BOO!

Frugal Friday has turned into "Frugal Whenever I Want" so Happy Halloween! Is there a holiday that has more frugal potential than Halloween? I think NOT! What did you send the kids off as this year? We had a couple of pirates in this house and it only cost me $20. We got them each this wild set of accessories...sword, hook, eye patch and earring. Then I fashioned them a bandanna, jacket of sorts and painted them up. Well, truth be told only one little pirate made it out the door this year. Pirate #2 wasn't feeling well so he stayed home with Mummy. But he's 2 and doesn't care about anything but the orange sucker I gave him. What's frugal about Halloween? Well I will tell you what's frugal about Halloween:

~Hop on the internet for some interesting ideas and then hit the thrift store for the costumes. It is amazing what you can find for totally low prices!

~Planning ahead will save you money. Going to WalMart the day before Halloween will break the bank every single time. Do I have to admit that I did that this year? LOL I had a plan in mind so it didn't break the bank BUT I was at WalMart yesterday. {gulp} it was a madhouse. I almost lost one of the children under a pile of costumes.

~Candy Candy CANDY. Save me from all the sugar. Spell with me for a moment: C-O-N-F-I-S-C-A-T-E. Spell it loud and spell it proud. As soon as that bag comes into the house I whip out the Ziplocs. One Ziploc is for acceptable lunch items (fruit snacks, puddings, etc. Those come from the Grandmas. They do up the treat bags right!), one Ziploc for "Oh my word there is NO WAY on earth I would ever give you that" which is saved for next year (Yup, I do it. Kids don't care and between parades, birthday parties, Easter and Christmas you would be appalled at how big my collection is by the time Halloween rolls around again) and of course the bag that holds the stuff that isn't too bad and they can have one piece after school (sugar after supper around here is a no go).

~Not only our money is meant to be saved. Time is precious! Plot with another family and swap talents. Let the Dads take the kids out while the Mums stay back to hand out candy...and maybe have a sip or two of fine wine! If treats are required for school swap some childcare for a couple dozen cookies. You get the idea. We are all in this together...let's show some support!

~When the weather doesn't cooperate (This year is the exception!) hit the local malls. You stay warm and dry but the kids still get to haul in the loot.

~And if you have decided that Halloween is not your thing...get together with other parents who share the same views and party hard! Gather for some fun and games and have each parent bring one item to be put into a loot bag for the kids. A girlfriend of mine does this and it is a huge hit. She had 27 kids and 16 parents (bless them) at her house last night! It was a humdinger of a good time and none of the kids feel like they have "missed" Halloween. They just go about it in a different way.

~I used to be the full size chocolate bar house. This was before we had 2 kids and lived on one income. You don't have to be that house. Your enthusiasm and participation is far more appreciated than what type of candy you give out. Although I do remember the pic-a-pop house. And the older couple who gave out coupons for McDonalds french fries. But that was um...well...let's just say it was a few years ago and times have changed. The pic-a-pop guy worked there and probably didn't pay much for them and I bet the McDonalds house owned a franchise. LOL Nowadays you can drop half a weeks grocery money buying Halloween candy. Just don't. And let's leave it at that.

Hope you all have a spooktacular time tonight! I know my night will be interesting. I made a pact with a friend that we will not break the seal. Not ONE piece of Halloween candy will pass our lips. I'm not sure I was in my right mind when I made that promise. Say a prayer for me. xo

Being online never felt so good

Apparently we are going to starve tonight because I have been trying to catch up. When you take a 10-14 day hiatus from the internet due to computer trouble it really generates a lot of extra work, doesn't it? Is checking e-mail actually considered work? Well, ok, maybe not. LOL If you go back through my archives you can see that we have these troubles about every 2 to 3 years. So basically we are renting the computer right? It's all a conspiracy. Oh, don't get me started.

So an online acquaintance from Ontario made a really good point about her gym membership and as I was typing a reply {Sorry, I just saw it today!} I thought it would be a great post for today to lead up to tomorrow's Frugal Friday post. Sweet Johanna from Birds on a Wire asked if I had any ideas for getting out of a membership. And in fact, I do. Several points to make here...so I'll start with my own personal experience.

When I was a teenager I lived in a spot that was really close to a great gym. I signed up and I worked out. I lost my job. So I worked out more while looking for a new job. When 3 months had gone by I knew there was no way I could keep the membership. And as I will go over in tomorrow's FF post never ever let something lapse because collection charges will kill you. I took what cash I had {about half of what was left owing on the membership), marched myself down there and asked to speak to the owner/manager. I made a polite speech about how I was moving and didn't own a car so I could no longer use his gym and would he please consider letting me out of my contract if I paid this amount of money, cash, upfront? Well, it worked. I was shocked but kept my poker face until I left his office. I think it helped that I was really young, cute and had that "I might cry if you say no" look on my face. {Which really helps in the frugal department y'all}.

Another idea would be to ask at your gym if you can transfer the contract to someone else. Then post an ad on a free site and try to "sell" it.

And finally, my favourite idea is to use your membership. LOL I looooove going to the gym. It's where I hide from my children. And it makes my butt smaller at the same time. It's a win-win situation. Watch for tomorrow's Frugal Friday post on memberships, contracts, payments and collections. Later gator!

We interrupt the scrapbooking to bring you some really good financial advice

Little known thing about me: I am a frugal gal. Or at least I try to be. Sure, I love the environment {I have to live in it, right?} but everything I do is all about the numbers baby. I use cloth diapers, I make laundry soap, I bake bread, I make granola bars for lunches...oh yeah, and I make lunches. Period. Every day. But I do get busy the odd time and forget to pack the Hubs lunch...oops. Between that and the occassional {and I mean really occassional} meal out with the fam we probably eat out about once a week and that includes the Hubs office lunches and me going out with the girls. But our idea of a meal out is the soup deal at Tim Horton's so it's not a huge hit to the budget with only 2 kids.
I have not always been concientious of my spending but so far have avoided copious amounts of consumer debt. I think that is largely due to a pivotal time in our marriage when we actually started discussing money seriously. Not the monthly {loud} exchange "Where did all the money go?!" But actually sitting down, discussing {like adults} what debt we have, how much we make and how to go about paying it off. After that talk, it was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders and I haven't looked back since.
Of course, I am human. I have made some bad, impulse purchases in my time. But they come fewer and further between now. LOL

So get to your point Kate...ok, ok. I don't get to watch a whole lot of TV but I do looove the show Til Debt Do Us Part with the lovely Gail Vaz-Oxlade. The woman is a genius. She is to the point, down to earth and very tell it like it is. I was on her blog today and came across a FABULOUS article she wrote entitled "Who Are You Trying To Impress?". I won't post the whole article here but just click on the title if you want to read it in it's full format. Several of the quotes in the article really struck me.

"People spend money they don't have, to buy things they don't want to impress people they don't like." ~Will Rogers

Well isn't THAT the truth? Over the last 18 months I have been improving our budget by leaps and bounds but that statement makes me want to take another look at things to see if we could tighten up even more. Gail explores the three things stated in that quote seperately in her article. And each point has you nodding your head and thinking "Yup, we do that!" The part about always wanting more really hit me too. Especially with my scrapbooking supplies. My scrap budget has been non-existant since we moved but I do spend about $10 a month on adhesive and I can still scrape together cash every now and again to splurge on great new paper. It's a must. Right? Sigh...no it's not. {Don't feel bad for me...my scraproom looks like a store, I have plenty to craft with LOL}

North America has 8% of the world's population and yet we consume 33% of the world's resources. And create 50% of it's non-organic waste. That's just embarrassing.

Another part of the article made me really happy though. That part about Martha Stewart cracked me up. My close friends and I will refer to each other as "Martha" if we do something particularly crafty either in the scraproom or kitchen. "Way to go Martha" is the comment for someone who has been exceptionally productive that day. And this is one teeny tiny area where I disagree with Ms. Vaz-Oxlade's statements at the end of the article. Yes we certainly do try to impress each other every day. With love, compassion and thoughfulness. Therein lies the difference between us and those who try to "Keep up with the Jones'"It doesn't have to cost a ton of money. It can be as simple as dropping off one single special cupcake or kidnapping their children for a few hours. Shooting off a funny e-card when you know someone is down or making them a card from scraps of supplies you already have. This is how we try to impress each other. And our happiness and beauty truly does shine from the inside out.

So after surfing around on Gail's blog, I am re-committing to using what we have. Saving what we earn. And making what we need. And I am desperately and anxiously awaiting Spring so I can plant my garden again. I have made some adjustments and hope to use even more of the bounty this year!

I challenge you to take a look at your budget this week {if you have one} or make a budget {if you don't}. You will be amazed at what you discover about yourself. Cheers people. Live small, love large and be happy. xo