5 Bougie Things That Make Mom Life Easier

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When they say, “it takes a village,” believe them, because you need support to navigate mom life. There are some days that I impress myself by being able to get my wedding day dolled up for my husband; film and edit a video for my YouTube channel; educate and entertain my girls while sticking to a schedule; and manage to get food on the table three times a day (plus snacks) for everyone, including my fur kids.

And then there are days like today where the sun still has not set (thanks, COVID). For days that are everlasting, I wanted to share 10 things that have made this mom’s life significantly easier. But before you continue reading, I will admit some (or all) of the mom life hacks I am going to mention may be a little “bougie.”

This post is all about mom life.

Let’s break down life as a Modern Mom.

If I have learned anything while quarantined in the house for five months now, it takes gargantuan amounts of effort to constantly look and feel good when you’re still wearing last week’s sweatpants and your one good sock.

Needless to say, mama needed some help; and if you do too, I hope this list also rescues you from hiding in your closet for those five minutes of sanity.

#1 Walmart Grocery Pick-up

Admittedly, I have always loved Walmart. For some reason, it was my dream to work there as a teenager. When I turned 16, my sister also filled out an application, but only one of us was hired. (The same thing happened at Target, but that’s a post for another day.) Regardless, I have always enjoyed my shopping trips to Walmart — at least until I had children.

Retail marketers do their job very well with product placement. It amazes me how potato chips and kitchen choppers appear just as shiny and cool as the new helicopter gear from Paw Patrol.

We have been using Walmart’s grocery pick-up for the past two months. Honestly, I have always noticed the pick-up section but assumed it was for online orders only.

Regardless, I am extremely grateful for my random night-owl mind ventures. I happened to peruse the Walmart app and saw the option to order right within the store.

With the ability to have someone else do your shopping for you (and avoid paying a shipping/transaction fee and tip), I can pull up seemingly half-dressed and incognito glasses with the luxury of not seeing a familiar face (especially during social distancing).

#2 Shipt

Now I cannot mention grocery service options without mentioning one that eliminates the need to leave my house. (Gosh, did I really just write that? Modern mom, much?)

Until I switched our grocery budget to Walmart’s grocery pickup, we were sole shoppers of our beloved Publix. Prior to our Florida move, we had no idea what a Publix was let alone proper pronunciation. If you’re also scratching your head, Publix is basically the cream of the crop when it comes to grocery stores.

Originally from the tri-state area, Acme was the grocery store where price matched quality. But — Publix is unmatched when it comes to customer service.

Despite being overly local (there’s one in every shopping center), we were [and still are] happy to pay extra just because it’s literally a pleasure shopping there. However, when our oldest Mya began her “can I have this” phase, we gave Shipt a try.

Right off the bat, Shipt’s downsides are (1) an annual fee of $99 and (2) paying a tip. Now, let me explain. I know annual fees are necessary, especially for most apps. My husband thinks I’m obsessed with subscriptions, but the annual fee only equates to $8.25 a month with free delivery.

Apparently, there is a monthly option without an annual fee, but it requires a $9.99 delivery charge per order. If you order groceries weekly, this is almost five times the “monthly” annual fee amount.

Reason number two is the main reason why we canceled our Shipt subscription. Because I worked in the retail and food industries, it is very rare that I tip anything less than 20%. However, our weekly Shipt orders would range from $150-$300. I know tips aren’t required, but I wouldn’t sleep at night not thanking someone during COVID doing my shopping for me.

No matter, I have to agree with my husband. For example, our last three tip receipts totaled $92. Even if we tipped 10%, our tip totals would have equated to $69.

You can imagine how many groceries we could have purchased if we shopped ourselves instead of paying for convenience. The positives of Shipt are similar to Walmart’s grocery pickup, but the beauty in this is that we do not have to leave the house.

Being a mom, it is a blessing not having to rally the girls into outfits, put their curly hair into even the most basic hairstyles; drive to the store without forgetting my wallet, diaper bag, or bottle; stay sane while shopping with two small children; keep both girls from touching and/or tasting everything in the store….should I continue?

#3 HelloFresh

You may have guessed, that I love food, but I promise you this is my last food-related mom life hack. I do not care what anyone says: I love HelloFresh.

We became proud parents of obnoxiously sized, sometimes late, always great food in brown boxes each week for two years. I was so in love with the best convenience on earth that our HelloFresh orders followed us from our lives in the Tri-State to the Sunshine State.

No matter what my best friends tell you, I love to cook; and yes, my cooking is delectable and edible (thank you very much). The reason for my adoration is solely for eliminating the “what’s for dinner?” conversation and aggravation of staring aimlessly in the fridge and pantry for ten minutes.

I am a creature of habit. I am in my happy place eating Shin Ramyun for lunch, spaghetti for dinner, and Herr’s salt and vinegar chips every other hour. Though as a mother and wife, I know I need to [literally] spice it up. My only strife with HelloFresh is the lack of vegetarian options.

The classic plan is phenomenal for all taste buds, but the lack of variety in the vegetarian plan feeds into the “flavorless” stereotype. While I tried to convince my dear husband to switch back to the classic plan, he had already financially calculated his way back to standing with the fridge ajar each night.

Since this is oddly hard to find online, I’ll break it down for you. Our vegetarian plan of two-person meals for three days equated to $59.94 per week. Currently, the classic option of two-person meals for five days is $89.90 per week.

I have to partially agree with my husband on this because paying $359.60 a month is a tad much (especially since our most expensive Walmart grocery order was $319, including taxes). On the other hand, $360 a month is only a portion that can and should be deducted from the monthly grocery budget.

After all, you are still paying for “groceries” with the added luxury of eliminating the wonder of what to cook each night. It’s basically having a personal and virtual chef — one that I would love to “rehire.”

While I am not sponsored, feel free to use, and share $40 off your first box. I will gladly rack up referral rewards to reactivate my relationship (thanks in advance).

#4 Mobile Pet Groomer

Of all the items on this list, I will admit this is definitely the epitome of bougie.

However, this is probably my favorite list item now that quarantine has been a semi-permanent annoyance this year. Because I feel the need to explain each of these mom life hacks, you know I have solid reasoning for my fur moms out there.

To give a little backstory, I worked at PetSmart as a teenager back in 2006. Since then, I have the utmost respect and appreciation for “where the pets go.”

When I finally adopted my first dog, Cody, we frequented my old stomping grounds including the grooming salon and Banfield Pet Hospital. Fast forward to 2018, PetSmart changed several stipulations which forced me to cease regular grooming appointments.

After Cody passed, I switched Avera to Petco which added 20 minutes to my original grooming commute. While the groomers were amazing with her, I couldn’t stomach the commute when we moved an additional 20 minutes further away.

From then, we tried a groomer a neighbor recommended but didn’t get the same “family” vibe I was so accustomed to (which is ironic since this was a family-owned business).

You may be thinking, “you worked at PetSmart, why can’t you groom your own dog?” You are absolutely right. I took Cody to the groomer at least once every three months and bathed all 65-lbs of my fur baby in my one-bedroom apartment as needed.

Overweight at 22 lbs, I am also fully capable of shaving and bathing Avera; but I am not 100% comfortable clipping her black nails. Thus far, I have managed because Avera’s vet will clip her nails for only $15.

Without going too far in-depth with Avera’s medical history (I will fill you in later), I needed to find a happy medium. I didn’t want to “test” out another groomer nor did I want another corporate company with a plethora of fine print. And so began my hunt for a mobile dog groomer.

Let me be the first to admit: this is far from cheap. Despite today’s blog post, I actually don’t like spending money. But thanks to life occurrences, I am far beyond sacrificing cheap for convenience. After weeks of google searching, I found a reliable mobile dog grooming company and have utilized the service for four months now.

Thankfully, through an established company, we are grateful to get the same dog groomer every six weeks. Yesterday was actually my first cancellation strictly because Avera’s grooming fee is $102 (including tip).

My husband does not need to convince me on this one. My pet budget items nearly doubled as I was only paying half the cost when driving the distance to a salon.

I repurchased my own equipment to groom Avera at home, but I would be lying if I said I would never pay for the convenience of a mobile groomer again. Overly expensive? Yes. Makes my life easier? Raise a glass to freedom (for my Hamilton fans).

#5 HomeAdvisor

This may not be what you were expecting — or it is totally what you were expecting. The last item that has made mom life easier is the HomeAdvisor app.

While it’s obvious that I can google services, it is extremely helpful to have an app that does it all for you. Now, I am not a professional with all the bells and whistles that the app has to offer. However, I am forever grateful for the professionals I have found through this app.

My YouTube fam knows my ordeal in cleaning our last home. It was three times the size of our homes in Delaware, and I struggle being a clean person (scouts honor).

Before our second was born last year, it took me three days to clean our entire home. Once I hit the third trimester, I started sleeping on the downstairs couch because climbing the staircase was the equivalent of beating an Olympic record.

I found an amazing cleaner for our home via Home Advisor. She was extremely personable, friendly, and knowledgeable. My three-day feat only took her four hours, and I could not wait to schedule her again.

But…I couldn’t schedule her again because she quit. She informed us we were too far of a commute, but I’m convinced the square footage was daunting even for her to clean.

Long story short, we found another house cleaner. The cleaners estimated five hours for our home with a two-person cleaning team once a month, at the very least.

Equally great, our current cleaners were heaven-sent prior to and after the birth of our second daughter (especially because I was also dealing with Cody constantly shedding excessive amounts of fur).

Later that year, we downsized and designed our new home. The Lord heard my cries because cleaning our home now is significantly more manageable. We hired our cleaners again earlier this month for just a one-time cleaning, but their number is saved in my favorites.

If you liked anything I shared in my list of mom life hacks, please share it with another mom, fur mom, and loved one who might find it useful, insightful, or inspirational.

Or if you took away a few nuggets, pin the image above as a keepsake to make it an easy reference. Click here to read more about my mom life, and how I’m managing it.