Money ← Mommy Warriors

The Kids Are Getting Bigger, Now What?

Oct

2012

I speak with many stay-at-home moms who tell me the same thing. “The kids are getting older and don’t need me as much, and I’m starting to get bored.” There are only so many errands to run and closets to clean out. Eventually, these women realize they need something else to fulfill them. But finding that “thing” can be really hard. Some of these women consider getting more involved in charity work or volunteering, but as much as that helps fill one’s time, it doesn’t do much to fill one’s sense of value, let alone pocketbook. There usually isn’t much ...

Chevy Volt – A Great MOM Car!

Jul

2012

For years I have been driving around a tank of an SUV that just guzzles gas. Afterall, having 4 kids does put a limit on what you could drive in order to fit them all in. Given the state of the economy, the cost of gas and the amount of driving that I do around town, my husband and I have been thinking about whether we should expand our car fleet with something a bit more economical for me. My husband drives a hybrid that’s great and when he travels I get to use it every now and then. The ...

Coupons vs. Healthy Eating?

May

2012

Someone once said to me that an easy step to feeding your family more healthy food is to only shop on the perimeter of the grocery store. That is because the perimeter consists of meat, produce, dairy, and refrigerated perishable items, while the inner aisles consist of processed, preserved and frozen foods. However, when I read articles or see stories about these “uber” coupon clippers” I have to wonder how someone can possibly accomplish such amazing savings if you DON’T shop in those inner aisles? For one thing, health foods (and when I say health foods I mean real health ...

Raising Kids to Be “Richer, Smarter and Better-Looking” Than Us 4

May

2012

If there is one subject that I think should be a required course in high schools it’s personal finance. I wish as part of high school curriculum kids were taught how to balance a check book, how to file tax returns, how to apply for a loan, how to set up a retirement account and how to avoid financial pitfalls, such as acquiring debt. Some schools offer it, but do you honestly think a 16 year old is going to choose an elective on personal finance over robotics? I know there are probably techno geeks who would scream out loud ...

Our Amazing Low-Tech Adventure with the Kids

Apr

2012

The kids had Monday off, and with any day off of school, I was freaking out over figuring out what to do with them. You know the feeling. Holy Pizza Pie! I’m going to have the kids home ALL DAY with no school, no camp, no scheduled activities. WHAT AM I GOING TO DO!!!??? Think! Think!! THINK!!! There must be something we can go do! I ran thru the usual list of options. Disneyland? Too expensive. Beach? Too cold. Movies? Too short. Museum? Too cerebral. Besides, they were going to the museum the next day on a field trip at ...

Allowing More Moms the Privilege of Staying at Home 1

Apr

2012

I became a stay at home mom 10 years ago this month. And with all the debate the last few days regarding how stay at home moms DO work, one point seems to be missing. Being able to choose to stay home with the kids a privilege for both the parent and the child. Yes, it’s work, but it is work that most of us are grateful to be able to do. But what about the moms who want to stay home but can’t. After I had my first child, I went back to work rather quickly, within three weeks. ...

To Allowance or Not To Allowance 1

Jan

2010

Sean and I were really torn on whether to give an allowance to the kids. We used to give a small allowance to Brandon but not the twins, since they were too young. Then we decided to stop paying an allowance, because we wanted Brandon to earn money based on specific work, rather than just giving cash unrelated to effort. We thought about linking an allowance with chores, but felt that the kids should be helping around the house, regardless of an allowance. All of this left us in quite a quandary. To allowance or not to allowance, that was ...

How a Family Benefits from a Recession

Dec

2009

There was an opinion piece in Newsweek written by Kathleen Deveny asking whether the recession could be good for families. The article merely explored the potential changes in parents’ roles, but it started me thinking and asking the same question on a bigger level. I started thinking about how the past year has impacted families across America and what real lasting benefits there may be to our children: Being smarter with money As parents, we try to teach our kids to be smart with money, to take some of their birthday cash or allowance and set it aside for savings. ...

Holiday Giving: Fighting the World Hunger Epidemic

Nov

2009

Recently, the news has been filled with stories about the staggering number of people, both in the US and around the world, suffering from or dying of hunger. CNN reported this week that 17,000 children die EVERY DAY from hunger. That’s 6 million every year! Here in the US, 49 million people , 17 million of them children, were unable to get enough food on a regular basis last year, according to the USDA. That’s almost a 4% increase over the year before. One of the biggest factors? The current economic crisis. With so many people unable to attain such ...

A Great Ebay Day :)

Sep

2009

A very lucrative Monday for me! Last week, I wandered around the house and found about 5 things I decided to auction on Ebay. Don’t tell my kids but, some of those items were some old, unopened Lego sets. Hey, they were gifts that they don’t even remember they had. Anyway, my auctions ended today and I was pleasantly surprised that all my items had sold. ChaChing!!! 15 minutes last week setting up the auctions landed me $400 this week. Ladies, if you aren’t using Ebay you’d better start. Sure, this was a good week for me but, you really ...