Pregnancy could probably be the single most costly thing during your life, but with a little tweaking here and there, it can be cost effective and at times completely free.  With two pregnancies under my belt, I have learned a thing or two about taking something you need and making it budget-friendly.

These are ten things that not only saved my budget, but made me a happy pregnant momma:

1. Luxury Beauty Services: Skip the spa (upwards of $125). Put your significant other to work and have them give you a foot, shoulder, neck, or full body massage ($0).
2. Prenatal Vitamins: Sometimes the prenatal vitamins that are prescribed by your doctor can be very expensive ($45 co-pay for a 30 day supply).  Go to Whole Foods or Vitamin Shoppe and get a prenatal that fits your needs (the staff at the stores are very knowledgeable).  I went with New Chapter Perfect Prenatal which was on sale for $66 for a 2 month supply.
3. Parking: Forget about valet services at the mall because you’re still going to have to walk ($7-$14).  Almost any big mall will have an “Expectant Mother” parking spot, indicated by a bold pink line and a sign with a stork on it ($0).

Read the rest of my post at Savings.com

Just yesterday as I was speaking to my friend about her settlement check for her car accident, I checked my email to find multiple emails (I’m talking 16 to be exact) from iTunes saying ” Your receipt #” with an order number following it.  At first, I thought it was spam mail, but then my gut told me to open one.  I opened the email to find out that a purchase was made in the amount of $149.99.  My stomach dropped to the floor and my body froze.

After going through a moment of shock and my friend still on the line, I opened all 15 emails that followed the first one.  As I opened each one to see the same $149.99 charge ($149.99 x 16, you do the math), I was speechless.  I told my friend of the situation and got off the phone immediately to make a call to iTunes.  Unfortunately, iTunes/Apple had closed shop for the day, at least the customer service end of it.

I had to think quickly and immediately and called Paypal, since the payment transaction, happened through them.  First, I had to go online and chat with an automated customer service chick about my situation (I probably have not sworn that much in my life).  Seriously, getting a phone number should not be that hard.  The whole process just infuriated me (Note: Paypal just put a phone number on the Contact Us page).

After getting the number and almost losing my sanity, I called Paypal to let them know what was going on.  I spoke with a guy named Al who was a representative for Paypal Credit Card.  Eventually, after both of us being confused for a good 4 minutes, he transferred me to the appropriate people.  Once I was on the line with them, I had to tell them the situation all over again and guess what?  They passed me onto the security department.  It just felt never-ending.

By the time I had reached the security department, my mouth was dry from speaking to everyone along the way, I just wished it was a bad dream.  They reassured me that this was an ongoing issue with iTunes and it was more common in recent months.  Apple?  Aren’t they a multi-qua-trillion dollar company?  Security Breach?  What?

So after they canceled the transactions and requested a refund, I went onto Google to do a search on “itunes hacking” and it came up with 16,500 results. Wow!  Everything from iTunes developer being kicked to the curb,  Facebook site dedicated to iTunes hacking, and real stories of victims like me.  It’s quite scary that a company like Apple can’t get rid of a problem like this.  Do something quick!

After losing sleep, calling Paypal again, calling my bank to stop payment, speaking with my credit card, I finally received an email from iTunes.  The email sounded like they were trying to cover their backs and made it seem like it was a non serious matter (this lit a huge fire under me).  I was pissed and wrote a really nice email back to them stating that they should refund my money because clearly my account was compromised.  Moreover, I have not used iTunes for a couple years and don’t even have the app on my computers to have access to my account.  The last purchase I made was a couple years ago for a music download that cost me 99 cents.  Common people!

I received a reply towards the end of the day saying, “A refund in the amount of $x,xxx.xx will be credited to the PayPal account used to pay for the order. Please note that this is a one-time exception to our sales policy.” Seriously, this was their fault and they made it seem like it was my fault.  Anyhow, it’s definitely a lesson learned, and I am canceling my account, plus changing all my passwords on everything.

So if you have an iTunes account, make sure you keep your eyes wide open because it can happen to the best of us.  I hope my experience can save people from having to experience the shock of feeling violated.  Unfortunately, we live in a society where we constantly need to watch our back (that includes powerful hackers) because it literally takes a second for our lives to be turned upside down.  Take all precautionary measures!

The old Santa Monica Place was very dull, very empty, and very boring.  When I saw the construction happening, I wasn’t excited about the traffic and I really didn’t care for a whole revamp of something that was almost nothing.  My memories of the old Santa Monica Place was a half vacant mall with nothing to do.  I only went there for two reasons: to cool off when it was overly hot and to eat when all the 100 other restaurants around the corner were packed and I was desperate.

 Alas to the old days and in with the times.  The mall’s selection of stores has a pretty impressive line-up that caters to all tastes, but I would have to say that most of the retailers are high-end.  Some of my favorites include the Disney Store (I have two princesses), CB2 (Oh how I love thee, my condo in Chicago was fully decorated by CB2 and very affordably), Bloomingdales (for my splurge days), Joe’s Jeans (every girl needs to own one), and Bird Pick Tea & Herb (one of my favorite tea spots).  Oh and the Dining Deck is not to be missed.  You can see the city and ocean.  It’s so captivating that if I ever need some mommy time, I intend to go to the dining deck and imagine that I’m lying out on the Mykonos Island.

If you are a mommy like me, then the your new hotspot will be the new Disney Store.  Shall I say a Princess Paradise!  Although there are toys and Disney products for boys, when you walk into this store, there is no denying that it was made for a princess.  A beautiful castle ornamented with a crystal chandelier, princesses dancing atop, and a magic mirror, I wished I could switch into my daughter like a scene from “Freaky Friday.”

All in all, I have to say that the Santa Monica Place took me by surprise and I really look forward to being a regular patron of this mall!

When I was young (let say 10-14), I really never thought about dating, much less think about sex.  Call me a prude, conservative, abstinent, hormone deficient, whatever, I just never sat there thinking about boys at that age.  I was more about my dance, gymnastics, and musical activities.  If I did have some spare time, I would hang out with my best friend at the mall or the local swimming pool. 

Of course, I had little childhood crushes here and there, but nothing my parents would’ve been worried about.  It was as far as, “You know so and so likes you, do you like him?”  As young as I was, I always thought that having any relationship with a boy should be saved for when I was older, or when I was independent from my parents.

So the other day when my preschooler came back from school and said, “So and so said that they were going to kiss with their tongues because they were going to get married tomorrow,” I was in shock.  Wow!  Okay, first off, my daughter is 4 years old and so are her friends.  I listened to what she was saying and was surprised that 4 year olds these days were saying things that I never even knew when I was 4.  I distinctly remember when I was 4, I was scared that I would wet my pants during naptime because I didn’t use the bathroom.

After listening to my daughter, I tried to figure out what would be the “right” thing to say to her.  I didn’t want to say that kissing was a bad thing because it’s not (I’ve watched on Tyra where adults were scared of intimacy because their moms told them it was dirty when they were young).  But I also didn’t want to encourage it either (I’ve seen enough Lifetime to know that).  Suprisingly, I learned a couple months ago from her teacher that it was normal for children between the ages of 3-4 to start discovering their sexuality and begin to differentiate body parts.

My initial reaction was that I freaked, and then I was like okay, let’s roll with the times.  The truth of the matter is that kids are developing a lot faster these days (mind & body).  By no means do I think 4 year olds should be engaging in any non-childlike physical activities (that includes mouth to mouth kissing involving tongue), but I do feel that parents should be prepared to teach their kids about different things as they happen, regardless of age.

Fortunately this time around, I was able to explain to my daughter that kissing was a beautiful thing between two people who love each other, but should be saved for when she or her friends were much older.  She understood and said, “I’m only going to kiss you, daddy, and my sister.”  I am glad she is at the age where she is responsive and understands.  However, I am not looking forward to puberty and or talking about the birds and the bees, in the near future!