Not Made Of Money » Frugal

Home Organizing On a Budget

Dana Joseph — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:33:48 +0000

An organized home is a beautiful sight. Nothing is as reassuring as the ability to find anything in your house within a few moments because everything has its own place. It’s just much easier to relax in a well-organized home.

Of course, the first step to getting organized is to get rid of any unnecessary clutter. But what do you do with the stuff you’re left with after you’ve purged your home of its extraneous contents? You can’t get rid of everything, so now you’ve got to deal with everything that’s left.

Getting organized is easy when you have plenty of containers and systems to hold your stuff. The problem is that all of those pretty containers can be expensive. You could easily spend way more than is reasonable to find ways to organize things like craft supplies, paperwork, or even toiletry items.

The good news, though, is that you don’t have to spend a ton to get organized. Instead, use items that you already have around the house to create your own storage devices. Look at the disposable storage containers you purchase every time you purchase your favorite groceries or toiletries. With a little creativity (and some time spent cleaning the containers up) you can have all the tools you need to keep your home tidy and enjoyable.

Try a few of these ideas:

Glass jars from grocery items – These make great containers to collect everything from bits of ribbons to hair ties. As an added bonus, the clarity of the jar makes it easy to know exactly what’s in each jar.

Shoeboxes – Shoe boxes are the perfect size to hold tons of things. I like to keep scrapbooking supplies in them because they are big enough to lie may paper goods flat. You can even turn shoeboxes into “pretty storage” by wrapping them in wrapping paper.

Tissue boxes – These are the perfect way to keep those empty plastic bags from floating all over your kitchen. Simply stuff the bags into a tissue box. You can, then, pull them out one at a time as you need them.

Plastic containers for cold cuts – If you scrub these out really well, they are perfect for holding your makeup and medications. They stack nicely under the sink and can even be packed in suitcases when you travel.

Diaper Boxes - You know those big boxes of diaper packs? Once you’ve used up all the diapers, they are perfect for storing winter clothing or children’s toys. Use self-adhesive contact paper to dress them up.

Learn to evaluate items for multi-purpose use. With a bit of creativity you can have the best of both worlds - an organized home without the high price.

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Fall Garage Sales – Time to Cash in

Dana Joseph — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 09:27:49 +0000

Fall garage sales are great whether you are looking to score a few bargains or to earn a little cash. You can find new homes for the clutter in your home. You can sell your unwanted items to start gathering money for your holiday shopping. And, you can even start that shopping. Simply choose your garage sale day, or days, and jump in.

Fall garage sales the perfect opportunity to get rid of summer toys that your family won’t use again next year. Children’s boating vests, water guns, and pool toys will garner shouts of glee from the youngest garage sale shoppers. Remember that having toys at your garage sale makes it easier for adults to shop. If the adults’ kids have something to look at, they will let their parents shop in peace.

Even more popular than summer items, fall and winter items that didn’t sell at your spring garage sale will be ripe for sales in your fall garage sale. Gently-used sweaters and coats put in regular appearances at autumn sales. Unwanted Christmas decorations, old Halloween costumes, and fall-colored home décor will also prove to be popular items.

Not all of the fun of fall garage sales is left to those who are holding the sales. There are plenty of opportunities available for shoppers, too. School clothes are often on the minds of parents during the fall season. You can get great buys on children’s clothing at garage sales. As quickly as kids grow, there is no shame in stretching your clothing budget by shopping at garage sales.

Starting your Christmas shopping during the fall garage sale season is also an easy way to get the most out of your Christmas budget. Have your kids been clamoring for a new video game system? You may find a used system, complete with games and accessories, while shopping in your neighborhood. You should also keep an eye out for items you can fix up, such as a dollhouse or kitchen playset. You can buy it early, add your own special touches to it with paint or other embellishments, and make your child’s holiday.

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Frugal Fall Fun

Dana Joseph — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 09:19:02 +0000

Family fun during the fall can be found in many different ways. Fall is a season of great weather and community festivals. Whether your family enjoys outdoors events or indoor activities, there is a plethora of ways to entertain your entire family during the temperate days of autumn.

Community Carnivals or Fairs – Almost every town has some type of celebration during the fall months. Plan for your entire family to spend an evening at one of these fun-filled festivals. You’ll get to visit with friends and neighbors, see plenty of interesting arts and crafts, and get to enjoy the company of your family. Be sure to talk to the kids ahead of time; they may want to save their allowances to buy a wristband to admit them to the carnival’s rides.

Handcraft Decorations for Halloween – Your family can have the spookiest house in the neighborhood if you are willing to put a little effort into making your decorations. Inexpensive things like gauze and construction paper make great cobwebs and spooky signs. Pool the collective energies of your combined families to see who can come up with the best creepy ideas. Gather the entire family together to convert your house for the upcoming holiday.

Take in a Game – High school football games are a staple to communities for a reason. Few events pack as much excitement into one evening. For a few dollars, your entire family can join in the festivities at your area school. And, a football game will provide entertainment for the whole night. You can cheer your hometown heroes to victory and become more connected to your community.

Go for a Walk – Take advantage of the nice weather that comes with autumn and get your family outside. If you’re an outdoorsy family, go for an adventurous hike. You might even get to see a little wildlife along your journey. Don’t be discouraged, though, if you just go for a walk around the neighborhood. Take your time and notice the things that make your neighborhood special. You can enjoy Mother Nature’s lovely autumn display and get a little exercise.

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Frugal Food Shopping: Balancing Inexpensive with Healthy

Dana Joseph — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:25:23 +0000

photo credit: Dan4th

When you’re shopping for food, you often find yourself torn between wanting the best of both worlds. You want to buy high-quality, healthy foods, but you also want to stay within the constraints of your food budget. How will you ever find a way to stretch your food dollars to allow you to make nutritious choices?

Getting creative with your meal plan will allow you to find healthy foods that you can afford. By following a few simple guidelines you can buy affordable food that you’ll be proud to serve your entire family.

Avoid “convenience” foods like frozen dinners. Frozen dinners are typically pretty expensive (when compared to preparing meals from scratch) and are often loaded with salt and preservatives.

Don’t be afraid to serve a vegetarian meal or two each week. The high price of meat may make it impractical to serve meat with every meal. Instead, try serving a simple pasta salad or spicy bean burritos.

Take advantage of sale prices on typically pricey nutritious foods such as organic products. Although these items may usually be out of your reach, sales can make it easy to treat yourself and the rest of your family.

Keep plenty of seasonal fruits and vegetables on hand as a healthy alternative to snack foods. Seasonal produce will be a much better value than potato chips or sweets.

Plan ahead to avoid the temptation to purchase fast foods for lunch or a quick dinner. Make an extra batch of soup or casserole and freeze it so that you’ll always be prepared when you need to make a meal quickly.

Shop without your children. As nice as it would be to have an extra set of hands at the grocery store, it will be much easier to avoid any temptation to buy junk food if you don’t have your kids with you. It’s very easy to give in as your little ones clamor for snack cakes and chips. Avoid the argument altogether by leaving the kids at home.

Buy store brand products whenever possible. There is virtually no difference between these generic products and their brand name counterparts, except for the difference in price.

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Look Good for Less: Saving on Haircuts and Beauty Products

Dana Joseph — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:21:11 +0000

Everyone wants to look their best all the time. You feel better about yourself and life in general when you look good. Unfortunately, things that are good for your appearance may not always be good for your pocketbook. To keep yourself in good shape physically and financially you’ll have to find a way to control the costs of haircuts and beauty products.

Clip Coupons – Coupons are a great way to cut costs on more than just groceries. Coupons for beauty products are always prevalent in the coupon circulars from local papers. And some hair salons, such as Great Clips or Custom Cuts, will mail coupons to their customers.

Visit New Salons – New salons are often eager to build a new client base quickly. Store opening specials provide a great opportunity for you to check out a new salon and get a good price.

Learn to Cut Hair Yourself – Now, I’m not suggesting you attempt a complicated layered cut on your own hair, or anything crazy like that. However, if you have young boys who have a basic cut, you can learn to cut it yourself with a good pair of clippers.

Shop Sales at Beauty Supply Stores – By stocking up on your favorite shampoo and/or conditioner, you can use high-end products without spending high-end amounts of money. Beauty Brands, for instance, offers a semi-annual sale that features the liter-sized bottles of shampoo and conditioner. Try to buy enough to last you until the next sale.

Change the Way You Dispense Your Products – Using a pump-dispenser to get a little extra mileage out of your lotion products. Remember that a squirt or two is all you really need of most products and they’ll last much longer.

Go Natural – Many different items in your pantry can be used as beauty products too. Instead of purchasing expensive eye creams, why not try using cucumber slices to relieve puffiness around your eyes? Sugar can be used to make a gentle face scrub. A quick search on the internet will reveal plenty of natural ways to improve your appearance.

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Living the Frugal Life with an Un-Frugal Spouse

Dana Joseph — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:13:39 +0000

photo credit: LabyrinthX

Living frugally can be pretty hard, sometimes. It requires a lot of self-discipline and determination to withstand all of the temptation you’ll face each time you shop, hang out with friends, or prepare meals. Being frugal becomes even harder, however, when your spouse isn’t on the same page as you are on, financially speaking.

Imagine for a moment that you’ve scrimped and saved to pay down your credit card debt, only to find that your spouse has splurged on a new television. That’s an argument just waiting to be had. You’re likely to be frustrated that all of your sacrifice has been for naught. And your spouse may feel like you’re trying to make him make sacrifices that aren’t necessary.

The only way to make a situation like this work for you is to find some common ground. Sit down with your spouse and have a really down-to-Earth talk about what you can agree on. You may start by explaining why you feel that your family should live more frivolously. Who knows; you may sway him or her to your way of thinking.

If your spouse is standing firm on his less than frugal ground, you can still find a way to get through this tough spot. Setting a few rules may help you avoid any conflicts in the future. Here are a few examples that will help you get your conversation started:

Split up different types of spending and assign the responsibility for those types between you. Agree to give your spouse full-rein over his spending area and accept full responsibility for your own. You can exercise your frugality to your heart’s content in your own responsibilities.

Agree to a spending limit for a single member of the household. Simply put, you and your spouse agree not to spend more than the agreed upon without consulting the other one first. The limit can be as high or low as you both want, as long as it makes sense to your family finances.

Make a few savings goals. Agree to earmark your savings for specific items like a vacation, debt reduction, or whatever else your family needs.

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Five Ways to Save When Grilling Out

Dana Joseph — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:01:11 +0000

photo credit: thebusybrain

Half the fun of summertime is cooking outside for your friends and family. After months of hunkering down in your house to avoid bad weather, the relaxed atmosphere of grill-side eating is the perfect way to spend an evening. Unfortunately, grilling out can be expensive if you aren’t careful. Try one of these easy ways to save while enjoying a cookout.

Be open to more than steaks for dinner. Hamburgers and hot dogs have long been a vital part of cooking on the grill. However, if you had healthier thoughts in mind, chicken is always a cost-effective meat choice. Being flexible will allow you to shop for a great price, as well as a great taste.

Shop ahead of time. If you plan ahead, you can take advantage of sale prices at your local grocery store or wholesale club. Freeze meats that won’t be used right away. Other items like ketchup and relish will keep nicely in your pantry as long as you don’t open them until they’re needed.

Don’t forget to gather supplies for your grill, too. Whether your grill uses gas or charcoal, you’ll want to make sure you have plenty on hand for the big day. Last minute shopping doesn’t leave a lot of room to comparison shop.

Save money on bread products and dessert cakes by visiting a bakery outlet. The products found here are on the very edge of their usage dates, so they’re very cheap. This is one time, however, when you shouldn’t shop way in advance.

Recruit help for big get-togethers. Having a massive Fourth of July or Memorial Day party is a blast, but the expensive of feeding all of those people may be overwhelming for one family to shoulder alone. Ask everyone to bring something to lighten the burden. Take care to be specific when you’re making your assignments; you don’t want to end up with four potato salads and no dessert.

Forget expensive marinades or rubs. Instead, borrow a book or two from the library and make your own. The best part of this tip is that you get to tweak the recipes to suit your family’s tastes and save money at the same time.

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Find Grocery Savings in Your Own Backyard

Dana Joseph — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:12:47 +0000

photo credit: Ned Raggett

Are you tired of deciding which vegetables your family will eat based upon what’s on sale at the supermarket this week? Maybe you’re just frustrated with the quality of produce available at your local grocery store. In either case, there is one easy way to make sure your family is enjoying fresh, quality vegetables without breaking your budget.

Planting your own garden is a great way to save money on your family’s fresh groceries. Depending upon the climate you make your home in, a garden can provide you with many different fruits and vegetables at a fraction of the cost of buying produce at the grocery store. And adventurous gardeners can try their hands at exotic plants that aren’t normally available at the local store.

Very few other cost-cutting methods are as satisfying in as many ways as adding a garden to your family’s way of life is. Check out these benefits of gardening:

You can plant the exact vegetables that your family prefers.

Plants started from seeds are very inexpensive.

Short growing seasons can be extended by starting your plants inside the house next to a window.

You won’t have to worry about the addition of pesticides or other chemicals to your family’s food. You will be able to control everything that goes into your garden.

You’ll never have to worry about crop shortages halfway around the world. Your only concern will be the state of the garden outside your back door.

By canning your extra produce, you can enjoy the fruits of your labor all year long.

You can teach your little ones responsibility by letting them help in the garden.

Working in the garden is a proven way to relieve stress.

You can forego joining a gym by getting your workout in the garden.

You can even save on the cost of gifts by creating vegetable (or fruit) baskets for friends or neighbors.

However you look at it, incorporating a garden into your family’s food plan is a great idea. You and your family will find that you eat better and feel stronger while working saving money. We started a small garden a few months ago. Right now we are enjoying harvesting strawberries, green beans, and tomatoes. It has been a wonderful experience for the kids as they chose which vegetables we would plant and have been responsible for weeding and watering.

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Frugal Ideas to Celebrate Father’s Day

Dana Joseph — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:40:01 +0000

photo credit: jillclardy

Everyone knows that Dad deserves a special day to say thanks for all of the loving things he does for his family everyday. But, after working so hard to improve your finances, you don’t want to get too carried away purchasing a Father’s Day gift and ruin all of your hard work. Fortunately, there are plenty of things you can do to show your appreciation for Dad on a budget.

Treat Dad to a baseball game. You can sit in the “cheap seats” to save money. It won’t matter; you’ll still have a great time. Baseball games are a fun way to spend an afternoon or evening for the whole family.

Give Dad a day or two without chores. You can take out the trash, mow the lawn, and perform a myriad of other little chores that he usually takes care of. He’ll be thrilled to have an afternoon to spend on his projects instead of looking after the mundane little tasks that seem to eat up the weekend.

Relinquish control of the television for twenty-four hours. Dads with little kids often give up their television rights so their kids can watch shows like the Wiggles, Pokemon, or Spider-Man. Imagine how much he’ll enjoy an entire day that he can spend watching whatever his heart desires. Take care to keep your promise as the day continues.

Spend the day outdoors doing something Dad enjoys. If he likes hiking, he’ll love sharing his favorite trail with the family. If he’s a fisherman, spend the day at his favorite fishing hole. He’ll get to share his hobby with the people he loves most and spend a little extra time on his hobby, too.

New photos of the family make great Father’s Day presents. You can purchase inexpensive, but attractive desk frames at your local discount shop. Then, just pop in the new pictures and wrap them up. Now, even when he’s at work, Dad can remember why he’s working so hard.

Does Dad like a particular type or series of book? If he is into the novels by Jim Butcher, you can purchase the latest book in the series. If you aren’t sure what book to get him, write down the titles of two or three of his favorite books and ask the folks at your local bookstore’s information desk to make a recommendation. You may want to couple this gift with the “day without chores.” Now Dad will have ample time to read his new book.

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Enjoy a Summer Vacation in Your Own City

Dana Joseph — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 10:37:24 +0000

photo credit: tkksummers

As you make your plans for the summer, you may be faced with the grim reality that an expensive vacation just isn’t in the cards for you and your family this year. Rising fuel costs and the recent airline issues make taking a far-reaching vacation very difficult for many people. These problems don’t mean, however, that you and your family can’t enjoy a vacation this summer.

For a week, or even a few days, try to see your own city through the eyes of a tourist. A vacation based out of your home could have all of the perks of a traditional vacation without the inconveniences of renting a car, dealing with an airport, or having to pay extravagant restaurant bills for every meal. You’ll be spend your daytime hours experiencing new parts of your city and still be able to rest your head in your own bed each night. Vacationing doesn’t get much better than that!

You should plan your home-based vacation with the same care that you would plan any other summer vacation. Having a plan will ensure that you don’t end up frittering your vacation time away doing chores or normal, mundane things while you’re supposed to be enjoying yourself. Do a little research ahead of time to determine what your family’s options are and then find activities that will interest everyone. You will more than likely find a ton of things to occupy your time during your vacation.

Check out historic landmarks – You probably drive by them all the time as you’re taking care of errands. Now you’ll finally have the time to learn the stories behind these special parts of your town.

Spend a day in a museum – Museums can focus on anything from art, specific times in history, or even automobiles. Even if you’ve visited your favorite museum before, you may find that it has changed since your last visit. Museums often have visiting collections displayed on a rotating basis.

Amusement Parks – Your kids will enjoy a day spent at your local amusement park, no matter which one it is. Regional amusement parks are often much less expensive than the nationally-known ones. Having a day at the amusement park is always a treat, regardless of where you are. Don’t forget to pack snacks, if you can, to avoid the cost of expensive park food.

If you’re still disillusioned by the idea of spending your vacation in your own city, pay a visit to your city’s tourism website. As a resident of a particular city, it’s very easy to develop a blind eye towards cool and interesting parts of your own city. Your city’s visitor center can help awaken your appreciation for the things that make your city special.

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Four Tips to Saving Money on Home Improvements

Dana Joseph — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 12:01:59 +0000

photo credit: The County Clerk

Home improvement projects can bring many hours of enjoyment for homeowners everywhere. In addition, a well-executed home improvement project can also add to the value of your home. It’s no wonder that so many people are ready to try their hands at a do-it-yourself project.

While home improvement projects often pay for themselves in the pride you feel at your completed efforts, budget-oriented homeowners will still want to keep the costs of these projects under control. Left unchecked, home improvement costs can get out of hand pretty quickly. On your next project, be sure to try these methods of controlling costs.

Complete as much of the work yourself as you can. Obviously, if you are working on a large project like building an addition to your home, you may not be able to complete all of the work yourself. You should, however, do as much of the work as you can. Painting, work site cleanup, and other menial tasks can be handled by even the most novice homeowners.

Keep an eye on special sales when shopping for your project materials. During the summer months, landscaping materials are often featured in special sales. Likewise, fireplace supplies are popular sales items during winter months. Keep upcoming projects in mind as you peruse your Sunday paper to find materials at a bargain price.

Shop unconventional retailers for your project’s requirements. Closeout stores, internet retailers, and flea markets can all yield great results while shopping for supplies for your home improvement project. As last year’s model of appliances, tile, and fireplaces are discontinued they are often sold to these bargain experts for pennies on the dollar. That savings can be passed on to you if you don’t mind doing a little searching to find your supplies.

Trade labor with friends or neighbors. If you have experience laying tile, but would rather not touch an electrical project, you may find that trading labor would be beneficial for you and a neighbor. If you have the good fortune of having a neighbor who is an expert at a skilled trade like an electrician, you may be able to work on one of his projects in exchange for his working on your project

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Six Tips for Going Organic without Going Broke

Dana Joseph — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:51:13 +0000

photo credit: ladnlins

You know that your family deserves nothing but the best produce available. In a perfect world, you would choose nothing but organic foods for preparing your family’s meals. However, the high cost of organically grown foods can seriously limit their introduction into your grocery shopping.

A few tips can help you include organic foods in your household while still keeping a tight rein on food expenses. These methods, coupled with conscientious shopping, will allow you to provide your family with some of the wholesome foods they so deserve.

Start your own garden. Growing your own produce is the surest way to guarantee that your family’s foods are free from any pesticides or chemicals. After all, the only way anything can be added to the foods from your own garden is by your own hands.

Check out your local farmer’s market. Growers who frequent these types of markets are increasingly able to meet the demands of customers looking for organically grown products. If you’re not sure about the growing circumstances of a product, be sure to ask. These growers often like to talk about their methods and will be ready to respond to your concerns.

Frequent stores that cater to the organic foods movement. Sure, you will probably find some organically grown foods at your traditional grocery store; however, they are often not at the best price available. Alternatively an organic foods supermarket will offer a wider selection of products and a regular rotation of sales on products.

Clip coupons. Like any other part of your food expenses, expenses for organic foods can be greatly reduced with the use of coupons. Be sure to check out your favorite products’ websites to see if there are any coupons you can download.

Learn to preserve your purchases and the food from your garden. Canning or freezing the excess foods you’ve procured. You’ll be able to take advantage of sale prices by buying larger amounts of your favorite items and saving them for future use.

If you put these tips to use, you’ll find that it is possible to add organic foods to your family’s diet without blowing your budget. Start slowly until you can determine which products work for you and your family. Before long, you’ll be able to be confident that you are providing your family the best possible food you can.

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Can a Freezer Lower the Cost of Your Groceries?

Dana Joseph — Wed, 28 May 2008 11:50:24 +0000

photo credit: jen dunlap

Saving on groceries has become a very hot topic lately. With the rising cost of gas prices, families are faced with spending more on transportation. That extra money has to come from somewhere, so trimming the other areas of your budget becomes very important very quickly.

You probably already know purchasing large quantities of non-perishable items while they’re on sale will help you save on groceries. But, if you have a large enough freezer you can apply the same principle to more perishable food items. Here are just a few items that can be frozen and thawed as you are ready to use them.

Meat Products – As long as everything is sealed correctly, you can save meat for quite awhile. Pay special attention to sales on bacon, pre-packaged hamburgers, and chicken.

Frozen Dinners – Although those little box dinners are pretty expensive, they are also very convenient. You can offset some of the expense by waiting until they are on sale and stocking up on them. They’ll stack nicely in your freezer and store easily.

Bread Products – Loaves of bread and buns freeze very well. If you leave plenty of time for them to thaw, you can make sandwiches and hot dogs much cheaper at your next family barbecue.

Food You’ve Prepared – It’s often much easier to make a larger quantity of your favorite recipes than it is to make the recipe twice. So, if mozzarella cheese is on sale, make two or three pans of lasagna. You can freeze the extra pans and you only have to clean up the kitchen once.

Frozen Vegetables – Stock up on frozen vegetables when they’re at their cheapest. These versions of veggies often have less salt than their canned compatriots, so they’re much healthier for your family. Pull them out as you need them and enjoy them all year long.

Stocking up your frozen pantry can add up to real savings in your grocery expenses. And with an enormous bounty of food at your fingertips, you can also make fewer trips to the grocery store. You’ll save on food and gas all in one fell swoop.

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Five Inexpensive Ways to Feed Your Movie Habit

Dana Joseph — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:25:16 +0000

photo credit: cyclone bill

Going to the movie theater on a regular basis can turn into a very expensive way to spend your time. First, movie tickets can run almost as high as $10. When you purchase a drink and snack, you can expect to spend as much as $20 for each person. That’s a hefty hunk of change for two hours of entertainment. Fortunately, there are some ways that you can manage your movie habit instead of allowing it to manage you.

Movie Night at Home – However you look at it, watching movies at home is always going to be cheaper than going to the theater. Nothing beats the thrill of finding one of your favorite movie classics on television. Why not make a night of it and enjoy your good fortune? Introduce your favorite flick to a friend and let him return the favor on your next movie night.

Rental Movies or Pay-Per-View Movies – When you just can’t stand the thought of having your movie night interrupted by the commercials that are so prevalent on television, you can still enjoy a movie in the comfort of your own home. Renting a move from a rental chain like Blockbuster or watching one of the pay-per-view movies available on most cable or satellite television systems is still a lot less expensive than taking your whole family to the movie theatre.

Discounted Movie Tickets – If you decide that you simply can’t do without the atmosphere found in the movie theater, make sure that you take advantage of any applicable discounts when you purchase your ticket. If you qualify for a senior citizen or student discount, don’t be bashful about reminding the cashier.

Check out Earlier Movie Times – Another great way to see your movie at the theater without blowing your entertainment budget is to visit the theater during matinee times. Matinee shows are usually several dollars less than the same show will cost during the evening hours. Make sure that you check with your preferred theater, though, to find out when their specific matinee times are.

Coupons – Many discount books, such as the popular Entertainment Book, will feature coupons that offer discounts on movie tickets. In addition, if you regularly attend the theater you should investigate any rewards programs that the theater might have. Sometimes you can get free snacks or even a free ticket after a certain number of visits.

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Having a High School Graduation Party without Spending a Bundle

Dana Joseph — Wed, 21 May 2008 12:45:51 +0000

photo credit: Herkie

High school graduation is an important time in any teenager’s life. It certainly requires a celebration for you, the graduate, and the rest of your friends and family. Graduation is the culmination of many years of hard work for all of you.

Although you want to give your graduate the party he’s earned, with college expenses looming, you may not want to spend all of your savings on this event. With a little creativity, however, you can have a bash that will be the envy of all of the other graduates and still have the cash to send your graduate to college in style.

Saving money on food and drink at your party by skipping the meal entirely. If you plan your graduate’s party in the afternoon, well after lunch and before dinner, you can get away with serving snacks and a few sweets at the party. Snacks like chips or pizza rolls are easy to buy ahead of time, when they’re on sale, and preparation is a breeze.

If you feel like you really should serve more than snacks at your graduate’s party, hamburgers and hot dogs prepared on the grill are a low-cost option. Be sure to check out warehouse shopping clubs for great deals on these meats. Bakery outlets are a great way to save on buns.

Saving money on the location of your graduate’s party is easy, too. If you have a large yard, you can have the party there. Otherwise, a park shelter is fun for everybody and usually not too expensive. Take care, however, to reserve your shelter early since many other families may be planning their celebration for the same day.

If an outdoor party isn’t what you had in mind, try to find an inexpensive space to have your party. Smaller gatherings may fit into your own home. If that won’t work, think about organizations you belong to that might have a space available. Churches and homeowner’s associations sometimes allow members to use part of their buildings for these types of events.

Graduation party décor doesn’t have to be over the top. The focus of this party is the success of your graduate, not floral arrangements or tablecloths. You can purchase napkins or paper plates in your graduate’s school colors. If you’re having an indoor party, you can deck the place out in memorabilia from your graduate’s years in school. You know you’ve been saving all kinds of programs and pictures over the year; now you have the perfect way to put them to use.

Finally, if your graduate has befriended another member of his class for his entire high school career, you may want to join forces with the friend’s family and plan a joint celebration. Chances are that these two graduates have shared every other important part of high school. Why shouldn’t they celebrate its completion together, too?

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