You want to have fun with your family, but how can you afford it? Frugal and fun CAN go together. You’ll see.
Do your kids get invited to a lot of birthday parties?
If your family is like ours, between friends and family, it’s probably not uncommon to have some months with multiple parties for kiddos!
Of course, each one of those parties has an aging guest of honor who needs a gift from your child and/or family.
Oh, the happy and fun times!
Oh, the budgeting horrors!
But what if I told you all those parties didn’t have to be a strain on your family’s budget?
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Let your Christmas decorations do double-duty this holiday season by using them for your Halloween decorations! We have a lot of Christmas decorations in our family. Christmas is the holiday that we “overdo it” on decor, if that’s possible. 😉 But my daughter also really loves Halloween. She wanted to decorate more this year, and I needed to come up with some ways to make it happen. Walking through the stores, it was tempting to buy some of the neat…
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If you like to read and spend money on books, you’re going to want to read this post about the Overdrive app. I’ve been on a reading kick lately. It’s something I enjoy doing to relax and de-stress. I usually try to read self-improvement books. However, I’ve recently been reading a whole lot of books from my favorite genre: fantasy. I’m hooked on the fantasy series The Iron King by Julie Kagawa. I’m currently on book 6- and that’s not…
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I forgot that it was my week to bring the snack to the girl scout troop meeting until the day before. Has that ever happened to you? You’re supposed to bring food to an event and it somehow doesn’t make it to your to-do list or the grocery list. Whoops. I was scrambling trying to come up with something that I could bring that wouldn’t break our food budget, that most kids would like, and was gluten -free (so my…
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My daughter’s spring break starts tomorrow! We usually go on some expensive trip, but the reality is that a big budget is not necessary to have an amazing vacation and make memories that last a lifetime. Until recently, I was actually worrying about what we should do for spring break since our budget is more limited than it used to be. We had talked about Disney World before, but that is definitely not in our budget right now. Then Key…
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Is your kid like mine? When it’s Scholastic books time, she wants all the books! She comes home from school with the Scholastic book order forms, grabs a pen, and starts circling. The next thing I know, I am being handed order forms that look like poorly written papers graded by a strict teacher – covered in markings with upwards of 30 books that my kid wants me to buy. Now, don’t get me wrong – I absolutely love how…
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Would you like a happier marriage? When you’re hustling around trying to keep some semblance of work/life balance, oftentimes the first thing to suffer is your married life. So how do you work on your marriage and become happier together as time goes by? Hint: It does NOT require spending money. It’s the little thoughtful things. I truly believe it’s about doing little things for each other, day in and day out. A happier marriage is made by thinking of…
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Did you like to color when you were a kid? Why as adults do we stop doing things that we enjoyed when we were younger? My theory is that we forget to slow down and enjoy these kinds of things once family life gets hectic. Well, I’m here to tell you that it’s good for you to slow down and remember some of the things you enjoyed- like coloring books. You should take some time and enjoy coloring like you…
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It’s vacation time! And you’re going out of town. But should you fly or drive to reach your destination of choice? What’s the most cost-effective option? My immediate family is spread out across the United States, so there is no dropping by on a whim, and every visit requires a planned trip. As a frugal thumb, I try to figure out the most cost-effective vacations. Should we fly or drive? What are the pros and cons of each choice? I…
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These are delicious and so easy to make- my kiddo loves helping at every step in the process. Win win! Note: Pretzels are the base for all of these treats. We used regular and gluten-free varieties. We laid out the pretzels, put the chocolate candy of choice on top, popped them in the oven at 350 degrees for three minutes, then finally squished a nut or another candy on top. Once they completely cooled, they were ready for party snacking…
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