We're turning the "Season of Spending" into the "Season of DOing!"

Halloween candy has been sitting on the shelves since August. In
September, the retailers added a pile of Halloween decorations. This
month, the stores re-stocked the candy shelves to replace the candy
we bought and ate last month. Along with the Halloween clutter, there
is plenty of Autumn and Thanksgiving decorations (not to mention �?
those huge ceramic turkey-shaped platters). Last week, I saw an
advertisement for Halloween costumes �?FOR THE DOG! Good grief! My
dog would be embarrassed to be seen in public dressed as a pumpkin
LOL.

At Cindy's Porch, not only is this the "Season of DOing", but we are
also planning on paying off a huge chunk of change on our credit card
(or other) debt. This means, every dollar we keep in our pocket books
(or off the credit card stash) is another dollar we can use to pay
off our debt (or add to our savings).

Retailers want us to spend that dollar on THEIR Halloween and
Thanksgiving clutter. This year, I am going to DO those holidays.

Here's MY plan:

1) My Halloweeen Mini-Budget
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- Kid costumes: ZERO (the kids are going to SHOP at home FIRST)

- Decorations: ZERO (we'll build a ghould for the front door using an
old mask from home, a black piece of cloth, newspaper for stuffing, a
mike(mic) stand and coat hanger for the body, and a black garbage bag
for the sleeve hanging above the doorway (I'll take pictures in
couple weeks and post it on Cindy's Porch). It won't cost a dime.
(For previous year's SHOP at home FIRST decorations, see my home page.
http://www.cindyspo<WBR>rch.net )

- Treats: $15.00 We get about 150 kids, so I plan on 10 cents per
treat (or less). I'd love to make the treats at home, but I know some
parents are not comfortable with this, so I use store-bought candy
and chocolate. I also wait until a couple days before to get a good
sale and eliminate the temptation to add to my personal tummy stash
LOL.

2) My Thanksgiving Mini-Budget
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We need to send this out now, because Canadian Thanksgiving is just
around the corner.

My heart aches when I hear about the hundreds (and thousands) of
dollars people spend on a family holiday in the hopes of creating
some "magazine-perfect" illusion. Accept it. That turkey on the front
of the magazine is actually raw. Some food artist simply took a blow-
torch to it to create that golden brown. Thanksgiving is NOT about
the show. It is about the thanks and the giving. Spend your effort
DOING. Not BUYING.

My budget for Thanksgiving: $20.00 for food (turkeys and fresh
cranberries always go on sale a week before, add another veggie, some
salad, potatoes, and pumpkin pie and you have one fantastic meal.)
And no �?the thanksgiving police will not come into your home if you
decide to SHOP at home FIRST and enjoy a pot roast, chicken, or a
vegetarian meal for the holiday. I remember seeing $46.00 turkeys in
the store the day before Thanksgiving �?CHA CHING CHA CHING. Plan
ahead. And that's it. The kids will head into the park to pick up
some gorgeous acorns and branches to create an autumn door wreath and
centerpiece. We'll invite family (who usually bring a bottle of
wine), enjoy supper, and play crazy whist until the kids start to
fall asleep.

If the weather is warm enough, we'll go for a family walk to settle
some of that food. Mmmmmmmmm!

3) Your Mini-Budget
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Take a few minutes and PLAN out how much you want to spend on these
two holidays. Here's a few hints:

1) DO instead of BUY: If you have kids, let them create
decorations, centerpieces, invitations, etc.

2) SHOP at home FIRST: for costumes, decorations, food, table
settings, turkey platters (I use an old microwave oven glass platter
for our turkey. Add a little resh parsley from the garden to
decoration it up, and no one knows there isn't a turkey-shaped plate
underneath the food LOL).

3) If a guest asks to bring something �?LET them. Anyone who
offers to bring wine, a salad, or desert is welcome in my home. This
is the season of sharing, NOT trying to do it ALL yourself! Enjoy
your family �?and thank them for their help.

4) SHOP at your mom's house NEXT: I have to add this one - (can
you picture me with a big grin on my face). For Thanksgiving, I
always borrow my mom's turkey roaster, her white table cloth, and pie-
lifter-outer. She gets them ready for me every year.

5) PROCRASTINATE: This is a biggie �?if you see something in the
store you think you absolutely NEED for the holidays (such as an
inflatable ghost riding a motorcycle for the front lawn �?duh!),
leave it in the store and wait a couple hours, a couple days, or even
a couple weeks. If you wait long enough (perhaps until the holiday is
over), you will probably discover you didn't need it all �?or perhaps
you will find it on sale �?marked down by 50-75% as the stores clear
out the autumn clutter to add more Christmas clutter.

Any other tips or ideas? Send them onto cindy@cindysporch.<WBR>net and
we'll pass them onto the group.

Good luck with this and have fun! My plan is $35.00 for these two
holidays. This small amount will not affect all the fun we have or
the things we plan on DOing. They also won't add any more credit
clutter to my debt!

DO instead of BUY the holidays!

Take care of you,
Cindy