My seven-year-old daughter, or miss popular as we like to call her, has been invited to a number of fun birthday parties, everything from a hip hop dance party to a rock-climbing party. Her own birthday is coming up, and she wants a cupcake-moonbounce-girlie party for all of her friends, whatever that means. The moonbounce idea was actually her father’s, who thought renting a moonbounce might be fun for the kids. I agree that it would be, but unfortunately, since her birthday is in November (and we live in an area that has dramatic changes in seasons), it will be … Continue reading →

Save money when you use the following strategies for summer entertaining on the cheap. Keep the Food Simple Food and drinks are one of the biggest expenses when it comes to summer entertaining. You can reduce this expense in several ways, most notably by keeping everything simple. Do summer favorites, such as hot dogs and burgers with some salad and pasta or pasta salad to round things out. Desert can be inexpensive, too, from freezer pops for the kids to fresh cut watermelon. Reduce the Meat Kabobs on the grill are great because they reduce the amount of expensive meat … Continue reading →

With Memorial Day on its way and summer not far behind, you may be thinking about dusting off that grill and getting the party started. Here is how to spend less on grilling this season. Skip the Paper Products If you will be entertaining more than once, skip the paper products and invest in some pretty plastic pieces that can be reused. This will make a lot of financial sense. If you score thrift stores and clearance racks, you’ll probably wind up spending less than the paper products even for just one use! Go Light on the Meat Make sure … Continue reading →

When spring rolls around, it seems as though there is one birthday after another at my house, all the way through to the holidays. Each birthday usually requires cake, and all of those cakes can add up. I remember the year when my daughter convinced my husband to get a store bought and created Princess cake, complete with the princess characters. Since it was offered in the bakery section of the grocery store, he didn’t thin much of it. When he picked it up on the day, he was surprised to find that it came with a $50 cost. Youch. … Continue reading →

Yesterday I shared a number of tips on how you can save money on your child’s birthday party while still creating an event that they will remember always. We talked about the guest list and food. Now let us move on to other money saving ideas. Party Favors and Goodie Bags The party favors and goodie bags that are given out at most kids birthday parties are getting a little ridiculous, I think. You can easily spend a couple of hundred dollars on goodie bags, party favors and parting gifts. There are a couple of ways to save on this … Continue reading →

Our eldest son will be celebrating his 10th birthday next month, so we want to make sure he has a nice party. This is a milestone for him, the first time that he hits double digits! of course, with our getting out of debt goals, we also want to make sure that we don’t spend more money than we have to spend. Here are some of the money saving tips that we will be exploring. Keeping the Guest List Small Guest lists have a way of spinning out of control, so we will have to put a limit on the … Continue reading →

The last thing you want to do is to wind up with a heap of debt as a newly married couple, or in some cases, foster that debt on to your parents. If you are strategic, you can create the beautiful wedding that you want, without the outrageous cost. First, here is a little bit of information. The average wedding costs $20,000. While you don’t want to compromise on your dream, wouldn’t that money be put to better use toward the purchase of a house, an education, or some other plan that will foster your life together as husband and … Continue reading →