It's that time of year again where the house is kid-free during the day and a lot more crunched for time in the evenings. Today we are going to talk about some tips and tricks to save money this school year and to introduce the little ones into a more healthy lifestyle. This is a family affair so gather round for these genius ideas to save you time, worry, and money.

We all worry about the school year about many different aspects. Some children are more accident prone (clumsy), some are just more active and play hard, and some are into sports which we all know comes with the occasional injury. An absolute must-have in my house, all year round are these Ice It! Ice Packs. These are great when you need to ice an area, or you have a fever, or even if you're going through menopause and you're just on fire. It is rather easy for our little ones to get hurt on accident or but it's not always so easy to handle the care afterward. I know your thinking ice in a bag will do the same thing but that can actually be very uncomfortable and not as effective and then you run into the leaking of the bag onto your furniture, car, clothing and the mess that comes with that so save yourself the headache and get yourself some of these. If you're going to ice an area you want to do so evenly and with these ice packs that mold to your body you can bet that you are evenly icing the area. Another aspect we find ourselves spending time in the store and money on is lunches. School lunches aren't always the best or the healthiest and they aren't always cheap either. I would rather know what my child ate that day out of what they were given and what that food was. This is actually a role in their behavior just as it is in ours. That's why we have slang like the word "hangry".

My first tip for lunches is making your own. A favorite in my house is homemade Lunchables. I cook a whole boneless ham, slice it to the width I desire, then take a shot glass and turn it upside down and use it like a cookie cutter to cut as many circles as I can, cut some cheese into squares (I usually just fold a standard piece into four pieces), grab some crackers, some fruit and peanut butter, a snack, and our trusty Kids Water Bottles "they are so cute" These things are just fantastic! No more buying a bunch of juice boxes and worrying about the kids getting into them when it's not for school, or the money for them, or how healthy they are. I simply pack ice and water with a flavor packet if they choose.  We hope we've helped ease some of your worries and stress for this school year and many more to come!!