A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life! : The Start Of This Full Frugal Adventure Of This Bi...

A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life! : The Start Of This Full Frugal Adventure Of This Bi...: When you look in a mirror at your life are you where at in your life? I am sure you can answer this question nine ways to Sunday and hop...

The Start Of This Full Frugal Adventure Of This Bipolar Mom's Family...The Honesty May Shock You

When you look in a mirror at your life are you where at in your life? I am sure you can answer this question nine ways to Sunday and hopefully for some of you are where you thought you would exactly be. However, my husband and I are not where we thought we would be at this point in our lives. Now let me stop you right there we are very happily married and have two wonderful miracles. I am talking about financial stability future, goals, and the dream of my family.

When Christopher and I first got married of course we had the American dream and we thought it would come easily probably just like most young and in love couples. However, reality sets in quickly and the American dream is a lot harder to obtain and there are usually a lot of bumps in the road to get there or even some where close to a dream you have for yourself. Now very sadly early on in the marriage suffered identity theft and for a young couple who is just starting out who has nothing it is really hard to recover if you really recover at all. The case was so bad the police were involved and once your identity is stolen it seems you victim the rest of your life here and there. Now I can blame all our financial problems on identity theft but that would not be beyond fair. My husband and I made tons of mistakes a long the way and up to the really near future. Like most Americans we have debt, I would not say we are not in a combined extreme amount of debt but I guess I would say average. We have one car payment, two credits, student loans and we consolidated the rest.  I will not lie we have debt collectors calls or places of payment because of late payment it is humiliating. Now why I said I combined debt is because I personally have a lot of student debts. You see my family was not rich enough to pay for my college and we were not poor enough for me to qualify for financial aid except for student loans. So the price of bachelors degree and master work is sixty thousand plus. So yes I am personally up into my eyeballs in student loan debt.

Now we are a one income family by semi-choice. I am sure people who will look at this and be like if you you both work you will likely get out of debt faster...blah blah blah. I once again will have to stop you right there. All of our bills are paid, are kids are very well taken care of( health care, food, clothes, and so on), we do not qualify for any assistance, and we have a roof over are head. My husbands career comes first and because of his type job it really does make it hard for me at this time to establish my career. So where we are currently stationed all my income would basically go towards decent childcare. I am however always toying with the idea of getting a part time job when my husband is home to watch the kids but that will be for another post and time. I have a very active 2 year old little boy and a precious 9 month little girl who I am lucky enough to stay home with and raise until they are both in school. So if you can imagine our income even though enough is very tight. There has been even a couple of mishaps and without the support of my parents I do not think we would have made it. The thing with being on a tight budget it makes it a very hard to save well for anything. As much as I love my parents it is not there job or place to help us when we were in that type of bind and I was incredibly grateful that they did help but it hurt that we could not help ourselves for that reason. Just like anyone my parents have a right and a reason to spend their hard earn money on what they want and not because I really screwed up my family budget. Now I said early in this blog paragraph that all our bills are paid and they are but I am not being honest with you or me if I do not admit about the mistakes that I have made in the past and how I was helped out of them now can I?

My husband and I decided we no longer want to live like this. Well live like what? Well we do not not have top of the line of stuff, are furniture is old, we have yet to be on a family vacation, and so on. So live like what? We want to no longer have to fear living on such a tight budget if something comes up that we will fail into back thee steps into financial ruin, paycheck to paycheck, in debt, and so on. We would love to be debt free, savings to be proud of, a dream family vacation, own a home, and so on. So what is the first step to this? Well since are bills are paid we decided to explore the frugal lifestyle. Now like any lifestyle change it is something can happen over night for most people and we are no exception. The point of being frugal is to understand the cost-per-use and the longevity of a purchase. Live below one's means to accumulate your nest egg, dreams, values, and the good life. Living and embracing the frugal lifestyle you will be able to live honestly and have your priorities in order. I hope you plan to follow me as I explore this adventure for my family from a mom and wife who is truly starting well from the beginning.

So here is to homemade laundry soap ...well again we will revisit that post to looking in the mirror and where we want to be.

A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life! : PANTY LINER USE 101: The Other Wonderful Uses of t...

A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life! : PANTY LINER USE 101: The Other Wonderful Uses of t...: By the title of this post I am sure I have a couple of you thinking why is this woman talking about panty liners and how to use them? No thi...

PANTY LINER USE 101: The Other Wonderful Uses of these products!

By the title of this post I am sure I have a couple of you thinking why is this woman talking about panty liners and how to use them? No this is not about health, puberty, or instructions that can be found on the package they come in. I have found neat, functional, emergency,and alternative uses for those little mini pads that I actually use on a daily/weekly basis!

For any woman or man who has purchased personal female care products likely have bought or have noticed the selection of panty liners. The first thing if you noticed they are range in price but are cheap. I personally purchase a lot of panty liners keep on hand and mostly not "ALL Personal Reasons". If you do the math from a personal stand point depending on what actual product you bought and you used one panty liner a day for whatever reason you could buy a year supply for around $15.00.

Now this is a basic liner. I know they come in all shapes, sizes, scents, and colors but for this post and purpose I use the cheap basic ones. However, in a pinch and need of one part with more expensive panty liner and when it is over you will see why I keep the cheap ones on hand! Now obvious and will be stated to get out they way the number one use for panty liners the directions and the use can be found right on the package.

Here are my uses for using panty liners on a daily/weekly basis 

1. Removing my nail polish. Now I am not taking credit for this idea but my sister-in-law gave me this idea. When I was at my parents my sister-in-law was in the process of painting her nails. She had everything but the material she was going to use with nail polish remover. Thought she was going to run to bathroom to grab a cotton balls or tp....she came back with a panty liner. She removed her nail polish with a panty liner. Well when I got home of course I had to try it! What I like about it is it does not fall apart, one does both hands and feet, and I usually get multiple uses from them! So instead of using cotton balls or rounds were I go through several I now keep a small package of panty liners with my nail stuff.

2.I do not what kind of shoes you wear that do not require socks but I wear tons of flats (thanks to be one inch short of being 6 foot) wedges and some times things with a little height if the mood hit me. Now I know they make no shoe socks and insoles which I both own but I have run into a couple of problems. I love the no show socks I buy mine at PayLess because I can find them in many colors such as black, white, brow, nude, green, and pink to fit my big size 11 gorgeous feet! However, if you wear these no show socks you realize they really are not "no show" socks and it really for me is not a problem when I am not wearing jeans but when I am dress or something where my shoe is being completely seen I do not want my socks to be shown it kind of one my pet peeves! Now I go without wearing socks and for a short time it is an okay solution but for having to in your shoes all day is a no go for me... foot sweat and stank! So I went looking for solutions I could by insoles and they have a wide variety of these as well. Well I ran into a couple of problems with these. I found a lot of them made my shoes to small and unlike tennis shoes you cannot remove the sole of these type shoes to replace with the other insoles. Well I started researching where else online when I am across a woman who used panty liners as shoe insoles. So I gave it a try! I took the panty liner took the strip off and stuck the adhesive side down into my shoe. After a trial and error of placement I found that my feet do not sweat and provide a little cushion in my flats. Now they lady trims the liner for her shoes because of her shoe size but because I have big feet I do not have to so I just grab a couple of liners out of my sock draw when I am wearing shoes that require assistant! You can also adjust the liner to other parts of your shoe it really is a trial and error process to see what works for you! 

3. Dog's personal use. If you have had female dogs that are not fixed well they go through heat. They just go not through often as human women. Well I have a female Jack Russell Chloe and my husband kept going back and forth in we were going to breed her. In the mean time we had to deal with her in the heat moments! Well I bought her something called bitch pants... I know funny right? Well basically they are blue diaper with a hole for the dog tail with a white absorbent layer and come in multiple sizes. Now you can allow her to wear as is and then wash it but as most women know when "accidents" occur it very hard to completely removed if not taken care of right away. Well I looked at the dog care products and low and behold they make pads for dogs and they are expensive!!!!!!!!!! They are more expensive than my products and thin like paper. Well LIGHT BULB! Well just as a woman would use a panty liner I lined her bitch pants with the liner in the area where she needs, change them out when I walk her, and wash the bitch pants at the end of the day! 

4. I cut myself in the truck. I was trying to open a package and sliced my finger on right on the finger. Well I was running out of the couple of napkins and my kids were crying and my husband was going into caring but not required panic mode. So I was looking around in my purse for something when I came across a panty liner and desperate times call for desperate measures! I opened it and placed it on my fingure and applied pressure calmed the kids down. Then when I realized the first aid kit was in the glove box the whole time! However, in a pinch the liner was clean a lot better then a somewhat clean napkin! So you know what I added to the first aid kit?That is right panty liners! 

Now I am sure there are other uses for these panty liners besides the "conventional" use these are just some of they alternative uses I use panty liners for.

WARNING BE CAREFUL  RESEARCHING PANTY LINERS ON THE INTERNET. I NOTICED NOT SOME NICE TITLES AND IN THE IMAGE SECTION HAD SOME PICTURES THAT I THOUGHT WERE NOT RELATED BUT WERE XXX RATED AND OTHERS WERE GROSS

A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life! : Teaching a Toddler to Brush Their Teeth an...

A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life! : Teaching a Child a Toddler to Brush Their Teeth an...: Now I usually stay away from parenting advice topics but I thought this is a fun one for me and pretty non conterversial. I mean we all...

Teaching a Toddler to Brush Their Teeth and How I Do It.. Includes A Fun Music Video From YouTube

Now I usually stay away from parenting advice topics but I thought this is a fun one for me and pretty non conterversial. I mean we all want to have healthy teeth and good oral hygine and this is how I go about it!!! If you go in my children's bathroom there are three child toothbrushes to one toddler. No my kid does not have three mouths but rather learning how to brush his teeth. Now you would think my son would only need one toothbrush like most adults. However, teaching and brushing his teeth became a battle and something needed to change. I had to think...How am I going to ge this cute but very stubborn strong willed toddler to learn and want to brush his teeth? Well th first part of the problem was to make it fun I mean a lot of things become more enjoyable when they become fun...don't you agree?

Say Hello To Caleb

Toothbrush Fun

The first area  I tackled or changed to help my son learn and want to brush his teeth was the toothbrush or should I say toothbrushes. I took Caleb with me to the store with me and the first toothbrush he picked out was a transformer toothbrush. I mean just like picking out big kid undies for potty training I felt like this was an important milestone for my child.  I just made sure the bristles were soft or extra soft like our dentist recommended. It helped a lot because it was his toothbrush and he wanted to brush his teeth with it. However, my husband gets ready for work in that bathroom in wee hours of the morning so his toothbrush is in there as well and he has a spinbrush and Caleb was just fasicnated by it and always wanting to use it. So one day while I was out I came across a child's spin brush on sale it has a smaller head on it and designed for little mouths and hands. I also came across a light up toothbrush in the shape of a lightsaber and the reason I bought this was because it stays lighted for two minutes. Now bare with me I will explain in just a minute why he has three toothbrushes. I also keep a couple toothbrushes on stock for travel for him and just in case something happens to one of this toothbrushes.

The second area I tackled or changed was making brushing his teeth fun or ways to keep him wanting to brush his teeth. So I thought of fun and creative ways. The first thing I let my son do is pick how he will brush his teeth by picking a toothbrush. Each toothbrush has its own game or way of brushing his teeth. If he picks the basic toothbrush it is a copycat game and he must copy cat everything I do. Sometime I clap or raise my hands, sing (badly) and then making brushing movements and brusm my teeth and he copies. I do suggest though if you use this game you do not make the child move like jumping or running because if the child has the toothbrush in their mouth they could trip your fall and really hurt themselves. If he picks the spinbrush he has to act like a big boy because his Daddy is a big boy. This one is not so much as fun but as a lot of positive reinforcement. He moves the stool by himself, puts the toothpaste on the brush, brushes his teeth by himself, rinses his brush, an wipes down the sink all by himself. In the meantime I am telling him what a big boy he is and reminding him of the routine and there to help just incase. I just cannot explain the smile on his face when he has all done!!! Finally if he picks the toothbrush that light sup we brush are teeth in the dark for two minutes. We put his stool up to the sink turn off the lights (the night light comes on and you can see the sink and have visibility if not it could get kind of messy). He has a blast brushing his teeth with a green light!! When I let him pick this toothbrush I stand right behind him on the stool so he cannot fall and I reinforce the importance to him about him not to run or even walk with the tooth brush in his mouth.

I found it amazing that sometimes he wanted nothing to do with light up brush or switches daily but it keeps him engaged which I love. We also engage the frequencey of brushing his teeth. I usually like my son to brush his teeth at least twice a day we sometimes do more depending what he been eating and because he is still learning. Once I am confident that I know he knows how to brush his teeth properly I am sure it will go to about two times but we are still a bit away from that goal. I noticed the more thrilled about making brushing teeth exciting so is he! Often times when I tell him it is time to brush his teeth he makes a bee line to the bathroom!

Other Little Tidbets

I focus on routine and skills with my children i often find tools to aid with that. After Christmas I found this FAST TRACK SMILES HOTWHEELS SET (I think I paid $2 for it in the after Christmas sel at Walmart I even bought my 4-month old daughter at the time a Tinkerbell one and have it stored away for when it is her time to start brushing so hopefully she likes faires). His set comes with a lillte cup, toothbrush holder,cheap toothbrush (which I snagged for a cleaning brush) and has a whotwheels decoration on it. The only thing I do not like about it is the car likes to pop off it so I am going to have to glue it on there! Caleb understands where the toothbrush goes when he is done brushing his teeth as well as other basic routine steps in his brushing teeth routine.

I purchased this at Walmart after Christmas so I am not sure if it is seasonal or if they will bring it back next Christmas season. 

WHAT I AM WORKING ON

Now there are still a couple of things I am working on. With all thins this is a constant learning process and I am sure when he is older I will learn about and try to conquer other dental challenges

One of things that I am working on is teach Caleb how to brush his teeth properly and with him being two and trying to explain it to him about getting the front, back, side, and even the tounge has hit a road block. I mean you can show him or have him copy you show much. Some of the ideas that I have come up with envolve around the concept of mimic. Most children will watch what you do then proceed to mimic what you have done. I have thought about getting two sets of chattering teeth or making something in my crafting mind of fake teeth and sitting down with my son and teaching him how to brush the teeth of these items or even a doll with teet. The only problem is Caleb does not like to sit to sit down very long so I am not sure if it will capture his attention but I am going to have to try.

The second thing I am trying to teach my son is how to spit. I would have never thought it would be this hard to teach a boy how to spit!!! I would think this is something he would want to do but none the less we are still working on this and I can only assume will come with time and practice. With this being said we are using a fluoride-free training tooth paste which is safe to swallow. Now I know there are many opinions on what toothpaste for your children and family to use all I can it is personal choice and research the right tooth paste for your little one.

An example of trainging toothpaste on the market to day. You can find it at most supermarkets, drug stores, and online.

 Once he learns how to spit we are moving on to flossing, rinsing, and swishing (with water and mouth rinse if need be). There are tons of items out there. Please reserach all items and figure out what is best for your family and what may be right for my family may not be right for yours.

The third thing is routine. My son loves routine and does respond to visuals like charts but because we are still working on several milestones I do not want to overwhelm him with charts so that is for a later time. I have included some pictures of examples of routine and brushing charts. If you google or on pinterest you can find tons of printables. If you are crafty there are tons of ideas on making routine charts and so on...

and this is my world of teaching my toddler how to brush his teeth...

THIS IS JUST MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS ON HOW I TACKLED TEACHING MY TODDLER BRUSH HIS TEETH I STRESS WHAT HAS WORKED FOR ME MAY NOT WORK FOR YOU. THE METHODS THAT I USE MAY BE SOMETHING THAT YOU DISAGREE WITH BUT ARE IN NO WAY MADE TO OFFEND YOUR PARENTING STYLE. I MAY DISAGREE WITH YOUR PARENTING STYLE OR PARTS YOUR STYLE BUT I RESPECT YOUR CHOICES AND ASK YOU TO EXTEND THE SAME RESPECT TO ME.

HAPPY READING! 

A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life! : Is Anyone Else Confused On Parenting Labels and St...

A Bipolar Mom and Her Daily Life! : Is Anyone Else Confused On Parenting Labels and St...: Okay I know before I start this post.. a lot of parents are going to know a lot about their "parenting styles" but if you are like...