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  • Budget-Friendly Baby Products to Buy in 2019

    Thank you to our friends at BJ’s Wholesale Club for sponsoring
    this post. As always, all opinions are my own. 

    2019 is all about making better financial decisions!
    I don’t know what your financial goals are but my family’s main goal
    this year is to save for our first home. If you’re familiar with the New
    York City housing market, you know this isn’t an easy feat but with
    discipline, we’re determined to do it. We’re trimming all of the fat off
    of our budget and I have to say that with three growing children especially a
    14-month-old who seems to be growing by the minute, reducing our expenses can
    be very tricky. As a loyal, BJ’s Wholesale Club
    shopper, I already save about $500 annually on our household expenses. That’s a
    lot of money and since every dollar counts, I plan to stick to BJ’s in 2019. I
    wanted to share three budget-friendly baby products that I’m currently using
    that are high-quality. When it comes to my baby, I’m not willing to give up on
    quality, with these three products you still get to enjoy quality but spend
    less:

    Organic Baby Food

    Yes, you can actually save money
    and purchase organic baby food!

    Baby food is one of the products that I usually don’t mind
    spending a little extra money on because it’s really important to me
    that my daughter eats healthy organic food. Well, I was really excited to
    discover one of BJ’s latest products, Wellsley Farms Organic Baby Food pouches.
    This product couldn’t have debuted at a better time as it fits perfectly into
    our budget.

    Budget-Friendly Baby Products

    Organic baby food at a value price is seriously my love
    language and my daughter loves both flavors, butternut squash and banana.

    Budget-Friendly Baby Products
    Budget-Friendly Baby Products

    Switch to Berkley
    Jensen Diapers
    .

     Budget-Friendly Baby Products

    As I mentioned earlier this kid is growing so fast that
    it’s hard to keep up. Imagine, I bought her a box of diapers and she grew out
    of her size 4 diapers before the box was even finished. I quickly
    transitioned her up to the next size up and since Berkley Jensen
    diapers are affordable (almost $15 less than the other popular brands) I didn’t
    feel like I was losing much money. We’ve been consistently using this
    brand for almost one year and we’ve never had any issues with them. She wears
    them to sleep at night and during the day, my only regret is not switching to
    them earlier or using them with my older kids, I would have saved so much
    money.

    Budget-Friendly Baby Products

    Berkley Jensen Wipes are a veteran mom favorite!

    Budget-Friendly Baby Products

    I’ve purchased a box of baby wipes every month (sometimes more
    frequently) for the past 8 years! Even after my older two kids were
    potty-trained, wipes were still needed because we use them for so many
    different things. I keep a packet in my bags, car, all over our apartment. I
    would literally feel like we’re throwing away money if I was spending too much
    on them. Berkley Jensen wipes are affordable, so I no longer have to police how
    many wipes the kids use. Again, like the other products I shared, they’re great
    quality. I use the unscented ones and they’re hypoallergenic so if your child
    has sensitive skin they’re completely safe to use. They’re made without any
    dyes, phthalates, alcohol or harsh chemicals. I always spot these wipes in
    other moms shopping carts at BJ’s Wholesale Club, so I know I’m not the only
    fan.

    Budget-Friendly Baby Products

    Anyway, if you plan to save, save, save this year I look forward
    to running into you at BJ’s! I’ll be there getting our groceries, beauty
    products (they sell natural hair products for us curly girls too) and cleaning
    essentials. As a family of 5, buying in bulk makes more sense for us. I tell
    my friends all the time that BJ’s offer a 100% money back policy on all of
    their Berkley Jensen and Wellsley Farms products so if you’re hesitant
    about switching brands like I initially was, remember you can return them if
    they don’t work for you. You can still find all of your go-to brands at BJ’s
    too.

    Do you use any of these budget-friendly baby products?

  • 5 Ways to Calm a Fussy Baby

     

    Thank you, BJ’s Wholesale Club, for sponsoring this post. As always, all opinions are my own.

    Would you believe my baby with her adorable chubby cheeks and bright smile gets fussy? Oh, the nerve of this cute kid. I get nervous when her little brows start to furrow, and her smile turns upside down. She’s really patient but having to wait around for me to help her siblings with their homework or cook dinner can be just frustrating for her at times. If I catch her early enough it’s just a little fret but other times like when she’s stuck in her car seat for the 10-minute ride home from the store, it takes a whole lot more than a mama bear hug to calm her down. Luckily, I’ve been through the wringer with fussy babies, I had my share with her older siblings, so I have a few sure-fire ways to calm a fussy baby. I wanted to share 5 ways to calm a baby with those of you who are new moms, who get sweaty and scared when your baby gets fussy.

    5 stress-free ways to calm a fussy baby

    Don’t Panic!

    I would feel my temperature rising as I listen to my firstborn start fussing as I made dinner. I remember one day in particular as she got tired of rocking in her swing and tried to get herself out. I had a hot dish in my mitten-covered hands with dinner fresh out of the oven and for her safety, I couldn’t touch her at that moment. Of course, she didn’t understand, and I panicked making her panic too which only made things worse, so don’t panic.

    Ways to Calm a baby

     

    A bath helps!  

    There hasn’t been an instance when any of my babies were fussy and a bath didn’t calm them down. It’s almost like magic when their little bodies sink into the warm tub of water. Their little limbs stiff and heavy from crying relax and they stop fussing.  I’m really careful about what products I use on her skin. Lately, I’ve been using Johnson’s Cotton Touch Baby Wash and Shampoo to wash her hair and Johnson’s Bedtime Baby Moisture Wash at night time to prepare her for sweet dreams (the smell even relaxes me). I’m so impressed that Johnson’s has reformulated these products to make them gentler and safer yet they still smell as amazing as the original Johnson’s baby products that our parents back in the day used to love. I get her Johnson’s Baby products at BJ’s Wholesale Club, because I can get all the bath products (and even her cute towels) at better prices than at other retailers and the bigger sizes mean fewer trips to the store to restock.

    5 WAYS TO CALM A FUSSY BABY

    5 WAYS TO CALM A FUSSY BABY

    5 WAYS TO CALM A FUSSY BABY

    A baby massage.

    Ways to Calm A baby

    With your baby fresh out the bath, pour a light lotion like Johnson’s Cotton Touch lotion in your hands and give him or her a massage. Just like us, babies love massages and it really helps to calm a fussy baby. If you have no idea how to give a baby massage, head to YouTube to learn.

    5 WAYS TO CALM A FUSSY BABY

    Read a Story.

    5 WAYS TO CALM A FUSSY BABY

    Even a fussy baby wants to hear a story, flip pages and look at bright illustrations. When all else fails, I turn to a book to calm my baby. She loves snuggling up and listening to a story as I change my voice for different characters. Sometimes, I sing and rap the books I know well making her giggle.

    5 WAYS TO CALM A FUSSY BABY

    Listen to Music

    5 WAYS TO CALM A FUSSY BABY

    You can also listen to music, it really doesn’t matter the genre except it should be serene. If you have a noise machine, you can use that as an alternative opting for waves or any smooth sounds.

    I hope these tips and products help you enjoy your baby more, especially during the holiday season. As you stock up for holiday groceries and all of your baby’s needs, join BJ’s Wholesale Club and take advantage of BJ’s Wholesale Club different shopping options. You can shop in-club or use the BJ’s mobile app, I’ve been telling every mom how much I love their seamless digital coupons because I always forget coupons at home when I go shopping. These are saved directly to your card with the BJ’s Add-to-Card feature so the savings come out automatically. You can also take advantage of delivery.BJs.com using the = promo code bjsholiday from December 15 to December 24th and get free same-day delivery on orders over $35. This is a great deal and very convenient during the busy season, so we can spend what little time we have with our loved ones. As I mentioned before, we save over $500 a year with a membership and an average of $25 on groceries at BJ’s so you can always find food in my cart.

     

    How do you calm a fussy baby?

     

     

     

  • Declutter and Make Money on Facebook Marketplace

    Thank you Facebook Marketplace for sponsoring this post. There’s something for everyone!

    You know what’s one of the things I feel like moms don’t talk about enough – baby clutter. Having a third baby only reminded me of how much stuff these little humans need. Clothes – lots and lots of clothes that they seem to grow out of within weeks, bulky products, and big toys. A baby will take over your house in no time, but things get a bit better as they get a bit bigger. Now that my baby girl is a year old and it’s the holidays, I’m happy to declutter and get rid of the baby stuff she’s now grown out of before we roll into 2019. As I thought about reclaiming my space, I figured I could make a little money in the process with so much of her clothes never worn, or worn only once, and products that are almost as good as new. One of my friends mentioned that she buys all her baby’s clothes on Facebook Marketplace, so I decided to give it a try as it seemed like the least stressful option to get everything out of my house quickly.

    Facebook Market

    Like most of us modern moms, I basically live on Facebook, sharing updates and keeping up with my family and friends. Facebook Marketplace was a natural and, honestly, easy choice for me to sell since I didn’t have to download a new app or go through the daunting process of setting up a new account. All I did was take pictures of everything I wanted to sell, and upload it which was a simple process.

    Facebook Market

    So far I’ve sold three things, and it was easy to chat with the moms who bought from me over Messenger, and I even checked out the public profiles of the moms I communicated with before selling to them. Over the next few weeks, I plan to both sell more toys that my older children have outgrown too as they’re getting new ones for the holidays and I know moms are holiday shopping on Facebook Marketplace for not just baby, but the whole family.

    Facebook Market

    Do you shop on Facebook Marketplace?