Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

A Two-Step Approach to Preparing Kids for a Giving Holiday: Part One

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While you may not want to think about it yet, the holidays are right around the corner.  The commercial machine is cranking into gear.  My local Costco already has rows upon rows of Christmas presents for kids and Christmas trees and wrapping paper. . .Soon, there will be endless Christmas ads on television for all the latest toys and electronics your kids will beg for.

Each year, Christmas seems to become more and more about spending money and over consuming.  If you’ve come to dread the holiday season and the gimmes that come with it, now is the time to plan a different type of holiday.  Now is the time to plan a giving holiday.  Make a plan now, before the holiday is in full swing.

You can take a two part approach to this.  Part one is to allow your children to have an opportunity to give.  Part two is to reduce your child’s expectations for the gifts they will receive at Christmas.

Preparing Kids for a Giving HolidayToday, we’ll be talking about part one.

Strategies to Allow Your Children to Give at Christmas

While it’s nice to get things for Christmas, giving is also nice.  Well before Christmas starts, sit down with your kids (if they are old enough) and discuss how you’d like to give of your time.  If they’re still young, say under 5, you can just start a new tradition of giving of yourselves during the holidays.  You’ll experience very little resistance from the little ones.

Put in time.  One way to give, especially if you’re on a tight budget, is to give of your time.  You could volunteer to work in a soup kitchen or to help assemble thanksgiving meal baskets at your local church.  You could go through your closets and donate excess clothes or other items.

Give your money.  If you have more money than time, you can give your money to help make the holidays better for another family.  You could pick a name from a giving tree that pops up in December.  (The post office often has one as does Whole Foods and other grocery stores.)  Take your child with you to buy a present for the child in need.

Or, you could donate to a charitable organization like World Vision.  Look through the catalog and either choose to sponsor a child or to make a one-time contribution.  Let your child know how the money will be used and help him to realize how much more he has than the family of the child who will be receiving the money.

Another organization, Samaritan’s Purse, has a giving project, Operation Christmas Child.  You fill a shoebox with simple toys and school materials for a needy child.  This is a nice project to do with your children, and you can give without spending a lot of money, if your money is tight.

If you want to get away from the consumer driven holiday season, know that you CAN have a different kind of holiday this year.  However, you’ll need to start now and take the first step–teaching your children the importance of giving at the holidays.  Next time we’ll talk about the next step, adjusting expectations.

What’s your favorite way to teach your kids the importance of giving during the holidays?

Original photo credit: Theresa Thompson, on Flickr

Get Yourself and the Kids in the Halloween Spirit for Less

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Halloween is right around the corner.  While the stores seem to like to skip Halloween and Thanksgiving and shoot right to Christmas (in September!), the majority of us like to embrace each holiday as it comes.

Halloween is one of those holidays that is fun for both kids and adults.  However, it can also be an expensive holiday, if you’re not careful.  Kids’ costumes alone can run upwards of $50.  Here are some ways you can enjoy the holiday and get a little Halloween spirit for less:

Costumes

Costumes don’t have to cost a fortune.  Using these tactics, you can get what you need for less than a Benjamin (or a Ulysses, as the case may be).

Halloween Spirit for Less1.  Shop resale stores.

National chains like Once Upon a Child or Goodwill have plenty of costumes for $10 or less.  At our local Once Upon a Child, costumes were about $6.50 each.  That beats paying $25 or more.

2.  Put out the word.

Let your friends and family know you’re looking for a costume.  When my son was 18 months old, we borrowed an adorable, homemade Robin Hood costume.  We paid nothing, and my son received many compliments while trick or treating.

3.  Check Craigslist.

Many parents also listed outgrown costumes on Craigslist.  Remember, you’re free to negotiate on Craigslist, so you may be able to haggle for a lower price.

4.  Make your own.

Pinterest is filled with adorable costumes for both those who sew and those who don’t.  You might be able to make a costume from items you have around the house or that you can buy cheaply.  Don’t forget that items can do double duty.  If your son has a fireman raincoat, there’s no reason that can’t be a costume.  Does your child have skeleton pajamas?  Great, there’s a costume.  Does your daughter take ballet?  Her recital costume or her dance leotard and tutu can be her costume.

How to Decorate on a Budget

Part of the fun of Halloween is not only dressing up the kids, but dressing up your home.  If you go all out, decorating your home can be pricey, but it doesn’t have to be.  Try these tips.

1.  Buy on clearance.

As soon as Halloween is over, go to the stores.  You’ll find Halloween decor on sale for 50 to 80% off.  Now is the time to buy decorations for next year.  The same is true for next year’s Halloween costumes.

2.  Pinterest to the rescue again.

Pinterest (Beating Broke on Pinterest) has tons of low cost decor suggestions.  I saw a cute pumpkin decoration for a table top that used old canning jar bands.  If you have those around, your decoration is free.  You can also have the kids create Halloween themed crafts and decorate the house that way.

Halloween is a fabulous holiday for kids and adults.  Decorating and dressing up can be so much fun, but it doesn’t have to cost a fortune.  By using these techniques and taking advantage of the many frugal crafts and ideas on the web, you can have a great Halloween while keeping your hard earned money where it belongs, in your wallet.

The Heffernan Principle

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I never watched The King of Queens during its primetime run, but I have watched it quite a bit on reruns.  My favorite episodes are those that are about money.  Since Doug and Carrie make a fairly decent living (as a delivery driver and a legal secretary, respectively), but have wants a lot bigger than their wallets, money (and how to find more) seems to be a recurring theme.

The main financial issue with the couple, especially Doug, is that he can’t rein in his inner child.  Let’s call it the Heffernan principle.

1.  He sees what others have and wants it too.

In the most recent episode I watched, Carrie’s father, Arthur, who lives in their basement, won $2,500 at bingo.  Doug decides the money should be theirs since they help support Arthur.  Even though they need a new refrigerator, he wants the money to buy new golf clubs.  Once he manages to get the money from Arthur, he’s not satisfied and wants more new clubs to complement the ones he just purchased.

Heffernan Principle2.  He blames others for his mistakes.

In one funny episode, Doug and his friend, Deacon, are following in a car behind their wives in another car.  Deacon mentions that they’re passing a strip club that sometimes leaves the door open and that he likes to peek and see if he can see anything.  Of course, Doug can’t resist, so he takes his eyes off the road and promptly crashes into the car the wives are driving in.  Doug has to pay for the repairs to Deacon’s car, but he doesn’t want to because he claims Deacon really caused the accident even though Doug was driving.

3.  He’s envious of others who work hard and save for their goals.

In another episode, Deacon and his wife, Kelly, invite Doug and Carrie up to their new vacation home–a cabin.  Doug and Carrie are immediately envious and determine that the reason why Deacon and Kelly could afford such a nice home is because when the couples go out together, Doug and Carrie pay for everything.  Of course, this is not true, but they just can’t accept that another couple making about the same wage as them could save their money and buy something substantial.  For Doug and Carrie, money leaks out of their hands far too easily to save for such a large purchase.

The King of Queens is a humorous show about a couple trying to live their lives in Queens, New York while living with her father (who’s also broke, by the way).  Like many couples, they struggle with money, but a main reason for that is because Doug can’t rein in his inner child.

While Carrie is well-intentioned and more mature in this aspect, she inevitably is persuaded by Doug and follows along with his train of thought and his antics.

Sure, as the audience, we have fun laughing at Doug and his misguided thoughts and actions, but have you ever thought if you, too, are like Doug Heffernan deep down?  Have you silenced your inner child when it comes to money, or are you still struggling as Doug is?