Today, for some reason, my life is perfect. Maybe the stars are all aligned just so or maybe I had a good night’s sleep. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s a wonderful feeling. You know how some days you just wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Well, today I woke up on the right side of the bed.

The sky seems a little bluer, the birds are chirping a little louder and kissing my kids felt a little sweeter. Some days it is so easy to get caught up in the hassles of our lives that we don’t take the time to enjoy the good parts. It seems like complaining is cool and commiserating over how unfair life is the norm.

Is it uncool to be grateful and happy? If so, I have never wanted to be so uncool in my whole life.

Don’t get me wrong, I have had my share of sadness in my life. Broken hearts, losing my mom, miscarriage, losing my father-in-law, etc.

Any one of those things could be devastating and collectively they could have been paralyzing. And at each of their respective times, they were. What I’ve learned though is that we have a choice. We can’t always pick things like when our parents die. However, we can always choose to see joy in our lives, no matter what our circumstances.

Life is short and going by way too fast for my taste. At 40 years old I have considered having a mid-life crisis. Today, it occurred to me that my mid-life crisis is going to be different than the stereotype. I am not going to buy a new car or get a new hairdo (well, maybe I am), but the real “crisis” is not going to be fixed or cured with a car.

My crisis is the realization that while half my life may indeed be over, the second half has just begun. My glass is half full and I just have to make sure that I do a good job of savoring every sip.

I am beyond grateful for my amazing family and friends. Thanks to y’all for helping me see that my life is indeed, perfect.

Today, more than ever, I am convinced that nothing will ever compete with a mother’s love. I always knew my mom loved me, but could not grasp the depths of that love until I had my own children.

I loved Caity from the moment of conception and that love grew and grew with each passing month of my pregnancy. The day she was born I wept and wept, sobbing in fact. Shawn and Isabel asked if I was still in a lot of pain after a difficult birth. But my tears were not tears of pain. The joy I felt was so overwhelming it could not be expressed anyway other than with tears, buckets of tears.

To see her perfect little hands and feet and the way she looked at me. I knew she recognized me from my voice. If she could talk I think she would have said, “Ah, ha, the voice of that place that protected me, fed me, sang to me and loved me from the inside out.”

And like in my womb, the instinct to nourish, love and protect my daughter has always been fierce.

Recently, Caity had something unfortunate happen to her. She was cut from a school dance team that she was told she would be part of for the entire year. Worse, she was made to stay on the team and essentially be a cheerleader for the rest of the squad.

First, I went to the dance teacher and asked her to allow Caity off the team. She said “no”. Then Shawn and I met with the Assistant Principal and he said “no”.

Shawn and I knew that we were right in our fight for Caity and we weren’t going to stop until she got what she deserved. Lucky for us, the Principal agreed with our concerns and agreed to a schedule change. Not only that, but the dance handbook is being rewritten and even the way the dance program runs is being revised for next year. The thrill of victory….

Normally I hate confrontation, but this was different. I was prepared to do anything to protect my baby. My instincts kicked in like a mama bear protecting her cub in the wild. Or like the woman who protected her baby by blowing a hole through an intruder with her shotgun.

At the end of all this heartache is an incredible life lesson for me and my family. Make sure your children know that you will go to bat for them at all costs. That even though they are kids they should never be bullied into anything that isn’t “right”. To never take “no” for an answer.

I married the most wonderful man in the whole world. I am forever grateful to Shawn for his love and support, but mostly because he has given me four incredible children and the opportunity to learn time and time again, “A mother’s love is an unrivaled force of nature.”

Every year, around the holidays, my family does something charitable. Last year we donated to Toys for Tots and Operation Christmas Child. There is no shortage of ways to give to the needy.

I’ve thought this was a great way to get our kids to learn the spirit of giving. But, after some soul searching, I decided we need to do more. Giving comes in many shapes and sizes, and this year we are going to give not just gifts, but of ourselves.

My hope is that if we serve at an orphanage or homeless shelter, maybe our kids will pause and realize that the way we live is a privilege, and not a right.

This Christmas, the one gift I truly want is for my children to appreciate the good in their lives. The financial comfort of food and shelter are just the tip of the iceberg. They have their health, parents who love them very much, and each other. They have fresh air and water and overall, a wonderful life.

We take these things for granted every single day.

I want them to realize it’s important to share and be generous. Not just with what they have, but with who they are.

The most amazing part is that being generous is almost magical. When you give, you are the one who reaps the rewards.

Watch any two-year-old for a while, and you will see that sharing does not come innately.

Lucky for parents, children are like sponges. They learn how to walk and talk and sing just by mimicking us. Let’s all make giving something our children grow up doing because they lived it every day.

As Gandhi once said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Since I got married in 1996, I have been the CFO of our family. The decision was an easy one, since I liked doing bills and budgeting. Shawn, not so much. As a result, naturally, I know everything from how much we have in retirement to how much we pay in taxes each year.

I was shocked when I asked a good friend, recently, how much they paid in property taxes and she had no idea. She couldn’t even begin to guess. No offense, to anyone like this friend of mine, but c’mon ladies, get a clue. I don’t care if your husband makes more money or even if he makes all the money.

You need to be involved in your family’s finances. Plain and simple. Chances are you are involved in the everyday spending for your family. Groceries, toys, school supplies, kids’ activities, etc. If you can handle the balancing act of being a mom, you are savvy enough to know about your investments and savings.

In fact, it’s downright reckless for you to be in the dark. For example, if you knew you had little money in retirement or excessive credit card debt, you’d know to tighten the purse strings. That’s nice to help out every PTO and Girl Scout fundraiser, but pay yourself first. Your future is non-negotiable.

Hopefully, you can honestly say that you know where your money is going every month. If not, it’s time for a sit down with hubby. Tell him from now on, you want to have a monthly meeting to go over finances.

Not only will you learn how much you have, you also can brainstorm together about ways to spend less, save more and eventually meet all your goals.

I don’t know about you, but to me, being lost is one of the most unsettling feelings around. Based on the stereotype of how men hate to ask for directions, there must be something sacred about figuring it out on your own.

Google Maps is great, but nothing beats having directions at your fingertips. A GPS (Global Positioning System) is a really useful tool to help find your way around.

But a GPS can run $150 or more. Plus, they are one more thing to clog up your car and/or purse.

The good news is that you can turn your phone (if you have a Smartphone) into a GPS for just 99 cents with the MotionX GPS Drive through iTunes for an iPhone.

It’s super easy to use. You don’t even have to type in your starting address. It will give you the option of choosing “current location” and calculate your directions based from there.

This feature is particularly helpful when you have no clue where you are.

Another fun feature is the ability to locate important destinations like the closest gas station and even look up stores by names or categories.

For example, if you are looking for the closest Target, just type Target and the GPS will give you directions based on your current location.

How cool is that?

Or, if you are looking for some place to eat, just hit the food icon and it will list some nearby choices.

This app is especially wonderful if you are on vacation. It can also give you walking directions, which is great in big cities like New York.

Some apps are limited in their use, but the MotionX GPS Drive is inexpensive, has many useful features, and is a must have!

Every week, I take money out of the ATM and every week, just like magic, it disappears. I can’t figure out where it goes. Never mind the coffee, magazines, bottled water, and lipstick I bought.

So, I decided I need to give myself a challenge. For one whole day, I am not going to spend any money. No sports drinks, no emergency trips to the grocery store, no exceptions.

It may mean that we eat apples instead of fresh grapes, but I am quite sure no one in my family will go hungry.

My hairdresser said her son refuses to bring lunch to school. He said he is “too old” for that baby stuff. He is 11 years old! I’m not sure where he got the message that big kids have to buy lunch, but considering his parents have no savings, they’re teaching him a bad habit with this wasteful spending.

She has told me they simply can’t afford to put any money away for retirement. Oh, really? $3/day for school lunch is $60/month.

It’s that attitude of “I just can’t afford to save” that causes so many people to get into financial trouble.

Who’s with me? I challenge everyone to not spend any money for one whole day.

Maybe it will mean getting up five minutes earlier, so you can make your lunch and/or skip Starbucks. You may wonder how doing this for one day can be worthwhile. But, speak to any recovering addict and you’ll find that to change any habit, it all comes down to “One day at a time”.

Hello, my name is Vicky and I’m a spendaholic.

When we first got married, Shawn and I both owed thousands of dollars in credit card debt. In addition to the stress it caused, it was delaying our lives.

If it had been up to me, I would have started a family right away, but Shawn had it in his head that, before we could have a baby, we had to have a house. And before we bought a house, we had to get out of debt.

We added up our salaries and bills, but there was just not much left over every month to chip away at our debt. Nothing like a biological clock ticking away to get a girl motivated to make some extra money.

I decided I could babysit, in addition to my full-time job. So, I made a business card and I put it all over Jersey City and Hoboken.

Was hanging out watching Barney on a Saturday night my idea of fun? No, but we needed the money, and it was something I could do on the side while working my 9 to 5.

Shawn took on part-time jobs, too. He taught himself the computer language HTML, which he used to create and manage a website for a friend’s business. And every Saturday and Sunday, he woke up at 6:00am to serve as the online sports editor for the Newark Star-Ledger newspaper.

Those jobs brought in a steady stream of extra income.

Being in debt really stinks, but getting out of it is not impossible.

Ultimately, there are two ways to improve your finances, make more or spend less. In some cases, like ours, we needed to do both.

Getting out of debt was liberating. Financial freedom isn’t free, but it is worth any and all sacrifices.

We love watching movies outside. There is something about having all the space and fresh air. But drive-in movie theaters have become so scarce these days.

So we decided to make our own drive-way theater by getting a projector and outdoor screen. And then we realized it could also be a dive-in theater next to our pool.

We tried it out last night for a showing of Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2, and it was a lot of fun.

The movies are shown with an Epson MovieMate 60, but it looks like they no longer make that model. However, the Epson MovieMate 62 is available and looks like the same thing.

This projector has nice sound, without having to add external speakers, and a built-in DVD player.

And we project the movies on to a Camp Chef 120-Inch Portable Outdoor Movie Theater Screen.

This movie screen is easy to assemble and then break down after the movie.

Overall, the outdoor home movie theater has been a big hit. It’s great to bring the neighborhood together, and a fun way to watch movies in nice weather.

Over the years, I’ve participated in local book clubs, newcomers clubs, and even a babysitting club.

One day my friend, Anita, was over for lunch. As we were sharing recipes, we had a fun idea. We would start our own cooking club.

Granted, it would just be the two of us, but nonetheless it felt like such a great concept that we decided to call it a club. Here is how it works.

Every Tuesday, on our own, we would each make a meal big enough to serve both of our families. Then, on Wednesdays, we’d get together and make two more meals, plus some muffins or cookies.

We both love the recipes from “Deceptively Delicious” by Jessica Seinfeld. The meals are healthy and yummy, and our kids actually enjoy them (not an easy feat, mind you).

Somehow, chopping and stirring seems more pleasant when I’d get to do it while catching up with one of my best friends. We worked as a team and our combined efforts yield great results.

At the end of our cooking fiesta, we’d have at least three meals already made for the week. That means I wouldn’t have to worry about dinner again until Saturday night.

What a huge relief and it would free up more time to help my kids with homework or play outside with them.

I really enjoy cooking, but finding time to shop, cook, and clean can be very time consuming. Our cooking club helped us enjoy a variety of healthy, home-cooked meals, at a savings, and without sacrificing lots of time in the kitchen and away from our real joys, our children.

Christmas in the 90’s was like Spendapalooza.

But things changed at the end of the decade, when I became a SAHM in 1999, and I simply could not afford the insanity anymore.

We were on a budget and I was determined not to go back into the credit card debt I’d escaped a few years earlier.

I opened a separate account online through ING Direct and named it, “Christmas Fund”. The account was set it up so every month $50 would automatically transfer from my checking account to the Christmas fund.

I never saw the money, so it didn’t really hurt to part with it.

We would have $600 to spend on Christmas at the end of the 12 months. We had parents, siblings, in laws, each other, and our baby girl to buy for, so it wasn’t so much money per person.

When Shawn and I were both working, we would go nuts at Christmas, spending hundreds of dollars on each other and our parents. This was going to be quite a difference.

I told all of our loved ones we were pinching pennies, and nobody seemed to care. I know it’s the thought that counts, but I would feel like a Grinch if they got me a Coach purse and I gave a CD and scarf.

I also started shopping early. If I saw something I thought a loved one would like, I bought it and hid it in my closet. Preparing earlier and getting better deals helped tremendously, and it gave me a chance to actually enjoy the holiday season.

I was totally done the week leading up to Christmas. So, instead of fighting with the crowds in the mall, I was home enjoying the best gift I ever got… my baby girl.