Many of you will be hosting Thanksgiving dinner at your house this year. It doesn’t take long to figure out that this feast can break your food budget.  Here are some tips to help you to spend less and hang on to that money for upcoming Christmas expenses.

Prepare the foods yourself.  Don’t go out to the ham store and order a precooked ham or turkey.  I’ve heard of some people paying $30-40 for a precooked ham.  Yikes!
Shop the pre-Thanksgiving sales.  Some stores offer tremendous weekly specials to lure you in.  Look for buy 1 get 1 free specials on vegetables, …read more

Let the parties begin! With several holidays so close together, this is the time of year when folks begin planning their parties. Entertaining doesn’t have to mean spending a lot of money. Here are some money saving tips to get you started.

1) Shop sales and use coupons. During this time of year, you might see holidays items on sale. If you see the cocktail weenies on sale buy 1 get 1 free, go ahead and purchase enough for your party rather than paying full price later. Of course, make sure they’ll still be in date.
2) Have a potluck or cook …read more

Disney on Ice is coming to town and they’re offering some great savings on tickets!

Use the coupon code MOM and you can purchase a 4-pack of tickets for only $44 for weekday shows.  Any additional tickets beyond the 4-pack for the shows during the week are still priced at $11.  Or if you prefer to go on the weekends, you can save $4 off weekend tickets. To receive the savings, go to TicketMaster.com and enter MOM in the “MC promotion” box when purchasing the tickets. 
This offer is not valid on Rinkside or VIP seating and it cannot be combined with other …read more

Theatre Communications Group’s Free Night of Theater program is celebrating its 5th anniversary and returns to theatres across the country on October 15, 2009.  You can get a thrilling night at the theatre absolutely free of charge.

Last fall, 650 theatre companies, in 120 cities from coast to coast, opened their doors to over 65,000 new theatergoers. This year, our participating theatre companies will offer even more tickets for free. Join thousands of audience members – from Portland to Charleston, and from Houston to Minneapolis – and explore all the wonderful entertainment your local theatre community has to offer!
The Free Night …read more

Guest post by Stephanie Appleton.
Entertaining a family on a budget can be a challenge. It isn’t impossible though. Investing a little time and following a few simple tips, can save you a lot of money. 

Research.
This doesn’t have to be a lot of work. I regularly check the event calendars on our state, state parks, and library websites. These are full of free and low cost events for all ages. We also get a free paper that lists quite a few events.
If there is someplace you want to go, check their website first. You can find coupons or times that are …read more

I’ve been wanting to see Fireproof for quite some time now.  I frugally resisted going to the theaters to see it and decided to wait until it was released to buy or rent the movie.  From the reviews I’ve read, I figured it was a movie worth buying, just like Facing the Giants.  I haven’t had a chance to look in the stores for the flick; after all I live 30 minutes from Wal-Mart! 
Sunday I decided to stop by the local Movie Gallery to rent it for my husband and me.  There was only one video left on the shelves.  I took …read more

I love movies.  I have a confession, when we didn’t have kids and had more money than we had sense, we used to go see movies every weekend.  Sometimes even 2 a night.  We were money wasters <shocked face>.  Now that we have to really watch every penny, movies are out for the most part.  We download movies and watch them on our laptops – totally legal and almost free.
But I recently got the opportunity to watch Open Season 2 and to tell you what I thought.  So here is my honest opinion.  I thought the movie was cute and …read more

On February 17, 2009 all television stations in the US will stop broadcasting in analog and will switch to digital broadcasting. 
What does this mean for you?
If you’re like me and you’re cutting costs by using an antenna, then you’ll need to do something so that you’re not stuck without channels.  You can purchase a tv with a digital tuner, connect to a paid service such as cable or satellite, or you can purchase a TV converter box. 
The TV converter box costs about $50, but the government is issuing $40 coupons to help with this purchase.  You can get up to …read more

Saturday, September 27 is Museum Day.  This means that you and a guest can get into hundreds of museums and venues nationwide.  Just print out the admission card from the Smithsonian website.  The site will also tell you of places you can visit.  Have fun!

The air is getting crisp and things just seem a little more pleasant.  Well, in my opinion anyway.  You know what this means.  The county and state fairs are coming!!!!
I don’t know about you, but when I hear the words county fair I think of nauseating rides, weird smelling food, and money.  Of course, the reason I think of money is because you can really spend a lot of money at the fair. 
Here are some ways to help you keep from spending so much money at the fair:
1.  Set a budget and stick to it.  There’s nothing wrong with having …read more