frugaler — Beating Broke

8 Ways to Save on Halloween

September 26, 2016 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

Halloween is fun for kids of all ages, including adults who are kids at heart. However, what isn’t so fun is the hefty price tag that often comes along with the fun-filled day. In fact, a “new poll from the National Retail Federation projects that Halloween revelers will spend. . .an average of $82.93 per shopper” (USA Today) this year. That’s more frightful than the Halloween decorations that may cover your yard. Use these tips to help you save on Halloween spending this season so you can still have a fun Halloween without breaking the bank.

Halloween Decorations

Save on Halloween Spending

There are plenty of ways to get Halloween decorations for a fraction of the cost. My favorite way is to buy Halloween decorations at yard sales. (In fact, that’s how I buy all of my decorations!) Or, if you have patience and would like to buy new, you can check out the clearance sales after Halloween is over. That’s how I bought a good supply of Halloween and fall-themed towels, at more than 75% off.

Halloween Costumes

Halloween costumes bought new can cost anywhere from $25 to upwards of $100 for fancier costumes. Yikes! We have three kids, so to spend that kind of money on costumes is not practical. Instead, we employ a variety of strategies to save on costumes.

Homemade

My son went as a knight one year. We found the vest at Goodwill for $5. We pared that with black pants and a white shirt that he already had. Then he made a shield out of cardboard from a large box and covered it in tin foil and put a design on it. He actually wore that costume for two years in a row.

Bought on discount

Our girls typically like fancier costumes, so we tend to buy them immediately after Halloween is over at a steep discount. Our favorite stores to shop are Disney and Gymboree. I can find cute Gymboree Halloween costumes for less than $10 immediately after Halloween.

Use what you already have

Another idea is to use what you already have. If your son has a baseball uniform, why not go as a baseball player? If your daughter is taking ballet class, why not go as a ballerina?

Halloween Candy

If you live in a subdivision, you likely get a lot of trick-or-treaters. The price of candy can really add up, but it doesn’t have to.

Buy the candy at a warehouse store

If you’re a member of Sam’s Club or Costco, you can buy candy in bulk for less than your local grocery store chain sells it.

Buy cheaper candy

You don’t have to buy expensive candy for trick-or-treaters. Instead, buy cheaper candy like suckers, Smarties, and candies like that.

Have a limit

Set a budget for how much you want to spend on candy and limit your purchase to that amount. When you run out, turn off your outdoor light and don’t answer the door anymore.

Halloween is a fun-filled holiday. You can still be festive without spending a fortune.

What are your favorite tips for saving on Halloween décor, costumes, and treats?

1 Simple Trick to Find More Money in Your Budget

July 18, 2016 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

Do you have a budget that already feels tight? Have you cut and cut but still have more month than money? Are you struggling to find more money in your budget?

I know how that goes. Over the last few months, my husband and I have been working hard to cut our budget as much as possible. We thought we’d cut all that we could, but I discovered one more secret, which, depending on your budget could help you “find” another $20 to over $100 a month.

So what’s the magic secret?

Make your payments on a semi-annual or annual basis rather than on a monthly basis.

Paying Annual Can Provide Big Discounts

Find more money in your budget.

We have Ooma for our home phone line. I pay $17.99 a month. Recently I had to call Ooma because I was having an issue with the service. After the customer service rep had finished helping me, she asked if I wanted to pay annually instead of monthly. An annual payment would be $105, the equivalent of $8.75 a month. In other words, I was paying an additional $110.88 a year for the convenience of monthly payments.

Our life insurance is the same. When I checked into it, I realized that we would save $22 a month if we paid annually instead of monthly.

We already pay our car insurance semi-annually, but if we opted to pay monthly, we’d be charged a $2 per month fee. Other car insurance companies charge as much as 5 to 10% more for a monthly payment.

Convenience is expensive.

Take a look through your monthly bills. Are there any that you can choose to pay annually or semi-annually? If so, how much will you save per month if you pay annually instead of monthly? In our case, we “found” an extra $32 a month. Sure, that doesn’t sound like a lot, but over a year, it adds up to an additional $384 we now have that we didn’t have before.

Two Caveats

Before you change your payment method, it’s important to consider two factors. First, if your budget is already tight, you may need to wait to switch to an annual payment until you have a windfall like a bonus at work or an income tax return. If you’re used to paying $80 a month for car insurance, even with a discount for paying annually, you may still be looking at paying $800 or $900 in one swoop, which can be difficult on a tight budget.

Second, only use this method if you know you’ll be disciplined enough to set aside money every month for the annual payment. If your annual car insurance is $800, then set aside approximately $65 a month so you’ll have enough to pay the annual payment when it comes due.

Making payments annually or semi-annually can be a great way to find extra money in your budget, but before you change to this method, make sure that you have the discipline to set aside (and not spend) the money each month for the annual payment.

Do you pay bills like your insurance monthly or semi-annually or annually? Which do you prefer? Why?

It’s O.K. If Your Kids Are Bored This Summer

June 1, 2016 By MelissaB 4 Comments

Ah, summer. A time of relaxation, heat, and. . .boredom?

Yep, boredom. When I was a child, the big activity for the summer was to go to Vacation Bible School one week of the summer. The rest of the time, well, my days stretched wide open before me.

I might read a good book, or run through the sprinkler, or eat a popsicle, or lay on the grass looking at the clouds floating by or go bike riding with my friend or play on the swing set or play with Barbies.

Those were the days of summer.

I loved every minute that I was out of school, but by mid-July, after the excitement of the 4^th of July holiday wore off and I’d been on summer break for several weeks, I often found myself bored. I mean b.o.r.e.d.

Org. Img.: Bored by Marcus Nelson on Flickr

I was actually excited and ready to go back to school.

Do kids today feel that anymore?

The answer, typically, is no, but it’s O.K. if your kids are bored this summer!

Summer Can Hit Your Wallet Hard

If you want to keep your kid busy all summer long, you can expect to spend quite a bit of money doing so. I have a friend who is paying over $1,000 for her seven year old to attend summer day camp for a few weeks. And that is just one child!

Of course, families with two working parents must find ways to make sure that their kids are cared for, so that is part of the reason why kids are overbooked. But my friend whose paying for her daughter’s summer camp is a stay-at-home mom.

Boredom Is Not a Bad Thing

However, if the parents are in a situation where they can let their kids get bored, i.e. one parent stays home to take care of the kids, boredom might not be such a bad thing. Nancy Darling, a professor of Psychology at Oberlin College, states, “From a developmental perspective, kids have very little experience learning to find things to do FOR THEMSELVES. They have been PASSIVE. Adults shape their activities. When they get to the point where they are too old for that—or there just aren’t adults to do it—the kids are at a loss. They might know what they like to do—or what they don’t—but they have little experience figuring out how to make good things happen. Boredom is okay” (Psychology Today).

Think about times when you were bored as a kid. Those times obviously didn’t last forever. You found something to do. You may have compromised and played a board game with your younger brother even though you really didn’t like playing with him, but anything was better than boredom! You may have written a story, or created a Lego invention, or made a new imaginary game.

Alyson Jones, who is a counselor, states, “Boredom is not the enemy to be conquered by action and another planned activity. Boredom can be a vehicle to creative thinking, self-awareness, empathy and compassion. When we are bored we are often alone with our thoughts—this is a great way for children to get to know themselves” (The Huffington Post).

If you have the flexibility in your schedule, why not give the kids some time to be bored this summer? Your wallet will thank you, and someday your kids might, too.

What do your kids do for the summer? Do you give them time to be bored or are they scheduled?