Category: Holidays and Special Occasions

Holidays and Special Occasions / Reader Suggestions

13 Oct, 2017

Reader Suggestions On How To Have A Frugal Halloween

Welcome to my monthly Reader Suggestions feature! Every month I post a question to our Frugalwoods Facebook group and share the best responses here. The questions are topics I’ve received multiple queries on and my hope is that by leveraging the braintrust of Frugalwoods nation, you’ll find helpful advice and insight. Join the Frugalwoods Facebook group to participate in next month’s Reader Suggestions! Halloween is one of my very favorite holidays! Well, that plus Thanksgiving and Christmas… I’m basically in a state of...

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Holidays and Special Occasions / Kids

22 Feb, 2017

Our Thrifty And Simple Baby’s First Birthday Party

Babywoods is a year old! Ok actually she’s almost 15 months old, but sometimes Mommywoods doesn’t get around to writing articles exactly on time…. At any rate, our bebe crested her first annual milestone in late November and we feted her in style. Frugal style. Once again, I’m here to divest everyone of the commonly clung-to assumption that child-rearin’ is expensive. A Photographer For A First Birthday Party?! I have heard–and seen–tell of some lusciously...

Holidays and Special Occasions / Marriage & Money / Reader Suggestions

3 Feb, 2017

Crowdsourced Ideas For A Unique And Thrifty Valentine’s Day

The intersection of money and romantic relationships represents one of the most volatile combinations. Furthermore, disagreements over money are a leading cause of divorce in the United States. Clearly, we have unresolved issues over not just our money, but how we spend our money in service of our relationships. And into this fray enters Valentine’s Day, the ultimate consumer binge on useless clutter designed to be generically, thoughtlessly romantic. Wait, wait, you say! Valentine’s Day is cute! It’s fun!...

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Holidays and Special Occasions

21 Dec, 2016

Our Festive, Frugal, and Merry Holiday Traditions

On the heels of our mega Uber Frugal Month download on Monday (you can still sign-up to join the Challenge!), I thought we could use a bit of festive frivolity and cheer. Plus, you all know I’m a rampant holiday lover, so really I just wanted an excuse to wax about the season. I firmly believe that celebrating frugally isn’t merely possible, it’s preferable. It removes stress over gift giving, highlights the actual reason for...

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Featured / Holidays and Special Occasions / Smart Buys

29 Nov, 2016

How To Give Frugal Gifts With Joy And Generosity

It’s time for the annual Frugalwoods frugal holiday gifts run down (check out the 2014 and 2015 lists too)! Although the mere phrase “holiday gifts” is anathema to many a frugalyte, there are ways to maintain one’s frugal predilections while celebrating all things festive and jolly. Chiefly, I wish to point out that the holidays should not come as a surprise to anyone or their budget. Indeed, we’re graced with this merry season every single year. Without...

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Food / Holidays and Special Occasions

21 Nov, 2016

How I Fight Food Waste At Thanksgiving And Beyond

October to January is easily my favorite time of year. It’s fall, it’s gorgeous, and it’s when all the best holidays happen. Nestled in the middle is Thanksgiving, which I consider a uniquely frugal occasion. Thanksgiving doesn’t encourage excessive spending, it traditionally has no gifts, there’s little commercialism associated with it (aside from the Thanksgiving Day Parade, which I got so fired up about last year that I wrote this), and it enjoys a cult of personality around leftovers. What...

Holidays and Special Occasions

16 Nov, 2016

The Patented Frugalwoods Cheap Christmas Card Hack

This could be a super short post. I could simply say: “don’t send holiday cards because they are expensive and decidedly un-frugal.” But, as those of you who’ve been reading for a few years know, I’m a holiday junkie. I can’t get enough of festive tidings and yuletide trimmings and hall decking. And so, this post is not short. Don’t Skip The Holidays… Frugalize Them! Obviously the ultimate frugal approach is to skip the holidays. To...

Frugalwoods Philosophy / Holidays and Special Occasions

14 Nov, 2016

Starting The Thanksgiving Season With Gratitude

As Thanksgiving looms on the horizon–scratch that, “looms” sounds entirely too negative… as Thanksgiving blossoms (?) on the horizon, I’m reflecting on how tremendously grateful I am for the wonderful things in my life. I am fortunate beyond measure and thankful in a profound, deep way. Beyond my gratitude, I’m cognizant of the privilege that catapulted me to this point and mindful that not everyone in our country is so fortunate, nor so immune from hardship. I...

Holidays and Special Occasions / Marriage & Money

12 Feb, 2016

A Frugal Valentine’s Day: Do Instead Of Buy

I do not hate Valentine’s Day. I’ll be honest with you right now, I’m rather a sucker for adorable little holidays like Halloween and V-Day. Ok, being totally honest, I like big holidays too. Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays… I’m smitten! What I do hate is the rampant commercialization of these holidays. But for my part, I choose to tune out the endless prompts to buy more stuff. Instead, I focus on the love that springs forth when we don’t get...

Holidays and Special Occasions / Kids

16 Dec, 2015

The Immense Benefits of Giving Children a Frugal Christmas

Although my husband and I aren’t frugal weirdos per say, we do try to keep things as frugal as possible in our household, especially around the holidays. Part of our interest in frugality stems from the period of time when we lived in Grenada so my husband could attend medical school there. During that time we learned to be wise with our money, and we even paid off all of our credit card debt because...