Knowing what to expect from a great removalist company is key to securing the best team to help you. If this is the first time you are hiring a team yourself, you are going to need some guidelines, so you know exactly what to look out for.
If you don’t do your research, you will find that things can start to go wrong quickly. The more you know how to look for a professional and reliable team of removalists, the easier and smoother your move will go.
If you are looking for cheap removalists in Logan like Vic Palmer Removals and Storage, the company surely offers great services. It’s recommended to choose a company that has been operating for several years and has completed a number of moves with varying needs as this means they have plenty of experience.
What Are The Signs Of A Brilliant Removalist?
The more research you do, the more you will be able to see the pros of hiring a certain removalist. When you choose a reliable and professional team, there will be signs to help you tell they are a great choice to go for and here is a list:
Complete selection of services
The company should be comprehensive and have a lot to offer. The best companies out there will cover everything from local to cross-state relocations, great packing materials and knowledge of how to care for fragile items. They will be experienced enough to also offer you explanations you require when you have specific questions around a certain service they provide.
They offer storage facilities
Some of the top removal firms will give you the option to store your belongings in a safe storage location if needed. This extra bonus will also mean you won’t have to look elsewhere and shop around for brand new quotes so will make your job much easier.
They have guarantees in place
You want a removals company who will offer compensation on valuable belongings, so you are covered on all fronts. This is especially the case if you have high ticket valuable items and treasures. You want to ensure they are protected from any damages so you need to find a company with a zero-damage policy so you are fully covered. Another key element you are dealing with a top removalist company is that this cover will be valid locally but also interstate too.
Highly trained and experienced staff are invaluable to a seamless move. You will tell some of the top ones from the mediocre by the quality of service they deliver and moving satisfaction quotes on their website. Also, it’s well worth checking out any customer feedback or reviews so you get a good insight into the realistic service they provide.
Being a homeowner is so exciting. The sense of freedom that comes with owning your own home is pretty amazing, and you may feel like nothing could go wrong. Lots of things can go wrong in your home, however, unless you schedule home maintenance services.
The worst part of being a homeowner? The moment you realize that there’s more to it than you expected.
Home maintenance services protect your home from unwanted and expensive repairs, and they can just improve the look of your home. These services also improve the way certain parts of your home function. While some of the maintenance can be done by you (or your spouse), others will require a professional.
Home Maintenance Services To Schedule Now
1. HVAC Maintenance
Air Conditioner Maintenance
Each spring you should have an HVAC technician come to your home and inspect your air conditioner before using it for the year. They’ll likely clean it (if necessary), and they’ll make sure it’s all running efficiently.
Even if repairs aren’t necessary, an HVAC professional will do the routine maintenance that ensures your unit doesn’t require costly repairs in the near future. This maintenance can also keep your utility bill a little lower, since your unit will be running efficiently.
Furnace Maintenance
Likewise, in the fall, you should have an HVAC technician inspect your furnace before the first use. They’ll do the routine maintenance that has all the same perks as for the air conditioning maintenance, but it’ll also help prevent a house fire caused by a glitch in your furnace.
2. Hot Water Heater Maintenance
An HVAC company may be able to do your hot water heater maintenance, as well. Two birds, one stone if you hire a company that can do both your A/C and your hot water heater.
Hot water heater maintenance will ensure that your water won’t unexpectedly run cold at an inconvenient time.
3. Gutters Cleaned
Having your gutters cleaned isn’t just for appearance. There are quite a few reasons to make sure they are regularly cleaned out.
First, it helps get water away from your home so that it doesn’t all settle around your foundation. Next, it prevents trees and weeds from growing out of your gutters, which also protects your home. Another reason is to reduce the number of mosquitoes and other insects that breed in your space.
4. Power Washing
Your home can become stained and built up with grime and pollutants. Each spring, you should power wash your home to remove all of this. It can prevent your home from becoming permanently stained, reduce the number of allergens found around your home, and it will make your home look better.
This one can be done on your own but, if you don’t like doing this kind of stuff, you can always hire someone to do it.
5. Lawn Maintenance
BOOOOO lawn maintenance. Does anyone else hate mowing the lawn as much as I do? OK, I’ll be honest, I have NEVER mowed my own lawn.
Now, this isn’t out of laziness, I swear. My allergies get SO bad when grass is being cut that I can hardly breathe sometimes. So, when my husband mows the grass, I take a Zyrtec and settle myself inside.
So anyhow, you have to do lawn maintenance for a couple of reasons. Of course, maintaining your lawn just makes your house look pretty on the outside and everyone wants that.
Second, it eliminates pests. Insects and large pests alike love an unkempt yard. You’ll find that your outdoor events are swamped with mosquitoes if you don’t keep up on this maintenance.
This is another maintenance that you can easily do on your own but you can also hire a professional to take care of the job for you. Hiring professional maintenance services for your lawn care can save you time and make sure the job is done well each time.
It’s also worth noting that the property itself isn’t the only thing you can maintain and restore. You can do the same thing with your furniture and other belongings. By using contents restoration services, you can have your furniture looking as good as new. If you’re giving your home some TLC, why not look after the furniture?
Final Thoughts On Home Maintenance Services
A home is one of our biggest investments. It’s also the place where we spend a ton of our time and where we raise our families. You may not think there’s much that needs to be done to keep your home running smoothly and looking good, but there are certain home maintenance services you should schedule ASAP.
Many of these maintenances should only be done by a professional, the others you can likely do yourself, but you could save yourself some time and headache if you just hire a professional for all of it. So, get your home maintenance services scheduled so that you can sit back and relax, knowing your home is taken care of.
Spring is FINALLY here and while the temperatures in Michigan still keep slipping into the high 30’s, I think we will soon get some relief. Since next week is supposed to be significantly warmer, I knew I had to move quickly and take the list of things to do this spring out of my notebook and turn it into an actual printable.
I swear, in Michigan, we get 6 months of winter temperatures, 2 WEEKS of spring temperatures, and then the summer temperatures come in full force. It’s a little insane if you think about it.
We have already knocked out a few of the suggestions on the list, but I had only been keeping track in my notebook before creating the free printable. My kids were super excited to check things off the list when I printed it to hang up, though, so I’m glad I let them take over with the tracking!
Anyhow, without further ado, here is the list of 30 things to do this spring:
Things to Do This Spring
1. Go on a nature scavenger hunt.
Sylas (4) LOVES scavenger hunts. Any type of activity where he has a to search, hunt, or follow a map is right up his ally. Since spring brings on a whole new range of textures, sights, and smells, I thought a nature scavenger would be best. This gives the littles a chance to explore the fresh earth and all that it has to offer.
A quick Pinterest post led me to the perfect nature scavenger hunt. I planned on creating one myself, but since this one was so perfect, I didn’t bother.
Spring is pretty breezy, which means it’s the perfect time to fly a kite. Find a spot that’s slightly higher than just a flat area of land, and the flight will soar so high.
We are lucky and have a park just minutes away from our house with a huge hill. My kids go to the top of the hill to fly their kites and from down below, it is pretty magical. When they do it, the kites rarely hit the ground, either, which is pretty awesome.
3. Play tag at the park.
It’s true that you can play tag at home without ever leaving the house, but it just isn’t as fun. By going to the park to play tag instead of doing it the usual way, you are allowing your children to play one of their favorite games in a totally new environment, and how cool will that be for them?!
4. Jump in puddles.
Make use of all the rain that spring brings with it, and have some fun jumping in those puddles. This is the perfect time to pull out the rainboots but, if you don’t have any or don’t feel like looking, just go barefoot!
5. Plant or tend a garden.
Believe it or not, kids LOVE to learn about the land we live on. This is the perfect way to allow them to learn, have fun, and do something productive. I have many flower gardens throughout our yard and half of them were planted by my kids over the last few years. It’s so much fun for the kids to see their hard work pay off when the plants grow into something beautiful.
You can plant flowers or vegetables. Kids tend to try new foods if they made them, so I’m thinking that if they were to plant and grow their own vegetables, they may be more likely to eat them? I’m not sure if that logic works but it’s worth a shot!
6. Have an ice cream bar.
On one of the warmer nights, set out the ingredients for an ice cream bar. This could include multiple flavors of ice cream, chocolate syrup, bananas, candy pieces, sprinkles, chocolate chips, cherries, whipped cream, and anything else that you enjoy on your ice cream. To make this one even more fun, you can take your kids to the store and let them choose their own toppings.
This may be one of the easiest suggestions on the list, to be honest. This is because it’s free, easy, and there is no prep work involved. You can take a walk around your neighborhood, or you can venture out and find some good hiking trails in your area.
8. Have a game night.
My kids LOVE game night. We get out all the kid games and play them one after another until the kids get bored or I bribe them with a movie. Come on… as much as we love game night, you have to admit that we can only settle so many arguments before we’ve had enough.
Anyhow, we choose some yummy snacks (mostly store bought, but we also let the kids choose a few homemade options).
9. Feed the ducks.
This is something that I have never done before, which is pretty crazy if you think about it. I’m super excited to take my kids to do it. There is this super cute park in my city that is pretty popular for feeding ducks (and it has a super old train that kids love!), so I plan on going there.
Now that I think about it, though, I don’t even know what to feed ducks. Is it bread? I’ll have to google that in a minute.
10. Have a barbeque.
Make sure it’s kid friendly! Unless you don’t have kids, that is. Then make it 100% grown up friendly. Since I have kids, however, mine will have to be kid friendly.
That means hotdogs, hamburgers, and lots of kid friendly side dishes. I’ll probably do this one with a bunch of the other outside, at home ones while the food is cooking. No one says you can’t combine multiple ideas from the list at one time. 😉
11. Spend time star gazing.
Honestly, I feel like I don’t spend enough time simply enjoying the outdoors, especially at night time. Instead, I go inside the minute the sun is gone, preferring the bright warmth of my home.
This spring I plan on changing that and enjoying nature a little more. Disconnecting for a while and spending calming time with my kids while learning about our world sounds so peaceful. I also have a star gazing book I’ve been dying to put to use, so this will be the perfect time for that.
12. Blow bubbles.
Kids love, love, love to blow bubbles. All ages. Take some time to do this WITH them, and they’ll love it even more.
13. Draw with sidewalk chalk.
This is the perfect time to practice letters, numbers, sight words, name recognition, and art. The possibilities with sidewalk chalk are limitless. You can also pull out some classic sidewalk chalk games such as tic tac toe and hopscotch. Another fun idea is to draw lines on the ground and have your kids walk on them.
14. Have a picnic.
Kick off your shoes, settle back on a blanket, and unpack your picnic basket. Kids love to have picnics, and it is the perfect time to simply talk and unwind with your littles.
15. Read books outside.
So this probably won’t go as planned, but I envision all of us sitting calmly, relaxing while reading books outside. My kids will probably run around instead, but it gives me a good excuse to read outside and maybe, just maybe, my kids will join me for a little while.
16. Play hide and seek outside.
Face it, everyone in your house knows all of the hiding places inside. It isn’t even fun anymore when you already know where to look. Take the game outside now that the weather is nice!! Set a few ground rules to ensure that everyone remembers to be safe, pair a grown up or big kid with the toddlers, and search for new hiding places!!
17. Watch the sunset.
Is there anything more relaxing and breathtaking than a sunset? End one of your perfect spring days this way, and invite your kids to enjoy it, too.
18. Have a movie night.
Make it complete with popcorn, movie theater candy, and a yummy drink. Let loose a little and let your kids have a fun night laughing at their favorite movie with you and their siblings. It’ll be a night they’ll remember for years to come.
19. Make a spring craft.
I never need an excuse to make crafts, and if you give me an excuse, I may go a little bit crazy. Spring is the best time to do crafts because you can get a little bit messier than normal by moving craft time outside.
Paint a little more, use nature-inspired items on crafts, and maybe even incorporate some ice cubes or squirt guns. Luckily, Pinterest has TONS of options to choose from, and if you follow me on Pinterest I have a board already dedicated to it.
20. Play catch.
Baseball, football, whatever kind of ball you’ve got… just get outside and play catch. So many memories and bonding moments can happen during these seemingly little moments.
21. Paint rocks outside.
Go on an adventure and find your own rocks to paint! This will make them even more special. When you’re done you can save them or head out and hide them around town for others to find later.
22. Run barefoot in the grass.
My kids have already done this a million times this spring, so I think I can cross it off now.
23. Look for shapes in the clouds.
This is another time to lay back, unwind, and give your kids a chance to talk to you. Even better, it may just be a good time to laugh and be silly with them.
24. Shaving cream play outside.
Wear play clothes (or work clothes if you’re an adult), and get messy with shaving cream. I intend to work on letters, numbers, and sight words with my kids, but I know it’ll eventually turn into kids being covered in shaving cream. If it’s warm enough, you can just use a hose to clean off.
25. Have a bonfire.
In the spring, the evenings can be pretty chilly, so after the sun sets, light a fire and put on a hoodie to stay warm. Make it an even better night by roasting some marshmallows and making s’mores.
26. Go to yard sales.
Yard sale signs are the first indicator that spring is here. Stop by a few and let your kids grab a couple toys that may or may not break by the end of the day. You might get lucky and find some super cute home décor, a new patio set, or something even better.
27. Have a toy car carwash.
Get some hot wheels cars dirty and let your kids clean them with toothbrushes, soap, and water. If your kids are anything like my kids, they LOVE water play. Add in some cars and soap and it’s going to be the best day ever.
28. Watch a sports game.
This should be easy to do if you just hit up your local sports field on a Saturday morning. You’ll likely find soccer, baseball, tennis, or track this time of year.
If you have kids in spring sports, you’ve likely already watched a sports game or two this year. I’m in your boat, and I’ve written a post about how to survive spring sports season.
29. Go for a drive and find a new park.
I’m pretty sure that we’ve already played at every park near me, so this may take a trip to a nearby city. I love to explore and I know that my kids do, too, so I think it’ll be fun!! This may just have to be our picnic day.
30. Collect plants and other items to make into artwork.
You can make a collage, a picture frame, letters or a name, or anything else that you little artists come up with. Let them choose their own materials and follow their own ideas. It’ll be fun for everyone, and it is the perfect time to teach them (show them) about trial and error.
Things to Do This Spring Bucket List – Free Printable
My kids always LOVE to check items off of a list. They likely get this trait from their list-loving mother, but I’d say she isn’t that bad. 😉
Since we all agree that lists are awesome, I tend to create bucket list printables for every occasion. To thank you for reading my blog, I’m giving the printables away for FREE. Feel free to download and print the spring bucket list printable so that you never forget the 30 things to do this spring, and please send it along to a friend who may like one, as well!!
Okay, I may have gone a bit crazy and created three different printables, but I couldn’t help myself. Choose whichever one you like best!!! The link for each one is below the corresponding picture, just click where it says “Spring bucket list”.
In the past, Easter hasn’t been a very memorable holiday for my family. We celebrate with one side of the family the week before Easter, and then not at all with the other side of the family.
We would do Easter baskets in the morning, and then our big kids would head off to spend the day with their mom’s side of the family. The rest of us would just hang out at home and eat “normal day” foods for dinner. We always made it a fun day and spent lots of time playing with the littles, and we would make sure to do a small Easter egg hunt, but it was never an Easter worth remembering.
This year, I am looking forward to something completely different for Easter. I want this Easter to memorable and exciting, so I have spent the last few weeks searching for ideas and preparing for the big day, and I can’t wait until we get to celebrate!
10 Memorable Easter Ideas to Make This Year Special
1. Start the day with an Easter-themed breakfast
While the highlight of Easter morning is normally seeing what goodies the Easter bunny brought, breakfast could be a close second. I found the cutest Easter bunny pancakes while I was browsing Pinterest and immediately added them to my list of Easter festivities.
Since my little Liam is allergic to egg I will have to use my own recipe or substitute for the egg, but the idea will still be the same. I can’t wait to see my kids’ reaction when they see their Easter breakfast!!
I am absolutely in love with having fresh flowers displayed around my home. Not only do they look beautiful, but they also add a fresh scent to the air that can’t be faked in any way. Love, love, love it.
For me, Easter is the day when I really start to feel like Spring is here (or near). I am hoping my family all feels that way on Easter, and having flowers decorating the house should help with that.
I know many people cook on the grill on Easter but, for our family, that doesn’t seem very Easter-y. I mean, we cook on the grill so often during the spring and summer that I feel like it just makes Easter seem like any other day.
Having a traditional Easter dinner will make the day seem more festive and special, so my menu this year consists of ham, scalloped potatoes, Easter bunny shaped rolls, asparagus, carrots, and a variety of fruits.
4. Fill plastic Easter eggs with something other than candy
My kids get a ton of candy at our family Easter egg hunt so I hate buying them more candy for our own hunt. In the past, I have done it anyway and ended up with more candy than any family needs in a lifetime.
This year, I am going to fill the plastic Easter eggs with non-candy items instead. At first, I struggled to come up with a variety of items small enough for plastic Easter eggs so, in case you’re like me, I’m including my list of ideas for the Easter egg hunt.
Pieces of papers with numbers that correspond with a specific larger item (kite, bubbles, chalk, activity book, etc.)
Un-inflated balloons
Tiny figurines (Dollar General has Paw Patrol characters that are small enough to fit)
Fingernail polish
“Coupons” (stay up 30 minutes past bedtime, have an extra 30 minutes of screen time, choose your favorite snack at the store, no chores for a day/week, etc.)
Coin money
Paper money
Hotwheels cars (I had to open the package to fit the car in the egg)
Goldfish crackers
Raisins
This post contains affiliate links. It costs you nothing extra, but I may receive a small commission.
5. Have an “Easter egg hunt” for adults (AKA: Beer hunt)
Easter isn’t just for the kids!! Get out there and have some fun. You deserve it after all the careful planning you did for Easter!
Have a non-drinking adult hide the beer around the yard, and then the rest of the adults all rush off to see how many they can find. You keep (and drink) whatever you find, of course!
6. Do memorable Easter crafts
Easter crafts can be done anytime leading up to Easter, so you can get extra creative with this ideas. This is handy because you won’t have to squeeze all of the fun stuff into one single day. It also makes it possible for you to help your littles with their crafts, or you can take the time to talk about the meaning of Easter while working on crafts with them.
On the actual day of, you can plan a craft that the kids can do all on their own since you’re likely to be pretty busy that day.
A fun idea for a craft during the Easter day celebration is coloring pages. Kids will be able to do this at their leisure, and they won’t require adult assistance.
7. In the week leading up, do Easter-themed activities
This might be my most favorite part of any holiday. Easter is the most fun because of the plastic Easter egg idea, though. You can use plastic Easter eggs for so many activities, learning concepts, and sensory play.
Dessert is my favorite part of the meal, so I plan on making it extra special. Just like with the adult Easter hunt, adults cannot be forgotten at dessert time, either. I plan on making a few desserts; one that the adults will love, one that the kids will love, and one that everyone will love. This way, no one will be disappointed.
You can help your kids get by until dinner with yummy Easter treats. I plan on bringing out one treat when we first start our celebration preparation, one while the food is cooking, and one later on while the adults are catching up. I want these treats to be Easter-themed, but also kind of interactive and fun.
I am so, so, so excited about this part. This idea came from the TV show on Netflix, and if you haven’t watched “Nailed It” on Nexflix, I highly recommend it. I already bought Easter cookie cutters and we are going to make sugar cookies in the shape of eggs, flowers, bunnies, and other Easter or spring inspired shapes.
Once the cookies are baked and cooled, we are going to choose a couple design ideas from Pinterest and have a challenge to see who can come closer to nailing the design.
Final Thoughts On Memorable Easter Ideas
Easter tends to be a “forgotten” holiday in our family. We don’t ignore the holiday or anything, but we have never gone all out before. This year, I plan on changing that. I want to make this Easter memorable for everyone in my family, adults included.
Tell me about your Easter plans!!! What traditions does your family follow? What new ideas do you want to implement?
The New Year is already here, and I just sat down this morning to figure out my New Year’s Resolution. I wanted it to actually be achievable goals for the New Year. It was a tough call because I can honestly say I won’t be going to the gym every day (or even once a week… I have 5 kids LOL), I also won’t ALWAYS eat healthily so I’m not going to restrict myself there, either. Every resolution that I considered just didn’t seem right.
I instead thought about what areas of my life I wanted to improve in, and things that I wanted to learn about. It seemed that everything I desire fits into two categories:
Instead of heading into the rest of the year with vague resolutions to improve finances, improve our home, and focus on family, I decided to make a list of how I can accomplish all of those things.
I didn’t go overboard. There are so many more things I could have added to my list, but I wanted to start with an achievable goal. I figure that I will be more likely to follow my goals through when I actually have a goal that seems possible, instead of a vague idea to work toward the goal.
I didn’t want this: Spend more time with family. Instead, I wanted something specific: Dates with kids weekly.
Then, I even went further into it and wrote:
“Dates with kids weekly. One kid each week, rotating schedule. After 5 weeks of individual kid dates, one big family outing. Then start over.
Not all of my achievable goals for the New Year were that long, either. That was probably the most complicated one. (List of all 10 of my goals for the New Year will be listed at the end of the post).
Later tonight I plan on sitting down and making a concrete schedule of dates with the kids. I may make and print out a calendar of the whole year and write it on there. Then I can put it into a binder so that the kids can always look and see when their next date is.
Plus, it might be fun to put a memento from the date in the binder afterward. Then, next year on New Year’s Eve we can look back at all of our date memories from the year.
I wanted to figure out a plan to implement each of the things I wanted to achieve. Once I narrowed it all down and wrote out my detailed list, all of the fun ideas came naturally when I began typing up my plans. The “date binder” was one of those that just came as I was planning.
So – back to the achievable goals for the New Year. Instead of just choosing one or two vague ideas of which areas I wanted to improve in, I came up with 10 smaller achievable goals.
10 Achievable Goals For The New Year
Follow chore/payment chart (blog post about that is coming soon so check back!!)
Start seeing a larger increase in the savings account.
Hire someone to do the yard work. (so serious. we can never keep up and I’m sick of stressing about it.)
FREAKING LAUNDRY. (and yes, this is how I wrote it on my list. I guess this one might be vague but I will be typing a schedule for everyone in the house to follow.)
Dates with kids weekly. One kid each week, rotating schedule. After 5 weeks of individual kid dates, one big family outing. Then start over. (We have 5 kids, hence the 5 weeks. If you have less/more, adjust the number accordingly).
Crunch numbers for vacations for the year before January 14th. Come up with a savings plan and a plan of when to make payments by February 1st.
Lose 40 pounds. 10 pounds every 3 months. First goal: Lose 10 pounds by March 1st.
Buy “clutter baskets” for each person in the home. Put anything they’ve left lying around the house in those baskets and distribute accordingly after school.
Final Thoughts On Achievable Goals For The New Year
All 10 of these goals are achievable goals for the new year. I won’t have to make a HUGE change in my lifestyle, I’ll just have to plan a little better and look for ways to cut costs while also making more money. Plus, I just need a plan to contain all the freaking clutter that my family accumulates each day.
I never follow through with my New Years Resolutions because I never come up with a list of ways to actually accomplish my goals in life. This time is different.
It may sound crazy to have 10 New Years Resolutions, but if they really are achievable goals for the new year, you can hit your goal sooner and see all the progress you have made. Plus, when you do accomplish one, you can come up with an even bigger goal next time.
Did you set any goals for yourself for the New Year? Tell me about them in the comments!
Before anyone gets offended, this post about re-gifting is *mostly* a joke. You know you’ve done it, though. 😉
We all get little gifts that we may never use… and what do we do with them? Do you store them in a closet for years and forget all about them, or do you re-gift them to someone who may actually get a use out of it?
Re-gifting can be tricky, and you’re taking a chance of someone being offended by your actions. If you do it right, though, no one will ever know, right?!
Before you re-gift something, here are a few tips you should follow.
Tips For Re-gifting
1. Make sure you don’t re-gift the gift to the person who originally gave it to you.
I know people who have “re-gifting closets” or a “re-gifting shelf” where they store all items they want to re-gift until an occasion comes up that requires a gift. This could be a great idea… until it’s not.
What if you stored a gift in the “re-gifting closet” and then a couple months pass and you need a house-warming gift? You suddenly remember that baking set you got for Christmas a couple months before and you rush to get it and wrap it up. You arrive at the house-warming party, set the gift down, and set about mingling. Fast forward to when it is time to open gifts.
The host of the party begins to open your gift, only to realize that you gifted her (or him) the same present that they had given you for Christmas. When this happens, you will both be embarrassed… the host because you obviously didn’t like the gift they got you, and you are embarrassed because you accidentally re-gifted a gift to the person who originally gave you the gift!!
This could be a problem if you give the gift and another guest at the party recognizes it as the one they gave you, as well.
You have to be careful if you are ballsy enough to re-gift. Maybe tape a piece of paper to the gift that says who gave it to you so that you can prevent a similar situation from happening.
2. Remember to remove the original gift tag.
If there is a gift tag on the bag or the package that the gift is in, make sure you remove it. Nothing will make it a more obvious re-gift than leaving a gift tag right on the gift that says the gift was FOR you, from someone else.
3. Don’t let your kids know you are re-gifting.
Not only do they have big mouths and may possibly blab to the new recipient that the gift was actually given by someone else, they may also pick up bad habits. If they see you re-gifting something you received, they may think it’s okay to not show appreciation. They may also tell the original gift-giver that you didn’t like your gift and gave it to someone else.
4. Don’t give the gift to someone who personally knows the original gift-giver.
Could you imagine one of your good friends giving you a gift and then seeing it in another friend’s home? I’m sure it wouldn’t be too hard to make the connection. This could happen with family members, as well.
5. Just keep it.
This is the easiest option. It may collect dust in your closet, but at least your conscience is clear. Plus, there is no chance of the original gift giver or the new gift receiver finding out about the re-gift. You will also be setting a good example for your kiddos.
If you have a best friend, sibling, or even child who would appreciate the gift, just give it to them. Don’t wrap it and claim it as a gift you thought of and picked out on your own. Let them know that you thought of them when you opened it and that you think they would get more use out of it than you would.
Final Thoughts on Re-gifting
Re-gifting can be a tricky situation. While you’d hate to have a gift taking up closet space, you could spare the feelings of all involved by either re-gifting carefully and thoughtfully, or you could just choose to keep the gift.
This is an opportunity to set a good example for your kids, as well. You can say thank you, show appreciation, and then keep the gift that was chosen for you. This may teach your kids to be appreciative and polite.
Another option: You could just give (not as a gift) the item to someone close to you. Make it clear that you received it from someone else but don’t think you’ll use it very much.
We have all re-gifted something at one point in our lives, though, so if you choose to do so this holiday season, remember to follow these tips. Everyone will be spared the hurt/embarrassment associated with re-gifting, and your kids won’t be given the wrong idea.
Have you ever re-gifted something you received? What was it and how did it work out for you?
If you haven’t re-gifted, can you give tips on what to do with the gift instead if you will not be personally using it? Leave a comment!
As a mom, I wanted to be home with my littles. I worked a full-time job, and I was depressed every single day because I would have to drop my littles off with a babysitter and spend the next 9 hours away from them. When I picked them up at the end of the day, they were usually grumpy and clingy. Then, we would get home, have dinner, work on homework with the big kids, give baths, and then it was bedtime. I had to make money in order to supplement my husband’s income, so it wasn’t possible for him to be the only one making money.
I felt like I literally never had time to cuddle, play, and spend time with my kids. It was so hard on me. Plus, the cost of child care was just ridiculous, it didn’t make much sense to work. I quit my job and began trying different things to make staying at home a long-term possibility.
What I Tried
I began my stay-at-home mom journey thinking I would open my own daycare out of my home. Quickly, I realized that it wasn’t for me. I felt like I never left work, I still wasn’t able to give my kids the attention I wanted to give them, and I was more overwhelmed and stressed out than before. Plus, it made my house SO MESSY.
Next, I decided to try freelance writing. I began researching, and I found my niche there. This one really does work for me, but I’ll get more into that later.
Then, there was taking surveys. This works, but it isn’t something I still do. Again, I’ll get to that more in just a little while.
I’ve tried direct sales in the past and those are just definitely not for me. I don’t like to sell, apparently, and I hate making my friends and family feel obligated to buy things that they don’t really want.
I’ve also tried selling clothes on the Facebook marketplace, doing transcription work, and rating ads on Facebook. I have tried a wide variety of ways to make money from home, and a handful of things I have tried have worked to help me earn more than $1,000 a month!
How it Has Helped My Family
$1,000 a month may not seem like a ton of money, but it has really made all the difference in living paycheck to paycheck and having a little spending money each month.
There were months in the past when we couldn’t even pay all of our bills. This resulted in late fees, overdraft charges, and it was incredibly detrimental to mine and my husband’s credit scores. It would seem like no matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t get ahead and stay in a good place financially.
I am so serious when I say that this $1,000+ every month has helped us reach our short-term financial goals, keeping us ahead of our bills, leaving money for saving, and for doing fun things as a family. Now we will be able to begin saving for the bigger expenses, such as putting new flooring in our home or remodeling our kitchen.
5 Ways to Make Money from Home
Freelance Writing –
This is, without a doubt, my favorite way to make money as a stay-at-home mom. I love to write, and if I had known it could be so easy to do online, I would have done it YEARS ago. After doing my research, I determined that TextBroker was the best place for me to start since I had never done freelance work before. I started out as a 3-star writer and quickly made my way up to a 4-star writer. As a 4-star writer, I earn .014 cents per word. So, for an article that is 2,500 words, I would earn $35. I get paid from Textbroker every Friday.
What I do on TextBroker is choose a job from a wide variety of topics, read the client briefing, and decide if I want to accept that job. They are all writing jobs, obviously. I actually write quite a few blog posts on TextBroker. By submitting the article to them, I am giving them permission to list themselves as the author. I no longer own the writing once I have submitted it to them.
Rating ads on Facebook –
I do this through a company called Appen. Appen used to be called LeapForce, so maybe you have heard of them before. I applied with Appen without fully understanding what the job was. It’s not that I was oblivious to what I was applying for, I kind of understood, but there are many different projects available. I applied for a few different projects, and I was accepted to the Nile Project. The Nile Project pays $11 per hour to rate ads on Facebook. It is SO easy. Tedious, but easy. The only catch is that you can only work 1 hour per day on this project. That’s okay, though, because it quickly adds up. I only get paid from Appen one time a month. There are more opportunities on Appen that don’t require rating ads, but that is the only one that I currently do.
Simple –
Simple is actually a bank account that I use for my spending money. I also make around $200 a month on Simple. I just tell people about the bank account, all of the perks that it has, and then I send them my link to sign up with. They will receive a debit card in the mail and, once they activate their account, I transfer $1 into their account (I never even need to know their account information, other than their e-mail address). They spend the $1 that I sent, and then I get $20, and they also get $20. It’s a win/win for both of us!! Plus, they get an awesome bank account out of the deal, too.
I wouldn’t typically do something like this to earn money, but I am actually so in love with Simple that I tell people about it all the time. Might as well make some money by talking about it, right?! I love it so much because it has the option to add savings goals. When you enter your goal, it tells you how much you have to save each month/week/pay period, and as long as you do it each time, your goal happens on track. There are separate areas you can put the money for each goal, too.
I have 4 goals going for myself right now. One is more mine and hubby’s annual trip to South Haven, one is for a Chicago trip with the kids, one is for new flooring, and the other is for Christmas next year. I love this option, and I love how easy it is to use it. Plus, I love that it is so easy to read and figure out.
Another awesome part about Simple is that it has an area to input all of your expenses. Since this account is the one I use for spending, I actually haven’t had to input any bills. Instead, I input things like groceries and gas, because I consider those to be my spending.
If you are interested in Simple, just click the link, send me an email, or drop a comment below. I will, of course, help you out and answer any of your questions.
Start a blog –
There are so many ways you can make money with a blog. You can make money through affiliate sales, ads, and sponsored posts. Those are just a few of the options… the possibilities are pretty much endless. Having a blog is also SO much fun. I love being able to express myself, be creative, and meet other people like me in the blogging community. There is no pressure with having a blog because you can do it all on your terms. If you start a self-hosted blog, you have full control of all aspects of your blog.
I have a self-hosted blog through Bluehost, and I use WordPress as the platform. If I wasn’t self-hosted and just used a free site from somewhere like WordPress, I might not be able to make money in the process. It is so easy to set up a blog, and so much fun once you get started.
If you are interested in how to start a blog and what to do once you have started one, I wrote a blog post about it a while ago. Feel free to ask me about this anytime!
Taking surveys –
Taking surveys is fun and all, but it is very time-consuming. I don’t actually do this one to earn extra money, but I have in the past. My 14-year-old stepdaughter recently just started doing it herself and has actually earned a decent amount of money with it. She wanted to earn some money for Christmas shopping, and she has almost finished buying everything she wanted to buy. It definitely does earn you some money, just not as much as other options.
How I Do It
So for me, I prefer to use TextBroker, Appen, and Simple to make $1,000 or more each week. At a minimum, I work to earn $200 a month on Appen, $600 a month with TextBroker, and $200 a month with Simple. When I have a goal in mind, I can always work a couple extra days with Appen, or accept one more article than normal on TextBroker. With Simple, it is more about getting lucky when someone agrees to use your link to set up a bank account, so I don’t usually push myself to talk about Simple anymore than I normally do. Textbroker is the easiest way for me to earn even more money each month.
I have 5 kids… their ages are 14, 10, 4, 3, and 1. I obviously cannot work for eight hours a day. Between meal times, play times, preschool drop off and pick up, I have to squeeze work time in at specific parts of the day. This usually means waking up before the kids and knocking out an hour of work. Then later, at nap time, I squeeze in another 2 hours of writing (if I’m lucky).
Sometimes after I pick my preschooler up I can put a movie on and let them eat popcorn in the living room while I finish up what I had been working on at nap time. The rest of my work has to wait until after the kids’ bedtime. After they go to bed, I work for an hour (two at the most) and then have to stop to spend time with my husband. It is a little complicated, but I make it all work out. All of that may have confused you, so here is an easier glimpse of my daily schedule as a work-from-home mom:
My Work/Mom Schedule
5:30 AM – Wake up, making coffee, wake 14 y/o up for school
5:40 AM – Work for one hour (usually TextBroker)
6:40 AM – Wake other 4 kids up for school and get the toddlers/preschooler dressed. Feed everyone.
7:40 AM – Leave for preschool drop off
8:20 AM – Arrive home, begin playing, reading, and singing with the toddlers. Snack time during.
10:00 AM – Craft/activity or table toys
11:00 AM – lunch, and then we clean up the house
12:00 PM – nap time
12:15 PM – Mama works
2:15 PM – If toddlers aren’t already awake (they usually are), I wake them up and get them ready to go.
2:40 PM – Leave for preschool pickup
3:20 PM – Return home. Sometimes turn on a movie, have a snack, and mom finishes some work.
4:15 PM – My 10-year-old gets home from school, homework and talking and playing follow
5:30 PM – Daddy comes home!! YAY!
6:30 PM – Dinner should be ready to serve
7:30 PM – Baths and bed
8:30 PM – Mama Works
Every day for us is very busy and I feel like I am always on the go, or something is always waiting to be done. I love it, though, and I wouldn’t change it for the world because I love being home with my kids. Being able to take a spontaneous day off just because I want to spend extra time with my littles is the best part about working from home. I love making it to class parties and other school events, too. Every bit of this schedule is worth it to me.
Final Thoughts on Making Money From Home
It doesn’t have to be hard to make money from home. I make money online every single day, and I can work as much or as little as I want. You are literally your own boss, and that is so amazing. You can take time off whenever you want, work overtime if you want, or just work for one hour every day. It doesn’t get much better than that.
With the ways I have begun working from home, I can look ahead at my finances or goals, and work extra hard one week to meet a need or want. Being able to decide how much money I am going to make that week is so cool to me. It really puts me in control of my finances, and I work so much better that way. I am so thankful for the opportunities I have found, and I know it is only up from here.
If you have any questions about how to make money from home, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I wish I had found these opportunities sooner, and if I can help you out at all, I would love to do so!
It’s safe to say that most kids have too many toys. Between Christmas, birthdays, and other random gifts during the year, it is so easy to acquire TOO MANY toys.
It happened to us without me even realizing it until it was too late. The big kids had toys, of course, (they were 6 and 9 when Sylas was born), but those toys were easier to contain in bedrooms because the kids didn’t require CONSTANT supervision and there were only 2 of them.
When Sylas was a newborn, we had only a couple toys because he didn’t really play yet. When he started moving that all changed. Grandma was buying him every toy she saw, Christmas came and he was spoiled by every person on both sides of the family, and then 5 months later was his birthday.
All of a sudden we had toys EVERYWHERE. Josie was born not long after that and within a year, we had even MORE toys because she’s a girl and needed her own stuff (at least that’s what everyone said).
Then we had Liam so add even more toys at Christmas and another birthday into the mix. Plus random pickups and hand me downs and we were literally drowning.
There were toys EVERYWHERE. Upstairs, downstairs, in the car, in the hallway, EVERYWHERE. I couldn’t take it anymore. I couldn’t keep up with the cleaning up, organizing, etc.
It was time to get it under control.
What to do When You Are Drowning In Toys
Get rid of toys that aren’t played with or are missing pieces. I started with the toys that my kids never touched. I didn’t ask them what they WANTED to get rid of because their answer probably would have been “nothing”. Instead, when they weren’t paying attention I started getting rid of things that they just didn’t play with or that was broken/missing pieces. We donated some, threw away others (happy meal toys, broken toys, remote control cars with missing parts, puzzles with missing pieces, etc.). This actually cleared out a ton of the junk.
Use baskets or clear plastic totes to organize and store all toys. Yep, all of them. Amazon has a ton of different sizes to choose from but I mostly use the plastic totes pictured below, which come in a pack of 12. I also have several that are a little bigger, which I also found on amazon. I believe you can also find some small totes at dollar tree or dollar general.Label them and store them in an easy to access place. I put toys that have a lot of pieces that go together or follow a specific theme (Mr. Potato Head, horses, animals, balls, etc.) in the clear plastic totes and I label the front. I want to put pictures on them soon, too. I store larger toys in baskets. One holds all musical instruments.
Choose toys to leave out, but only choose enough that each toy has a “home” and won’t get mixed in with other toys. Everything should have a home. You can’t expect the toys to be organized and put away if there is no designated “area” for them. This has been the hardest part for me because we don’t have a ton of space for storing toys. I still want a cube organizer (pictured below) to have a couple more things out but we use a toy organizer with 12 bins (also pictured below). It works really well for us and the toys we have because the kids can easily see what toys they can play with and can pull the whole bin down when they want to play.
We choose 12 different “themes”, one theme for each bin (Ex. balls, blocks, PJ masks, Paw Patrol, Mr. Potato Head, horses, animals, technology, hot wheels, magnatiles, music, puzzles, etc.).We also use our entertainment center to store toys. I know this is kind of ridiculous but they get into it anyway so why not. LOL. In there we store a handful of books, a couple puzzles, and a couple other toys that won’t fit in a bin.
Decide where (out of sight) you are going to store some (or most) toys. We use our hall linen closet. I hate it but we don’t have much storage so it works for us. You just need a place that has shelves.I put all of the totes and baskets of toys in the closet, even the empty containers from the toys that are out are neatly stored here. Make sure it is easy to see what is in there so you can switch toys out regularly and put toys back in their labeled container.
Set a schedule for rotation. Each week or month, let the kids help choose what toys should be brought out and what ones should be put away for a while. Not only will this help lessen the toy clutter in your home, but it will also help your kids appreciate their toys more.
For bigger toys (toy kitchens, etc.) place all small pieces out of reach and designate times to play with it. Usually, I want these kinds of toys readily available to the kids but there are certain times when I’m busy (usually getting ready to leave the house) that Liam dumps all the pieces on the floor and wanders away. This leads to the pieces getting scattered all throughout the house and it usually happens during our busiest times of day. What works for us is to leave the smaller pieces (the play food) out of sight and out of reach when you aren’t able to pay as close attention or don’t have the time to help clean up the pieces.
Kids thrive on simplicity so don’t feel bad that your child doesn’t have EVERY toy they own accessible at one time. That’s overwhelming for everyone involved and leads to toys being forgotten, damaged, or lost and also leads to having a house cluttered with toys because nothing has a “home”.
What are some ways you’ve tried to combat toy clutter in your home? What worked and what didn’t? Let me know in the comments!
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