Living like an Ant in a Grasshopper world

Win $100 Wal-Mart Gift Card!

December 12, 2008 By

Great news!
You have a chance to win a $100 Wal-Mart gift card courtesy of Wal-Mart and ElevenMoms!

All you need to do is sign up for the Frugalous monthly newsletter below and post a comment telling me about your favourite Holiday tradition.

You have until 11:59pm EST on December 20th, 2008 to enter.
Winner will be notified by email and will have 24 hours to reply.
Good luck!

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Frugal Holiday: 8 Frugal Yet Fun Holiday Entertaining Ideas

December 12, 2008 By 9 Comments

The holiday season is in full swing, money’s tight but you want to get together with your friends and family. After all that’s what the holidays are all about – good times with the people you love. I’ve come up with a list of ideas for parties and get togethers that won’t break the bank.

  1. Tree trimming party – gather your friends and family around to help you decorate your tree. Serve hot apple cider and cookies and make sure you load up a bunch of great Christmas Carols on your stereo.
  2. Sledding or skating party – invite the gang to meet you at your favourite sledding hill or ice skating pond for a couple of hours of fun. Have a snowball fight, make snow angels, remember how much fun snow can be.
  3. Tree-cutting party – instead of buying your tree from a tree lot this year head out to the country to a Christmas tree farm and cut your own. Pack thermoses of hot chocolate and sandwiches and have a winter picnic while you’re out. This is especially fun if you have several families rounded up to go.
  4. Board game night – invite a group of friends over to play some of those old favourites like Monopoly, Scattergories or Rumoli. A tray of cookies or sandwiches within easy reach and you’re all set.
  5. Have a neighbourhood potluck – assign each household a course: appetizer, salad, soup, side dish, main dish, dessert.
  6. Craft night – for those of you who love to craft and are trying to make last minute holiday gifts, get together with your like-minded friends to share few hours of crafting while you catch up with your friends.
  7. Cookie exchange – gather up a bunch of friends, assign each a type of cookie (you don’t want everyone to make Snickerdoodles do you…. hmmm… or do you?), everyone makes enough of one type of cookie to swap with the others. This is a great frugal practise. Instead of buying ingredients for several types of cookies you only buy ingredients for lots of one.
  8. Food exchange party- Why limit yourself to just cookies? Why not gather with friends and batch cook cabbage rolls, lasagana, stew, chili and other freezable make-aheads.

Feel free to add any of your own frugal yet fabulous holiday entertaining ideas in the comments below!

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Win $500 Wal-Mart Gift Card!

December 11, 2008 By

500 dollar Wal-mart Gift Card Giveaway

One of the best parts about being one of Wal-Mart’s ElevenMoms is the opportunity to give great prizes away to my readers and subscribers.

Nickelodeon has teamed up with the Elevenmoms and Wal-Mart to offer you a chance to win a $500 Wal-Mart gift card just in time for the holidays. I’m sure you can think of lots of ways to use that card and entering is simple. Just follow the steps below for your chance to win and then head on over to the ElevenMoms website for more chances to win.

How to enter:

  1. Follow me on Twitter.
  2. Sign up for the Frugalous Monthly Newsletter (sign up is on this page).
  3. Post a comment below with ONE money saving tip for the Holidays, your twitter user name, and the email address you used to sign up for the newsletter.

This contest ends at 11:59pm EST on December 14, 2008.
Please note that you must complete all 3 steps to win! Good luck!
Winner will be notified by email on December 15, 2008 and will have 24 hours to reply.

EDIT: a reminder folks – you need to comment with 1. your money saving holiday tip AND 2. your twitter user name used to follow me AND 3. the email you used to sign up for the monthly newsletter. If you do not have all THREE of these in your comment you will not be eligible to win!

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8 Ways to Stick to a Frugal Holiday Gift Budget

December 4, 2008 By 2 Comments

The holiday season is the time of year when even the most frugalous of the frugal have difficulty sticking to budgets. Here are 8 ways to to stick to a frugal holiday gift budget without losing your marbles:

  1. Always shop with a list of names, spending limit, and ideas. Stick to your list and don’t be dazzled into impulse spending by store displays.
  2. Stick to your budget. If you’ve budgeted $25 for Cousin Joe and you can’t find a sweater under $30, move over to accessories and maybe grab him some gloves. If you go even $5 off your budget per person it will add up quickly!
  3. If you shop early in the season and discover later that an item you bought has been discounted, take it back to the store. As long as you have the receipt, chances are they’ll refund you the difference.
  4. Buy gift cards for the hard to shop for people in your life. Teens, grandparents, and even cranky uncles can always find a way to use the gift card in their favourite stores.
  5. If your budget is really tight this year, give a homemade gift like cookies or a gift of your time, such as volunteering to babysit or mow an elderly neighbour’s lawn.
  6. A family photo album or your family history on dvd is a great and invaluable present for a elderly, housebound or out of town relative
  7. For large or extended families put everyone’s name in a hate and have each family member draw a name and buy a gift for that one person.
  8. Limit your gift list. If you prefer not to exchange gifts with a friend, neighbour, or co-worker this year, just say so. It’s very likely that she’s trying to pare down her Christmas list too!
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