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Money Saving Tips
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Parties and Holidays |
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Frugal Bliss for All the Year's Holidays
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| It may be true that Santa costs the most, but the Easter Bunny,
Cupid, and the Great Pumpkin don’t come for free. The girls want new
frilly frocks each spring; and you want to thaw February with some
Valentine’s lingerie and stuff yourself on fancy chocolates. Junior
wants to dress as Michael Jackson for Halloween, and your mom thinks
you don’t love her if you spend under $100 on Mother’s Day. How can
anyone get ahead when every month brings more bills? |
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Don’t cancel Valentine’s Day. Your marriage takes a
backseat too often after baby’s arrival. Keep it simple if
you can’t afford a horse-drawn carriage, miles of pink lace
over garters, and expensive champagne. But make it a
non-negotiable mommy-and-daddy holiday, which means hiring a
babysitter, getting out just the two of you to share a
bottle of wine and maybe some jazz and seafood. Build up the
association of Valentine’s Day with spicy seduction, even if
you don’t go for roses and mushy cards. Some of the best
things in life are free- ahem. Enjoy. |
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One of Betty Crocker’s favourite Easter tricks: use the
decorated eggs from your kids’ Easter egg hunt to whip up
easy deviled egg appetizers. They’re super easy- just cut
eggs lengthwise in half, and mash up the yolks with
mayonnaise, mustard powder, salt, and pepper, then spoon
back onto the egg whites. I like to add paprika. Hardboiled
eggs with various polka dots also make terrific lunches. |
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Church, school or family functions should never take a
backseat to “getting presents.” Get more involved with
celebrating the holiday and spend less time shopping. |
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You don’t need to buy new shamrocks or ceramic bunny
baskets every year. Use a bit of imagination to spruce up
old decorations. Your kids can use old Christmas cards to
cut out an elaborate crèche scene or last year’s class
Valentine’s cards to make a wonderful collage for the
fridge. |
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Forget spending money on Halloween dress up. Make an
annual ritual adventure of heading to the local thrift store
and coming up with imaginative costumes. Your kids will have
the originality advantage. |
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Year round, keep your eyes peeled at church bazaars and
garage sales for festive things. You’ll find dozens of
Christmas storybooks, stockings, ghost salt and pepper
shakers, witch brooms, turkey cookbooks, you name it, for
quarters and dimes. They’ll fulfill the kids’ desire for
novelty if you’re worried about using the same items every
year. And it’s always laudable to reduce, reuse, and
recycle. |
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It may be unforgivably cheapskate. But you don’t have to
hand out candy every Halloween. If you just can’t afford it,
honour that. |
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Investigate holiday DVDs and books at the library. It’s
amazing how many of us overlook this awesome resource. The
kids can learn more about the legends and lore of various
holidays, and you can let them enjoy special movies without
the commercials brainwashing them with reasons to buy. |
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Swap with neighbours. Have a summer BBQ and ask everyone
to bring outgrown costumes, unused candles, unloved floral
arrangements, holiday themed bed sheets, outgrown clothing,
Easter hair ornaments, books, videos, and so on. Turn in
your stash and exchange for a new supply. Do it again next
year- no reason that shamrock serving plate can’t make the
rounds. |
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Check out online resources- there are thousands of craft
projects, teacher’s aids, colouring pages, recipes, and so
on for every conceivable holiday in every faith. Keep your
kids involved. Buy less. Celebrate more. |
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