Search Results for: blog party gift wrap for little or no cost

Fun Christmas Competitions Among Friends

What’s a little competition amongst friends? If you can maintain some perspective, a little friendly rivalry during the holiday season can be fun. This is especially true if you are hosting a Christmas party.  Playing games and setting up a few holiday-themed contests allow you to keep spirits high.  Your guests will surely leave your home smiling after participating in the following festive activities: Scavenger Hunt:  Use a bunch of holiday items, such as tree ornaments, stuffed snowmen, and jarred holiday spices as the objects your guests have to hunt for in and around your home. Santa Scamper:  Players race … Continue reading →

Ideas for a Frugal New Year

Celebrate and ring in the New Year without breaking the annual budget. Here are some great ways that you can have fun and party like the prices were in 1999. There are plenty of inexpensive options for having a frugal New Year’s Even, whether you like to have a wild time out or just stay close to home to celebrate. Balloons are generally very inexpensive, especially if you skip the helium and just blow them up yourself. Check out the dollar store for colorful balloons and then put them everywhere: tied to the furniture or just all over the floor. … Continue reading →

Selecting the Flowers for Your Wedding

Earlier, we talked about choosing the size of your wedding bouquet. Now it’s time to break the whole flower thing down to the finer basics – what kinds of flowers do you want? There are a number of different variables to go into the equation. Let’s take a look at them. 1. What time of year are you getting married? If you’re working with a florist, you can be almost sure of getting the flowers you want, regardless of season, because florist flowers are grown in greenhouses. However, there are some things, such as waxflower, which are only available during … Continue reading →

Frugal Month in Review: November 2008

November to be is the beginning of two things. The holiday season starts with Thanksgiving, and then there is winter. Despite the fact that winter doesn’t officially start until next month, the fall seems to give way to the winter in November anyway. We had a day of snow already. Here is looking ahead to December and the end of the year! November 1st Frugal Month in Review: October 2008 “Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.” – George Eliot. November 2 … Continue reading →

Frugal Living Week in Review: November 17th Through November 23rd

There has certainly been some good news about gas prices going down, but I don’t think that we are out of the woods just yet. Being good stewards of our resources is a necessity. Take a look at last week’s articles about Frugal Living. November 17th Frugal Living Week in Review: November 10th Through November 16th Job losses seem to be increasing to the point where I am hearing about more and more people that I know being laid off. But I am hopeful that things will turn around. Look for some future posts on dealing with some of these … Continue reading →

Eleven Days ’til Christmas

With only eleven days left, it’s time to take stock, or should I say take inventory? Don’t forget about school… Have you picked up the snacks for the class party? The grab bag gift? Something for the teacher? Take stock of gifts you have purchased, and those you still need to get. Make sure you have plenty of supplies for wrapping or decorating packages. If you’re like me, you may be juggling ways to make each pile of presents look reasonably alike. We try to spend roughly the same amount on our kids and try to make sure each one … Continue reading →

Movie Ticket or Lottery Ticket?

Last night I was cleaning out my purse and came across a couple of movie passes. The little pieces of paper have been sitting in my wallet for months—ever since my young daughter fell asleep during “Charlotte’s Web.” She was so looking forward to seeing the film when it first opened back in December 2006. A few days before Christmas I broke down and bought tickets for us to see the show—-she ended up falling asleep on my lap about five minutes after the theater lights dimmed. (Note: It was the early showing, but I figured all the excitement leading … Continue reading →

Save Money Wrapping Your Gifts: Part One

You really can wrap a beautiful gift for super cheap. Don’t spend lots of money on expensive wrapping paper. Instead, try these ideas for wrapping presents: Buy brown paper. Brown postal-type paper is much cheaper than wrapping paper and it can look really nice given the proper embellishments. For instance, ask your children to draw holiday decorations on the paper with crayons, markers, stamps, or watercolors. Or, simply tie a ribbon around it. For an added touch, tie on a jingle bell, an inexpensive ornament, or even a light bulb from a burnt-out strand of large Christmas lights. Or try … Continue reading →

The ABC’s of Frugal Living: 26 Tips to Live a More Frugal Life

The ABC’s of Frugal Living – 26 Tips to Live a More Frugal Life The frugal living blog at families.com is chock full of great information to help you live a more frugal lifestyle. We all strive to save money and the bloggers in this category are here to help. A: Amazing Dates Have a date night for less! New Cheap Date Ideas A Cheap And Fun Date Idea It’s Date Night Date Night On a Budget B: Budgeting Make a plan and stick to it. Be sure you watch where your money goes each month and try to do … Continue reading →

Top Ten Pre-Wedding Tips

The following wedding tips are designed to help you make your perfect day more perfect. Planning a wedding is a lot of work and whether you use a wedding planner, do it yourself with wedding planning software or coordinate it with your parents – these tips are designed to help. Order Extra – Order extra invitations, envelopes and more. It may add a little bit of cost at the beginning of your planning, but it’s better to have a handful too many than need to put in another minimum order later Save Wedding Cake – Your first anniversary is a … Continue reading →