Halloween can be sort of an expensive holiday, what with the cost of costumes, decorations, candy and whatnot. And while the traditional Halloween pumpkin for Jack-O-Lanterns is not usually the most expensive item on the list there are ways to cut the cost down some, and in this economy every penny counts.

Skip the Pumpkin Patch

Yes it is really fun and sort of a tradition to take the kids out to the local pumpkin patch and do the corn mazes, take pictures sitting on hay bales, taking a hay ride, drinking cups of hot apple cider, bobbing for apples and picking out your own pumpkin straight from the patch. However, most of the time the cost for all those extras are usually figured into the cost of the pumpkin thus the cost per pound is often twice the cost per pound of what you can find in your local grocery stores. Now mind you, the local pumpkin patches are usually small local farmers and by buying your pumpkins through them you are supporting your local economy. While most grocery store pumpkins are grown by large corporate farmers. It is a choice to make. A middle ground might be to see if local farmers offer their pumpkins at a local farmers market instead; the cost may be lower since there is not as much overhead as there is at a fancy patch with tons of extras.

Buy at the Grocery Store

If money is tight the best bang for your buck is going to be commercially grown pumpkins sold at the big chain grocery stores. Prices will vary depending on where you live and what this year’s weather conditions were like. But pound for pound this is usually the cheapest way to go. Last year for example I spotted pumpkins for 18¢ a pound, while this year’s prices are higher (due to bad weather in most parts of the country) at around 28¢ a pound in my neck of the woods.

Opt For a Fake Pumpkin

If pulling out the “guts” and seeds of a real pumpkin grosses you out or you don’t like the idea of buying a food item, carving a face into it and then tossing it the day after Halloween. Then purchasing a fake pumpkin is an affordable alternative. Faux pumpkins come in a wide variety of sizes, colors and shapes these days and also in a wide price range. I have seen them for $5.00 at Walmart to $20 at more expensive stores like Grandin Road. You can get fake pumpkins already carved into silly faces or spooky designs or you can even get artificial pumpkins that you can carve yourself so that you do not miss out on the creative fun of a real jack-o-lantern. So while the initial outlay of money for a fake pumpkin might be a tad bit higher than a real pumpkin the plus side is that these last for years and years. We have had out fake pumpkins for 5 years now and all they need each year is a damp rag to swipe away the dust from being stored in the garage and the occasional new light bulb.

Skip the Pumpkin and Do Something Else

Who says you have to have a carved jack-o-lantern for Halloween. While they are traditional nothing says that you have to have them. In fact if you are not going to be home for Halloween because you will be out taking the kids trick-or-treating or at a Halloween party or some other event, I suggest just skipping this decoration and the expense. However there are alternatives to pumpkins that are still festive. Decorate empty milk jugs into ghosts and light them with Christmas lights, paint empty jars with faces and light them up with tea candles. Or even the old fashioned paper bag luminary works too for some Halloween light and décor.

Grow Your Own

While this is not a viable option for this year, if you have a green thumb and a little extra space you may want to consider planting a few pumpkin plants next spring for next year’s Halloween harvest. A packet of pumpkin seeds usually costs about a dollar and you can get a lot of pumpkin plants from a packet of seeds. They are relatively easy to grow provided you give them steady water and plenty of sunlight. This is a great gardening project for the kids. In fact, if you buy a real pumpkin this year save some of the plumpest and biggest seeds from inside, rinse them and dry them on paper towels and store in an envelope for growing in the spring!

Don’t Let Your Pumpkin Go to Waste

No matter what cost you spent on your pumpkin, if you bought a real pumpkin do your best not to let that pumpkin go to waste. I think it is shameful to throw away food items when not needed. And while most pumpkins grown for carving into jack-o-lanterns are not really the best pumpkins for making pies with you can eat the flesh from them if you want. Also roasting the seeds makes a tasty treat. Sometime zoos are looking for leftover pumpkins to feed to the animals so if you live near a zoo you may want to donate your pumpkin there. Otherwise, cut it up and add it to your compost pile.

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Tags: Frugal Living, Halloween, Jack-O-Lantern, Money Saving Tips, Pumpkin
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Here is a great depression era money saving tip that was passed down to me by my grandmother. To make your ground beef go further add 3/4 of a cup to every pound of hamburger meat when making hamburger patties, meatloaf or meatballs. Not only are you adding bulk to your meat but added fiber too!

Tags: Depression Era Money Saving Tips, Ground Beef, Hamburger, Hamburgers, Meatballs, Meatloaf, Money Saving, Money Saving Tips, Oatmeal, Quick Tips, Saving Money, Saving Money On Meat
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Looking our best is important however, tough economic times have put a pinch on some of the extras that some can afford. I know for myself that paying $150 (cut, color, and tip) to get my hair done every 2 months is an expense I have to consider cutting out of my budget. So this time around when my gray hairs were showing a bit too much I decided that I needed to find a way to still get myself dolled up without spending a small fortune. Here are my top 10 tips for saving money and still looking good.

1. Find a local beauty school: By the time a cosmetology student is allowed to work on live customers they have received extensive training already and are not “experimenting” on you. Rest assured that you will come out with a great cut and color. The students are just fine tuning their processes on you. You can save 50% or more by going to a beauty school. Beauty schools are not just for hair care, you can get a manicure, pedicure, and waxing done here as well. Ask the instructor or someone at the front desk if tips are permitted, and if so don’t forget to tip.

Find a local beauty school at one of the following links:

• CosmetologySchools.com
• BeautySchoolsDirectory.com
• FindABeautySchool.com
• Or just check your local Yellow Pages

2. Do it yourself: If you are comfortable with it there are many color at home options available in retail stores that will give you just about any choice for hair color. From all over color to highlights you can do it all in the comfort of your own home for $7.00 to $20.00 depending on the brand (of course less if you find a sale and combine it with a coupon, I recently picked up a highlighting kit for $2.00 after coupon/sale and gave my tween some highlights..she was thrilled!). There are also acrylic nails kits, that with some practice you can give yourself a professional looking manicure at a fraction of the price. Don’t forget at home waxing kits too for those that are brave! Don’t forget the hair cut, while for women cutting their own hair can be a bit difficult but trimming your bangs can easily be done at home by yourself or with the help from a friend. Additionally investing $20-$30 in a good set of electric clippers you can easily give the men and boys in your life a nice look. I personally clip my husbands hair and my two boys and save about $30 a month by doing it myself.

3. Find a different salon: If your hairstyle is pretty simple and does not require that much in the way of layers, razoring, or multiple shades of highlights you may want to consider going to a cheaper salon. Salons like Fantastic Sam’s, Super Cuts, and Great Clips can offer you a discount on your hair-do with a savings of as much as 50% or more.

4. Save On Maintenance: Did you know that most salons will trim your bangs for free. You just call in and ask if you need an appointment, then come in and the trim takes less that 5 min. Do you need a all over trim to keep you looking good between hair cuts, then use a discount salon for trims.

5. Do without: Some budgets are just not going to budge and you may need to decide that you just can no longer afford to maintain your beauty regimen as you would like to. But that does not mean that you need to look like a ragamuffin, instead think hard about what you can cut back on or out of the budget altogether. Go to the salon less. Instead of getting a cut and color every 6-8 week, see if you can stretch your time between appointments an extra week or two. Go “Au-natural”, get rid of the acrylics and learn to give your self a manicure at home. A bottle of nail polish and a nail file is much more inexpensive than a professional manicure. Same goes for a pedicure. Invest in a foot bath and some implements found in your local drug or discount store and give yourself a pedicure. I have convinced my husband that he gives great pedicures. Even if the paint on my toes is not perfect, I just enjoy the free foot massage.

Looking nice is important but you can still look great without breaking the bank!

Tags: Beauty, Beauty School, Frugal Living, Hair Cut, HCW, Health and Beauty, Hotcouponworld, Manicure, Money Saving Tips, Salon
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Go Back to School:  If you’re in a job where you’re unsure just how secure your position might be, or if you’re not making enough money to keep afloat, now might be a seriously good time to head back to school. Professions to think about are ones that are in high demand with high wages.  Nurses, pharmacy tech, and health-care fields take center stage as more people continue to age and need health services.  Whatever you choose to study, do a little research on emerging fields like alternative energy and water desalination and you may just find a new career with security.
 
Spec a Garden Plot in Your Yard:  Food prices are only going to continue to climb.  Spend this winter reading up on how to plant and grow food your climate area.  Then once you grow it, be smart about preserving it.
 
Learn to Barter:  Got a skill?  Swap it out.  If you can cook, clean, knit, give massages, fix pipes, or you’re handy in some tangible way, you might be a part of a growing group of people who’d rather chop firewood in exchange for dental care.  You’ll keep needed cash in your pocket, but you’ll also get some vital services you need.
 
Consolidate Households:  It’s a little more of an Eastern philosophy, the notion of living in consolidated households.  But if you’ve got space in your house, it might be worthwhile consolidating your household with a sibling, parent, or friend in order to split expenses and bank some money.  Or do a room/board swap with someone in exchange for babysitting, or other household services like housekeeping or gardening – services you might be paying cash for right anyway.
 
Invest:  As crazy as it sounds, there is something to the notion that investing over time, slowly and steadily, wins the race.  Investing doesn’t have to be the crazy excess that we’ve seen in New York and what precipitated where we are now as a country.  Sound investment tools still exist. And even if all you do is utilize a pre-tax account and keep the money the cash part of the fund until you’re ready to dip your toe back in the water, you’re still capturing the tax savings.  If you were invested and lost a chunk of change this past week, buying additional investments at today’s lower prices will help you dollar-cost average over the long haul. 
 
Being strategic about how you navigate through the coming months will be an integral part of your family’s financial health.  And of course, keep on couponing and stockpiling, which gives you a huge leg up over many people right now when the average US grocery bill is about $800 a month!

Tags: Barter, College, Economy, Finance, Garden, Invest, Investing, Money, Money Saving Tips, School
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