DIY kids toy chest

Guest post written by Kirk Call

It's gotten to the point of where I can't even find a spot of the floor that isn't covered with toys that I can step to in a path through our living room. I guess that it's about time now that we should actually find a good place to store our son's toys. So I decided that I would try and make it a little project of my own to make a toy box or chest to teach him to put away his toys in.

I've never made a toy box or anything like that before. The most that I've ever made before was a little bench, so I used my Clear wire internet to look up how to make the toy chest.

When I was online looking at that I actually found some directions to make a kids DIY toy with some of the left over materials too. I'm almost done with the toy box and am going to let our son paint it how he wants to for the fun of it.

Maybe its time for new toys, too! Kmart has good deals!

I received a small compensation posting this guest post.

Financial tips?

I see a lot of blogs that feature saving tips. I am no expert but here are some of my own tips.

Thrifting -- Go to garage sales and thrift stores but don't buy everything just because it is cheap. I have fallen into this myself and now I use an amount of thinking before I buy. Do I need this? About how many times will I use this?

Cheap stores--If you are brand conscious but can't afford a regular priced branded item, there are stores for us, Ross Dress for Less, TJ Maxx, and Nordstrom Rack. They have branded items for much cheaper prices.

Sale-- This is probably our favorite,except, you have to be prepared for the crowd, the long lines. You can prepare in advance by using the printed ad so you know in advance what sections or department you have to go to.

Shop online--You can compare prices easier and a lot of online stores now offer free shipping. You save a lot of time and money by doing this.

Coupons-- I use this a lot now and it helps. $10 less every time you go to the grocery. It is not much but if you multiply it and think about the savings in a year, they all add up.

Some other financial insights:

Some people resort to debt consolidation. It makes sense to do this when you are unable to pay the monthly debt. In the US, it is easier to get a new car, get loans, in short time have a lot of debt. Instead of having late payments or totally unable to pay with those high interest rates, I think debt consolidation can help. There are some non-profit companies like http://www.anewhorizon.org/.

Buy a house instead of rent. I wish we can do this ourselves but houses here are crazy expensive and the condo fees are too high. But renting is something that we pay every month for something that we won’t own.

Eat out less. I just thought we haven’t been going to restaurants lately, only fast foods during our vacation. We’ll definitely save if we don’t each out too much and cook meals at home.

Before I end this post, here are some really cute piggy banks. The first one is my favorite.

First aids and band aids

How cute are these band aids-- Hello Kitty, Dora and Fairy bandages? I just figured that I need to start buying some medical supplies. I would love to get a cute first aid kit for RC. Last week, when I had a checkup, for the first time I had a high blood pressure, the doctor was not too concerned because I was running a flu. But this type of situation scares me since I have some family members with heart diseases. I think the older I get the paranoid I become. So I'm also planning to buy a digital blood pressure kit and a finger pulse oximeter .  The whole family can use the medical supplies and most of them last for a long time.

Show me State

We look happy at these pictures, we really were but we were both coughing at that time. This was a quick drive, it was cold. The weather was gloomy, the trees are all brown without leaves. We were running out of time already it was almost time to fly home. We planned to go to Branson, see Silver Dollar City and those tourist spots in Missouri but due to sickness and time limit, we will have to save that for another trip.

I know that there's a picture overload in this post but if you just want more background pictures of Missouri , please visit my fairly new blog at Mom Daughter Reviews. I don't know what am I thinking making another blog, I am already busy with this one but since I already started it, I want to build it a little more and  hopefully gain some readers there too. Thank you in advance.

Btw, a quick trivia about Missouri, it is called the "Show me State" because of this phrase from a former congressman--  "I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me."

Shopwiki

A revolutionary way to shop is through Shopwiki.com. I wish I knew about this website before. It is like a Google search engine for shopping. It seeks out mostly every store online regardless if it is a sponsored link or not. For shoppers, it means that they can find whatever is for sale online. You can search for health and beauty, personal care, men’s grooming, skin care, bath and body products and much more.

They have articles about buying guides, make up tips, sun protection etc. If you search for a product, the site will list the top stores with prices so you can compare right away and save time. I'm thinking of buying a matching Elmo shirt for me and RC. She is getting to be picky in what she wears now, she loves this kind with characters in them but she has very little of them.

This post is brought to you by shopwiki.com.

Sporty

Pictures of RC from July of 2010.  She has grown so much from then. I may have mentioned already that I am a mere spectator of sports and not a player. Research says that as early as three years old (maybe earlier), parents can introduce sports to their kids and soccer is one of the best toddler sports. RC likes to kick the ball so I think she can do soccer.

Some adults are so hooked into sports that they even join sports betting which can also be found online. However, according to sportsbettingspot.com , “Nevada is the only state that is legally allowed to book sporting events with point spreads and odds”. It’s not surprising to know ‘cause that’s where Las Vegas is. The links above are provided by sportsbettingspot.com.

Glee

 

Glee is probably one of the most popular teen shows on TV. I was watching the Academy Awards days ago and they all look fabulous. I am much older than these guys and I don’t watch their program but I did enjoy looking at their pictures with their cute poses and cute clothes. I think the colors on the pictures make them more appealing.
They also have so many upcoming tours. They will be performing at Palace of Auburn Hills, TD Banknorth Garden, Target Center, Conseco fieldhouse and Izod Center. All these stadiums and entertainment sites are from different states. Tickets can be bought from Ticketamerica.com (which also offers other tickets like concerts/sports etc). This post is brought to you by their website.