In good news a recent study shows that a larger majority of women, not men, control the family budget – but only by a little bit and other research shows that while women do take over the family budget they’re leaving the investing issues i.e. decisions related to mutual fund, stocks and bonds up to men, which is not smart.

All women need to practice smart money management by doing the following…

Practice trust but not at your own risk. Trust in a marriage or partnership is swell, but believe it or not, even if you think your relationship is on solid ground, bad things can happen. Assuming you’ll always be in a two income family and not planning for survival as a one income family is a serious money trap that people fall into. Trust your partner sure, but make sure you have a backup plan in place.

Learn about all aspects of money. If you’re already one of those 62% of women who handle the family day-to-day budget, great. If not you need to learn how to manage and balance the household budget. If you’re investing, keeping up on your retirement fund issues, and your name is signed on as owner of a major item (say a house) then you also need to know how to manage all of those budget issues.Read Your Money or Your Life to get a general overview of money and how it affects your life and also read Make Money, Not Excuses: Wake Up, Take Charge, and Overcome Your Financial Fears Forever which offers easy tips about managing your finances.

Keep tabs on your credit report.

Put yourself first: In this day and age people gasp when women put themselves before their kids, but guess what; there are hundreds of ways to score cash for college and zero retirement loans out there. Your retirement funds comes before your child’s college fund. If you can afford to sock away for both super, but it’s more beneficial for your kids in the long run if you can take care of yourself when you’re old.

Have some money goals: Whether your goal is to make money like a man, save more, buy a house, or pay off your debt it’s healthy to always have a money goal or two going on. Money goals, even small ones allow you to stay focused on finances frequently and keeps you sharp.

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Post from: Thrifty Mommy

KidsPark centers offer day, evening and weekend care for children ages 2-11 and is open almost each and every day of the year with parent schedule friendly hours – they’re open from 8 am to 10 pm Monday through Thursday and until midnight on Friday and Saturday. KidsPark also offers recession conscience prices (about $7.50 per hour) so most families can afford it. There’s no reservation needed – families register once and they’re in the KidsPark system.

Safety - KidsPark exceeds state licensing requirements with an average teacher-child ratio of 1:8. At all times, no matter the number of children present there are two staff on site. If a child needs one-on-one attention, another teacher is available to the group.

All KidsPark staff is:

• Certified in First Aid and CPR
• Screened by the Department of Justice
• Trained in Early Childhood Education and Recreation
• Required to attend staff development and skill building workshops

KidsPark offers lots of hands-on projects, art projects, games and a pretty slick calendar of seasonal special events. Additionally, various areas for different activities are designated at each center. Such as…

• Creation Station – for art, cooking, hands-on-science and more.
• Activity Area – where kids can play individually or in group with toys, play pretend in the playhouse or investigate the book nook.
• Mountain of Energy – an active minded structure that kids can pretend is a mountain, space ship and more.
• Theater – an areaused for story times, music, G-rated movies, games and guest performers.
• Sport Court – perfect for kids tired of being inside all winter, kids can kick goals, shoot baskets, play 4-square or just enjoy a game of catch.
• Blue Crew – a school-age area that encourages interaction with peers. Older kids can learn more detailed art projects, play age appropriate games and non-violent video games or do homework.

The only downside I see to KidsPark is that there are not nearly enough of them. Current locations include Arlington/Texas, Jacksonville/FL, Scottsdale/AZ, Olathe/Kansas and in California – Chico, Northridge, Corona, Fresno, Rocklin, Sacramento, and their pilot centers in San Jose, CA. That said there are also three additional locations opening in the first half of 2010.

If you live in one of the areas with a KidsPark you may want to check them out for holiday care this year while they’re out of school or while you need to holiday shop OR set up a date night with your partner.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Lou Manfredini here, Ace’s “Helpful Hardware Man.” My family and I recently spent a weekend putting away all of the summer items around our home, such as outdoor patio furniture and decorative hanging plants. Once again we discovered that we just don’t have enough space.

Our goal this winter is to actually park two cars in the garage. Living in Chicago, this makes for a cleaner get-away when the cold hits and the snow falls. To help us with this daunting task, we made a few key purchases to help get organized. These items can be helpful for anyone looking to find a little more space this holiday season.

First, we purchased some large hooks to hang all the kids’ bikes from the ceiling of the garage, freeing up valuable floor space. Our garage is tall enough so that the front of the car fits right under the hanging bikes. These hooks cost a couple of bucks for a pair and just screw into the wood framing.  The size of the hook you need is dependent on the weight of the bike, so make sure you weigh the bike first before making any purchases. Also, make sure the hook is wide enough to fit around the tire or whatever part of the bike you plan on using to hang it. If your garage has a drywall ceiling make sure you find the framing with a stud sensor so you can get a strong hold.

Another use for inexpensive hooks is to organize tools, rakes and shovels on the walls of your garage instead of piled up in a corner, which will help to prolong the life of your tools while also freeing up space. You can purchase a contraption specifically designed for this job or you can create your own custom version to suit your needs. Simply nail a 2×4 to the wall and attach hooks of various sizes to hang tools.

We also invested in some outdoor storage boxes to free up additional space in our garage. The boxes are perfect for storing bulky items, such as chair pads and pillows from our outdoor furniture. Rubbermaid and Suncast make durable, waterproof versions that can even double as tables and seating areas next spring. For storage needs inside your garage, inexpensive, 20-gallon plastic storage totes with snap lids are a great solution and are much more durable than cardboard boxes. You can find these and other storage containers at AceHardware.com.  Choosing containers in a uniform size will make it easier for everything to fit nicely on a shelving unit or stacked against a wall. Another bonus? The snap lids stay in place, offering protection from damp conditions and bugs. Place a few of those little silica gel packs that come with your kids’ shoes (and almost everything else you buy these days) inside to help prevent humidity damage and slap a label on the front so you’ll know exactly where to find all those gardening tools that seem to go missing every year.

If you have storage cabinets or drawers already installed in your garage (lucky you!), try painting the doors with chalkboard paint so you can label each space according to what is inside and update it as you move items around or add something new to the space. You’ll need about 3-4 coats of chalkboard paint in order to get your cabinets looking great and be sure to sand in-between coats to make for a smooth finish. Once the final coat is completely dry, “season” it (just like you would season a cast iron skillet) by rubbing chalk dust all over the surface and then wiping clean with a damp cloth. Every thing has its place, and now a quick look at the cabinet door will tell you where that is.

With a little time and effort you can get your garage organized this winter as well!

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

1)  Avoid gift buying guilt.  Make a list and set a spending limit for each gift.  Don’t give in to the temptation of spending more or buying for extra people.  If you need extra gifts, decide to make money on Craigslist, cutting back on other expenses, or make homemade gifts.

2)  Keep your receipts.  Save someone the embarrassment of asking for the receipt by getting a gift receipt.  Be sure to ask for them at the check out before the end of the transaction.  Also, save your receipt because many times items will go on sale before Christmas.  A few dollars may not be worth your time and gas, but if the item gets drastically reduced you’ll need your receipt to get a price adjustment.

3) Budget for extra expenses.  Many people budget for gifts, but they forget to budget for things such as Christmas cards, stamps, shipping, travel, decorations, and entertaining. 

4)  Avoid credit cards.  Don’t be left with buyer’s remorse after Christmas.  Pay cash for your purchases.

5)  Do your research.  Before making expensive purchases, search the internet for product reviews.  Check Consumer Reports as well.  An hour of work can save you hundreds of dollars. 

What Christmas tips can you offer?

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Since having kids, things seem to mysteriously appear throughout my house.  No matter how many times I clean and tidy up the house, there seem to be things out of place.  To make up for some of the extra time I spend mothering and tidying up the house, I’ve had to figure out some quick cleaning tips.  Here’s a few to try:

1)  Clean your bathroom while your kids are taking a bath.  Be sure to use safe cleaning products such as vinegar.  You can also take this time to clean out a bathroom drawer.

2)  Keep a few extra trash bags in the bottom of your trash cans.  When you take out the trash, there will be a clean bag waiting.

3)  Do a quick 10-15 minute family clean-up.  Set the timer for 10 minutes and have everyone participate in cleaning up the house.  At first you may have some resistance but if you make this a daily routine, the kids will know what’s expected and participate.

4)  Grab a basket for a quick pick up of out of place things.  Put items into the basket and it will be easy to put them away as you walk through each room.

5)  Before leaving a room, make sure you take something with you.  This goes for your car too.  Each time I get out of my car, I usually pick up a few pieces of trash or grab a few things that need to go into the house.

6)  Do a load of laundry each day.  This will avoid laundry piling up and will make it easier to put away each load as it’s completed.

7)  Unload your dishwasher as soon as the load is complete.  It’s easier to keep dirty dishes out of the sink if the dishwasher is ready to be loaded.

8)  Keep cleaning supplies in each bathroom and in the kitchen.  Using an all purpose cleaner such as vinegar will cut down on the supplies you need.

9)  Assign daily chores to each person in the house.  Each person needs to contribute and if each person has a regular job, they will know what’s expected of them.  The chores need to be age-appropriate.

10)  Do a quick vacuuming in common areas once during the week.  Save the time consuming vacuuming and furniture moving for cleaning days.  Having clean floors makes a home more attractive.

What time saving cleaning tips can you share?

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1)  Holding leftovers - Let these become your storage containers for leftovers.  Be sure to grab a permanent marker and some tape or something to label them.  Otherwise, you might forget about your leftovers and think it’s yogurt.

2)  Take to a potluck - These are great for sending food home with others.  Be sure to take extras to Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.  You don’t have to worry about getting back your containers.

3)  Donate them - Take them to a soup kitchen or to your church.  Every few months, I clean out my disposable collection and take them to my church’s fellowship hall.  Our fellowship hall stays busy with baby showers, birthday parties, and other get togethers.  It doesn’t take long for them to disappear.

4)  Organizing - Sometimes you’ll find disposable containers being used in our garage for storing and organizing screws, paneling nails, and other household items.  The boxes and flimsy plastic containers that they’re sold in quickly break and can leave you with a mess.  The disposable containers provide an inexpensive storage solution.

5)  Storing a similar homemade item - Recently, I ran out of vanilla Starbucks syrup that I use to make my own caramel macchiatos.  I decided to become even more frugal by making my own syrup.  I’m so glad I didn’t throw away my syrup bottle as it is great for storing my homemade version.  I’ve also heard of people saving egg cartons for their friends who have chickens.

6)  Crafts - When I was teaching, I would use frosting containers for many things . I have covered them with felt and let the kids make piggy banks.  Frosting containers and peanut butter containers are great for storing glitter, ribbon, safety pins, and other craft supplies.  One of my favorite uses for the frosting containers is using them with young children for “painting” on glue.

7)  Plant starters - If you have some plant cuttings that you want to root, disposable containers will make quick and inexpensive pots for your plants.

How can you reuse disposable containers?

image (c) Karen Weideman

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Christmas will be here before we know it.  Rather than buying bows for packages, try this idea for making bows from magazine pages.  These bows save money, repurpose your magazines, and avoid more products being throw away.  I think I will have to try these this year.

Times are tough and many of us have had to tighten our budgets.  We all have a service to offer.   This information on how to barter online is helpful. 

Custom made aprons seem to be the new rave.  Rather than paying $45-75 for a handmade apron, consider making one yourself.  Here are 52 free apron patterns to get you on your way.  These would make great Christmas gifts too!

My favorite coffee beverage is a caramel macchiato.  I’ve been wondering how many calories are in the macchiato and I found this coffee calorie guide today.  These calorie amounts are enough to keep you away from your coffee fix.  Thankfully, I’ve learned how to make my own caramel macchiatos at home.  I’ve been using skim milk and Smuckers sugar free caramel syrup.  I’m hoping the next time I make my own vanilla syrup that I can use less sugar and a little Splenda.

In our house, we prefer homemade playdough.  The texture is better, is lasts longer, and it’s really inexpensive to make.  Children sometimes learn easier when several of their senses are stimulated so I was pleased to see a recipe for pumpkin pie scented playdough. 

What interesting articles have you found this week?

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Wear your black clothing more than once. If you’re wearing your black clothing to church or if you’re working in an office building, then you can probably get away with wearing them several times before laundering.  Sometimes I take a damp washcloth and brush off any dirt or other marks.

Wash them inside out. This will prevent the fabric from being damaged and from losing it’s color.

Use the gentle cycle. If possible, wash your black clothing on the gentle cycle or hand wash it.  The more agitation the garment receives in the wash cycle, the more color it loses.

Wash in cold water. This keeps the color from running and fading.

Use special detergent. There is detergent available that’s specially formulated for dark clothing.

If your black clothing does fade, try this tip – Wash the black solid garments with black Rit dye.  I have done this with some of my black clothing to help freshen it up and make it look newer.

What tips do you have to keep your black clothing from fading?

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Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Finding a place for everything is definitely a challenge.  Another challenge we have faced is affording the organization supplies that we need. Here are some tips for saving.

1)  Plan out your purchases.  This month we bought closet organizers.  Next month, I’m hoping to purchase some shelving for one of the closets.  An extra $30 doesn’t hit as hard as the $150 you’d like to spend.

2)  Improvise until you can afford what you want.  The first month in our home, we knew that we couldn’t spare the extra money for closet organizers.  Our master bedroom closet is pretty large and had nothing in it.  For the first six weeks, we put our clothes in the hall closet and only unpacked essential clothing items.  Now we have two closet organizing systems in our closet and can utilize our hall closet for other things.

3)  Plan before you buy.  So many times we see a cool gadget or organizer in the store and we impulsively purchase it.  Instead of doing this, think about your needs and what you have to store.  Take measurements for the space you have.  Be sure you’re not stuck with an expensive gizmo that is useless to you.

4)  Get a second opinion.  Sometimes it’s best to tell or show your friends your storage problems.  They might be able to suggest something you hadn’t thought about or better yet, they might have something to give you that they no longer need.

5)  Search yard sales, Craigslist, and Freecycle.  These are free and inexpensive ways to get the things you need.  Place a wanted ad on Freecycle and Craigslist or search the ads already there.

What tips do you have to save money on organization?

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1)  Use it for Christmas.  The candy that doesn’t have Halloween colored wrapper would work well in the kids’ stockings.  No sense in spending money on new candy when you have plenty.  Set some aside for later.

2)  Put out a candy bowl at work.  A little Snickers bar or Reese’s cup helps make the day a little brighter.  Cheer up your co-worker’s day with a little treat.

3)  Put it in your shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.  Each year, our family does several shoeboxes for Samaritan’s Purse.  I usually save our hard candy for the shoeboxes.  Of course, you’ll want to inspect the candy first and pick out the non-perishable stuff.  Put it in a sandwich size ziploc bag and place in the shoebox with your other items.  Don’t forget - collection dates for shoeboxes are this month!

4)  Use the candy in recipes.  I’ve heard of people adding chopped Milky Way bars to their cake batter or making homemade ice cream.  Search the internet and I’m sure you’ll find recipes.

5)  Donate it.  The local food bank could use it as a special treat to put in their food boxes for those in need.  Perhaps your child’s teacher could use it as a special treat or in the prize box.  Some schools have policies against using sweets, so check with the teacher.

What ways can you use the leftover candy?

image (c) Karen Weideman

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