The Mom Crowd

The work of a Stay at Home Mom now equates to an annual income of $122,732. This is based on a survey of over 12,000 mothers on salary.com. They also based this number on how much it would cost to outsource 10 typical job functions of a mother: housekeeper, day care center teacher, cook, computer operator, facilities manager, van driver, psychologist, laundry machine operator, janitor and chief executive officer.

On mom.salary.com users can calculate for themselves how much a mom’s job is worth. And then, guess what? The user can print out a “pay check” and an Earning Statement and give it to their mom for Mother’s Day. For real? This is exactly what every mother wants for Mother’s Day -  a piece of paper that doesn’t really have any value.  (Of course, if this was a real check then I would be happy to receive it.)

The check is nice sentiment if the number on the check was 1 Zillion dollars or something else equally cute to show that your mom is worth more than current than current market trends.  There is no number that can be applied to the value of a mother’s love for her children.

* My check is only worth $115,757 because of where I live in Texas.

What do you think of Salary.com’s assessment of the value of a mother’s work?

You may be paying too much for your prescriptions. It’s easy to accept prescription prices from the pharmacy and just deal with it. However, if you are like me and you are on a high deductible health plan (because we are self-employed), then prescriptions can be very expensive. As a Stay at Home Mom I feel like it is my job to save my family money wherever I can and watching our health costs is just part of my job.

I have had a long day today on the phone with doctors’ offices and pharmacies, but I saved my family about $300 just by spending some time figuring out the prescriptions for my kids.

Here is what I have learned in 5 tips for saving money on prescriptions.

1. Shop Around. This can be a real hassle, but can save you a lot of money. In order to shop around you need to know the name, dose, and quantity of the medicine prescribed. Ask the nurse or doctor to spell out the name for you. Also, ask the doctor or nurse if there is a generic available. Once you are armed with this info, you can call around to the pharmacies and ask for the cash price. Also, you will need the paper prescription from the doctor’s office. So instead of them faxing in a prescription to the pharmacy for you, you need to leave the doctor’s office with it or go pick up the paper copy.

I shopped my prescription around today by phone. CVS, my usual pharmacy was going to charge me $261 for my daughter’s prescription. My grocery store was $96, WalMart was $80, and Costco was $65 for the same prescription. I earned $196 today in 1 hour of work.

2. Ask your doctor for a cheaper alternative medicine. When doctor’s prescribe medicines they aren’t thinking about the cost. Sometimes there is another medicine that can do the same job, but at a cheaper price. We are the doctor’s customer, so they should strive to serve us. Don’t be afraid to ask.

The doctor’s office gave me an alternative if the prescription for my son was going to be too expensive. Also, on a follow-up appointment to my Pediatrician I told her we didn’t get my daughter’s excema cream, because it was going to be $250. She then told me which over-the-counter product I could use. Thankfully that product has worked.

3. You don’t have to get the whole prescription filled. Depending on the prescription type you can fill it a little at a time. Even if the pharmacy has already put your order together, you don’t have to buy all of it. If you have questions, don’t be afraid to ask your doctor, doctor’s nurse, or pharmacist if you need to fill all of the prescription at once.

My son’s prescription today was going to be $355 for a 16 day treatment. Each box is $89 and covers 4 days of treatment. Per my doctor’s instructions I am to use this medicine for 4 days and see if he gets better. So instead of buying all 4 boxes at once, I only bought one. Then I can refill it and get more boxes, once I find out that it works. I may end up spending $355 and buying all 4 boxes, but I may only need 8 days of treatment and I could potentially save us $178.

4. Ask for samples. Sometimes I am too shy to ask, but I have learned to speak up. Sometimes they have samples or a coupon that you can use. It never hurts to ask.

I spoke up the other day at a doctor’s visit and asked about cold medicine for 2 year-olds. There aren’t any cold medicines for 2-year-olds on the store shelves, because of FDA rulings. She gave me two bottles of medicine that I can give my daughter. Free medicine!

5. Check into mail order prescriptions. If you have a regular recurring prescription, then a mail order option may be a lot cheaper. It is not a waste of time to research and ask, because it could save you hundreds of dollars.

How do you save money on prescriptions?

It seems like I’m always writing about books, an article I read here, a website I found there.  I guess that says something about how I like to spend some of my free time (escape from the kids time).  

Instead of writing about some enjoyable reading resource for us moms, I thought I would write about magazines for kids this week.  My mom loves to spoil the kids and she has ordered us some subscriptions to some fun magazines.  I thought I’d give a review on the ones we have received in case you were looking for some fun reading material for your own kids.  They also make great gifts for others if you are looking for something a little educational and fun that lasts all year long.  

1. Ladybug Magazine- We were given a bagful of some old magazines by our neighbor who had read and reread them to several of her 

children.  I had never heard of Ladybug before, but I gotta tell you that my 4 and 5 year old LOVE them.  We had a stack of about 20-30 magazines and we have read them so many times that they can look at the covers and know what is inside.  Ladybug is a great magazine for preschoolers and toddlers. Each magazine usually focuses on some kind of theme, like rain, and will incorporate rain into several of the stories.  The magazine is full of short stories, one or two longer stories, a song, some poems, and two cartoons that are simple-with easy to love characters.  When my mom came to visit she read several of the magazines to them and decided to order a subscription.  They squeal with delight when one comes in the mail.  

2. Zootles- Another good find.  Zootles is a magazine for 2-5 year olds.  It focuses on on animal and has several stories, pictures, and facts about the animal of the month. It also introduces a letter and a number in each issue.  A one year subscription provides 6 issues since it only comes out every other month.  The kids also enjoyed this one and learned a lot about animals.  

3. Zoobooks- Is made by the same company as Zootles but is geared for older kids. The stories and information in the magazines is more complex.  The kids also had this magazine for a while.  They really enjoyed it.

4. National Geographic Kids- This is a fun magazine too but it is definitely geared for kids 7 and up.  I actually enjoy reading this one more than my kids do–but I imagine that it is entertaining for kids in the right age group.  The magazine has fun articles about living green and how kids can contribute to caring for the earth.  It has funny jokes, wild and interesting facts, amazing but true stories about animals, movie reviews from a kid’s perspective, and lots of ads for video games (that part I don’t like so much).

5. Kids Discover- Is geared for 7-12 year olds. Another gift from my mom.  I think she was trying to give them something that was interesting and educational.  I have to say it was a flop–but they were just too young.  Again, I enjoyed reading it more than the kids. If the boys were a few years older, I think they would enjoy some of the magazines a lot.  We did sit down and read the last issue together because it was about chocolate.  And who doesn’t love chocolate?  We were all fascinated about the science of how chocolate is made and where it comes from.  This magazine would make a great addition to any homeschooling family!

6. Highlights Top Secret Adventures- This one showed up in our mailbox and we were all intrigued.  A new package comes in the mail every month and the kids squeal again when they see it.  Top Secret Adventures is a kit that includes a small puzzle of a country, a book about the country containing facts and information about the culture, people, regions, major cities, language, and food.  It also includes a puzzle book where you enter a journey as a top secret agent trying to figure out who the crook is, what they stole, and where it is hidden.  The puzzles teach kids how to think critically and logically.  I’m sure you can tell by the sound of it, that is is not geared toward the preschool ages but my kids love it.  We sit and do it together.  They of course, need help with all the reading but there are some puzzles they can do without our help and we have noticed in the last few months that they are able to understand and do more without so much help from us.  It is something I would enjoy doing by myself too!  

7. Highlights Hidden Pictures Playground- If you have kids who love stickers, like to draw, and maybe do seek and find pictures then this is a good magazine.  My kids aren’t into it very much though.  I’m not sure why but I think it is because they don’t love to color. I usually do bring the magazines with us on long car rides or plane trips to give them something to do for a while.  They don’t squeal with delight when it comes in the mail or piles up in their book corner but it does provide something different to do while we are traveling.  

8. God’s World News Early Edition- Is a gift from my in-laws.  I have found it to be interesting and enjoyable too.  The magazine covers a broad spectrum of stories happening around the world.  It touches on animals, history, science, culture all through the perspective that God cares about our world and what happens in it.  Young readers or preschoolers will like looking at the pictures and reading some of the simple stories in it.  There are sections marked for parents to read to children (who are too young to read themselves).  It also has a few puzzle games in it for a fun follow up activity.  

Wow, I didn’t realize that we had so many subscriptions in the past few years until writing them down.  Do you get any magazines for your kids?  Which ones?  Had any bombs?  Which ones?  Don’t be shy–share your opinion!

I’ve been trying to lose the last 10 pounds from Graham’s pregnancy since Christmas.  I think I gained a few pounds over the holidays which didn’t really help matters much–BUT, I have 8 pounds to go.  Boy are they stubborn this time.  I don’t know what is making the weight stick around–it is because I am in my 30′s, have some thyroid condition, or am just too lazy but I really want to get back to my original weight. And wear all my clothes. And look good in them.  Oh, I can wear them, but I have a muffin top that I can’t stand.  I have been consistently working out 3-4 days a week, mostly on the elliptical running machine but the pounds haven’t been falling off like they used to.  I never really bothered losing weight right after Graham was born because I am one of those (unlukcy) women who don’t lose the last pregnancy weight until I am done nursing.  With child one and two I was back to my prepregnancy weight within 3-6 months after the last sip of breastmilk was drunk.  Graham quit nursing in October–4 months ago.  I thought I’d be seeing more progress than I have been seeing.

I started thinking that maybe the elliptical machine wasn’t enough.  Walking and Pilates had done the trick losing the weight with my first two kids.  I have a great video to do with an exercise ball that I enjoy but I wanted something else to throw into the mix.  I read an article in Cookie magazine about Tracy Anderson, who gained 60 lbs during her pregnancy.  She is a dancer and had battled some weight issues before.  She started doing a lot of research and trying her methodology on women of all different genetic shapes.  Her methodology worked on women with all kinds of body types.  The basic idea is that we overwork all of our large muscle groups and need to work on the smaller muscles to pull in the larger ones.  She put together a post pregnancy workout routine to help moms target the problem areas  after having a baby.

My stomach got so stretched out carrying all 12 lbs of Graham that it is in some serious need of muscle work!  I read some of the reviews on Amazon and decided to go ahead and buy it.  Of course, with most exercise–if you do it regularly you will see results.  I’m still trying to figure out how to incorporate fitting cardio in with this workout routine. And how much should I do of both?  She says to do the postpregnancy workout 4-6X a week.

On Monday I did video and I was using muscles that I didn’t even know I had.  The first half of the video is abdominal work–which makes sense.  Your abs get the most stretching and lack of use while you are pregnant.  The last half works on legs and arms.  All you need is a set of 3 lb. weights.  Every stomach muscle I have is sore!  I skipped Tuesday and did the workout again on Wednesday.  My muscles were crying as I did the video again.  They were tired from the Monday workout and were having a hard time keeping up.  One thing I like about the video is that I will be able to see improvement in my own strength as I keep it up.  I keep thinking that I’m 17 months postpartum so I can’t imagine how challenging it would be to start doing 2 months postpartum.  It is worth it though.  I don’t think it matters if you just had a baby or not–this workout is a challenge for anyone.  I got my husband to do a few of the exercises and he was shaking right along with me!

She uses classical music in the background which I find relaxing–especially if I am having to workout with all 3 kids running around me.  My only “wish” about the video is that it would be nice to see different angles of her doing the exercises more often.  Some of the arm movements aren’t explained and it would be nice to see them from a different perspective.

I am hoping to get rid of the last tummy jiggles but I am trying to tell myself that even if I never lost the last 8 lbs. I am still doing some healthy for myself and my kids.

Have you heard of Tracy Anderson’s Postpartum workout video?  Have you tried it?  What other post pregnancy workout videos or activities have you done? Does anyone know how much you should combine cardio with strength training?

I love the idea of being creative and crafty, but rarely indulge myself in making things. Recently, some of my friends have posted some super cute items they have made that are now high on my to-do list {after this adoption is final!}  I had to share them with you all!!

• Brooke’s Freezer Paper Stenciled T-Shirts

• Jennifer’s “Gloves for the Domestic Diva”
  

• Jennifer’s “Quiet Time Church Bag”

• And here’s some links for you to learn how to make BOWS, TUTUS, and WANDS for your little princesses!
• Twirley Skirt (for the more adventurous crafter)
• Here’s a very awesome blog that has tutorials for all kinds of fun do-it-yourself projects!

What are some fun crafts you’ve made?