Master Bedroom Makeover REVEAL: From drab to fab on a budget

Well it's been a few weeks...and I'm finally ready to show you our new master bedroom.  I am so thrilled with it because I finally feel like it's a relaxing, organized, and beautiful space.  Many of the projects I've been documenting with DIY tutorials on our brand new Two It Yourself blog so I won't go through all the details here, but if you are interested you can click the links to jump over to the tutes.

And without further ado here are the pictures of our newly redone master bedroom.  

To start, here's a panoramic view...

Panoramic view

Melissa & Doug coupons, free shipping and a free toy offer (3/26)

Just wanted to draw your attention to a few new Melissa & Doug coupons, free shipping offers and a free set of binoculars that I've added to our Coupons and Deals page.

Get 'em while they last because these deals will be gone soon.

Free Melissa & Doug binoculars with purchase of $45 

Melissa & Doug 10% off all orders over $60 with Code: SPRINGTEN  (valid thru 3/31)  

Free Shipping on all Melissa & Doug orders over $50 with Code: FSFIFTY (Regularly $60)

 

Don't forget to check our Coupons and Deals page often as I update it several times a week with new deals and codes. 

Playroom ideas: Decorating with kids art is a budget saver

 

It's been two years since we moved into our house and finally we have something on the walls in the playroom.  I've been searching for playroom decorating ideas for a few months.    I knew I wanted to use the kids' art work to decorate, but I wanted to decorate the playroom on a budget.  The tough part is we have four huge walls, so to cover them with anything -- art or otherwise -- wasn't going to be easy or cheap.   

Easter Basket Ideas for Kids: 55 Non-Candy Easter Basket Stuffers

If you're like me, you're looking for at least a few ideas for Easter Basket fillers that aren't candy.   My kids are honestly more happy about a new electric toothbrush with Dora or Lighting McQueen on it than they are about a chocolate bunny.  Here are 55 Easter Basket ideas for kids -- both boys and girls.

1. Bubbles
2. Coloring Books
3. Crayons
4. Easter themed cookie cutters
5. Stickers
6. Little People Easter Egg Hunt
7. Easter Thomas the Tank Engine trains (girl version too thanks to Easter Rosie!)
8. Cotton tails and bunny trails (marshmallows and mini chocolate chips
9. Bunny & Chick Lego set (or any mini leg set)
10. Foam Easter crafts
    

Steep Discounts on Photo Gifts (perfect for the grandparents)...but you have to hurry

Every year I scratch my head trying to figure out what to give my grandparents and my husband's grandparents as a Christmas gift. Now that I have Olivia, a framed picture is always a welcome gift. But as I was trying to decide which, of the many adorable pictures I should print and frame, I had a genius idea! I would make a photo calendar and I wouldn't have to have decide!


A few years back I made my in-laws a Snapfish photo calendar using pictures from my brother-in-law's wedding. It came out beautifully and they loved it. I liked that I could pretty much customize everything including putting pictures on specific calendar dates for things such as birthdays and anniversaries.  


So, I headed back to Snapfish a few days ago and started putting together a few more calendars for the great-grandparents. I was so excited when I found this 30% off coupon for of all things...calendars! (I usually find some great Snapfish coupon, but it's for something other than what I'm ordering.) You can use the coupon too! Just go to Snapfish through this link and use the coupon code 30CAL2009 at checkout to get 30% off all photo calendars.

Here are a few other Snapfish coupons I came across as well...if you're ordering something other than a photo calendar!

50% Off Photo Books with Coupon Code RRBOOK (Offer Expires 12/2)

By using this code Snapfish will also donate $1 from every order to a food bank in your state!!!

Free shipping on orders of $30 or more with coupon code 30SHIP09  

25% Off Photo Cards Use Coupon Code 25CARD2009 (Offer Expires 1/31)

Hey, savings account, remember me???

"We're baaaaaack!" You have no idea how excited I am to report that that's exactly what I said to my savings account the other day. Yes, we've missed each other for the last 11 months. It's been that long...basically since I stopped working to become a SAHM...that my husband and I have actually been able to put money into the savings. Last month though, my online writing earnings (which totaled $604 and change) provided us with a surplus...and therefore "We're back!" The best part is, it isn't a small surplus it's several hundred dollars...$300 to be exact!

Let me explain how it all works out b/c this is possible for all stay-at-home moms to achieve. By looking at my monthly earnings you'll see it takes time (and all I have is nap time)...but a year isn't much, if you think about it. While I never thought I'd be where I am, less than year after leaving the workforce,  I'm so happy I've put the dedication in to give my family several online revenue streams.

The only two websites I write for are Examiner.com and eHow.com, each a little different, but each a great gig in its own right.

The last eHow article I wrote was on 9/3/09, the last one before that was on 7/31/09.  In other words: I've been on hiatis from eHow for awhile. However, I've continued to earn, and increase my monthly income, each month as you can see from screen grabs of my eHow earnings reports.  And this, my friends is the beauty of passive residual income!

So why I haven't I written for eHow lately if I continue to see such dramatic monthly earning increases? Well, I heard about this great little start-up writing site called Examiner.com. Perhaps you've heard of it. Perhaps you even write for it. I have to admit, when I first started on Examiner I wasn't too impressed with the earnings. The site pays what usually equals out to a little less than a penny a page view.   Doesn't sound like much, does it? Well, that's where a penny/page view can be deceiving.

 I have two "spots" on Examiner.  My original spot was as the Baltimore SAHMs Examiner. I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed in the payoff considering the time and effort I put into writing daily articles.  Since the site only lets you see earnings for the current and previous months, I'll just have to tell you that in July (my first month) I earned $33.95. In August, I did slightly better earning $44.24. And in September Examiner deposted $299.67 into my PayPal account.

So what happened in October? A few things:

• Started second spot as the Celebrity Kids Examiner (earning $160.00 from September 16-30)
  
• Two Examiner referrals at $50 each

So in actuality I made $199.67 for my writing efforts. (Clearly, the majority was from my new gig.) But look what happened in October with strictly writing and NO referrals. (Since I have two spots, I have two earnings reports.)

If you do the math you'll see that in just my third full month on Examiner I made almost $500! Combined with my monthly earnings from eHow, in October my grand total is just about $825!!!! And you know what that means..."Hey savings, we'll be back again, real soon!"

When I started this little thing I now call freelance writing my goal was to pay off one bill. I was so excited when I was able to do that with an ehow deposit of $26.75. Granted, it was a small bill. Now my goal is to pay the entire monthly credit card bill (which ranges between $1000-$1300 in a typical month) with just my freelance writing earnings. I hope to do it by March 2010.

I'll keep you posted!

PS. If you're wondering why I haven't been making as many blog posts as of late...now you know!

Related Links:

Earn Passive Residual Income on eHow.com (by a SAHM making $1300 a month...it's how I cracked the code)

Ehow's legit...Don't say I didn't tell you so

eHow pays moms for their expertise

Make real money writing for Examiner.com (part of my Make Money Monday series)

My eHow story...month by month

Me and My Sewing Machine: New BFFs

I've spent more time with my sewing machine in the last few days than I have with my husband. It's partly his fault, he bought $12 suit pants and a $30 matching jacket at Target that need to be hemmed. For $12.99, I'll hem anything. But I've also had a date with the new playroom couch and a baby parrot.


A few weeks back while trying to figure out what my daughter would be for Halloween, I had the brilliant idea that we'd dress as a mom-baby duo...we opted to let dad in on the fun, too. I've seen lots of Halloween costume ideas for moms and babies, but when I remembered that my mom had a man and woman's pirate customs I settled on a parrot for my daughter.
If you've ever looked for a baby parrot costume you can stop...they're all pretty much lame-o. Sorry to be so blunt. So, I decided I'd make one. My mom made every single Halloween costume my sister and I ever wore so I thought I'd just follow in her tradition. (We'll see how long this lasts!) I looked online and found a homemade Halloween costume site that actually had about a dozen different versions of a parrot. I got some great ideas and went from there.
At first I started looking for a red fleece one piece to be the body, but I couldn't find what I was looking for. During a quick trip to the dollar store I spotted a red fleece shirt...for $1 that was right up my alley. But, no pants. I went across the street to Goodwill and what did I find but a .50 pair of red sweatpants...the only pair and they happen to be in Olivia's size! Then I went to Joann Fabrics and bought half a yard of half price fleece in red, blue, yellow and green. That's right I paid $7.53 for the entire costume. While I've been busy sewing my parrot, I informed my husband his job was to teach our 13 month old how to flap her wings...to which she picked up in about 5 minutes. (He always gets the easy jobs!) Here are a few pictures from a recent unfinished-costume fitting! The second one, you can see, features "The Flap."


The parrot project actually put a halt on a previous project...which I was happy to abandon, at least for the time being. Being thrifty, we bought a used sleeper couch off Craigslist for the playroom. Every intention was to cover it with a slip cover...it's U.G.L.Y. But silly me I didn't pay close enough attention to the arms and through my search for a slipcover only now realize I'd need a custom cover. Doesn't that defeat the purchase a thrifty purchase? So I went on my way making a cover out of two queen-size flat sheets that I bought for a total of $40...I was able to make three curtains out of extra material too. So while that project is about 80% done, the couch is now only half ugly and must wait for my little parrot!

Gee, I love my sewing machine...at least it's no longer covered with dust!

Making Money Online: My Most Successful Month as a Mom So Far

Far and away, August has been my most lucrative month in my little side business (aside from being a full time mom, of course) as an online freelance writer. I'm really starting to see some serious money rolling into my PayPal account each month. A full year after my daughter was born, and 10 months after leaving my job as a TV News Producer, my online venture is starting to make a real difference in our monthly budget.


As you read down and look at my sources of income keep the following in mind: I am a fulltime, SAHM. I do not have a babysitter any day of the week. I only write or "work" when my daughter is napping (max 3 hours a day) and I rarely do work after my husband comes home (around 4pm) or on the weekends. Some days I do not write or "work" at all because I have other more pressing things to do such as housecleaning or grocery shopping. That being said - it is possible for moms (yes, even those of walking, curious and on-the-go one year olds) to make $500+ a month in extra cash. Here's how I did it in August.

Ehow Earnings: $252.26
Ehow Article Written in August: 0
Note: 100% passive residual income
Learn more writing how-to articles and earning passive residual income on Ehow.com

Examiner Earnings: $44.24
Examiner Articles Written in August: 23
Learn more about becoming a freelance writer for Examiner.com

Examiner Bonus Earnings From Referrals: $150 ($50 per referral)

eBay Earnings: $33.84
Items Sold on eBay in August: 3

Affiliate Earnings in August: $ 15.07
Commission Junction: $1.25
Amazon: $1.32
E-Junkie: $12.50
Total Products Sold thru Affiliate Programs: 4
Note: 100% Passive Income
Learn more about Affiliate Marketing as a way to earn passive residual income

August Dual-Family Yard Sale: $58
_____________________________

Total Online Earnings in August: $ 495.41
Grand Total for August Earnings: $553.418


Through my Examiner column, which focuses on Baltimore SAHMs I have started a weekly series called Make Money Mondays which offers moms creative and legitimate ways to make money from home.

Free Budget Worksheets

As a stay at home mom I'm learning living on a budget is more important than ever. At my house we use an monthly budget worksheet to easily see what's coming in and what's going out. If I had realized before we went through the hassle of creating a budget in Excel, that there are tons of free budget worksheets online, I would have printed one off! To get started
Printable budget worksheets make it easier than ever to live within your means. When you know you have to write down everything you buy, it's a lot harder to justify some of those unnecessary purchases. If you haven't started following a budget yet, you can still use printable budget worksheets to get started. Here are some of the best free budget worksheets I found and here's a link to help filling out free budget worksheets.

Basic Printable Budget Worksheet

Budget Worksheet for Families with Children

Budget Worksheets Specifically Designed for Seniors (but can be adapted for all households)

Yearly Budget Planner