Thursday, August 29, 2013

How to Cheaply Decorate a Kid's Room When You're Renting

I'll be honest- it is pretty hard for me to get motivated about decorating because we are (A) renting and (B) still in a phase of life where we seem to be moving every two years. Consequently, I tend to decorate in cheap ways that leave us with few holes in the wall to fill when we move out. (If you really want to decorate, like Lisa, check out this post.)

Enter Operation: Make Child's Room Less Prison-Like. 



1. I picked up some of those large decorative papers from Paper Source and cut them into the first letter of whatever they were depicting (i.e., "S" is for superhero, which I later realized also had aliens and monsters on it- if C gets nightmares, I guess I have only myself to blame).
Lettering like this is ideal for nursery rooms too. Financially preparing for kids can be difficult, but not if you budget and use ideas like this.


2. I grabbed some rolls of plain black and navy wrapping paper and traced and cut out a duplicate of the letter for a shadow effect. 


3. I printed the text in thick black letters for  "is for <insert word here>" on card stock and cut out the letters. I did this for each of my five big letters. Yes, this is the one time in my life I've coveted one of these bad boys

4. I bought some colored paper and printed out the alphabet and numbers one through ten using the outline style in word art. I also flipped them so they were backwards so the outline would be on the reverse side after cutting.

I used regular paper on the "is for guitars" because I was lazy. Not a good idea-- note the curling. Stick with cardstock or at least construction paper.

I finished off with some numbers around the faux "Mondrian" I made with painters tape. I did have to make a couple holes to hang that one...

5. I made billions of those little "tape doughnuts" out of masking tape and painters tape and hung everything up. Depending on the tape you use, the paint on the walls, and how long you leave them up there, you may need to be prepared to clean off some residue when you take them down. 

6. I wanted to put a rug on the floor, but wasn't interested in spending hundreds of dollars. Enter the IKEA play mat solution. I bought four of these cheap, fun mats and duct taped them together on the back side. For under $60 that gives you a large floor covering and play area in one. C has tried pulling them apart one or two times, but has mostly left them alone. We bought one first, and noticed when we went back to get the next three they had switched from round corners to square corners, which makes this work even better (no gap in the middle where they come together).

Also, please note that C is holding a financial calculator.
There you have it. A fun, cheap decorating solution for a kid's room in a rental.

Tell us -- How do you decorate when you're in a temporary living situation?

Monday, August 26, 2013

Basic Guide To Getting Out of Debt (the SNL way) and Are You Prepared For a Financial Emergency?

Whether you’re losing sleep over how you’re going to make your next house payment or dodging calls from bill collectors, being in debt is stressful. It affects every part of your life and health, but not all is lost. With the right determination and plan, you can rise above your debt and breathe easy again.


 Step 1: STOP INCURRING ADDITIONAL DEBT
Stop borrowing and don’t buy

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Money Hip Friends: Budgeting with a Plan

Remember this post where I said we were trying to get our smart friend to write a guest post for us? Here it is. (And for those of you who don't know her, Paige is one of those people that is always #1 (usually literally) at whatever she does, so she's a good one to listen to.)

Paige, Lisa, and I are good friends from the BYU accounting program. She's a young mom of two little girls (2 ½ and 7 months), so life is busy, but having a budget and financial plan in place really helps her to simplify. She also loves to help others with their budgets and help them gain the peace of mind that comes from being in control of your finances.

I think I’ve made a budget, now what? Budgeting with a plan

From my experience, one of the main reasons that people fail at budgeting is because real life doesn’t always fit into an identical monthly mold. After you have worked and drawn up your first budget draft, there are three things to consider to make sure that you have a real, complete budget and sound financial plan:

Monday, August 19, 2013

DIY Fabric Headboard with Nailhead Detailed Arms

This post has been moved to my new blog, MoneyFitMoms.com. Find it here:

How to DIY Fabric Headboard with Tufted Buttons — Save Money!


 


More DIY Projects

Or check out these Financial Articles

Monday, August 12, 2013

Best Birthday Freebies


For you frugal people out there, you know the best part about birthdays is the never-ending stream of freebies! To take full advantage, you need to sign up far enough before your birthday to make it into their databases in time. I signed up around my birthday last year, so this year I just had to sit back and wait for the freebies to roll in. And now for y'all, I've compiled a list of the best of the best. You're welcome.

Pin this image to remind yourself to sign up:



Note: Before signing up, you need to have an older e-mail account that

Monday, August 5, 2013

Introducing Money Hip Mamas & $50 Amazon Giveaway

Welcome to Money Hip Mamas!

Financial Mom, Save money, investing, money blog, #momlife

Welcome–I’m excited you’re here! My name is Lisa Schader. I am a Financial Coach and a MAcc (Master of Accountancy). I’ve been hooked on money management ever since my husband and I took a personal finance class together in graduate school.

We learned the essential lesson of wealth creation: living lean and budgeting are NOT enough. We needed to pack money away in retirement and investment accounts and make strategic career decisions–which we did–and it paid off! The day we realized we were on track for early retirement was an amazing day.

Hello!


I give away a $50 Amazon Gift Card every month to someone participating in the FREE Money Fit Challenge!

Join the FREE Money Fit Challenge!

You’re more likely to accomplish financial goals if you have a supportive community and step-by-step instructions

(1) Join the supportive @MoneyFitMoms community (Instagram and Facebook)

(2) Get FREE step-by-step instructions and tools to accomplish all the Top 10 Money Fit Moves. (e.g. budgeting, pay off debt, investing, retirement, create a will)

Join the Money Fit Challenge!


Also, check out this article to see How to calculate your Financial Freedom Number

Or check out your Retirement Contributions and Income Limits

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