Greening Up Baby Showers

No one deserves more to be celebrated in an earth-friendly way than moms-to-be and their babies. After all, everyone wants the best for their children and the best, as we now realize, is to make healthier choices for people and the planet.

Throwing a "green" baby shower doesn't take extra work, just planning. Start by thinking about the various aspects of a shower and how you can apply the 3Rs--reduce, reuse, recycle. For instance:

• Reduce the amount of decor you buy, the amount of food you purchase, the amount of disposables, whether for wrapping, plates or table covering.
• Reuse by repurposing items for decor. For instance, if you're giving the mom cloth diapers, hang them on a clothes line strung along one wall. Intersperse with colorful pieces of cloth, cute dresses or tops or pre-used ribbons. After the party, she takes everything home (including the clothes line).
• Recycle everything from the event. Pass on decor items, compost what leftovers cannot be sent home with guests.

Most showers involve food and maybe some games. But almost inevitably, the focus is on opening gifts. While everyone loves giving and receiving, especially when it comes to adorable baby items, how about a little more emphasis on mom and a little less on "stuff?"

Showering mom (and dad, if he's present), with loving, thoughtful gifts from the heart costs almost nothing and will help her (and him), feel amazing. Some ideas (note that these are alternatives--not every parent or group of guests will be interested in every one):

• Create an calming atmosphere by dimming the lights, perhaps lighting some beeswax candles, settling mom into a comfy chair, offering her socks or slippers if she'd like. Ask someone to create a CD of mom's favorite relaxing music to be played during the event, then gifted to her.
• Offer mom a rosewater footbath or a massage for hands, feet or neck. If the guests are comfortable with this (as well as mom), each one can take a turn offering mom a "touching" gift.
• Prepare a selection of drinks--made from fresh organic fruit in summer or organic tea in cooler weather.
• Have everyone bring a bead. Guests sit in a circle and string the beads one at a time explaining their choice as they do. Perhaps the color reminds them of the mom's eyes, or a place she loves. Maybe the bead came from a broken necklace inherited from a beloved grandmother. Guests also can write their explanations on a piece of paper that mom can keep with the bracelet or necklace. Encourage mom to wear the item or keep it nearby when she gives birth, or if she's adopting, when she receives the baby, as a reminder of the love that surrounds her.
• Make mom a special plate of food. Each item can represent something about being a mother. (Remember to choose local and organic when possible, and of course, respect mom's tastes and/or allergies.) Some ideas include: a carrot representing family "roots," a mushroom representing "shelter," a cluster of grapes respresenting "closeness," blue cheese or another "smelly" one representing some of the distatesful things moms have to do etc. The items can be brought out on a plate, an example of what one represents offtered, then guests can toss out their own ideas.
• Ask everyone to bring a stone from where they live. They can write a wish for the mom or baby or write their names in permanent ink. Add the stones to a pot in which a small live tree has been planted. If appropriate, parents can plant the tree with the stones around it as a lasting memory of the event.
• Be sure to make laughter a part of the event. Maybe guests will recount cute things their kids have said or the silliest thing they ever did as a parent, or the time they "lost it."
• Ask the mom and/or dad-to-be, to bring a piece of clothing, baby book or photo from when they were babies and talk about their childhood memories, how they perceived their parents, and/or the most important things they want to do for and with this baby.
• If the parent-to-be's mom or dad is at the shower, encourage them to share memories or humorous anecdotes about the expectant parents as kids.

Eco-tips for Choosing Green Baby Shower Gifts

• Select clothing items without chemicals (which are readily absorbed by a newborn's thin skin). Look for organic cotton, hemp, wool or silk.
• The safest toys are made from natural, pesticide-free materials such as untreated wood or the fabrics listed above. Seek out products made locally, and/or that are handmade and that will last.
• Give a gift of yourself such as preparing meals for the family, driving or doing errands weekly for the first months after the baby is at home, offering to rent a movie and preparing a "parents night in," along with babysitting, or doing a year's worth of car washes.
• Choose to wrap your gifts in items that keep giving--baby blankets, crib sheets, towels, scarves or other reusables.

A special thanks to Lynn Colwell and Corey Colwell-Lipson, who are mother and daughter and co-authors of Celebrate Green! Creating Eco-Savvy Holidays, Celebrations and Traditions for the Whole Family, available at www.CelebrateGreen.net

Frugal Rant: NJ Taxes are Unreal

We moved to Bergen County around two years ago and made the move due to a new job I had accepted. Moving enabled both my husband and I to enjoy an 8-mile commute. In the process, we looked at no less than 30 homes. Many times, we would avoid entire towns due to their ridiculous tax rate. For example, for a small piece of land, you could pay $10,000-$15,000 a year in taxes. I just couldn't bear to pay more than $1,000 a month in taxes.

Eventually, we confined our search to Mahwah, one of the towns with a very reasonable tax rate for living in Bergen County, NJ. Keep in mind, the State of NJ boasts one of the highest property tax rates in the entire country.

When we first moved in two years ago, we were paying $7,800 for our home on 1.3 acres. I just received our new tax bill, which is now $8,800!! How on earth do our taxes go up $1,000 in two years when property values throughout the U.S. are dropping?!?!? I can't fathom how this works.

Anyone want to clue me in? I'd love to know how this works. Ah, the joys of home ownership...

TGIF: Round-up of Top Blog Posts

Let's hear it for Friday!! My son goes for eye surgery this morning. It's his second one to correct the alignment of his left eye. Needless to say, I'm a nervous wreck!!

Here are some of the top posts to peruse at your leisure. Enjoy!

• 10 Do’s and Don’ts to Using Coupons
  
  
• 50 Reasons to Keep Subscribing to Your Daily Newspaper (some great tips here)
  
  
• Save Money by Substituting Ingredients
  
  
• Save More Money In Your Freezer
  

Let me know if I missed any! Have a fabulous weekend!

Stay-cations Aren't Always Cheaper

A Not-So-Frugal Family Vacation to Hershey Park
The weather was not our friend this past weekend as we packed up the kids and headed to Hershey, PA for a long weekend. We met my brother, his girlfriend and her two kids for what was supposed to be three fun-filled days at Hershey Park. It turned out to be one and half days of rain and one and half days of fun.

Hotel = $298 (includes a $30 credit)
After much research and asking around, I made reservations at the Mainstay Suites, a Comfort Inn property. The main reason was because we needed three beds as well as a efficiency-type room with a kitchen and eating area. It helps to have some extra room for my 2-year-old and 5-year-old to run around.

Plus, the hotel boasted an indoor mini golf course, basketball court, arcade and swimming pool with a giant slide. A hot breakfast was also included each morning.

Curious about the credit? The hotel was fairly new, so there were a few quirks, one of which included our door lock not working properly. We realized this when my son showed us his new trick -- how to open the door without the key. The hotel manager was very apologetic and credited our account. Needless to say, while we weren't thrilled about compromising our security, we were very happy that they were so accommodating.

Food = $200
If I had more foresight and ambition, I would've packed lunch meat, bread and lunch fixings like my brother's girlfriend did. But the vacation sneaked up on me and I was completely unprepared. We packed snacks and drinks for the 3-hour ride. But we stopped at McDonald's for breakfast ($18), at lunch at Red Robin once we arrived at Hershey Park ($42) and then treated for dinner that evening ($38). (My brother treated the following night.) Then there was lunch the second day ($38) and snacks for the ride home ($11).

Park tickets = $270
The most economical way to get tickets for three days was with a 3-day flex pass. We purchased two adult and one junior 3-day flex pass. My daughter was free since she was under 3 years old. (Amen for that!!) Unfortunately, it began to rain one hour into our first day. As we left, we got three vouchers that were good for 30 days. Plus, you could come back to the park after 7:30pm to get a free preview with the purchase of tickets for the next day. Once the rain stopped, we returned to the park and stayed until it closed (11pm).

The second day we hit the water park, went back to the hotel in the late afternoon, ate dinner and then went back for the evening. The third day was severe rain and thunder, making it impossible to even go to the park.

Essentially, we have three 2-day passes to Hershey. We plan to put these on eBay to see if we can recoup some of our ticket costs. Looking back, we should've bought tickets each day, but we really didn't think the weather would be such an issue.

Misc. (e.g., gas, parking, etc.) = $100
Then there were all of the other incidentals that come with a road trip. We filled the tank before we headed out ($30) and when we headed home ($30). Parking was $10 per day ($20), but you could leave and re-enter as many times as you wanted. I bought my son ice cream one night ($5) and we rented a locker when we hit the water park ($15).
TOTAL = $860

Whew! That's pretty steep for a 3-day vacation! We used coupons whenever possible. But for the most part, it was hard to save money on this trip.

Any frugal vacation stories you'd like to share?

Frugal Tip Tuesday: Yet Another Use for Vinegar

Back in March I wrote about the numerous uses for vinegar when it comes to cleaning. I especially like how well vinegar cleans glass. So as I was loading our dishwasher one night and realized that we were out of rinse aid, it dawned on me that vinegar may be a good replacement. I filled the rinse aid component and let the vinegar do its magic.

My glasses sparkled like never before. Cost-effective, environmentally friendly, safe for the dishwasher and easy to use -- vinegar is the ideal rinse aid for the dishwasher.

Have any other vinegar uses you'd like to add?