family

Holiday Light Displays: Socially Distanced Family Fun!

Abby H.

One of our favorite family activities this time of year is to drive around the county and check out Christmas lights. I pack some snacks and hot chocolate (or just white milk for the Bitty Bird- She doesn’t like cocoa- I know…), and we head out for an adventure. I usually grab a couple extra fluffy blankets too. They tend to fall asleep on the way home!

I’ve included our family favorites, as well as some that came recommended by my Facebook fans. I did not include any that charge a fee to see. There are quite a few professional displays that charge a fee to drive-thru all over the county.

There are a few that I did not include as I have heard they are dark (Knob Hill in Vista), or the owners of the homes have moved or chosen not to do a display this year.

East County:

  • Jingle Bell Hill (also known as Pepper Dr. Lights). Solomon Ave./Pegeen Pl. and surrounding area. Off 67 & Bradley. Dec. 8-26, Mon-Th 6-9 pm, Fri-Sun 6-10 pm.
  • 10248 Paseo Palmas Dr. Nicknamed “Tinsel Town”. Dec. 1-25, 5:30-9 pm. Most of the houses on this street are very well decorated with lights and moving displays! They have a Facebook page too!
  •  Starlight Circle, East and West Glendon Circles. Through December 26th, 7-10 pm. This is extremely popular!  Starlight Circle even has a Facebook page!

North County:

  • 12631 Stoutwood St., Poway Off Twin Peaks Rd. & Deerwood St. Nicknamed “The Griswolds.”
  • 23542 Bassett Way, Ramona  Sun-Th, 5:30pm -10pm; Fri & Sat, 5:30pm – 11pm

Be safe, stay in your cars, or mask up and stay socially distant from others.

If you know of any light displays in San Diego County that are active this year and free- Please leave a comment! (that you have gone to- please no linking to other websites)

Review: Cool Maker Girls Spa Night Party

Abby H.

Recently Tryazon sent me three products to host a Cool Maker Girls Spa Night Party. Covid and the County of San Diego regulations threw a wrench in that plan, so instead, I contacted some local mom friends and asked them if they wanted to host their own spa times with their girls. Bitty Bird and I did it yesterday, and we are sharing our kits with our buddies.
We received the following:
Cool Maker, Hollywood Hair Extension Maker. Bitty was most excited about this one. She had pink hair over the summer and has been longing for funky hair again.  It was easy to set up, and while it only held her attention for 20-30 minutes, it was fun.

Cool Maker, GO Glam Nail Stamper Deluxe Salon with Dryer for Manicures and Pedicures. This was frustrating. You must use the polish included, and she didn’t like either of the colors. The polish and the stamps come off when you wash your hands, so 20 minutes later, the few nails we got the stamps to stick to were gone. This is a post COVID activity.
Orbeez – Ultimate Soothing Spa This was the most fun, however, ORBEEZ take upwards of 4 hours to plump up, so prep this one well in advance. You have to use both sachets of Orbeez and the bottle of pre-plumped Orbeez that comes with the kit in order for it to be anywhere near enough. If we use this again, I’ll be getting a lot more to fill the tub up more. The battery-powered motor is a little loud.

It was hard to do all of these activities and take pictures, but I did manage to snag a few:

The nail decals/tape
Bitty loves puppies
What they really look like
Mama’s hair “extension”
Mama’s nail look
This is two sachets of orbeez and the bottle too.
close up of extension
Loaded and ready!
Go Glam!
Peace love and spa day with Mama!
The extension kit (and my scissors not included)

11/30/2020 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

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I went grocery shopping last night and it was a pretty light trip, just the usual goodies: Eggs, coffee, and of course: popsicles.

I rearranged the freezer over the weekend and cleaned out the fridge (oh hi 4-year-old salad dressing!), and discovered some ground beef hidden behind a stack of frozen veg. I’m trying hard to stick to our budget of $100/week for groceries.

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and the fridge done (I update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for a kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.

Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2  for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids.  I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular. recently the Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.

This week is Thanksgiving break- the kids are home all week. Since we are in the Purple Tier as far as the county’s Covid Cases, a lot of the fun things we usually do are off the table. We will probably skip the zoo this week, even though it is open. It’s a holiday week for most of the county’s school districts, and there will be a lot more people out and about. We’ll be doing outdoor stuff where we can socially distance ourselves from others. We’ll be having a lot of leftovers from Thursday onward. Lunches will probably be protein shakes, pasta and veggies, Peanut butter sandwiches, and beans and rice.

Usually, I do a crockpot meal on Mondays, but now that we are home all the time, we’ve been having an odd combination of fully home-cooked, scratch meals, and frozen entrees and veggies. I have been posting our meal plans on Instagram too- As well as pics of stuff we are doing to keep busy.

  • Sunday:  Tri-Tip & Spanish Rice
  • Monday: Salad, Garlic Bread, and Fruit
  • Tuesday: Nuggets, Salad, and Fruit
  • Wednesday: Burgers & Veggie Fries
  • Thursday: Chicken Chili on Baked Potatoes, and Salad
  • Friday:  Pizza Night!
  • Saturday: Leftover Shenanigans

Please stay safe you guys! The sooner we flatten the curve, the sooner life can go back to normal- whatever that means.

Talk Back: What are you cooking for dinner this week?

Black Friday Deals From Cents of Style!

Abby H.

I’ll be posting some great deals this weekend.

** This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

Black Friday

Cents of Style is hooking you up with deals to fit any budget this Balck Friday weekend! Use Coupon Code FABRFRIDAY to score gifts starting at $5!

Headbands, hats, accessories, shirts, sweaters, gloves, thermals, dresses, and more. Nothing more than $20 during this sale, which BTW, is good through Monday at Midnight!

With the frost on the roofs and grass this morning, I’m eyeing the headbands and gloves!

11/22/2020 Weekly Meal Plan!

Abby H.

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I did not go grocery shopping for this week over the weekend. The craziness of Thanksgiving shoppers and increased traffic to stores has made me back off a bit. I made a quick trip for bread on Friday night, but that’s it. The store was packed and everyone was too close for my comfort. I grabbed my bread and booked it.

This week focuses a lot on what we already have. I may run to the store to fill in some blanks. We are running low on eggs, coffee creamer, and salad fixings. If we could make it a whole week without a trip to the store, I’d be amazed!

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and the fridge done (I update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for a kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.

Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2  for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids.  I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular. recently the Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.

This week is Thanksgiving break- the kids are home all week. Since we are in the Purple Tier as far as the county’s Covid Cases, a lot of the fun things we usually do are off the table. We will probably skip the zoo this week, even though it is open. It’s a holiday week for most of the county’s school districts, and there will be a lot more people out and about. We’ll be doing outdoor stuff where we can socially distance ourselves from others. We’ll be having a lot of leftovers from Thursday onward. Lunches will probably be protein shakes, pasta and veggies, Peanut butter sandwiches, and beans and rice.

Usually, I do a crockpot meal on Mondays, but now that we are home all the time, we’ve been having an odd combination of fully home-cooked, scratch meals, and frozen entrees and veggies. I have been posting our meal plans on Instagram too- As well as pics of stuff we are doing to keep busy.

  • Sunday:  Veggie Soup & Garlic Toast
  • Monday: Baked Sweet Potatoes, Veggies, Grilled Cheese
  • Tuesday: Nuggets and Fruit
  • Wednesday: Mac n’ Cheese and Salad
  • Thursday: Thanksgiving dinner with my parents
  • Friday:  Pizza Night!
  • Saturday: Leftover Shenanigans

Please stay safe you guys! The sooner we flatten the curve, the sooner life can go back to normal- whatever that means.

Talk Back: What are you cooking for dinner this week?

A Practical Guide to Setting A Budget (Part Three)

Abby H.

The first two parts (Part One, Part Two) of this series talked about the essentials of how to budget. This third part is for those of you who are having a difficult time making the ends meet to get your needs met.

I’m talking about when cutting cable and going cash only for groceries isn’t enough. When you need help. When there isn’t much (or anything) to eat. When the power might be shut off. When there isn’t money to put gas in your car to get to work or job interviews.

This is the most important thing to remember: It is ok to ask for help. It is ok to seek out services and take advantage of programs. Do not worry about what others will think- This pandemic and all of the fallout that has happened has affected so many of us. So many hardworking families and individuals need a hand up right now. 

A lot of the services and programs listed below are specifically for San Diego County. If you live outside San Diego County, I recommend that you call 211 anywhere in the US. They can help you find resources- all judgment free!

So when I talk about needs being met, I mean:

  • Shelter (Rent/mortgage assistance/utilities)
  • Food (Healthy food for you/your family and pets)
  • Comfort (Clothing, healthcare, medication)

Shelter:

  • If you have a mortgage, contact your lender for a forbearance. You may have to provide them with proof that you are unable to pay.
  • If you are a renter in San Diego, here is the County Rental Assistance site.
  • If you require assistance with your utilities, SDG&E has many programs and assistance available.
  • For your water/sewer bills, you will need to contact them directly. There are so many water municipalities in San Diego County.

Food: Food insecurity is a cause near and dear to my heart, so I have all kinds of resources to share!

Many food banks give out pet food as well- don’t forget to mention your furry friends when you complete your intake paperwork (which is oftentimes to find out demographic information to obtain additional funding from the government or private grants). Some do not require any paperwork at all.

Comfort: Being housed and fed is important, in addition to this I’ve added the comfort category. This includes clean, well fitting clothes, access to health care, and prescription medicines.

  • There are many resources for no and low cost clothing (besides thrift stores, which have become increasingly higher in cost in the past year). Naomi’s Closet, Closet on 54th, Charity’s Closet at Sonrise Church, Sharia’s Closet are all San Diego resources. I’ve been told that some Salvation Army churches offer free clothing vouchers to be redeemed at their thrift shops. Don’t forget your local Buy Nothing Group too! So many of your local neighbors are cleaning out their clothes and purging while they are stuck at home, you’d be surprised what your neighbors are will to share with you.
  • If you are in need of healthcare, there are several options. Medicaid/Medi-cal may be available for some. If you have had a “life event” (job separation, birth of a child, death of a spouse, marriage, etc.) you can look for health insurance in your state’s Health Insurance Exchange. Here is a link to California’s Exchange. There are frequently lower rates or discounts for those with certain income limits.
  • If you or family members take prescription medicines, look into discount programs like Singlecare (which you can access via the Fetch Rewards App and earn cashback/points), or GoodRX. Some pharmacies have their own discount programs too. Make sure to ask the pharmacy staff. Another option is to ask your doctor for medication samples when you are visiting them. Many doctors have medication samples in their offices, and most doctors are willing to help you when you tell them you need assistance with medication costs.

 

 

 

A Practical Guide to Setting A Budget (Part Two)

Abby H.1 Comment

In our last post, I talked about the basics of starting a budget (you can read it here).

We ended with… What happens if you spend more money than you bring home? Don’t feel bad, It happens more than you would think. Living in a credit-based world, it’s easy to swipe, swipe, swipe your card and have it seem like it’s not real money.

How do you stop spending willy nilly and start saving money?

First of all, I went through our family budget line by line looking for ways to cut down on costs. This will take a little work, but it’s worth the savings. Here are a few ways that you may be able to save.

  • Cell Phones- I called and negotiated a new contract, and they were able to give us a small discount ($15/month).
  • Auto/Home Insurance- Called our insurance carrier (it’s the same for both). We went through both policies, and were able to adjust our annual mileage to lower mileage, and adjust a few things with our homeowner’s insurance to save some money too. (About $50/year)
  • Gas & Electric (power company)-Because of the big kids’ diagnosis, we were able to qualify for a discount. SDG&E (Our utility provider) offers several discounts. You can learn more about our experience and how we saved money here.  We also take part in OhmConnect, and that saves us money and gives us cashback. You can learn more about OhmConnect here. We save about a thousand dollars a year between the programs SDG&E offers and using Ohmconnect.
  • Internet- We ended up changing internet providers to save money. I know that not everyone has this ability, but it’s worth a call to see if you can get a better deal. We don’t have cable or a home phone, so there are no bundling deals that can save our family money. ($5/month)
  • Cable- We don’t have it, but if you are thinking of cutting the cable, it’s not all static and bunny ears like in the old days. Between Apple TV (ours is really old and it works great), Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, and over the air TV, we aren’t suffering. (No savings for us, but maybe some for you?)

Secondly, I take cash out for Groceries ($100/week), gas ($60/week), and fun money (funds for the kids and I to do something fun during the week- usually a snack or treat at the zoo, admission to a museum, or renting a Redbox movie. $40/week). When the money’s gone, it’s gone. For our budget/spending- this has been the game-changer. Due to quarantine/lockdown the only fun we could have was ordering take out or expensive trips to the craft supply store/Amazon to keep us entertained. Now that we have parameters for spending money, I am taking a harder look at groceries and meal planning and low-cost to no-cost ways to have fun with the kiddos.

In addition to that, I didn’t set up Apple Pay on my phone. I don’t have a credit card attached to the app store on my phone. I don’t have any credit cards set up on my Amazon Account, or my Target App, or any of the purchasing apps on my phone. If I want to buy something I have to either go to a store or sit down at my computer and enter my credit card/debit card information. Taking that extra step to purchase stuff really helps me think about what I am buying and how much I am spending.

And I’m always looking for ways to make a little extra money. Side Hustles are a real way to make money. You can invest as little or as much time as you want.

You can still have fun and live on a budget. Don’t feel like having takeout? Spend some of your fun money on a couple steaks and have a BBQ at home one week. Rent a movie on Amazon Prime, and add some dollar movie candy to your grocery list (or hit up Dollar Tree). Close the curtains/ blinds and throw some pillows and blankets on the living room floor. We call that “Movie theatre night” and the kids love it.

Living during a global pandemic you have to think outside of the box.

My next (and last) post about setting a practical budget will be ready tomorrow and it’s going to be a little more serious. What to do/where to turn when you need help with the basics: Food, Shelter, and Comfort. And what you should cut out if you are struggling. For those who are struggling right now, this is written with you in my mind and heart.

Costco Membership Deal!

Abby H.

Costco is one of my favorite places to stock up on essentials. If you haven’t been in a while, it’s time to mask up and head over!

Right now there is a great deal for new memberships! Purchase a Costco Membership Activation Certificate to join as a new member and receive a  Costco Shop Card.

  • Gold Star Members receive a $10 Costco Shop Card.
  • Gold Star Executive Members receive a $20 Costco Shop Card.

It’s as easy and 1,2,3!

  1. Purchase your Costco Membership Activation Certificate here.
  2. Receive your Costco Membership Activation Certificate by email.
  3. Bring your Costco Membership Activation Certificate to any U.S. or Puerto Rico Costco location to join as a new member.

Here are my top five Costco Bargains:

  1. Rotisserie Chicken
  2. Butter
  3. PBFit
  4. Kodiak Cake Flapjack Mix
  5. Krusteaz Pancake Mix
  6. (Bonus) Their Gas Stations frequently are .20-.30/galloncheaper than the “discount” stations.

11/16/2020 Weekly Meal Plan

Abby H.

0a5e9dab796cea8a07eabe4eb4795b9e.jpgI wrote up the meal plan for this week last night and posted it on Instagram, but I was too pooped to sit down last night and write this post.

This weekend was busy (like all weekends):

  • Playmobil adventures
  • Lego Building
  • Barbie shenanigans
  • Drawing
  • Writing Practice
  • Shopping for new clothes because a little girl grew overnight

The past few weeks I’ve been cooking larger batches of recipes, and we’ve been relying a lot on them. This week will be a “refill” week for that. A big batch of meaty red sauce, a few batches of soup made directly to go in the freezer, and I’ll be making some mire poix bags up as well. I’ll be posting on Instagram for sure.

If you have kids between 2-18, check with your local school to see if they are offering free lunches and/or breakfasts. You can also check the USDA Website– but it might be a little out of date.

For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.

I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste. If you are looking for kitchen inventory printable, I like the kitchen inventories here. They are great printables.

I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.

Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2  for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids.  I also keep sandwich Ziploc bags of other frozen fruit on hand to make the kids smoothies when they request them (a few times per week). Berries, peaches, and mangos are pretty popular. recently the Big Kid has been on a protein shake kick in the AM.

Lunches will be whatever the kids want for the time being. The big kid has lunch at school, so it’s whatever he chooses from the lunch box in the cupboard, plus some fruit and juice or milk. Since the little girl is in the morning cohort at school, she has lunch at home. Buttered noodles, yogurt, apple slices, and a popsicle are her go-to lunch.

Usually, I do a crockpot meal on Mondays, but now that we are home all the time, we’ve been having an odd combination of fully home-cooked, scratch meals, and frozen entrees and veggies. I have been posting our meal plans on Instagram too- As well as pics of stuff we are doing to keep busy.

  • Sunday:  Leftovers/Fend for yo’ self
  • Monday:  Shakshuka, Salad, and Salad
  • Tuesday: Pasta with Meat Sauce, Salad, Garlic Bread
  • Wednesday: Veggie Nuggets, Fish Sticks, Veggie Fries, and Salad
  • Thursday: Breakfast (Most likely Pancakes, Eggs, and Fruit)
  • Friday:  Pizza Night!
  • Saturday: Leftover Shenanigans

Please stay safe you guys! The sooner we flatten the curve, the sooner life can go back to normal- whatever that means.

Talk Back: What are you cooking for dinner this week?

A Practical Guide to Setting A Budget (Part One)

Abby H.2 Comments

I’ve written about budgeting before, but now more than ever so many of us need to set up a budget that works. One that is easy to stick to. There are so many ways of doing a budget, so many styles- cash envelopes, bucket/different accounts, multiple debit cards for various budget items… It can be tricky. I’m going to be breaking down the household budget, and how it can be done, how to shave money off your household expenses, and save money without suffering or feeling like you are doomed to a life of instant ramen and tap water.

Recently I re-did the household budget after noticing that spending was…Outta Control. Here are a few things that helped me:

Track all of your outgoing expenses for three months. I made a list of all the bills, expenditures, etc., and went through the banking transactions online. Then I averaged them. Using the average for each, I plugged each one into a Google Sheets page.

Some of the categories I had are:

  • Mortgage (This includes impounds for our Homeowners insurance and property taxes)
  • Gas/Electric*
  • Gift Fund
  • Transfer to Savings
  • Life Insurance
  • Auto Insurance
  • Hulu
  • Car payment
  • Kids 529
  • Netflix
  • YMCA
  • Internet
  • Credit Card Balances
  • Student Loan Payments
  • Water Bill*
  • Groceries*
  • Fun Money (stuff to do with kiddos/girls nights in/date nights)*
  • Gasoline*

Of all of these categories, the only ones that have any difference per month are the ones I indicated with an asterisk (*). For Gas/Electric and the water bill, I averaged the cost over three months and used that amount for the budget.

The categories I included above are what is in my budget, you may have other items that my family does not. Some of the expenses such as Health Insurance and retirement savings come out of paychecks, so for our family, they are not included in our budget. You may wish to add them to your budget if you pay them directly.

Cash for some Budget Line Items: For items such as groceries, fun money, and gasoline I visit the ATM each week and take out cash. I paperclip the money for each budget line item together, and keep them separate in my wallet. When the money is gone, no more spending.

Doing cash for those line items really helps me take a hard look at shopping for groceries (this is when cash back apps, couponing, and price per unit knowledge all come in handy), and making sure that I am getting the best deal on gas (I have the gasbuddy app, it’s very useful). Any unspent money gets rolled over to the next week.

Making the ends meet: It’s important when you are adding up all expenses that once you add them up, subtract that amount from the money you bring in (wages, side hustles, selling plasma, whatever). If you are spending more than you  and you should be left with some money leftover. If you come to a negative number… Bruh, we gotta talk.

For example (and this is just an example):

  • Total income (including side hustles): $5000
  • Total household budget per month: $4500
  • Total amount leftover: $500 This leftover amount can be kept in your main account for unforeseen expenses, or move it to savings, or pay down extra on reoccurring debts (like car payment, student loans, or credit cards).

Uh, so if your number comes back negative, like this example:

  • Total income (including side hustles): $4500
  • Total household budget per month: $4600
  • Total amount leftover: -$100

Yeah. Bad times, my friends. That means you need to cut $100 from your budget. My next post about budgeting will go over what and how you can cut from your budget without feeling like you are suffering or living hand to mouth. I promise nothing crazy or nothing that I would not do myself if needed. And you can expect that post tomorrow.

Not all all related to setting a budget, but when I was searching for Budget stock photos, this photo of fruit salad was tagged “budget”. And I love fruit salad, so I had to include it.