Prioritized Living

Master your money. Get organized. Take back your time.

7 Secrets for Saving Big on Your Baby

7 Secrets for Saving Big on Your Baby

Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  Read my policy here.

If you’re like most new parents, your first two emotions after a positive pregnancy test are excitement and paralyzing fear.  You’re having a baby . . . but you have no idea what you’re doing!  You’ve got just nine months to figure out not only how to keep your kid alive but also what gear you need to make that happen.

Before you find yourself in a frenzy buying everything at Babies“R”Us, check out these 7 tips for saving big bucks on your baby. [Read more…]

Get Rid of the Junk

Get Rid of the Junk

Need motivation to lose the clutter and advice on how to make it happen?

Crystal Paine on Money Saving Mom recently posted an insightful and practical article called “Get rid of the junk so you can experience more joy!”  She shares a wealth of information on . . .

  • Why her family lives a “semi-minimalist lifestyle.”
  • The 5 questions she asks herself when deciding whether to keep something.
  • Why she’s freeing herself from piles of books.
  • Her 6 tips for cutting down on clutter.
  • How her family consciously chooses a rich life over a house full of possessions.
  • What you can do today to start shedding your clutter.
  • Resources for more great advice.

Head over to Money Saving Mom to read Crystal’s post!

Make It From Scratch: Address Labels

Make It From Scratch Address Labels

Photo courtesy of Amazon

Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  Read my policy here.

How much money are you spending on return address labels?

Do you spend cash again and again to order customized labels online or from a mailer?  Do you use free address labels sent to you by your alma mater or charities — even though you hate the design and your name is misspelled?  Do you you spend hours hand-printing your return address on Christmas cards in lieu of spending for labels?

There’s a better way.

You can print your own address labels right at home.

For about 1¢ per label, you can create a peel-and-stick label with any font, color scheme, and image of your choosing.  It’s cheap.  It’s easy . . . and it’s fun! [Read more…]

The Problem with Your Organization System

Get Organized: The Problem with Your Organization System

Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  Read my policy here.

You know in your soul that you are an organized person.  Your home, regrettably, paints a different (and messier) picture.

However, the problem is probably not you.

The issue could be the system you are using to organize your stuff.  Before beating yourself up over your disorganized space, consider these technical — and easily fixable! — issues that could be the culprit.
[Read more…]

Save Time and Money with a Supermarket Pick-Up Service

Save Time and Money with a Supermarket Pick-Up Service

Having someone else do your grocery shopping?  It sounds like a major luxury . . . right?

Instead of spending time alone or with small children in the supermarket, a friendly person takes care of your whole order and even packs it neatly into your car when you arrive to pick it up.

Even if the idea is appealing, you may be reluctant to try out a service that sounds pricey. However, our family actually saves time and money by occasionally using our supermarket’s pick-up service.

Read the rest of my recently-published blog post on Money Saving Mom, one of the largest personal finance blogs and one I’ve been reading for years!

Make It From Scratch: Greeting Cards (For Non-Crafty People)

Make It From Scratch Greeting Cards

Photo courtesy of Nova Development

Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  Read my policy here.

My artistic skill development stopped somewhere around age five.  In kindergarten, I made perfectly-acceptable, childlike drawings, but my 7-year-old niece’s artwork far outpaces anything I’ve created since.  Handmade greeting cards can be beautiful and cost-effective, but what if you’re a non-crafty person like me?  You can still make high-quality, printed and personalized greeting cards . . . using your computer.

Here’s how the costs work out for me:

  • Store price:                             $0.99 for a cheap card up to $4.99 for a standard card
  • Price of computer-made:  $0.55 for a personalized card
  • Savings:                                     44% – 89%

[Read more…]

Getting Started with Time Management: Use a Planner

This entry is part 2 of 5 in the series Getting Started with Time Management

Getting Started with Time Management - Use a Planner

Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  Read my policy here.

If you are a planner person, then you don’t need to be convinced.  Like me, your planner is probably one of the things you’d grab if your house were burning down around you.

If you’ve never used a planner — or if you’ve used the wrong planner — then you might be amazed by how much organization it can bring to your life.

I used to be a non-planner person.  I thought planners were just portable calendars for business people with millions of meetings.

However, I eventually realized that I needed a planner so I could have a single, centralized method of organizing my time and making plans to reach my goals . . . and it worked. [Read more…]

Toddler Toy Storage

Toy Cubbies

Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  Read my policy here.

It’s a fact of life that, when you have a little kid, relatives and friends will shower that kid with toys.  It doesn’t matter how much you vow to live a minimalistic toy lifestyle.  If you buy not a single toy for your child, you will still find yourself living in a toy store.  You’ll have the huge toys, the tiny toys, the toys with a million parts, the fuzzy toys, the teething toys, and — my personal favorite — the noisy toys.  If you’re not prepared to flee and let the toys run amok in your house, then you need storage solutions that work for you and for your kids.  Here are some of my current favorites. [Read more…]

5 Ways Ziploc Bags Can Make Life with Baby Easier

Baby on beach

Note:  This post contains affiliate links.  Read my policy here.

Ziploc bags are a godsend when it comes to babies and their stuff.  Never much of a bagger pre-kids, I now boast a full assortment of Ziploc bag sizes in my cabinet — with extra boxes of them stored elsewhere in case I run out!  These beautiful bags can truly keep you organized and sane when wrangling your baby’s essentials: [Read more…]