Thrifty & Chic Mom is an ever evolving place that reflects the passions of Ellen. At any given time you will come across tips on saving money, strategies for running a house, ideas for being a SAHM, products that will make life better, deals that will stretch your budget, recipes that will make your mouth water, advice on beauty and fashion or giveaways that will just make you smile.

Ellen came up with the name for her blog because she claims to be thrifty, while also wanting to be chic & trendy. Her family helps review products and inspires many of her posts. Ellen shared with us that her “blog just kind of evolved from sharing deals with friends to covering all the topics about moms that I love. It just became more and more about who I am as a mom.”

Currently the Thrifty & Chic Mom blog has tens of thousands of readers, which is pretty impressive! Currently you can read blog articles about Crisis Parenting, Keeping Your Kids Teeth Sparkling, and enter into the Mom’s Do-It-All Calendar Giveaway on the Thrifty & Chic Mom blog. Ellen is able to provide a ton of valuable information to her readers, which is why she has been able to develop such a loyal following!

We highly recommend that you subscribe to Ellen’s blog. You can also connect with Ellen on Twitter and Facebook.

We want to thank Ellen for sharing her story with us. We hope you will go check out the Thrifty & Chic blog. We think you’ll really love everything that Ellen has created, and continues to create! For any companies out there who are looking for great Mom Blogs to promote their products & services, the Thrifty & Chic Mom blog accepts advertising sponsorships.

In today’s post we want to share a video that we came across on YouTube about Booster Seat Safety. We watched the video and realized just how powerful it is. We wanted to share it with you. Please take a few minutes to watch the video below:

Pretty powerful, huh? We want to thank John for sharing his story with the rest of us. It is an absolute tragedy what happened to John and his family. John lost his wife Denise, and their oldest daughter is now confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Accidents happen…but you CAN prevent injuries; that is John’s ultimate message. There are steps that you can take to help make your children as safe as possible while in a vehicle. Purchasing a booster seat for your children 8 years old and younger is one step. Another is to secure the booster seat with SeatSnug.

We hope you found this video moving. If you have any questions about Booster Seat Safety, feel free to check out our blog or follow SeatSnug on Twitter and Facebook. Remember, accidents happen…but you can prevent injuries.

Are you familiar with Facebook tagging? For those of you who are unfamiliar with the process, let’s review it quickly. Simply navigate to YOUR Facebook wall and begin crafting a wall post. When you’re ready to refer to SeatSnug, start out by typing the “@” symbol. Follow that with the word “SeatSnug”. Facebook will automatically bring up SeatSnug and you can select SeatSnug from the list by clicking on it. Check out the image to above to get a visual on how the process works. By tagging SeatSnug on your wall, your post will automatically show up on our Facebook wall as well!

Now that you know HOW to tag SeatSnug on YOUR Facebook wall, let’s talk about what the context of your wall post should be — the good news is that’s up to you! This is your chance to let your followers, along with other SeatSnug Facebook connections, know your opinion of SeatSnug. A few example wall posts might be:

• I ABSOLUTELY love SeatSnug — It’s a great child safety product
• With a baby on the way, I’m hoping that SeatSnug can teach me about driving safely with kids in the car
• SeatSnug seems like a great product, but I’m interested in learning more about the technical specs of the product

As you can see from the example Facebook wall posts above, you can make any comment about SeatSnug that you’d like. The only requirement is that you tag SeatSnug in the wall post. Again, in order for it to work, you must already be connected with SeatSnug on Facebook. If you’re not already connected with us, simply head out to Facebook & click “Like” on our Facebook page.

As a reminder to everyone who has been participating, and wants to participate this month, there are three main steps to giving yourself a chance to win a free SeatSnug. The first two steps only have to be completed once, whereas the third step is a monthly activity.

The three steps to participating in the SeatSnug Giveaway Contest are:

1. Register for the SeatSnug Giveaway Contest
2. Confirm your registration via an email notification - The email notification gets sent to the registration email address as soon as you submit your registration. Simply click the link within the email to confirm. If you don’t receive an email, check your Junk Mail Folder.
3. Participate in the Monthly Facebook activity - In July, we are asking all participants to answer a question via the SeatSnug Facebook Wall

We hope that you participate in this month’s SeatSnug Giveaway, as we want to get the word out about the benefits of SeatSnug to as many people as possible. Do you have any suggestions for future contests? Leave a comment below to let us know your thoughts.

Always carry an emergency phone. You don’t need a fancy iPhone, here. There are tons of inexpensive pay-as-you-go phones that fit the bill. Keep one in your purse and always make sure you have available minutes of talk time.

Have the proper equipment. If you live in colder areas, make sure you have a blanket to help keep you warm, and if you live in a warm region, have bottles of water handy.

Keep a flashlight nearby. Don’t depend on your car having headlights or four-way flashers available, and carry a flashlight to help shine the way if it’s dark.

Get the numbers you need. Have a list of emergency numbers for the police or a tow truck handy in the glove compartment. Don’t assume you’ll remember them off by heart should you ever need them.

Carry cardboard and a pen. This is great for writing a sign that you can hold up for help or leave on your car to let people know you’ll be back to pick it up in the morning!

Have some extra cash. Never assume you’ll have the money handy for a tow-truck or taxi if your car breaks down. Hide an envelope with emergency funds inside your car, and you’ll never be caught short.

Know the plan. You should know what you’d do and who you’d call before your car ever breaks down. That way, you can deal with the situation in confidence should it ever occur.

Talk with your kids. It can be scary for children when a car breaks down suddenly, so talk to them before it happens and reassure them you have a backup plan if it ever happens. Make it sound like an adventure!

Here are some tips and tools to keeping your car clean and tidy when you have kids, so you can show them great habits about neatness and also feel good every time you get in your car!

Get a car bag. No, not a diaper bag, but a handy-sized tote bag that lets you store a small first-aid kit, a couple of toys, tissues and juice boxes or snacks. Tuck in a few bags for litter duty and you’ll be all set to stay safe, keep kids occupied and have everything you need right at hand. Now that’s organized!

Make rules about food. Many parents bring along cereal snacks and juice boxes to help keep kids happy on trips. It’s a good idea, but it’s an even better one to replace the cereal with a fruit (less crumbs!) and to use leak-proof drink cups instead of juice boxes with straws (no more drips or spills).

Get a car organizer. These colourful organizers are perfect for kids. They hang over the backs of seats and have tons of pockets you can use to tuck in little games to occupy children while traveling, and they also help make sure that your kids won’t kick at the back of seats. It’s a sanity saver!

Get wipes. Keep a container or pack of baby wipes in your glove compartment for handy cleanup. You can wipe down little hands and prevent smears and streaks inside your car, or you can use these to wipe down doors or the dashboard when the car could use a fast dusting.

Take a minute (that’s all you need) after every trip to make sure the car’s neat before you walk away from it. While you’re at it, check to ensure that your child seat belt safety device is secure for your next trip.  Keeping a car clean when you have kids doesn’t have to be a chore, and you’ll soon find that having a tidy vehicle is just second nature to you and your family.

How easy? Well, taking a short road trip that lasts just a couple of days (a weekend, perhaps?) is light on the family budget, gets everyone in a happy mood, and leaves parents and kids with that “I had a vacation!” feeling. Who said vacations had to be big, costly affairs?

Here are three great tips for taking a short road trip vacation with your family:

• Rent a car. Yes, your own car can probably handle a three- to five-hour trip and back, but you’re packing miles onto your vehicle and adding wear and tear to boot. Renting a car for a day or two is so cheap that it’s not even worth debating – and since rental cars are often newer vehicles, it gives a nice luxury boost to your trip!
  Stay at the best hotel you can afford. Some families try to save money by skimping with a cheap hotel, but they pay double when they get a poor night’s sleep in a shoddy, uncomfortable room. Your room is part of your vacation, so why not make it just as fun and comfortable as the rest of your trip?
  Give your child one small carrying bag. This bag has a single purpose: being filled with toys. Hand it over with a “if it doesn’t fit in, we can’t bring it” rule, and let your child decide what to bring. You’ll eliminate fussing and extra baggage, and your child will feel proud to have something in his or her control!

Plan where you’re going ahead of time, and choose one major activity per day of stay. Never try to pack in two activities – it’s easy to underestimate how much available time you have, and you’ll just end up rushing around.

All that’s left is hitting the road. With your plan in mind, a great place to stay and a nice car to get you there, you’ll be having a great mini-vacation in no time at all.  Make sure you always consider a child safety seat belt such as SeatSnug when traveling with children.

It turns out that my daughter gets carsick. She’s not alone in having this condition, either; a little over one-third the population suffers from motion sickness.

Carsickness happens when the eyes and ears disagree on what’s going on. The eyes send one signal to the brain (the car isn’t moving), the ears send another (the car is moving), and the brain puts these two conflicting messages together to decide someone’s hallucinating. It decides that hallucination comes from being poisoned, and it takes action.

The result? Throwing up. After all, the best way to get rid of poison is to get it out of the body.

What can you do to help your child deal with carsickness? You can:

• Avoid letting your child read, watch movies or play video games while in the car
• Encourage your child to focus on a far-off point outside the car
• Play car travel games that help the child look out the window at other objects
• Open the window a bit for some fresh air
• Give the child crackers to eat – an empty stomach isn’t helpful
• Avoid strong-smelling foods, greasy foods or hard-to-digest foods

Pay attention to how you drive, too. Stick to straighter roads and careful, smooth driving that doesn’t make the car rock or sway. Frequent stops are also critical to reduce the chance your child starts to feel queasy. Break the trip down and stop as often as you can, even if it’s just for a few minutes to toss a ball or walk around.  Securely fastening your child in their seat may also be useful, a lap belt cinch for booster seats can help with this.

This month, being that schools are finally all finished, and families are getting ready to hit the road for family vacations, we wanted to tie-in our Monthly SeatSnug Giveaway Contest to summer road trips.

Are you and your family planning a summer road trip this year? If so, simply navigate over to the SeatSnug Facebook page and leave a wall comment telling everyone where you’re headed, for what reason, and how long you plan on staying. Everyone who posts a comment about their summer travels will be entered into the giveaway.

As a reminder to everyone who has been participating, and wants to participate this month, there are three main steps to giving yourself a chance to win a free SeatSnug. The first two steps only have to be completed once, whereas the third step is a monthly activity.

The three steps to participating in the SeatSnug Giveaway Contest are:

1. Register for the SeatSnug Giveaway Contest
2. Confirm your registration via an email notification - The email notification gets sent to the registration email address as soon as you submit your registration. Simply click the link within the email to confirm. If you don’t receive an email, check your Junk Mail Folder.
3. Participate in the Monthly Facebook activity - In July, we are asking all participants to answer a question via the SeatSnug Facebook Wall

We hope that you participate in this month’s SeatSnug Giveaway, as we want to get the word out about the benefits of SeatSnug to as many people as possible. Do you have any suggestions for future contests? Leave a comment below to let us know your thoughts.

Here are some tips on what to look for when car shopping for your family travels.

• Evaluate your needs. Many people opt for large SUVs when they have a new child, thinking they’ll need the space. In most cases, it’s overkill. You won’t need to haul much gear around for a few years, and the trunk of any small car is plenty for strollers and diaper bags.
• Count the doors. One mistake made by couples new to being parents is to opt for slick-looking two-door cars… but that doesn’t give them much back-seat access for lugging car seats in and out or strapping kids into boosters. Go for four doors; you’ll thank yourself!
• Check safety ratings. The car with the most bells and whistles isn’t always the sturdiest or safest on the road. You’ll find vehicle safety ratings at the National Transportation Safety Board or by searching Car and Driver’s great website.
• Pick a bright color. While black, silver, gold and white are nice colors for a car, they’re also hard to see in various environments, like sunny days, dark nights or snowy winters. Choose a brightly colored car so that other drivers can see you easily and well, no matter what the day’s weather!

Lastly, make sure that the back seat of the car you choose has ample space for a baby car seat or booster seat. Some back seats don’t offer much space and children can start to feel cramped once they hit toddlerhood. They don’t need tons of space and room, but they do need some! Hop in the backseat and see if you feel comfortable sitting there. If not, opt for a car with more space!

Baby Depot is a national baby product retailer offering infant and toddler apparel, furniture, strollers, car seats and booster seats, and accessories. Baby Depot also offers an online store, www.babydepot.com, and a computerized baby registry. Baby Depot is found in over 290 Burlington Coat Factory stores across the country and in some freestanding locations.

Visit SeatSnug on Facebook for our free monthly SeatSnug giveaway. Simply sign up for by clicking on out “Free SeatSnug” tab and become qualified to receive a free SeatSnug booster seat safety device. This is a monthly giveaway, so if you don’t win the first month you’ll have plenty of opportunities to win again. Each month we randomly select a new winner to receive a FREE SeatSnug. There is no need to enter more than once. By entering your information on our Facebook page you are automatically re-entered into the contest each month unless you choose to unsubscribe. To learn more about our monthly giveaway, click here.

You can also visit us on Twitter to receive the latest updates on SeatSnug, including information regarding the latest booster seat safety laws and regulations. This is a good way to stay up-to-date with vehicle safety issues regarding your child.