Some of you moms scrapbook, others dabble in photography, others lead book clubs, others garden for your “me-time.” My “me-time” is spent in a classroom as a college student and I love it!
When I became pregnant with my first child, both myself and my husband were college students and working full time. I was majoring in education and my husband was a business major. During my nine month pregnancy, all of our energy was poured into getting my husband finished with school so I could stay at home when our child was born.
When my daughter was born, I was able to become a stay-at-home-mom like we hoped for. However, our lives were not filled with play dates, breastfeeding, library visits and pajama days as I expected. They were filled with physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, doctor appointments, and tube feedings. Her health issues and developmental delays opened my eyes to a world I never knew existed! Before her arrival, my knowledge of speech therapy was for people who stuttered or had lisps, or elderly people who suffered from strokes. Through first hand experience, I learned that speech therapists not only help with language delays, but they also are big time players in children who have feeding disorders like my child did. As my daughter grew and developed, we walked through some major feeding difficulties. We also introduced sign language to her to help her be able to communicate and are still working very diligently on verbal language. After the birth of my son, it became very clear to me that I wanted to be a Speech and Language Pathologist. Through talking with new moms going through similar feeding difficulties and sharing our experience and watching my child’s language develop, I have developed a passion for child development, specifically language and feeding development. I spoke to my husband about going back to school and received an enormous amount of support and encouragement from him. Darah’s speech pathologist, Angela was so sweet to give me all the nitty gritty details of the education program, tell me what speech pathologists were paid, and has cheered me as I have dived into finishing my degree!
Going back to school has been important to me for many reasons. One reason being that I really don’t like leaving things unfinished. I started college and it’s very important for me to finish it. I also want to set a good example to both of my children. I expect both of them to go to college (Darah too!) and I want to make sure they know that I do as I say. Another reason this specific degree is important to me is I really feel like it will help me parent Darah. Her speech is one of the most important things to me and I really want to give her every opportunity to be well spoken. It’s also important for me to be able to work if I ever needed to. I am watching my mom have to enter the workforce after being a stay-at-home mom for 25 years and have been sad at the difficulty she is having. She doesn’t have the option to stay home anymore, but finding a job that will balance out child care costs for my very young siblings still living at home has proven to be nearly impossible.
It’s amazing how much better of a student I am now that I have some age, wisdom, discipline, and experience on me that I didn’t have as an 18 and 19 year old!
Here’s some tips that have helped me as I finish my degree:
- You’re a mom first! Just like with any extra curricular activity, I have had to make a conscious effort to not allow my school to take over my responsibility and privilege of parenting Darah and Connor.
- Online! Online! Online! I had about 38 hours that I needed before I could start my true speech pathology courses. I took all but 8 hours of these online in a span of a year. Unfortunately, of the 14 classes I have left, I can only take 2 of these online now. However, there are plenty of degrees that you can finish completely online!
- RateMyProfessors.com! By going to this website, you can type in any school in the country, the teachers name and find out the nitty-gritty of the teacher by student reviews. If you need to take a hard course, you can use this tool to know which teacher will be the easiest! Way valuable!
- Sleep when you’re dead! I’m kidding. Make sure that you don’t push yourself too hard and you recognize your limits. I’m an “all-or-nothing” kind of gal, and have had to try to pace myself. I’m really not good at pacing myself, but have a husband who has said “slow down” when I’ve needed it. If you have been out of school for a long time, or are just starting college, start out by taking one course online and start gaging what you can handle
- Apply for financial aid! Even if you will not qualify for free assistance, a lot of schools use the government’s FAFSA to determine scholarships that are based on academic merit and not financial need. Hunt for local and national scholarship opportunities!
- Be careful about loans. We are having to get loans to pay for my college, and while I believe that college debt can be a smart investment, do not take more than you absolutely need. If you cannot afford to go back to school without taking out lots of loans, then maybe you should take less courses at a time and pay cash for them. The luxury of being a stay-at-home-mom college student, is there really isn’t a hurry for me to finish, other than the rush I have placed on myself.
- Recruit some cheerleaders! My husband has been my biggest cheerleader through this process. I also have some amazing friends who have been cheering me on as I take finals and check off more courses necessary to finish my degree. Without my support team, I think it would be very easy to give up.
- Just do it! I talked about going back to school for two years before I finally did it. I had valid excuses, however it took that first trip to the counselor’s office to really get me to start. Making that decision was the hardest step of this whole process.
I am a big time sucker for the newest, greatest baby item! I am always drooling at the newest baby bedding, diaper bag, stroller, etc…! Let’s face it, anything “baby” is pricey! A few things I do when purchasing baby items is I shop for older models or prints. For example, the 2008 Maclaren Twin Techno stroller retails for $399 at Babies “R” Us, however I purchased the 2006 model (which is exactly the same, but a different color) brand new for $250 after shipping! Because of this “baby
gear obsession,” I have accrued a lot of nice things that we have outgrown or no longer need. My husband and I had sold a few things on Ebay and had been pretty successful, so I started selling some of my gently used baby gear on Ebay as well. I have had major success!
The best thing about selling things on Ebay is the extra cash in your pocket to buy that newest item in the baby catalog! While this will in no way give you EVERYTHING you need to know to become an Ebay seller, these are a few tips that will hopefully make your adventure easier.
For the bigger items, use Craigslist!
- Unless you’re an experienced Ebayer, it’s best to sell items like high chairs, cribs, and strollers on Craigslist. Craiglist is an awesome, local, classified ad and it’s free for anyone to list items! You don’t have to worry about shipping items when you sell them on Craiglist, which is why you should stick to this avenue for your bigger items!
If you want to sell, you have to buy!
- Ebay definitely takes practice! My number one advice to people who want to start selling items on Ebay is to start purchasing items. By purchasing items, you can learn the process of how Ebay works, build a reputation, and see what you appreciated and didn’t appreciate from the buyers perspective.
Check out completed auctions!
- By typing in an item, and selecting the “Completed Listings Only” box, you can see what items sell for. You can also compare shipping costs so you are competitive with your shipping rate. This will help you know what you can predict your auction to go for.
Watch out for shipping!
- The number one mistake people make on Ebay is underestimating the cost to ship an item. It can be so disheartening to finally sell your first item, only to learn that $5.00 of your winning bid has to pay for the remaining shipping costs. The US Post Office has flat rate boxes that will ship priority which can help you determine what to charge for shipping.
Media Mail-the best kept secret!
- Most people are unaware that the US Post office offers a cheaper rate called “media mail” for items like books, cd’s, DVD’s, magazines, etc… If you are shipping any “media” items, be sure to take advantage of this shipping method.
Be a good communicator!
- Make sure you contact your buyer once your auction is completed informing them when you plan on shipping their item. Remind them to leave you positive feedback once they receive their item.
Just do it!
- Pick an item that you think will sell and just jump in! Becoming a successful seller on Ebay is going to be trial and error. If you need a cheerleader or want me to answer some specific questions, let me know!
For much more detailed information on how to start your selling adventure on Ebay, check out this site!
Do you have an obsession with all things “baby?” What has your experience been with buying and selling items on Ebay and Craigslist?
Happy Earth Day! In honor of Earth Day I have composed a few easy things you can do to contribute to helping the earth be a little safer for our kids.
1. Next time you go to the store try buying Tide for Cold Water. Using cold water on all laundry uses less energy–thus reducing your carbon footprint. It will also save you about $65 per year on your electric bill.
2. Reuse those baby food jars! They can be used to:
- transition toddlers and preschoolers to a big girl/boy glass at the dinner table
- serve ice cream, pudding, or mouse in them for great kiddie sized portions
- organize your “junk drawer” for things like rubber bands, thumb tacks, paper clips, small watch/toy batteries, stamps
- put paints in for your budding artist to dip their paintbrush into
3. Break out those cloth napkins that you registered for at your wedding! I don’t know about you but I registered for cloth napkins and I never used them. We just went through our LAST pack of paper napkins and we are now using cloth ones. Buying or using cloth napkins reduces the use of energy and resources to make the paper napkins. You can also reuse old dishcloths and make them into cloth napkins. If you want to get creative you can assign each person in your family a colored napkin. You could also have napkin holders with each persons name on it. When the napkins get yucky enough you can throw them in the wash. They don’t have to be washed after every use!
4. Consider purchasing a reusable water bottle for every member in the family. 38 billion water bottles are put into landfills every year! A reusable water bottle will help decrease that amount. Sigg and Kleen Kanteens are great choices that are environmentally friendly and recycleable! They also make them in great kiddie sizes.
5. Turn your heat/ac up/down 1 degree. One degree won’t be that noticable and it will also reduce your energy bills and carbon footprint!
6. Arrange a Toy Swap with your other mommy friends. Toy Swaps help rid your house of clutter toys your kids have lost interest in and provide “new” toys for the kiddos to play with. It doesn’t necessarily cut down on toy clutter but it does help reduce waste from buying new toys. With 3 kids I have toys coming out of my ears. Sometimes the plastic toys make me feel like I’m going insane. I have a pile in the basement of toys that we have grown out of or have lost interest in and I am already planning on making a stop at good will or arranging a toy swap of my own!
I recently bought a book that just came out called Healthy Child, Healthy World: Creating A Cleaner, Greener, Safer Home. It is a book with tons of information about making your home nontoxic, recipes for air freshener, bubble bath and pet flea repellents, green gardening, how to avoid those scary toy recalls and how to choose safer art supplies, smart choices for remodeling your home and even a shopper’s guide for quality green products, brands, stores and websites. I haven’t read it all the way through but I have read most of it and have been impressed with the helpful information in the book. One thing I appreciate about the book is that each chapter covers the impacts of our choices on the environment. I know that the idea of being green and changing family patterns and habits can be overwhelming but the book emphasizes that any choice to go greener is a step in the right direction. I think it would be impossible to overhaul everything in our lives all at once. I know in our family we are taking one step at a time and it still feels like we are doing so little. I am trusting that my small contribution combined with others contributions will help make a big impact on making the world a better place for my kids and grandkids.
Being green is definitely becoming more popular and easy to do. What kinds of green things do you do?
In the past ten months my husband and I have both quit our regular day jobs. We know that it wouldn’t have been possible to pursue our dreams if our finances were out of control. About three years ago we were both were working full-time jobs making more than the national family average and we had nothing to show for it. Our net worth was negative. We decided to take charge of our finances and learn about money. Since then we have paid off more than $50,000 of debt. The biggest tool that got us under control was a budget. This post is not about how to make a budget, but simply the act of getting together and trying to set a budget for your family.
Around the first of each month my husband and I get together and have a family budget meeting. We discuss how we want to spend the money that we are going to earn that month. Famous financial guru Dave Ramsey, says that when you budget, you’re spending on paper, on purpose, before the month begins. We use a zero budget and give every dollar a name. We never have to wonder where all our money went, because we knew where it was going before the month even started.
Getting together monthly helps us to plan out our calendar and our finances accordingly. We look to see if there are any birthdays or holidays that we want buy gifts for. We always know when Christmas is coming, so we know we need to save for it. Looking at the calendar also helps us be on the same page with how we are going to spend our time.
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My husband and I try our best to use a cash envelope system to manage our grocery, dining, household, clothing, auto, and personal care budgets. When we use it, it works.
This week I had $120 in cash to spend – $40 to buy groceries to last us four days, $40 for a Costco trip, and $40 to buy some kids furniture that I wanted from Craigslist.
When I went to the grocery store I only took $40 in cash with me. Knowing that I could only spend that amount made me think about what we really needed and what could feed us for a couple of days. When I went through the check out line I was ready to overcome embarrassment and put a few items back if I was over budget. The total rang up to $34! It is such a good feeling to come in under budget. $40 for about 10 meals is do-able, but you have to fight the pizza temptation when you are faced with a mound of dishes to climb!
When I went into Costco I had $40 and a random $1.50 in cash in my purse. I had my list and my phone calculator ready. I really had to write down what each item cost and calculate the best buy for my money. It took extra time, but it was worth it. My total was $40.23. I am ashamed to admit that I spent forty bucks on paper products, only to be used and thrown away. At least the quantity will last us six months and the paper will biodegrade fast in the landfill.
I saw a table and set of 4 chairs on Craigslist that I had wanted to buy from Ikea. Buying the four chairs and table from Ikea new would have cost me $95 plus tax and gas. I bought the same items second hand and barely used for $40. Awesome.
Using self-control and taking some extra time to plan and calculate saved my family a lot of money this week.
Bonus Links:
Dave Ramsey on the Cash Envelope System
Suite101.com on the Envelope Budget System
Leave Your ATM Card at Home by Liz Pulliam Weston
How To Track an Envelope Budgeting System in Quicken
I Do Not Use Credit Cards by J.D. on GetRichSlowly.org
