Saving money at a fair w/toddlers.

Ok, so this is my very first blog post and I thought I'd share some tricks I've learned now being a mom of two toddlers. Let's face it we all like to save money and fairs are geared toward making you spend that hard earned cash so here are some things you can do to keep most of those precious dollars in your pocket. Toddlers aren't really a picky bunch so you can get away with this for a little while, I imagine it will get harder as the kids get older but we are all going through life learning as we go. I always say that you should never take your kids out without expecting to spend some money but it doesn't have to be a lot. Hubby and I always expect our kids to want something and cry and scream for it as well. This is always expected so we're never disappointed about the days events (it helps keep our sanity). One thing I've always done no matter where we go is always bring our own snacks and food (if possible). The diaper bag is already a staple of my wardrobe why not use it to it's full potential. Now I will warn you I am a true over packer, yes, I will over pack for just about any event (it helps keep my OCD in check)...hmmm...OCD, that's a topic for another time. Ok, so here are things I always pack for them aside from the essentials like change of clothes, diapers for the littlest and wipes...oh God bless the wipes! I always bring water and juice cups for both aside from milk for the littlest of course. A water bottle will cost you about $3.00 at most fairs so that's a nice bit that you'll save. Snacks, my children's favorite is Pirates Booty which is like cheese puffs but a bit healthier and they LOVE this stuff so I buy a regular sized bag (you can find it at Walgreens and some supermarkets) and bring the little baggies with us so I can distribute later and they don't have to stick their hands in the bag all the time and possibly spill all the precious booty! Fruit snacks are also a big hit. I also like to include some kind of cookies or crackers since my oldest is a bit of a cookie monster. Having these snacks on hand will lower the chances of them wanting some $4.00 slice of pizza...yes, the fair we went to on Sunday had $4.00 slices of pizza! That's just disturbing. Now here's the real money saver. I frequent dollar aisles and super duper sales for many purposes but one is the emergency toy lot. You can usually find some cool things on sale when you're not really looking for toys and remember they don't have to be anything grand because the chances of them loosing it at the fair are high. One thing I did was head out to my local Walmart after the 4th of July and ventured down the 4th of July aisle and low and behold all those glow sticks, bracelets and necklaces and just about any other toy that glows is on super duper sale! I got several of the above mentioned items for 25 cents or less each so I stocked up of course! Sunday when it was time for the fair I secretly packed some of these items in my handy dandy diaper bag and voila! When my kids were getting a little on edge and just on the verge of asking for a glow bracelet that costs $5 or another glowy thingy that cost $10 I whipped out my bracelets and glow sticks that cost me no more than $1.50 total and even had some to give to their new friends too. Needless to say everyone was more than happy and they all had a blast and Mommy and Daddy had a great time with no tantrums and that to us is priceless. We went home having watched a good show, listened to a good live band, tummies full and kids all tuckered out...perfect. So remember to keep a look out after the 4th of July for those sale items, you never know when you can use them. Glow in the dark toys can even be a life saver on a long car ride home at the end of the night...kids have a blast with them. Hope this post helps.

Till next time,
and remember, don't let the day get you down...just Xtreme Cheese!