YouTube Introduces YouTube Kids App Profiles

YouTube started rolling out Kid Profiles on November 2, 2017. The purpose is to have a kid-safe YouTube Kids account that your child can use to access kid-friendly content. It also means that parents won’t have to share their YouTube account with their children anymore. YouTube explains the decision to create Kid Profiles this way: “After talking to parents all over, we know that kids who love the YouTube Kids app are getting older and want a platform that’ll grow with them. Whether kids are watching Monster High, DC Kids, LEGO, learning their ABCs, or picking up the latest tricks … Continue reading

3 Important Halloween Safety Tips

Halloween can be fun, exciting, and just a little bit scary at times. The goal, of course, is to find ways for your kids to safely have fun, and avoid having to take a scary trip to an emergency room. The way to do that is to follow these Halloween safety tips. Overall, the safety tips that apply specifically to the celebration of Halloween aren’t that different from day-to-day safety tips. For example, you have probably taught your children to look both ways before crossing the street. For whatever reason, kids (and some adults) forget about basic safety as they … Continue reading

Coloring Books Aren’t Just for Kids

Think back to when you were a child. Did you spend time happily coloring the pictures that were in your coloring books? Today, many adults are rediscovering their love for coloring. There are several different types of detailed coloring books out there which are intended for grownups to use. Coloring is fun. It’s something that people first learn how to do when they are in preschool or kindergarten. Little kids can improve their fine motor skills by grasping a crayon and using it to color a picture. They find it rewarding to color a picture all by themselves and are … Continue reading

5 Ways to Spend Less on Halloween

The cute costumes, the Martha Stewart decorations, the bags and bags of candy…the cost of it adds up. Just like the dark monster in the corner, you are afraid to take a good look at how much your are actually spending. Halloween has certainly become a big holiday. In fact, according to the National Retail Federation, Americans spent more than $8 billion last year celebrating. Eight billion! Seriously. It doesn’t have to be that way. Instead, brandish your own bag of tricks to spend less this Halloween. You’ll be able to make it a magical holiday and leave the bills … Continue reading

The Truth About Your Diet During Pregnancy

One of the assumptions I made about pregnancy prior to becoming pregnant is I’d have a diet-related Get out of Jail Free card.  I knew that there are certain foods it’s best to avoid, but I thought at least I’d have a free pass to eat, well, not quite as much as I wanted, but to feel a bit more guilt-free about evening ice cream binges. That turned out not to be the case at all.  First off, the whole “eating for two” thing isn’t true.  At most, you should eat for one and a quarter.  In addition to that, … Continue reading

How Getting Enough Sleep Saves You Money

Ah sleep. It is one of those things that most of us dream about (literally). Remember the days before kids, a house and responsibilities when you could just sleep in whenever you wanted to? Yeah, me neither. My memory doesn’t go back that far. Still, I try to make every effort to get as much sleep as possible. My body needs it, and it saves me money. If you need an excuse to take care of yourself, this is a good one. There are several ways that getting enough sleep has a direct correlation to saving money. People who get … Continue reading

Pitfalls of Yard Sale Shopping

Yard sales, garage sales, tag sales, whatever you call them, they are in full swing during the early summer and a lot of fun to shop. Through yard sales, you can pick up some great deals, and since you never know what you are going to find, yard sale shopping can be a real treasure hunt. You do have to be careful when shopping at yard sales. There is buyer’s remorse, of course, when you pay too much for an item or get home and realize it isn’t what you wanted. There really is no return policy. If you aren’t … Continue reading

Flying High Without High-Flying Prices

Everyone loves a sale, but when discounted prices are associated with air travel, frugal vacationers’ hopes begin to soar a bit higher.  Unfortunately, not all sales equate to rock-bottom prices. The trick to getting the most bang for your buck is to examine the fine print.  Just because you see an advertisement by a major airline regarding an airfare sale, it doesn’t mean you will saving a ton of cash.  In most cases, airfare sales come with a long list of restrictions, including specific dates, times and destinations. Airline insiders are quick to point out that most commercial carriers offer … Continue reading

Getting Kids to Spring Clean

The time of year for spring cleaning is at hand. Break out the mops, dustpans, and garbage bags because it is time to clean and de-clutter. I always feel lighter after cleaning out a challenging closet or a kid’s room. Probably one of the most challenging rooms to de-clutter are the kids’ rooms. My kids find ways to hang onto the craziest things. With three girls in one room and a messy boy in another room, I suspect a lot of garbage bags will be used. This year, I am enlisting the kids to help out. Naturally, it isn’t at … Continue reading

Hotels: Getting the Most Bang for Your Buck

Hotel rooms aren’t cheap.  Adding insult to injury is the fact that many properties are now moving back check-in times, so by the time you are forced to check-out you’ve barely been in the place for 18 hours. How do you justify forking over $200 for a room you aren’t given the opportunity to be in for 24 hours?  Or worse, consider having to park yourself in the hotel’s lobby after a long flight simply because you arrived prior to the set check-in time. What a waste of time; precious time that you can’t put a price tag on. To … Continue reading