My "Going Out" Child Kit......

Yesterday, I went out to begin my Christmas shopping. I like to complete my shopping in what I call 3 rounds to keep things organized and less stressful for me. Which is as follows:

1st Round-Extended family & Pollyannas
2nd Round-Daughter
3rd Round-Husband

During these times, I have my 3 year old daughter with me. As we moms know, running errands, especially 4 hour long ones, can be even more draining if we have a crying or whiny child to care for as well.

To prevent against that, I always have a child kit. What is that you say, just a few things I have in a bag that I put in the back seat of the car in case my daughter starts to become restless or bored.

My kit contains the following:
1. 1 pull-up, pants, and a few wipes-in case of an accident
2. Child Had Sanitizer wipes
3. Pen and paper for drawing
4. Pre-K activity book-she loves to do the activities in this book
5. 1 reading book-she loves to read
6. 1 juice & snack- in case we are stuck in traffic or in a store; this would hold her over until we got something to eat.
7. Her favorite CD- currently its the Imagination movers.

This kit has helped me many times and therefore making my shopping trips more pleasant and easier.

Do you carry a child kit with you? If so, what items do you pack?

Camera & Holidays

Click here to enter my giveaway. Ends this Friday!!!!!

Ok guys..I forgot to charge my camera. Why does it seem like I always forget to charge things; and its just not the camera; it's my phone too! Yes, I constantly forget to charge it and when I need it, its dead. Gotta stay on top of these things.

So while that's charging, I have been thinking about the upcoming holiday season. I'm sure you guys have been too. I would be lying if I said it wasn't my favorite time of year!! I LOVE everything about Thanksgiving & Christmas; the meaning, decorating, spending time with love ones, and just enjoying the moment.

Now, with that said, that is the time of the year when we spend the most money in my household. Aside from the rise in our bills due to heating, electric (Christmas lights, etc), and food...we have gifts, wrapping paper, parties and the like.

Before you know it, you'll find yourself drowning in overdraft fees, bounced checks, high credit & card balances..IF there isn't a tight rein on spending.

To prevent myself from going through this and to avoid a massive headache as a result, we have developed a budget system for gifts and such. Here's a peak:

Christmas Budget- $550.

Now that may seem like a lot, but when you add up wrapping paper/bags, food, presents, and a donation...$550 seems very low. I remember when my husband and I had our first Christmas together 6 years ago, we spent close to a $1,000 on each other, which in my humble opinion is too much. S0 $550 will include our daughter's gifts, my hubby and I, a donation, and our family pollyanna's.

Gotta love that time of the year, I sure do.

Hvae you starting thinking about the upcoming holiday season? What are you looking forward to?

Ever Heard of The Expression...............

................Christmas in July???

Well, even though its August...I have started planning for Christmas. I love everything about the day; the meaning, celebrating my Lord and Savior Jesus, giving to others, the lights, music, food, and just being with family.

With that said, we all know that Christmas is one of the most expensive times of the year with gifts, food, travel, electricity (Christmas trees & lights), heating costs, etc. Since I can't predict what most will costs, I can start the budget process for our gifts.

Since my entire family is large..very LARGE...we have started doing Pollyanna's; that way no one would be burdened with trying to buy a present for everyone. Also, my husband and I wanted to give a gift to my sisters as well.

Furthermore, I have started my wish list for my husband...LOL..better early than never!
I also created budgets for each of us with the gifts we would like:

$70.00 for our daughter
Doll
Stroller
Educational toy-Jumpstart Game
Book
Misc Toy

$125.00 for Mommy
The Mummy DVD (1st movie)
Pajamaas-Purple or Blue
Wawa Gift Card-$20
$25 Cash
1 nice smelling Candle
Comfy Slippers

$200.00 for Daddy
Surprise!

This is our start to a more frugal Christmas. You wouldn't believe how much we used to spend on each other in the past; but we wanted to spend less money and try to give gifts that are less expensive but really special!

We also have started 3 new traditions within our household to do during the Christmas holiday.......

.....They are:
1. Put on our coats and walk around our neighborhood to view all the pretty Christmas lights.

2. Give/Send a donation box to a shelter or organization that helps those who are less fortunate.

3. Bake cookies, then shut out all our lights except for the Christmas tree and watch a traditional Christmas cartoon (while eating our freshly baked Christmas cookies!)

I can't wait for Christmas!

Until Next Time,
Peace Be Unto You!