A Free Raising Successful Kids guide

Hi Moms

As you know I love to pass along great freebies!  Well,  I have an awesome free guide for you titled Keeping the Balance: Staying Friends with Your Pre-Teens/Teenagers & Raising Them To Be Happy & Successful Individuals.

The guide covers topics such as:

• Dangers in cyberspace
• Ways to establish stability in your home
• Talking to kids about sex, drugs & alcohol
• Teen depression, and much more

You can grab your free guide here: http://www.parentingmyteen.com/ (upper left corner)

Hip Moms create meal plans…

Why not give yourself a much-needed break — cook ahead today so you can relax tomorrow!  Meal planning and bulk cooking are both wonderful techniques you can use and modify to fit your families needs. The idea behind this is simple. The principle is that you cook and or prepare your meals ahead of time and then preserve them by either freezing or fridgerating them. Also, meal planning you can cook one large meal and get 2-3 other meals out of it!
Here are some free meal planning tips for you    http://reallifesolutions.net/personal/meal-planning.html

I love to meal plan so if you have any tips for other moms out there – feel free to post them in the comments!

Living on a budget and staying debt-free

Many families find themselves struggling to live within their means, either because they have too much debt, or because their spending habits/patterns are uncontrolled and they simply don’t know how to change.  Here are some quick tips on reining in that spending, and keeping yourself debt-free.

1. Don’t use credit cards.  If you have credit card debt and are carrying large payments at high interest that are crippling your budget, talk to a community credit debt counselor. There are many groups that offer this service for free.  They’ll help you to understand how the debt can be cut down faster, and whether a consolidation loan is a good idea.  Credit cards are a temptation to spend money you don’t have. If you must have one card, leave it in the care of the person most responsible for your family’s financial health, and never use it except for emergencies that can be paid off within a short time.

2. Budget your money and expenses.  Even a simple budget in a notebook will work, or you can go to a spreadsheet on the computer.  Gather all your bills, and calculate your monthly expenses, remembering to include a 1/12 portion of any annual expenses.  Then take your gross income and figure out how much has to be set aside per week for absolute essentials. Whatever remains, is what you have for optional spending like savings, education or retirement funds, and entertainment.

3. Before you buy, ask yourself if you really need it.  That could be anything from a new stereo system, to a new car.  Ask yourself if it’s worth going into debt for, or just how far it will stretch the family budget.  Remember that you need room in your family finances for emergencies, and stretching your discretionary dollars to the limit, is never a good idea.

Take Care,
Aurelia Williams

P.S. Discover how to live on a budget and save money without giving up al lof the things that you love –> http://www.reallifesolutions.net/budget_living.HTML

A Free Virtual Winter Conference for Moms! Join me :)

Just a quick note to let you know that I’ve been asked to speak at the Winter Conference being put on by Mom’s Radio Network!  I will be speaking today at 3pm EST.

I am one of over a dozen great speakers who are all talking about life as a Mom.  My session is going to be about parenting troubled teenagers and there are many other topics such as:

    * Being an organized mom
    * Discovering your mothering style
    * Being a mother of multiples
    * Teaching and playing with young children
    * Adoption
    * Scrapbooking
 
and more….

The virtual event is running for three days.  It starts Wednesday, February 21st and ends Friday the 23rd. You can connect by telephone or you can log into our PC/Mac friendly conference room.  (And yes, you will be able to ask questions and interact with us.)

Register here: http://www.momsradionetwork.com

This is a great way to break up the winter blahs and beat cabin fever, so I hope to see you there!

Take Care,

Aurelia Williams
http://www.parentingmyteen.com

Extra income ideas for moms…

If you are finding yourself in a pinch each month, you may want to have a work from home extra income coming into the household. Alice Seba, an Internet Marketing Expert, tells you how you can accomplish this in the following Article.

Also visit our ‘Work at Home Ideas’. This is your resource for articles and information on work at home ideas, direct selling opportunities and earning a living at home.

Aurelia
Real Life Solutions

Stress Relief Tips

When you feel the need to escape and take a few minutes to yourself to de-stress, follow some (if not all) of the tips below.

Put yourself in time out: Allow some alone time for yourself. Use this time to focus on you. Find a place in your home that you can go to and find privacy. You can ask your partner or a friend to take the family out for a few hours while you enjoy your alone time. Do nothing, sleep, read, watch a movie, and just enjoy your solitude.

Call a Friend: Rather than yelling at your husband or your children, try picking up the phone and vent to a friend. Be sure not to vent AT her, but rather tell her about your day and get it all out. If she offers you some advice, listen and soak it in. This mini-time out session will leave you feeling heard, de-stressed and you will find that by the end of your call some of you anger will have dissipated.

Play: As adults, we sometimes forget the beneficial value of play. Play stimulates our imagination, encourages our creativity, boosts our energy, and best of all, it is fun. Try a game of tennis, a game of cards online or perhaps invite some friends over for an evening of adult board games.

Meditate: Meditation has been proven to reduce your blood pressure, and helps to dramatically reduce your stress level. Meditation and/or prayer will help you to keep in touch with your spiritual side. Meditation is a very effective method of relaxation. To meditate, quiet your mind and allow yourself to focus on one thing, such as your breath. Find a relaxed comfortable position where Try visualizing good health and peace as you inhale. While you are breathing out breathe out all of your stress. Set aside approximately 20 minutes for this exercise. Upon completion, you will see just how much more relaxed your mind and body is.

Take a nap: Find a quiet, comfortable spot and take a nap. Even a short power nap can leave you feeling refreshed, renewed, and more focused. Studies have shown that people who spent 30 minutes each day napping had one third less heart disease than those who didn’t nap.

Eat: Not just anything but certain things. Studies show that certain foods can help reduce stress. Carbohydrates will actually soothe you. Good sources of carbohydrates include rice, pasta, potatoes, breads, air-popped popcorn and low-calorie cookies. Experts suggest that the carbohydrates present in just one baked potato or a cup of spaghetti or white rice, is enough to relieve the anxiety of a stressful day.

Movie Time: If you don’t have anyone to watch the children for you while you de-stress. Put in one of their favorite movies, supply your children with a few healthy snacks, and have them occupy themselves for a little while so that you can take a breather.

Don’t feel guilty for taking time out to rejuvenate your mind and body. Being a mom is not an easy task and it is a full time job. Take a break when you need it and be sure to ask for help to keep the stress at bay.

Be sure to take a look at the following Resource: Why Make Yourself Crazy: 300 Breakthrough Stress Relief Tips.

Aurelia

Tips to keep your children safe online

The Internet is a great place to gather information and many children use the internet for both school work and pleasure (smile). As parents, we need to look at the internet as if it were a large community and in any given community there are people, places and things that you really need to be mindful of and careful around. Also as parents, we need to be aware of what are children are doing while online. It is important to talk to your child about online predators, certain websites and chat rooms.

By alerting our children to the dangers that lurk on the internet and teaching them how to avoid them, they can take advantage of all the positive aspects of the Internet while avoiding most of its pitfalls.

Here are some safety tips to consider as you guide your children online:

• Create a list of Internet rules with your child. You should include the kinds of sites that are off limits, Internet hours, and guidelines for communicating with others online, including in chat rooms and instant messenger.

• Teach your child to never to give out personal information without your permission when using e-mail, chat rooms, or instant messaging, filling out registration forms and personal profiles, and entering online contests.

• Investigate Internet Monitoring/Parental Control Software. This is software that can be safely installed on your pc that will monitor the sites that are visited and can even keep a log of what is typed into e-mail, search engines and instant messenger.

• Make sure your child checks with you before making financial transactions online, including ordering, buying, or selling items.

P.S. If you want information on a good internet monitoring software that is inexpensive and easy to use, then please visit http://www.reallifesolutions.net/pc_tattletale.HTML

Why do I blog? Carrie wants to know…

My friend Carrie Lauth tagged me asking me this question:  “Why do I blog”.  Well there are a few answers to that…

1 – I love to share information-  I love bringing helpful information to people!  I get such a kick out of helping people out with little tips and I love to get reedback from them.

2 – Networking - I love to network with others online  (heck I love to talk).  I love reading about other peoples lives, business..etc and having them stop by here to read about me.

3 – It boosts up my business - I’ve been able to gain a few clients and visitors to my sites.  Hey, who doesn’t like that?

So I wanna know from:

1. Holly
2. Angel
3. Katiebird
4. wearyparent.com

Why do you blog?

Quick tips for Moms: Declutter your home in a Jiffy!

Let’s face it – Clutter Happens!  Usually clutter is a result of  not designating a place for things and then just getting tired of putting things where they belong. 

Are you tired of looking at stacks, heaps and piles of clutter in your home or your office?  Do you ever feel overwhelmed just by thinking about the task of organizing it all?  Well, here  is a free resource that will help you organize your home – quickly and painlessly –> http://reallifesolutions.net/personal/declutter-home.html

P.S. Grab more organizing tips here —>  http://www.reallifesolutions.net/getorganized.HTML

More Freebies For Moms

Its like Christmas over here isn’t it? 
 
Here’s Your Source for Special Offers & Free Stuff!  It won’t cost you one red cent.
 
Sign up for our free Mom Offers & Tips and let them do the research for you to find: 
 

• Great discounts and special deals. 
• Surveys with free gifts 
• Cool sweepstakes with mom must-have prizes 

Enjoy!