Fall Roundup and Updates

Happy Saturday everyone!

I went on vacation a couple of weeks ago. When I left, the weather was rainy, cold, and definitely all fall. When I returned, I was treated to beautiful sunny fall days. With that, I have the opportunity to get some yard and outdoor housework done on my little house in the suburbs.

Canadian Thanksgiving has come and gone and I had a great weekend with family and family friends. My vacation has also come and gone, so now I’m trying to think of something else to look forward to. I find work days fly by when I have something fun to do in my near future.

Now that I’m getting back in to the groove of normal, every day life, I have been reading a lot of my favorite blogs again. Here are some of my favorite posts in the past little while:

Tie the Money Knot had a post called Financial Compromise: Being Right vs. Being Happy. On Suburban Finance, we’ve discussed money in relationships before, and I enjoyed this post because it is on point and completely right. Compromising can be very important.
Personal Finance Utopia had an interesting post about Switzerland and their pay equity approach to income. I need to research it a bit more before forming an opinion, but it’s an interesting point of view.
Financial Ramblings gave me a nice reminder that tax season is coming up (eek!). Michael posted about bunching deductions to save money on taxes.
When I was a little girl, my dad used to read my brother and I pages from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy when we were camping and we didn’t have any children’s books to read. I delighted when I read Money and Potatoes’ post about the economies in different Sci Fi movies.
Sometimes, I’ll read an article which will make me take a closer look at my finances and the way they are broken down. Edward Antrobus’ post asking what is in your wallet (virtually) made me do just that. Turns out my virtual wallet is complicated!
Now, I’m not a huge camping fan. I prefer glamping if camping is a must, but I’d much prefer travelling traditionally, with a bed and a hotel or inn. Money Beagle had a year of camping, and reviewed it. Very interesting!
We’ve posted articles about decorating your new home on the cheap before, but I really enjoyed Little House on the Prairie’s post about getting the most out of home furniture.
Monica from Monica on Money posted about the government shutdown in the US and the need for an emergency fund by everyone. It was a timely post for me, since I was in the US at the time of reading it.
I also very much enjoyed Money Smart Guides’ post on the high price of materialism. I vegged out while sipping my coffee one morning and watched the accompanying video. It’s an interesting read and watch.
Michelle from Making Sense of Cents posted about weddings and the cost thereof. Interesting for me, since I am in the throes of wedding planning.
Pauline from Reach Financial Independence updated us on her Europe trip. I loved this because my best friends are travelling Europe right now and I am so jealous of them.

In true form, the financial blogging community did have a lot of great articles lately. I can’t list them all though!

How to Set a Christmas Budget

Believe it or not, Christmas is approaching and it is doing so fairly quickly. As of today, there are only 76 days until Christmas, and this means that you need to start considering setting a Christmas budget.

I’ve had some referral traffic to this website with the question “how to set a Christmas budget”, which is comical because I don’t have such a post yet. Until now. Budgeting can be difficult to wrap your head around on it’s own. Setting a Christmas budget can sound daunting, but it’s not as hard as it seems.

Photo via Flickr – Shedboy

You know that it’s important to set a Christmas budget, that much is evident by you being here. Here are a few considerations with respect to setting your budget:

Who is Hosting?

If you are hosting Christmas this year, your Christmas budget will be much higher than the years that you aren’t hosting. You need to budget for:

Decorations (if you don’t already have them)
Higher utility bills (if you have out of town guests)
Food, wine, and dessert

It’s true that hosts tend to spend more than guests, however, you will only see a significant increase if you have out-of-town guests. You can save money on hosting in-town guests by asking them to bring a bottle of wine, a dish, or by otherwise collaborating.

How Many People Do You Have to Buy For?

The way I set my gift giving budget is by looking at how many people I have to buy for, and dividing the maximum that I want to spend between them.

Note that you do not need to buy gifts for acquaintances. A card will do just fine for them, leaving you with enough money in your budget to either save, or spend more on the people you do have to buy for.

Example: I have to buy for my fiance, my mom and stepdad, my aunt, my brother, and my best friend. My best friend and I tend to cap the gifts we give each other at around $20. I have a $500 gift budget (that is what was left over after an allocation analysis of the three paycheque month of November). I therefore have $480 to spend on the family members.

Do You Have Office Parties?

Often, workplaces will have office parties during the holidays, which will require some expenditure. Some may have secret Santa, others may have a potluck, or a party that you must buy tickets for. Many have a combination of the three.

I budget about $100 for Christmas at the workplace, because I also buy cards and do some baking for my colleagues around Christmas. $100 more than does the job.

Festivities

When you set a Christmas budget, don’t fall into this trap: many people end up budgeting only for gifts, but the holidays can be expensive in other ways as well. It’s not unusual for there to be an influx in invitations to parties, get togethers, and gift swaps. My alcohol and dining budget tends to go up considerably throughout the month of December, as I find myself bringing bottles of wine to friend’s houses, making gingerbread houses, and attending dinners for various charities (unless you have an alternate way of giving on a budget) and other events.

Remember: you don’t have to go to every single party you are invited to. Pick and choose based on what is left over with all of the other expenses in mind.

Christmas can be an expensive holiday, so the best way to ensure that you aren’t over spending is by following a budget. Be sure to set a Christmas budget soon!

Saving Money on Candy This Halloween [& a Giveaway]

I’m very excited to bring you 3 chances to win some cold, hard cash. You can enter this giveaway at the Rafflecopter link below.

But first, I want to address how expensive Halloween candy is and how you can go about saving. Halloween is fast approaching, as I’m sure you are aware.

We’ve already addressed how you can save money on costumes, if you are so inclined to wear one. Now we are looking at how you can save money on the sweet stuff: expensive halloween candy.

Buy From Bulk Bins

In reality, Halloween candy in it’s marketed form is expensive. Candy (individually wrapped) from bulk bins stay the same price all year round. Instead of buying the bags of candy that have pumpkins all over the wrappers, buy traditional candy from the bulk bins to save a lot of cash.

Team up

It’s easy to team up with neighbors and friends to save money on Halloween candy. Have a movie night at their house, or invite them over to yours, and give out candy from only one of the houses. That way you save half the money. Bring a bag of candy and they’ll pitch in a bag.

This is my favorite way to save on candy because it also has a social aspect.

Don’t Give Out Handfuls

Yes, kids are so cute in their costumes that it’s very difficult not to dole out massive mits full of halloween candy, but that can really boost the cost and frankly, children don’t need it anyway.

Give out one or two mini bars, or three hard candies. They won’t remember that you gave them a ton of candy anyway.

How do you save money on candy?

If you win this giveaway, you can give out as much candy as you want. And buy the good stuff!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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