Regift

Tip #214 - Regift. There I said it. Regift. Ha, I said it again! In today’s overly-materialistic and ultra-crammed-with-stuff society, if you tell me that you did not receive something in the last year that you did not need I would be surprised. I would be very surprised. So what should you do with that sweater that is the wrong size but came with no gift receipt or the bath salts that you are allergic to? Uumm, why not give them give them to someone else? Is there really something wrong with that? Perhaps Emily Post or Amy Vanderbilt thinks so, but I don’t. Yes, the purpose of giving a gift is the thoughtfulness, I agree. And for someone’s special 50th anniversary or for someone who just graduated from college, I wouldn’t expect you to regift a present. But seriously, if you are doing a gift swap for your daughter’s third-grade class, a duplicate game your child received at her last birthday party works just fine. And those bath salts you received that you were allergic to would be perfectly suitable for a hostess gift for a luncheon your friend (whom you know loves bath salts) is having.

Aren’t we all just buying too much anyway? What’s wrong with spreading around what we don’t need? And while giving stuff away would work just fine that still leaves us with having to buy even more gifts when the need arises. And think about it, if you donate to a thrift store the gifts you receive that you don’t need, and then you go shopping at said thrift store for a gift for someone else, then all you are doing is buying someone else’s gift that they parted with. So you are regifting in a way anyway, just not with your gift. So why not just use one of the gifts you received in the first place, if it would work just as well. Besides, it will save you money.

The landfills are already filled up with too much Made in China junk anyway. Let’s not add to it by buying more when it’s not necessary. Don’t be ashamed to regift; lots of people do it no matter what Emily Post says.

In Real Life (IRL) - My daughter had 14 girls at her last birthday party (and I cut down the list!). Therefore she received 14 gifts. Ugh, how many craft sets, Junie B. Jones books, and Webkinz does she really need? Until I can successfully get our friends to stop bringing gifts, I will keep using some of them as gifts for others. Yes, I try to be thoughtful in my daughter’s classmates’ gifts, but frankly out of 14 girls, a large percentage of them like Webkinz, all of them like crafts, and most of them read Junie B. Jones (not us, though; she is too sassy for my tastes). So it’s really pretty easy to regift in that crowd. Furthermore, my daughter does not need to be receiving that many presents in one day and she has no use for most of them anyway. Usually, we let her keep the few gifts that she likes best. Those that have gift receipts get returned, and the others go in a gift pile in the closet to be used for future events. I personally see nothing wrong with regifting and am happy when others do it to us. It means there is one less piece of plastic being manufactured and one more inch of space available in the landfill.

In this season of giving if you are not comfortable with regifting, then why not try to cut down on the number of gifts you exchange? We put money in a bank account for all of our nieces and nephew for Hanukkah. And we stress (and warn!) the doting grandparents that we really don’t need a thing – no, our 2-year old does not need any more cars. And the 4-year old does not need any more new dresses. But if they insist on buying, guess what? It goes in the re-gift pile. And we don’t feel bad because we warned them. How about others? Do you regift? Do you feel guilty about it? If so, check out others' money saving tips at Frugal Fridays.

Send A Gift; Save On Postage

Tip #207 - Send A Gift; Save on Postage. It is that time of year again – the holidays are around the corner and the post office lines will be that way, too, soon. As November and December approach, more and more people are will be sending gifts to family and friends across the country and around the world. If you only send packages sporadically, it can sometimes be overwhelming on how to send it – First class? Parcel? Overnight? Which method is quickest, and maybe more importantly, which is cheapest?

As a seller on eBay, I have wrapped and sent my fair share of packages, so I will share some information I have learned over the years about shipping items. Generally, the quicker you want an item to get to its recipient, the more expensive it is. But not always. Express Mail is like overnight delivery and that is almost always the most expensive. I have never shipped anything this way, but if you need something to get somewhere in a huge hurry, then this is the way to go if you want to stick with the US Postal Service. There are other shipping options besides the USPS, such as UPS and FedEx, so you’ll want to compare prices. If it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight, FedEx might be the way to go. I used to ship items with FedEx on a daily basis through work and have been very satisfied with their service. Another time when I like to compare prices with the Post Office is when I have large, oversized packages. We have found that FedEx or UPS can often be a better deal than the Post Office in these cases.

But suppose you want to just ship a present of a winter scarf to Great Aunt Ida across the country. Let’s assume you are organized and have allowed plenty of time for it to arrive and you wish to pay as little as possible. Parcel Post is generally the cheapest way to ship a package if you have the time, but there are exceptions. If an item is 13 ounces or less (you can check it on a scale at the post office) you can ship it first class mail package. For an item that light, first class mail package is the way to go. If the item is heavier than 13 ounces, though, Parcel Post is usually the cheapest way to go.

If you are not so organized and want to get something to someone in a few days, then Priority Mail is your best bet. It should take 2-3 days to get anywhere in the country. Cost is based on weight and distance from your house. The other nice thing about Priority Mail is that the Post Office provides the box or envelope for you to ship it in. If you don’t have a box lying around or somewhere to pick one up, then this alone might make Priority Mail worthwhile. Priority Mail prices start at just under $5. However, there is another Priority Mail option that might be better. They have something called Priority Flat Rate which is what it says it is – a flat rate for a specific sized box. A small Flat Rate Box is about $5, a medium box is about $10, and a large box is about $14 to anywhere in the country. So, if you have a very heavy item that is small, a Flat Rate Box might be your best option – possibly even better than Parcel Post.

The best deal for shipping items, however, has to be Media Mail. Media Mail is reserved for sending media – books, DVDs, CDs, and other media types (no magazines or other materials that contain advertising). Media mail is a great bargain regardless of the weight. Send ten pounds of books across the county and it would cost almost $30 for Priority mail; about half that at $16 and some change for Parcel Post, while it’s just under $6 for Media Mail. So if you are considering a gift and don’t want to spend a lot in postage, think about sending media.

The last piece of advice I have for shipping items is to look to buy items online. If prices are the same or better including shipping when compared to a brick and mortar store, then it pays to buy the item and have it shipped directly to the recipient. It beats paying for shipping twice.

The cost of postage has increased quite a bit in recent years, so make sure you take it into consideration when buying a gift for someone far away. And then look at all of your shipping options at the USPS website before sending off your gift.

In Real Life (IRL) – As I said, I have a lot of experience shipping items from my eBay business. As with everything else, there was a learning curve that came along with packing and shipping. Fortunately with all shipping options being online, it is much easier to compare shipping rates. In addition to the actual packing and shipping, my experience comes in handy at the point of purchase. I have learned to look for gifts that are cheap to ship.

--Books make great gifts because I can send them cheaply. Same goes for DVDs, computer games, and CDs.
--The smaller the item, the better. Priority Mail charges extra if the size is above a certain dimension. And if it’s small enough to go Flat Rate, you can save a bundle.
--The lighter the item, the better. Shipping a souvenir t-shirt is preferable to shipping a pound of salt water taffy.

I have also learned how to save even more money.

--If you are computer savvy, set up an online account at the post office. You can get discounts by print your labels at home.
--By printing labels at home, you can often leave your packages with your mail carrier and save a trip to the post office.

So for this upcoming holiday season, make sure that if you are trying to save money, you consider the shipping costs as well as the cost of the gift. No matter how good of a deal it is, it’s not worth it if the cost of shipping is going to be astronomical. For more frugal ideas, check out Frugal Fridays.

Hold A Party At Home

Tip #206 - Hold A Party At Home. One of the main ways to keep costs down on anything is to do it yourself. But there are some things you really want to consult an expert for. Heart surgery? Probably want an experienced surgeon to do that. Rebuild a transmission on your car? Probably want an expert for that too. But how about cleaning the house, mowing the lawn, painting a room, cooking meals, or running a party? All of these things are activities that a reasonably fit, active person could do. It may take some time to do them. And there may be a bit of a learning curve, but it can be done by YOU for much less than the professionals. This is one area that most frugal people will agree – the more you do yourself the more you save money, especially if you have more time than money.

One thing you may do a lot of, especially if you have several children is hold birthday parties. And once you have thrown one party, you have thrown them all. They all follow the same general game plan. Once you have a theme, make an itinerary: a game(s) or activity, a craft, and food – either a meal or cake and ice cream. Then when you have the general layout for the party, you can plan the details.

The nice thing about giving lots of parties is the more you give them, the less cost each one entails because items can be used over and over again. Instead of a one-time use plastic tablecloth, buy a nice flannel-backed one that can be reused. Plates in general colors can be used for multiple parties – so buy a bulk package. Leftover craft supplies and party favors can be used for future parties. Games can be played more than once.

So, let’s talk about some examples. If your youngest daughter wants a Dora party, you may do an activity like a treasure hunt that Dora goes on. A craft might be one with a Mexican theme. And a piñata may round out the party. Serve some cake and ice cream on brightly colored paper goods and the party is done. Suppose your next party is for your oldest daughter and is a princess party – mix in some red paper plates from the Dora party with some pink ones. Red and pink make a very pretty, feminine combination. Use the same tablecloth from the previous child’s party. Some favors from the previous party’s goody bag might translate well into game prizes for a few of the children. Cups that are clear that were bought in bulk for the previous party can be used again. Suppose you son wants a Spiderman party for his birthday, red paper plates from the same package can still be used, along with the same tablecloth. Mix it in with some Spiderman-themed decorations, and guests are none the wiser. Use the same moonbounce for all three parties, and the cost per use is suddenly quite small. Cook food yourself in advance, make decorations on your own, and shop all year for small party favors, and you can do a party yourself quite cheaply. Best of all, parties you hold yourself are unique. Kids will enjoy going to a party that hasn’t been done over and over again. You will enjoy having more money in your pocket.

In Real Life (IRL) – We held my oldest daughter’s 8th birthday yesterday. We had 16 children at our house including my two daughters and kept our party cost to $125. Now that may sound like a lot of money. And yes, I could have done it cheaper – much cheaper, but I chose to buy pizza from a favorite, local, NY-style pizza place, and my daughter wanted a store-bought ice-cream cake, which often costs more than regular cakes, and especially more than baking one yourself. Had I done away with feeding the kids dinner and made the cake myself, the whole party would have cost about $50!

In the past few years, my daughter has been invited to several Chuck-E-Cheese parties, many Build-A-Bear parties, too-many-to-count gymnastics parties and the a few bowling and swim parties mixed in. Frankly, these parties are expensive. I know; I’ve looked into them. $250 for a gymnastics party for up to 20 children is the norm. That does not include cake or party favors. When all is said and done, a birthday party could end up costing well over $300. That’s not what I want to spend on a child’s birthday party – especially when I have three children. And if I were to spend that much, I’d want it to be unique – not a party that everyone else has.

Our carnival party was different than most other parties we’ve been to. And even though we have been to a couple of carnival-themed parties, we were able to make ours unique because we planned it ourselves, using our creativity and materials that we had on hand. We didn’t rely on a chain store, mass-produced idea. So what did we do for $125? I’ll break it down:

$0 – Invitations (I sent these electronically for the first time, saving about $7 in stamps plus the cost of the invitation)
$48 - Pizza Dinner From Local Pizza Place (could have easily been cut out if I wanted to)
$23 - Ice Cream Cake from Supermarket (could have been cheaper by baking a cake)
$1 – Plates (only needed some dinner plates; used leftover cake plates, cups, and napkins from previous parties)
$3 – Neon Poster Board for signs (bought with coupons at Michael’s)
$2 – Popcorn bags (bought with coupons at Michael’s)
$1.75 – Popped popcorn (using kernals and butter we had; cost estimated)
$0 – Goody Bags (left over from previous party)
$18 – Prizes for each of the games that became the party favors (bought throughout the year on clearance and at thrift stores. For slightly more than $1 per person, each child received a Duncan Yo-Yo, a tin box, a fancy pencil, a sheet of stickers, and some fun carnival candy buttons and Pixie Sticks
$12.50 – Bead craft (bought with coupons at Michael’s, with plenty left over to use at a future party)
$.25 – Tickets for the kids to use for each game (bought at yard sale)
$1 – Moonbounce (original cost years ago was $25 at a thrift store – been used well over two dozen times that the cost per use is now under $1)
$0 – 5 Carnival Games (Three were kids' toys we had in the house – a bowling set, a Whack-the-Mole Game and a ring-toss game. The other two were handmade – penny pitch into cut out milk cartons, and a bean-bag toss into a foam board clown with holes, made for a previous party and reused)
$3 – Tattoos
$2.50 – Face Paints
$10 – help for two hours from the teenage girl across the street

Total cost for entertaining and feeding 16 children for 3 hours - $126 or less than $8 per child. Again, I could have easily cut the cost down by not serving dinner or serving homemade food for much less, but it’s not something I wanted to do. But as you can see, food was the biggest part of our budget so it would easily be cheaper without some of it.

Parties really are much less expensive to do at home. It does take a fair amount of work along with some creativity, but as I mentioned earlier, once you do one party, you just have to change a few details to do the rest of them, and it becomes quite easy to handle. Why not try to plan one yourself? (Or you can always call Chuck-E-Cheese and spend twice as much. :-))

Let Freedom Ring

Happy Independence Day to all Americans! Hope everyone is celebrating in style. We are having a fun and frugal weekend. Yesterday we picked 10 pounds of blueberries at a nearby pick-your-own farm. In addition to my family devouering about 2 pounds of them yesterday, today I made homemade blueberry pancakes (they were just okay) and delicious blueberry muffins. My family walked into town to a festival that my town holds every year. And this evening we will ride our bikes to our town's fireworks. The weather has been phenomenal. I don't ever remember a July 4th this cool! Tomorrow we are going to do some work around the house. Hope everyone else is enjoying a fun and frugal weekend!

Plan An Inexpensive Party

Saving Money Tip #136 - Plan An Inexpensive Party. Keeping parties inexpensive is no different than keeping costs low for other activities, it all comes down to planning. The more you do in advance, the less things will cost. When planning a party, come up with an itinerary to follow. Most parties will follow the same sort of schedule. For example, a kids’ party will consist of:

--Arrival
--Small Activity waiting for everyone to arrive – this can be coloring pages or dress-up
--Craft or main activity of the day – this can be painting, beading bracelets or something similar
--Lunch
--Game or activity – treasure hunt, party game, trivia game, etc.
--Cake and Snack
--Wind-down – could be reading a book or something similar
--Departure – Hand out goody bags

You could easily change things to suit your needs. Some people open presents at the party. That could be done prior to departure. Others don’t do lunch but have cake and ice cream only. If it were a boys’ party, there probably wouldn’t be a craft but maybe two activities and a game.

The key is to have an order to the party with activities to fill each time slot. You should always have an extra idea or two to fill the time in case things don't take as long as planned. In general some food and games or crafts are all children need to make a party successful. Sometimes they like free play, but having things planned works best and can always be ignored if they would rather play on their own.

For adult parties, some snack foods and drinks are good to have on hand as guests arrive. Most adult parties will consist of talking and then eating a meal or appetizers. But you could easily do theme parties, too. If it is a celebration of something such as a retirement or a special birthday, it’s nice to personalize the event with a few words about the guest of honor or a game or activity in honor of the person.

Buying what you can in advance helps tremendously. Buying sodas, paper goods, shelf-stable foods and any prizes or gifts in advance will help you save money. Foods such as fruit or deli meats need to be bought at the end. You can be flexible in this regard so as to be able to take advantage of last-minute specials. All it takes is a bit of planning, a good itinerary, and you should be able to pull off a successful and inexpensive party.

In Real Life (IRL) – I seem to hold a lot of parties – whether it is for my children’s birthdays or a special anniversary for my parents, I hold at least 3 per year. I feel like I have gotten the routine down pat. As I mentioned with the kid’s itinerary above, I usually do a craft, lunch, an activity, and cake. I often add in a few other things such as make your own sundaes – which is always a big hit, and if it’s nice out - free play in our backyard because we have a big playset. Also, we have a moon bounce that I once bought at a thrift store for $25. That is a big treat for the children. Items for goody bags are often bought throughout the year on clearance. I am flexible with food I serve. I like to have fruits or veggies to serve the children. This week strawberries were on sale, so I cut up strawberries and bananas to serve with the kids’ lunch. Had grapes been on sale, I would have served them.

For adult parties, I come up with a menu in advance – again being flexible on certain things. If I am having deli platters and roast beef is on sale, then I would buy more of that than turkey, for example. We often do an “adult” game for adult parties. One of our favorites is “How well do you know the person of honor?” For example, if it is my mom’s 70th birthday, we have a list of about 20-30 questions about my mom’s life. Where was she born? Where did she meet my dad? What is her middle name? The first person who answers a question correctly gets a Tootsie Roll or a Hershey’s Kiss or something similar. Whoever has the most Kisses (or Tootsie Rolls) at the end, wins the game and gets a prize. This always makes the party a bit more fun and adds a personal touch. We’ve also done personalized Bingo, which is a bit more work. Rather than having numbers on the Bingo Board, we have things the person of honor likes, her friends, places she’s been, etc. Again, it’s always fun and adds a nice touch to a party. Plus everyone comes away knowing the guest of honor a bit better and often leads to good conversations.

I’ve always had people tell me how much fun my parties are. And I really don’t do anything special other than spending a bit of time to come up with a course of action, buying things in advance on sale, and having a good mix of food and activities. And that’s all it takes to have an inexpensive, successful party. Anyone can do it.

Keep Parties Warm And Meaningful (And Cheap, Too!)

Saving Money Tip #135 - Keep Parties Warm And Meaningful (And Cheap, Too!) In today’s busy day and age with on-the go coffee, take-away meals, and portable offices, it seems like parties have become packaged like a fast-food dinner also. Pay someone a couple hundred dollars and they will do the work for you – a magician hired to entertain a group of partygoers, a restaurant package lunch party where guests go to eat and then leave, or a gymnastics event where children are herded in like cattle, do a few moves, are fed a piece of cake, and are ushered out before the next group of children arrive. What ever happened to the days where parties were actually occasions when people got together to socialize and celebrate in a simple, personalized atmosphere?

With families earning two incomes, and everyone seemingly in a rush these days, it seems that the idea of a party has changed from a nice time to get together and hang out to an event where some people try to find a way to dazzle their guests with entertainment or impersonal activities. By succumbing to this type of party, people end up spending hundreds of dollars to entertain, and the event often falls flat compared to a warm, well-thought out party thrown by the hostess.

Why not bring the parties back home? If you want to celebrate a girlfriend’s upcoming nuptials, then instead of a fancy luncheon in an impersonal hotel, hold a tea with sandwiches in your home and plan simple activities to honor the bride, such as sharing recipes with her, giving warm advice on married life, and simply sitting on a well-worn couch and talking. In ten years, the bride won’t remember what she ate at a fancy hotel luncheon, but she will remember sitting among friends and family listening to great aunt Ethel tell how she and her husband lived happily for over 50 years of marriage.

If your son is turning 5, don’t be tempted to pay the local pizza and laser tag parlor two hundred dollars to entertain your son’s whole first-grade class, instead invite a few close friends over for lunch, and make up your own activities. Plan a treasure hunt or a dinosaur dig in the backyard. Your child will remember helping mom and dad hide dinosaur bones in his backyard more than he will a laser tag day where several of his classmates held parties as well.

The advantage of holding a warm, personal, at-home party, in addition to them being meaningful to guests and hostess, is that they are usually at least half the cost of a pre-planned package party. A simple brunch in your home served on grandma’s fine dishes will cost a fraction of a fancy brunch at the city’s nicest hotel. A day of playing pin-the-tail on the donkey, having sack races, and eating ice cream in the backyard will cost pennies compared to the amount a packaged kids’ party at the local tumble and play place costs. Not only will it be cheaper, but the memories the guest of honor has from her special day will not be blended in with all of the other packaged-to-go parties that are the norm these days.

In Real Life – I am a big fan of parties at home, which I have mentioned in the past. I am constantly looking for ways to put a personal stamp on things, and it’s even better when it saves me money in the process. My just-turned 4-year old daughter was counting the days until her birthday for about 3 months, or at least asking how many more days until the big day. When it came time to plan the birthday party, I opted to invite some special friends over our home for fun games and dinner, instead of inviting her whole preschool class to a local gym or Chuck E. Cheese.

Without berating my friend for her choice of having her daughter’s party at an outside venue, I want to compare costs of a packaged party outside the home and an at-home party and also figure out whether the professional one was any more enjoyable. My friend held her daughter’s party at a gymnastics center three weeks ago. The cost was $140 for up to 10 children, which included using the gym led by an instructor for 1 hour, and using the gym’s tables in the entranceway for cake and snacks for 30 minutes. The instructor led the children through tumbles, balance beam activities, and a few other gymnastics moves for about 30 minutes, and then the children were free to jump on the trampoline or do other things until the hour was up. Afterwards, the mom put out a store-bought cake ($20) and ice cream sandwiches ($5), some snacks and juice boxes (about $10) and handed out goody bags (about $15). She set up and cleared the things herself and also served the food herself. The total cost of the 1 ½-hour party for the 8 children, including the birthday girl was $190 or $23.75 per guest plus the cost of paper goods and invitations.

We did a party a couple of weeks later for my younger daughter in our home. My daughter, along with nearly every other 3 and 4-year old girl, loves princesses. So we did a princess-themed party. She invited 7 girls plus her big sister and another guest’s big sister, for 10 children total. The party lasted 2 hours and included dinner from our favorite mom-and-pop-owned, local pizza place. During those 2 hours, the girls dressed up as princesses with dresses, wands, crowns and shoes from our dress-up collection ($0), made a craft of jeweled bracelets ($11), ate dinner including pizza, fruit, and juice ($27), played a homemade game of pin the princess in the castle ($0), made ice cream sundaes ($10), ate homemade cupcakes ($2) and played in our backyard until it was time to go home ($0). Goody bags were an additional $10. The total cost of the 2-hour party for 10 children was $60 or $6 per guest plus the cost of paper goods (I used leftover princess ones from my older daughter’s party) and invitations.

And while I may be biased, I think my daughter’s party was a lot more fun than my friend's for less than 1/3 of the price. Not to mention that it lasted longer, included dinner, and served more guests. We didn't have a minimum number of guests we had to pay for - whether they showed up or not. Plus we were able to be more flexible - one guest had to be dropped off early, while another stayed late. No one got ushered out the door, while the next birthday group showed up. The birthday girl’s baby brother was able to nap in his crib during the party. If the girls got bored, I could have found another game from our house to fill the time. But frankly, dressing up, doing crafts, and playing in the backyard was the most fun for these girls who really just like playing together without too much formal instruction. Fun and frugal plus pizza and ice cream sundaes. Can’t beat that. For more Frugal Friday tips, check out Life As Mom.

Keep Your Eggs And The Basket

Saving Money Tip #115 - Keep Your Eggs And The Basket - During this time of year with Passover underway and Easter on the horizon, it is time to celebrate those holidays that should not be costing us much money. Yet each year, the stores are filled with huge baskets, dozens of different kinds of candy, and hundreds of colorful eggs for Easter along with the unleavened food and accessories for Passover. And while I can certainly understand the Easter candy and the unleavened food from year to year, as food is certainly disposable, I do not understand who is buying up these dozens and dozens of Easter eggs. Where do they go from one year to the next?

Seriously. I know new families are created each year and still other families move into this country, but I suspect that 90% of the population hasn't changed from year to year (does anyone know the actual percentage?). What does everyone do with their colorful eggs from one Easter to the next? Where do they go? I know that sounds like a silly question. But I truly wonder this. Same with Christmas decorations. Why don't people hang on to their decorations from year to year? How can it be that stores can be successful selling those colored eggs and holly-laden tablecloths year after year? What do people do with them? Well, I obviously do not know what they are doing. But I know what they should be doing. Keeping them. This is not only good for the environment, but it is good for your pocketbook, too.

Unless you have added a new child to your family, there is no reason why baskets cannot be reused from year to year. And there is no reason to be buying new eggs every year. This applies to decorations from all holidays. Once they are bought, that is it. There should not be any reason to be buying new decor year after year. It is a waste of money and a waste of resources. Keep your eggs and the basket, too.

In Real Life (IRL) - I won't lie and say I stay up nights thinking about this stuff. But I have always wondered how stores have stayed in business selling holiday merchandise. Every year around Christmas, I would think, who is buying those holiday dishes this year? Didn't everyone already buy them last year or the previous year? And of course the Easter eggs. I don't even celebrate Easter and I have a stash of eggs. Doesn't everybody else have a stash of eggs that they can refill?

For Passover, which we do celebrate, I have a Seder plate, a Matzoh plate, a wine cup, and a bag of plagues. That's it. Every year we use these same things again and again. I cannot imagine buying any new Passover products unless it is food or other disposable products (which I try hard not to buy).

For all holidays, in order to save money, use what decorations you already have. I know people like change and fresh ideas but seriously, these things are only used for a few weeks per year, how much fresher can they be? Save your money and reuse holiday decorations again and again. Whatever you do, though, don't reuse the matzoh. :-) Anyone want a stash of colorful eggs? Anyone? For other frugal tips, check out Life As Mom.

Put Holidays In Their Place

Saving Money Tip #65 - Put Holidays In Their Place. Holidays are special days to celebrate with families and friends. They are the days we bring out the cameras and do things we don't do on other more mundane days. Sometimes holidays get out of control and there is a tendency to celebrate in big ways. And in big ways, I mean expensive ways. Throughout the year there about a dozen basic holidays that most people in the USA celebrate - New Year's Day, Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Father's Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Ones birthday. Add to that other celebrations you or your family may participate in - graduations, anniversaries, others' birthdays, communions, weddings, births, housewarmings, etc. They easily add up. So there is approximately one holiday or celebration per month - sometimes as many as two per month, depending on how big your family is. It would be very easy for your spending on these holidays to add up very quickly and get out of control.

Remember one thing, you are in charge of how you celebrate a particular holiday. Other people are not in charge. The greeting card companies are not in charge. The flower shops are not in charge. The chocolate companies are not in charge. Well, the chocolate companies do have a special hold over some of us, but I digress. The key to keeping costs down is to keep celebrations of holidays, especially minor ones, in check. Celebrate how you see fit and what works well in your budget. In your budget. Did you forget to consider minor holiday celebrations in your budget? Yeah, most of us don't have a line item in our budget for Valentine's Day or Mother's Day. But you probably have a monthly budget amount for gifts. And you have probably have a monthly budget amount for entertainment or dinners out.

Since Valentine's Day is coming up next week, let's discuss how to celebrate a minor holiday such as this one while keeping it in your budget. Many people celebrate Valentine's Day with dinner, flowers, and chocolate. Some also celebrate with jewelry or a piece of clothing. If you want to do any of those things, first you must consider your budget. You may have as part of your budget once a week or once a month dinners out. This is perfect. Use the dinners out line item from your budget to eat dinner out on Valentine's Day. No need to go overboard with a fancy restaurant. You may also have as part of your budget a line item for entertainment. It may be $50 or $100 for the month. Consider carefully whether you want to use a whole month's worth of entertainment for one night. No? Good, I didn't think so. So you decide to go to the movies and you use a ticket from your Entertainment book, making your movie tickets cost $12 total for two of you. You skip snacks at the movies and when you get home you give your spouse a box of chocolate. He gives you a flowering plant that you can plant outside in the springtime. Your chocolate gift came out of your gift budget for the month. And the plant came out of the home improvement budget.

Great! You did it! You celebrated Valentine's Day without breaking the bank or losing sight of your budget. There was no need to buy an expensive piece of jewelry or exotic flowers to tell your spouse you loved her. There was no need to go to a fancy restaurant. You spent time with the one you love. You did something special and you had fun. And really that's what holidays such as Valentine's Day are about.

Now suppose you are trying to get out of debt and don't have money for even dinners out or a movie? There are so many cheap or even free things you can still do to make the holiday special. Make a dinner that you don't normally eat such as a prime cut of meat. This may cost you only $5 more than usual. Or make a fun red dinner - pasta with tomato sauce, red wine or punch, a salad with red peppers, and a cake with red frosting. Valentine's Day is on a Saturday this year. Celebrate during the day as a cheaper alternative to the nighttime. Go out to lunch or, if it's warm enough, pack a lunch and eat at a park. Visit a museum or go ice skating. For free, you can set up 'massage parlor' and give each other massages. Write your spouse a love letter. Make each other cards. Play a game. Bake a chocolate dessert. Watch a love movie on DVD. Clean up your husband's desk or shovel the snow. None of these cost money but each activity shows your family that you love them.

Whatever you do on Valentine's Day and other minor holidays, keep it in your budget and keep the holiday celebrations under control. You decide what you do and how you will celebrate. And put the holiday in its place.

In Real Life (IRL) - I am a cheap date. I always have been and probably always will be. I don't like fancy food. I don't eat meat. I don't drink wine or liquor or even beer. And I'm not a huge fan of flowers. I'm not even a moviegoer. I do like chocolate, though. Funny thing is, I prefer Hershey's over Godiva. I grew up in Pennsylvania and that's what I'm used to eating, so I just prefer the taste. And I just like plain chocolate - no fancy fillings inside. So dates or celebrations of any kind around here are usually pretty simple.

With three young children, we will stay home on Valentine's Day. We may bring in some food as it is in our budget to eat out or take-in once a week. I'll probably make something from scratch like brownies as a special treat for the kids. My husband will probably buy me a $3 bag of Hershey's Kisses. And I'm giving him a Hickory Farms box of cheese and crackers and jerky that I found at CVS on clearance for $2.50 after Christmas (it's good until June). My girls are getting some markers and paper that I got from the office supply store for free using a rewards card. And my son is getting a slightly larger than normal Hershey's Kiss (not one of those big ones). Again, this was bought after Christmas at CVS for 45 cents. The total cost of our holiday about $6 plus dinner and dessert - all of which is in our budget. Happy Valentine's Day!

Give Thanks For What You Have

Tip #33 - Give Thanks For What You Have. During this holiday season, it is easy to overlook what we have and instead concentrate on what we don't have. We don't have a big-screen t.v. We don't have stainless steel appliances. We don't have a new car. We don't have designer clothes. Don't succomb to society's pressure to have the latest and greatest things. Be thankful for what you do have. So what if your television is only 27 inches. It's bigger than the one you had growing up, I'm sure. And your appliances are standard white? Be thankful they're not harvest gold or avocado. And your car has 100,000 miles on it? Be thankful that it works. And your clothes are last year's style or they came from a garage sale? Be thankful that they keep you warm.

At this time of year, it's easy to become greedy when you see what other people are getting or doing for the holidays. The new car. The cruise to the Caribbean. Instead turn it around and be thankful for what you do have - a loving family, a home that has beds in it, a car that works, and some money in your pocket. By being thankful for what you do have, you will not only appreciate your things more, but you will spend less. And you will forget about the things you don't have. By giving thanks for the things you do have, you will stick to your budget. And you will be very thankful at the end of the year when you do your financial check-up and you haven't gone over-budget.

In Real Life (IRL) - I truly try to appreciate what I have. I have a great family. I have a nice house. We take a vacation every year. And we have two cars to drive. It would be very easy for me to be ungrateful. My house is very modest - a 1950's ranch home. Our cars are 6 and 7 years old. One has over 100,000 miles on it. Our vacation is usually done by car within the country not to some exotic island. But really, I don't care. Because I have financial freedom. If my tooth breaks tomorrow, I have money to fix it. If I need to visit a family member I can afford to fly there if I have to. When my children go to college, I will be able to pay for it. By not looking at what I don't have, I am happy. I know that my choices are the right ones for me. By sticking to my budget and not buying the latest and greatest things, I have money in my pocket if I need it. And for that I am thankful. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Saving Money During the Holidays

Tip #31- Saving Money During the Holidays. The holidays - Christmas, Hanukkah, Birthdays, Mother's Day, Anniversaries, etc. should not make you go broke. Let me repeat that. They should not make you go broke. First of all, there should be a line item in your budget for gifts. Figure out how much you would like to spend all year long on gifts including birthdays and Christmas and any extra special events that normally come up in the course of a year - new baby, wedding, anniversary celebration, graduations, etc. Then divide that number by 12 and that should be your monthly gift budget. If you only have $50 per month to spend on gifts then all gifts throughout the year should not total more than $600. Stick to it. I don't care if the neighbor down the street is getting a Coach Bag Mother's Day. If it will take half of your gifts' budget, then don't ask your husband for one.

To make it easier to see what you have, you can set up a "Gifts" enevelope in which you deposit your monthly gifts budget amount into. Then as a holiday approaches, you take the money you need out of the envelope. Make sure you leave enough in there for end-of-the-year holidays.

Speaking of end-of-the-year holidays, it is easy for gift-giving to get out of control that time of year. The advertisements are non-stop, the sales are great, and people are constantly asking what you want for Christmas. Try to cut down on the madness!

--Do a holiday exchange with family members by picking a name out of the hat so you are not buying a present for every person in your extended family.
--If you are a mom or a dad, cut down on the number of presents you buy. Buy one big one and a few little ones.
--Save things as you buy them throughout the year and give as gifts for the holidays or birthdays.
--Shop at yard sales and thrift stores. There are many unopened and unused things to be found at these places. Even some pre-owned toys are in good enough condition to give to your children. --Buy some practical things that you would have bought anyway. No child wants 5 pair of pajamas for Christmas. But a few toys along with necessary items such as cute pajamas or a hat work fine.
--Know how much you will spend in advance and stick to it. If you plan on spending $100 per child, then don't go beyond that limit.
--Keep a big box of things you've bought on clearance all year long. When holidays roll around, shop from that box.
--Make a gift - a box of homemade cookies are a treat for someone who doesn't have time to bake. Canned jams and jellies are unique and appreciated. If you can knit or crochet or paint, then use those skills to make gifts.

There is no reason that holidays should become a gift buying extravaganza. After all, the holidays are not about gifts. They are for celebrating the person, the religious event, or special lifecycle moments. Those are what make the holidays special.

In Real Life (IRL) - We have a budget of $100 per month for gifts. Which sounds like a lot. But it really isn't. We have 5 people in our family with 5 birthdays. We celebrate our anniversary, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, and Father's Day, as well as Hanukkah and Passover. We also have aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents. The big gifts are for birthdays and Hanukkah. We spend about $100 per child for Hanukkah. For birthdays we spend about $25 for each of the children. For cousins, we give $25 each for birthdays and Hanukkah. That's $250 for both birthdays and Hanukkah. As a family we have agreed that adults don't exchange presents for birthdays and Hanukkah. So my sister and I don't exchange gifts, but we buy gifts for her children valued at $25 each. For holidays such as Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, or Father's day, we spend very little. I might find a book at a yard sale that my husband likes. So the cost may only be $1. I'm not a big fan of cut flowers so I tell my husband to forgo the flowers. He usually will buy me some chocolate instead. And since I like Hershey's over Godiva, his presents to me don't usually cost more than $5. For our anniversary, we don't usually exchange presents. We usually do a special dinner or evening out. That's part of our eating out or entertainment budget. So all told, we spend about $700 per year on regular holidays.

There are inevitably special holidays or events that crop up throughout the year such as new babies or special anniversaries. This past year we had my husband's mother's 80th birthday, my niece's graduation, and a friend's son Bar Mitzvah. The remaining $300 is for these types of events. My mother-in-law got a sterling silver bracelet with her grandchildren's birthstones on it for her birthday at a cost of about $50 plus a special dinner at a restaurant. My niece got money put into her account to the tune of $100 plus a special picture for college that I found at a thrift store. And the Bar Mitzvah boy got a gift of $118 plus a small present that we found inexpensively. So we were pretty close to the $300 that we budgeted. Of course happy events are sometimes hard to know in advance. And our budget is just a guide. We actually spent $80 for my daughter's birthday present this year, which was a keyboard for her to use for piano lessons. It was something we'd been wanting to buy anyway, so it was in our budget. For Hanukkah she wants an American Girl doll. I convinced her that she needed to get rid of some older toys that she doesn't play with anymore if she were to get it. We were lucky two-fold: the toy I sold for her got over $100 on ebay and I bought a Kit doll on Craigslist for $60. (They are $90 new). So overall, we have stuck pretty close to our gift budget this year.

It's amazing how quickly gifts throughout the year can add up, so it's very important to budget for these. And even more important to stick to the budget. Happy Holidays everyone!

How to Have a Birthday Party for Under $100

Tip #25 - How to Have a Birthday Party for Under $100. It's easy to have a birthday party without spending a lot of money. First thing is to have it at home. This way you are not spending any money to rent a room or paying an outrageous per person entertainment fee. Next thing is to come up with food. You can have lunch if you wish. It doesn't have to be expensive. It can be pizza, sandwiches, chicken nuggets, etc. To make it even cheaper, have it after lunch and just serve dessert and cake. Next you want to come up with activities for the kids. Girls love crafts and they are fairly cheap to do. Depending on the age, you can do beading, painting t-shirts or tote bags, making princess crowns, etc. Boys can do crafts if they are young. They can make dinosaur dioramas or policeman hats. If they are a bit older, you might want to skip crafts unless you know your son and friends are into making things. Next you want to do a game of some sort. There are the typical musical chairs, hot potato, etc. Or you can make a treasure hunt, carnival games, bingo or whatever matches the theme of the party. Two or three games are usually fun to play at a party. Next is cake and ice cream. Final is open presents if you wish and then down time - can read a story until kids are picked up. Hand out goody bags. All of that should be well under $100.

In Real Life (IRL) - My daughter's 7th birthday party is tomorrow. She is having a "mock" sleepover. Which means 10 girls are coming over at 5 PM and are going home at 9 PM. I will go through the costs and point out where it could have been even cheaper. We sent out invitations to 11 girls. Cost was $1.00 for the invitations and $4.50 for the stamps. Even cheaper would have been to call the girls or hand out the invitations personally. At 5:oo all of the girls are showing up. My husband will pick up pizza at 5:15 and be back by 5:30. Cost of pizza is $45. We could have done this cheaper. I could have made pizza - much more work and I have a baby at home. I could have gotten frozen pizza - not as good. We love this NY pizza place where we're getting the pizza so it's worth it to us. Paper goods were $4 for plates and cups. We had the silverware and tablecloth. We bought plain colors to keep cost down. After the pizza, we are doing the craft. A neighborhood girl is coming over to help. We are going to pay her $10 to help us. The craft is making lip gloss. We spent $3 for containers. $2 for petroleum jelly, $1 for
Jell-O. After the craft we are polishing nails. We bought nail polish and glitter set for $3.50 at a yard sale. Next is games. We are playing hot pillow - prize cost $1. And we are playing bingo. Prize is $1. Then is Make Your Own Sundaes - Cost of ingredients is $15. Cupcakes were made from a mix for a cost of about $2. Open presents is free. Goody bags cost $1 each and will be filled with lip gloss, nail polish, note pads, pen, and nail file. Everything was bought throughout the year on clearance. Thank you notes were 50 cents and another $4.10 to mail. Total cost of party is about $107.50. So I went over the $100. This is IRL after all. But it easily could be cut down by cutting out hiring the neighbor, doing the food from scratch or having fewer sundae ingredients. Also, we will probably have leftover items that we can use.

Have Parties at Home

#11 Saving Money Tip - Have Parties at Home. It is so tempting to hold a party at a restaurant, community center, or other outdoor venue. You pay the nice man his money and he runs the party for you - either providing food, entertainment, or both. They do the cleanup, too. It's great. It is, however, expensive. If you have tons of extra money lying around and it's a once in a lifetime event, holding a party outside of your house is a great idea. But, if you are holding a 6th birthday party for your daughter with her 8 friends, you will save much more money doing it at home. And it can be just as fun as one held outside the home. Birthdays come around once a year and if you have more than one child, you will be holding a lot of birthday parties in their young lifetimes.

Let's compare the costs. There are several gym chains that hold birthday parties for children. A price of their party for 15 kids starts at about $225. It includes a person to run the gym part of the party, the invitations, paper goods and maybe the drinks and goody bags. It does not include the birthday cake and any other food you may want to serve. Assuming you only serve cake at the party, it will add an extra $15 to the cost if you buy a cake from Costco. So now the cost of the party is $240 for 15 children. That is $16 per person. Other gym places cost more. Another popular place to do kids birthday parties is at a craft store or build a stuffed animal store. Your starting out with cost of about $10 per kid and that only includes the activity, not the food you will be serving. There is no end to what you can do to entertain your children's friends - bowling parties, swim parties, miniature golf parties, beauty salon parties, etc. But for a group of at least 10 children, you will not get away for cheaper than about $200. If you have two children, that means you are spending $400 or more per year on birthday parties. Personally, I would rather spend less money having the party at home and put the savings in my children's college account.

I could go on and on with examples of parties we have done at home. I am not the most creative or artistic person but a little creativity goes a long way with children. Some general party ideas: for most parties, a game or two, a craft, and cake or pizza and cake are plenty. Have some backup ideas in case the party isn't over. A story is a great way to end a party. Keep everything with the theme. To save money you don't have to buy everything in the theme. Buy the main item in the theme and have coordinating colors for the napkins, cups, and forks.

Lastly, another positive (not financial) about having parties at home is that you can cancel if someone gets sick. We've had to cancel 2 or 3 parties over the years. If you have booked a place, you may not get your money back. For our home party, we were able to freeze the cake and do it the following week. No big deal.

In Real Life (IRL) - I have 3 children. I have held 10 birthday parties for them over the years. Two have been outside the home, one of which was the biggest failure to date (more on that later). My oldest daughter has a lot of school friends and doesn't want to leave anyone out for her birthday party. While she gets invited to many parties at outside venues, Bear, I usually keep her parties at home. I ask her what theme she wants to do and we plan activities around that theme. The best place I have found to look online for ideas for birthday parties at home is birthdaypartyideas.com. You can look up virtually any theme and find parties done in that theme by dozens of other people. Last year my older daughter wanted a Strawberry Shortcake theme. We bought Strawberry Shortcake invitations, made a pink cake, did a "Pin the Strawberry on Strawberry Shortcake's Hat" game, made a bead craft, made all-you-can-eat sundaes, and read a Strawberry Shortcake book to finish off the party. It was a lot of fun. We had 12 girls and spent right at $100. That included everything - cake, snacks for kids (and parents who stayed), the craft, the sundae fixings, the game, goody bags, and paper goods and invitations. My daughter's friend told her mom after the party that she wants a party at home next year.

For my younger daughter we did a Dora-themed party. We had pizza, did a Dora craft and a game that was just like the game Dora does on her show. We tried to get to the pinata but on the way we had to go through the jungle (some trees in our backyard) and become animals (with animal masks). Then they had to pull bananas off the tree (fake bananas hung on the tree by string) to get to the pinata. They all had their own maps that looked just like Dora's map on tv. They were homemade out of paper and very cute. After the pinata, they had cake. It was the perfect 3-year old's party and it cost under $100 for parents and adults (including lunch).

My last example is a carnival that we held. We made cardboard signs for each station. We bought a ring-toss game at the dollar store, used a plastic pool for a fishing pond, did tattoos, face painting, and made a bean-bag toss game. We had Cracker Jack and store bought cotton candy and bought cheap toys for the prizes. It was such a hit that we've saved everything to do it again for someone else's birthday party.

I could go on and on with examples of parties we have done at home. I truly am not the most creative or artistic person but a little creativity goes a long way with children. For Strawberry Shortcake, we bought Strawberry Shortcake plates and everything else was pink and red. We found Strawberry Shortcake Poster at the dollar store and cut out strawberries from red construction paper for the game. My husband was the magician for one of our birthday parties. It took him a few days to learn some magic tricks and kids (and even some of the adults) loved it! Make your own sundaes, decorate your own cupcakes, and make your own pizzas are great fun at parties. It takes care of an activity and some food.

Now for my outside birthday party flop. We did a swim party at a local indoor swim park for my daughter's birthday. It was about $100 to use their facility - a room and then the swimming for up to 12 children. We bought the food and a craft to do beforehand. So it was a little more than my usual limit for birthday parties. While we were in the room doing the craft, someone threw up in the pool and they closed it for 2 hours. No swimming for anyone. We did get everyone a ticket to go back another day. But still, what a waste!