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Reduce the Festive Debt: 6 Ways to Not Overspend During the Holidays

10/27/2014 By Julie Provost

The holiday shopping season is here! Whether we like it or not, military families need to start thinking about the holidays. This time of year can be really stressful for people, especially if you are on a tight budget. So what can you do about it?

6 Ways to Avoid Overspending During the Holiday Season

Write out your budget and stick to it. I do this ever year. I write out everything we need to purchase from what we will eat on Christmas Day to the teacher’s gifts. On this list, I write down a spending limit on each gift for everyone. Then, when it is time to go shopping, I know what my budget is. The amount you spend on each member of your family will be different for everyone depending on your income and budget.
Share a meal with friends. When you are a military family it might not be feasible to spend the holidays with extended family. Instead of having a meal for just your family, why not get together with others to make a meal together? You won’t have to buy every single ingredient and you will be able to save a little money that way. It is also nice to spend time with friends if you can’t be with your family during the holidays.
Shop the sales. When it comes to buying presents for my kids I am all about the sales. I start checking them early. I want to be able to find the things I want for a discounted rate. I can save a lot of money this way, it just takes some time to figure out which stores have what toys on sale and when they are offering their discounts. You might also consider layaway. This is when you save an item at the store and pay a little bit on it each time you go in. You can take it home when you have paid for it in full. This might be a much better option than putting something on a credit card and trying to pay it off after Christmas. Check if your favorite stores offer this plan.
Make homemade gifts. You can bake some yummy goodies and give those out at gifts too. It is really cost-effective to do this and can be a lot of fun. Most people really enjoy baked goods around this time of year so you can’t go wrong there. If you don’t like to bake but are crafty, there are a lot of different things you can make as gifts. Take a look at the MilitaryShoppers Pinterest boards for ideas.
Stay home. For the past several years we have not gone anywhere for the holidays. The price of airfare is way too high. It would really blow our budget. We have been able to have a nice family Christmas in our own home and it has been great. Our kids wake up in their own home and we don’t have to go anywhere all day long. This isn’t always an option for everyone but there is something nice about a simple Christmas at home and it will save you a lot of money in travel expenses.
Pick a name. My family is quite small so we don’t do this but I think it would be a good idea for large families. Out of all the adults in the family, you buy a present for 1 person. You get assigned a name and you buy for that 1 person. It can be a fun way of giving for Christmas without having to buy something for every single person in your family.

The holidays can be a stressful time but they don’t have to be. Try some of these tips to keep your budget under control during this time of year. You will be thankful you did when the credit card statements arrive in January.

What are your tips for reducing debt and spending less during the holiday season?

10 Easy DIY Halloween Costumes

10/08/2014 By Rachel Tringali Marston

Halloween can sneak up quickly on military families. As the days in October fly by, don’t feel pressured to spend big bucks for elaborate store bought costumes for you and your children. You might have the makings of the perfect DIY Halloween costume already in your house. Shop the closets in your home for different items that can be put together for a cheap and clever Halloween costume. Take a quick trip to your local dollar or discount store to complete a costume by purchasing accessories that won’t break the bank.

Why spend a lot of money on costumes you might not be able to keep? Storage space (or lack of storage space) for military families is important. Especially because your kids (or even you) will most likely want to dress up as something different next year.

Here are 10 easy and cheap ways to create clever DIY Halloween costumes for less than $30 and made in less than 30 minutes for you and your family.

Shop the closets in your home to put together for a cheap and clever Halloween costume.

Witch/Wizard

For girls, pair together a black shirt and skirt or black dress and add black tights. You can also use anything that’s mostly black (and maybe even sparkly?). For boys, wear all black and use a black bedsheet folded as your cape. Head outside to find a thick stick to shave down as a wand. Swing by the dollar store to get a pointed witch or wizard hat. You can also purchase face make-up for an added effect or girls can raid mom’s makeup bag for dark lipstick and use black eyeliner to draw warts on their faces.

Angel

Wear a white shirt and white pants or white dress. Take a cardboard box (from your last PCS) and cut it out to the shape of wings. Poke 2 holes in the center for a rope. Use extra-large cotton balls and glue them onto one side of the cardboard wings to cover its entirety. Finally, use gold pipe cleaners to twist to the top of a headband and create another halo to attach together.

Pirate

For girls, wear a white shirt and red skirt (or if you have anything two-toned or striped). For boys, wear a white shirt and light-colored jeans. You can create an eye patch with black cardstock paper and use an elastic band to keep it on your head. Run to the store for a red bandana. Does the store have a red stuffed bird or parrot? Strap it on your shoulder if you find one.

Mummy

10 Easy and Cheap DIY Halloween Costumes

Are you a DIY Halloween costume guru? Share your tips to making a creative costume.

Wear all white underneath. Depending on your preference (and possibly the weather), you can use toilet paper (preferably extra strong toilet paper) or white bandages to wrap all around your body. You can get cheap bandage packages at the dollar store.

Grapes

Wear either all green or all purple. Travel to the discount store and buy packages of balloons that match your color. Blow them up and use safety pins to put them on your outfit. Are you doing a family costume? Use thick rope with about 3 feet to spare between each person to be a grapevine!

Tourist

It’s pretty likely that you’ve acquired at least 1 touristy shirt from your travels. Or maybe a Hawaii shirt? Wear your souvenir or Hawaiian shirt (why not add a lei too?!) with a straw hat and tie your camera around your neck. Do you have a fanny pack? Stick that around your waist and carry a paper map. If you’re feeling ambitious, tow a small roller luggage bag.

Ghost

Ready for an easy one? Use old white sheets and drape them over head. Cut holes where your eyes would be and voila! You’re a ghost.

Don’t forget to enter MilitaryShoppers Halloween Photo Contest. Simply share 1 photo with MilitaryShoppers this month and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win a $100 Toys R Us e-gift card.

Pumpkin

Wear an extra large solid orange shirt. At the store, buy sheets of black felt and decorative vine rope. Outline and cut out the pumpkin’s face and glue (or you can safety pin) the felt cut-outs on the orange shirt. Use plastic bags or newspaper to make the pumpkin shape underneath the T-shirt. Wear the vine rope as a necklace.

Cat and Dog

For a cat, wear all black, orange or gray. For a dog, wear brown, black or tan. Buy felt to match your color and enough to make ears and a tail. Cut the fabric to shape the ears and glue it on an headband. Pin on the tail to your back with the remainder of the felt and make sure it’s in the right shape. Use black eyeliner to draw whiskers and pink/salmon colored lipstick for your nose.

Children can raid mom’s makeup bag for eyeliner and lipstick to create cheap Halloween costumes.

Super Hero

Wear clothing that matches or all the same color. Use colored duct or construction tape to outline your superhero letter or number on your shirt. Does your character wear a mask? Buy a couple yards of fabric and cut out eyeholes. Or does your character wear a cape? Do the same and tie the cape around your neck.

Are you a DIY Halloween costume guru? Share your tips for creating a costume in the comments section.

Military Savings

08/20/2014 By Military Shoppers

When the military community needs a good military discount they look to MilitaryShoppers.com. Military Shoppers knows that the military community deserves additional military savings for their sacrifice to their country and its citizens. Military savings are important to the military community and Military Shoppers makes it their priority to deliver military savings to the military community. With military benefits being revoked each year, the military community relies heavily on military savings and military discounts. When it comes to grocery items, the military community turns to the commissary for special military savings. The commissary sells products to authorized military patrons at cost plus 5% and accepts applicable commissary and manufacturer coupons, providing the military community additional military savings. When shopping the commissary, commissary shoppers can expect to save an average of 30% on their purchases compared to commercial prices. The commissary also offers customer appreciation case lot sales throughout the year. These are special sales that offer discounts on large quantities of product. The military savings at case lot sales are unmatched. In addition to the already low pricing at the commissary, Military Shoppers’ commissary specials flyer presents commissary patrons with additional military savings on selected items available only in the commissary for a limited time. The extra special low commissary prices can be found in the commissary specials flyer. The commissary specials flyer with additional military savings can be seen online, on facebook, on pinterest or delivered directly to your inbox by signing up. Sign up for free and take advantage of the military savings available today! Don’t forget your commissary coupons and Commissary Rewards Card for additional military savings. Commissary coupons are accepted and allow military shoppers to maximize military savings. If you haven’t started following Military Shoppers yet, do it now for insight on all of your military savings needs.

5 Tips to Reduce Relocation Expenses

07/10/2014 By Michelle Volkmann

How do you save money during a PCS? Share your tips in our comments sections.

I always underestimate the cost of a PCS. I tell myself that the Navy moves us so relocating from one military installation to another isn’t expensive. I don’t pay for anything. Right? This is my mental talk 30 days prior to a PCS. Then the whirlwind of the PCS happens and I am reaching for my credit card more than I have in the last 2 years. 60 days later when I am reviewing our credit card bill at our new duty station, I am shocked by the balance. How did we spend ALL this money?

The average service member shells out $1,725 for non-reimbursable moving expenses. That’s nearly $2,000. Let’s say that we move every 2 years during my husband’s 20-year career. That’s a total of $17,250 of MY money to move for the Navy. No thank you.

This year, we will be moving again and I’m committed to reducing our relocation expenses. But how do I cut costs when we are homeless and living out of our car?

Here are 5 tips for reducing relocation expenses when transferring to a new duty station.

Save for a Sensible Spending Plan.
Call it a budget. Call it a spending plan. It doesn’t matter. But make a plan for how much it will cost to set up your new home. Calculate an estimate for security deposits for housing and utilities. Cut back on eating out in the last 3 months of your current duty station and put that money in to a savings account. You’ll need it when you establish your new home. Do not depend on your Dislocation Allowance to cover all of your expenses. It never does.
Negotiate and Ask to Speak with a Manager.
Practice saying this phrase “Is that the best price you can give me?” When you set up your Internet and cable, ask for the “best price.” Let them know that you compared prices between different providers and ask if the company offers a military discount. You will never get a discount if you don’t ask for it. If you have a credit score of higher than 600, ask if your landlord will consider reducing the security deposit. Mention that you’re a classy military person who pays your monthly rent on time every month.
Embrace House Camping.
Hotels are expensive. Even staying at the lodge on base can get expensive after more than 5 days. If you don’t have your household goods, but you have a home, consider house camping. Eat on the floor, sleep on an air mattress, let your kids bounce a ball against the wall and eat food that you prepare out of your microwave. Is it ideal? No. Will it save you money? Absolutely.
Buy Used –Not New– Whenever Possible.
When we moved to Maryland, for the first time we had a yard. This was great news until I realized a yard means grass which means we needed to mow the yard. We didn’t own a lawnmower. Foolishly we bought a brand-new lawnmower. Now we live in California. We don’t need the lawnmower and it sits, collecting dust in our already-stuffed garage. What’s the lesson? Be patient and buy seasonal items used online. I recommend SargesList and those Facebook Yard Sale groups. For every military installation, there is a military spouse monitoring a Facebook group.
Take Another Service Member’s Trash.
Through Facebook you can connect with military spouses at your new duty station. Guess what? If you are moving there, I bet someone else is leaving that duty station. Most likely they have cleaning supplies, spices and random other things that they can’t or don’t want to take with them. Offer to take it. Free stuff doesn’t cost you anything.

Plan ahead to save money during a PCS.

What are your tips for saving money during a PCS?

Spend Less by Sticking to Your Grocery List

05/30/2014 By Amiyrah Martin

When you are on a budget, it’s essential to stay on task at the commissary. Whether it’s due to the kids, your cravings or that great sale on imported chocolate, we tend to buy impulsively. What can we do to alleviate this? Besides putting literal blinders on, there are a few tips that we can use to help us stick to the grocery list. Budgeting for groceries doesn’t have to be difficult, as long as you have a plan.

How to Spend Less at Your Military Commissary

Money-saving military spouses shop only the perimeter of their military commissary.

Learn the layout of your grocery store or military commissary.

This is one of the easiest ways to bypass grocery budget pitfalls. Money-saving moms shop the perimeter of a store. This is where you’ll find the items most needed in any home: produce, protein, dairy and discounted baked goods. Once you learn the layout of your store, you can create your grocery list to reflect it. If produce is the very first thing you see when entering the store, be sure to add the fruits and vegetables that are on sale to the top of your grocery list. Figure out which middle aisles are the ones that you visit once a week or twice a month. Be sure to only visit those aisles instead of perusing ones that you wouldn’t or shouldn’t visit (candy aisle, anyone?).

Bring your own snacks.

I’ve heard time and time again that you should eat before you venture to the grocery store, but most of the time that doesn’t work. Here’s a great tip: keep a granola bar, nut mix, or whatever healthy snack you enjoy in your purse or bag. When you walk in and smell freshly baked cinnamon rolls at your store, you’ll have your own snack ready and will be less likely to spend an extra 6 bucks on a treat you’ll regret later.

Create a shopping list that follows the layout of your military commissary.

Utilize your phone.

Our smart phones are our best friends, especially when grocery shopping. Use your phone to make your grocery list. You won’t have to worry about misunderstanding handwriting, even your own. If you’re a visual person, take pictures of the items you need from the store circular and use that as your list.

To keep you from spending hours in the store and getting distracted, set a timer for yourself. Do you allot an hour for shopping but end up spending 2 in the store? Set an alarm on your phone to alert you when your hour is up. Once that alarm goes off, select your last items and hit up the checkout lanes.

What tips do you have for sticking to your grocery list?

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