Recycling Decorations To Save Space & Money

March 21, 2011 By 2 Comments

Here are some ideas about ways to recycle decorations, use them for several holidays and save money and space.

Recyling Decorations: Making Yours Last for St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, and Beyond!

 

I love the holidays! Nothing puts a spring in my step quite like a little holiday spirit,
regardless of what holiday it is. Christmas, Easter, St. Patrick’s day, Valentines Day – any
excuse to put up some decorations and spend some quality time with my friends and family.
I’ve got to admit that the decorating is my absolute favorite part of the preparation (and some
times my favorite part of the holiday itself!) but with so many holidays to celebrate and decorate
for, my garage has become a war-zone of colors and holiday spirit. With spring around the
corner, I decided there’s no better time than now to get it organized and stowed away. When
I was rummaging through my piles of mismatched decorations, I happened across an old
Christmas wreath that I had long since abandoned. As I looked at it and reminisced, I was struck with a revelation! I pulled out my craft
box and tied on some yellow, blue, pink and green pastel bows and all of a sudden it was an
Easter wreath! I topped it off by gluing on a few plastic eggs and it struck me that I could do this
kind of thing with most of my decorations. Imagine if I could have only one set of decorations
that I just alter a little to apply it to each holiday. I would be saving space, saving money and
saving the environment from all the waste product of discarded decorations. At once, I stopped
imagining and got to work on this fun spring project and here are some of the things I came up
with!

First and foremost, I must stress that you have got to stay organized! While there are
many things that can be altered to many holidays, it’s still nice to have some things special to
each holiday and that’s where things tend to get messy if you don’t have a good organizational
system. I got some plastic bins for $2 each at my local market and labeled one for each major
holiday and a few for “Multi-day” decorations. That way I won’t get my Easter wreath (which
could so easily be changed to apply to any multitude of special occasions) with my other
exclusively Easter stuff. With this system, when a holiday is on the approach, I can pull out my multi-bin and start working (or should I say playing?) on altering them to fit
the next occasion!

  1. Christmas to Easter: I used some of my old Christmas ornaments as Easter decorations. I painted some
    of the round ones with pastel yellow, pink, green, and other spring colors in Easter-egg designs
    and used some of the nativity scene ornaments as a center piece. You can get these for a steal
    at after-Christmas sales. I also got some of the Christmas gift wrapping paper scraps I had left
    and shredded it to use as confetti for Easter baskets and decorative fluff to surround my kids’
    dyed Easter egg projects.
  2. St. Patrick’s Day: I had some green strands of lights that I had actually
    bought on accident for Christmas thinking that they were the soft yellow type and ended up
    using them to wrap the trunks of the palm trees out front. I threw these up around the house for
    the beginnings of a festive green feel. I also got some old ice cream cartons that I had washed
    out in preparation of recycling them and used green, gold and black construction paper to turn
    them into top hats for the family. Cover the green with red (or stripes of red) and now they’re
    hats for Santa’s helpers. Cover that with black and now they’re pilgrim hats for thanks giving.
  3. Halloween to Thanksgiving and Christmas: I found that I can bunch up some of the fake cob-webs I used for Halloween to look
    like snow for Christmas. I got a hand full of fake pumpkins since they really apply to just about
    any fall season holiday. I painted old plastic bottles with water-color and strung lights through
    them, then washed and repainted the bottles to match the color scheme of the next event. I
    folded old colorful seasonal cards into origami shapes that correspond with any holiday.

The options are virtually limitless. All you need is some old stuff and a little imagination!

Rebecca Chelsey loves to spend time her family and has quite a creative streak. Outside her life as mother and wife, she also works for Homeseasons, which has simplified the holidays with 4th of July decorations, Halloween Holiday arrangements and ideas for every holiday in between.

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Bill Consolidation

February 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I always recommend staying out of debt. However, I know that sometimes that can be impossible to do or perhaps you have been in debt and are now making strides to get out of debt. I have been incredibly fortunate to have never carried a credit card balance & in general have made sure to pay cash for everything other than our house (which we are working diligently on paying off). We also had to borrow for one of our vehicles, but we were able to pay off that debt within a few months rather than waiting for years to pay it off. That is something else that you should look for when you must go into debt, just make sure that you are able to pay it off early without any penalties. For those of you that are looking to get out of debt, a bill consolidation may be beneficial. I am definitely no expert in this area, so Martha has written a guest post to help education us about bill consolidation.

How can a bill consolidation program help you dodge debt problems?

You may be able to dodge your debt problems with the help of a bill consolidation program. In a bill consolidation program, the counselor negotiates with your creditors on your behalf to lower the interest rate on your debts.

What happens in bill consolidation program?

You will be able to get bill consolidation help from a credit counseling agency or a debt consolidation company. When you go to a credit counseling company for debt help, they will first figure out your financial position and then help you in formulating a budget. The counselor will then negotiate with your creditors to lower the interest rate on your debts. You will then have to make the monthly payments to your counseling company. However, instead of the several payments that you had to manage before, you will be able to do away with a single payment each month.

What are the benefits of bill consolidation program?

The different benefits of a bill consolidation program are:

  • Reduces the rate of interest – A bill consolidation program reduces the rate of interest on your unsecured debts. The counselor as said before negotiates with your creditors to lower the interest rate on your debts.
  • Lower monthly payments – As the counselor negotiates to lower the interest rate on your debts, the monthly payment too gets lowered. Moreover, the several payments get reduced to a single payment.
  • Your debts become manageable – As the interest rate and the monthly payments get lowered, it becomes easier for you to make the payments. Thus managing your debts becomes easier enough. However, you will have to keep in mind to avoid incurring further debts. Try lowering the usage of your credit cards.
  • Your credit score improves – As you make the payments through a bill consolidation program, your credit score improves. Your payment history accounts for 35% of your credit score. Thus, as you make the regular payments through bill consolidation program, the payment history builds up and this in turn helps in improving your score.
  • You get a debt free life – Last but not the least, a bill consolidation program helps you to become debt free and thereby helps you to lead a stress free life.

Other than dodging your debt problems, you may also be able to avoid going bankrupt with the help of a bill consolidation program. So, make best use of the program so that you can avoid bankruptcy.

Author’s Bio: M.J loves to write financial articles and she is a contributory writer associated with the Debt Consolidation Care Community and has written several articles on debt consolidation, debt settlement, bill consolidation and get out of debt for various financial websites. She holds her expertise in the Debt industry and has made significant contribution through her various articles.

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How To Save Money At Disneyland

February 18, 2011 By 2 Comments

We have so much fun in Disney. We have been to Disney World several times, granted these tips are for Disneyland, but some of them will apply to both. Disney vacations can definitely be expensive. However, there are still a few ways to save money.

Previously I wrote a post about ways to save money at Disney World that you can check out here.

Well, here are even more tips to save money from someone who actually worked for Disney!

So you want to go to Disneyland – the happiest place on earth but you do not want to pay a FORTUNE. Well Budget Savvy Diva – who worked 3 years at the resort and attended the parks over 100 times – the low down on HOW you can save money.

Deciding When To Go:

Though the price of ticket does not change – except for the slight yearly increase – which affects both Disneyworld and Disneyland at the same time, the amount of enjoyment will vary on how many people are attending the parks the time you are going. When I taught new hires at Disneyland I told them of a study where it was determined that the average number of attractions that a guest will enjoy in a day is 10. This means that it is slightly less then $10.00 per attraction if you divide by the ticket price.

The best days to go is Tuesday or Wednesday by far. The worst is Sunday – try and avoid Sunday – due to the amount of annual passholders who live around Disneyland – Sundays even on off-season is VERY heavy.

Best time of the year is Sept – Nov and Feb – May. Please note that Spring Break is SUPER BUSY – I remember many times that both California Adventure and Disneyland being sold out during those few weeks.

Because Disneyland sits on a mere 40 acres when it is busy you really feel it. There are some sections such as Adventureland that seem to always feel packed even on a light day. When the amount of people reach a certain level Disneyland enforces traffic flows using guest control which means a lot more walking for you to get where you need to go.
Resort Tickets
This is one of the more important tips to help you save money. It is much better to buy your tickets separately, outside of a package. The Disney packages do make things much more convenient, but the cost is a great deal higher
Parking:
Try and carpool because parking is at a new high of 15.00 per car – there is not many other options BUT if you want to know Budget Savvy Diva’s trick is parking at Downtown Disney which gives you three hours for free – and moving the car and re-parking. It takes about 20 minutes to do – I know this might not be a possibility for you. Again I am extremely frugal and try and cut as many costs as I can.

Food:
First off – Have a Large Breakfast – common sense I know. But there have been times I have been SO excited to go to Disneyland that I plum forgot breakfast. Food like the prices seem to rise in cost every year. To give you a reference whole fruit ( banana, apple or orange is 1.79) .
Bring your own food: Disney has no problem you bring food into the park – just nothing in glass. Try and bring at least two snacks for every person in your party. Trail mix is great to munch on. Do not bring anything that can cause havoc in your bag such as a juice box – it might become an empty juice box when you get off of space mountain :)
HUGE Budget Savvy Diva tip: If you are in California Adventure make sure to head over to Mission Tortilla factory where you will see a cute 2 minute video on the history of the tortilla AND you receive a FREE tortilla freshly made before your eyes – each person in your family gets one. Boy Howdy are they yummy. PLUS if it is your birthday – you can get a free birthday button at city hall and at guest relations in California Adventure – you get a FREE bag of tortilla ( 10 to be exact) – how COOL is that. They are pretty filling and are a perfect snack.
Knowing where to eat in the park is important to. There was a general consenes between us castmembers about where to eat in the park and where not to eat.
Let’s get where NOT to eat:
- Tomorrowland Terrace – The food at best is average.It is your normal burgers and sandwichs. But the prices are pretty high – no entree under 8.00. I do not want to be mean or anything but I would rather walk across the park then eat anything from there.

- Village Haus Restaurant – Again greyish burgers and greasy fries. It is located in Fantasyland and gets full pretty quickly.
Where to Eat:
- Redd Rocket’s Pizza Port – Located in Tomorrowland is AWESOME with a capital A. The pizza is not that out of price and the slices are HUGE – this restaurant always has a lot of traffic but also has a lot of space and indoor and outdoor seating – because of the heavy business there is always fresh pizza being served. PLUS you can buy a whole pizza pie perfect for a larger number parties. The pasta I hear is amazing – the Chicken with Alfredo Pasta is always a hit. There was a time when the cafes for cast members would periodically serve the Chicken Alfredo and you thought it was pizza day at school by how excited cast members were about it. Also the salads are made fresh right in front of you – always a plus. There is a soda fountain where you serve yourself so you can control the amount of ice you get. The soda is already chilled so you really do not need that much ice.
- Rancho Del Zocalo – Located near Thunder Mountain – you can actually see the attraction as you eat. Hand-downs this is where I eat every time. I L.O.V.E this restaurant – I find the food to be quiet good and the prices to be fair. Most plates are around 12.00 ish dollars – my husband and I always share a plate. . Entrees include citrus fire-grilled chicken, 4 cheese enchiladas, soft tacos, burritos and even a tostada salad. The salads are made to your liking right before your eyes – again a plus. I have a gluten allergy and they were very quick to get a chef who personalized the meal to fit our needs free of charge. The outdoor eating is beautiful – we sometimes go there just to take a break and watch people ride thunder mountain.

Dole Whips – If you have not had a dole whip then you NEED to get one – you will thank me. Words cannot describe how awesome it is. The dole whip cart is located next to the original Tiki Room in Adventureland. Dole whips are pineapple flavored – but it is not exactly ice cream nor yogurt – it is very airy soft serve. Unlike other food products that have rose in price at Disneyland during the years – dole whips have not. Dole whip cost 2.79 and boy to the pile it high. My husband and I love to get a dole whip and watch the Enchanted Tiki Room.
Though there are other amazing restaurants at Disneyland – these are the one’s I feel you get the most bang for your buck.

Other tips:
- Bring in your own water bottles – you can always fill them up at the many water fountains.
- Also did you know that you can get free water from any service counter – that is right – save over 2.70 every time you ask for a cup of water.

Bring extras: Suntan lotion, digital cards or film for your camera, baby wipes, ponchos, anything and everything you can think of that you might need at the park. They are all available inside for purchase but you will again pay a premium. Instead, once inside the park, rent a locker for just a few bucks and place those items inside. Then when you need them they’ll be waiting for you. Another biggie is a stroller. If your child is still in a stroller, bring yours. The strollers for rent start at $10 per day

Filed Under: Budget Saving Tips

Ways To Control & Pay Off Debt

February 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

I really encourage people to pay cash & live debt free. We have managed to pay off all of our debts other than our mortgage which we are aggressively trying to pay off. Here is a guest post with some tips to help pay off your debt.

Debt pay off – Ways to control it and pay off your debts

In order to pay off your debts and become debt free you will have to bring some changes in your financial habits. Only then you may be able to become debt free with the help of the other debt pay off options like self repayment plan, credit counseling, debt management plan, DIY debt settlement or debt settlement program, or DIY debt consolidation and debt consolidation program.

Ways to control debt from increasing

Some of the tips that can help you control the debt amount are:

  1. Avoid taking new credit cards – In order to put a control over your debts, it is really essential for you to stop yourself from getting any new credit cards. Credit cards are revolving credit that generally has high interest rates. As a result it has greater impact on your debts.
  2. Lower usage of existing credit cards – Another thing that you need to do is lower the usage of your credit cards. If you use lesser credit card there will be lesser options to default on. Rather use cash to buy everyday items. Keep credit cards for emergency proposes.
  3. Maintain good health – Good health also helps you put a control over the debt amount. If you are in good health, you may not have to buy medicines using your credit cards and pay medical bills.
  4. Apply budgeting – Formulating a budget is also important task for you that can help you to stop the debts from spiraling out of hand. If you budget you will find out your affordability. However, you will have to stick to the budget in order to put a stop to the increase in the debt amount.

Ways to pay off your unpaid dues

  1. Take help of debt pay-off calculator – A debt pay-off calculator helps you to find out the amount of debt payments that you will have to make each month. Thus, it helps you to decide how much money you need each month to address your financial obligations. It also helps you to decide on the debt relief option that may be most suitable for you to become debt free.
  2. Negotiate with creditors – Then, negotiate with your creditors or lenders for a repayment plan or loan modification as per your financial condition. Get the written repayment agreements.
  3. Settle your debts – If self repayment option cannot help you in your debt situation, you can negotiate debt settlements with your creditors. Debt settlement reduces the outstanding debt amount in general by 40-60%. You can either negotiate with your creditors all by yourself or else you can take the help of a debt settlement company.
  4. Consolidate the bills – You can also consolidate your bills if you think that consolidation can help you in your financial hardship. Debt consolidation bundles all of your debts into a single large debt with lowered interest rate. You can consolidate your bills on your own or just like settlement, you can also take the help of a debt consolidation company.

Other than the above debt control tips and pay off methods, also try to make more than minimum payments on your debt accounts. If you don’t have enough money to do this then try to improve your income.

Author’s Bio: Martha Jackson loves to write financial articles and she is a contributory writer associated with the Debt Consolidation Care Community and has written several articles on debt consolidation, debt settlement and get out of debt for various financial websites. She holds her expertise in the Debt industry and has made significant contribution through her various articles.

Filed Under: Budget Saving Tips

How To Eliminate Debt & Live Debt Free

February 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

For many moms, getting out of debt is one of the hardest things in the world to do (after bringing up the kids that is). After all, debt has become so synonymous with daily life for Americans that living debt free seems almost like an impossibility. The fact is, getting out of debt does not have to be nearly as difficult as many people make it out to be. So long as you can take into consideration a few important factors, eliminating debt and living debt free can be within reach.

Getting Out of Debt

Before you can ever consider living a debt free life, you need to first consider the ways that you are going to get out of debt. Determining how you will get out of debt is without a doubt the most difficult part of the process, but once you set it into motion it gets much easier. Remember that getting out of debt will benefit your whole family, and is a necessity if you have children. The following are 5 fundamental basics to living debt free.

Stop Using Cards – Perhaps the most important thing to remember when trying to get out of debt is that you need to completely stop using any credit cards or lines of credit that you may have open. Remember that getting out of debt requires you to move forward with your finances, and if you continue to charge unnecessary purchases to credit cards, you’ll only be setting yourself back.

Request a Balance Transfer – One of the main reasons why many people have difficulty getting out of debt is because they are paying high interest rates. By transferring your balance to a new card that has a low interest rate, you can eliminate the massive amount of interest that you may be paying each year on one or more of your credit cards.

Work with a Specialist – Dealing with credit card companies can be rather frustrating, and is often too much stress and pressure for some people. Working with a debt specialist or one of Dave Ramsey’s ELP’s to help get yourself back on track, but will eliminate the need for you to communicate directly with the credit card companies that you owe money to.

Negotiate with Lenders – Whether you have debt with credit card companies or other types of lenders, it is almost always possible to negotiate your interest rate and payment terms. The more you can do to negotiate, the better off you will be in he long run. If you’re really in crisis then get some free help from a charity run credit and debt counseling service. Here in Australia we’ve got the good people at the Credit and Debt Helpline run by Wesley Mission.

Utilize Debt Snowballing – With debt, snowballing refers to chipping away in the most reasonable manner possible. Starting with your smallest amount of debt (be it a credit card, loan or otherwise), work to pay it off in full before moving on to the next smallest debt you have. Over time, you’ll have all of your debt paid off in a streamlined fashion. Its not thee most efficient method mathematically but then people aren’t robots. We need the encouragement of seeing debts paid and dealt with before moving onto the bigger ones.

Living Debt Free

Getting out of debt is truly a huge relief and it will benefit every part of your life. The fact is, however, without learning how to stay out of debt, the chances that you might end up right back where you were are far too high to risk. The following are four tips that should help you to stay out of debt, no matter what the situation.

Avoid Credit Cards – I help to run a credit card comparison site I’m saying that for a lot of people they would be better if they avoided credit cards altogether. Many people get out of debt, only to find themselves signing up for a new credit card less than a month later. A word of advice: if you are intent on using a credit card, be sure to pay it off in full each month and use it responsibly.

Use Cash for Everything – When you pay for your purchases with cash, you’ll never have to worry about debt, interest or anything in between. Use cash for all of your purchases – especially major ones.

Hire a Financial Planner – Chances are that if you got yourself into significant debt in the past, it could happen again. By hiring a good CPA/financial planner, you can ensure that this doesn’t happen at least in the short term until you get used to your new responsible spending + saving lifestyle; think of it as therapy for your bank account.

Pay Attention to Your Finances – Many people find that they end up in debt simply because they stop paying attention to their finances. By staying on top of your transactions at all times, you can avoid letting this happen. Consider using pen & paper or a simple spreadsheet to manage your monthly budget and do audits of how much money you have in all your bank accounts. Or if a bit savvier use a service like Mint.com to keep track of your spending.

To put it plainly, debt is nothing to mess around with. By taking into consideration the above advice, you can ensure that you and your family can truly life a life free from all debt.

David writes about comparing credit cards, including a range of interest free balance transfers that help you reduce your expenses and get out of debt faster.

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