Live Cheap, Love Life

Christmas Presents from Halloween Sales

noreply@blogger.com (S.C. Denson) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:55:00 +0000

My kids loved to play dress up as toddlers and early elementary kids. I could buy costumes the day after Halloween for 75% off. The costume looked like a big present under the tree and always brought a huge smile when unwrapped. They played dress up all year long and when friends came over, the kids all went to the barrel of costumes first.

Group Costumes - Mario Bros.

noreply@blogger.com (S.C. Denson) — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 00:39:00 +0000

What do you get when you use a hot glue gun, dissassembled goodwill stuffed animals, and an old pampazan chair?

IT'S MARIO TIME!!

Here's how we did it:

First we hit our own closet, Goodwill and Salvation Army for the basics: two pairs of overalls, turtle necks in white, yellow, red and green, one pink formal, two pair brown work boots, two pair of white gloves, one pair of long white formal gloves, one teal formal (whoops! I picked up purple instead of teal and my oldest son almost didn't let me go b/c Rosalina wears teal, not purple -- but the sleeves were right, dear!), a pink shirt with puffy sleeves, a fusia satin blouse, a blue microfeece vest, a studded belt and a green sheet. Oh, and a bright orange stuffed octopus to be dissassembled and the top of a pampazan chair.

Then we hit our craft suppy closet and the craft store: blue and gold glitter, black felt, gold felt, yellow card stock, cardboard, gold spray paint, fake gems, and hot glue gun and sticks.

We did buy two blonde wigs at a costume shop. (I'm not so cheap that I wear second hand wigs.)

The day before I bought a helium balloon.

Here's how we assembled each ensemble:

ROSALINA: My costume was the easiest. I found a flowing formal (which should have been teal, I know) and carried a balloon with a painted on star.

BOWSER: We covered an old pampazan chair with a green sheet, then trimmed it in a white sheet. (No sewing, just hotglue.) Then, we made paper cones and taped them on. We saved two of the cones for the headpiece to serve as horns. Next, we added straps to wear the shell like a back pack. For the body, he wore a yellow turtle neck and made "a ripped chest" out of another section cut out of the white sheet. My husband drew the lines on the "chest" and taped it to the yellow shirt. Next, we cut up the studded belt into three sections. One for his collar and two for his biceps.

Next, we dissassembled the poor stuffed octopus. We pasted his tentacles on a strip of cardboard and cut another strip of fur to make the eyebrows my husband taped to his forehead. Finally, we hotglued the strip of cardboard to a headband and taped the horns next to it. Bowser: complete!

MARIO and LUIGI: Both boys got overalls, brown work boots, white gloves and turtle nexts. Next, using felt and (somtimes) hot glue, we fashioned hats,mustaches, and yellow "buttons" for the overalls. (Note: don't bother with felt mustaches. Eyeliner was the better option.)Voila!

TOADSTOOL: Our neighbor and her daughter accompanied us once more this year. She made her costume. She used jeans and a white turtle neck. Then she took a blue microfleece jacket and trimmed it in gold felt. Then, she took a portion of the white sheet and fashioned the "mushroom" hat. She stuffed it with newspaper and hotglued on red felt spots.

PRINCESS PEACH: For this costume, we used the bottom portion of a prom dress. We added a pink blouse with pu,ffy sleeves. Then we took a fusia satin blouse in a large size and used the material to make a sash and bustle. (It's always cheaper to buy a shirt to cut up at Goodwill than it is to buy fabric, especially if you find a good large size.) Of course, we also bought a wig and she found long white gloves at Salvation Army. We made her neckpiece out of cardboard used glitterglue.

For her crown, we cut out cardstock and taped it into a circle. Then we spray painted it gold and hot glued gems to the outside. We then pinned the crown onto her wig. Finally, she added the white gloves, white dress shoes, and a flower from the toybox.

Hope you enjoyed!

Costume Contest

noreply@blogger.com (S.C. Denson) — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 19:57:00 +0000

Did you or your child have a creatively cheap costume this Halloween? Send me your pictures with a description, list of supplies, your costs, and your cost saving ideas. Entries will be featured next Halloween season, but the winner will earn a spot on my Wall of Fame for the 2011 Cheapest Costume Champion. The winner will be announced on November 15th.

Group Costume -- Toy Story

noreply@blogger.com (S.C. Denson) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:19:00 +0000

Though this looks like a normal, expensive ensemble, this represents two of my super cheap principals: second hand and borrow! Woody is wearing his brother's hand-me down while Buzz is wearing a borrowed costume from a friend. They look adorable and no one was complaining about hand me downs because they got to dress up together. A few other touches made it perfect: freckles on Woody and a swirly chin design on Buzz, both drawn with mom's eyeliner.

Satisfying Vacations For Less

noreply@blogger.com (S.C. Denson) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 17:08:00 +0000

When most people plan a vacation, it's usually off a brochure that has caught their eye, a television ad, or an ideal from childhood, i.e. Disney Land. In order to save money on vacations, however, you really need to think about the psychological reasons for a vacation. Those reasons can be broken down into three basic categories:

Relaxation
Adventure
Bucket List

Do you want to get away to unwind? Think? Reevaluate your life? Pray? Meditate? If you're picturing yourself laying on a white sandy beach, you probably long for R&R. On the other hand, if you picture yourself snorkeling in a choral reef, trekking up a mountain, or skiing down a mountain, you probably long for adventure. Finally, if you simply MUST see the Ifle Tower or sleep in Dracula's castle, you probably long to check off everything on your bucket list.

So how do you turn these basic longings into cheap, but satisfying vacations. The first step is to stop focusing on the image of yourself doing some stock image out of a brochure. Put away the picture of yourself laying on the beach and pull out a sheet of paper. Now list all the ways you can relax. At first, don't worry about the cost. Just make a basic list of ways you could relax. It looks like this:

massage
sunshine
swimming
not having to cook
feeling the motion of the waves
low impact exercise like biking or hiking
the feel of luxury sheets
sleeping in with sunshine pouring through the window

An adventure list might look like this:

scaling the sheer side of a cliff

backpacking into unknown territory

learning how to scuba dive

swimming under a waterfall

finishing a race

jet skiing

water skiing

snow skiing

pushing the limits of my endurance physically

pushing the limits of my fears

A bucket list is trickier since it usually keeps you in that stock image and combines adventure vacations, but go ahead and make the list.

See the Ifle Tower
Take a train from one side of Canada to the other
Sleep in Dracula's Castle
Trek through a rain forest
Learn to snow ski
Be on Price is Right
Go backstage at a rock concert
See the Grand Canyon
Be a millionaire
Buy my dad a bass boat

If you notice, some of the things on the Bucket List are not about vacationing at all. When you make your list, make sure you leave those on there. A Bucket List isn't just about vacations. It's about accomplishments, and when you keep this in focus, it's a little easier to plan the vacation. But we'll get to that later...

Now that you have these lists, you need to factor in a group of subcategories. Each type of vacation can be subdivided into one of three types of vacations:

Individual
Honeymoon (2nd Honeymoon, 3rd, etc.)
Family

What's important to remember is that your need for a vacation or another individual within your family's need for a vacation does not have to determine that the vacation fall into the family category. The second step in saving money on a vacation is to decide how many individuals from your household actually have to go on the vacation in order to fulfill the need. For instance, our kids both earn tickets to Six Flags every year, which fulfills their need for adventure. But there have been several years where we couldn't afford the two extra adult tickets for us, gas for two hours away, hotel, and food in the park. So we sent them with their uncle who had season passes. THAT is thinking outside of the box. It fit their need for adventure, gave them family time with their uncle and left us with two days of relaxation, subcategory honeymoon, at home. I also have an uncle who routinely goes on adventure vacations hunting and fishing in Canada without his wife and four daughters. More than a few couples have saved money and their marriage by vacationing separately. Conversely, I have friends who are adult singles who still go to Disney world or the beach with their extended family. If you are working off a Bucket List, you'll have to decide how important it is to have other's with you when you accomplish your goal and plan or postpone accordingly. For instance, you may relish the idea of climbing a Mayan ziggurat on your own or it may be worth it to save indefinitely until you can afford a trip for two to Paris.

Once you know the need and the number, the third step is to decide how far you can go and still afford to accomplish the goal. Travel can be the largest cost percentage of the trip, and it's the easiest thing to cut from the expenses. Can you afford to leave town and still have money for that massage? Can you afford to leave the state and still afford Cabela's most expensive camping gear? Can you afford to cross two states, but can't afford tickets to Florida? If you fork out the dough for Florida will you have to sleep on a friend's living room floor or buy rice and beans at a local grocery store? (That doesn't sound relaxing to me though possibly it fits with adventure.) Maybe you can't afford a train ride across Canada at this point in your life, but you can afford the Grand Canyon. In order to be satisfied, you have to pick your priorities for now or postpone until you can afford it.

Once you have your radius, the fourth step is to make a list of all the places or things to do within that radius and list the ways it fulfills the need. If you're working off the Bucket List, you might also want to reevaluate why you put a particular item on the list and see if something a little closer (and less expensive) might fit the bill. For instance, sleeping in Dracula's Castle costs a whopping $10,000 a night and it's in the Scandinavian Alps!! Do you really just like sleeping in scary or unique places that give you a great story to tell friends? Come on, be honest. At this point, make a list of potential local sites like a haunted prison overnighter or a Snooze at the Zoo program.

To give you an example of what I mean by a list, here's a sample list for Relaxation--subcategory Family--We can afford to go to the nearest big city.

Take the train (no traffic, play games along the way, eat in the dining car, feels like an adventure to kids).
Eat out every meal (no cooking).
See a musical (music, cushy seats, ambiance, the show could be on Mom's Bucket List.)
Get a suite (we're not all on top of each other)
Stay at a hotel with a large outdoor swimming pool. (Sunshine, swimming, mom laying on the lounge chair.)
Go to a water park (spend the whole time in the wave pool.)
Rent bikes and meander through a historical district or bike trail.
Spend a day hiking.
Spend a day at a really nice park with fountains and fancy playgrounds, hint: expensive neighborhoods have extensive parks. (Free, shaded, little kids love it but it doesn't get the traffic of amusement parks.)
Take a carriage ride through a historical area (or gondola ride if you live in Oklahoma or Texas.)

You'll probably want to leave this list up on the refrigerator for about a month and jot down ideas every time you hear of something or think of something. Don't worry about how much something costs at this point. Right now you're still brainstorming.

Once you have a list of places to go and things to do, search the Internet for great prices. Look for hotels that have just opened and offer introductory rates, shop Craig's List for the deluxe camping gear, figure out where that great neighborhood park is, find out which day the museum offers free admission, etc. For each item on your list, jot down cost estimates and ideas to keep costs down.

Once you've gathered the information for the list, it's time to prioritize each item based on how closely the item on the list meets the essential need of the trip and how many needs can be met for the lowest possible cost. Each individual needs to note which item on the list is most important. Keep your decision to yourself until it's time to negotiate as a family though younger children will need help with this. Maybe Mom might say, I'll give up Phantom if we can stay in a fancier hotel," or conversely, "I'll stay in a Motel 6 if we can just see Les Mis."

Finally, you sit down together with every one who will go on the trip and set the schedule. Here's where you begin negotiating and setting boundaries. Let's say Mom really needs relaxation and Dad says he needs relaxation but during the planning stage, that meandering bike ride through a local park becomes a mountain bike expedition through a national park. Go back to that essential need for the vacation. If he really wants a mountain bike expedition then he is exhibiting a need for an adventure vacation. You have choices here. Either Mom decides Dad can spend one day of the vacation adventuring, maybe with a few kids, while she stays at the hotel and lounges pool side. Mom could pull out the calendar, pick a date for another vacation that meets the need for adventure, and remind Dad that this vacation really needs to be about relaxing. Or Mom could remember that nothing stays relaxing when Dad is around so she could decide to head solo to the city, stay in a luxury hotel for a few days of pampering and shopping, and take in a show by herself. She could also point to something else on the list and negotiate. Maybe Dad insists on driving, but Mom gets really stressed out in traffic. She could say, "I'll go on the mountain bike ride if we can take the train." The key is to plan and negotiate way ahead of time, secure the schedule, and stick to the plan. If you evaluate both the cost and the need you're trying to fulfill with each activity, you cut down on last minute expenses that tend to get thrown in because one person or another doesn't feel like their need is getting fulfilled. This leads to an overpacked schedule, chaos, hurt feelings, and overspending. If you come back stressed out and arguing, what was the point of going in the first place? (Remember, Idid say that more than a few couples have saved money and their marriage by vacationing separately.)

Once you have an agenda, you're ready for the vacation. Get all tickets ahead of time and dish out a certain amount of cash spending money to each person so the kids don't even have an option to talk you into something last minute. Where ever you go, you'll enjoy yourself and come back satisfied.

Taxi, please!

noreply@blogger.com (S.C. Denson) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 16:13:00 +0000

We're a one car family. We have been for almost fourteen years. Recently, our schedules changed in a way that we were suddenly bumming rides in the evening and becoming a pest. Since the schedule change was a long-term but temporary one (just for this year) we discussed getting a second car. We even saved for a month with that in mind. However, one of our neighbors suggested the bus or the taxi. Our bus route was out of the question because it only runs in the day time Mon-Fri and our schedule conflicts were in the evening. At first I thought the taxi service would not work either, but when I called on rates I realized that the times I needed the taxi would only cost me about $10 (including tip). Since one of our friends has been gracious enough to pick up the eldest for Boyscouts, I only needed additional rides about twice a month ($20). This would make a grand total of $120 (six month estimate since we only needed it when school was in session.) When we compared the $120 to what we would need to pay for a car (beater: $1000), licensing ($40), inspection($12), insurance($30 add to policy), oil changes ($15/three months), repairs(who knows?), tires, etc. Possibly we could sell or trade in the car and get our $1000 back eventually, but the maintenance alone put us over the $120. We decided to take a cab instead of buy the second car. Since we made the decision, we also realized that we'd over estimated how much the cab would cost us and how many times we needed it. Though it's a bit humbling since we live in a city where nobody takes a cab unless they've lost their license, I still hold my head up high because I know I'm spending money wisely but not pestering my friends too much.

Toddler Bliss on Christmas Morning

noreply@blogger.com (S.C. Denson) — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:19:00 +0000

One of the great things about toddlers is that they can get really excited about "new" toys, but they haven't yet learned that "new" means they're wrapped in thick plastics and still have a chemical smell. For more Christmas morning bang for your buck, shop second hand. Just make sure the second hand item is clean and any age appropriate. You can also hide back toys that older siblings have out grown. Pull them out of hiding on Christmas Eve and shine them up.

By the way, if the child is old enough to know that "new" comes with a chemical smell, you can buy a "new" car air freshner for $2, spray down the toy, then head out to the garage to give yourself a "new" car for Christmas.

Christmas Morning

noreply@blogger.com (S.C. Denson) — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 14:35:00 +0000

When you don't have much to spend on Christmas, make the day about spending time together. We have a rule that we open, put together, and all play with any toy we unwrap. If it's a Lego set, we put it together and play with the figurines within their new world. If it's a hot wheels track, we put it together and race each other. This makes about five presents each last through the day and we have great memories of long play sessions around the Christmas tree. It allows us as parents to also enjoy that "new toy" excitement a lot longer. They ooh and aaahh as every piece comes out of the packaging and put onto the set.

Keeping Christmas Costs Low

noreply@blogger.com (S.C. Denson) — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 14:31:00 +0000

Plan ahead, but don't buy too far ahead.

I started out as the on-top-of-things Christmas shopper, my list made and presents bought before Thanksgiving. But then a funny thing happened. My kids got old enough to change their mind. Now I make a list, but I don't buy until Christmas is close at hand. It saves me from over buying and from the trouble of taking things back.

2010 COSTUME CONTEST WINNER

noreply@blogger.com (S.C. Denson) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 13:51:00 +0000

Announcing the winner of our 2010 Wall of Fame Costume Contest:

Tigist Haile sent in these ever-so-cute scarecrow costumes:

I did not spend much on these as I used the stuff I have in the closet for the most part. I bought the raffia for $4.99 and the plaid material for $6.99 (for cuffs, scarves, and patches). Also the felt was about $2.00. The rest is good old tacky glue, packing tape, and needle and thread :) I probably spent 1/2 day cutting and sewing the patches /cuffs.

Money Well Spent?

noreply@blogger.com (S.C. Denson) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:45:00 +0000

Every once in awhile, you have to spend money to save money (as long as you pay cash for it, that is) but is the money well spent?

Though I've reviewed books, movies, and television shows for Popsyndicate.com, I've never reviewed products until now. Last year, with cold and flu season fast approaching I bought a Germ Guardian EV9102 UV-C Room Air Sanitizer and a Germ Guardian GG100 UV-C Pluggable Air Sanitizer. They both proved to be worth the money though both were pricey for an initial investment. The bigger model runs around $130 while the small version costs about $60.

I paid out the initial investment in desperation. My children and I all have weak immune systems. Three years ago, despite getting the flu shot, both of my children got Flu A & B. Both ended up with pneumonia. One of my boys ended up with Shingles. (Yes, you heard me right: Shingles, the blistering disease that old people normally get.) For three months, at least one person was sick in the house at all times despite the fact that I'm a pretty good housekeeper. (The back yard and front flower beds are not technically in the house so don't judge me.) When flu season approached, I instituted several new "house laws punishable by banishment" which included various things we could do to keep ourselves healthy. I also bought these two versions of the Germ Guardian. My husband, usually a miser, remembered how much the various E.R. and chest x-rays bills cost him the year before and refrained from rolling his eyes.

The Germ Guardian company advertises that the use the same ultra-violet system that hospitals use to sanitize their air only on a smaller scale model suitable for houses. A fan draws in air, runs it past a UV light bulb which kills 99% of airborne bacteria and mold, then vents the clean air out of the top of the machine. This process also eliminates odors.

I did not have the capital to invest in a whole house model, but I could pay for the two smaller versions.
We put the larger model in a central location on our main floor and the smaller plug-in version in the boys' room. The first winter we had these machines, we noticed an immediate improvement. First of all, when someone in the house got sick, that person did not give away the disease to anyone else in the house. That's right, at no point did one person get a cold and then the cold work its way through the other members of the family. Our kids went from missing several weeks of school to missing about 8 days total. We paid out one co-pay for one sick kid rather than paying co-pays for all four of us.

As I mentioned before, I implemented several other "home health rules" which I will share in another post. Because of those rules, I was not completely sure it was the Germ Guardian causing such great results.

At the end of the first school year, the bulb on the downstairs model went out -- much sooner than we hoped, but we had run the machine constantly. Since it was summer, we decided to wait until that fall to replace the bulb. When the time to replace it rolled around, the local Lowes did not have any replacements on hand so we waited some more...

And got sick. Our youngest got the flu and, even though we still had all our "health laws" in place, the flu moved through the family with ease. That's when my husband ordered the replacement bulbs online. After that, nothing moved through the family the entire winter. Now we are once more in the midst of flu season and I did it again. I forgot to replace our Germ Guardian bulb and get the machine running again. So boy number one got sick... now I'm sick. Guess what I did last night? I forked out the cash for shipping and handling because I can't wait to replace our bulbs. The bulbs are not cheap, but neither is missing work with sick kids, paying co-pays, and buying Mucinex... unless of course you own stock in Mucinex.

I give Germ Guardian all five stars! If you have a weak immune system, this is an investment worth making.

Costume Contest!

noreply@blogger.com (S.C. Denson) — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 19:52:00 +0000

Do you have any supercute, super cheap costume you've created? Send me your pictures with a description, list of supplies, your costs and your cost saving ideas. Entries will be featured next Halloween season, but the winner will earn a spot on my Wall of Fame for the 2010 Cheapest Costume Champion. The winner will be announced on November 15th.

Group Costumes -- Harry Potter First Years

noreply@blogger.com (S.C. Denson) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 14:49:00 +0000

My favorite group Halloween costume was Harry Potter First Years. We created the Book 1 scene when Hagrid leads the new students by lamplight from the train to Hogwarts and then Professor McGonagall sorts them with the sorting hat. This scene allowed us create clothes for the kids that did not involve the more complicated Gryffindor uniforms. The first years march in with gray clothes and black ties. This was also the first Halloween after our eldest son started the gluten free diet and could not trick or treat. Dressing up as Harry Potter to do a magic "trick" at every door made the holiday special.

Now Here's How

Harry, Ron and Hermione all created their basic look with clothes from their closets: white shirts, gray slacks/skirt, gray sweaters, and black ties. (Well, we did need to provide a black tie to Hermione.) All of these items came from the closet and cost us nothing. Then they added graduation gowns. One came from my college graduation and two were bought at Goodwill for $2 each. Their wands all came from nature. They each took sand paper and dulled down twigs (for free) to create their wands. All of them needed hair dye to match the characters ($3 total.)

Then each of them added personal character touches:

Harry carried a magic trick and a box of "Ever Flavored Beans" (made by Jelly Belly). The magic trick came from a simple magic kit he received for his birthday. The Ever Flavored Beans...okay, okay, they were the splurge! $7.00 at Barnes and Noble. Another great touch: he practiced various Harry poses and incantations.

Hermione carried a large old fashioned book from her mom's book shelf and a stuffed toy cat from her toy box. She did a great job with the Hermione attitude and had the eye rolling/foot stomping down pat.

Ron broke his wand and taped it together. He wore his shirt untucked. He carried a smaller bag of Ever Flavored Beans (again, splurge $4.50). He carried a toy rat. He could flip a switch, put it on the floor, and chase it yelling "Scabbers! Come back here!" (Again, splurge -- $6 at Walmart pet area.) He wore an old pair of shoes with holes in the toes. He also took some of the webbing from our Halloween decorations, draped it over his shoulders and placed spider rings from one of his school party bags through the webbing (all free.)

One thing I loved about these costumes was the way that the gowns blew around in the breeze and the fact that they were warm costumes.

For McGonagall's look, things got a tad pricey, but if I'd had more time I think I could have asked around to borrow certain pieces. I bought an old black prom at Goodwill ($10) and a black blouse ($2) with poofy sleeves (since the prom dress didn't have the right top.) Since the cape covered the waist, I didn't need to sew or alter the dress or blouse. I simply wore the blouse untucked over the dress. Then I used a broach from my own jewelry box to clasp my blouse at the neck and my own high heel black boots. Finally, I bought one yard of really pretty green fabric ($3 -- half price sale.) To make it into a cape, I cut it up the middle lengthwise, but only halfway up the fabric. At the halfway mark, I cut a small circle for my neck. Then I sewed a seam at all the edges. (Incidentally, we've loaned different pieces of this for local plays and other kids costumes.) I, too, needed dye hair spray ($1). The BEST part of my costume: the sorting hat! I bought a scarecrow hat at a second hand shop ($5, but major score!) and covered it with batting and brown fabric ($2). I pinned the fabric to the scarecrow hat from the inside with safety pins to make the "dimpled" look. I carried it as a puppet so that I could hold it over the kids' heads and yell, "Gryffindor!"

Hagrid used a shoe box, black paint, and battery powered touch lights from our hall closet to make his lamp for leading the first years. All the supplies came from our house. He wore boots and pants from his own closet and stuffed a Goodwill XL flannel shirt ($2) with pillows from our house. Then he borrowed that awesome coat, a real duster, from a friend of his. He did have to buy a black wig/beard at a costume shop ($7). Finally, we bought scrap fur fabric from the odds and ends rack ($1). We tied them on a string and hung them around his neck as if he'd been hunting.

We actually created this costume first for the Midnight Release Party for book 7 in July. We had a lot of fun since so many of the teens dressed up as various characters. Several people asked to get their picture taken with us and lots of kids and teens wanted to be sorted with the sorting hat. That night, we won for best costume and took home our prized poster autographed by the illustrator Mary Grandpre! We used it again at Halloween and won several prizes at various events. This will be a great costume for opening night this November...Hmmm, where did I put my sorting hat?

Group Costume -- S'mores Around A Campfire

noreply@blogger.com (S.C. Denson) — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 16:34:00 +0000

This is by far our cheapest, most creative costume yet. I went as firewood (which also doubles as a dryad costume.) Our nieghbor girl went as the fire. Her mom came along as a graham cracker. Our eldest went as a chocolate bar while hubby went as a marshmallow on a stick. So far we've won "Silliest Costume Award" at the scout Halloween party and still have one more big event to go. (That's all the events we could squeeze in this year, since we're working extra jobs.) So here's the breakdown of how to make each element.

FIREWOOD: brown corduroys, brown shirt, hair braided with a few small braids, twigs stuck through the braids to fork out above my head, larger twigs held in hands and threaded out of belt loops.

TOTAL COST: Nothing. The clothes came from the closet and the twigs came from below the neighbor's tree.

FIRE: orange jumpsuit, flame fabric cut as a poncho but you could also cut out whimsical triangles of this fabric or of plain yellow fabric, hair sprayed down with glitter.

TOTAL COST: about $5 for the fire fabric and $1 for the bottle of glitter hair spray.

HERSEY BAR: brown pants, brown shirt, flat panel of cardboard spray painted brown and painted with black lines like a bar of chocolate, string stapled on the back to hold it up on his shoulders, and a hole cut out for his face.
TOTAL COST: $3 bucks because we didn't have any brown spray paint. The clothes came from his closet and we went dumpster diving at a trendy decor shop (which didn't have nasty trash) for the cardboard. $1 for a package of "design research."

GRAHAM CRACKER: Plain brown table cloth and cardboard painted with brown dots.
TOTAL COST: Nothing. Table cloth and cardboard were free. If she needed to put a hole in it to make a poncho, the cost would be about 3$ to buy another at, say, Goodwill or Walmart.

MARSHMALLOW ON A STICK: (Hubby lost weight, a lot of weight, this year so he really didn't want to be the marshmallow, but at the last minute our son decided he really wanted to be the chocolate bar, so a huge, HUGE kudos goes out to Dad for being the "bigger" man.) Okay, the marshmallow was a giant box wrapped in white trash bags and old mattress pads. A layer of old sheets was stapled over the top. Then I covered a really long stick broken in half (again from the neighbors tree) with aluminum foil. I stuck one end through one side of the box pointed up. The other half I stuck into the other side pointed down.

TOTAL COST: Nothing! Dumpster diving for the cardboard and all the other supplies came from our bags of old stuff in the basement. If I didn't have a box of old sheets, etc, I could buy sheets at Goodwill for about $3 and Walmart (for one top sheet) for around $5. If you have to buy a mattress pad, I suggest you take an old one off a bed for the costume and replace it with a new one.

Show me your homemade creations with a list of ingredients and costs. I'd love to feature your work of art in articles for next year. The most creative, cheapest costume will win a spot on my Wall of Fame.

Lower Your Electric Without A Remodel

noreply@blogger.com (S.C. Denson) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:30:00 +0000

Time for the gloves to come off... or rather be put on.

While I would love to save money by installing geothermal and coating my roof with solar panels, the money for the initial investment just isn't there. Meanwhile I live in a house built in the 1920's with original windows and cinder block exterior. Even the price of replacing the windows gives my husband hives and dry heaves. We just don't have the cash even with the all tax incentives out there.

But then this house was built in the 1920's. Peolple have lived whole lives in this house and survived every winter. The question is how? Can we live as they lived? For the answer, I have to turn to other countries who still practice the old ways to keep their bills down.

First of all, wear long johns. If you're scared people will think you are fat, just remember that in the spring you'll get lots of compliments on how much weight you've lost. And if you think your little tots might protest, just turn down the heat first. They will gladly leave them on to stay warm.

Second, heat rooms you live in instead of the whole house. Yes, you'll need to keep the thermometer high enough to keep the pipes from freezing, but just enough. You don't need every room set on 80. A small space heater will heat the T.V. room pretty fast. If you all pile in the master bedroom to watch T.V. before bed, even better. You're warmed up for bed, can get under the covers, and then turn off the heater.

Third, gloves and scarves can actually be warn indoors for a variety of tasks. Why do you think proper ladies of the past wore them so often? Remember the clerk from Scrooge? He too wore the fingerless kind for good reason: scrooge wouldn't heat the building. If you want to spend your money on something fun instead of heating, reach for a pair of gloves. Maybe you don't want to start a load of laundry with gloves on, but you can type, read, and even pick up toys with gloves on. They are cheap, cheap, cheap. Really I'd rather wear out a nice pair of gloves and get to go pick out a nice, new pair of gloves than pay the electric company anyway.

Finally, move your body. Okay, put away the game controller or remote control and pull out the dance pad or Wii Fit Board. A sedentary body feels a lot colder than one with adequate blood flow. Yes, I know you've had a hard day's work, but you're wasting money on a gym membership anyway. Make yourself move at home. This will warm you up and keep you trim under the long johns.

Hope this helps you take a nip at Jack Frost!

Everybody Needs A Second Hand

noreply@blogger.com (S.C. Denson) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:38:00 +0000

Tips to Successful Second-Hand Shopping

1) Check with friends before buying sports equipment or costumes for kids. Borrowing a child size golf set for a week long camp is more effective than buying one. After you see if your child likes the sport and wants to stick with it, then fork out the dough.

2) High School and College Students need basic word programs and printers, possibly basic Internet. If they live at home and have access to the main home computer, they do not even need Internet for their personal computer. Check with local computer stores and pawnshops for used computers when the need arises. Younger kids can use even older computers.

3) Work with friends to match up sizes in hand-me-downs. One of our best friends has a son and daughter exactly the same age as our kids. They were an unlikely match up for hand-me-downs until we realized that our younger children couldn't fit in the jeans from our older children. Her oldest wore a regular and mine wore a slim while my youngest couldn't button up his brother’s slims and her youngest had too much room in her brother’s regulars. We started swapping jeans as soon as our oldest kids outgrew them so that our youngest kids could have the right size.

4) If you find a garage sale or a friend with kiddos one size older than your own, hand over your name and number with an offer to buy all hand-me-downs in the future. Lots of people do this to avoid the headache of garage-saling.

5) Know your local boutiques and work ‘em, girl friend. Sell what you don’t need and give the owner your phone number and list of sizes. I guarantee you, she’ll call when she gets a load of clothes in your size. Bonus: you get first pick.

6) When you’re redecorating or remodeling, go online and check the newspaper classifieds from the nearest city suburbs. Upper class people redecorate long before their refrigerator light goes out. Some sell their couches on a yearly basis.

7) We have as much fun putting together costumes on Halloween as we do Trick-Or-Treating Halloween night. We do it as a family and treat it like a scavenger hunt. We may hit two cities and four Goodwills, but we always have a great time. Also, check out the costumes after Halloween. You can buy them for pennies, load them up in a trunk, and give them as Christmas presents. Trust me, kids love dress up.

8) Babies grow out of clothes and equipment faster than you can say, “We’re having another baby!” They move through the development stages and then you are left with large boxes in your garage. Find a friend who just had a baby and borrow through the stages. When her four-month-old no longer needs the arc-de-toys-you-kick-at because he’s ready for the walker-de-toys-makin’-noise then borrow the arc and give it back when your baby is ready for the walker. Chances are her baby will have moved on to crawling and is in need of toys-you-gnaw-on. She’ll have everything back by the time she has baby number two. In the meantime, neither of you will have a garage full of toys your holding onto for the next baby. To pay her back for sharing, make sure you share a few of the items you get at baby-showers, even if you haven’t used them yet.

9) Children need to move through hobbies like salmon need to move upstream. Learn the trade routes your community has in place and stop by the pawnshop. Also check E-bay and classifieds from local cities. You really don’t want to pay four hundred dollars for a flute your child will use one year before dropping out of the school band to join the flag team. If she really shows a passion and devotion, then surprise her with the shiny open-holed Guggenheim with the extra B flat key. By then, she’ll know how to take care of it and won’t dent it pretending she’s already on the flag team.

10) When buying clothes, it is more important to buy clothes that fit and flatter, than buy labels that make you look fatter. Get the book “Trinny and Susannah What You Wear Can Change Your Life” to learn how to pick clothes that look great on you. You can always find great buys second hand that flatter. Use the money you save to buy good underwear. A great foundation looks better and gives you more confidence no matter what you cover over it.

Gifts That Never Stop Taking

noreply@blogger.com (S.C. Denson) — Sat, 03 May 2008 19:30:00 +0000

Our lives continued to be cluttered for years. We moved into a smaller place to save on rent, but paid for a storage unit in the meantime. We bought a house with as much storage space as we could afford, albeit still way below what the bank said we could afford. We moved into our house with one child and we filled up our basement and attic. By the time our next child came along, we still had to ask, “Where will we put him?”

While our parents pestered us to get a bigger house, we kept working to rearrange. With every holiday, our adoring relatives packed more and more toys around our children. I spent more hours moving boxes from one location to another than I spent time playing with my children and working as a writer. I felt suffocated and depressed. I dreaded Christmas because I knew that I would spend January trying to figure out where I would put all the new presents. February, March, April and May would be spent getting ready for the massive garage sale. If I had spent that many hours working a part time job, I would have made a lot more money than I did at each garage sale.

Five years ago, when Extreme Home Makeover first came out, I sent in a tape. In looking over my audition tape and then watching the show weekly, I realized something poignant. I didn’t want my house razzed to the ground, I just wanted to come home and not have to move boxes from one place to another. The show crew left behind rooms that were open and simple in their elegance. The children’s rooms were geared toward one hobby or another, not every hobby known to mankind.

The night I came to this conclusion, I didn’t get up and bulldoze my basement, but something did change inside of me. I stopped making Christmas lists for one thing. If our moms pry it out of us at the last minute then that is eleven months out of the year they are not buying for us. I recently went so far as to limit the number of gifts to one at Christmas and one at birthdays. No more large presents at Valentines Day and baskets bigger than the Easter Bunny’s. No more carloads at Christmas and UPS boxes that fill up our porch.

I also found books and magazine articles on organization and clutter control. Slowly connections began forming in my brain about how our clutter affected our finances:

We pined for a bigger house instead of using what we had.
We ate out a lot because I spent so much time digging out instead of cleaning up.
My time to make money was profoundly limited not by time spent with the kids but by time spent managing the kids’ stuff.
Worst of all, we missed time together as a family DOING enjoyable activities because we were so busy OWNING things we never got around to DOING.

Diligently, we began to dig out. Hubby at first resisted, unwilling to spend the time getting rid of things, especially gifts or things that we might need. He gave in to my pestering because he feared losing me more than he feared losing his stuff. Later, he realized that the less we owned, the more time I had to spend my weekends with him.

This weekend my husband rearranged a set of shelves under our basement stairs and cleared out our last fortress of outright storage clutter. He looked around afterward, rightfully proud of a job well done and commented on how hard we’ve worked over the last year and a half to turn the basement into a place where living can happen. I had to agree but I think that the job started when we brought that first load from both sets of parents and began to merge not only our lives but also our stuff. After ten years of marriage, we’ve finally become one. I’m extremely proud that we’ve come so far and confident that we'll keep going, getting better.

If you’re interested in living instead of mere ownership management, here are a few of the books that helped me along the way.

Organizing From The Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern It’s All Too Much by Peter Walsh
Also, try out the Fly Lady.com

You can also Google "Clutter Services + Your Area" and find nearby professionals who can help you clear out.

Gifts That Keep On Giving -The Love List

noreply@blogger.com (S.C. Denson) — Sat, 03 May 2008 15:00:00 +0000

Clutter costs money. The more stuff you have, the bigger the house. The bigger the house, the bigger the house payment, not to mention electric bill, storage facility fees, pest control, allergy medicine, crane operator... Here are a few tips for limiting what comes into your house through the various special occasions. These are also considerate gift ideas if you are shopping for friends or family who are cutting back.

1) When getting married, scan for what you really need at the moment, not what might look good in your future billiard’s room or your retirement condo. Furnish your kitchen and your bathroom sparcely. When you can afford a big house, then you can certainly afford to buy more items after you sign the deed. If you expect a lot of money doled upon you, set up an account with your bank or travel agency so that people can contribute to your college loans or your honeymoon fund or better yet, a down payment on your first house

2) When friends offer to throw a baby shower, ask for a diaper shower or gift certificates for formula. You could also ask people to contribute toward something big you’d like for the baby like a camcorder or nice camera. Babies do not need a room full of toys and certainly your friends can give you hand-me-downs instead of buying new..

3) When you send out birthday party invitations, ask for disposable gifts. Crayons, bathtub paints, sidewalk chalk, movie tickets . . . all these gifts will be used up within a certain amount of time. They won’t have to be sold three months later at a garage sale. My mother-in-law once gave the boys window markers. It was one of the funnest gifts we ever received along these lines. The boys stood at the window to draw for hours and I did not have to store one single piece of paper before or after.

4) Ask for activity gifts. If grandparents want to shower their grandchildren with something, have them shower them with time spent somewhere fun like the Zoo, Children’s Museum, a train trip . . . You know, all those expensive activities they want you to do with them but expect you to pay your family’s own way. By the way, grandparents, I can tell you that my kids can tell you everything they’ve DONE with their grandparents, but they can’t walk into their room, pick up a toy and tell you who gave it to them. If you want to buy love, buy a ticket to Six Flags.

5) When Christmas rolls around and people want to know what you, the adult, want for Christmas, ask for something you really need or want to do. Over the last several years, I’ve asked my parents for and received Lowe’s Gift Certificates. With my Christmas money, I’ve replaced our toilet, planted spring flowerbeds, painted my room, put a fence in back of the house, stained said fence, replaced our outside water spigot, and put insulation on the water pipes in my basement. Many people don’t like to buy gifts to fulfill a need, but I can tell you that fulfilling a need creates a feeling of relief. I end up more grateful. I’ve also asked for clothes and movie tickets because I love date night with my husband. My mother-in-law and cousins do a great job picking out clothes for me. So far, no movie tickets, but I’ll keep asking.

Gifts That Never Stop Taking

noreply@blogger.com (S.C. Denson) — Fri, 02 May 2008 18:26:00 +0000

When we registered for our wedding, Hubby and I used the scanner like a magic finger. . .

I want that, that, and that.

That would be nice to have.

I’ve always wanted one of these.

POOF! Be careful what you wish for.

We never really thought about what we would do with all the presents if we actually got everything we asked for. When we arrived home from our honeymoon, we opened a whole room full of presents from everyone in our lives that loved us enough to buy off our outlandish registry. We opened china place setting and iced tea makers, crystal saltshakers and Dremmel tools. Of course we didn’t actually have any place to put any of it. For the next several months we created cubbyholes to stow away wedding gifts that we rarely used.

At the same time that we opened every small appliance known to mankind, we didn’t open flatware, plates, and glasses. The same couple that went snap happy with the scanner (that would be us) had to wait for more holidays before our parents were able to fill in those gaps. The fault certainly didn’t lie with all our relatives who dutifully bought off our registry. The fault lay with us and we slept in that bed. You know the bed. All our fine china was stowed under it.

In addition to the wedding presents, we also cleared out all our stuff from our parents’ homes: all the stuff we saved from childhood, the dining room set Boyd’s parents no longer used, all our dressers and an extra queen sized bed in case we had company. Our first apartment was a nice two bedroom, two bath. We had a kitchen bigger than our present house. Somehow, within a matter of months, we only had walkways. Our living room furniture was crammed into the dining area and our big dining room set filled the living room. So did the upright piano neither of us could play and the eight Ramada chairs I bought when the hotel remodeled. You couldn’t actually walk around the table to sit down. Company climbed from one chair to the next to get to their seats. And I can’t forget to mention our bikes. With nowhere left to hang them, we hung them over the piano and the dining room set. “Watch your head as you climb to your seat . . .”

We were not paying for a place to live at that time. We were paying for a place to store our stuff for our future. We just happened to sleep in our storage facility. In September, after marrying in July, we found out (surprise!) we were going to have a baby. Our first thought was not one of joy. Our first thought was, “Where are we going to put it?”

In the coming months, the same relatives who loved us enough to buy from our wedding registry also loved us enough to shower us with baby gifts. We stacked them up on top of everything and hung them from our bikes on the ceiling. We moved some of our dressers until we could squeeze a crib at the foot of our bed. I spent the same amount of hours moving our belongings from one place to another that most people spend working a second job. I didn’t feel like a “messy” person, because everything was orderly and clean, but I did feel exhausted and depressed. I felt useless, like my entire life was being wasted moving boxes from one place to another the way a child moves the puzzle pieces from one square to the next until suddenly a smiley face takes shape. I never saw the smiley face.

Looking back, the tragedy was not that we were in debt and got pregnant sooner than we planned. The tragedy was that we were holding so tight to our future that we forgot to enjoy what life brought us: a beautiful child, full of smiles and kisses, bright eyes and big hugs. We didn’t even have time to play with him because we were so busy moving boxes from one place to another.

To be continued . . .

Baggy Budget 101

noreply@blogger.com (S.C. Denson) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 18:33:00 +0000

I kid you not, our first big fight came a week after we got married. I decided to buy tampons bulk at Sam’s Club. Hubby had no idea tampons cost so much money. A few days later, Hubby pulled into a gas station just to buy a soda and a candy bar. How dare he tell me I couldn’t save money on bulk tampons and then waste money on soda at a gas station? How dare he!! Did he not care about me at all?!?!?!?

The truth? We both had basic needs, but had no idea about the other's basic needs and the costs associated with those needs. I never mentioned the cost of tampons while we dated. I never considered that the cost of tampons would be paramount to happily ever after.

We had to get our needs on paper for the other to see. When we saw them on paper and the associated cost, they no longer threw us for a loop. I could see his concern that three months worth of tampons might mean he couldn’t get the oil changed the next day, (but once the oil was changed, hey, why not buy soda and candy?) Once basic needs landed on both radar screens, fights ended before they began. This system of putting needs on paper and knowing where and when your money needs to be spent is called a budget. People have apparently been using it for millennia. We just happened to catch on right after we got married.

We also both came into the marriage with a set of wants and dreams. I love expensive ice cream. He loves good running shoes. We both love adventure travel. Our wants needed to be put on paper, too- all of them. We couldn’t afford them, but they still needed to be on paper. Once we could see them all, we could prioritize our wants and decide what to save for and what to sacrifice. We decided to make deep cuts in our spending, but we also decided to save for the ski vacation we took two years later. As we sacrificed individually, personal pity parties ended when we looked at the other's wants and what they were willing to sacrifice. Yes, I may be eating bargain vanilla, but he’s wearing no-name running shoes. How do you say, “I love you?” Thank each other for sacrifices made.

After we had all of our basic necessities and frivolities on paper, we divided our money into purchase categories. Money was alloted to each category. For instance, tampons came from the "Toiletries" category. Zip Lock baggies came from the "Household Maintenance" category since they were about to help us maintain our new household.

In order for us to wrap our minds around spending money in certain categories and tracking our spending, we had to make our budget into a baggy budget. At payday, we paid tithe, rent, electric, and debts with big checks. Then we divided our remaining money into Zip-Lock baggies, literally. We had so much money in each bag for food, eating out, clothing, toiletries, etc. The money went out and the receipt for the purchase went right back in. We had to make the money in each bag cover our needs in that category until the next payday. If I wanted tampons bulk, I could buy tampons bulk, but I’d have to wait and buy make-up the next month. Hubby knew he had money in the bag for oil changes and brake fluid. If he pulled into a gas station for soda and a candy bar, I knew that the money came from our “Eating Out” baggy and not my “Toiletries” baggy. Eventually, he stopped pulling into the gas station for soda because he wanted to save the "Eating Out" money for someplace more enjoyable.

After a year of the Baggy Budget, we learned to trust each other and spend based on the categories. Now we no longer need the baggies because we have spending habits in place. We’ve gone back to a check book and keep it balanced. All of our reciepts are still tracked on paper, however, down to the last penny.

FOr more info on budgets, check out our get out of debt Guru, the wise one, Dave Ramsey:

http://www.daveramsey.com/

Also check out:

How To Manage Your Money By Larry Burkett

The Catholic Answer's Guide To Family Finances by Phillip Lenahan

The Budget Kit by Judy Lawrence

The Personal Budgeting Kit by Silvia S. Lim

The Everything Budgeting Book By Tere Drenth