As days shorten and the weather becomes cool and windy, people are turning their thoughts toward holiday entertaining. For many families, the entrance into a busy season begins with a fun Halloween party. If you want to keep the screams and boos away from your checkbook this year, here are seven tips for holding a fantastic, yet inexpensive, Halloween party.

Shop Discount Stores

Get as much as you can for the party at dollar stores or discount Halloween warehouses. This can include decorations, costumes, dishes and some goodies. Dollar stores usually have great plastic party trays, bowls and cups for a dollar each. With a little creativity, you can use these items to provide ghoul-worthy décor for your entire home.

Make and Store Food Ahead of Time

Avoid a last-minute rush and hefty grocery prices by purchasing party ingredients on sale when you see them. You can make and freeze some foods for your party. For more information on properly storing a variety of foods, visit http://www.dailybread.com.

Replace Store-Bought with Homemade

Instead of expensive candies, make homemade cookies or dessert bars. You can also make some of your own decorations. A pack of black construction paper and a few templates can quickly transform your bathroom ceiling into a den for bats. You can cut out poster board jack-o-lanterns and lace them with glitter. Mount them in darkened corners and use small tea or night lights to provide a glow that will make the glitter come to life.

Make it BYOB

If the party is for adults, you can save big by asking guests to bring their own drinks. For additional fun, host a drink swap. Ask every guest to bring an extra of their favorite drink and have them all trade to try something new.

Make it Potluck

For a family affair, host a potluck style party to reduce your food budget. You can add to the fun by asking everyone to bring their favorite Halloween themed dish and having a contest. Choose several judges and enter dishes in categories like “desserts”, “chips and dip” and “veggies”. Have something fun, like a Halloween goblet full of chocolate coins, to give the winners. You can find prize items at dollar stores.

Make Decorations during the Party

If you are hosting a Halloween party for children, then skip decorations altogether and provide construction paper, scissors, glue and a few other craft items for guests. Ask them to create their own decorations for a contest. To really get the kids going, divide the house or room into sections and create teams. Have each team decorate a single room, wall or corner. Declare winners in categories like spookiest, most creative, most colorful, best use of paper, best ghost or best jack-o-lanterns. You can purchase prizes in a party store. Keep them simple and inexpensive so you can give an award to everyone.

Buy and Plan Early

For those who are good long-range planners, one of the best ways to save big on a Halloween party is to purchase decorations and supplies almost a year in advance. During the week after Halloween, you can purchase items at 50 to 90 percent off. Some things to look for include paper plates, cups, napkins, decorations and non-edible goodie bag items like plastic teeth, spiders, pens or erasers. Avoid buying candy, because it will be hard or spoiled by next year.

It is not hard to throw an inexpensive Halloween party. You just need to plan ahead, make due with things you already have, and be willing to put in a bit of time making homemade items. Think creatively and focus on having fun with your guests and any party will be a hit.

Agnes Jimenez is a professional blogger and writer. She writes for many online establishments and partners with those ones that offer alternative lifestyles to consumers.  As a frugal living advocate, she recommends DailyBread.com for those budget conscious moms who want to get big savings in shopping for food and food storage.  You may follow her in Twitter @empressofdrac.

First of all, you will need to remember to stay focused. No one else will be there to motivate you when you’re working for yourself, so you need to be passionate and motivated about the project at hand. Often, it can be all too easy to become distracted by facebook or foxy bingo, or even by your children if you are also a stay at home mum. Often, you might find that you get more done if you work in short bursts. Why not try working for an hour, and then giving yourself fifteen minutes ‘off’? This might feel like you are taking a lot of breaks, but it can actually be key in helping to improve efficiency.

It is also a good idea to give yourself business goals or targets, just as you might be given by your boss when working as an employee. This can help you to stay motivated and to track your progress. Just because you are setting your own deadlines, doesn’t mean that you should be any less determined to meet them. After all, the only person responsible for any future pay rises is you.

That said, it is also important to maintain a good work-life balance when working as your own boss. If you have chosen to run a business from home in order to have more time with your family, then there is no point in spending your entire time working. Try to finish your working day at a reasonable time, and avoid working weekends when possible – much as you would as an employee.

Menus4Mums, the online family meal planners, have given us these tips to
help get your grocery costs down but keep the quality high.

Tip 1:  Plan your meals.  Start by writing a list of all the meals
your family likes.  Then, each week, think about whether there will be any days when people will be away, when there will be guests, or when you’ll need a quick meal.  Look online at supermarket offers and build meals around these ingredients.  Plan a suitable meal  for each day, ensuring that you have a good balance of protein (eg meats, fish, pulses), carbohydrates (eg potatoes, rice, pasta), and vegetables.  Think about using up leftovers (what about turning Sunday roast chicken into a delicious risotto on Monday?).  See what needs using up in your freezer or fridge. And try to include an interesting variety of tastes and textures.

Tip 2:   Cook one main meal for the whole family. You can take out portions for small children before adding salt and strong spices, and you’ll be getting them used to eating
the same as the rest of the family. You’ll also be saving on gas/electricity, not to mention your precious time.

Tip 3: Batch cook.  This saves both time and money, so must be good!  So next time you are making Spaghetti Bolognese, make at least twice the amount and freeze what you don’t need
immediately (labeled, of course!).  That means you can take advantage of the frequent supermarket offers on multiple packs of mince, plus save on fuel costs. And another day you’ll hardly need to cook!

Tip 4: Write a shopping list.  Now you know what you’ll be cooking next week, it’s easy to write down the ingredients you’ll need.  Check the outer reaches of your store cupboard and freezer for items you already have – no point buying them twice!  Don’t be too frugal when drawing
up your list.  If it’s unrealistic, chances are you’ll ignore it when you get to the shops and just pile treats into your trolley.

Tip 5:  Never shop on an empty stomach.  If you do, you just know you’ll end up at the
checkout with a trolley brimming with cake, crisps, and chocolate – and a huge grocery bill to boot!  Instead, if you are feeling peckish before hitting the shops, have a banana or a quick
snack.  It could save you a lot of money.

Tip 6:  Don’t use a basket for small shops.  If you pop in the supermarket mid-week to top up on fruit or milk yet come out with a £30 bill each time, try not using a  basket.  Chances are you’ll just buy what you went in for!

Tip 7: Buy Seasonally.  If we want strawberries all year round, we can have them, but they will cost more out of season- both environmentally and in our wallets.  Not only that, but they
don’t taste as nice!  Out of season, try buying frozen fruit and vegetables which will have been frozen within hours of being harvested and before losing much of their nutritional value.

Tip 8:  Beware of BOGOF and Buy 2, Get 1 Free deals.  They’re great if you will use double the amount, but you might find it is still cheaper to buy an own brand product.  Be particularly wary of deals on perishable foods – just because you can buy two bags of pears for the price of one doesn’t mean to say that you will want to eat them all!    Finally, many of the deals are offered on
foods which are high in salt, sugar and fat, so beware.

Tip 9:  Taste test lower range products.  We don’t mean suddenly going from premium
brands to the most basic products.  But if you give some of the middle range brands a try, the chances are you won’t notice a difference.  Look at the health data on the packaging too – some lower range foods are actually healthier than the premium varieties.

Tip 10:  Give the supermarket a miss sometimes.  Try buying your meat at your local
butcher – you’re likely to be impressed by the quality.  Plus if you can buy exactly the quantity you
want, saving money and waste. Seasonal fruit and veg is often cheaper at your local market or farmer’s market, and you could turn it into a trip out with the family.  What about taking the family to your local Pick-Your-Own farm in the summer? Or check out your local farm shop for quality, local, seasonal produce.

Menus4Mums is a fabulous online family meal planning service for busy parents. Members get a new meal plan each week for dinners the whole family will enjoy, with recipe cards and a super-handy shopping list broken down into supermarket aisles.  The meals take advantage of supermarket special offers to keep grocery bills down.  All this from £6.95 for four weeks.   Visit http://menus4mums.co.uk/ for more information and to download a FREE one week sample menu plan.

“Life for parents is always hectic and demanding and requires considerable patience, humour and organisation. Celina Lucas has written a compact book crammed with insight and helpful advice for parents. She shares her own experiences and laces them with practical thoughts on how to run a business from home.

It is easy to identify with the key topics under scrutiny. The section on being more organised struck a chord but plenty of tips and suggestions are offered up on a range of work start-up issues. This book aims to get you thinking more practically about your own situation and how best to run a home based business. Celina provides links to more detailed facts and advice, such as a free 7 day eCourse.

‘How to Run a Work from Home Business When You Have Small Children’ is geared mainly for mothers who are looking to get back into a viable working routine; it strives to encourage a proper balance between the need to support one’s children, yet earn money. As a stay at home Dad I was able to see the similarities with my life, and specific advice for Dads would definitely be welcome in any future edition.

It was refreshing to read statements such as ‘When you don’t have childcare . Accept that you’re not going to get much done.’ This book is not about going on a guilt trip, but getting a business going. It is a supportive, compact and honest assessment of what can be done with a young family.

Best of all, the points are made clearly and concisely so by the end you should feel motivated and keen to try something new.

A refreshing read to refresh your career.”

www.alandapre.com

Alan Dapré is an experienced author of more than forty books for children, and has written over a hundred television scripts, transmitted home and abroad. His plays have been on BBC Radio 4 and published for use in schools worldwide. A career in teaching offered insights into the stories children enjoy, while his time in television production revealed his ability to tell engaging visual narratives, often to tight deadlines.

Seriously though, years of living frugally means we do approach the idea of expenditure
with sweating palms and narrowed eyes. As we’re expecting a new arrival to the
clan this summer, I was convinced that we wouldn’t have to buy anything for the
new baby once it arrives. After all, we’ve got everything we need from the
first time round.

However, a little bit of reading and advice has convinced me that the purchase of a
double buggy might be an investment worth making. After all, we could make do
with a single pushchair and a sling, or a pushchair and a buggy board but:

a)    If this baby is anything like its older sibling, and I start lugging it around in
a sling, my back will give out long before it’s able to walk

b)   The chances of getting its older sibling to stay on a buggy board for longer than 5
minutes is, frankly, something of a big ask

So, a double buggy it’s going to be and this seems to be the clear winner. The http://whupsydaisy.com/?p=286 Having bought this book The Second Baby Survival Guide the consensus
seems to be:

Fit the baby into the toddler’s routine

Give a present from the baby to the toddler when it’s born

Use a special toy box for toddler while you’re breastfeeding

Embrace the concept of the TV babysitter!

Don’t stress too much (ha!)

Any other pearls of wisdom? I’ll report back from the battleground on this front when
sanity returns after the birth towards the end of the year…

Basically, I wanted to write a book for those mums and dads who were trying to combine running their own business from home with looking after their small children. I know from my own experience how difficult it is to try and do both at once!

Topics covered are:

Why self-employment can be a brilliant option for mums and dads – always good to remind yourself of the upsides after all that hard work

What are the downsides of having a home business – and how to deal with them

Dealing with doubt – your own and other people’s

Self-employment when your baby is tiny

Self-employment when you have an older baby and toddler

Childcare options

What to do when you don’t have childcare

How to outsource your life!

How to cut down on the housework

How to streamline the running of your business

Building passive income streams

Self-employment when you have school age children

How to be organised domestically

How to be organised in business

Making time for your partner

Making time for yourself

If anyone would like to review it for me, I’ll send you a free copy. Just email me at celina@whupsydaisy.com. Thanks!

For the first course, try substituting fruits and veggies with yogurt-based dips instead of the normal candy and cookies.

Pizza is often a staple of parties, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be replaced. The unhealthy thing about pizza is the copious amount of cheese and the grease that literally soaks through the dough. If you remove this element you have a perfectly healthy and delicious take on this party classic. Depending on the size of your party, you can throw together an arugula and prosciutto pizza and a vegetarian black bean nacho
pizza with relative ease.

Finally, the most important piece of the puzzle: the cake. I’ve heard some suggest that it is okay to do away with the cake all together if you’re trying to have a health-conscious birthday party. I have a hard time imagining a party that kids will enjoy without this birthday staple. So, I recommend sticking with the cake but giving it a new spin. Instead of normal heavy cakes, try an angel food cake with a yogurt-based
icing. Food Network has a great recipe for an angel food cake with a delicious lemon honey sauce. This cake will be so delicious the kids won’t even realize they’re eating the healthy alternative.

According to government figures, 17 percent of children are obese or overweight (that number is about twice as high for adults). So, when you’re planning your child’s party, try to not only think of healthy alternatives to the traditional pizza, cake and candy, but also focus on activities that will get them off the couch.

One surprisingly healthy activity can be video games. The Wii and Xbox consoles both have motion-sensing games that allow kids to run around and be crazy while still controlling the avatars on the screen. My personal favorite game is the Wii Sports package, which includes tennis, golf and a few other fun sports. You could set up a competition for your child’s party where the winners get a prize such as a toy or gift card. Dance Dance Revolution is another great video game that will keep the kid’s blood flowing.

Planning a healthy birthday party doesn’t have to be a chore. With a little creative thinking, you can easily throw a healthy birthday party your child will love. You might even say it can be a real piece of cake.

Lisa is a guest blogger who loves writing about home décor, healthy living and how to
find great deals on must-have items like Super Mario party supplies for your next big bash.

Are your kids now going to school and you’re wondering what to do with yourself?

Are you a parent to a child with special needs and can’t go back to paid work?

Perhaps you’re a carer for your partner, or a parent?

Do you live in a remote area or have no reliable transport?

Are you disabled, or not mobile?

Does your partner earn enough to support you but you want to make a financial
contribution?

Do you want to increase your income?

Are you ‘unemployable’?

Do you just want to stay at home, for whatever reason, but still earn a living?

The new e-course from Domestic Entrepreneur, Setting Up A Home-based Business,
launches in February with a special first-come, first served price.

Learn how to start a home-based business from scratch, start to finish – from working
out what you want to do, to launching the business. Get advice on:

•  Setting goals and targets
• Overcoming a fear of failure
• Business planning
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• Running a business around the rest of your life
• Marketing
• Growing  the business

Be one of the first to join this great course and get your New Year off to a great
start – sign up for the newsletter or the free taster ecourse, or download the
free ebook to whet your appetite.

I’ve therefore asked Menus4Mums, the online family meal planners, for their top meal planning tips.

Tip 1: Write a list of the family meals everyone likes – that way you can just cook the one meal each evening, saving your time and money on gas/electricity.

Tip 2: If you’re stuck in a rut of the same dinners, resolve to try one new recipe each week, but make it quick and easy to avoid stress.

Tip 3: Consider your family’s schedule for the week. When will you need a quick meal? Will everyone need feeding each night?

Tip 4: Plan a suitable meal for each day, ensuring that you have a good balance of protein (eg meats, fish, pulses), carbohydrates (eg potatoes, rice, pasta), and vegetables. Think about a range of interesting tastes and textures.

Tip 5: Plan in leftovers. Could you make a roast chicken on Sunday and use the leftovers for risotto on Monday? Could you build in leftovers for lunch the following day?

Tip 6: Go through your cupboards, fridge and freezer. What is lurking that needs to be eaten up? Don’t bother buying items you already have.

Tip 7: Once you’ve made your plan, stick it on the fridge!

Tip 8: Use your plan to make your shopping list, adding in household extras.

Why not give meal planning a go and see how much you save?

Menus4Mums is a fabulous online family meal planning service for busy parents. Members get a new meal plan each week for dinners the whole family will enjoy, with recipe cards and a super-handy shopping list broken down into supermarket aisles. The meals take advantage of supermarket special offers to keep grocery bills down. All this from £6.95 for four weeks.

Visit http://www.menus4mums.co.uk for more information and to download a FREE one week sample menu plan.