Parenting Zoo

Image by Piez via Flickr A guest post by Carrie Lauth of NaturalMomsTalkRadio.com Anger – it sounds like a dirty word, but the more we […]

If you are looking for some extra ways to save money, look no further. We have some tips you can easily put into action! Most of them you probably know already but sometimes we need just a little reminder!

Avoid the temptation to jump on Amazon.com and purchase the latest great novel, dvd, magazine or self help book you’ve heard about. Instead of buying, grab your library card and head to your local library and borrow those same items for free! Use your library’s internet search site to confirm they have the books or items you’re looking for and put them on hold (some libraries even have drive up windows to pick up the items once the librarian has pulled them). If your particular library doesn’t have what you need, often they can query other libraries and bring them in from the outside.

Check out your local public transportation. Your kids will love it and you’ll save time, gas and parking fees! Kids love the train especially and it’s a great way for you to relax while you’re heading to the city or other special place.

Try consolidating your services in order to get better pricing. For example, if you purchase your internet, home phone, and cable television from the same company, you’ll often get a better rate than if you chose to do business with three separate companies. So many companies are offering this option now – do some research and save some money.

I love shopping like most moms but instead of buying new items from a retail store, consider looking through eBay listings for something similar or get out of your comfort zone and head to the local consignment or resale shop. In our area Goodwill opened up several new stores and they’re fabulous. We’ll often find brand new clothing with tags still on at garage sale prices.

Car payments are a huge part of many family budgets. If you currently own a car that you make a monthly payment on, spend some time figuring out if it might be possible to sell that car and purchase a used car that you own outright. Think about how much money you would save if you didn’t have a large car payment to make each month.

And then there are the simple things – turn off the lights when you’re not in the room, take shorter showers, do larger loads of laundry, hang out at least one load of laundry instead of using the dryer, consolidate shopping into one trip by making lists, cook once but serve twice by doubling your portions and freezing the extra, etc. The list goes on and on!

I found this wonderful video on NewBaby.com and wanted to pass it along. The “Go To Mom” talks about using stuffed animals and/or puppets to […]

Cover of Tantrums Taming Toddler Tantrums: Tips that Really Work A Parenting Zoo guest post Young parents get scared when they hear stories about the […]