I have travelling many times with my two young kids over the past few years, so I have a learned a few stress free tips for traveling with kids. I’m sharing my best tips in this post!
Angela of Grassfed Mama shares healthy tips for busy moms.
We love to travel!! My youngest took her first plane ride when she was only 6 weeks old (I know, crazy!!) When you love to travel… you learn a few tips along the way.
My girls have been to Vancouver, Washington DC twice, Disney World a few times, Philadelphia, and many other places. We truly believe that you should travel with young kids. Most families have to travel some during the holidays, even if it is just a few hours to a near by town, I know these tips will come in handy to help you have a Stress Free time Traveling with kids. read more
How much impact does $100 make in your budget? Here are 20 Proven Ways to Save $100 TODAY!
For many people I speak to who want to start their own business or begin some other new project, finding a small amount of start up capital is a stumbling block! Before I started my own business, a $100 was a BIG amount in my head – so I totally get it!
I spent some time talking with other business leaders and friends who came up with creative ways to get that first $100, and here they are for you! I hope you find them helpful!
20 Ways to Save $100
Garage Sale – This is what many people think of, and there’s a reason! All of us have things sitting around the house collecting dust that likely have value to someone! Have a quick garage sale and you’ll often have more than $100!
Craigslist – Selling online has rarely been any easier than just listing on Craigslist! This is best for lower end type products and services, so don’t expect top dollar and potentially having to haggle.
Sell Blood and/or Plasma – If you are in good health, you can often make some quick cash by selling plasma at a plasma center and make $20-$30 a visit and you can donate up to 2 times a week! Sometimes there’s even a new customer signup bonus!
Drive for Uber/Lyft – I LOVE Ridesharing, my family and I have used it quite often. It’s basically a chance to use your own car to give a lift to someone who needs it for a fee. You get paid quickly, and if you put in the hours you can really bring in some fast cash!
Sell an old Smartphone/Tablet – A service like Gazelle is great for quickly getting cash for a retired smartphone that still works and it’s super easy!
Consignment Stores – If you have some nicer items that you think have some value, this can be a great option to generate cash for yourself! This is especially good if your items are children’s or women’s clothing, higher end toys, etc.
Return Something – If you have some recently purchased items that you have never actually used, consider returning them! Sometimes that will generate your $100 right there 🙂
Selling Handmade Crafts – If you already do crafts, you may be able to sell enough to generate $100 pretty quickly from your supply on a site like Etsy.
Share Your Home – If you are comfortable with it, you can generate quick cash by renting out a spare bedroom, basement, garage apartment, etc. This is especially lucrative if you live in an more expensive area and attractive to tourists.
Rent out Your Garage – If you have some garage space, you can likely offer to house someone’s car or boat for them easily getting you your $100.
Baby Sitting – I’m amazed at how much a good babysitter is worth nowadays! Do a good job, build up some referrals and you can generate cash quickly this way!
Yard Work – Especially for guys this can be attractive. Most people HATE cutting their grass. Do a good job and make the price right and you can have $100 in just a few yard cuts.
House/Pet Sitting – You can usually check Craigslist or local facebook groups for people who travel often and need someone to keep an eye on their home, feed their pets, etc.
Photography – If you are a decent amateur photographer, you can make some quick cash by doing inexpensive photo sessions for friends or other contacts. Just don’t tackle a big event like a wedding without having some experience first (you only get 1 shot at those type of photos!).
Join a Focus Group – Local universities, research groups, and marketing companies often will pay a fee for a few hours of your time to test out a new product, give feedback, etc. Check with your local university and craigslist to see what’s out there!
Wash, Wax, and Detail Cars – If you like cleaning cars (while most of us HATE IT), then you can be a mobile car wash!
Setting Up Holiday Decorations – Again, some people love to do this, and others HATE putting up Christmas lights. If you can be careful and detailed saving someone time can be valuable to them!
Tutor – If you are strong in certain subjects, you can often make $30/Hour tutoring Math, Science, Testing, etc.
Everyone always is asking what to buy for their baby’s birthday or special occasions. Sometimes it is hard to know what are the best toys out there for different developmental ages. Right now Annaleigh is 8 months old and so much fun. At 6 months, she just starting to really have fun and play. It was a whole new world for her to explore! We have tested out these toys. I wanted to share her favorite ones.
Here are my top picks toys for 6 month olds:
1) Exersaucer
Annaleigh loves that she can sit up and play in her exersaucer. She enjoys being about to look around the room and watch Aidalyn run around. The exersaucer also gives her a chance to use her newly developed head control and work towards sitting up by strengthening her core muscles.
2) Easy to Grab Toys
Annaleigh is all about being about to hold toys in her hands. The perfect toys for this age are the ones with fun colors and lots of small things to catch her attention. The easier for them to hold onto, the less picking up you will have to do. Annaleigh loves toys that make gentle noises like rattles and crinkle sounds.
Here are some examples of grab-able toys:
3) Toys that Grow with your Child
It is no new idea that kids grow fast. Toys that can adapt to their growing body and abilities are the best because they will last as an engaging toy. Soon these babies will be sitting up then crawling and eventually running circles around you!
Here are some toys that grow that I personally love:
4) Toys to Chew
Teething is a common woe to 6 month olds. They want to chew on anything and everything they can get their teeth on! Even if it isn’t designed to be chewed on, babies will find a way to soothe their gums.
Sophie the Giraffe Teether (affiliate link) was a gift from a friend. I had seen Sophie before, but didn’t have one with Aidalyn. Annaleigh doesn’t take a paci, but she just seems to enjoy chewing on Sophie. I think she will be a great toy to have as we continue to teethe.
Here are some toys that are designed to be chewed on:
6 months is such a fun age. They start growing out of the itty bitty stage and are really to really develop in speech and motor.
I love watching Annaleigh learn and discover. She is so close to sitting up on her own. Even at 8 months, she will balance for a few seconds and then fall over. She wants to crawl so badly too. She is sort of scooting and rolling everywhere she wants to go.
I am not perfect! I will be the first person to tell you that I am not a good house keeper. I hate cleaning, but I like having a clean house. This problem didn’t seem to matter before kids. Once we threw a few kids in the mix, keeping the house picked up became a bigger challenge.
Here is the evidence
Messy living room… toys thrown around. We got in last night and didn’t bother picking up before bed.
Our child has poop issues… So the lesson of the week: Everyone Poops!
Our messy kitchen counter… Dishes are clean because my hubby is awesome! But clutter is starting to take over!!! It was clean two days ago. read more
Adam and I took our first flight back to Louisiana from Virginia last week with Aidalyn. We have both had the privilege to fly numerous time (including several international flights), so we consider ourselves pros at it. This time was different, though, because we were traveling with a 21 month old. Here are our 6 tips for flying with a toddler that we learned through our experience.
It is always horrible to sit next to the crying baby on the plane. However, nothing is worse than being the parents of said crying baby. We wanted to be prepared for every possible reaction.
On the Plane:
1) Bring Snacks and a Sippy cup
Our first stop to prepare for the flight was the grocery store. I bought several of the popular baby smoothies they have at almost every grocery store. You can take the smoothies on the plane if they are under 3.5 oz with no questions asked (if they are larger, you just get patted down really well). Secondly, we bought some all natural gummy bears. Aidalyn had never had these before, so they were quite popular. “More, more.” I would say always bring something that is interesting and will take a while to eat (like the gummy bears). Bring an empty sippy cup and fill it with water once you get through security. Help your kids drink during take off and landing so that the pressure in their ears won’t build and cause pain (eating also helps this, they just need to be swallowing).
2) Videos and Media
Aidalyn has an obsession with Elmo (Melmo) right now, so we knew a video would be a good tool to have handy. Adam was able to download a few episodes of Sesame Street on his Kindle for Aidalyn to watch during the flight.
3) New small toys
We also took a trip to the dollar store to find some little things that may be fun to play with – we left with a silly little duck (Quack, Quack) that lights up.
4) Colors and Paper
I packed colors and paper as well as paper dolls – but these weren’t used much at all.
5) Favorite pillow or stuffed animal
Aidalyn surprised us both with how good she was during the flight. She was better on the trip back to Virginia than to Louisiana because she was able to get a short nap on the first flight. We remembered to bring the secret weapon – her pillow pet. She loved looking out of the window and opening and closing the shade.
In the Airport:
6) Bring your stroller
You can gate check your stroller and carseat right before you load the plane. Having your stroller with you in the airport helps contain your toddler and also helps carry your bags. The airline will return your gate checked items as soon as you land, so you are only without it during the time you are on the plane.
All in all, I would say that next trip we will have her pillow, Charlie (her lovey), snacks, the kindle and her iPhone and leave everything else at home.
What tips have you learned about traveling with toddlers?
(affiliate link) was a gift from a friend. I had seen Sophie before, but didn’t have one with Aidalyn. Annaleigh doesn’t take a paci, but she just seems to enjoy chewing on Sophie. I think she will be a great toy to have as we continue to teethe.
