

You don’t have to nag, scream, or cry to get them to help! Stay positive and stay consistent and you’d be amazed at how much you can get your family to help.

Show Don’t Tell

While no one is going to come close to doing it HOW you like it done, you can still teach them your way. There is going to be a learning curve with anything your kids learn, however, they can still get it done.

Do the chore with them the first couple of times, so that they KNOW how to do it. Doing it this way means there are no excuses for them not knowing how to get it done.

How do you get your family involved in helping with household work? Do you have secrets to share about getting your family to do chores?

Our Pinterest community and I would love to see how this worked out for you. Share your chore chart. Leave a comment and/or add a photo here on Pinterest!

Get help with chores with many of the printables in our Busy Mom Binder. Pin to Pinterest.

You are busy! I get it. Take a look at these Busy Mom Life Hacks. Pin to Pinterest.

WHAT’S TRENDING? Looking for a few engaging activities? Grab Minute to Win it Games – Traditional, Holiday, Group, and more! Use these fun activities in the office, classroom, or at your next birthday party.

Work Life Balance Tips

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March 21, 2020 by Ashley at Frugal Coupon Living Filed Under: Facebook, Frugal Living, Instagram, Parenting, Pinterest, Printable, Social Media

Work Life Balance Tips – How this working mom creates quality time with family while balancing a career, spouse, the home and more! A busy mom… achieving it all… like a boss!

Work Life Balance Tips

I am not going to lie. Working full time and being present with family often feels like a juggling act with too many balls (and bills – wink.) I don’t always do it gracefully. While I’d like to be perfect at both, it’s not always possible. Below I share my tips for creating quality time with family while trying to balance a career to best of my ability.

“I think every working mom probably feels the same thing: You go through big chunks of time where you’re just thinking, ‘This is impossible — oh, this is impossible.’ And then you just keep going and keep going, and you sort of do the impossible.” Tina Fey

Grab the work-life balance that you’re aiming for or change the perspective from which you come! You too can do the impossible.

Get Up Early or Stay Up Late

I figured I would start with my least favorite time. I love sleep, but sometimes the solution is taking away part of something you love – just not all of it. Whether you work from home or you work outside of the home, it can be hard to balance it all. During an especially busy season, I have noticed that getting up earlier or staying up later (within reason) is a great way to balance life a little more. This allows you more time to do the extra stuff when the kids aren’t able to disrupt your productivity. While I would tell you I would rather stay up late to work, this is the truth. I am much more productive in the morning and I do not take away evening time with my spouse – the juggle of being present for everyone one.

Let Go of the Guilt

If you work full time, you don’t need to feel guilty about it. As long as you’re not working yourself to death, you should not feel bad about working and providing for your family. Letting go of the guilt is so important. You will not be able to move on to a good work-life balance if you don’t let go of the guilt of being a working parent.

How to Let Go of Guilt

The best way to let go of guilt is changing your perception of the situation. You feel guilty about working too much and not having enough time with the kids. Learn to turn those feelings around. Don’t dwell on the negative, less time with the family: dwell on the positive. Quality time when you are together and how you are providing for your family through work. Look at the blessing of having a job so you can give your family xyz – shelter, food, or even the added vacation. What is your long term goal with this income? Anytime I see myself going to that negative place, I quickly turn my perception around to let go of the guilt.

Schedule your Time

Stop. This is really the best advice I can give. Block schedule your time as much as you can. Create blocks of time throughout the day to get work done. If you can’t work for longer periods of time because you need to be present with your children, then this works wonders. Block scheduling allows you to work on what you need to get done, but in smaller increments. It makes managing a to-do list a lot easier. I also suggest you do not make a generic block schedule. Each block should be specific. For example, for my blog of work time, I don’t just write “work time.” In this block of time, I am specific about what I am doing.

If my block schedule for work is from 9 AM to 12 PM, on my to do list, my schedule might read like this.

9:00 – 9:20 – read and respond to emails
9:20 to 10:00 – compose email for blog audience
10:00 – 10:30 – repin post content
10:30 to 12:00 – write new post content

This time schedule helps me adequately fill my time without wasting time on tasks that are not as important or on social media. You can print our Daily Plan organizer in our Busy Mom Binder. If you are working from home with the kids, use our incremental time sheet for mom, baby and toddler. If you have a project coming up, our big goal planner will help you achieve your final project.

GET YOUR BUSY MOM BINDER

Incorporate the Kids

There are times I schedule my day and I don’t finish. There are times that one of my five children needs to sit beside me while I work. There are times, where I have asked the older kids for help. Call it an electronic hour and pass out the Kindles, the tablets, the game systems, etc. Let everyone “work” together. Hire one of your older children to do one of the mundane tasks you hate (for me, re-pinning content to Pinterest or editing spelling mistakes in a post.) There are times you have to work when the kids are around and you can do this successfully but involving them in their own electronic activity or promises of exciting activities when mom is done!

Don’t Over Do It

It’s impossible to create a good work-life balance if you have too much work. Sometimes you just need to scale back for the sake of your sanity. You are only one person, but you also have children. If work consumes your life, it will be impossible to create a work life balance that makes sense! Read how to let go of quilt above.

Do One Thing at a Time

Have you ever tried to do two things at once? You probably weren’t very good at it. When you focus on doing one thing at a time, you are going to do it better. Separate your tasks into what needs to be done and then do them, but don’t try and do everything at once. A well-balanced work life and home life happens when you are able to focus on one thing at a time.

Take Care of Yourself

Trying to be there for your job and then trying to be there for your kids will wear you out to no end. You have to take care of yourself. Your kids will see that you are run ragged if you don’t take the time to take care of yourself. Eat well, sleep well, and do fun things! What’s the point of a good work-life balance if you don’t take the time to take care of yourself? There is no point. It’s challenge to do, but try to get away from a couple days. Away with no kids and work. Even if it is a weekend stay-cation. Split the kids up with friends or have family visit for just a weekend.

Quality Time with Family

Remember I talked about how to let go of the guilt. When you work, you work and you are dedicated. When you are off work, it’s important to create quality time with family.

Hacks for Putting Aside Work to Focus on the Family

There are some hacks out there that can help you put away work and only focus on the family. You can’t have work on your mind 24 hours a day. Well maybe it is on your mind, but it does’t have to be in your hands on on your lap. You have to be able to put down the work and focus on the family without the stress and anxiety of work following you around.

Here are a few hacks to help you out!

Turn Off Your Phone

This is hard for me but I know my phone can be a huge distraction when it comes to work and family life. You can easily set aside work and focus on family by turning off your phone. Turning off the electronics in your life means that you get to focus on those around you and not what emails might be coming in. It also is a reflection to your older kids who are raised in an era with electronics and want to be just as connected as you. If you can put the phone down, it might show them they can put the game system down for a bit too.

Schedule Days Off

When you have a day off work, keep it a day off work. While it’s nice to be productive, you need these days off to focus on your kids and your family. Schedule days off and keep them days off! This will allow you to really set aside work and focus on the family. If that day off is not consistent, add it in your family command center. Have a calendar that shows the kids when that day off is. For my kids, they know that every Tuesday mom doesn’t work and we start the day at Dunkin’ Donuts. It is tradition and it gives them a day, other than the weekend, to look forward to. You could have a breakfast tradition or schedule other things like a visit to a museum, library day, an ice cream afternooon or even a family game night.

Perspective

Sometimes a nice hack for putting aside work and focusing on family is perspective. Know that your kids won’t be this age forever and you NEED to take the time to spend with them now. Although everyone tells you the days are long and the years are short, we don’t truly understand until the kids are grown and gone.

If positive quotes and mantras are hard for you to remember, put a post-it note on your mirror. I actually have a hanging art work at the bottom of my stairs that reads “Today is a Good Day to Have a Good Day!” I am naturally a negative Nancy (sorry Nancy) and this reminds me to focus on the good in each day. I have to read it every time I come down the stairs – which is many times a day!

Work-life balance does take some effort, but you can do this! While it’s not possible to achieve the ultimate work-life balance, you can make small improvements to eventually get to where you want to be.

What tips would you add to this list? Let’s share in the success of balancing family and work with one another!

Having trouble balancing your life? Feel like you are in survival mode? Our Busy Mom Binder will help you balance your work life and home. Pin to Pinterest.

How Does Instacart Work?

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February 1, 2020 by Ashley at Frugal Coupon Living Filed Under: Facebook, Frugal Living, Hacks, Instagram, Pinterest, Social Media, Store Deals

What is Instacart? Instacart is service for online grocery delivery. How Does Instacart Work? Customers select groceries from various retailers, a personal shopper will do their shopping and deliver groceries, often on the same day, when they are finished. How many hours could you get back in the day/week/month not grocery shopping? Read these testimonies to see how this Mom Hack could benefit your home and bring time back to your family.

As many of you know, I no longer do my own grocery shopping. When we jumped from 3 to 5 kids (twins, wink), I had to GLADLY let some responsibilities go and grocery shopping was one of them. In fact, this lovely Saturday afternoon, I am perfecting this informative post and simultaneously doing my grocery shopping – all from the comfort of my couch while watching a move with my older girls.

Who is winning, I am winning. My family is winning too!

I use Peapod Online Grocery shopping to order my groceries, but a few of you asked for suggestions because you did not have Peapod. Hence, What is Instacart?

… and why I might leave Peapod after writing this post.

What is Instacart?

Many of you may have heard of Instacart, but do you truly know WHAT it is? Instacart is a service that offers to do the grocery shopping for you. This is great for busy moms who just don’t have time to grocery shop.. or for moms who are not interested in the grocery store crowd.

I want to walk you through HOW this works so that you too can take advantage of this great service if you so desire.

Get Instacart Products You Love

The best part of Instacart is that you get access to the products that you love. You don’t have to scrimp on items that you hate because Instacart allows you to choose products you want. Shop for 1,000s of name brand products in your favorite retail stores – Whole Foods, Costco, Kroger, Publix, Wegmans, Aldi and more. Shop multiple stores at once in one delivery (more on that later.)

Same Day Delivery

Perhaps the most genius part of Instacart is that your groceries get delivered right to your front door. As a bonus incentive, that you don’t see many places, get same-day delievery. You can have groceries at your door in a matter of hours.

Save Time and Money

You may be wondering WHY Instacart would be a company you’d trust to do your grocery shopping. Most people choose Instacart because they get to save time and they get to save money. As I mentioned above, I save time because I can grocery shop from my phone app or computer while sitting and watching a movie with my kids. I also spend less time in the store buying extra things that were not on my grocery list or weekly menu plan.

How Does Instacart Work?

Now that you know a little more about Instacart, you may be wondering how it would work if you were to use it. Perhaps this is the most amazing part of Instacart is that it’s so easy! Follow along as I teach you how Instacart Works.

The companies that Instacart works with include Kroger, Whole Foods, Aldi, Costco, and any companies that are local to you. There is a small fee associated when you use Instacart. When you first sign up with Instacart, it’s free for 14 days. So it gives you two weeks to test it out. For me, that is at least four grocery runs in a two week period. That gives me four opportunities to see if I like this grocery delivery service.

How Much Is Instacart Express?

There are different delivery fees associated when you order through Instacart. The fees are based on how soon you want your groceries and peak hours. These delivery fees range from $3.99 to $9.99. Think delivery feeds are dumb. We can erase them. Join the Instacart Express membership club, which can save you a lot of money in the long run and will give you free delivery on order over $35. Instacart Express is $99 per year or $9.99 monthly. If you divide $99.00 by $5.99 (per delivery), you will get your money’s worth in about 16 deliveries. For me, that is as little as 5 to 8 weeks.

Free Two Week Trial of Instacart Express

Benefits of Instacart Express

Free deliveries on any and all orders above $35 (typically $3.99 to $9.99 for non-Express)
No surge pricing – save even more during peak delivery hours
Reduced service fees (typically 5% for non-Express)
Shop from multiple stores and still get free delivery on the whole order

Consider it your Amazon Prime of grocery shopping.

Are Prices Marked Up?

Because this is a company and companies need to make money, it’s important to note that in some cases Instacart prices are marked up. You are not paying the exact price from the store, you are paying the price that Instacart offers. So if there is a sale that week, it might not be noted on the Instacart app. Instacart does, however, have their own Instacart coupons – so take a look at those closely and maybe meal plan around what you see is on sale.

There is an easy way to check price differences for yourself. Order on Instacart and see your bill, then the following week, shop with the same list in your grocery store. How did you find the prices compared? Decide if that difference is worth your time and energy. Did you find yourself buying more in the grocery store when you were physically in the store? These are all things to consider.

Convenience of Shopping

It’s easy to see that a lot of reasons people use Instacart. It’s very convenient! You may find that this is a very convenient way for you to shop and save time and money.

I found it best to quote a friend I interviewed for this post…

I used Peapod and loved it but one day my delivery window wasn’t available, so I switched to Instacart Express because of the quicker delivery window. I also like that I can order from multiple stores. I almost always order as much as I can from Aldi and the rest from Wegmans (usually for gluten-free and other items I can’t find at Aldi). Aldi saves me money and Wegmans provides the items I can’t get at one store. It is nice being able to shop at two stores and not get charged extra! In 60 order, I have saved 99 hours at the grocery store. That is 99 hours I get back with my family or doing personal things.

How long would it take you to shop at two grocery stores? How many hours can you get back NOT going to a grocery store or two? What would you do with that returned time?

Her testimony of shopping two stores at one time almost has me canceling my Peapod membership!

Friendly Instacart Shoppers

Another reason people use Instacart is that the shoppers are friendly. Someone else is going to the store and shopping for your groceries. They are driving them to your home and dropping the groceries off. If you want to make income for grocery shopping for someone else, you can also sign up for Instacart Shoppers too and earn money while shopping for someone else.

Download the Instacart App

This grocery delivery store isn’t just in big cities though, it’s also in some small towns across the USA. You can easily download the Instacart app and grocery shop right from your phone, just enter your zip code. If you’re into saving time and money, then downloading the app is a smart move! You can grocery shop when you have downtime. It’s pretty awesome!

Get Started with Instacart Today!

Instacart Contact

If you have issues with the Instacart app, deliveries, orders or want to get the Instacart Express best price, use the Instacart Contact.

You can visit https://www.instacart.com/help to report a problem or get the Instacart email. You can also call…

Instacart Customer Service Phone Number 1-888-246-7822

I hope this helps you understand Instacart and how it can benefit you and your life. You may find that Instacart is truly the best thing that’s ever happened to you. Let me know if what you like about this grocery delivery service and if it benefits you. I love hearing from your own personal experiences!

I hardly ever go to the grocery store and use Peapod to get our groceries from store to home. Take a look at Peapod Online Grocery Delivery. Pin to Pinterest.

Learn more about or try out an Amazon Fresh Trial. Pin to Pinterest.

FREE Bunny Tails Bag Topper Printable

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January 30, 2020 by Ashley at Frugal Coupon Living Filed Under: Crafts, DIY, Easter, Free, Frugal Living, Instagram, Pinterest, Recipe, Spring

FREE Bunny Tails Bag Topper Printable

I simply LOVE bag toppers, especially when they are FREE. First they are such an easy craft, second they are such a cheap “thinking about you gift!” Grab this FREE Bunny Tails Bag Topper Printable for your little rabbits this Easter Season.

Crafts Needed:

Mini Marshmallows
Cellophane Bags or Sandwich Bags
Printed Bag Tags (get below)
Stapler

Directions:

Print included PDF and cut into individual tags.
Place mini marshmallows in bag.
Fold tag over top of bag and staple on each side.

Enjoy!

Get this Bunny Tails printable and all of Frugal Coupon Living’s Free Printables. Enter your name and email address and we will send you a link and password for access to your free downloads.

Are you making these fun Bunny Tails for your classroom? Also consider these yummy Peeps S’mores! Pin to Pinterest.

Find these other Easter Crafts and Spring Recipes on Frugal Coupon Living.

Follow all Recipes on Frugal Coupon Living as well as FCLAsh on Pinterest.

Home Workout Hacks with Baby

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December 20, 2019 by Ashley at Frugal Coupon Living Filed Under: Baby, Facebook, Frugal Living, Hacks, Instagram, Pinterest, Social Media

Home Workout Hacks with Baby

Pin to Pinterest

So if you don’t know, I am pregnant and already dreaming about loosing this third baby “baby weight.” I will have my son full time during the day so it was important to find a “gym” that was affordable, fun, and incorporated my little man. Sometimes your best gym is home. It’s free, it’s convenient, and it’s flexible (even if you are not!) Enjoy these Home Workout Hacks WITH your baby – and if he/she is sleeping, you can even do them without!

Take a look at these 18 moves for Baby and Mom from Skinny Mom. How about that Plié Squat?

Babies often relax outdoors, especially on the move in strollers. Don’t forget the jogging stroller and take a look at this Stroller Workout from Stay Fit Mom.

Are you rocking your baby to sleep or keeping them away until their next sleep schedule. Turn the rhythm into your own workout like this article we found in the Tampa Bay Times, but you can make your own at home!

Processed with VSCOcam with s3 preset

Need to get baby to sleep so you can clean? Maybe the white noise and rhythm from Vacuuming will stimulate him/her to sleep – get the job done while he is awake! Bonjour Ava does this well!

Try these Baby and Mommy Yoga Moves from Holly the Mommy.

Loose the Pooch that Pregnancy often brings. We love these moves from Bikini Body Mommy.

Did you know that Diastasis Recti is real? Your abs do separate during pregnancy and it is important to give them some attention after. Consider these ideas from the Inspired RD.

Tackle those arms too! These Baby Arm Workouts will tighten up those triceps and biceps. Ergo-Baby has some ideas, I love the push-up kiss!

Did you have a C-Section? Skinny Mom is sensitive to that. Try this C-Section Workout once you are approved by a doctor to get back into the “home” gym.

She Knows has some great baby workout ideas you can do even why playing or engaging with baby – we love these Leg Extensions!

Three floors in my home is more than enough. Try Stair Climbing with Baby and more ideas on Babble.

Lazy Girl has some ideas like these Frog Jumps with your Baby – they make me sore just looking at the photo! I might take these to the trampoline with the older kids!

Fit it all in in a few minutes with a few simple steps – Bikini Mommy Body incorporates a squat, curl, and press in this Mommy Baby Workout.

Workout with a friend! Nothing better than someone who can hold you accountable and complain about the sleepless night they had! Look for a Strollercize class in your area.

Need a trainer or straight direction? This chart from Darbee is pretty simple if you need a Directed Mommy and Me Workout.

The Kurtz Corner has a straightforward Hot Mommy Workout Chart too for guided direction and ideas.

Play and UNO Workout, baby might even think it is funny and give you a smile. We love this idea from Creative Southern Home. Grab an UNO Game here with FREE Shipping.

Baby might be playing, but consider this Swing Set Workout for yourself! We like this tutorial from The Live Fit Girls.

This Happy Baby Workout has 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon.

If you need something a little bit more “kick-butt”, Lindsay Brin’s Postnatal Boot Camp has 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Are you a new mom? Don’t forget our Newborn Baby Hacks – Pin to Pinterest.

These Dieting Hacks & Tips After Baby are helpful. Pin to Pinterest.

FREE Treats for Your Delivery Driver Sign

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December 6, 2019 by Ashley at Frugal Coupon Living Filed Under: Christmas, Facebook, Free, Frugal Living, Instagram, Pinterest, Printable, Social Media

Delivery Driver Sign. Pay it forward with this Random Act of Kindness. A free Treat Sign for Your Delivery Driver – USPS, FedEx and/or UPS!

I don’t know about you by the UPS, FedEx and USPS driver are at my door multiple times a week! During the Christmas season, their visits become even more often as much as multiple times a day! I wanted to share with you this amazing #payitforward idea from Cara at the First Grade Parade – isn’t her hand lettering awesome (don’t forget our Hand Lettering Book Recommendations).

https://www.instagram.com/p/BOC2750gs1T/?taken-by=frugalcouponliving

If hand lettering is not your thing, grab this FREE Treat Sign for Your Delivery Driver from Teaching Madness and The 3 AM Teacher.

Don’t forget we have our very own Random Acts of Kindness Sign for you delivery driver!

To pick up this freebie, sign up for our email newsletter.

PRINT RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS DELIVERY SIGN

Don’t forget our Christmas Traditions to Start Now! Pin to Pinterest.

Also take a look at our Christmas Advent Calendar Ideas. Pin to Pinterest.

Free Moving Printable | We’ve Moved!

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December 5, 2019 by Ashley at Frugal Coupon Living Filed Under: Crafts, DIY, Facebook, Free, Frugal Living, Instagram, Online Shopping, Pinterest, Social Media

Free Moving Printable | We’ve Moved!

Let me share with you, in the past two years my family and I have moved – TWICE. One was a cross country move (with movers), the second was moving four houses down (on the same street) while six months pregnant. I ~~almost~~ greatly prefer the cross-country move! There was nothing pretty about me walking up and down the street with a huge belly and a load of boxes (yes, protective readers, I know carrying boxes when pregnant is a no-no and I am happy to report, we had a healthy baby boy this past October.) Regardless, I learned my lesson that hot summer, with the worse abdominal cramping. We settled in our new home, though, and with a young baby at home, I am ignoring the boxes in the corner that never got unpacked.

Moving along (no pun intended)) moving so often has taught me some of the best lessons. In fact, I share many of those in our Top 50 Moving Hacks and Tips. A few of my favorites include creating garment bags for clothing out of garbage bags, place Styrofoam plates between breakable plates, reuse toilet paper rolls and egg cartoons and my favorite, color code your boxes based on rooms they need to go. Your movers, friends and family with thank you for this last advice. You all also appreciate not hearing the question, “where does this box go?” 100 times.

I also learned when you move often, no one has your address. This last Christmas, with a new infant in my arms, I worked hard to get Christmas cards out early so that friends and family could have our return address. I slipped inside these adorable “We’ve Moved” notes. You could also print these notes, take a cute photo like I did below and upload the image to your Facebook wall (assuming you have a private Facebook page.) No need for that address to be public.

Get this we moved printable and all of Frugal Coupon Living’s Free Printables. Enter your name and email address and we will send you a link and password for access to your free downloads.

By downloading you are accepting the terms that this is for personal, non-commercial use. Please contact Frugal Coupon Living with any questions.

This printable is found in our Moving Binder Printable. Over 26 Pages of Organization Content for your next move!

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Nanny Appreciation Week and Babysitter Gift Ideas

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November 13, 2019 by Ashley at Frugal Coupon Living Filed Under: Baby, Facebook, Frugal Living, Instagram, Kids, Pinterest, Social Media

Nanny appreciation week is the last week of September. Take a look at these creative ways to recognize your nannie as well as babysitter gift ideas to make your caregiver feel loved!

Nanny Appreciation Week

So I am new to the nanny circuit. When we had Elijah, our third, in 2016, I was able to juggle him and work from home. Work often was based on his nap schedule and because he was such a good baby, he would play while I quickly got up a post, worked on social media content, or managed the day to day tasks of owning a small business. When Eli was around 7 months old, we learned we were pregnant. At our 9 week check-up, we learned it was twins. Initially, considering a nanny wasn’t even on our radar. Our income came in and quickly went out to a list of designated spots – mortgage, groceries, retirement, activities, etc. You name it! I understood living paycheck to paycheck, I still do. After accepting the fact, twins were on the way and we would have 3 children under 14 months of age, I was either going to quit the blog, or we were going to have to shift some financial matters… we chose the later.

How to Find a Nanny

My husband I researched the benefit of preschools and nannies. The benefits of having a nanny far outweighed sending the kids to preschool, especially at such young ages. This kept the kids in a familiar environment, allowed me to still work flexibly (and help), and also gave us help with the day to day happenings in the home. The twins were born premature and weighted only four and a half pounds. I knew they would need me their first few months and being able to work and having them in the next room was so important to me. We found our nanny on Care.com. Care did background checks for us and allowed us to interview and learn about a number of nannies. I can’t tell you how many commercials I saw over the years and thought “I would never hire a care taker on that site” …God laughs! We are so blessed to have picked the nanny direction and I swear God placed the right nanny in our life! She is fun, she is engaging, she sticks to the schedule I proved her (I am a Babywise mama!), and most importantly, she loves on our kids (and visa versa)!

National Nanny Recognition Week

Since 1998, Nanny Appreciation Week aka National Nanny Recognition Week has been observed the last week of September to recognize and celebrate nannies. I had no idea about this before our current nanny, but as a “Pinterest Mom” I was sure going to rock it! The pressure was on!

Nanny or Baby Sitter Candy Bar Letter

The first thing we did was a Candy Bar Letter. I have seen many candy bar letters in my lifetime (Father’s Day, coaches, teachers, etc) but I have never done one for a caregiver. Making the adjustment wasn’t too hard, our letter read…

To Our Hot Tamale aka Super Nanny, You are Mounds of fun, bring us many Snickers and Joy (add Almond Joy and cross off the almond, we forgot it), and you rarely Take 5 for yourself. We were going to give you a million bucks on Payday, but the money slipped through our Butterfinger (add a s). After paying a sad Symphony, we decide to Orbit the Milky Way to tell you that we love you to Pieces. We are Extra lucky as you were Ment (take off os) for us. Love, your little Peeps.

Since Nanny Appreciation is a week long, we did something fun and surprising for each day – sorta like a treasure hunt for our nanny. The first thing we acknowledge was all the “crap” she took – after all, she is changing diapers for three boys daily which easily equates to over a dozen diapers a day, many filled with… crap.

Gift Ideas for Babysitter or Nanny

Day 1 – Starbucks Gift Card

The first place we hid our treasure hunt was in the diaper changing station, in the diapers. I purchased a Starbucks Gift Card and I tucked one in the first diaper she would grab.

The note read…

You take a lot of crap, have a drink on us!

Day 2 – Grocery Gift Card

Some of the benefits of having our nanny is she keeps us fed. I am in hideout mode in my room getting work done and can’t get dinner prepped without the kids immediately needing me. She is such a wonderful cook and does our grocery shopping and preps our dinners. This has been one of the biggest blessings by far. Our second hidden gift card was for our grocery store and was was hidden in the refrigerator.

The note read…

Thanks for keeping us well fed! Here are some groceries for you too. Nom Nom.

Day 3 – Dunkin’ Gift Card

Another benefit of a nanny is bathing. This is something a caregiver could not do in a day care. Our nanny bathes the boys before naps. Not only does this give them a good afternoon rest, it also allows us to enjoy the evenings with the boys without trying to accomplish the checklist of baths! In the bath tub, we hid a Dunkin’ Gift Card.

The note read…

We knew we would find you here. Thanks for keeping us clean. Donut you know we would stink without you? (Also consider, donut know what we would do without you!)

Day 4 – Shell Gas Gift Card

Another benefit of a nanny is driving the kids two and from school and filling up the gas tank. Not only does she fill up our tank with gas, she fills up our tank in general (pun intended!) There was a lot of pun in this Shell Gas Gift Card.

The note read…

We are surprised to find you here. What a relief. Thanks for the gas you put in our tank.

Day 5 – Amazon Gift Card

Being a nanny is exhausting… I know, I am a mom! Our little crew take 5 naps a day. That means she is putting in a crib or taking them, ten times a day, I am sure there are times she wishes that she could jump in there too! For this, we got her an Amazon Gift Card so she could shop in her PJs in her own bed!

The note read…

Hey, Super Nanny, Don’t you wish you could give in that bed too? Here’s to only shopping in your PJs. Night, Night.

Babysitter Gift Ideas

We have also written our Nanny the Tale of a Super Nanny and her five cubs. For this Nanny Appreciation week idea, we hung gift cards in the kitchen with a sweet little story written by the kids.

Of course, most of these ideas – who are we kidding – all of these ideas included gift cards. While some say gift cards are not personalized, I find them personalized because I listen to the person. Babysitter gift ideas can be personal even when they are gift cards. When our babysitter was headed on a tropical vacation, I bought her a gift card to a swimsuit store. When our sitter began a new gym, I bought her a gift card to a trendy workout clothing store. I find with these cards, she is able to get what she wants and/or needs.

It’s important to recognize your nanny beyond Nanny Appreciation Week. If a week is to much for you, consider doing some of these things through out the year to tell you babysitter, nanny, or caregiver you appreciate them!

Nanny appreciation week is the last week of every September. Creative ways to recognize your nannie as well as babysitter gift ideas! NannyAppreciationWeek #NationalNannyRecognitionWeek #FrugalCouponLiving

Have a new baby? Take a look at these Newborn Hacks and Tips. Pin to Pinterest.

Terrible twos? You are going to need it, also study these Toddler Hacks and Tips. Pin to Pinterest.

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