YNAB is by far, our favorite online budgeting tool for tracking spending and money management. YNAB costs $6.99/ month (billed annually), and the most frequently asked question I get about it is, “Why pay when there are free budgeting tools available like Mint? Is YNAB worth the money?” This YNAB review is meant to answer …
10 Reasons YNAB is Worth the Money: Review for You Need a Budget Read More »
This slow cooker vegetable beef soup/ stew recipe is from my faithful red plaid Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. If you don’t have one, get one! It’s a staple for all the basics in cooking!! Vegetable Beef Soup [Slow Cooker/ Crockpot] Ingredients 1 lb boneless beef chuck pot roast, cut into bite size pieces 1 …
In this post, I’ll show you exactly how to meal plan for a whole month (even if you hate meal planning). With 4 small children running around, I don’t want to spend a lot of time meal planning. So, I set up a system where I can now plan breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for an …
The Ultimate Guide to Simple Monthly Meal Planning (Even if You Hate It!) Read More »
In this post, you will learn 12 simple tips for cooking dinner in the morning, 15 recipes for make-ahead dinner ideas and 10 quick & easy recipes you can pull together in less than 15 minutes. Cooking dinner in the morning has been the best meal prep tip the last several years that we’ve had …
12 Simple Meal Prep Ideas for Cooking Dinner in the Morning Read More »
In this post I will give you my 12 best tips for surviving with 2 under 2. Our first 2 kids are 17 months apart, and the first few months with our second baby were SO hard. I basically felt like, “WHAT DO YOU TINY PEOPLE NEED FROM ME AND WHY DO YOU NEED IT …
12 Practical Tips for Surviving Life with 2 under 2 [Plus a Big Hug] Read More »
In this post, you’ll learn which 9 items to purchase in order to build a capsule maternity wardrobe on a tight budget. We had 4 babies in 5 years (no multiples!) while paying off debt AND living on one income. So, if you are looking for some tips on a maternity wardrobe that doesn’t break …
13 Must Have Items for a Simple, Stylish Maternity Capsule Wardrobe Read More »
I hear people bemoaning the darn grocery budget all the time! It’s so hard to know how much groceries “should” be costing. In fact, one of the most frequently asked questions I get is, “how much do you spend on groceries?” or “What should your grocery bill be?” In the last couple years that we’ve been paying off our …
How Much Should I Spend on Groceries? Use These 5 Simple Questions Read More »
Becoming a parent can be hard on your marriage. There’s a big learning curve, trying to figure out your new roles as parents, and how to communicate with each other. You don’t want to talk about your kids all the time, but when you finally get a quiet moment alone, you kinda can’t help it. …
Marriage & Motherhood: 6 Practical Tips for Enjoying Marriage After Babies Read More »
Today I’m going to outline a very effective plan for consistent 1 year old discipline for you to use with your toddler. From our experience of having 4 kids in 5 years, it’s never too early to start setting expectations and training your little ones. 1 year olds understand WAY more than we realize. It might …
4 Simple Phrases To Help You With 1 Year Old Discipline Read More »
Let’s be honest. The title of this post is ridiculous. Nothing could ever totally help you with preparing for baby. But, should you find yourself expecting a baby (or hoping for, adopting, or fostering a baby), there are a few things that might make the transition to mommy life just a tad bit easier. 1. Find …
7 Top Things to Do When You’re Preparing for Baby for First Time Read More »
In this post, you’ll learn the exact laundry system I figured out to the laundry overwhelm for a big family with several small children. I used to be drowning in laundry. With 4 kids under 7, there were clothes everywhere all the time. Dressup play = clean clothes all over the bedroom floor. Outside play …
Easy Peasy Laundry: 3 Step System to Eliminate Laundry Overwhelm Read More »
Whether your food budget is $100 per month or $1,000 per month, if you want to stick to the food budget you’ve decided on, you have to know how to track your grocery spending. After all, if you have a budget, but don’t know how much you’re spending, then do you really have a budget? …
4 Easy Ways to Track Your Grocery Spending [SPREADSHEET] Read More »
I originally wrote this post several years ago after we got our first two babies sleeping through the night by 12 weeks. Since then, we’ve done the same thing with two more babies and thousands upon thousands of people have read and shared this post. I’ve also written a more detailed infant sleep guide that …
Infant Sleep Training: A New Mom’s Guide to Newborn Sleep! Read More »
Before I had children, back when I was a perfect mother, I subconsciously imagined that our mornings would be slow and cozy… I thought it would be fun to have the kids come crawl into bed with me, and we’d all wake up slowly together. There were also unicorns jumping through rainbows in this figment of my imagination. But here’s the …
Morning Routine for a Stay-at-Home-Work-at-Home-Homeschooling Mom Read More »
First of all, if you are a new parent, CONGRATS! Kids are an awesome gift and you will sleep again. I promise!! This post is designed to help you understand the eat play sleep schedule you might have heard about. We’ve had 4 babies of varying sleep personalities and used this schedule with each one …
There is an infamous 4 month sleep regression that happens sometime around when a baby is 4 months old. Coupled with typical postpartum exhaustion and/ or depression, it can be exhausting and overwhelming for even the seasoned mama. You can help your baby through this sleep regression and I plan to offer some explanation and …
Complete New Mom’s Guide to Your Baby’s 4 Month Sleep Regression Read More »
Confession: I’ve use to think Aldi was gross. I thought that you would only shop at Aldi if you had to. And if you could possibly afford to shop anywhere else, you obviously would, because ew, Aldi. I don’t know why I thought that, and seeing as how I’ve done most of my grocery shopping …
70 Aldi Products, Features, Warnings & Hacks: A Complete Aldi Review Read More »
Our zero-degree-freeze-the-snot-inside-your-nose midwestern winters are in full swing, and we are officially hibernating. I bought 3 months worth of food and we’re not leaving the house until April. The freezing months of winter here cause us to get a little bit creative with our indoor activities. And by creative, I mean, my kids play with our …
21 Easy DIY Toddler Toys & Activities from Stuff You Have at Home Read More »
If naptime has gone CRAZY at your house, you’re in the right spot! In this post, you will learn: When do babies drop to one nap and how do you know if your baby is ready? What nap transitions look like and some nap transition tips The 2 to 1 nap transition & dropping the …
When Do Babies Drop to One Nap? The Best Method for Nap Transitions Read More »
There’s an ongoing poll in my mom-friend circles about which transition is the hardest: Having your first kid, going from 1 to 2 kids, 2 to 3 kids or adding more kids after 3. Each transition is different but going from 1 to 2 kids is REALLY REALLY HARD! If the first child is a …
11 Tips for Helping Older Siblings Cope with the New Baby (from a Mom of 4) Read More »