Celebrating Independence Day with Walmart Family Mobile #Save4Summer #ad #cbias

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and Walmart Family Mobile. All opinions are mine alone. #Save4Summer #CollectiveBias

My budgeting responsibilities the last few months have involved a delicate balancing of fun family activities and saving money for the England trip Lynzie and I are taking in September. While I've wanted to throw every extra sent into our travel fund, I've also wanted to make sure we're making memories here at home. With Independence Day coming up this weekend, I want to make some special treats and you know Jamie is going to want to take the kids to buy a load of fireworks! (Lighting a $50 bill on fire and watching it burn isn't as exciting, I guess...) One thing that has really helped free up more money each month is the switch we made to Walmart Family Mobile.

At only $29.88 per month (for the first line), we are paying about 1/4 of what we did with our old carrier. The new 4G LTE service gives faster and more consistent data service than 3G broadband, including better media streaming and reliable access to data-intensive apps. This means I can download movies and music a whole lot faster with the 4G LTE network and my husband loves it because he can watch Netflix on his phone.

Jamie's mom will be here for our 4th of July celebration so we're planning some fun things. Jamie loves to take the kids to buy a bunch of fireworks---a few traditional ones, and several ones we've never tried before. When I was a kid, I loved sparklers the best, but our kids seem to like the colorful fountains more. I'm planning some great barbecue food and a couple desserts like our traditional "4th of July Pie" and maybe some red velvet cupcakes too. It's nice to have more money in the grocery budget since our new phone plan is helping us save.

I found the LG Leon at Walmart on a rack dedicated to Walmart Family Mobile phones. Walmart Family Mobile service is $29.88/month (for the first line) and includes an Unlimited Talk, Text, and Data service plan, including up to 1G of 4G LTE data. Disclaimer: All prices for phones and plans included in this post are accurate as of the date of posting; however, these prices are subject to change. Please refer to http://cbi.as/ax84 or your local Walmart for current pricing.

When you go buy your phone, make sure no matter which phone you choose, you grab the Starter Kit to go with it. You will use this to activate your phone in the store or online. Your store may require you to pick up a card similar to this one and take it to the counter to retrieve the actual Starter Kit.

This Independence Day, I'm thankful for the health and happiness of my family. I'm thankful we can spend great times together making memories and I'm thankful for the options Walmart Family Mobile provides to help me keep our essential household costs manageable. How will you celebrate the 4th of July this year? Let me know in the comments below!

The {Not Just} Homemaking Party

Thanks for stopping by The {Not Just} Homemaking Party! Hope you're finding some relaxation in your week so far!

We Found the 7th Minion in Our Cereal Box! #The7thMinion #ad #cbias

 This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #The7thMinion #CollectiveBias

One of my favorite childhood memories is the day after grocery shopping when my brother and I would wake up to new cereal and the possibility of a prize! My mom would sometimes let us each pick out a box of cereal and the prize inside was definitely a determining factor. This was back in the day when the toy was buried down in the cereal package and my mom wouldn't let us dig. Sometimes we'd have to wait three or more breakfasts before it surprise-landed into our cereal bowls.

Mom shopped every two weeks for our family of four. Now I shop every five days for our family of 11---and breakfast cereal is now a rare treat, rather than an every morning occurrence. Since it's not in my budget to buy nine boxes of cereal at a time, it's an extra special day if you're one of the two or three that I let choose a box on shopping day. Yesterday I surprised the kids with three boxes of General Mills cereal. We were on the hunt for a specific toy---the 7th Minion---to celebrate the new movie coming out.

The 7th Minion is only available in specially marked boxes at Walmart. Look for XL and Family Size boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Lucky Charms, Reese's Puffs, Trix, Cocoa Puffs, and Golden Grahams. 

The 7th Minion is the "Prehistoric" one---here in the middle. We found two cavemen and the Prehistoric one. The kids were pretty excited. They like how the little guys can link arms and stand up together. Are you a fan of the Minions? Their new movie is coming out soon so make sure to start your collection now.

Avalon found the 7th Minion in the box of Lucky Charms---pretty lucky, huh? Cainan pointed out that they found the first caveman in our box of Honey Nut Cheerios and the second one in our box of Trix---which was a "trick" since we got two of the same one. Ha! Head to Walmart and look for your own 7th Minion. You might get lucky too!