Price Shopping

If you are like me, your preferences change every few months in product brands, fragrances, and wants....so buying in bulk does not work for me. Since becoming a mom I have become more aware of my spending habits, as well as the prices for items. Before, I would buy what I wanted at whichever store I chose and assumed the prices were usually comparable from store to store. Boy was I wrong...

What I have learned is that brand name is not everything, and that you do not have to buy in bulk to save money...you just have to be willing to price shop a little, and with internet at your fingertips it is easier than ever before. The price difference between stores can be anywhere from a few cents to a $5 price difference! Below are some examples of the best prices and brands that work for my family in the Denver Metro area, which highlights the concept of price shopping as opposed/in addition to bulk coupon buying.

Baby products:
Up & Up Formula - we used the Up & Up brand version of Similac Advanced for Emma and she did wonderfully on it. $19.99 for 40 oz. We use the Up & Up brand version of Similac Sensitive for Cole and he has not had any more gas issues. $19.99 for 36 oz.

Up & Up Diapers - Emma kept peeing through her Pampers diapers once she reached size 2. She had a habit of holding her pee in for up to 5 hours and letting it all go at once. Someone had suggested the Target brand diapers, as their daughter did the same thing and did not experience leaks. For that price, why not try it and see if it works? We haven't looked back. Value pack 144 diapers for $19.99. Their newborn size does contain a wetness indicator, like the other diaper brands out there. As opposed to a line they have a heart that fades when wet.

Up & Up Puffs & Crunchies - Once they are able to eat babies goes through snacks so quickly. The Puffs are $1.50/container, as well as the crunchies.

Overall, Up & Up has the best prices for baby products with a great quality as opposed to any of the other brands I have shopped at Walmart, Walgreens, King Soopers, and Safeway.

Walmart does appear to have lower prices for baby/children accessories and toys. A bathtub toy holder at Walmart that was a Garanimal turtle adhesive to the wall was $13 at Walmart. A different brand frog adhesive to the wall was $34 at Target. They were the same concept but very different in pricing. Sleep blankets/bags at Target $20/bag for Sleep Halo; $10 at Walmart same concept by Garanimals.

Grocery:
Produce- I have found that Sprouts carries the best prices for produce in my area. Their produce for items that are usually $1 or greater in the standard grocery stores, are around .60-.77 at Sprouts.

Meat - After price shopping at the grocery stores, Walmart, and Target, we have found that King Soopers and Safeway tend to have the lower prices on meats both frozen and fresh.

Clothing:
Consignment sales and shops have become my best friend when purchasing clothes for the kids. The consignment sales are amazing because most of the clothes are new and on the half price day you are paying $1-$4 for sleep n' plays, jeans, outfit sets, and more.

Kohls tends to have amazing prices for adult jeans.

Those are just some differences I have noticed and the savings definitely add up. Combine with coupons and you have great savings without going overboard in consuming your life with bulk items or overcouponing. Give it a shot and see how it works for you. Google search is a wonderful thing and will show local prices for most stores and items on the store websites!

Getting Back to Me

A month of continuous illness rotating through my house and I have come to realize that a sense of normalcy might be the key to feeling less chaotic and stressed. The road to normalcy: creating a weekly schedule (check), including at least one social activity for Emma on said schedule (check), ease back into exercising after almost two years of little-to-no exercise (check). I realize life will continue to be gloriously chaotic and we raise two babies less than a year apart, but this will reduce some of the stress that I have some control over.

In order to get back into exercising, and getting in some activities that I personally enjoy, I will begin AM and PM yoga (before the kids wake up and after the kids are in bed), as well as belly dancing. Any kind of dancing would tickle my fancy, but belly dancing is currently what is on Comcast On Demand Exercise TV under Dance, and I used to actually be fairly good at it. Maybe that will be key in helping me lose the almost impossible to lose pooch left over from the cesarean section. If not, I will have a great time trying at least!

Next on the path to getting things under control:
Laundry:
Laundry has been impossible to get under control since I've had Emma last October over a year ago. Somehow there just doesn't appear to be time. I am still having to figure out how to conquer that one. Any ideas on that one?

Making sure I follow the schedule I created, otherwise that was a waste of time, but kept me busy while simultaneously watching late night television.

I am enjoying the new changes in my life, while also slightly scared, but that's the fun part of life right? The journey and the new challenges and experiences we face...and I am thoroughly enjoying mine!

Loving them

Although I still am experiencing kidney pains and on meds...nothing makes me feel happier than my babies. As tired as my body is, they keep me going and filled with love.

I struggle sometimes with the exhaustion and not feeling welll...but I hope the infection will be give soon. I love snuggling with my kids and watching them take in the world around them.

Cole and I hung out on the couch watching holiday movies this weekend while the Goose and Keith went out and about. I couldn't have asked for a better time. Here is to loving and living.

And here we go....

A week after having Emma I went back into the hospital with pneumonia in both my lungs. From there I caught numerous colds and struggled with the rapid and eventual loss of my breastmilk. Some may not understand, but it caused me to feel like a slight failure to my daughter.

Speed forward to having Cole. I end up in the hospital with a kidney infection and pharyngitis 10  days after having him and deja vu...my milk supply is rapidly decreasing. I pump, let him suckle, take Fenugreek....and I continue to watch it disappear before my eyes...once again it is like I am failing my baby in some way.

I know there is always formula, but I wanted to give them the best stuff out there...my natural milk packed with antibodies and rich vitamins. I hope this time I can save my supply.

Mommy War-wounds

"When I pick up one of my children and cuddle them, all the strain and stress of life temporarily disappears. There is nothing more wonderful than motherhood and no one will ever love you as much as a small child." Nicola Horlick

Life rarely follows your plan...especially when determining life altering decisions. Giving all you've got until your body is broken, bleeding, and tired only to be told a cesarean is the only way...when you know you'd push to oblivion for that miraculous baby....and now undergo major surgery with potential dangerous after effects: which of course you'll do. Because as a mother, you would die for your child, even if you never net them. But you do! You meet them, fall even more in love, and know that incision is your reminder that you will, and did, anything for your baby. There is still a taboo and judgment against women undergoing cesarean sections. Those operations are not simple...they carry potential for death for the mothers: blood clots, pneumonia, kidney infections, blood infections, not to mention potentially reopening the incision and extended pain and not being able to hold our own children after they are born. Hold your heads high ladies. We did it for them... we already proved we would put our lives on the line for them. Our scar is that tie to our children that says, "My love, only you matter and I will always put you first over me. I have once, and will again, walk through fire for you. Baby, I love you."