Busy Mom Solution

Leaping Into Life in 2012…

“I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.” – Arthur Rubinstein

2012 is my year to be adventurous – I am a completely different person than I was 3 years ago. Three years ago I was working long hours in Retail Management and Fashion Merchandising. I worked hard, played hard, and was happy living on my own and by my own rules. Yep, wild and free, like a coyote {lol} – I really had no one to answer to, so if girlfriends called me to meet for drinks in an hour, I was in. A last-minute weekend trip out of town? Of course! Good times….

Fast forward to today

In November of 2010 I found out that I was going to have a baby. Woah. The news totally stopped me in my tracks – I had never planned to start a family, and was completely unprepared for such a life changing event. But – over the course of a year and a half, and lots of big changes in the lives of the rest of my family – I now have a full house of extended family, I work from home and love it, and have a beautiful little girl who is the sunshine of my life. I’ve learned that the unexpected can sometimes be exactly what you need. So – This year I am embracing change, searching for adventure, and leaping into my new life in 2012.

How I Picture Myself in 2012

Travel – I’ve only left the state I live in 4 times total in my whole darn life. Crazy, right? But already this year I have a trip planned to Reviewer’s Retreat {and I’ll be speaking there too!} in North Carolina, a trip to NYC for BlogHer, and we’re going to head to Vegas for Bloggy Boot Camp too. Add in a small weekend trip to the Oregon Coast, and this should be an exciting year of seeing new places!
Learn new skills – I’ve never learned to drive. Yep, I’m 31 years old, and don’t know how to handle myself behind the wheel! It’s a long story – but I’ve just started practicing, and I WILL get my license this year!
Say Yes More Often – Most women have trouble saying no. I have more trouble sometimes saying yes! Since I’ve become a mom, I often feel guilty going out to do things without my little girl. I’m nervous leaving her with a sitter. But this year I plan to say YES so much more – and stop missing out on all of the fun!

What are YOUR plans for 2012?

I don’t like New Years Resolutions. Instead of pledging to lose that same old 10 pounds again this year, why not set fun goals and make exciting plans to motivate yourself? So let’s hear it ladies – In the comments, let me know at least ONE great way that you can Leap into Life in 2012 too! I love to hear more about you guys.

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{Compensation was provided by Honda via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Honda.}

Posted by Meagan Paullin on January 29, 2012 Filed Under: Busy Mom Solution | 10 Comments

Smart & Stylish Kitchen Storage Solutions

traditional kitchen design by boston kitchen and bath Venegas and Company

Smart DIY Solutions

I am so in love with this new site that I found today – and I think you guys will love it too. It’s called Houzz.come, and it’s all about home remodels and cool DIY projects. You can browse by room, and find some totally amazing ideas. I’m cooking up some plans for a kitchen makeover – {a remodel isn’t in the budget, but a reorganization and spruce up is!} – and I got a ton of amazing ideas.

Oak Park Kitchen III traditional kitchen

traditional kitchen design by chicago kitchen and bath Rebekah Zaveloff

How awesome would this pantry cupboard be?

I have a big blended household, as I’ve mentioned before, and it can be hard to keep things organized with such a big family. I have a pantry cupboard that’s just empty shelves, really deep – I’m wondering if we could convert them to cool storage doors like these above? Wouldn’t that be awesome?

Divine Kitchens LLC contemporary kitchen

contemporary kitchen design by boston kitchen and bath Divine Kitchens LLC

What an awesome use of drawer space!

Love this – I hate counter-clutter. But there are so many things in the kitchen that you need easy access to. This is a very cool solution, and totally do-able in my house. I started meal-planning, two weeks at a time, to help keep dinnertime chaos to a minimum, and now it’s time to get the whole kitchen better organized so that I can make those meals without digging through jumbled up drawers and cupboards.

Painted kitchen with walnut contemporary kitchen

contemporary kitchen design by other metros kitchen and bath Keith Fennelly

The Kitchen is the Heart of the Home – Make it Rock!

Amazon.com Widgets

For more cool home ideas, follow me on Pinterest! {Love these ideas? Pin ’em to your own boards too!}

Posted by Meagan Paullin on January 20, 2012 Filed Under: Busy Mom Solution | 10 Comments

Busy Moms Movie Night – #CouchCritics #CBias

“The phrase ‘working mother’ is redundant.” – Jane Sellman

December was such a busy month around our house. I took on way more projects than I should have – {I have much more enthusiasm than I do time, lol} – plus the traditional craziness of the holidays. By the time January rolled in, we were all pretty worn out, I was definitely over-worked, and we were all ready for things to get back to normal again. So of course, instead of that – we all got sick! Abby and I both have been sick for weeks now, so I figured that this was a perfect time for a lazy, mommy-baby, snuggle up movie night. I had just the movie in mind too – “I Don’t Know How She Does It”, with the always fun Sarah Jessica Parker, since it’s all about life as a busy momma. So we headed to our favorite Redbox kiosk up the road to get this “Girls Night In” started.

Things {as usual} did not go as planned

We live a ways out of town, so there is only one store with a Redbox anywhere near-by. And wouldn’t you know it – the movie wasn’t available! I wasn’t sure what else to get, since my heart was totally set on this movie. Then I remembered – Redbox.com! I hopped online, typed in the movie name and my zip code – and BAM, it showed me the closest three rental kiosks to go and pick it up. Awesome, right? You can even pay for the movie right on the site, to reserve your copy until you get there – so you KNOW you can get it. Perfect.

“A suburban mother’s role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car for ever after.” – Peter De Vries

We drove into town and found the next closest kiosk, and since I’d already paid for my movie online, I only had to hop out into the cold for a minute to get my movie – which was great, since it was starting to snow! Luckily, this Redbox is under the roof of the store, and tucked into a cozy corner, so it wasn’t tooooo cold. Getting the movie I had reserved was quick and easy as can be.

Easy Peasy and Ready to Roll

A few buttons to push, and out came my movie! I love Redbox. And I loooved this movie, in case you were wondering if it was worth the bit of extra trouble that I went through to get it. Here’s the basics – Sarah Jessica Parker plays a super busy mom named Kate, who is struggling to balance life as a mom, and as a businesswoman. {Um, can you say – totally relate?} Years ago, we grew up with our own moms telling us that we can “have it all” – a family and a career. I grew up thinking that I could be super woman. But – once you have it “all”, it’s a lot harder to manage than anyone told me it would be! This movie really focuses on those struggles that we all go through, whether you work out of the home or from your home, like I do. Being a mom, a wife, a boss, a friend – there are so many roles that we play each day. Watching Kate do her best to find the balance that we all search for made for a totally entertaining movie – Loved it.

Love Movie Night Too?

If you’re a Redbox junkie like we are – make sure that you’re following them on Facebook, and find them on Twitter, @redbox – You’ll find out about cool promotions, discount codes, and new releases!

{Disclaimer: This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias. Photos and movie review are 100% my own opinions.}

Posted by Meagan Paullin on January 16, 2012 Filed Under: Busy Mom Solution | 1 Comment

Greased Lightning – Making Cleaning Awesome

What’s more fun than Greased Lightning?

Ok – I’m not really here to talk to you about this awesome musical scene from one of my all-time favorite movies. But the Greased Lightning that I want to tell you about is almost as cool – Just like John Travolta dances around in total exhilaration to be sprucing up his sweet ride, you can be grooving through your home knowing that this new Multipurpose Cleaner & Degreaser is going to spruce things up from kitchen to bath! Just like the musical scene above, this cleaning spray rocks! {What, don’t tell me I’m the only one who sings and dances and embarrasses the kids when they clean the house?} Greased Lightning gets my approval as a Busy Mom Solution product – read more….

“I hate housework! You make the beds, you do the dishes- and six months later you have to start all over again.” – Joan Rivers

Do you feel like you’re always cleaning up the house, one spill after another? It can be such a battle to keep up after a house of kiddo’s, animals, and guests. That’s why you need a few “secret weapons” – products that can quickly degrease the stove and counters in the kitchen, fixtures and shower walls in the bathroom, carpet stains in the hallway, and even baby stains! This one product can do it all – making for a happier and less stressed momma!

Great for surfaces in every part of your house and even for stain removal, Greased Lightning is a multi-purpose cleaner and degreaser that removes grease and grime, laundry and carpet stains, soap scum, and much more.

Greased Lightning is the BEST cleaner I’ve ever found for carpet stains – even on the old ones that have set in for quite some time. I’m a huge fan of the Bissell Stomp Pads I told you about a couple months ago, and they work wonders on new carpet stains. But we still have some old stubborn spots that I’ve tried everything on. This is the first product that actually lightened them all – and even totally got rid of many of them! Love it.

Cleaning Tips & Coupons

Get some great cleaning tips and learn how Greased Lightening can work on almost any mess in your house – Visit their website at www.Greased-Lightening.com.

You can also check them out on Facebook to grab some coupons for sweet savings. If you’ve used Greased Lightening and love it like I do – be sure to leave a comment to let them know. They’ll love it.

{Disclaimer: This review was made possible by Mom Spark Media. Thoughts are my own – I really do love this stuff, and think you will too!}

Posted by Meagan Paullin on January 15, 2012 Filed Under: Busy Mom Solution | 1 Comment

Meal Planning in 4 Easy Steps

Do you need to save money on groceries?

Hahahahaha – That’s like saying, “Do you need a little more sleep?” or, “Would you like the kids to get along a little more often?” For most families, the food budget is one of the only things left to cut, and it’s often one of the biggest places that we over spend. The problem is, we’re often too busy to figure out exactly HOW to save money on groceries.

How to Cut Costs

Meal Planning + Savings Match-Ups = Food on the Table! Seriously, this site is awesomesauce. It is totally simple to use. It’s free to join. It will save you loads of time, and money. And your family might even eat healthier, since you’ll be cooking more ‘real’ meals at home! It makes meal planning very quick and simple – you no longer need to save all of those weekly sale inserts. Food on the Table matches your meals directly to the best savings at your own personal local grocery store!

Open a free Meal Planning account on Food on the Table today!

Here’s how it Works

Set up your meal plan for the week – Food on the Table lets you add the local grocery stores you shop at most. Then, when you log in, it’ll let you see which meats are on sale this week, so you can quickly click your choices.
Get Recipes – Next, input your own recipes, use previous recipes you’ve added, or check out their huge selection. Pick and click to add your favorites – easy peasy!
Savings at your grocery store – Food on the Table will now build you a grocery list, auto-filled with the ingredients that you need, based on your recipes for the week. Scan it quickly – see something you already have? Uncheck it. Have extra basics you want to add? Type ’em in! Then it will show you how much you’re saving when it matches your needed ingredients to sales at your favorite store!
Printable Grocery List – Finally, it loads up a super cool printable grocery list of everything you need for that weeks meals! Even COOLER – you can send that list to your email, or as a text message, so that you have it whenever, or wherever, you need it! You could even email it your husband at work, so he can shop on his way home. Score!

Meal Planning is one of the most helpful tips I can share with you – I’m still working on getting into a groove, and am always looking for great new tips, sites, and apps to help me stay organized and on top of things. This is one of my very favorites that I’ve found – and I know it will help your family too! Plus – It’s free! What do you have to lose – Check it out today!

For more BIG savings at the grocery store – make sure to check out my coupon resource page – How to Get Coupons: 11 Ways to Get Coupons Today. There are also more tips on matching your coupons to store sales, and info about another meal planning service that I use too. Check it out!

Check out more ways to creatively stretch your budget

These are some of my favorite books and tools to save time and money in kitchen – Smart solutions for busy moms like us. If you have a favorite tip to make meal time simpler, cheaper, and more efficient – please share your wisdom in the comments below. I love hearing from you smart ladies!

Posted by Meagan Paullin on January 12, 2012 Filed Under: Busy Mom Solution | 1 Comment

Secret to Saving on Baby Basics: Learn to Maximize Amazon Savings

Baby Bargain Mondays with Amazon Mom

If you have to buy diapers, wipes, or formula in your local store, I definitely recommend using a site like Planning Family to stock up printable baby coupons, or subscribe to one of the free baby magazines like American Baby, to get more clipped coupons. But – the BEST way to save money on baby basics is by signing up for an Amazon Mom account, and taking advantage of the Subscribe and Save options.

What is Amazon Mom?

Amazon Mom is a FREE account on Amazon.com – And it gets you FREE 2-Day Amazon Prime Shipping on your purchases! How cool is that, right? Here’s how to sign up for an account:

Go to Amazon.com, and click on “Your Account” on the top right side.
Scroll down to the section called “Settings” – Then look for the option to enroll in Amazon Mom Membership.
When you click that, you go to a screen with a few basic questions – then bam! You are set up with a new Amazon Mom account – Easy peasy.

{Ok – UPDATE ALERT!!! – I’m being told that there is currently a wait list to get into the Amazon Mom program. This is SUPER weird, since it’s a membership – not something that can “run out”, you know? But – It’s definitely worth signing up for, and I hope none of you have to wait very long – it’s SUCH an awesome way to save. If you are able to sign up without a wait list, let me know when it changes! Thank you to the awesome ladies who informed me of this new change!!}

Subscribe and Save

On many items like Diapers, wipes, and formula – You’ll see the regular option to purchase, then an option to “subscribe and save” right underneath of that. When you subscribe, you set up an automated shipment of that product – but you get it at a big discount! So, if you know that you go through 3 packages of baby wipes a month, you set up a new 12 pack shipment to arrive every 4 months. AND – you can cancel that shipment anytime, with no penalties – it’s super simple.

Here’s an example of the savings:

You need diapers, and maybe you’re using the Gifts to Grow rewards program, so you buy the Pampers Baby Dry Diapers Economy Pack. It’s always cheaper to buy diapers in bulk – This package of 192 is only $47 dollars, which is .25 per diaper. Not bad, but we can do better!

First, switch from One-Time Delivery to Subscribe and Save – It brings the cost of the diapers down to $37.75 – a savings of 20%, bringing the diapers down to only .20 cents per diaper.
Next – you’ll often find coupons after you sign up for Amazon Mom – Like this one on the Pampers: “Save $1.00 with this Coupon – Clip this coupon to save $1.00 on this product when you buy from Amazon.com.”
Click the button to “Clip” that coupon – You just saved another dollar!

Using this great Amazon feature saves you time, since you don’t have to keep running out to the store to buy more diapers, saves you a ton of money, and if you buy Pampers – the points from these big boxes of diapers earn you FREE Shutterfly Photo Packages with Pampers Gifts to Grow. You can’t get much better than that, right?

Baby Bargain Mondays

Every Monday is Baby Bargain Monday on Amazon – with loads of great deals on baby stuff like cribs, car seats, and toys – so it’s a great time to shop. Make sure to look for the “Lightning Deals” on baby goods every Monday too – You’ll find some amazing prices.

Free Amazon Credits

When you use sites like Swagbucks, MySurvey, or MyView, you can cash in and build up a ton of free Amazon Gift Card credits too – which can make some of these awesome deals totally free! I have bought almost all of Abby’s diapers and wipes on Amazon, and most of her toys too – and I’ve paid cash for less than half of that. Learning how to maximize your Amazon savings is the BEST way I have found to save money on baby basics.

Have a friend who would love this? Make sure to Stumble, Tweet, or Share it to Facebook!

Posted by Meagan Paullin on January 9, 2012 Filed Under: Deals and Coupon Codes, Busy Mom Solution, Shopping | 3 Comments

The Swagger Wagon…

The Swagger Wagon

This is the Official Toyota Music Video for the Sienna SE. “You get it for space. But fill it with your family’s swagger.” Why can’t more companies make commercials this good? And who knew that moms with minivans could be this funny?