Important Message From Living Social

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Stephanie

The following is an email that I received from Tim O’Shaughnessy, CEO of LivingSocial over the weekend. If you have a LivingSocial Account, please read this post.

LivingSocial recently experienced a cyber-attack on our computer systems that resulted in unauthorized access to some customer data from our servers. We are actively working with law enforcement to investigate this issue.

The information accessed includes names, email addresses, date of birth for some users, and encrypted passwords — technically ‘hashed’ and ‘salted’ passwords. We never store passwords in plain text.

Two things you should know:

The database that stores customer credit card information was not affected or accessed.
If you connect to LivingSocial using Facebook Connect, your Facebook credentials were not compromised.

You do not need to take any action at this time, but we wanted to be sure you were fully informed of what happened.

The security of your information is our priority. We always strive to ensure the security of our customer information, and we are redoubling efforts to prevent any issues in the future.

Please note that LivingSocial will never ask you directly for personal or account information in an email. We will always direct you to the LivingSocial website – and require you to login – before making any changes to your account. Please disregard any emails claiming to be from LivingSocial that request such information or direct you to a website that asks for such information.

If you have additional questions about this process, the “Create New Password” button on LivingSocial.com will direct you to a page that has instructions on creating a new password and answers to frequently asked questions.

We are sorry this incident occurred, and we look forward to continuing to introduce you to new and exciting things to do in your community.

Sincerely,
Tim O’Shaughnessy, CEO

Spring Break!

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Stephanie

Next week my children are on Spring Break from pre-school, so I’ve decided they aren’t the only ones who deserve a break.

Starting this weekend, through Easter Monday, I will on “vacation” — my first scheduled time away from RAFOAB since I started the page almost 3 years ago.

During this time, I will have daily posts scheduled to go live, and I may pop onto Facebook from time to time, so its not like there won’t be anything new on the page, I just won’t be answering emails, and FB comments as much.

And while Spring Break for most people means fun in the sun, traveling, and getting some much needed R&R, I plan on catching up on housework, getting organized, interviewing potential doulas, and taking daily (hopefully) naps. Amazing how the definition of time off changes as we get older.

Back In The Swing Of Things

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Stephanie

After close to a week away focusing on Shop4Charity, I think today I’m finally back in the swing of things. The combination of preparing for an event of that stature compounded with losing an hour on Sunday, and being pregnant has lead to the perfect storm of being absolutely exhausted! So, I’m easing back in to things this morning, and should be back up to speed by the end of the day.

One note, I have received two emails about refunds from the couponing class that was scheduled for early February, and canceled due to the snow. I had processed all of the returns by March 1, but it seems that they didn’t go through properly. I will be reprocessing those refunds today. I am sorry for the inconvenience.

I’m off to start my work day! I hope you all have a great day.

And the results are in…

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Stephanie

I just realized that I never made the announcement two weeks ago like I said I would. Let’s chalk this one up to a serious case of mommy brain!

According to the survey that you had a chance to fill out:

53% Girl
47% Boy

According to friends & family based on a photo of me at 20 weeks:

85% Girl
15% Boy

But the official results according to the ultrasound … We’re having a BOY!

I had that feeling from day one that this was going to be another little boy, and a mama’s intuition was right one. Now to turn my office into a little boy’s nursery. I can’t believe that I only have about 17 weeks left to go until we meet our newest edition.

Thank you for being with me during this journey.

{40 Bags in 40 Days} What To Do With Books

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Stephanie

In my clean out, I have come across close to 30 books that I no longer want/need, but they are still in really good condition and don’t need to be thrown away, so I have looked into a few options for selling & donating them.

Obviously, if you belong to an online consignment group you can list your books there; same for eBay or Craigslist. However, I have found several other solutions where you can get a little something in return.

:: Donate

A lot of libraries will take book donations to either add to their own collections or to sell and use the funds to support the library and its programs.
Operation Paperback is a non-profit organization incorporated in the State of Pennsylvania that collects gently used books nationwide and sends them to American troops overseas, as well as veterans and military families here at home. Since 1999, we have shipped over 1.9 million books to locations around the globe. All of the details about how you can donate your books through this organization can be found on their website.

:: Sell

There are lots of sites where you can sell back your books. I have used a few of these, and have had a lot of success. However, not each site will accept the same types of books, and they won’t all offer you the same amount for them. I like to price check between one or two of the sites when I’m inputing books to sell so I get the most bang for my buck.

Do you know of any other places to sell or donate gently used books? Let us know in the comments.

{40 Bags in 40 Days} Planning for Success

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Stephanie

My main goal during the 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge is to declutter my office and get it ready to turn into a nursery. My secondary goal is to attack a few other problem spots in the house – like that pesky Tupperware cabinet – to finally get rid of that which is broken, unneeded, or out of date.

Since I’m a list person, I thought, why not make a few organizers to help stay on track.

I’ve created two organizers to help you get prepared. They can be used together by completing the list first and then using that to fill out the full game plan, or you can use them separately. However your mind works.

I started by just filling out the full game plan, but then looked at my calendar for the next few weeks, and with so much going on, I think the basic list will be what I stick with this year. I have some rooms (or pieces of a room) on my plan for multiple days because they need a lot of work. I’m ashamed to say that my desk is being allocated for 3 days because it has gotten so bad. I really need to get rid of this clutter!

And since I’m a visual person, I need to see a countdown of some sort. I have so many stickers in my house (doesn’t every parent?) that I figured I could just make a quick chart numbered 1-40 and then cover each “bag” with a sticker or an X or something to know I’m that much closer to my goal.

The challenge starts on Wednesday, but I know that some of you have gotten a head start and that is great! Keep up the momentum and we can all do this! Seeing your posts has been an inspiration, and the accountability of sharing this experience with all of you will keep me going!

Want to join the conversation? Check out the 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge on Facebook, or feel free to comment below.

{40 Bags in 40 Days} A Lenten Challenge

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Stephanie

I have about 1200 square feet, and enough stuff to fill over 2000. Its time to once again clean house, and for me, I have the added motivation of clearing out my office so that I have room to make it into a nursery.

With Lent beginning on Wednesday 2/13, I figured it was time to start gearing up for my annual 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge.

The idea is instead of giving up chocolate or your daily cup of coffee, give up things around your home that are cluttering up your life. It may be trash, magazines you’ve already read, empty boxes, whatever. Just simplify your life by a bag of stuff a day that you can either donate or discard as necessary. The rules to the challenge don’t have to be hard & fast, and you can make the adjustments to the challenge to fit your personal needs. Somedays that bag will be a trash can liner, other days it may be a small shopping bag with a few items to give a friend. It is flexible!

I have an overwhelming need to simplify and this challenge should do the trick. Not everything has to be trash either. You can give things away to friends, donate items, recycle them, or even sell them. The goal is to get them out of the house to simplify your life and simplify your surroundings.

Do you really need jeans 3 sizes smaller than you are currently wearing? What about the children’s story book that is missing a cover? And those picture frames that you are storing away for the day you eventually get a family photo taken? Can’t they all just go too?

You life can be just as rich when you live with less. Stuff isn’t what makes us happy or fulfilled, but it does have a tendency to cause problems or chaos in our lives.

Want to take the 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge a step farther? Don’t buy anything that is not a necessity during the 40 days! If you enjoy shopping as much as I do, this is a real tough one, and I know for me it will be especially difficult because I have a little one on the way, and cute baby stuff is a necessity right? But if you commit to only buying necessities – groceries, trash bags, bandaids, etc – and skip the cute top just because it is on sale or the magazine at the check out lane, you are scaling back and simplifying too.

There are no hard & fast rules to this challenge, so don’t be intimidated. If you only think you can do 20 bags in 40 days, then that is your commitment, but then follow through. Join us on this journey to simplify our lives by spring.

If you’re ready to commit to the 40 Bags in 40 Days challenge, add your name here in the comments. I’ll post once a week during Lent and we can all report our progress and hold one another accountable.

Come on, we can do this!

Share your posts about the 40 Bags in 40 Days Challenge here:

Continue to See RAFOAB on Facebook

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Stephanie

Are we not showing up in your news feed anymore?

Facebook has begun to ask pages to pay to promote their page’s posts, and if we don’t pay then around 10% of you get our updates.

So not cool Facebook! We want all of our fans to see the great deals and offers we share on Raising A Family On A Budget!

I am currently working on a way to send a daily digest of all of our posts to interested readers so that all of the deals and offers will be sent to your inbox once a day, but until then the Twitter stream and our Facebook wall is the way to go if you want to see all of our posts without coming directly to our main website.

Here is a work around:

Go to our Facebook page
Hover mouse over “Liked”
Click “Add to Interests Lists”
Click ‘+New List’
Click ‘Next’
Create list named ‘RAFOAB’
Click ‘Done’

Regularly commenting and liking our posts also helps!

Hope to keep seeing you on Facebook!

Snow Day!

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Stephanie

Snow Day! Snow Storm! Blizzard! Nor’easter! Snowpocalypse! Snowmageddon!

IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT!

Ok people, here it is, we are expecting a fairly decent amount of snow this weekend. I live in that beautiful band of dark purple that is calling for 6-12 inches of the white stuff, with most predictions having us being around the 8 inch mark. I understand that this weather is frustrating and annoying, but what I don’t get is all of the snark and complaining I’ve been seeing all over social media.

Here’s the deal – You live in the mid-Atlantic region. We get snow. Plain and simple. Some winters we get next to nothing (think last year) other years (think the mid-90s) we get more in a given storm than upstate NY! Its just the way it is.

That said, a storm that is calling for 6-12 inches of snow isn’t hype. Its not a scare tactic by the media, or anything else for that matter. It is a prediction based on scientific evidence made by scientists, not journalists and lay people, about what we should expect given the current data that they have available to them.

So how should you be prepared?

Heavy winds associated with the storm could cause power outages. Make sure to charge your cell phones, and any other electronics today just to be safe. If you have a generator, make sure it is in working order and you have gas on hand before you actually need it. If you end up not needing the gas, you’ll have it for your car next week.
Check your oil and propane tanks! If you are almost out, call around and get an emergency delivery today. You may pay a little more, but its better than being without heat.
Bring the shovels and salt/ice melt into the house where you can actually get to them. If you don’t have an attached garage, then keeping these things in the garage won’t do you any good when you need to shovel your way out the front door. Don’t have a shovel? Hit the stores before work or on your lunch break to get one.
Unless you have a huge family, or an overwhelming craving for French Toast, you do not need to purchase 6 gal of milk, and 4 loafs of bread. You need enough groceries on hand to get through the weekend, think 3-4 days, not weeks without being able to get to a market.
Have a little one in the house? Make sure you have diapers & wipes now, instead of when the snow starts to fall.
If you have a fire place, bring the wood in now so that it can dry out enough before you need it and doesn’t crackle and smoke up the whole place.
Don’t forget your furry family members. Even outdoor cats and dogs should be given a shelter where they can stay warm and dry. Make sure you have a place for your pets.
If you are not physically in a position to shovel, make arrangements with a neighbor now to utilize the services of their teenagers. If you have teenagers, have them offer to help neighbors before anyone asks. Clear side walks and clear driveways are important in case of an emergency.
When you arrive home, back into your driveway or garage. Pulling straight out is always easier than backing out, especially when dealing with snow.
Do not drive unless you have to, even if we aren’t in a state of emergency the fewer people who are out on the roads the better it is for the first responders, plow trucks and salt trucks. Don’t become the obstacle they need to get around, or the reason they need to respond.

Emergency preparedness is about using common sense and having the resources on hand that you will need for yourself and your family during all kinds of emergencies, including weather events. This too shall pass, and before you know it we will be looking forward to spring and summer, and 80 degree days.

Home Economics for Real Life

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Stephanie

When I started this site almost three years ago, my only focus was on saving money – couponing, daily deals, shopping sales and the occasional DIY project. Recently, I have noticed this page is going in a different direction, one that not only shares money saving ideas, tips, and tricks, but also where I discuss other aspects of keeping a home and raising a family.

After a bit of thought, I decided the tag line for this page – “Raising the bar, without raising your budget” didn’t exactly fit anymore, but how could I sum up what I wanted Raising A Family On A Budget to be about, in one simple sentence.

And then it came to me - “Home Economics for Real Life”

Depending on your age, and what schools you went to, you probably had a home ec class of some variety when you were in school. For some, these classes were about learning to cook or sew, but for others, these classes included details like budgeting your money as well as your time, learning to be a smart shopper, menu planning, cooking, sewing, as well as general life skills for keeping a home and living within your means.

Growing up, I got a good mix of academic Home Economics classes as well as the real life experiences from my own mother.

In my middle school (CW Lewis in Gloucester Twp, NJ), everyone in 6th thru 8th grade took both “shop” and home economics. Mrs. Guida taught Life Skills – the ideas of conflict resolution, comparison shopping, and budgeting time and money. With Mrs. Depsey we learned to sew, both by hand as well as with a sewing machine. And Mrs. Dunn was not only the cooking teacher, but she was also our Girl Scout leader. When I got to high school, Mrs. Walker was the cooking and nutrition teacher, and it was in her class I learned the importance of menu planning and how to prepare family style meals on a budget.

These skills carried over and were reinforced at home by my family, specifically my mother. From the time I was in the sixth grade, my mom ran a family day care out of our home. These additional seven children weren’t just bodies taking up space in our home, but they became like part of the family. That meant the weekly grocery trips with my mom required 2 shopping carts, lots of coupons, a well planned list, and about 2 hours on a Saturday morning. From there, I also learned to prepare dinners for our family of 5, as well as breakfast, lunch and snacks for up to twelve people at a time.

In addition to my academics and extracurricular activities, I also had responsibilities around the house – from cleaning my room and making my bed daily (which I usually didn’t want to do), to helping with the yard work, vacuuming, cleaning the bathroom, doing laundry, shoveling snow, picking the fruits & veggies from the garden, and helping with the family’s laundry. I hated having chores, and felt that the ate into my social life and free time. Often, it was my being stubborn about not wanting to complete a task that was the reason for lack of free time, because my brother would do all of his chores and be out playing before lunchtime on the weekend, and it often took me significantly longer to accomplish the same tasks. Mom, if you’re reading this, I’m sorry for the headaches I gave you every weekend fighting about cleaning my room for hours on end. I have a feeling these three kiddos will give me a dose of my own medicine before long.

Now as a mom, I realize that I can not put a value on the experiences I had when I was younger. Those things that made me moan and groan as a kid, are the reason I have a strong work ethic, a mostly organized and tidy home, home cooked meals on the table, clean laundry in the drawers (ok, in the baskets), and children who are now willing to help work around the house (and sometimes not so willingly) all so we can function together as a cohesive family unit.

That’s what I am now sharing with all of you here on Raising A Family On A Budget. It is about more than clipping coupons, and the budget part that I have focused on for so long.

Now its time to focus on the raising a family part, and focusing on all of the aspects of homemaking and parenting that is real life and not some idealized picture we get from watching 1950′s television. I am not June Cleaver or Donna Reed. I’m not even Mrs. Cunningham, but I’m trying to be the best home economist I can be in the real world.