New Year - Bring on 2017!!!

It’s funny… I always get to the end of the year and I reflect back on all of my accomplishments over the past twelve months. Yet this year I’m having the hardest time figuring out what I actually achieved in 2016. I can’t think of a darn thing.

Isn’t that pathetic? I can honestly say that I didn’t reach any goals this year (okay, maybe one... I hired someone to refinish my downstairs bathroom); but that could be because I didn’t set life goals for myself. I’m 32 years old and I’ve done nothing but fly by the seat of my pants my entire life.

Well not this year. This New Year holds wonder and excitement. I’m going to buy myself a LIFE planner, and I’m going to set goals for myself. Not just for work, but for the blog and my life as well. I’m going to keep my family in the loop, and I’m going to get it done.

I’ve learned over the years that I can’t really count on anyone else. My Mom is reliable almost all of the time, but sometimes she doesn’t want to do things on the weekends; and sometime I don’t want to ask her because I know she needs time to herself too. My husband isn’t reliable in the slightest (sorry Babe, but you’re not). And I don’t ever ask my Dad for help because he has his own stuff going on. So, it’s all on me to get done all of the things that I’m wanting out of life.

I’m going to take off running with it. I’m going to get all of the things done that have been weighing on me lately. I mean, the only person that can make changes to my life is me, right? Well, and God, of course.

So wish me luck. Because while I might be working on getting organized to make more things happen, what will come with it is a world of work.

Happy New Year!

2017 is going to be a good one!

Pinkie Pie and her 3D Deco Light

You know what I found out this Christmas? My oldest, Emma, knows a lot more about toys and characters than I do. I’m sure she gets it all from You Tube Kids.

I stuffed her stocking this year with Shopkins, Grossery Gang, and My Little Pony blind bags. Low and behold, the My Little Pony was her favorite. Who knew. Actually, I should have known considering we had to look for her lost Pinkie Pie at the park for way too long. I should mention that we never found it and I had to buy her a brand new stuffed Pinkie Pie for Christmas. Smh.

Anyway, as I was looking for said Pinkie Pie, I came across the coolest thing. A 3DLIGHTFX 3D Deco Light of Pinkie Pie herself.

Pinkie Pie

Neat, Right?!?!?

Here's what the lights are all about:

"3DLIGHTFX 3D Deco Lights are the perfect gift this holiday season. They have a full range of comic book, super hero, Disney Princess, sports and car lights that look as though they are popping right out of the wall! They are battery operated and cool to the touch so you can place them any where in the room! Your kids will loves having these in their rooms and they're also the perfect editions to a den, family room, man's cave or office!"

Find all of these amazing products here: http://bit.ly/TargetUSFamily

Turns out, they sell them at Target and Target.com!

There are so many neat ones…

Captain America

Football

Star Wars

I know Christmas is over, but these need to find a place in your home. So cool! And did I mention that they’re completely safe? Cool to the touch, battery operated and cordless. And the crack sticker that’s included won’t ruin your wall. ;-)

If you get one, let me know which one you went with!

What to Get a Working Mom / Woman

Around the holidays, I get a lot of questions from friends and family asking me what I want for Christmas. It's a hard question because I have almost anything I could need at home, and while I want clothes, I don't really want anyone to pick them out for me.

So, I thought and thought, and I looked around at what my co-workers have and/or need. And I compiled a short list of quick go-tos for any working woman out there (I was going to say working Mom, but really these items work for anyone).

1. Anyone who works with a laptop, a bevvy of papers and office products or an iPad will appreciate a nice large bag to carry everything around with them. Leave it to MK to be the sylish go-fer this season. The one pictured is a Michael Kors Extra Large Leather Tote in grey.

2. Working at a desk all day can seem dull and boring. Some fun and whimsical decals can spruce up your laptop and keep you motivated. Etsy shop owner "KareAndDesign" has a ton of them to choose from.

3. I just love Franklin Covey planners. I haven't used one in years (I tend to like my lists), but I've been itching to get one for 2017. The one shown is a good option for a list maker like myself. It's a simple two-page calendar with lines to add your to-dos to. Every year I get into an organization mood for the new year, so I think this would help me out tremendously. Don't you?

4. This is an oldie but still a goodie. I love my Pilot G-2 07 pens. In fact, I'm obsessed. I also like to have different color options because a list-maker like myself needs to be able to easily separate tasks by importance, day or even department. To the person who stole my lime green G-2 07 pen off my desk - I know who you are, and I want it back.

5. When in doubt, a gift card works nicely. I can't tell you how many days I'm out and about in the city for work, and I have to buy lunch. A gift card would help to cut down on the amount of cash I have to use from not being able to brown bag it. Good options are Panera and Starbucks; carbs and coffee makes for a happy woman. And if food isn't cutting it, an Apple card would help to pay for apps and iTunes.

Holiday Shopping Tips - Part 2 - TOYS'R'US

Did you read my last holiday shopping post? If you did, I hope you got a lot out of it. There are seriously so many ways to save money at Target that I didn’t even really list them all; look around sometime and find all the other hidden treasures that Target has to offer!

Now, this post is about a place that isn’t usually on my radar this time of year. Too busy, too crowded, and in the past the deals weren’t all that great. However, this year, they have upped their game a bit. This post is all about Toys R Us.

I’ll go ahead and start with the biggest and best pre-Black Friday deals… the Hotrageous Deals. This list of online-only toy deals is posted and emailed out on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, but it’s done so in a not-in-your-face kind of way. So I think a lot of people miss it or think it’s not the greatest bargain (I’ve noticed that they usually showcase the most popular brands first, which may not be the deepest discounts).

True, Toys R Us doesn’t usually give as much of a discount as other places, but they do have a much larger toy selection so you can find things that other retailers might not have available. It looks like today’s Hotrageous deals range from 15% off to 50% off, but, there are also some pretty unique things offered. On this particular day, there are 69 items in their Hotrageous Deals category. I really only found 2 that are a fit for our family, but those 2 are really good deals!

Here are the deals that I found would be good for our girls:

Emma loves all things Shopkins.

Alice loves cars and Elmo (she calls him "Mo-mo").

Then, they have things that I wouldn’t normally think about getting, but it’s such a great deal that it caught my eye:

How cute are those!?!!

The good thing about Toys R Us online, is that most of the items allow for store-pickup within an hour, or it’s Free Shipping if you spend $19 or more. Their search feature is also very useful to filter through the toys listed – nobody hates scrolling through numerous pages without the option to filter more than I do.

So, that’s the biggest piece of money-saving goodness from Toys R Us, but, I’m not done just yet.

From the beginning of November through Christmas, Toys R Us offers raffles, giveaways, toy sampling and much more, each and every weekend.  Their kick-off event was November 5^th, then there is a LEGO event on November 12^th, and then a Pokemon event (with trading) on November 20^th. If you want to keep up with all of these events you can either follow Toys R Us on Facebook, or if you’re in St. Louis you can follow Let’s Go St. Louis to see the same events and then some.

They also have special sales on random days too, so watch for those. I find it best to either subscribe to their emails, or follow them on Facebook. Those are the best ways to get notified right away.

So there you have it. Part 2 of my Holiday Shopping Money-Saving tips. If you haven't read Part 1 (Target), you totally should... lots of ways to save there. 

Bloggers love to hear your comments on our posts, so please take a moment to let me know what you think. :-) And as always, make sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram! 

Thanks for reading! Watch for part 3 coming soon!

Holiday Shopping Tips - Part 1 - TARGET

Cue the music… “It’s the most wonderful time, of the year!”

I’ve worked retail since high school. And as a seasoned retail employee (okay, optical isn’t really retail, but it almost is), I can feel the holiday season in my bones. So much so, that at 11:15 pm on Halloween night, I said to my husband “okay, we’re done with Halloween, we’re moving on to Christmas!” He rolled his eyes. If you haven’t met my husband, just know that he is pretty much the living version of Charlie Brown… I can hear him say “Good Grief” in my head each and every time he disapproves of my shenanigans.

I like Thanksgiving and all, but I see my family regularly (I love them… I want to see them more than a couple times a year), and I just love Christmas so much that I don’t want to wait!!! By the way, when did it become socially acceptable for people to bash others for getting into the Christmas spirit early?!? If you ask me, those are the people with the problems.

Anywhoo, as soon as November 1^st gets here, I’m ready to watch for the Christmas present deals. Since I like to share the wealth, I thought I’d go ahead and let you know of all of my tips and tricks for finding a good deal. I hope you’ll share yours with me too!

Because there are so many different stores and ways to save, I’m going to break it down into a few posts. I’ll start with my biggest and best resource (you’ll soon see why)… TARGET!

Now, I know Target got a lot of grief this year, and shoot, I was one person who stopped shopping there until they realized their faults. But, they’ve been taking a lot of steps to correct the issues, and they’re offering even more deals than usual to make up for losses. Bonus!

Here we go…

Target

Okay, for all of the occasional Target shoppers out there, let me start off by saying that YOU NEED A RED CARD. My Mom hates debit cards – she still writes checks – but I’m always telling her that she could save $300 a year easy if she would just get a Target Red Card. It saves you 5% each time you use it and it just comes straight out of your bank account; it’s NOT a credit card (unless you want a Red Card Credit Card, because those are available too).  It also gives you free shipping if you shop online, and you should always check them out online because there are tons of online deals that you can’t get in stores (right now you can get 20% off of toys, through 11/5).

On top of the Red Card for a free 5% off, they have a Cartwheel app that can save you tons of money on things you already purchase, coupons you can print from Target.com that you can also stack with manufacturer’s coupons, and now in St. Louis you get points for all of your purchases to earn free stuff (also on Cartwheel). Plus, they do a lot of their “Buy X, Get X” deals like buy 3 bottles of shampoo and get a $5 Target Gift Card. It’s all just free discounts. Hardly any effort!

Even more free goodies with Cartwheel Perks!!!

But, the best deal they have going each and every year at this time, and the reason I decided to do this post, is a Toy Deal of the Day on their Cartwheel app. What it is, is they put one specific toy on the app each day from November 1^st through December 24^th, and it’s 50% off. Yep, you saw that right… 50% off. HALF OFF. It’s a big deal. New toys. For HALF. OFF. Sometimes the toy will even be on sale in the store, and then you’ll get it even cheaper! More than… HALF. OFF. Can you sense my excitement? The catch is this: Once it gets closer to Christmas, they sell out of the toys before 9am (it’s only in store and they only have what’s on the shelf to start with). So, if you check the app when you wake up, and get to Target at 8am, you should be okay. We missed sooooooooo many good ones last year. But, I’ve got my game face on this year. ;-)

An example of a 50% Off toy deal.

I know, I know, I’m crazy to spread this piece of deal-saving-goodness… but, even though I’ll probably take out a few of you with my elbows getting to the goods, I still wanted to share the wealth.

Oh! There’s one more thing. Now, this is new this year so I’m not quite sure if it’s easy to use all around, but Target has a new app called “Target Kids’ Wish List.” Your child can create a list of the items they want for Christmas (or you can create one for them) and anyone can search for the list online or in stores; it’s like a registry. I think that’s pretty freaking cool! And the best part is that you can get 10% off of those items if purchased by November 23^rd! There are some exclusions, and rules… I believe it’s a one-time use, but I’m not sure if that’s per person shopping, or per child. But, if you have the holiday shopping money now, you may as well try to get as much as you can in one stop.

So there you have it!

I hope you got a lot out of my first Frugal shopping post! I know I have a pretty good game plan for the next couple weeks that’s for sure. ;-)

Make sure to let me know of any Target deals you come across too. I’m always looking for more insights on how to save more of my hard-earned money!

And be sure to follow The Average Momma on Facebook so that you don’t miss out on any future shopping tips/tricks posts I might have.

*All graphics and pictures on this post were from my electronic device and/or creations of my own.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......

This post seems like one giant run-on sentence to me, and I can hear the whine in my non-verbal tone, but I just have to get this out there. In case you were wondering where I've been... In case you've been wondering how I've been... In case you were just wondering.

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You guys… this working Mom thing is hard! No, not just because I miss my kids, but because I’m exhausted all the time.

I thought that with Gene being a stay-at-home Dad for a while, it would take some of the load off of me, but I was wrong; he helps out a lot with the kids and chores, but I’m still drained. I literally wake up tired, I walk through the day tired, I go through the motions at home each night tired, and I usually collapse on the couch and fall asleep with the kids on the couch after nine. Gene will come along and take the kids to bed and wake me up to tell me to go to bed, and then I start all over again the next morning. Each day I become more and more tired, and occasional sleep-ins don’t even help anymore.

Some days I feel too tired to even sit at my desk to work. I do it, of course, but I could cry I’m so tired sometimes. Even now, it’s taking every ounce of energy to get this post typed up and it’s not even that late.

I know what you’re thinking… you’re thinking “well go to the doctor!” I have though. I’ve mentioned my fatigue multiple times. I usually get the whole “you’re a tad overweight, so all you probably need is some exercise and a good clean diet.” But then I try to explain to them that I’m too tired to exercise. I can’t get up earlier than I already do because I am just too tired, and I can’t after work because I have to make dinner and do bath time and run errands, etc. And doing anything after the kids go to bed is not an option either because I can’t even put them to bed myself; I’m asleep with them.

It’s getting so bad that by the time I get home from work, I don’t even want to play with my kids. I want to lay on the couch and watch them play by themselves. I don’t want to make them a healthy dinner; I want to feed them cereal so I can just sit down and not move. I contemplate calling in sick to work when I’m not even sick just to stay in bed all day (I’m too chicken to do it, but boy I’d love to). I can feel it down to my bones. I’m tired. So, so, tired.

And to boot, I have no idea why I’m so drained all the time because I get a good 7 hours of sleep at least. I drink coffee in the morning, but usually just one cup to not crash or have an adverse reaction. I’m even starting to wonder if I’m depressed and just don’t know it.

But, in all actuality, the doctor is probably just right about me being overweight and needing to exercise more. I want to, I really do… I’m just SO tired. I’m going to start with a better diet, and more play with the kids, and go from there.

Hopefully it will get better soon because the daylight is getting shorter and it’s making it even worse!

Hubs is Unemployed Now, but We Had Fun Anyway!

For those of you that don’t know already, my husband is officially unemployed. He didn’t want me to blog about it in fear that I’d say something that would come back to haunt us, but I wouldn’t say anything bad about his actual employer. Schnucks was very good to us. His last day was actually the 16^th of September (we've known about this "layoff" for quite some time now, just not WHEN), and to Gene it was just the right amount of time. You see, he hated his job; so much so that at one point he was going to quit without even having anything lined up. Like I said, he liked the employer, as did I, but the hours and some of the people he worked with just kind of ruined it for him. So, this was kind of his “blessing in disguise” so to speak.

He doesn’t have a new job yet, but he’s sure that he will find one soon. A couple of interviews have come and gone, but for whatever reason, he didn’t get any of them. I guess they weren’t in God’s plan for us. In the meantime, he’s spending each and every day with our youngest daughter. They have quite the bond now; it’s super cute.

While he did get a severance package, I’m sure you’ll understand when I say that him being out of a job is scary as heck. Severance runs out quick if you’re not careful, and now we have to pay a lot more for health insurance to boot! So right now, I’m pinching every penny I can in hopes that we can use as little of that money as possible.

While I’m pinching my pennies though, we still have Emma in daycare (we didn’t want to disrupt her normal routine if we could avoid it), and Holli’s wedding is just one week away so there will be loads of money being spent very soon on all things bridesmaid. I’m freaking out inside. We make plans and take on obligations so far in advance, that when something like this happens, it’s inevitable that you would have some big things planned out already. But, after this coming weekend, we are pretty much going to be out for the count. We have got to get our spending in check because who knows if he will find a job tomorrow, or six months from now.

Fortunately, we were able to do some pretty cool stuff this past weekend, before I put the kibosh on all spending.   

Friday Night:  My cousin Jamie got married to a beautiful woman named Julie. Their wedding was gorgeous and we had a great time. I keep thinking about the dinner they had too – wish I would have gotten seconds. Jamie is part of the Lococo Family that I always talk about. You know, that super fun Italian bunch that everyone wants to be a part of.

Beautiful ceremony!

Saturday Day:  I went with a local author friend, Lyssa Layne, to Pennedcon. Never heard of it before, but it’s authors who rent booths/tables and come together to talk about their books and sell a few as they go. It was neat to hear about all the different books, and where some of the authors come from.

Saturday Night:  The hubs and I had a date night. Our venue was something we try to go to every year, so even though we are watching what we spend, we went ahead and did it anyway. So what was it? Why, St. Charles Oktoberfest, of course! I love listening to the German music – especially the yodeling. It was a good time. It was mostly just me and Gene all night, and he may have drank too much Oktoberfest beer, but it was still fun. And we had Waffle House and got home at a decent time too.

Sunday Day:  The hubs had a rough morning, so when I went to get the kiddos, I decided to take them to the kids area at Oktoberfest to give him more time to sleep. It was SO hot. I think I was super close to a heat stroke. Haha. Maybe not, but you get how hot it was. I pulled them around in the wagon, with them all nice and shaded and me in the blazing sun. What happened to fall?!?!? They had a good time though, so that’s all that mattered. And needless to say, we didn’t stay very long.

Sunday Night:  This was the best thing of the entire weekend… Disney on Ice!!! I bought the tickets months ago, on presale, with a big discount. I think I got us all three seats, third row from the ice, for like $90 after all the fees (Chaifitz in St. Louis is nice and small compared to huge venues like Scottrade, so really anywhere in the arena is a good view). We weren’t sure at the time when Gene would be out of a job, so I had no idea we’d be watching our money so closely now. But, it was a fun time. We had hot dogs and nachos for dinner, and we gave in and got Emma a snocone (a FIFTEEN dollar snocone!) to share with Alice. The girls had a blast. Alice would squeal any time she’d see the Mickey Mouse gang, and Emma was all about Buzz Lightyear and Elsa. It was such a great show. I wish we could do things like this more often, but we’ll have to hold off for now. Maybe Sesame Street Live in February. ;-)

So, that was my busy, expensive weekend. I snuck in some grocery shopping at our new “grocery place” on Sunday – i.e. Wal-Mart – and I may have bought a lot of Ramen noodles. Haha!

If you have a prayer to spare, maybe say one that the hubs finds the job of his dreams here soon. ;-)

And thanks for reading! The blog wouldn’t be where it is today without all of my readers out there.

If you haven’t yet, go ahead and follow The Average Momma onFacebook so that you don’t miss out on any of our happenings.

Now, how was YOUR weekend?

The Sacrifices We Parents Make

I’ve been thinking a lot the last few months about the sacrifices parents make. We put our kids first about 99% of the time, and you know what, we totally should! Most of the time, I couldn’t care less about putting them first. I WANT to put them first. I want them to have an even better childhood than the one I had. But, sometimes, there are people that don’t understand and it can really start to get to them, and to you.

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I was told a few months back that I use my kids as an excuse far too often. And it cut me to the core. Downright hurt. I’m not sure why it did really, but I can only assume that I got defensive for my kids’ sake. Even though nothing was said about them, their mere existence was mentioned and I crumbled. I cried like a baby.  I wanted to run away and take them with me.

        

But, they’re totally right, I DO use them as an excuse. Strike that. That’s not the right way to put it. They ARE my excuse. My reason. The purpose for my existence. Every decision I make is based around our family now, and every penny I earn is now earned for our family; and they always come first (second to God, of course). 

If I would need to make a drastic life-changing decision, the result would always be decided from looking at how it would affect our family. And if I make any decisions that would involve money, I would always decide first if spending it would interfere with their happiness in any way. If it would, then I don’t buy/do it. And nine times out of ten, it does.

Okay, so spending money might not affect their happiness TODAY, but here is what I mean: If I go out with friends tonight and spend $60 on food and drinks, then that’s $60 less I have that could have been used for Emma’s gymnastics classes, or for Alice to join The Little Gym, or even for a fun night out for dinner and ice cream as a family. $60 is hardly anything really - before kids I wouldn’t have even thought twice. But now, $60 could mean that we miss out on some family fun that would have created memories for a lifetime. In fact, we just spent $60 at Arnold Days in Arnold, MO at their carnival (that's where the pictures are taken). It was Alice's first time!

The other part of it too, is that since having kids my view on spending has changed completely. Now I don’t spend more than $20 on a dress. $10 on a shirt. $15 on a pair of jeans. I shop online for deals, and then I usually talk myself out of them before I click "buy." While I want desperately to dress in the newest fashions and fit in with everyone at work, I can’t bring myself to spend frivolously anymore.

My entire outlook has changed. We spend countless hours away from our kids to make money for THEM. Yes we deserve time to ourselves and yes we should be able to spend money on ourselves too, but would that make us happy in the long run? No. Not really. We allow ourselves one date night a month and we spend more money than I’d like to. It’s okay, but it takes me days to get over it. We spend time away from them, and then our family’s money on us and not them. I hate it. If I had it my way we’d do every date night at home on the couch catching up on our shows (but Gene always wants to go out).

I have no idea what the point of this post is. Maybe I’m just talking to be talking; to defend my choices, even though I don’t have to. I just feel like the only people that could possibly understand are Moms. And since the people reading my blog are probably Moms, maybe I just wanted to talk this out with you to feel better about my choices.

How do you explain to your friends/family/peers why you say no to the certain things you refuse?

Showering the Bride & Gettin' Crafty

My best friend Holli is getting married.

My best friend, of 22 years, is GETTING. MARRIED.

We are in the home stretch now and all of the festivities have come and gone. In fact, the Bridal Shower that I got to take part in was just this past Sunday. I feel like I've waited a long time to be able to do all of this for my best friend. I wanted everything to be perfect.

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When it came time to plan the shower I was all kinds of excited. I wanted so much out of it! I wanted it to be classy, and pretty, and all the things that I think of when I think of Holli. The first step is always the venue, and I had been to a shower at the Little Hills Winery in St. Charles before, so it was my first thought. Low and behold the prices were reasonable, so that’s what we went with. *We did check a few other places as well and this one ended up being the least expensive for what we got.

Since the food was catered by the winery, we only had to worry about the cake. One of the bridesmaids offered to order and pick-up the cake from a small local shop called Midtowne Market). It was marble with white icing and dainty little flowers on it. And boy was it yummy!

I absolutely love playing games at showers, so we had a couple small ones to play that I thought might be fun (I am the least crafty person, but I "pinterested" some ideas and made these all by myself!). We played “He Said, She Said” and “What’s in Your Purse?” They went over pretty well and some people got some good laughs out of them. And another bridesmaid offered to purchase the prizes for the games, and she did so great! Wish I would have gotten pictures of them because you’d agree with me 100%. I wanted each and every prize for myself.

Another thing I had done, was I put “Advice for the Bride” cards and blank recipe cards in with the invitations for the guests to fill out ahead of time. I had been to a shower previously that did these two things and I thought it was so clever! It’s always great to get a recipe or advice from a friend that you know rather than a stranger. I hope Holli gets a lot out of those. We also picked one of each at random to win a prize.

Then, since everyone can’t go home with a prize, I made up some cute little favors for each person to take home. This was actually a Pinterest idea that I found, and I used an app on my phone called Rhonna Designs to create the tag. I tied each tag around a small bottle of wine, and voila! I thought it turned out so well!

All in all the shower was a success. We did wind up with a lot of leftover food to take home since we had so many no-shows, but it was still a great turnout and Holli got lots of great gifts, recipes and advice from lots of women who love her.

Now, I can’t wait for the wedding!!!