My top 3 Back to School Must Haves to Save Time and Money!

It's been busy around here, busy doing nothing. We still haven't closed on our new place but we have to be out of our rental. It's been an interesting ride and I am avoiding the stress of it for now.  Once we get settled I think it will be a mad rush for school. It's going by so fast!

The last 2 years have been so crazy for us. I hope we can get all settled and I can find everything before school starts!

1.

We have a set of these for each kid. Saves so much on school lunches and I love knowing what they are getting, and that they will eat it. There seem to be less to choose from the sooner it gets to school.

2.

These little plastic cups with lids! I know they are common for Jello shots. That is not what we use them for though ;) 

They are the perfect size for snacks. I can buy in bulk and save, then just package them into these and they are ready to go in our snack bucket!

3.

 Iron in Name Tags!
With 3 kids going to school the chances of someone losing a sweater, jacket, lunchbox every week is likely. These save me time from digging in the lost and found, and save us money because we aren't replacing items that go missing!

To go with these, I like these markers!

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Nourishing This Baby & A Giveaway

Hawkins is 8 months old and loves to eat! 

I want him to eat healthy foods that we can make work in our budget and that we feel good about giving him!

We love the ease of the baby food pouches, but the organic ones can get pretty spendy, even with a coupon.  So thankful we found these from Nourish with Style!

Reusable, easy on the budget, and a fun way to control what we give our little nugget. The lid is the same as commercial ones, so if you use those spoon attachments you are still good to go! Unlike some other pouches the entire bottom opens, making it easier to fill! Easy to close and a tight seal. You can fill and freeze them ahead of time, just leave a little expanding room. Free of BPA, BPH, Phthalate, PVC, Lead, Asbestos and Red Dye 40. A 10 pack of these is only $14.95! Such a deal!

Oregon has the best strawberries, they are ripe and inexpensive at the u-pick farms.
We have picked about 12 pounds this week, and the baby has eaten about 3 pounds while we were out picking.

I used a recipe that was just strawberries, chia seeds and a little honey.  The big kids have been using it as jam, I've been adding it to our pouches with other good stuff!
Today he is having homemade applesauce and strawberries with chia seed.
So easy to load these pouches and be ready for the morning adventures.

Let me tell you mamas and daddy's, these are the perfect pouch to nourish your sweet baby!
Or toddler, or big kid who still loves purees!

They are just the perfect thing for parents. I think the things I worry about when it comes to baby foods are cost, nutrition, ease. This hits the mark on all of them!

I have a 5 pack of these to give away too! Just enter below and start saving money, filling em up with goodness!

  a Rafflecopter giveaway



**Nourish with Style provided me with some pouches to try out, all opinions are my own :)

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Wool Dryer Balls~Saving Money, Naturally. *Giveaway*

I posted a picture of Woolzies a couple weeks ago on Facebook, glad to see I wasn't last to the party!

We have been using them for a little while now, and goodness do they help!

I had been trying to find ways to cut down on laundry expenses.

We already make our own laundry soap and hang drying is a lovely idea, except we have trees and a big empty field and SPIDERS like crazy. I just can't do it! I have tried hanging some in our laundry room but 2-3 loads of wash a day, there just isn't enough room for it all.

We have a h/e machine already, other than making sure I get every stray sock in the load I don't think there is another way I can save on the washing part, we just use soap, sometimes vinegar. I won't pay for or use fabric softener, it's not softening anything, it's coating the fabric with chemicals. ICK!

So I started checking out drying options, lots of DIY fabric sheets but same chemical coating, no thanks.

In my search I read about these wool dryer balls. Claimed to help drying time and soften clothes.

I had seen the plastic ones and was not convinced I would want heated plastic in with our clothes, I envisioned more holes and less help with the drying or making anything softer, and was pretty sure the noise would be crazy.

I read about Woolzies then tried them out, I new the first week I was hooked!

They work by helping separate the clothes in the dryer and allowing the air to circulate more efficiently. I barely notice a difference in noise.

 I didn't really have an issue with static before, and still don't. But I don't over dry stuff. As soon as it is dry stuff comes out, I think static is partially over drying.



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Taking a Break from Organizing Friday

We finally found a place! We have a long closing and still have about 4 1/2 weeks before we close. 

I can't wait to share all the dirty details, and believe me it IS dirty!

So for now instead of organizing on Friday I will be packing.

I have packed a few boxes so far and taken a couple car loads of donations too!

We have only lived here 7 months and I can see the things we didn't even touch!

So for now I am boxing up some of those things (one we get some more boxes) and donating some more stuff as well. I have no desire to be a minimalist, that is not for me, but I don't know that we really need 11 spatulas either. Is it really so inconvenient to just wash the 1 or 2 if I need it again before the dishwasher is done? Probably not.

This is how I am packing these days.

Now I know it's probably not what the experts say is the right way, but I am guessing those experts aren't moving for the 2 time in 8 months with an infant who is on team NO SLEEP. So this is what works for us.
As I go through a room I just put the stuff I know we don't NEED on the kitchen table and wrap it if it's breakable.  I try to keep stuff from one room in the same box, but sometimes that doesn't work out. I often have 3 or 4 boxes half packed at one time.

Any tried and true packing secrets I need to know about?!

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