Having a baby is such an exciting time, but the to-do list before baby comes can be overwhelming. With so many products on the market, it is hard to know exactly what you need for pregnancy and when baby arrives. Here are my 10 tips to save money during pregnancy.
Don’t Spend Full Price on Maternity clothes
Maternity clothes are needed, but it is hard to justify and expensive price tag when they are only worn for a short amount of time. There are a few ways to avoid spending retail price. Check out the best ways to find inexpensive maternity clothes.
Day to day life is busy. Adding distance learning and assignments to the mix can be overwhelming and stressful especially if you have multiple children you are caring for or working a full time job. The district I work in is starting with virtual learning for the first 4 weeks of school, then the plan is to move to a hybrid model with 2 days in person learning, and 3 days of virtual. Here are 10 distance learning tips for parents I have learned while teaching virtually.
Stay organized with a calendar
Have a calendar or planner and write assignments and live lessons times down. This is especially if you have multiple children at home doing virtual learning. Writing down live lesson times and assignments helps keep your day organized.
Set a routine
Set time each day to work on school assignments. Getting your child into a routine is helpful to prepare them for when they do go back to the classroom. It also provides children with consistency and they know exactly when they will need to do their school work.
Have a space for learning
Set up an area in your home for students to do their live lessons. A quiet spot in the house is best, but if that isn’t completely possible, headphones are a great option. If you are looking for a good pair of kid’s headphones, I recommend these.
There are so many things about money I wish I would have known when I was in college. At 20 years old, I was newly married and starting my third year at community college. While my college experience wasn’t “traditional” in the sense, we did have to be resourceful with the money we had and learn how to save money.
1. Avoid debt if possible
Student loan debt is no joke and it feels like it is going to take forever to pay off. When I graduated college, I accepted a teaching job right away and went on an income repayment plan to start repaying my student loans. I started off paying about $275 a month on my loans, which ended up going mostly towards interest. My total balance on my loans wasn’t going to go down unless I started paying more on them each month, which was tricky on a new teacher salary. To avoid taking out student loans, start looking for scholarships and grants when you are still in high school if possible.
2. Apply for scholarships
Scholarships are basically free money to use towards your degree. You can apply for scholarships through websites like Scholarships.com. Also check you colleges website to see if they have a list. Sometimes scholarships from local donors are listed or scholarships for certain programs are available.
3. If loans are unavoidable, only take the minimum amount needed
With things in upheaval around the world, now more than ever you should be preparing and looking ahead to the future. Your goals may be changing, but your drive should remain the same. Check out some of the best way to reach your financial goals!
Define your financial goals
Where do you want to be with your finances? Are you working towards becoming debt-free? Do you want to go on a paid for vacation? Do you want to build your savings?
When setting a goal, make sure it is realistic and specific. Instead of saying I want to pay off debt, be specific and say “I want to pay off my car loan ($8,000) by the end of the year. This will help you break it down to see how much a month you will have to pay on your car to pay it off. For example, you will have to put about $690 on your car each month (depending on your interest rate) to have it completely paid off by the end of the year.
Its best to focus on one goal at a time to prevent stretching your finances too thin and burning out.
Create a budget
This is the plan for how you will reach your goals. Make a list of all of your expenses and compare it to your income. After all of your bills and expenses are paid, how much income do you have left to put towards your goal? If you are over-budget
Hello all! As a Kindergarten teacher my heart breaks that we will not be starting our school year in the classroom. I know that this is the best decision to keep our students and families healthy and safe, but it is still not easy. As a teacher and a parent, I can understand how overwhelming it can be to know what to teach or how to teach. My best advice is to keep things simple. Spending time with your family and keeping them safe and healthy is most important and keeping things stress free is best. Please don’t feel like you need to spend hours a day teaching your child. Enjoy the extra time together and have fun playing games, making crafts, cooking together, playing outside etc. Here are a few simple ideas of ways you can teach your child during this time.
