Search Results for: tag treasure hunt

Eleven Ways to Save on a Child’s Birthday Party

How can you throw a great kids birthday party on a budget? Keep in mind the following 11 ways to save. Take an inventory When you are just starting to plan your child’s birthday party, first take inventory of what you may already have on hand. This can help you avoid unnecessary purchases and save money. Combine the craft with the take away Set up a craft that goes with your birthday party theme. Let the kids create or decorate it and then take it home. This way you can skip the goodie bags. Some ideas include sand art, photo … Continue reading →

Pitfalls of Yard Sale Shopping

Yard sales, garage sales, tag sales, whatever you call them, they are in full swing during the early summer and a lot of fun to shop. Through yard sales, you can pick up some great deals, and since you never know what you are going to find, yard sale shopping can be a real treasure hunt. You do have to be careful when shopping at yard sales. There is buyer’s remorse, of course, when you pay too much for an item or get home and realize it isn’t what you wanted. There really is no return policy. If you aren’t … Continue reading →

Thrift Store Shopping Tips

You can cut almost any of your shopping budget by 60 percent or more when you shop at local thrift stores instead of retail stores. Imagine getting designer jeans for $5 or a new-with-tags name brand dress for only $3. How about that new hot video game for $15 instead of $50? It is all possible when you use thrift stores as a valuable resource to save your family budget. Getting Over the Ew Factor If you haven’t visited a thrift store lately, you should stop by and take a look. What you see may surprise you. Most thrift stores, … Continue reading →

Extreme Fun in the Extreme Heat

This week’s heat wave has left many families deep-fried and looking for ways to cool off. Our city was under an excessive heat warning for five straight days. Unfortunately, when you have young kids, sitting around in air conditioning the entire time isn’t an option. When the mercury starts to rise, it’s time to flex that creative muscle to come up with ways to beat the heat and still have fun in the process. Some ideas include: Blind Man’s Catch: This game is basically like Water Balloon Toss, but with the added challenge of being blindfolded. Split a group of … Continue reading →

Top Ten Thrift Store Tips

Whether you are looking for vintage or just a great bargain, shopping at a thrift store can be a great experience. From my admired outfit that cost $1.50 to valuable Antique Road Show finds, you’ll do better when you keep the following top ten tips in mind. 10. Shop around to find the best thrift stores. Don’t get turned off by the first thrift store you find. Some are much better than others, so shop around. 9. Set aside enough time to really browse. Sometimes you’ll walk into a thrift store and see exactly what you are looking for from … Continue reading →

Planning a Family Reunion: Including the Whole Family

Often reunions that focus on older lines of the family or extended family reunions usually attract the interest of older family members. Children, teenagers and those who have younger children may have a difficult time attending or show little interest in learning about the family lines. While not all events may be appropriate for people this age, it is still important that they learn about their family heritage and history. Here are four activities that you can do to include the younger generations in your family reunion. First you can have a packet of information, crossword puzzles and word searches … Continue reading →

It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year for Thrift Store Bargains

Is the Christmas music still playing in your home or have you already moved on from the holidays? I’ve been encountering a little bit of both in the past two days. There is a desire both too hold on to Christmas as it has come too quickly, and a desire to prepare for the new year. One way that folks are moving on and preparing for the new year is by getting all of their last donations in before the calendar hits 1/1. This way, everything can be taken off of taxes for the year. This is true not only … Continue reading →

Egg-citing Easter Travel Packages for Families

It’s hard to believe that Easter is just about two weeks ago (especially since my daughter just finished opening Christmas presents last week while we were in Hawaii visiting family). Clocks spring ahead one hour this weekend and the countdown to spring break is on for many school kids around the nation. As such numerous resorts are offering Easter travel packages designed especially for families with young children. If you aren’t headed to grandma and grandpa’s for Easter you might consider taking advantage of the following deals which offer some creative holiday-themed events for the entire family. ARIZONA The Enchantment … Continue reading →

Your Chance to Run, Run with Rudolph

Here’s a trip my daughter would love to sign up for… thankfully she is only 3 years old and can’t read this blog. However, if you are as intrigued with reindeer as she is (her stuffed Rudolph–complete with battery powered red nose–from Build-A-Bear Workshop is practically Velcroed to her) you might consider booking a flight to Anchorage, Alaska. The northern city is hosting a reindeer adventure that is akin to the running of the bulls in Spain. The big event dubbed the “Running of the Reindeer” makes its inaugural debut next month. The opportunity to run shoulder-to-shoulder with a herd … Continue reading →

Holiday Thrift Store Deals

The holidays are a great time to check out your local thrift stores. Here are some reasons why you’ll find some great treasures this time of year, and how you can take advantage of the deals. If you have never shopped in a thrift store before, take the opportunity to do so now. That is because the month of December is an especially great time to go treasure hunting. Why? Well, for a number of reasons. You will find a large array of merchandise as people are rushing to get their donations dropped off so they can claim the items … Continue reading →