Report Card Rewards

How can you reward your student for their hard work? By getting some fun freebies! Here is a list of a few places which will reward students for good grades:

1. Krispy Kreme Donuts. In most areas, Krispy Kreme (the retail donut stores only) will give your child a free donut for an “A”. My friend Lisa reports that this applies only to their original glazed donuts, not the extra fancy kind.

2. Limited Too. On their website, Limited Too (a clothing store for “tween” girls) states that they want to “congratulate girls on receiving outstanding grades.” Report cards with passing grades must be brought to a girl’s local Limited Too store within 30 days of when she receives it. The girl will receive $5.00 off her purchase that day.

3. Blockbuster. Blockbuster will give one free movie rental for A’s. The movie must be from the “kids” or “families” category.

4. Chuck E. Cheese. Chuck E. Cheese locations give away free tokens for good grades. They accept all types of grading systems, and will give away a maximum of 15 tokens. Currently, an “A” or equivalent is worth 3 tokens, a “B” is worth 2 tokens, and a “C” is worth 1 token. Note: You must make a food purchase for this offer.

Remember that the above list is subject to change at any time, and may vary depending upon where you live. There may be local businesses in your area that reward good grades. Check with your child’s teacher, school, or PTA. Some schools give out rewards at report card time such as free meals to local restaurants.

Does anybody else know of any other locations which reward students for good grades?

Where can kids eat for free?

Where can kids eat for free? As my 2 year old gets pickier and more opinionated about her food, the days of picking off my plate are drawing to a close. Now when deciding when (or if) to eat out, I am much more likely to be attracted somewhere she will be able to eat for free.

I was so glad to come across this national listing of restaurants of where and when kids eat free:

Coupon Divas - Kids Eat Free List

With a (really) quick review, I see a few that we have here in Las Vegas: Buffalo Wild Wings, IHOP, Denny's, and Tony Roma's. As with any deal, make sure to check with your neighborhood restaurant to see if they are a participating venue.

Traveling With Your Children

As the holiday season is quickly arriving, that means family get-togethers and (for us anyway) traveling with children. I have two little ones and getting all of our gear together is not something I look forward to, but it is an evil necessity. Over at Simple Mom there is a great post with some excellent ideas entitled 13 Tips for Packing Light with Small Children. Check it out!

Saving Money With a Baby

The Simple Dollar had a great post entitled A Visual Guide to Saving Money With a Baby which I have linked to because it is a very good read (and the comments are interesting too but some of them can get my blood boiling).

As one of their commentors said "out of curiosity, isn’t having a baby the biggest drain on financial resources?". I would like to answer this as resounding "NO!" Now let me get up on my soapbox/checkbook for a second and break down what I have done with my two kids:

Crib and mattress - purchased via CraigsList for $50
Car seat - purchased via CraigsList for $20
Changing table - purchased via CraigsList for $15
Stroller - purchased via CraigsList for $10
Swing - purchased via garage sale for $30
Bouncy seat - purchased via garage sale for $5
Boppy - bought via Ebay
Clothes - borrowed, garage sale, clearance racks, or gifts
Toys - garage sales
Diapers - disposable using only sales and coupons
Food - nursing and free formula with checks or samples from my pediatrician, then making baby food at home or purchasing jars with coupons

Do you get my drift? I get a little worked up when people question how much it costs and look at you ridiculously when you tell them you want to have more than one. The cash outlay seems to be the most for the first child; the second can share what you invested for the first. I never buy anything full price and I usually don't even buy anything from a store. I get most things second-hand, and even then some of my garage sale finds still have tags on them.

Hopefully what we are doing via this blog is helping educate each other on how to save money and encourage those of us who are trying to practice this lifestyle. Don't be discouraged moms and dads - it is possible to live well below what other people seem to view as normal cash outlay and still have everything you need (and alot of what you want).

How to Score Cheaper Diapers

Two of favorite bloggers are teaming up - Common Sense with Money and Coupon Cravings - to write a great post about saving money on diapers. It was too good not to share over here for Mommy Monday. All credit goes to them:

Ever since I wrote about my diaper stash a few months back readers have been asking me for tips on how to save money on diapers. I narrowed down the list of things that keep people from saving money on diapers to these six culprits:

1. Not Knowing the Per Diaper Price: When you start bargain shopping for diapers it is very important that you calculate the price per diaper to make comparisons. Manufacturers vary the number of diapers based on pack size and on whether it’s a premium or basic diaper. Knowing the price per diaper will give you a baseline to know your target per diaper price. To check the number of diapers per pack by brand check out this chart.

2. Comparing Apples to Oranges: I used to compare the price I paid per diaper at the warehouse clubs to the per diaper price at a store like Target. What I was overlooking is that warehouse clubs usually don't carry premium diapers.For example, Sam's Club carries Huggies Snug & Dry Fit diapers. These are the cheaper Huggies diapers. It is not a fair comparison to compare the price you pay for these diapers with the price you pay for Huggies Supreme, for example, at other stores. In other words, make sure to compare apples to apples or premium to premium when you compare diapers against each other.

3. Not Signing Up With Manufacturers: Using coupons is a step forward towards cheaper diapers. While the coupons you find in the newspaper inserts are helpful, greater savings can be found if you sign up with the manufacturers to receive coupons directly from them. Here you can sign up with Huggies, Pampers and Luvs.

4. Ignoring Store Promotions: Take advantage of stores that double coupons or allow you to stack a store coupon with a manufacturers coupon on the same item for greater savings. Also, some stores accept competitors coupons. Many stores also have a "Baby Club" and regularly mail out coupons to their members.

5. Not Playing the Drugstore Game: Shopping at CVS or Walgreens allows shoppers to accumulate ExtraCare Bucks or Register Rewards that can be used to lower the out-of-pocket expense of buying diapers.

6. Not Exploring Alternatives: Being brand loyal is an easy way to make sure you spend a lot of money on diapers. I recently reviewed Walgreens brand diapers and my review received a lot of positive feedback from other users. I have also used CVS diapers with great success as well. Other alternatives include exploring cloth diapering and elimination communication.

If you have a baby you will agree with me that diaper expenses are the one of the biggest budget busters when a baby is added to the family. But with a little bit of work and armed with the right tools it doesn't have to be that way.

Thank you Mercedes and Erin for this informative post!

Halloween costumes - that time again!

Laura H. recently asked "I know it's early but where have you found the best deals on kid's Halloween costumes. To me it seems earlier the better!!! What's your take?"

Halloween costumes are NOT my specialty. You would never know one of my majors in college was theatrical costume design. Halloween rolls around and I completely go blank!
I have taken inspiration though from magazines that help us use things around the house to make things for the kids. Martha Stewart has done a good job of this (check out some pictures to get your creative juices flowing here and here)and Parents magazine too.

For those that are more inclined to purchase the whole package (I think I would most likely fall under that category too) Baby Cheapskate is reporting a great deal on costumes at Amazon.com:

Take $10 off a $50 (or more) purchase from a single merchant in Amazon's
Halloween costume shop through September 30. You'll get free shipping,
too! No coupon code necessary. Hundreds of infant, toddler, and kid costumes
to choose from. Grownup costumes, too. Many infant and toddler costumes are
on sale right now at up to 40% off.

Keep an eye on CraigsList (craigslist.org) or Ebay for other good deals. People start clearing out there closets around this time of year and getting their kids new costumes. Take advantage of the deals.

I think I agree with your assessment, Laura - the earlier the better. If you are truly interested in thinking ahead, take advantage of after-Halloween sales and garage sales throughout the year. I remember last year both Babystyle.com and Pottery Barn Kids had their Halloween costumes severely marked down after the holiday. If I had had a better idea of kid's sizes then I would have picked some up.

Do any of my other readers have any ideas for Halloween costumes on a budget? Leave a comment and let us know!

Preparing meals when time is limited

Recently Luke R. wrote me and asked : Could you please write a post for fathers with ready to eat meals that are healthy? Well Luke, I think that this topic is applicable to ALL parents, whether single or married, stay-at-home or working outside of the home. We all want to prepare good meals for our children when our time is limited. Here are my ideas:

1. Plan your menu
I am a stay-at-home mom of two and I recently started being more vigilant about planning menus weekly, and now monthly. This may seem like a hard task (things come up; I don't know what will be happening on that day) or one that seems so simple it is just brushed off. But since I began menu planning:

My grocery budget has reduced. By planning ahead I know EXACTLY what meals I am going to prepare during the week and I know EXACTLY what I need to buy in order to prepare those meals. No more guesswork (do I have that in the pantry?) and no more unnecessary purchases.

Meals are always available. When I have my weekly menu plan posted in the kitchen I can see immediately what needs to be thawed out, chopped up, or boiled for the upcoming meal. This helps to have the items I need to eat always ready to go, again eliminating the guesswork in "what's for dinner?" and even "what should I take/eat for lunch?".

Meals can be tailored to my (and your) family's needs. When making my menu plan, I DO plan eating-out nights and leftover nights. You can plan for soccer practice nights, working late nights, etc. You know your schedule better than anybody else. Work with it, not against it! Try recipes in your crockpot if you are going to be home later and want to walk into your house with dinner waiting for you. Or have a marinated meat in the fridge ready for the grill.

2. Don't feel guilty if you by prepared food/meals at the store. It will still save you more money than eating out when you are having a busy day. For example, sometimes I fret over splurging a little on a nice steak. HOWEVER, if we go to a steakhouse I think nothing about spending 3x that on a steak. So in the end you are saving money over your other choices by buying the steak. I think as parents sometimes we feel like there is no middle ground - I need to either cook something from scratch or just go through the drive-thru. There is a middle ground my friends - and don't be ashamed to walk it! A nice deli pizza from Costco is still going to cost half of what you would spend on delivery. Remember that and don't get caught up in guilt.

Both Fresh & Easy and Smiths grocery stores have pre-packaged meals which, because they are made fresh, get marked down on a daily basis. Fresh & Easy marks their expiring inventory down 50% every day, somewhere between 11am-1pm (thanks Jennifer B.!). If you are able to pick something up at this time, that is a great savings. Combine it with their coupons which come in the mail or you get from the cashiers to save even more. Smiths also marks down their store meals, which are located near the deli. The other day I spotted some gourmet pasta dishes for $1.50.

Here are some other great resources to encourage you in these ideas:
* Organizing Junkie hosts Menu Plan Monday every week at her blog and she has some other great ideas and resources to help in that quest (her recipe index will get you started with some easy to have on hand dinner ideas for those late nights home).
* A Year of Crockpotting has 251 (as of writing) recipes for your crockpot.

So dear readers, do you have any other ideas/resources for ready to eat meals which are healthy?

Family-Friendly Restaurants

Recently Parents magazine wrote an article on the "10 Best Family-Friendly Restaurants" and what makes them so. As part of our Mommy Monday series I wanted to highlight this article and the restaurants we can frequent here in Las Vegas:

1. Mimi's Cafe' - This chain's got just the thing to settle down hungry, antsy kids -- a free appetizer plate filled with Cheerios, oranges, and crackers. Kids' menu options include a turkey dinner, soup and salad, and spaghetti; all come with a choice of sides such as fresh veggies, fruit, mashed potatoes, and applesauce.


2. Sweet Tomatoes - Sweet Tomatoes is particularly wonderful because it's cheap (less than $10 for adults and $5 for kids 3 and over), fast, and focused on healthy food. It features a pasta station, eight soups, a 55-foot salad bar with plenty of fruits and vegetables, a bakery section with focaccia pizza and low-fat muffins, and a soft-serve "fro yo" machine.


3. Chili's Grill & Bar - The kids' menu keeps growing: The chain recently added three more sides -- corn, mandarin oranges, and pineapple -- to the seven options it already had. Entrees range from grilled chicken to pasta to pizza.


4. Red Robin - With balloons galore, Red Robin has long been a fun place to take the family. Grilled chicken with Parmesan noodles, veggie burgers, and five side choices, including cantaloupe wedges, carrots with dip, and apple slices, are new to the menu. For families with food allergies, Red Robin offers a detailed yet easy-to-understand ingredient guide.


5. P.F. Chang's China Bistro - The food at this chain is meant to be served family-style -- where everyone eats a little of this and a little of that -- so there isn't a separate menu for children. But there are plenty of kids' favorites, including the ginger chicken with broccoli, chow mein, and crab wontons.


6. Denny's - While your kids are waiting for their star-shaped chicken nuggets, anti-gravity grapes, astronaut applesauce, or any of the other space-themed fare to arrive, they get to sip their milk or juice from a rocket-shaped cup. On the serious side, the chain puts complete nutrition and allergy info for all its dishes online.


7. Claim Jumper - The only chain on the list to have separate menu options for younger and older kids. Children 2 and under get a free plate with turkey, cheese, applesauce, and mandarin orange slices since the chain thinks that even the smaller kids' meal is too big for toddlers.

To read the full article, including the honorable mention list, click here.