Saturday Playdate - Family Friendly Frugality

Happy (almost) Halloween! Welcome to another fun Saturday Playdate! Today we're playing with Heather from Family Friendly Frugality. I met Heather on Twitter a few months ago, shortly after she started blogging. We have chatted since then and I am so happy to say that I made another "bloggy friend"! Heather has two adorable little ones named Noah and Lizzie. They are a little older than Rylie and Bryce, but the difference in age is about the same.

Heather's motto is "Save where you can, so you can spend where you want!" I really need to take some lessons from her and heed that advice. Saving is something I need to learn how to do better. Heather is learning how to make the most of a dollar, and her blog is full of tips on how to do that. She makes it fun to save money!

When you're done here, go check out Heather's blog. Even if you are already good at saving money, you will love the freebies and discounts she posts about that will help you save even more. Leave her a comment and let her know you stopped by from the playdate. Enjoy!

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First off, thanks so much LeeAnn for this awesome play date! You make a mean cupcake and punch!

I was so excited when LeeAnn asked me a couple of months ago to have a Saturday playdate with her! I remember, I’d only been blogging for a few weeks and I actually begged on Twitter for somebody to let me guest post on their blog. LeeAnn was so kind and direct messaged me saying that she was packed, but I could do a Saturday Playdate with her at the end of October! I was so ecstatic! Little did I know how much my life would change in that short period of time.

You are reading this on Saturday, but I am writing this on Thursday and tomorrow (Friday) is my last day of work! I’ve worked since my son was 5 ½ months old at a local Mother’s Day Out. It started because I wanted my son to have social interaction, but we couldn’t afford to put him anywhere unless I worked there as well. So I did. For almost 3 ½ years! So why am I leaving now? Well I’ll tell you.

First though, let me tell you a bit about me and my family! I was originally born in NY and lived in NJ until I was 13 years old. My mom passed away so my dad moved us all to Texas. Let me tell you, total culture shock! My dad was married to a woman with 4 kids of her own and they had a child together. So I went from a family with 3 children to a family with 8! It was an adjustment for sure. I had a tough time growing up, but when I met my husband…seriously my whole world changed. I went from someone that cried all the time, to someone that some days can’t wipe a smile off her face. I found my prince charming and I had two babies with him!

Noah is 3 ½ and Lizzie (Elizabeth) is 21 months and they are the most amazing children I’ve ever known. Fantastic individually and as siblings, I am a very blessed mama.

We have had our struggles though. See, we were NOT good with money. In fact, we were pretty darn bad. When my son was only a few months old our electricity got cut off for a few hours due to us being VERY late on our bill. Luckily, nothing like that ever happened again…but it took a long time for us to figure this money thing out. That’s why I started Family Friendly Frugality. I know what it’s like to learn the hard way. I’m still learning! I’m a helper by nature, so if my struggles and my mistakes can help anyone learn…they were worthwhile.

So like I said (several paragraphs back…I’m a rambler!), tomorrow is my last day of Mother’s Day Out. It’s bittersweet. I love my co-workers, I love the work, I love knowing I can check on my kids at any time during the day and I LOVE the babies I care for! It is time though. It’s time for ME to finally have a Mother’s Day Out. It’s also time for me to pursue something I never even knew I wanted. You see my goal is between my blog and some freelance pursuits I have up my sleeve…by the time my kids are full time in school, I will be a work from home mom making a full income. I can drive the car pool and be the room mom and go bring them McDonald’s for lunch!

So I sit here, sad to leave a life I’ve known since my boy was an itty bitty baby, but so incredibly excited for the next chapter of my life. By the time you are reading this, the last day is over…the goodbyes have been said and the tears have been shed. Come Monday morning, I’ll drop my kids off and head off to the coffee shop and I’ll go work. The whole time knowing that I am doing it for them…my babies. So I can be there not just these first few years of life, but every year after that. It’s a leap of faith, and I’m praying it’s all I dream it can be!

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Thanks for stopping by for our playdate! I hope you had fun! If you would like to come over for a playdate, let me know in a comment or an email. I am scheduling for December, but I also need someone to come over for a playdate during Thanksgiving weekend. You can talk about Christmas shopping...one of my favorite things to do! (Obviously you can talk about anything. I was just throwing the idea out there.)