Utah Readers: How to Score an Awesome Deal on Bike Helmets for the Whole Family!
The weather is warming up which means the kids are outside a lot more. My kids love riding their bikes and I realized this year that their heads have outgrown their helmets. Kids get tempted to ride bikes without helmets if they don’t fit or they are uncomfortable. As parents, buying a new helmet might not be a priority or in the budget. However, wearing a helmet is SO important. It literally can save your life.
For my Utah readers, I have a great way to save money on helmets for the whole family. Robert J Debry and associates offers Bike Helmets Toddler & Child for $5 and Youth & Adult for $10. That’s a steal! These are brand new BELL Bike Helmets. I recently went to the Millcreek location and bought new helmets for the kiddos. They were SO excited and I was SO excited because it cost a fraction of what I would pay at the stores.
There are three Robert J Debry locations that offer this deal. You can find the information here. Please be sure to call your location before you go just to be sure they have some in stock.
For those of you who won’t live in Utah, maybe do a quick search in your location for injury lawyers and see if they offer the same deal. They just might. Let’s be safe this summer by wearing our helmets.
What a Quarter of a Grass Fed Cow Looks Like!
Just a few months ago we decided to purchase a quarter of a cow from a local farmer. While I knew the upfront cost would be expensive, we decided it would work great for us to make the purchase. We are a family of 5, 2 adults, 2 preteens and one 6 year old. Let me tell you, our preteens are definitely growing and it shows in how much they eat. So we went with the quarter of a cow in hopes that would be enough beef to last us through the year.
The cow we purchased weighted in at 791 pounds. We received ¼ of the cow and had to pay for the cow itself, the mobile slaughter company as well as the meat processor. We ended up getting about 120 pounds of meat in all different cuts. (The meat processors were awesome about talking us through what cuts we could get from the cow)
Typically, you’ll get about:
- 40 lbs Ground Beef
- 3 lbs NY Strip Steak (about 4 steaks)
- 3 lbs Top Sirloin Steak (about 4-5 steaks)
- 4 lbs Rump Roast (2 roasts)
- 4 lbs Sirloin Tip Roast (1 roast)
- 2 lbs Flat Iron Steak (about 2-3 steaks)
- 5 lbs Filet (about 4-5 steaks)
- 4 lbs Stew Meat
- 5 lbs Short Ribs
- 4 lbs brisket
- 5 lbs Ribeye Steak (about 6 steaks)
- 4 lbs Kabob Meat
- 5 lbs Chuck Roast (2 roasts)
If you’re looking for a great explanation of these different cuts checkout Ivy Croft Butcher Cut Explained where they give you the low down on all the different cuts and what you can use them from in your cooking.
So how much room does ¼ of a cow take up in your freezer? We were able to fit all 120 pounds of meat in our 7.2 cubic feet chest freezer and it took up close to half the freezer. The month leading up to the slaughter date we made sure we ate up what we had in our freezer so we would have enough room for the beef.
Was it worth it? For us, yes but we learned some things along the way especially since we bought ours during the inflation. By the time we were able to slaughter the cow the price had gone up so we paid more than was expected. Also, always shop around. If you’re fortunate enough to have multiple butchers near you, make sure you get some price quotes before you choose one. Hopefully this gives you an idea if buying your meat in bulk would work for you.
Cheap Decor Ideas for Your Home
Are you on a shoestring style budget? Are you wanting to give your home a bit of a decor makeover? There’s no doubt about it. Decor is expensive! Many people forgo decor upgrades when on a budget thinking that they simply can’t afford it, but that’s not the case!
These cheap decor ideas for your home are a great way to spruce things up without adding stress to your budget and putting out money that will be better spent on other things. Which of these decor changes will you be making?
Cheap Decor Ideas for Your Home
Search Your Local Buy Nothing Group
Next time you are on Facebook, type in “buynothing” and find your local BuyNothing group. You will be absolutely amazed at the items that you will find people giving away for free! I have seen very nice, very high quality decor pieces being gifted by local people. This is a great way to get new to you stuff without a cost.
Paint an Accent Wall
Want to add a pop of color to your space? Head to your local home improvement store and stroll their clearance paint aisle and see all the great little cans of paint you can get for pennies on the dollar. Honestly though, small cans of paint are cheap as they are. You’ll be able to get any color you want on a budget.
Use this budget friendly paint to paint a single accent wall in your home. An accent wall can completely change the space you live in.
Declutter
Try and take a fresh look at your home and pick out what items you can get rid of or at least store out of sight. Oftentimes we can get used to things being in our space, but when we declutter, it makes a home feel completely different.
4 Reasons You Should Be Drinking More Water
People can tell you all day every day about how much you need to be drinking water, but if you don’t know the reasons why, it may be hard to follow. I know that many people struggle to drink enough water, but there are good reasons why we should be drinking more of it!
The benefits of drinking water are seemingly endless, but here we will discuss 3 reasons you should be drinking more water. Thirsty, yet?
3 Reasons You Should Be Drinking More Water
It’s Great for Your Skin
Want to look younger? Drink water! It’s true. The more water you drink, the more hydrated you are, the better your skin will look. When your skin is well hydrated and moisturized, you’ll show fewer of those fine lines and wrinkles that we all battle with as we age.
When you don’t drink enough water each day, your body will conserve it for your organs and other body parts. That will create a puffy, bloated look in your skin.
It can Make You Smarter
Want to be smarter? Drink up! Your brain needs oxygen to perform at its maximum function and the best way to get oxygen to your body is by drinking a lot of water.
Studies have shown that drinking between eight and ten cups of water each day, can improve your cognitive function by up to 30%. Drinking a lot of water can also keep your electrolyte levels high, which is great for your nervous system.
It’s Great for Your Joints
Did you know that your joints need water to stay healthy and hydrated? They do! Drinking plenty of water is good for your joints and helps you to stay active longer.
Do you drink enough water? What is stopping you from getting the amount of water that you should?
Super Easy & Yummy Easter Dessert Recipe: Delicious Mini Fruit Tarts
Easter is this Sunday which means a lot of families will be getting together to celebrate. When we celebrate holidays I know a lot of attention goes on the food. What will you eat? What will you serve? Since the kids will be getting a lot of candy dong Easter egg hunts, I thought having a small yet yummy dessert would be perfect. These mini fruit tarts are always a winner, plus you get some fruit in you too! Win-win!
Delicious Mini Fruit Tarts Recipe
Recipe and pictures by Wilton
Ingredients:
**Depending on your party size you could always cut this recipe in half and just do one package of cookies and half the recipe below.
- 2 16.5-ounce packages refrigerated sugar cookie dough
- 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar (confectioners’ sugar)
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
- 1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced
- 1 cup fresh blackberries
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and grease well a mini muffin pan.
2. Divide cookie dough into 48 equal slices and roll them into small balls, place 1 in each muffin space.
3. Bake for 12-14 minutes until they are golden brown. Rotating pan halfway between.
4. Remove from oven and immediately press centers of cookies with a 1/4 cup measuring cup or other small cup to form a cup. Be careful to not push all the way to the pan- you don’t want holes.
5. Let cool for 5 minutes.
6. Remove from pan and let cool completely.
7. In a large mixing bowl add cream cheese, softened, powdered sugar (confectioners’ sugar), heavy whipping cream, lemon juice and grated lemon zest. Mix using an electric beater on medium until smooth.
8. Pipe or spoon in mixture to cooled cookie cups. Top with berries!
9. Serve immediately or chill.
50+ Non Candy Easter Egg Filler Ideas!
It’s almost Easter. Are you ready? This year I’ve decided to go with a lot less sugar in the Easter baskets and eggs. I wanted to get creative and find some fun things to fill my kids and neighbors Easter Eggs with that wasn’t candy. So here’s a long list of some stuff you can put inside Easter Eggs!
- Stickers
- Seeds
- Stamps
- Sticky Hands
- Puzzle Pieces
- Redeemable Tickets
- Bouncy Balls
- Temporary Tattoos
- Barbie Clothing
- Nail Polish
- Balloons (Punch ones are fun too)
- Cars
- Grow Toys (often found at the dollar store)
- LEGOs
- Whistles
- Keychains
- Army Men
- Plastic Insects
- Dice
- Shoelaces
- Glow in the Dark Stars
- Mini Notepads
- String/Yarn
- Water Beads
- Hairbows
- Earphones
- Nail Stickers
- Movie Tickets
- Bath Dropz (changes the color of the water)
- Playdough
- Silly Putty
- Beads
- Polished Rocks
- Small Figures
- Friendship Bracelets
- Wikki Stix
- Coins
- Dollar Bills
- Bath Bombs
- Socks
- Rings
- Necklace
- Anklet
- Scrunchies
- Headbands
- Cool Band-Aids
- Magnets
- Slime
- Pencil Toppers
- Earrings
- Washi Tape
4 Reasons You Should Be Journaling
Have you ever journaled? Keeping a journal can be a huge benefit for quite a few reasons. Whether you are a parent, a student or anything in between there are many reasons why journaling can help you.
Journaling can help you to be more successful regardless of your goals in life. This post will talk about some of the reasons you should be journaling and how it can benefit you.
4 Reasons You Should Be Journaling
Journaling Benefits Your Emotional Intelligence
The ability to process our feelings and our thoughts help us to increase our emotional intelligence and journaling daily can help you do just that. As humans we go through a massive number of emotions daily and knowing that we need to process them in a healthy way is important.
Journaling Helps You to Reach Goals
We have talked about this before in other posts, but one good way to be sure and reach your goals is to write them down. Just the physical act of writing them down tends to help solidify your goals in your mind. Therefore, if you are journaling about your goals and the progress toward your goals, you might just find yourself reaching those goals more quickly.
Strengthens Your Memory
Did you know that writing things down helps you to remember them? If you struggle with remembering the things you are supposed to do or know, try journaling them and see how much it helps!
Strengthens Communication Skills
Regardless of the leaps and bounds of technology, we still need to write things down often for communication. Journaling helps you to maintain and often even strengthen these written communication skills. This can benefit you in many aspects of your life from friendships and family to career growth.
8 Unique Easter Egg Hunts Your Kids Will Love
Easter is just around the corner. I have to admit, when I was little I was never super fond of Easter Eggs hunts. It seemed like I was always the one at the end who couldn’t find those last few eggs. It was only months down the road that those eggs would show up! So that’s where they were! However, being a mom of little kids, I have to give in and do egg hunts every year. Most years it seems like we end up doing one with each side of the family so MORE egg hunts for us! I will admit it is pretty fun to see the kids eyes light up with excitement as they find those eggs. So, if they are happy, I’m happy. Here are 8 unique Easter Egg hunt ideas that just may have you (and me!) a little more excited for egg hunts this year.
- Scavenger Egg Hunt: Write a clue in the first egg that will direct them to the next egg. Continue with this for however long you want until they get to the last clue with the prize/presents at the end. You could even make a scavenger hunt for each kid if they are old enough to do them on their own.
- Color Code Eggs: This is a tradition in my family. Every Easter morning we are given a color that is our color for the egg hunt. That means we can only find those eggs that have stickers with our color on it. If we see an egg with a different color sticker on it, then we leave it and don’t tell anyone. We have a number of how many eggs/prizes we get to find. This helps with those little kids that may need some “easy” hiding places. Put those out in the open and hide the older kids a little harder. This way you can also get the same amount of eggs/prizes for every kid. No fighting!
- Gold Easter Egg: Tell the kids that during their hunt they each get to find one Gold Easter Egg. Inside put something special and personal. Like “Date night with mom & dad” or “Late Night with Friends” or “Let’s go to the Movies!” Something that would help you spend more time with them. This gives a little more excitement to the hunt as well.
- Tag Team Easter Egg Hunt: If you are having an egg hunt with a big family, this is super fun! Split the group into even teams. Then you say “Go!” the first person from each team runs and finds an egg and brings it back. They tag the next person on the team and then they go find an egg. The first team to get through their whole team either once or twice (depending on how many eggs you have) wins.
- The REAL Egg Hunt: Does anyone ever use REAL eggs anymore? I feel like they are mostly plastic now days. But with this hunt you need to make and dye Easter Eggs. Which is half the fun, right?? Once they are dyed and decorated then hide them in designated location. Have each person try to find a certain number of eggs and none of them can be ones that they made. This is super fun at the end to see the designs of other people.
- In the Dark Egg Hunt: This is super fun for those older kids that may think they are done with eggs hunts. Put small pieces of glow sticks in Easter eggs and hide them around the yard when it’s dark outside. You can then let them outside and see who can get the most or just let them go for it. It makes it pretty cool looking too.
- Let’s Move! Egg Hunt: In each egg have an action or exercise that they need to accomplish before going on to the next egg. It’s funny to watch them go find the eggs. You’ll suddenly see them start doing jumping jacks, somersaults, cartwheels, jumping and running. If you need to get energy out or if you don’t want more candy, this is a great way to do it!
- Puzzle Egg Hunt: Buy a puzzle that is appropriate for your age group. When you buy it you need to put it together first and then write your secret message on the back. It could be a rhyme or poem describing where they can find their end treasure. Then put 1 piece of the puzzle in each egg. The kids have to work together to find all of the eggs and then put the puzzle together. They then need to solve the question on the back of the puzzle and go find their prize. So fun!
Don’t forget to checkout the other awesome egg hunt ideas we’ve posted in the past. They each have lots more ideas you can use this year!
Easter Egg Hunts Your Kids will Love
5 MORE Fun & Unique Ways to Have an Easter Egg Hunt!
Tips for Going Back to College at 40+
Are you thinking about going back to college? Are you over 40 and worried that you are going to be completely out of place? First of all, don’t stress! Even though it may seem like it, you will not be the only one your age there.
If you are looking for some tips for going back to college at 40 or older, check out this list below and get yourself ready to learn and grow!
Tips for Going Back to College at 40+
Organize Your Time Wisely
The good news is, you have more life experience. The bad news is, you have a lot more going on than you probably did at your typical college age. Just realize that going back to college is going to add a lot to your plate and you need to be prepared to use your time wisely when trying to tackle everything.
Recognize That You Aren’t Alone
Again, you will not be the only one there in your age group. Sure, you’ll be in the minority age group for students, but you will most definitely not be the only one there that is doing this incredibly brave thing! That knowledge can help you tremendously when you start to second guess your decision to return to school.
Know Your Goals Before You Start
If you are going to go back to school, do it because you know exactly what you want to do. It’s always a bad idea to just go to college willy nilly without an idea of a degree/career plan. People end with thousands of dollars worth of student loans for absolutely no reason when they take classes that are unnecessary. Knowing your goals before hand can prevent this.
I highly respect your decision to further your education and reach toward your goals! You’ve got this!
4 Ways to Find Motivation to Clean Your House
Are you struggling to find the motivation to get your house clean? I know I have been feeling that this weekend! With 3 kids, it’s hard to want to clean the house every single day, but I do have some tricks to get myself motivated to get up and clean. How about you? Are there specific things that you do that help get you in the right headspace to tackle your to do list?
I have listed out some of the ways to find motivation to clean your house that consistently help me get moving and get busy tackling my seemingly never ending to-do list. Maybe they can help you too!
4 Ways to Find Motivation to Clean Your House
Turn on Some Tunes
Got a particular type of music that makes you move? Crank it up! I’m a big music fan and if music is playing in my house in the middle of the day, I can guarantee that housework or projects are getting done. I love adding some tunes to my housework days.
Get Dressed
As it turns out, wearing my pajamas makes me want to be lazy. Weird, right?! I have found that getting dressed before doing housework helps a lot!! I don’t mean dressing up, of course, but get out of those pj’s and get into actual clothes that don’t make you feel like it’s bed time.
Read a Housekeeping Article
Grab your favorite home magazine or look up a housekeeping article online. It’s amazing how much seeing pretty, clean homes can make you want to do the same to yours.
Invite Some Friends Over
Grab your phone and invite some friends over! Not to help you clean, of course. Here’s the thing. If all else fails and you cannot find the motivation to clean house, knowing that you have a house full of people coming over later will probably do the trick! Plus, you get to reward your hard work with a nice visit with friends.
18 Fun & Unique Ways to Have an Easter Egg Hunt!
Easter is just over a week away can you believe it? I’m not a huge fan of the crazy public egg hunts but my kids love going around collection eggs so I’ve come up with some ways we can, at home, still have fun hunting for eggs!
- No Treats Just Rewards – this is a great and easy to put together Easter egg hunt which involves avoiding the store if you already have eggs on hand. Simple fill out slips of paper (with or without the kids help) with rewards they can “cash in” this month! So 15 extra minutes of tv time, or stay up late one night. There so many fun rewards the kids will love hurrying to find.
- Relay Race – get involved yourself with this one! Split into teams then went both are ready, you’ll send one person from your team to go look for an egg. They’ll run back once they’ve found one and tag the next teammate until all the eggs are found.
- Reverse Rolls – have the kids hide the eggs this year and see how long it takes mom and dad to find them. The kids are going to laugh and love this just as much as the adults looking!
- Spell Your Name – Have the kids find all the eggs that will make up their name. You can make this easy or more difficult for each age. Simple take a sharpie marker and write each letter on the outside of the egg, fill it with treasures and hide them.
- In a Row – This is like a mix of memory and counting. Number your eggs 1 through 10 (or how ever many you want to use) and hide them around the house or the yard. Then have the kids collect the eggs in order! They can work as a team or on their own (simple use different color eggs for each kid to make things easier if hunting on their own).
Don’t forget to checkout the other awesome egg hunt ideas we’ve posted in the past. They each have lots more ideas you can use this year!
8 Fun & Unique Ways to Have an Easter Egg Hunt
5 MORE Fun & Unique Ways to Have an Easter Egg Hunt!
3 Ways to Find Motivation to Work Out
Are you trying to get motivated to exercise more? Many of us are trying to lead healthier lives, but trust me when I say, it’s hard! I completely understand that getting fit and sticking to a routine is difficult! Whether you are worn out from work, run down from chasing kids all day or you are just struggling to know where to start, it’s not easy for many of us.
Well the good news is, you don’t have to give up on yourself or break a promise to yourself to finally get started working out. Here are 3 ways to find motivation to workout that just might help!
3 Ways to Find Motivation to Work Out
Find an Exercise That You Enjoy
If you don’t like an exercise, it is basically impossible to be motivated to do it. Seriously. It’s hard. It is much easier to stay motivated to work out when you can look forward to and enjoy the exercise that you will be doing.
Find a Partner
Accountability is huge when it comes to sticking to a workout routine. With a partner, you can’t give up quite as easily as you will now be held accountable by more than just you.
Eat Better
The better you eat, the better results you will see from your workouts. This doesn’t mean that you have to restrict yourself to a difficult diet or super low calories, but if you are used to eating unhealthy, not only will it deter any weight loss or other fitness goals, but you just simply don’t feel as good when you are eating junk food.
Reward Yourself
Reward yourself with a treat, a prize or a gift for reaching fitness goals. Whether that means you lose X amount of pounds, or you work out X amount of times per week or you can walk a mile in X amount of minutes. When you set a goal and reach it, rewarding yourself can be a great motivator.
How to Save Time While Working From Home
Do you work from home? Over the last few years many of us have made the transition to working from home. It started from the pandemic, but many employers have actually realized the benefits of having their employees work from home. That means many of us are still working from our home office!
If you are still struggling with learning how to get the most amount of work done, while dealing with the typical distractions of home, we have put together some tips here for you on how to save time while working from home.
How to Save Time While Working From Home
Making use of your time at home isn’t always easy. Kids at home, household chores, that never ending to-do list are all things that can distract you, but these tips will help you figure out how to make the best use of your time.
Schedule Breaks
Be sure and work at home the same way you would at the office. That means you need to schedule your breaks for the right times and the right duration. Do not be tempted to just take your breaks willy-nilly because those breaks can get away from you quickly.
Put the Phone Down
You have to put your phone down. I’m willing to bet that if you were in the office, you wouldn’t be able to just scroll social media on your phone all day, right? If you need to put your phone into a different room, do that. If you need to install an app that blocks social media during specific hours, do that. If you need to set your phone to “Do not Disturb” do that. There are many options, but you need to make sure to avoid wasting time on your phone.
Talk to your Family About Your Work Hours
Be sure that your family knows that during specific hours, you will be working and you can’t be disturbed. You (and they) need to realize that this is your job, just as it would be if you were in the office. If they wouldn’t interrupt you all day on site, they shouldn’t interrupt you at home.
Things to Do on Your Staycation this Spring Break
This year we’ve decided to stay home during spring break and do some fun things locally. As I’ve been writing our list it’s pretty easy to come up with some fun things that won’t break the bank. Here are a few ideas you could do with your family this spring break no matter where you live!
- Visit a local museum. We recently got the PBS kids pass which lets us go to a variety of museums. If you haven’t done this before, the be sure to check back in October to get yours next year. It’s a fun one! If you don’t have a PBS kids pass you could check out Groupon and see which museums are included near you.
- Look for Easter Egg Scavenger Hunts near you. Since this week is close to Easter I know a lot of different places are doing scavenger hunts. Do a quick Google search for one near you! For example, if you live in Utah you should check out Hill Airforce Base. They have a fun scavenger hunt going on right now and it’s FREE!
- Be outside! If you’re having good weather then grab your kites, pickleball set or go find a new park. Being outside is the best during the days. Plus, it will help get your kids energy out.
- Baby Animal Days. Spring is the time for baby animal days at every Farm. Look for a local place that has baby animals you could go and pet and feed. My kids love doing this! It’s something different to do.
- Library. Keep your kids reading this week and go to the library for new books. My kids love having the time to read. You could even go outside and lay on a blanket while you read.
- Family Fun Centers. Again, this would be a great time to check out Groupon for a fun center near you. We have a Boondocks near us so this is the fun center of choice for my kiddos. This could be your activity that may cost a bit more, but the kids will love it. We have decided to go bowling this spring break together. It’s so fun!
- Family movie nights. If you’re out and about during the days, then a nice quiet movie night in the evening is perfect. Grab a few treats and find a fun movie to watch together.
How to Save on Braces & Possibly Get Them for FREE!
Well, we have stepped into the world of braces. Fortunately, both my husband and I have never needed them but that’s a different store for our daughter. You could say I had a little bit of sticker shook when I saw how much it was going to cost us so I needed to do a little research and make sure we were saving anywhere we could. Here’s a few things I learned and ways you could save on braces as well.
- Start early – make sure you’re making regular visits to your dentist. They’ll be able to tell you when is the best time to start going to the orthodontist. Depending on the situation, some children can avoid having to go through 2 rounds of braces by getting them on early enough. While this isn’t the case for everyone it could be for you.
- Compare prices on braces – Most places offer a free consultation so take advantage of this offer and shop around. Get several different estimates so you can be sure you’re getting the best pricing for your area. Keep in mind you don’t just want to look at the final cost, be sure to take in account what’s included in your quote (adjustments, permanent retainer, repairs, etc)
- Ask for discounts – this is out of my comfort zone and maybe it is for you too. But when it comes to saving large sums of money, it’s worth it to step out of that box. Many times they’ll run promotions on their Facebook page or you could get a discount for referrals, so speak up and see if they have any kind of discount.
- Use your flex spending account – if this is an option with your insurance you’re in luck. The money in your flex spending account is all pre-tax money. So putting the maximum amount of money you can into your flex spending could save you upwards of 35% off.
- Pay for your braces with cash upfront – most of the places we checked out offered a discount for paying cash upfront. They offer this because it saves them money and they’re not having to hunt you down for payments. The highest percentage off we were offered was 5% but every penny counts.
- Set up payment plan – if paying cash upfront isn’t an option for you then look at setting up a payment plan. All of ours offered zero percent financing with only a fraction of it paid upfront. This way we can pay as well go without having to pay any extra.
- Check your area for a local dental school – do you have a college that offers a dental program near you? Checkout their rates. You’ll find they usually cost 1/2 the usually amount and besides having to have a longer appointment time it could be worth the drive.
- Do you qualify for free braces? – Smiles Change Lives is the program you’ll want to look into. To qualify your child must be between the ages of 7-18 years of age, have good oral hygiene and no unfilled cavities. They help those who have moderate to severe needs for braces. (The family must meet the SCL Financial guidelines to qualify) To find out more about Smiles Change Lives go here.