Considering Education Early.

Jack's education is paramount in this day and age of technology, before he was born a lot of research was made into the "What If" scenarios for when he became of an age where he wanted or needed to go to a university of his choice. The long hours spent surfing the internet for leads for the best programs available, the costs and saving programs were mind boggling. During the course of the research I stumbled across this site Golden State Scholarshare. Living in Southern California it seemed the best thing to invest in.

Now, Jack is still only three, coming on four so there is still a lot of time before he will be making those decisions but the ground work has been done. His educational funds are under way but you can never tell what the future will bring. The cost of education increases at a rate that out paces pay raises, home prices are at record levels and natural disasters take their toll on everyone's finances so plan early.

Remember education is one of the most important considerations for your family and researching for information on degrees from top-tiered online and campus-based colleges and universities can take its toll. Checkout Golden State Scholarshare and see what it can do for you.

My First Car or is it a Stroller?

As you may recall in a previous post I spoke about the invaluable book called BABY BARGAINS SECRETS, when we were selecting the infant seat for our vehicle, once again it was used to select the baby stroller. By using this book a lot of the research had already been done and a short list of suitable strollers was drawn up.

To get a better visual of the selected strollers, the next step was to go online and checkout the strollers. Amazon.com for Babies R Us, Sears, Burlington and then Bergstroms. OK, now we have a feel for what to look for, so it's off to the stores next.

After visiting numerous stores such as Babies R Us, Sears and Burlington Coat Factory we eventually ended up at Bergstroms. It was here that we selected the stroller that we eventually purchased, a Peg Perego Milano XL. This stroller had all the necessary features and was robust enough for the daily beating it was sure to take in being folded up and put into the truck numerous times a day.

The beauty of this Cadillac of strollers is that it also doubles up as a baby carriage. In Jack's case, this was perfect for sleeping in without being disturbed by our rather large hounds! With a reversible handle bar you can have the baby facing you or away from you, which always helps when the wind is blowing in your face!!

It folds up very compact for such a large stroller, and is remarkably light for it's size. The wheels are made totally of rubber instead of getting the normal plastic with a small band of rubber. This stroller has been in use for over three years and though it is showing signs of wear it is still sturdy enough for its second tour of duty.

Jack being the expert on how to negotiate that stroller is now showing his sister how to climb aboard!!!

Transportation 101, New Tahoe!

OK let's fast forward to the present day, Dad's under pressure to buy a new vehicle. His managerial position dictates that he must have a current vehicle every two years or forfeit his driving privileges, that is, no company car and no gas for work. Well this is a tough decision for him, let alone a bit of a cheek. Mom doesn't work anymore, well not at a company anyway, she is fulltime looking after me and my sister so the company feels dad needs a car for mom every two years. With the gas prices as they are I guess it's a close call as to what he is going to do, after all the new car payment would cover the gas cost but then the car insurance would go up because of the mileage.

He's been checking out car prices and trade-in prices and I was wondering if we were ever going to get going. Well, off we go in dads pick-up truck, moms driving. Dads cleaned up our older Tahoe, hopefully to get the best price. The bottom has dropped out of the second hand car market because of all the employee discounts so he's set with his minimum price for our Tahoe.

Mom has decided that it's got to be another Tahoe because of all the stuff she has to cart around for us and a light color so it doesn't show the dirt so much. We get to the dealers and dad knows the routine, get the price for our vehicle first then look for a new truck for us. WOW!! We got close to our price so dad's happy! Now we can look for our new truck.

We want a 2006 white Z71 as far as dad was concerned and mom had agreed at first but now with all the colors mom's not so sure. Great, I get in the golf cart with dad and the salesman and we whiz through the dealers lot with the truck bleeping in the distance.

Here it is, a brand new truck, WOW!

The salesman says "follow me to the front of the dealership"

I get in the passenger side and dad belts me up for the short distance and what's good on the latest Tahoe is, the airbag is only activated with weight over 90 lbs, so I'm safe in the front seat for the short journey.

Take a look mom, what do you think? Hummm, I not too sure. Well what don't you like?
I don't like the gray plastic trim pieces, it was OK on our truck because it was black but on white it looks, WEIRD. Let me check out the LT truck option, says mom. Back goes the salesman into the vast array of vehicles with the latest choice again bleeping in the distance.

He turns up with the White LT Tahoe and mom takes it for a test drive. "Well", dad says. "I'm not sure, what other colors have you got" says mom. We start looking around and the salesman points out a 2005 Z71 Tahoe with bermuda blue metallic paint. It was fully loaded and had a $6000 discount or $5000 discount plus 20 inch wheel and tire package with a billet grille. JACKPOT!!! Mom loved the color and with BIG rims. Dad would rather of had a 2006 model but you can't beat the wheel and tire package and billet grille for $1000. SOLD.

Now the new truck is at home and the best thing is, I get to watch Thomas the Tank Engine in the new DVD player. YEAH!!!!