This past Saturday, I used some free Amtrak tickets to take my family (yes, all 7 of us!) to New York City for the day. Because we are within 3 hours of the heart of New York City, I consider a trip to New York City a Staycation. I have traveled to New York City…
Tide Coldwater Review – Will My Laundry Really Get Clean in Cold Water?
OK, I’m about to tell you a secret. Up until this past year, we kept our water heater set at a very low temperature. That meant three things: I saved money on heating water, my water never got very hot….ever, and my showers had to be quick. And despite the fact that the water heater…
Cans for Fans – ShopRite’s Fight Against Hunger
Despite all of the hardships that my family and I have endured over the past few years, we have always had food to eat. It’s hard for me to imagine the feelings of a parent who doesn’t have food to feed to their children, but I know that families like that are everywhere. They are…
How Do Your Kids Spend and Save Money?
One of my kids’ favorite holiday and birthday gifts is always cash, but it’s interesting to observe each of my five kids handling their cash gifts totally differently. Just this past week, each of my kids received a rather substantial amount of money from family members (and in the case of my oldest daughter, some…
Shout It Out – Laundry Tips! {Giveaway}
There is one truth that you can be absolutely 100% sure of in a house of seven: There will always be laundry. Just when you think you’re getting caught up, there’s another basket-full ready to be washed. The laundry in a household with 5 children is literally never-ending. So I know laundry. I also know…
Allowance – Yay or Nay?
Do you give your children an allowance? Whether or not to give children an allowance – and then how much to give them – is a topic that I often hear discussed among parents both on and off line. Over the years, my husband and I have gone back and forth, and I hate to…
Teaching Kids the Value of Managing Money Wisely
Of all the things I’ve taught my kids, especially those things I’ve taught them over the last few years of financial struggle in our family, one of the most valuable lessons has been that of frugal living. I was raised with plenty. I never considered my family rich, but we had everything we needed. Before…
What Do YOU Do With the Leftovers?
I like cooking dinner. I just hate planning it. And I am not a big fan of throwing something together at the last minute (those kind of meals are rarely very healthy and often not too tasty). As a mom to a big family, cooking dinner is a big part of my job…and dinners need…
Twitter vs Facebook – Which Rules Social Media?
I read a compelling article this past week about the drastic changes that social media has seen in the past 10 years. I was shocked to realize that there was no Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube on September 11, 2001. How different would the experience of 9/11 have been had the people in the middle of…
2011 Product of the Year Awards
With a family of seven, I do a lot of shopping. In fact, as much as I try to plan my trips and combine my lists so that I only have to make a trip to the store every once in a while, I will inevitably forget something and have to make another trip. Which,…