Being in school and balancing a family is not always a piece of cake, especially when it comes  to affording everything. There are so many...

Being in school and balancing a family is not always a piece of cake, especially when it comes  to affording everything. There are so many expenses that come with school like books, laptops, tuition and projects. Having a family at the same time is expensive too. Things like making sure you have healthy dinners on the table, to affording diapers, baby clothes, and gear. This post is going to be the first of how I afford being a mom of two and going to school at the same time.
I start my senior year in the fall and just gave birth to my second child in June, and we also just moved to be closer to the school. Each of these things have made our expenses go up this summer. Here are some tips and advice for affording a family.
1.Fill out FASFA and apply for Scholarships. My school has a scholarship application that I fill out every spring. I received an academic scholarship by keeping my grades up  and my husband and I both also receive a needs based scholarship through our university. Fill out these forms even if you don't think that you qualify for anything. By being married and having children I qualify for a much higher pell grant than I would have not being married. When I was single it took into account how much my parents made and so I was unable to receive any aid due to their income.
2. Seriously consider Student Loans. Look at your expenses and determine whether student loans are the right choice for you. I will have taken loans for two of the four years that I have been in college. Some years we find we need them, and some years we find that we don't.
3. Saving on Baby and Child Expenses. While this certainly deserves its own post I will explain in a nutshell what I do to save. First off I breastfeed, which saves thousands. I also cloth diaper (post on this coming soon). This also saves quite a bit. I also work my class schedule around my husbands and so we do not have daycare costs. When it comes to clothes and shoes I buy a lot at my Once Upon a Child, yard sales, and the clearance rack. I also buy some nice outfits from discount stores like TJ Maxx and Ross for church and special outings and occasions. My children are on medicaid so we do not have any health expenses. Wic is a great program out there for families with young children.
4. Saving on Housing. Lets face it you cannot live in a dorm and have a family. Most of the time you cant even get away with a one bedroom when you have a family. Before we had our first we lived in a small studio until we became storage unit managers. For the next two and a half years after we were able to live rent free while I worked full time from home (and went to school full time as well). Being an apartment manager or a similar job is a great way to have no rent bill at all. Now we have an affordable 3 bedroom apartment. To get this apartment we had to really hunt and plan. We were on a waiting list for almost a year to get the place that we have now. We try to reduce electric and gas expenses by doing simple things by not leaving the lights on and things like that.
5. Saving on Food. The best way to do this is to shop the sales and use coupons. Discounts stores like Winco and Aldi are also a great option. There are great websites that match up coupons which take so much of the work out of couponing. Krazy Coupon Lady is my my favorite. Being intentional while shopping is also a way to save money. Write a list and meal planning help to keep you from getting fast food or picking up things you don't need.
6. Saving on Fun. Every Friday we have a date night. Most nights it is an at home date so we don't have to pay for a sitter. Pinterest has great at-home date ideas. We also camp quite a bit. Camping is a cheap and easy way to have vacations. We live near some really fun places to camp so its almost always an adventure. When your in school and having a family making time to have fun together is a must. Things get stressful and its easy to get stuck in a rut when you feel like you have no time, and spending time having fun together is a great way to relax and refocus.
I am by no means a financial expert, but I hope that by sharing what works for our family, you can come away with some tips that can help you afford a family while you go to school. I am a huge advocate of continuing your education even when children come into the home. It is hard and some days it is so so hard, but having the security of a college education is so worth the effort.

Just a disclaimer here this post is pretty heavy on birth language. If you are a guy or if birth makes you uncomfortable, then please s...

Just a disclaimer here this post is pretty heavy on birth language. If you are a guy or if birth makes you uncomfortable, then please skip this post. My daughter was born June 4 of this year. Giving birth to her was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I had made a goal early in my teens to have a natural birth. A youth leader described how beautiful her natural birth experience was and from then on I was inspired. I had planned to have a natural birth with my first, but I went into it unprepared and decided to get the epidural during the transition stage. I never regretted my decision. I felt for that birth my decision to not go natural worked really well for me and my family, and I was happy with it and my new little baby.
Fast forward 18 months when I find out that I am expecting baby number 2. Early on I wanted this birth to be different. I had since joined a natural birth Facebook group that helped to educate and provide advice that helped me throughout my pregnancy. I attended a natural birth conference in Utah which was AMAZING, and helped me to learn more about managing the pain of a natural birth. I also found a wonderful Doula Madison Burke. She was so supportive and knew exactly how to help me. Doulas are so worth the money if you plan to have a natural birth.I personally feel like they are invaluable in the natural birth process.

While I did everything I could to prepare, I don't think anything can prepare you for the pain. It is truly was intense and consuming.  I managed the first few hours on my own at home. I listened to my labor playlist and was able to breathe and relax through the first stage of labor. When contractions were 3 minutes apart we dropped little man off at a friends and we met the Doula at the hospital. Natural birth in a hospital is difficult. Many policies such as lying in a bed, and fetal monitoring make giving birth more uncomfortable, but it is a great option if you feel more comfortable in a hospital than at home. We met my Doula at the hospital after I was checked in. I was placed in triage because my contractions began to slow once we got to the hospital. This is a normal for many moms because a new environment, and monitoring can slow labor down. Kind of like a watched pot.

With my Doula's help and some clary sage we got the contractions coming more and I was able to be checked in. I was then able to move around and labor more freely. At this point I began to move into "Laborland", which is a mental state of calm and "out of itness" that helps the body to deal with labor. It is very much like a natural high, and it helps to keep you calm and to progress in your labor. As I began transition I began to shake and shake. I had to just ride the shakes and breathe through my contractions which were becoming more and more intense. Finally around 2:30 in the morning I decided that I did not want to keep going. I was only at 6cm and felt like I wanted the epidural so I could relax. Both my husband and my Doula tried to get me to reconsidered, but I had made my mind. It was over a half hour before the anesthesiologist came and meanwhile my contractions were getting more and more intense. As the doctor tried to find the right vertebrae to insert the catheter, baby girl started to crown. There was no time for the epidural, and so came the most white hot pain that I have ever experienced.  With one push she was delivered, and in an instant my pain was gone, my beautiful baby was in my arms. I felt so much joy and was so proud that I had the natural birth that I wanted.

Natural birth is hard and intense. It was the most physically demanding thing I have ever done. It was an amazing experience. Was it worth it? It was worth being able to achieve one of my biggest goals. However I do not think that I will plan for another natural birth.

In the past three years I have gotten married, moved across the country,  had two babies, worked full time managing storage units and hav...

In the past three years I have gotten married, moved across the country,  had two babies, worked full time managing storage units and have done all of these things while studying for my bachelors at Brigham Young University-Idaho. In that short time so much in my life has changed. I have learned so much and grown so much and I am going to put some of those things here in my blog. This blog is going to be a bunch of different thoughts from natural parenting, to balancing education and mommy-hood, tutorials. and maybe even some book reviews. I became a parent at 20 years old and now at 22 I have two, and while some may think that is young I have found that my youth brings a new perspective to my parenting and to life in general. So stay tuned because there is so much more to come :)