Katie Katie Parsons is the creator of Mumbling Mommy and is a freelance writer, editor and communications specialist. She works from her home office on the east coast of Florida. Most often she writes about life in a combined family of five children and what it's like being a full time work-from-home parent. Feel free to pitch guest post ideas or just drop her a line at katie@mumblingmommy.com.

Emilia and I are flying a discount airline on Wednesday for a few reasons — the first is obviously the price, and the second is that it has a direct flight to South Bend so we will avoid the crazy Chicago airports the day before Thanksgiving.

I know that all the airlines are cutting back these days, but it really seems like this particular one is going a little bit too far. If I want to pick out my seat ahead of time, it costs me $12 (both ways) and if I want trip protection that will cost me another $15.

But the additional cost that made my jaw drop was the $30 fee for the first checked bag. I opted not to pay for it when purchasing the tickets. So today I am spending the better part of my afternoon figuring out how to pack all of the things a 7-month-old baby and her mommy (with a penchant for overpacking anyhow) need for about 6 days.

Here’s a rundown of my own things that have been removed from the carry-on suitcase and the replacement items:

My black furry boots ——> replaced with ——> 7 long-sleeved onesies

My ceramic ion hair straightener ——> replaced with ——> a package of teething rings

My face soap, toner and moisturizer ——> replaced with ——> an airtight container of soy formula

My pajamas ——> replaced with ——-> 2 fleece footie baby pjs, one with hearts and butterfiles, the other with reindeer and candy canes

So I will be wearing the same makeup that I leave with, and sporting a curly, matted ‘fro for the holiday weekend –all while wearing flip flops in the snow and sleeping naked. Sounds like a plan…

However, I will have an extra $30 to spend…. $60, if you count the way home.

And I think I saw that Exersaucer that Emilia needs on sale at Target this week for $59.99…

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Category: Family Finances

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