MomsLifeboat - Lifestyle Blog for Women Overwhelmed with Life

Avoid Useless Gifts – My Top 5 Things to consider when purchasing a gift for children

November 13, 2018

The holiday shopping season is underway and many of you are getting into that shopping mood. The kids are writing their wish list and you’re hoping to grab as many things you can off their list.

Before you grab everything off a child’s wish list, I want you to start thinking about the things you are buying for them. One of my biggest pet peeves is when a child gets a useless item. I know the thought is there and I really appreciate that. But sometimes people are in such a hurry to finish their shopping they end up buying an item these children end up using once and their useless and a waste of money.

I know I’ve purchased a bunch of things to find out they were useless. So I’ve made a list of the Top 5 things to avoid/consider when purchasing a gift.

1.) Toys that have a gazillion pieces. You’ll especially want to avoid this if you don’t have proper storage for all of your kid’s toys. A toy box just doesn’t do it. The kids dump all of their toys into the toy box and they don’t even bother looking for all of the pieces to play with the toy again.

2.) Extremely Large Toys. These can be anything from indoor basketball hoops, motorized cars, bouncy ball etc. These types of toys get in the way of everything and are hard to store. We end up getting rid of the items sooner because we are just frustrated with tripping over these items.

3.) Think about how your child is going to use the item. One year Santa brought a wagon for our youngest child. The wagon seemed like a great gift to put all of the toys in, ride along with etc. However, living in the desert and all of the rocks we have in our backyard made the wagon useless. We never took it anywhere because it wasn’t an easy item to load up in the vehicle and go.

4.) Board Games. A great gift — if you get the right ones. When choosing these types of gifts find games that are age appropriate. If you’re purchasing a game that says 4 or more players and you only have a family of 3 it’s not going to get much use. Also, choose games that don’t require your assistance. I love being able to play games with my kids but not all the time. I want them to be able to play the games without me.

5.) Clothes. One of my biggest pet peeves when kids get gifts of clothes. When you are buying a bigger size for a child so they can grow into it, consider the season. Winter clothes are what you’ll find during the holiday season. If you’re purchasing a gift for a baby that is 12 months and you buy an 18-month winter outfit and it’ll fit them in the summer. You just bought a useless gift.

I wrote this article a few years ago when my children were smaller. These 5 tips still ring true today.

What’s on your list that you try to avoid?

Need some ideas? Check out some of our gift suggestions.

Cool gifts ideas for boys

Personalized Gift Ideas

2019 Calendar Free PDF Printable

November 12, 2018

It’s here! Our 2019 Calendar is now available to download. Over the past years, Momslifeboat readers continue to request our yearly calendar.

They love it because of these 5 Reasons:

It’s FREE
Easy to print PDF
Large boxes to write in
A landscape layout,
A clean design template.

Use the download button below to get your Free 2019 Calendar

Download Now!

Want early access to our 2021 Calendar

Buy Now $1.99

Have you printed yours? If so, please share the love using the buttons below! Sharing helps us keep our downloads free.

5 Tips to Prepare for a Debt Free Christmas

November 10, 2018

In a blink of an eye, Christmas will be here before you know it. To keep your Holiday Stress Free, I’ve got 5 tips to help you to start preparing now!

Even before Halloween season began, the stores put out their Christmas stock on the showroom. They are prepared and they want you to buy, buy and buy! Many of us aren’t prepared. We’re just thinking about Thanksgivings and we just want to take it one holiday at a time. However in order to have a debt free Christmas. We must prepare and prepare now.

Here are my 5 tips on How to Have a Debt Free Christmas.

1. Start making a list. For everyone, you plan on purchasing a present for. Make sure to include teachers, neighbors as well as gift exchanges at work and holiday tips for all those “extra people” like the newspaper person, hair stylist, etc..

2. Set a budget. Without setting a budget this is one of the easiest ways we find ourselves digging a deep hole filled with holiday debt. Really it’s not a shock! Christmas comes ever year on the same day 12/25. However, the majority of us fail to prepare for this day. Stretch your budget by finding online deals. For example, if you are planning on making a purchase at Amazon. Take a look at the right column and check other sellers for lower prices and shipping costs. You can also sign up of a 30 day free trial of Amazon Prime and take advantage of their free two-day shipping.

3. Look for ways to purchase gifts without using cash or credit/debit. What do I mean by that? If you use credit cards that have merchandise/cash points, consider redeeming those instead and purchasing gifts. Another great way is to enter giveaways. Lots of bloggers including myself will have giveaways on their blog. Find one of your favorite blogger and/or look for smaller blogs and enter.

4. Consider a “re-gifting” swap. I know that re-gifting sounds terrible and you don’t really want to do that with family in fear it may hurt someone’s feeling or cause conflict with them, so instead why not consider getting a group of friends together and swapping those unused items.

5. Buy used and repurpose – Head to your local thrift store or yard sale and find an item you can repurpose. Items such as a frame, turning it into a shadow box, menu board etc..

Overall – remember it’s the thought that counts and the season is for Giving!! Think about everything you got for Christmas last year? Can you remember what they were? Can you remember all the gifts you bought your children? Can they remember? Often times we buy stuff just to have stuff to unwrap during the holidays and the gifts aren’t memorable. Why put yourself in debt for gifts that aren’t memorable.

I’d love to hear your tips on how to have a debt free Christmas.

Top 10 Back to School Lunch Must Haves

August 14, 2018

Looking for Back to school lunch ideas? Making a home lunch is one of the ways we save money, but with that in mind I want to make sure that the items we use can make life a little simpler.

So I’ve put together a list of the Top 10 Back to School Lunch Must Haves:

#10 – ChicoBag Recycled PET Baggies Snack and Sandwich Reusable Bags, Pack of 3

These are great to have on hand, saving you money on disposable bags. They are washable reusable bags that will work great for sandwiches, chips, fruit slices etc.

#9 Wonder Sandwich Sealer N Decruster

If your kids don’t like the crust, this is an easy tool to have on hand. Plus it’s perfect to seal your sandwich too. You can freeze your peanut butter and jelly sandwich ahead of time, throw them in your reusable bag and they’ll defrost in time for lunch.

#8 Ziploc Container, Divided Rectangle

I love these little containers! I can put together a sandwich, chips and salsa and they don’t run into each other with these 3 separate compartments they seal perfectly!

#7 Fit & Fresh Salad Shaker Container with Removable Ice Pack and Dressing Dispenser

If you love salads, this is a salad must have. An ice pack to keep your salad cool and a separate dressing container to keep your salad from getting soggy.

#6 Thermos Foogo Leak Proof Stainless Steel Food Jar, 10 Ounce

Keeping the kids lunch warm is definitely a must have. I’ve used this container to send them to school with soups, spaghetti, chicken nuggets etc. The items stay warm for hours!

#5 EasyLunchboxes “Mini-Dippers” Small Dip and Sauce Containers, Leak-Resistant, Set of 8

Having little storage containers on hand are perfect for sauces, dips, dressings, etc.

#4 Thermos Foogo Phases Leak Proof Stainless Steel Straw Bottle, 10 Ounce

Buying bottled water/drink is no longer necessary! This stainless steel thermos is perfect in keeping drinks chilled until it’s time for lunch.

#3 OXO Good Grips Water Bottle Cleaning Set

Using containers with straws have always been a nightmare in my house. I could never get the straws cleaned therefore I would stop using them. This bottle cleaning is set is definitely a must have giving you all the tools to clean the bottle, the rim and straws.

#2 Sauce Container Piggy and Square Bottle

Aren’t these little sauce containers perfect? Soy Sauce, Hot Sauce, etc are now easy to take along with you in these mini containers.

#1 Zojirushi SL-NCE09 Ms. Bento Stainless-Steel Vacuum Lunch Jar

This lunch set is awesome! Everything you need for lunch, hot and cold compartments, spork and carrying case. Though a bit on the pricey end, the containers stack up nicely not taking up a lot of space, but yet giving you enough storage.

Did your item make the list? If not, comment below and tell me what your favorite back to school lunch item is?

Homemade Easter Basket Ideas {Under $10}

March 10, 2018

Easter Baskets, don’t have to be expensive or full of junk. By thinking outside the box you can create some wonderful and fun Homemade Easter Baskets Ideas.

Homemade Easter Basket Ideas from pinchthisstretchthat.com @ginahorne #Easter

I challenged myself to make my children’s Easter baskets for less than $10.00 with “useful” items. I did this because I didn’t like the all the garbage included in those cheap baskets you’d find at the store. I wanted items my kids would love, that wouldn’t break the bank. So I headed to the dollar section and the dollar store.

Here’s a look at the final outcome:

The items in the Homemade Toddler Easter Basket are Disney Paint Book, Bible Coloring Book, Bat/Ball, 2 mini Sesame Street Books, Sidewalk Chalk, Crayons, Bubbles, Memory Card Game, Giant Lollipop, Gummy Lifesavers and 3 eggs with candy.

One of my favorite tips: looking for items that had multiple things I could split up. In this case, I chose a 3 pack of bubbles

Homemade Easter Basket Ideas from Momslifeboat.Com @ginahorne #Easter

The items in the Homemade School Aged Easter basket are Glider, Sketch Paper, Disney Paint Book, Crayons, Card Game, Sidewalk Chalk, Bubbles, Crayons, Giant Lollipop, Gummy Lifesavers and 3 eggs filled with candy. I made another basket, just the same so the twins wouldn’t argue.

Homemade Easter Basket Ideas Teen Girl from Momslifeboat.Com @ginahorne #Easter

The Homemade Teen Girl Easter Basket was a beauty basket. Enclosed is a bath pillow, foot massager, hair turby towel, body scrubber, sleep mask, face scrubber, a giant lollipop, gummy lifesavers, and 3 eggs filled with candy.
Homemade Easter Basket Ideas from Momslifeboat.com @ginahorne #Easter

Rather than wasting money on cellophane wrap, I used clear garbage bags instead to wrap their baskets.

Overall I spent $36.00 for all 4 baskets. I didn’t put that much candy in their baskets because the Easter bunny hides eggs at our house and those are already filled with candy. I’d love to hear the ways you save on Homemade Easter Baskets

Don’t have the time to make your own Homemade Easter Baskets. Check out our post on 25 Already Made Easter Basket Ideas that you can purchase today.

Monster Jam World Finals XIX With Coupon Code + Coloring Sheets + Giveaway

March 10, 2018

Monster Jam World Finals XIX is happening in Las Vegas on March 23- March 24, 2018. This is an event you won’t want to miss. If you’re looking for a Monster Jam coupon code or discount, I have a deal available for you to save $10.00 off your ticket price!

Monster Jam

_{Momslifeboat is an FEFamily Ambassador, and in exchange for my time and efforts in attending shows and reporting my opinion on Momslifeboat, as well as keeping you advised of the latest discount offers, Feld Entertainment, Inc or one of its affiliates has provided me with complimentary tickets to its show and opportunities to attend it’s private pre-show events}

What to expect at Monster Jam World Finals XIX

The 2017 Monster Jam World Finals® XIX will take place March 23-24, 2017 at Sam Boyd Stadium. Last year, more than 57,000 fans with attendees from 15 different countries and all 50 states witnessed the greatest Monster Jam truck racing and freestyle competition in the history of the sport. Fans can get up-close-and-personal with the Monster Jam trucks and drivers as they are granted more fan access to the stars of the show than any other live event.

Monster Jam World Finals XIX will be performing at Sam Boyd Stadium on:

Friday, March 23, 6:30 p.m. – Racing Championship

Saturday, March 24, 6:30 p.m. – Freestyle Championship

The Pit Party features over 100 Monster Jam trucks and drivers, including all Monster Jam World Finals competitors. Drivers will sign autographs during designated times. Other highlights include interactive displays, various kids’ activities, Graffiti Zone, thrill acts, Monster Jam Ride Truck, photo opportunities, Main Stage interviews and contests, and more.

Friday 2:30 p.m. – 5 p.m. and Saturday, 10:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. – Admission is free to all fans possessing a Friday and/or Saturday event ticket. Fans will be required to show their event ticket to enter.

Purchase Tickets

Purchase your tickets and save $10.00 off the regular price. BUY Monster Jam Tickets Use code: MJWF19MOM

There is so much to do! I definitely recommend the Saturday Freestyle event! If you’re hesitant about taking your kids to the event, think they’ll get bored or this may not be family friendly… Check out my previous Monster Jam Posts:

Monster Jam World Finals Review – Family Friendly Approved?

8 Tips to Prepare for Monster Jam World Finals

Monster Jam New Family Traditions

At Home Fun

Print these fun coloring sheets Monster Jam Coloring Sheets

Enter the Giveaway

Momslifeboat has teamed up with Feld Entertainment to offer one Momslifeboat reader a chance to win a Family 4 pack of tickets to Fridays World Finals Event. Please do NOT enter if you cannot make the event on Friday, March 23, 2018.

To enter… You’ll need to do the following steps:

1.) Enter your information in the in the link below (We use this raflecopter form for its easy tracking and to disclose all the rules)
Enter Monster Jam Giveaway

2.) Answer the comment question: “Tell us which Monster Jam truck is your favorite and why” on THIS blog post and check I commented on the rafflecopter form above.

3.) You can earn an additional entry by checking out our Facebook Page.

Make sure you do the first 2 steps! All entries will be verified. Failing to complete both steps will disqualify your entry.

Good Luck!!

Smith’s ClickList Delivery – Stay in Your PJ’s, Enjoy Your Coffee and Let Smith’s Do the Work For You!

October 18, 2017

Ever have those days? Days when your entire day is jam-packed? Days where your kids are home sick? Days when you’re prepping for a party? Days of pure exhaustion? Ever have one of those days upgraded with irritation when you realize you have no groceries and you’ve got to somehow fit the grocery store into the mix?

I despised those days. We always end up spending way more money because we simply didn’t have time to go grocery shopping.

We’ll those days are long gone. Some of you already know how much of a fan I am of Smith’s Food and Drug’s ClickList Service. But I’m now even more excited because they are offering DELIVERY!

Not familiar with Clicklist? Check out my previous articles.

Moms New Best Friend ClickList

5 Ways Using ClickList Can Help You Control Your Grocery Budget

I recently teamed up with Smith’s Food and Drug to check out their delivery service.

Following the same shopping method using ClickList, the only difference is you’ll need to select the Delivery Option Instead.

There is a fee of $11.95 when using Delivery. The fee is a bit more, than the $4.95 Curbside pick up fee. But it’s worth every penny when you simple don’t have the means to make it to the store.

When you go to check out, you’ll pay for your order via credit or debit card. The full amount shown on your invoice is what is authorized. However, once your order is fulfilled, that’s when Smith’s will bill you the actual amount shown.

My Order Total. $73.44 before any substitutions, coupons, discounts, etc.

My Receipt. $65.05

The process for delivery is easy! Just like getting a pizza, but better! And the communication was impeccable.

You’ll receive an email advising your order is ready to be delivered.

Then you’ll receive a text message from the third-party agent, letting you know, they’ve picked up the order and headed to your destination.

What I love is you can actual watch their destination in real time. Such a neat feature.

Once the driver arrives, they bring all the groceries to your front door.

And that’s it! Another time-saving technique.

Here’s me. I schedule my delivery during my early morning coffee. I didn’t even get out of my PJ’s. (There’s no shame there!)

So be sure to check out Smith’s Food and Drug ClickList Delivery Service and comment below and share with me your experience!

10 MomLife Must Haves

September 4, 2017

If you’ve ever see those moms, you know the ones I’m talking about. The moms who wear those cute tees and always seem to have fun accessories too. They seem to capture the essence of life with those items. I love it! That’s what inspired this post. I love the term #momlife and with their being so many cute items. I just had to…

I had to put together 10 Momlife Must Haves for you to enjoy!

This post contains affiliate links. Using these links helps support Momslifeboat.Com at no cost to you. We appreciate your support.

1.) Baseball Cap

If you’re looking for an everyday cap this is it. It’s perfect for the carpool line or even wearing it to the gym. This hat fits any casual attire.

2.) Graphic Tee

I just love the maroon color. It’ll really pop with a pair of jeans.

3.) Socks

If you ever get a chance to put your feet up. Everyone will get to know how much you are enjoying your rest.

4.) Coloring Book

This coloring book seems hilarious. Have a look inside and you’ll definitely want to start coloring.

5. Losing my mind tee

I’ve got 4 kids, I’m pretty sure my mind is long gone.

6. Cold Coffee Mug

This mug is truth! I heated up my coffee 4x’s yesterday to the point where I had to throw it away. You know you’ve heated your coffee up too many times when it tastes like burnt coffee.

7. Graphic Tee

Is this all you? If so, this tee should definitely be in your wardrobe.

8. MomLife Decal

I love decals. The hard part will be choosing where to stick it. Perhaps on the car or on your favorite water bottle.

9. #Momlife Tee

I just love the simplicity of the tee.

10.) Phone Case

Just a simple phone case that says it all!

Which one of these Momlife must haves is your favorite? Comment below.

6 Tips for Planning a Wedding on a Budget

September 1, 2017

My daughter is getting married. Being a one income family, we didn’t prepare for this. We never prepared a wedding fund and that’s ok. I’m confident that we still give her a memorable wedding. We just need to be a bit more creative. Therefore I put together 6 tips for planning a wedding on a budget.

Planning a wedding is a lot of work. In my opinion weddings never turn out the way us girls dreamed of, unless we have a lot of money to spend on it.

budget friendly wedding

Recent Post- When You Think Your Daughter is Marrying the Wrong Guy

Having attended several weddings, I started thinking about the ones I’ve attended. I asked myself what I remembered most about them. It didn’t matter what amount of money was spent on the wedding, all the details I remembered were roughly the same.

This post contains affiliate links. Using these links helps support Momslifeboat at no cost to you.

1. Forget the Pretty. Take the pretty out of your wedding. Most banquet rooms aren’t pretty and it costs a lot to pretty them up. Look for venues that include items such as table cloths, seat covers etc. Avoid paying the extra costs for upgraded items such as centerpieces, fancier linens, china etc. The only person that is going to remember all the details is you. Rarely do your guest remember all the details. Think of the last wedding you attended. Do you remember the color of the table cloths? What pattern was on the china? Do you even remember the centerpieces? Unless it was your own wedding likely you can’t answer these questions. So why invest the money for these upgraded items.

2. Have enough Food. People will remember if they had enough food to eat. So be sure you’ve got enough. If you’re like me, I save my appetite for the reception. I can recall one wedding where I couldn’t wait to leave just so I could get some food. You can save money by choosing a buffet over a sitdown dinner. And by choosing less expensive items like pasta over fish etc.

3. Have Fun. Your guest will remember if they had a good time. Invest in a good dj and if your budget allows; consider renting a photo booth. You can find some great deals on these items by using Groupon.

4. Get a Good Photographer and Videographer. Definitely invest in both if you can afford both. If you can only afford one, choose the photographer. These are memories of a lifetime. So make sure you have a good one. At my wedding we used a family friend who was just starting their photography business. She gave us the amazing price of free. But the pictures were just OK. She simply didn’t have the skills and 24+ years later, I long for those higher quality photos.

5. Buy an inexpensive dress. My dress was expensive. I loved it and wanted my dress to be a family heirloom, at that time I felt, it was worth the money. However the thought never crossed my mind that my dress would be out of style. Or that my daughter may not or could not wear it. I’m excited that she does want to wear it. My dream is coming true. However this dream wasn’t so easy. Finding someone who would want to re design the dress was difficult. Not to mention the cost! It was equivalent to buying a new dress.

6. Get a good quality invitation. The invitation sets the stage of what’s to come for your wedding. We worked with Minted.Com The quality and the customer service was amazing and they have invitations to fit any budget. You can even get a free wedding sample kit too.

Do you agree with these 6 tips for planning a wedding on a budget?

What tips do you have. Leave a comment below and share your money saving ideas!

Simple Home Command Center

August 10, 2017

Lately we’ve been doing some home renovations. I’ve been reducing the clutter in my home as well. One of our biggest issues seemed to be important papers and mail. Our normal routine was to attached important papers to the fridge. Our fridge ended up being our kitchen command center. Then the next thing you know, papers got hidden by other papers and the outside of our fridge was a mess. Something had to be done. I realized I needed a dedicated space to create a proper home command center.

I thought about building one in my office, but in reality, it’d be out of site and out of mind. I knew I wouldn’t use it there. Our family command center needed to be somewhere we constantly accessed. We use our garage door more than our front door, this wall made the perfect spot since its located right by our garage door entry.

Once I decided on the spot I wasn’t sure what I wanted. I looked at several ideas online and got overwhelmed. Some of the ideas I saw were a bit outrageous, held way too much stuff and the last thing I wanted was more clutter.

Before I got started, I took a moment and looked at everything we had on our fridge. We had a calendar, dry erase board, menu planner, to do list and a magnet to hold all of our important papers. Once I realized what was a necessity I created a simple home command center.

The H. Very simple to make and it added a cute touch to our wall organization. I grabbed a piece of cardboard and cute the shape of the H. I used some remnant fabric cut it to fit and taped it in the back. Then I stapled it to the wall.

I got a practical dry erase calendar. Easy to update and make changes too.

A mailbox indoors. Perfect for all those papers you don’t need right now. (plus it’s a great place to store the dry erase markers)

I purchased 2 square dry erase boards. I love how I can use these for multiple things. My menu for the week. My to do list. I can add motivational messages, etc. It really gives me the option to change it up.

Clip boards one for each kid. Each time the kids bring home papers I need to sign, they attach it to the clip board. If I have homework I need to check or updates on their school spirit days or sports schedule this is where they place it. That way, I don’t forget.

That’s it. Pretty simple, Eh? If you are considering making a simple home command center, be sure to pin this to your pinterest board and save it for later.

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