LilSugar

2012 Planners to Fit Every Personality

SavvySugar — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 05:29:28 PST

The first step toward a New Year is buying a new calendar. These 2012 planners will help you keep your cool as you coordinate your schedule. Whether you prefer planners that are strictly professional or packed with personality, we've found 10 notebooks to suit any style.

Track Diapers and Feedings on Lullaboards Baby Log

LilSugar — Wed, 27 May 2009 10:38:19 PDT

New parents anxiously track their wee one's feedings and changes. While some rely on notebooks and loose-leaf paper, others count on electronic devices to do the dirty work for them.

For the eco-conscience mom, Lullaboards ($28) is a dry erase system for reporting a baby or toddler's daily duties. The boards come with an attached dry erase marker and magnets and adhesives to attach to any surface. The boards are available in baby and toddler editions with numerous design options to choose from. Depending on the edition, the boards have space for recording feeding sessions, nap-times, diaper duty and to-do lists.

Lil Find: Skip Hop Day to Night Baby Log

LilSugar — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 05:00:33 PDT

Getting to your tot's first few pediatrician appointments with your lil one in tow is nothing short of a major accomplishment. Packing the diaper bag with all of the necessities, getting your babe outfitted and getting beyond the front door takes some strategy. So when the doctor asks you exactly how much milk your tot is getting and you can't remember, don't worry.

The Skip Hop Day to Night Baby Log ($39) tracks all of your baby's info in one central location. With sections for recording six months worth of feedings, diaper changes and sleep. The book comes with an illuminated "time capsule" that serves as a clock, timer and dim flashlight for recording middle of the night information without waking your sleeping beauty. When your infant passes the six-month mark, the book can be stored until the next child comes along and you try to recall just when your first-born began sleeping through the night or when she took her naps.

Moms On the Move Need Essentials Organizer

LilSugar — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:00:56 PDT

I love the idea of being organized, but with a family running in all directions - it's not always a reality. The smidgen of downtime I have is on the bus to work, which does lil good when my magnetic page planner is at home hanging on the fridge.

I've tried to go tech and load our appointments, pick-ups and drop-offs, and party dates into my Blackberry, but there's something so satisfying about putting pen to paper. I was thrilled when Amy Keroes of Mommy Trackd sent me over her latest invention, MOM Essentials: A One-Stop Organizer for Moms on the Move ($15).

The small book can be slipped into my laptop bag and has weekly calendar sheets, to-do lists, space to remember website sign-ons and jot down your family's take-out orders. The tear-off pages bring a sense of satisfaction when you toss them into the recycle bin. Additionally there's a page of Post-its ready for sticking, which for me means an easy way to leave my husband messages on the front door and the dashboard of our car.

Lil Find: LobotoME

LilSugar — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:30:40 PDT

As a mom running in a hundred different directions each day trying to organize my life, work and family of four, I have become a mental note taker. But, jotting things down in my head doesn't allow for my husband or kids to view the "To Do" list.

LobotoME organizational products are a great way for a mom to make her list of tasks a family affair. Since women don't need one more thing to lug, the momME weekly planner pad ($20) with tear and tote sheets is ideal. It has space for your schedule, errands, kiddie activities and more. The Help ME note pad ($10) is a polite way for you to delegate duties to your better half. In fine print, it reads, "Objective: Do this or Die."

Mommy's Lil Helper: momAgenda

babysugar — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 05:00:52 PDT

Before I had a kid, my days were scheduled to a "T" mostly because I had time for walks, lunches, dinners and parties. Now, it's a whole new ballgame. In addition to planning my own life, I've got to keep tabs on my babe.

Since she's got playdates, music lessons and doctor's appointments, momAgenda helps me keep it all together.

To learn more about momAgenda's amazing products,

read more. Created by a mom, momAgenda organizers keep mothers on their toes by giving them a place to manage their schedules and those of the rest of the family. Available in a variety of fun colors and styles, there's a product for every kind of mom out there. The Desktop version started it all by offering moms a week–at–a–view where they can plot out their schedule in addition to that of four children. For those who like to take it one day at a time, the Mini Daily breaks the pages down into single days offering a tad more space per diem for the extra busy mama. New to the momAgenda family, the Kitchen Folio is full of plastic paper protectors and dividers, which are perfect for recipes, school letters, activity schedules, field trip forms that need to be signed, and lunch menus. In addition to all of the fancy, but reasonably priced planners, you can buy gift sets, clipboards, pads of paper, and clips to keep tabs of extra important dates.

Kitchen Folio by MomAgenda	Mini Daily momAgenda
Pink and White Bucket with Fuchsia Planner by momAgenda	momAgenda Large Clipboards
Desktop Planner by momAgenda	momAgenda Exective Edition

Organize Your Health

FitSugar — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 13:30:00 PDT

On the road to becoming the healthy, happy you, it pays to be organized. Keeping a mental list of all your various projects can be overwhelming. There is just no way to remember all those things you need and want to do.

Many of us use day planners for work, so why not use a planner as a tool for your personal life as well? I came across these from lobotoMe.com. Talk about organization! They make notepads for everything.

My favorite is the Feed ME meal planning to do list. It's a pad of 50 sheets ($8) and helps you plan out your meals for an entire week. On the right-hand side, there is a preprinted grocery list so you can keep track of all of the ingredients you need so you are organized when you go to the grocery store. This way you don't wander into the cookie and chip aisle, and hopefully the organized list keeps you from having to make multiple trips back to the store for forgotten ingredients.

I also like the organizeME Weekly Planner ($16 per pad of 60). It's a way to organize all the chores and errands you need to get done in each day, and a way to remember to take care of yourself too. It has a spot to write down what healthy dinner, exercise, and "me time" you have planned Monday through Sunday. It even has a little spot on the bottom to check off when you've had your 8 glasses of water a day. These sheets can tear off and fold to fit in most daily planners.

Taking care of yourself is something you need to do everyday, and sometimes you need to plan for it in advance. I'm all for anything that can make eating healthy, getting exercise, and staying stress-free easier. There's a lot to keep track of, and these day planners can help keep you on track.

A Bird-Themed Cake Stand, Three Ways: One Beautiful Buy, 2 Easy DIYs

Elka Karl — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 05:00:28 PST

My sister is getting married in August, so I've been spending a lot of time visiting wedding blogs and poking around BHLDN's website. One item that recently caught my eye was this lovely Barn Swallow Pedestal.
Featuring a flock of fork-tailed fliers darting about on a hand-painted platter, it seems like a perfect match for her vintage-inspired, country wedding. But at $60 - $100 per cake stand, I don't think that she'll be willing to add a half dozen of these cake stands to her dessert table.

If you feel the same way about the price, good news - I have two simple DIYs that will save you a lot of money! For the cake stand DIYs, just keep reading

7 Money Tips For Couples Starting a Family

Business Insider — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:15:00 PST

We're thrilled to present this smart Business Insider story here on Savvy!

Middle-income parents will spend nearly $227,000 in 17 years for children born in 2010, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

But don't let that scare you - saving for a family can actually be fun if you know what you're doing.

"The most important thing to understand is that your priorities are going to change and your spending habits need to change to reflect those changes," says Stuart Ritter, a financial planner at T. Rowe Price.

With Ritter and other financial experts' help, we'll help you prepare.

Invest in a 529 savings plan

Saving for your child's education is crucial to his or her success, and 529 plans are tax-advantaged college savings accounts that are available in all 50 states.

Most are free to set up, while some states require a minimum of $25 to open an account, says Adam Koos, a certified financial planner with Libertas Wealth Management. Anyone can contribute and take advantage of the tax benefits.

Open the plan before your child is born, says Ritter, and name yourself the beneficiary. You can change the name on the account once your child is born.

Read on for more.

Wedding Planning Duo Carter & Cook Answer Your Big-Day Questions

Tara Sharp — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:10:55 PDT

I had a chance to chat with Southern California-based wedding planning duo Ashlyn Carter and Heather Cook of Carter & Cook Event Co. (full disclosure, they are my wedding planners!), so I asked them some of your big-day dilemmas, and they were happy to share their expertise! From groom duties to wedding planner etiquette, see your questions answered below!

What sort of tasks should be delegated to the groom?
C&C: Depends on the groom. Some grooms want to be involved in every detail because maybe they're better at the planning process than the bride. And other grooms want nothing to do with the planning process. We've had grooms take on anything from planning the meal and choosing the beverages to researching and scheduling all the appointments with potential vendors. Give the groom tasks he's interested in (for example, maybe he's into music . . . let him be in charge of choosing the songs with the DJ or band).

How do you know how many bridesmaids/groomsmen to have?
C&C: The old school rule says you should have one attendant per 50 wedding guests. But I don't believe you have to follow that. At my wedding, my husband and I each had nine attendants, and we loved it! It was like we were our own party!

When dealing with a wedding planner is it OK to shop around? Should you make that transparent so they know they have competition? If you have already looked at venues on your own, should you disclose that information?
C&C: Of course it's OK to shop around. Your wedding planner is an integral part of your wedding, and you want to make sure you connect with them on a personal level and that they understand your vision for the wedding. We find that most of our prospective clients who shop around normally interview the same handful of planners. The wedding community is great, and we happen to be friends with many of the other planners in our area. So we normally figure out when a bride is shopping around. But we totally respect that!

For the rest of C&C's advice, keep reading!