Real Life Solutions

(ARA) - A mom is always walking a fine line between trying to provide her family with everything they need, while at the same time balancing a budget and saving money for the unexpected surprises life can throw at her.

Yes, life can get busy with running errands, shuttling children and taking care of the household chores. Here are some tips that you can use as a smart mom to save time and money.

1. Go on a treasure hunt at garage sales and estate auctions with your children. This is a great opportunity if you are redecorating a room, or looking to replace household items. Create a “scavenger hunt” list of what you wish for, and scour the sales, looking for the best deals. If you save money on curtains, home accessories, furniture or toys, everyone wins.

2. As a busy mom with three girls, Anna Teoli found shopping online was the easiest way for her to save time.

“I always looked for the best deals, and for some reason, I always felt that if I searched more, I would find an even better deal,” Teoli says. “One day it just hit me, why not gather all that information myself and let everyone know - all the best bargains and deals, online coupon codes, in-store coupons and all the ways to save more money.”

Teoli started the MommySavesBig blog in 2007 and now MommySavesBig.com has all the coupon codes, deals and in-store coupons for popular stores a mom needs to keep her budget and family happy at the same time.

3. Before shopping at a favorite store online, join the company’s newsletter. Not only will the company give you the latest product and services information, but within 48 hours they usually will e-mail you a coupon.

4. Compare prices with a little research. This is very important when you are shopping for more expensive items. Use the Internet to research the products available, compare prices for the product you want at different stores, and also search for available discounts or coupons. Don’t be in a hurry to buy, because you will always save more money by doing your homework.

5. Ask for discounts. Some stores accept printable coupons. Other stores accept expired coupons or competitor coupons. It doesn’t hurt to ask if you can get a discount, and there is nothing wrong with trying to save money, especially in these hard times.

Moms work long hours and are always trying to make ends meet, says Teoli.

“In today’s world, having everything is not enough, we always want more,” she says. “Therefore, shopping and spending my money wisely simply makes me feel better and MommySavesBig helps me achieve that goal.”

For more help, instantly access your Real Life Guidance Reports for a happier and more fulfilled you.

“Pretty is as pretty does” and “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” are common sayings which talk about a woman’s looks. Depending upon where you live, you may have heard similar sayings. So if the outward appearance isn’t what’s most important, can you learn how to appreciate your inner beauty and feel good about yourself?

There are some women who may never be considered to be a “classic” beauty, but that doesn’t mean they can’t still be considered to be attractive. Every woman won’t be a super model but when you really think about it, wouldn’t the world be a boring place if everyone was stunningly beautiful? Here are some ways you can learn to appreciate your inner beauty rather than fixating on the outward appearance.

* Define what inner beauty is to you. Is it having integrity above all else? Does it equate with being a good listener or having compassion for those that are hurting? Can it be said you have inner beauty if you’re able to see the good in others or if you have a great sense of humor?

* Whatever inner beauty consists of to you, determine to work on those areas of your personality. Develop your sense of justice, compassion, or the ability to listen and truly hear what others are saying.

* Think about how you can make yourself more attractive, but don’t rely on your outer appearance to help you get by in life. Do your best to dress neatly, have your hair styled in an appealing way, and think of how you want to be treated by others. Even if you’re not considered beautiful by society’s standards, you can still be attractive.

* Another common saying you may have heard is that the “eyes are the window to the soul.” If you’re unsure of yourself or don’t feel good about yourself, it’s unlikely you’ll look into the eyes of another person. What do you see when you look into another’s eyes? Are the alive with confidence and mischief or lacking energy and distant?

* Do your best not to make disparaging comments about others’ appearance. There really is more to a person than what you see on the outside. If this is true for others, it’s also true for you.

* Show others that you care about them. Encourage them to be the best they can possibly be. Cheer them on when they’re struggling. And no matter what you look like on the outside, you will have the type of character traits which will make you appealing and desirable to be around.

Make it a point to spend time with others who appreciate their inner beauty as well as those of others. Develop a good attitude about life as well as learning how to appreciate your own inner beauty. Feeling good about yourself will make others want to spend time with you and will make you appealing, no matter what your outward appearance is.

For more help, instantly access your Journey To Joy tools, for a happier and more fulfilled you. This inspiring eBook with accompanying audio recordings, worksheets and easy-to-apply action steps shows you how to take back the joy in your life.

When you’re a busy mom, the last thing you may be thinking about is taking the time to relax. After all, when there’s more things on your to-do list than hours in the day, who has time to relax, right?

That kind of thinking can be unhealthy. If you have too much on your plate, you can easily become stressed. Stress can lead to anxiety, high blood pressure, and more.

Here are some tips on how to find the time to relax!

* If you keep a daily planner, pencil your relaxation time into your own schedule. It may sound silly, but if you don’t put it on your schedule, you may never get around to actually relaxing!

* If you’re having trouble finding some alone time, get up before everyone else – even it it’s just 15 minutes. You’ll have time to read a few pages of a book, journal, or just relax and enjoy a hot cup of coffee or tea without any interruptions.

* Don’t be afraid to delegate some household chores!  Getting your spouse or your kids to take on a chore will free up some of your time. Hey – it’s their house, too. They should be doing some of the cleaning!

* Don’t feel about saying “no.” There are only so many things you can do in a day.

* Get Enough Sleep! Your body needs adequate rest each day. Get into a regular sleeping schedule and make sure you get the amount you need each day. When it’s time to wake up, avoid the snooze button. Sleeping in can throw you off schedule and make going to bed difficult, which will make getting up the next day even harder. It’s a vicious cycle!

* Most importantly, give yourself permission to take some time for yourself. Don’t feel guilty about carving fifteen minutes out of your day for a little bit of relaxation. You deserve it!

Looking for Simple Tips, Strategies and Tools for Living a Happier Life in an Often Hectic World? Find  instant  answers here and begin your own Journey to Joy.

Seven Tips for Getting Your Husband to Help with Housework

Since the beginning of time, husbands have been viewed as the hunters and wives as the gatherers.  According to statistics, only 15% of husbands today help with housework. Although we may not have fully evolved into an equal partnership when it comes to the home, and while there is still an on-going debate as to how to encourage husbands to help around the house, here are seven tips for getting your husband to help with housework that may work for you.

Depending upon how your husband was raised, he may or may not know how to handle housework.  Therefore, the first thing you can do is teach him.

Every woman cleans their home in their own way.  They have a method which guarantees everything is spotless and in its place.  For men, however, they hardly notice if the house is clean or not, and so it is important to discuss housework and their role – not as helper, but one who can equally share the responsibility of keeping the house clean and orderly. 

Discuss housework with him.

More often than not, the husband usually takes out the trash and does “manly” work around the house, such as fixing and building or working in the back yard.  If you need your husband to assist you with housework, you will have to compromise a bit by asking what chore he would like to tackle.  Is he a good cook? Does he enjoy food shopping? If so, perhaps he can take over the meal preparation while you take care of the house.

Offer a compromise to him.

If both of you work, weekends are a time for rest and relaxation.  If one of you works at home or is taking care of children, you may find it even more difficult to get your husband to help with housework.  Talk to your husband about taking on one chore at a time, so that you can free up your weekends to spend more time with each other and the children.  Discuss a schedule of chores with him.

If you find that your husband will not lift a finger to help you, call in the guards.  Hire a cleaning service.  Perhaps when he sees the bill week after week, he may decide it’s easier to help rather than pay someone to do it.  Discuss the cleaning service with him. 

Now ladies, this next tip may be over the top, but in some cases it is needed to cajole your husband to help with the housework.  Simply tell him if he doesn’t help, he’ll be spending many lonely nights without your company.  Talk about a lack of lovin’ with him.

Finally, if any or all of these tips fail, your last resort is to do nothing.  That’s right, engage in a housework strike, and go out one Saturday leaving him to handle the kids and the messy house.  You can be assured that at some point he will get the message, and a dialogue will ensue where you can talk about your feelings and his lack of attention.  

What Mom hasn’t dreamed about having more time to herself? Moms are great at organizing their time each day to make sure that the household runs smoothly and the children’s needs are met; but they lack in the simple skill of setting time aside just for them.

Without their own “Me” time, Mom’s face burnout and stress. This can ultimately affect your spouse and children as well, so it’s important to find that Mom time for yourself and keep your sanity as well as your family’s. There are many ideas you can use to incorporate Mom time into your life and here are some of them:

Mothers’ Day Out - There are many childcare centers that provide a Mothers’ Day Out program. These programs don’t require that your child be registered for daily care, so you can use it only as the need arises. This is a perfect solution for mom time, because this allows you an hour or two a week to shop, hang out with friends or just pampering yourself.

Play Dates – Take a look at who your child’s friends are. Will their moms be willing to join you in a play date group? The moms in these groups can trade off and watch the other children while those moms get a short break. When it’s your turn, you return the favor and watch their children while they take some time for their own short break.

Tea Time - Taking even a short break during the day can be enough to recharge your batteries. See if you can keep your children entertained with a movie or some kind of game they can play amongst themselves. While they’re busy, you can sit down and enjoy a cup of tea or a drink of your choice. Take those couple of minutes to just sit back and enjoy a peaceful moment to yourself.

Date with Dad - It’s important for the kids to spend some quality time with dad. Why not suggest he take them out for a few hours, while you stay home and relax. The kids can go on an adventure with dad and you can stay home and appreciate the quiet atmosphere that you don’t normally experience.

Mothers’ Helper – Ever thought of having another person to help you out a couple of hours a week? If you don’t feel comfortable leaving your children with a sitter; consider having a sitter come in while you’re there. Some young teenagers that are fresh out of babysitting courses can use some experience before they go off on their own. This would be the perfect way to relieve you of some of your motherly duties and enable you to be just a “supervisor” of sorts while the sitter learns the trade.

These are only a few examples of what you can do get some time for yourself. Check with other moms and see what they do for their own Mom time. As a mom, you’ve done a great job with your family, but don’t neglect yourself in the process. Mom time is not only something you need, but deserve as well.

For more help, visit Real Life Guidance for a happier and more fulfilled you.

You would think moms exercise more than anyone else; between taking care of their children, cleaning the house, and running errands.  The truth of the matter is, as a mom, you need specific exercises to remain healthy and fit. Here are four exercises which will not only give you the energy you need, but allow you to face daily challenges head on.

Lunges: To perform the lunge just stands with their feet apart, and step forward, landing with the heel first. The motion is continued until the back knee is nearly touching the ground. Return to the starting position by pushing forward with the front leg, and repeat the exercise by stepping forward with their other leg. This exercise strengthens your leg muscles and hamstrings. You can even perform this work out by dusting your living room coffee table, or cleaning the bottom of your kitchen cabinets.  Make it a fun thing to do!

Lateral Shoulder Raise: Work your shoulders and upper arms by sitting straight in a chair, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Beginning with your hands at your side, raise them both up and out at the same time. Slowly bring your arms down; repeating this move at least ten times.  Now, if you do not have any dumbbells, use a gallon container of laundry detergent.  You may not reach ten, but you are certainly on your way to it. Don’t put the laundry detergent away; you’re not finished with it yet!

Back Exercise:  Again, using the containers of laundry detergent, hold one in each hand… Stand with your legs apart. Bend your knees slightly and bend your body forward at the waist. Let your arms hang down in front of you, but don’t lock your elbows. Keeping your back straight, abdominal muscles in, and knees bent, pull the containers upward towards your chest. Then, slowly lower the weights back to starting position. Now you can put the detergent back in the closet!

Stomach Exercise:  Lay on the floor with your right foot resting on your left knee.  Lift your shoulders and neck as if you are doing a regular crunch. Reach your left hand above and over your right foot. Lower your head to just above the ground. After ten repetitions, repeat the exercise with your left foot and right knee.

All of these exercises are quick and are proven to show results.  So, get started Mom!  Be sure to email me and let me know what exercises you are going to start with.

Take a look at “Get Fit While You Sit” and get 36 Exercises you can do almost anywhere, anytime!

Well - I’ve been working really hard on my Real Life Guidance Site and finally got someone to really work wonders with the site, sales pages and the layout of things and I am beyond happy with how it is coming together.

I’ve been working very hard lately to inspire my affiliates and I’ve also been working on adding new graphics, articles and tools to use in order to make their promotion easier. I am tooting myself because I am in the process of having ALL of the sales pages Re-done, tweaked, and optimized for better conversion!! YAY This makes me so happy because while the reports were selling well, now I believe they will sell even better and that means more commission for my affiliates as well as myself!

You can check out the recently revised Getting Out Of The Super Mom Trap page.

Every family should incorporate money saving ideas into the picture. You have a budget, no matter what their financial status is. A budget tells you exactly how much your have coming in, and how much goes out on a monthly basis for the absolute necessities like housing, food, utilities, insurance, transportation and health care.

But what about the future?  That’s another place where a budget comes in handy. When you’ve allotted a portion of the household’s weekly income to the necessities, what’s left over is your discretionary spending amount. These are the funds available to you for short-term expenses, or long-term investments, like your children’s education, and your own retirement funds.

Every family should incorporate money saving ideas into the picture. You have a budget, no matter what their financial status is. A budget tells you exactly how much your have coming in, and how much goes out on a monthly basis for the absolute necessities like housing, food, utilities, insurance, transportation and health care. But what about the future?That’s another place where a budget comes in handy. When you’ve allotted a portion of the household’s weekly income to the necessities, what’s left over is your discretionary spending amount. These are the funds available to you for short-term expenses, or long-term investments, like your children’s education, and your own retirement funds.When the children are growing and requiring more in the way of expenditures, there might not be a lot left over. But even 5% of your income can be a healthy start on an education fund. Extras like bonuses or perhaps half the amount of a raise, will make those future savings grow. Since they aren’t in the budget to start with, they won’t be missed, and you’ll still have a portion of the unexpected income to add to your regular budget.Consider financial counseling at your banking institution, or from a professional. They are often the best sources for learning how to get the most out of the dollars you have to save, and the most out of the future benefits they are going to earn for you. 

Why not give yourself a much-needed break — cook ahead today so you can relax tomorrow!  Meal planning and bulk cooking are both wonderful techniques you can use and modify to fit your families needs. The idea behind this is simple. The principle is that you cook and or prepare your meals ahead of time and then preserve them by either freezing or fridgerating them. Also, meal planning you can cook one large meal and get 2-3 other meals out of it!
Here are some free meal planning tips for you :)   http://reallifesolutions.net/personal/meal-planning.html

I love to meal plan so if you have any tips for other moms out there - feel free to post them in the comments!

We all know how busy mom’s are and organizing seems like a never-ending task.  Well, if you have just 10 short minutes, here are 5 great organizing tasks you can do in ten minutes or less:

1. Clean out your medicine cabinet. Get rid of old makeup, expired medicine and toiletries you haven’t used in months.

2. Clear off your desk. Take everything off your desk and clear the surface, even if you have to temporarily put everything on the floor in categorized piles (i.e. paper, supplies, electronic media, etc.).  Once you can see your desk, you’ll have a surface on which to begin organizing everything you just removed from it.

3. Delete, delete, delete. For the next 10 minutes, delete as many messages as you can from your email inbox. This includes forwarded jokes, unsolicited messages and email you can simply read and chuck.

4. Organize a drawer. Whether it’s your junk drawer, a drawer in your bedroom dresser or a desk drawer, spend 10 minutes emptying out the junk, and arranging it so that similar items are being stored together.

5. Make a Donation Box. Simply get a large cardboard box and label it ‘Donation Box.’ Every chance you get, place items that are in good condition, but you no longer use, inside the box. When it’s full, call your local charity to come pick it up, or drop it off if they don’t offer a pick-up service.
 
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