BACK TO WORK

My FMLA is over and I returned to work yesterday. Sad news bear. If I wasn't a teacher I would have been back to work weeks sooner. I used six weeks of leave during bed rest. Then 3 weeks when the twins were born. Then it was summer break. The summer break weeks did not count against my FMLA time because as a teacher, I was not in contract. So when the school year started I used my remaining four weeks. For a total of 13 FMLA weeks. My FMLA officially ended on 9/26 so I was back to work yesterday.

The school day was actually fine. I hadn't worked in almost 6 months. I had a fresh set of new faces (about 125 in total) and it seemed like I never actually left. So much has changed in my life but the act of teaching and being at my school felt the same. It was strange.

The twins stayed with my mom and when I walked in to the house around 4:30pm (I rushed home). I found the three of them happily playing in the floor. My mom stayed for about 10 minutes before she left to go home and cook dinner for her own family.

Within minutes of my mom leaving both the twins decided to break out in a screaming fit. (Welcome home mommy!) I calmed Noah pretty easily and then moved on to Presley. I was unable to soothe Presley so I finally put her in her swing (still screaming since nothing I was doing was working). It was 5:30... I went into my bedroom climbed in bed and fell asleep.

At 6pm... Mike is home... he walks in the bedroom.... "Heather?"

It was time to get up and feed the twins.  Mike stayed for about a hour max and then left for a out of town business trip. Got figure my first day of work and he goes out of town. (The trip is a great thing for his business but the timing was pretty poor!)

Working Moms: how do you do it?

By the time my day ended I did not have the energy to deal with or enjoy my sweet babies.

I need to find a balance and fast.

I am sure and hopefuls I will...but I know this will not be easy!

Got to make that money but still want to be mommy.

-Heather

Photo Book

I got this photo book plus 50 prints for free! Just had to pay shipping and handling!

Here is the code so you can get a free one too!

BA27-1GBV-XH4R-7G2N7N

 

Offer expires 9/26/12

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

How to get diapers and wipes for free!

How to get Free Diapers

I touched on this on my earlier post “Coupons.” http://www.mcmunnbabies.blogspot.com/2012/09/coupons.html

 But getting free diapers is actually pretty easy! I wrote three letters about 2 weeks ago to Pampers, LUVS, and Huggies and since then have received coupons from each company. In the letter I told them I enjoyed their product but due to price many have to start using the store brand.(Which is very true) I also asked them to add me to their mailing list so hopefully the diapers coupons with continue you to come.

From Pampers I got 10 coupons two for free packs of diapers and a couple of high value coupons like $5 off.

From LUVS I got 5 coupons one for a free pack of diapers.

The Huggies coupons were the least exciting… 3 coupons for $3 off any Huggies product and 3 coupons for $2 off any Huggies product. The coupon will not get you free diapers but will give you free wipes! At my Target the wipes were on price cut for $1.99 so I actually got paid a $1.01 to “buy” them.

Another way you can get free diapers… I haven’t done this and I do not like to write about things that I haven’t done… but I came across this offer and I am thinking about doing it.

You can get a bundle of diapers (around 200 depending on size) and a bundle of baby wash and laundry wash from the Honest Company. You will have to pay a $5.95 shipping and handling. What you do is sign up you have to give a credit card number; you have 7 days to cancel, by calling a 1-800 number. If you do not cancel within 7 days you will be charged $79.95 for the next month supply of diapers.  The diapers are organic, chemical free and such. There is no way I would pay that type of money for diapers X 2. But wouldn’t mind a free box…. especially since they have really cute designs and patterns on them.

If you join under my name I get a $10 credit… so if you do join…please use this link http://honest.com/65186

So I encourage you to take about 5 minutes to write a letter to the diaper companies to get some things for free!

Below are the addresses:

Luvs :

Procter & Gamble Company

P.O. Box 599

Cincinnati, OH 45201

Pampers:

 The Procter & Gamble Company

 P.O. Box 599

 Cincinnati, OH 45201

Huggies:

Kimberly-Clark Corporation
Dept. INT
P.O. Box 2020
Neenah, WI 54957-2020

See this blog for more information on coupons: http://www.mcmunnbabies.blogspot.com/2012/09/coupons.html

Everything in the picture below was free or better than free meaning I got paid to “buy” them.

Hope this helps you get some freebies!

-Heather

Coupons

If you have ever seen the show "Extreme Couponing" you know the show always starts with a story of how the couponer began. Well I am not "extreme" like the couponers on the show... but having two babies at once has really made me learn how to stretch a dollar and forced me to think outside the box when it comes to getting the things my family needs and wants. This started with the shock of having twins... and then was intensified when I was put on bed rest at 26 weeks. I haven't worked since April 6th and haven't received a pay check since June and will not receive one again until November. Plus we have a stack of hospital bills to pay for.

So like I said this forced me to think about money and money saving in a new way.

I began diaper researching and stock piling in February. The first step to saving money, is researching and always knowing what the cheapest everyday price is. You then wait for a sale and stack it with a manufacturer coupon and a store coupon if possible.

Since I started my diaper stock pile so early in my pregnancy it allows me to always wait for sales because I won't run out of diapers. Also I had to do research so I wont over buy diapers either, since that would be a waste of money and would take a way from the total savings!

Target is a great place to find amazing deals because you can use coupons from the Target website and manufacture coupons on a single item. Target is also great because they have weekly sales and a lot of times when you buy X amount of items you get a Target Gift card which can make things very cheap, free, or in some cases you get paid to buy the items.

I am going to Target tonight after dinner and I am going to buy 3 packs of jumbo diapers for 49 cents. When you buy 3 packs you a $5 dollar Target Gift card so I will actually get paid $4.51 to take the diapers out of the store!

I am going to start blogging about all the ways I have started to save money, because when you pay attention their are coupons and other ways to save money everywhere!

So for the first entry on coupons and money savings... I leave you with this simple tip.

I wrote a simple letter to Pampers telling them I really enjoy their diapers but because of the price I may have to start using the store brand. The result... about 10 days later I got a stack of coupons in the mail from them (10 total). Coupons for free products and high values like $5 off! They also threw a few Tide coupons in (added bonus).

So write them a letter and shortly you should receive some coupons for free stuff!

Here is there address:

The Procter & Gamble Distributing LLC
P.O. Box 599
Cincinnati, OH 45202



Hope this helps someone out there!

I will be writing more about money saving and deals I find so you may want to follow me!

-Heather


Below a picture of the coupons mailed to me!