Frugal Archives - Kids Ain't Cheap

Cheap, Fun Ways to Stay Cool This Summer

Melissa is a writer and virtual assistant. She earned her Master’s from Southern Illinois University, and her Bachelor’s in English from the University of Michigan. When she’s not working, you can find her homeschooling her kids, reading a good book, or cooking. She resides in Arizona where she dislikes the summer heat but loves the natural beauty of the area.

Save Money on Entertainment with Reciprocal Museum Passes

November 25, 2021 | Leave a Comment

Recently, I took my children to our local art museum. It was the first time we went, and we enjoyed it. Buying a yearly pass was twice the cost of one-day admission, so we decided to upgrade. We knew we would be back, so the passes will pay for themselves after our next visit. But then, I found out the passes offer us reciprocal admission to many museums around the country! Those passes will save us a lot of money and give us an affordable entertainment option throughout the year.

What Museum Associations Offer Reciprocal Passes?

The museum we bought the yearly passes for is part of the North American Reciprocal Museum Association (NARM). There are over 1,175 museums in this network, all of which we have free access to with our museum pass. These museums are in the United States, Canada, Bermuda, El Salvador, and Mexico. In our state alone, there are 12 museums to which we will have access.

NARM is just one of many museum networks. You can also choose from the following organizations:

Art Museum Reciprocal Network (AMRN),

Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) Travel Passport

Time Travelers (This pass offers free entry to some participating museums, but others only offer discounted entry with the pass.)

Smithsonian Affiliates, (Note that not all museums on this list choose to participate in the reciprocal agreement. While there are seven museums on this list in my state, only one participates in the reciprocal agreement.)

American Horticultural Society (AHS),

Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), (Membership gives you 50% off at most zoos and aquariums on their reciprocal agreement.)

Reciprocal Organization of Associated Museums (ROAM),

Association of Children’s Museums (ACM), (Membership gives you 50% off the 200 children’s museums in the reciprocal agreement.)

Museum Alliance Reciprocal Program (MARP)

How to Save Money with Reciprocal Museum Passes

If you want to get the most for your money, choose the reciprocal program your family will use most frequently.

As mentioned above, read the fine details. Some reciprocal programs get you free admission to any of the participating programs. Others only offer discounted admission. Some have many participating museums in your state, others only have a few.

If you’re planning on taking a vacation during the year, check which programs have museums you’d be interested in visiting during your trip. Using a reciprocal pass can be an excellent way to reduce your vacation costs.

If You Can’t Afford a Museum Pass

Save Money with Reciprocal Museum Passes

Photo by Caroline Hernandez on Unsplash

Buying a season pass to just one museum in one of these reciprocal associations can make visiting museums throughout the year extremely affordable. However, some people cannot afford a season pass to even one museum. For those individuals, consider the Museum for All program.

Museums for All offers SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) recipients free or discounted admission to 700 museums throughout the United States. Where I live, if I go to a local science museum with my three kids, I will pay $30 for admission. However, a SNAP recipient will just pay $12 for her and her three kids to enter, so the savings can be significant.

Final Thoughts

I hope these strategies help you save money on entertainment with reciprocal museum passes. We’re excited we’ll be able to visit our local museum several times this year AND visit other museums in our state that are part of the same group.

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Save Money & Keep Kids Entertained by Rotating Streaming Services

September 23, 2021 | Leave a Comment

If you’re a parent, you probably feel like your life is constantly juggling between caring for your family and working to make ends meet. It’s easy when it comes to entertainment because the options are endless, but this can add up in cost quickly. So if you want to save money and keep kids entertained at the same time, you can try rotating streaming services. With a variety of movies and TV shows, you’ll have something new every week without going over budget!

The Benefits of Rotating Streaming Services

Rotating streaming services offers three main benefits.

Save Money

If you have several streaming services, the costs can add up quickly. In our family, Netflix is approximately $15 a month, Hulu is $7 a month, Disney+ is $8 a month, and Peacock is $5 a month. Sure, each service is not unreasonably priced, but together, they add up to $35 a month. Keep in mind, we get the most basic of the basic services. If you want to pay more to avoid commercials or bundle streaming services, you’ll pay more.

Recently, we cut Netflix and Peacock, so our monthly streaming costs went down to $15 a month. The $20 savings doesn’t sound like a lot, but over the year, we’re saving $240.

Limit Boredom

How is this for irony? When my kids had all four streaming services, they constantly told me there was nothing to watch. Then, I cut Netflix and Peacock about four months ago. They dug around Hulu and Disney+ and found shows to watch. They were happy for about three months.

Once they started complaining, I cut Hulu and reinstated Netflix. They were so excited because during the time we weren’t paying for Netflix, several new seasons of their favorite episodes had dropped. Now, they are happily watching their favorite shows in the evening. However, my daughter is already planning when we should cut Netflix again and reinstate Hulu.

Maximize Your Usage

When you have many streaming services, your kids can just gloss over what’s available. Because they have so many choices, sometimes they feel overwhelmed. I know as an adult, I used to feel overwhelmed by 200 cable channels when we had cable. Because there’s so much available, you don’t know where to start.

When you limit streaming services to two as we did, your kids have to dig deeper into each service to find shows they want to watch. This allows them to maximize what they get out of each streaming service.

Then, when it’s time to rotate, they can dig through the next streaming service. My kids have found shows they enjoy that they never would have tried if they continued to have so many streaming services available.

Final Thoughts

Streaming services are a luxury. Because each one is affordable, many people buy several streaming services at once. However, limiting and rotating streaming services can be better for your wallet and your kids. You limit their boredom, and they can maximize each streaming service. If you haven’t tried rotating streaming services yet, I highly recommend it.

Paying for Extracurriculars without Breaking the Bank

How to Save Hundreds on Diapers

June 25, 2020 | Leave a Comment

You might have seen those scary numbers that tell you the cost to raise a child is over $200,000 from the time of birth until the age of 18. While there are plenty of ways to cut costs when raising your children, there’s one expense that hits you as soon as your child is born—the cost of diapers. We had two kids in diapers for 1.5 years, and I remember being so glad when they were potty trained as we got a large chunk of our budget back. While there’s no way to avoid this expense, there people do learn how to save hundreds on diapers.

How to Save Hundreds on Diapers

There are many techniques you can use to save, but you’ll save even more if you put several of the strategies together.

Use Cloth Diapers

Photo by Padmavathi Ashok Kumar on Unsplash

The best way to save is to use cloth diapers. Most people dismiss this idea because cloth diapers aren’t allowed at daycare. If that’s the case, use cloth diapers at home and buy disposable for daycare. You’ll still see significant savings this way.

Buy Cloth Diapers on eBay

I cloth diapered my son almost exclusively. I bought several lots of used cloth diapers on eBay with mixed results. I ended up with some very nice diapers, but I also ended up with some worn out diapers that I couldn’t use.

Do Your Research First

If you’re going the eBay route, first research which diapers you’d like to use. (There are so many brands of cloth diapers with so many different features. Cloth diapering is not like it was 30 years ago!)

If you buy new, your diapers will likely last through several of your children.

If you buy used, check the quality description carefully. You don’t want to end up with diapers that have very little life left.

How to Save on Disposable Diapers

There are quite a few strategies to save money on disposable diapers. Use as many as you can to save even more.

Buy Off Brand Diapers If You Can

Of course, the biggest diaper brands, Huggies and Pampers, cost the most. However, there are many off brand diapers that are much cheaper than the big brands. Look for Target Up and Up diapers, Walmart’s White Cloud diapers, or Luvs. Likewise, Walgreen’s and CVS each have their own house brand of diapers that are cheaper, too.

Use Amazon Subscribe & Save

If you have an Amazon Prime account, make sure to use subscribe & save. When you go to put the diapers in your cart, you’ll see an option to make a one-time purchase or to make the item subscribe & save. Thanks to Amazon Family, when you choose subscribe & save, you save 20% off your diaper purchase every time. You just have to make sure you have five or more products on auto-delivery at the same time to the same address. (FYI, baby food is also included in the eligible products list, so you can save there, too.)

Use Coupons

There are many, many coupons for diapers. You can check out Coupons.com, Ibotta, or Checkout 51 for diaper coupons. You can also email the company and sign up for their email. (Luvs is known to be especially generous with their coupons when you sign up for their mailing list.) Even Costco and Amazon have coupons for their diapers occasionally.

A Covert Way to Save

Diaper packages generally have a size range. For instance, Huggies Snug & Dry size 2 one-month supply has 222 diapers in a box and fit babies weighing 12 to 18 pounds. Size 3 of the same has 200 diapers and fits babies 16 to 28 pounds. Some moms save money by keeping their child in the smaller size diaper as long as they can because you get more diapers per purchase in the smaller size.

You’ll know it’s time to move up to the bigger diaper size when your baby has frequent leaks or blow outs.

Build a Diaper Stash

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Another option is to build a diaper stash before baby is born and when you can find diapers at a great price.

Some women ask each person attending their baby shower to bring a box of diapers or wipes. Other women start stocking up the minute they find out they’re pregnant. (You can find quite a few good sales on diapers in nine month’s time and end up with a nice diaper stash.) If you’re not sure what sizes to buy, there’s a handy chart one mom created documenting how many diapers in each size her daughter used during her first year.

One caveat here—be careful building a diaper stash. I’m actually glad I never built a diaper stash. Why? All my kids were born over nine pounds and didn’t even fit in the newborn size diapers. Second, one of my children had very chunky legs, so Pampers’ slimmer cut didn’t fit her well. We had to keep her in Huggies. If I would have stocked up on Pampers, I would have lost all of that money. Some babies are allergic to some diapers, so those can’t be used. For these reasons, I’d actually discourage new moms from building a diaper stash.

Buy in Bulk

If you can afford it, buying diapers in bulk is the way to go. The bigger the box you can afford, the less you pay per diaper. Costco is a great place to buy diapers if you don’t have an Amazon Prime account. Target also has sales for boxes of diapers where you buy a certain amount in diapers, say $100, and then you get a $25 gift card. This deal gives you a great incentive to buy in bulk. (Don’t forget to get and use the Target Red card to save 5% off your purchase.)

Final Thoughts

While diapers are expensive, there are strategies to learn how to save hundreds on diapers. Use some or most of these techniques and see how much you save. And remember, while diapers are a big expense temporarily, this expense will usually go away in three years. Then, it’s on to the next expense for you child.

The Difference Between Being Cheap and Being Frugal

March 23, 2016 | Leave a Comment

The other day two of my patients were arguing in my room while I was treating their daughter. The parents were arguing about their upcoming house purchase and what they needed to finish up before closing. The conversation quickly turned from excitement to a full-blown argument about how cheap the wife was. The husband wanted to buy all new furniture for one of their rooms while she wanted to use what they had for a while longer. Her argument was that she wasn’t cheap, but rather frugal, and had the family’s best interest in mind.

This differentiation is one that many people confuse. Though they may seem like similar terms, they’re actually quite different in their meaning. To help clarify the issue here are a few instances concerning being cheap and being frugal.

Dining Out

A cheap person may eat out frequently but elect to never tip. If you can’t afford to properly tip when dining out, don’t bother going, it’s cheap to not tip service.

A frugal person may elect to not eat out at all, or much more infrequently, as they would rather spend their money elsewhere. When they do make the decision to eat out they pay for everything, proper sized tip and all.

Product Selection

If a cheap person needs a new mattress for example, they will go out and buy the first cheap mattress they find, the deciding factor being the dollar amount. Even if this mattress falls apart in a few months they see nothing beyond initial dollars spent.

A frugal person will elect to not buy the mattress until they have saved up a dollar amount that will allow them to buy a quality product that will last them years. While they are saving for their upcoming purchase, they may elect to forgo other activities they don’t feel are as important as buying the mattress they need.

* This was the argument the wife in my office was trying to make. She didn’t want to buy the cheap couch her husband wanted but wanted to wait until the new year and buy a better quality one even if it meant moving into a brand new house with ‘crappy old furniture’.

Socializing

When it comes to socializing with friends and family, a cheap person may elect to go to events where they know (or assume) someone else will pick up the tab, or avoid going out, ever, because they don’t want to spend the money. This eventually leads to alienation from friends and family.

Someone who is frugal will go out but will likely be pickier about when and where they go but they won’t avoid socializing all together. They will also likely come up with alternative social ideas like taking turns hosting a nice dinner in, rather than spending money at a restaurant.

Frugality is a way of life. It can be very advantageous when used wisely and lead to many more opportunities in your life. Being cheap however usually ends up in wasted money and missed experiences. Only one of these ways of life knows the true value of a dollar earned.

Catherine is a first time momma to a rambunctious toddler. When she isn’t soaking up all that motherhood has to offer, you can find her blogging over at Plunged in Debt where she chronicles her and her husbands journey out of debt. You can also follow her on Twitter.

Frugal Summer Fun For Your Toddler

June 4, 2014 | Leave a Comment

It’s hard to believe that June is here!

The weather is finally starting to warm up (the cold weather was dragging on forever here) and we’re venturing outside. This is the first summer that my daughter could really ”do anything”. She was born in June so last year, being only one, was just learning how to walk and explore.

This year, a full-fledged active two year old, requires strategic planning to keep her entertained. The good thing is that she’s only two so doesn’t really know how or what is out there unless we expose her to it. The bad thing is that she is very busy and requires me to be as creative as I can be to keep her entertained all summer.

After pursing the internet and talking to my mom and teacher friends, I have come up with a list of fun fugal outdoor activities for your toddler:

Painting with water. We did this the other day and it’s as easy as it seems. Bucket of plain water and a paintbrush! We painted the driveway and fence. This literally entertained her for over an hour and 100% mess-free!
Chalk/bubbles. Another favorite and cost less than $1.
Explore your neighbourhood. I like taking walks with kiddo before it gets too hot in the summer mornings. It’s usually not too busy traffic-wise and I can let her out of the stroller to just run ahead of me a little to burn off some energy herself.
Parks and playgrounds. When we’re on our walks we will often stop at a local playground to run around. Bonus if there are other kids present for her to play with otherwise mom is getting an added workout playing too 🙂
DIY Sandbox or dirtbox. Little fact: Kids love to dig and play in dirt. We plan on buying a cheap kiddy pool (less than $10) and filling it with either sand or dirt. We can hide a few toys within the sand/dirt and let them dig it out. I went to the local dollar store and purchased some little shovels and a toy dump truck for her to play with in said box.
Beach days. Great idea of you’re close to one!
Picnics. There’s something so fun about eating outside. You don’t even have to go anywhere, you’re own backyard will do. It’s the change in routine that will have them entertained.
Treasure hunt. Take objects (ideally kids toys) and hide them outside having them find them based on description such as ”eye spy something that is red”.
Garden. Kids love helping. Something like a garden is something they can help with (maybe something as simple as buying them a tiny watering can sort of thing). Have them help pick out flowers and I’m sure the first thing out of their mouths every morning will be ”flowers!”. They will love the added responsibility to help keeping it alive.

Keeping little ones entertained can be exhausting for parents. It’s so easy to run out of ideas especially with very active toddlers. I hope there are a few new ideas for you and your little one. Bring on warm weather!

What other frugal summer fun ideas can you think of?

Saving on Family Fun

March 19, 2014 | Leave a Comment

One of the biggest changes in our budget is the need to account for an additional person when it comes to family outings.

Everything from plane tickets, to dinners out to attending our local hockey team now have three people instead of two. Though this is something we obviously expected with a child, it was nice to enjoy the early days!

Gone are the newborn days when she would quietly sleep through the odd dinner out or stay snuggled in my arms, usually asleep during a local hockey game. The little girl is a full grown toddler who now demands her own meals and requires her own seat and if we’re not careful, it can get crazy expensive.

While there are certain things we can’t do anything about, like extra seat for airplanes there are many other areas you can save on.

Meals Out

Eating out isn’t a huge part of our lives (I’d much rather entertain at home) it does happen occasionally. When possible, we opt to look for restaurants that not only have a kids menu but offer discounts for kids such as kids eat free.

Growing up we would go to a restaurant where they offered free Shirley Temples for kids and my parents had to pay $0.10/pound of body weight for kids under 12. Though restaurants probably can’t get away with literally weighing kids in the restaurant anymore, there are still many places the have kids eat free with the purchase of a regular entree.

Online Deals

Online sites such as Groupon can be a great place to find coupons and deals for a family that makes an otherwise unattainable event, possible. This can include things like buying discounted restaurant (I often buy gift certificates for our favorite restaurants when they come up at 50% off) or deals on ticked events.

Take Advantage of Specials

Our local movie theater caters to families during regular school breaks such as spring break and Christmas break by putting on discounted days and promos like buy one ticket get one 50% off. During the rest of the year they offer a cheap ticket price on Tuesday. Going to the movies on Tuesday if the only way I pay, especially with children. If you don’t know, call and ask!

Friends of ours always take advantage of our local stage theater by taking their kids to ”pay what you can” night. Basically you show up on the first Tuesday of the seasonal performance, stand in line and pay whatever you can. Tickets normally start at $40 per person but on this night you can pay as much or little as you want.When you have a family and a budget this sort of event is perfect. This is something the theater has always done but never makes a big public announcement.

Good deals usually require some digging!

Membership Discounts

Sometimes it pays to have a kid (in terms of savings acquired).

If I wanted a membership to our local rec center I would be looking at $600 per year as an individual or I could get a family price (no limit on children) for $750 for the year. My husband, daughter and I can all capitalize on the gym, pool, rink and hundreds of classes for only $150 more per year and as our family grows the price stays the same (as is it locked in as long as you renew annually). This membership also gives us some ”free” events to partake in during the year when we’re looking to have a little family fun without breaking the bank.

How do you save on family fun?

3 Easy Ways Busy Parents Can Be More Frugal

February 13, 2014 | Leave a Comment

As a parent your to-do list can seem endless.

Go to work. Drop the kids off at school. Take the baby to daycare. Pick up the kids. Cook dinner. Take the kids to soccer practice. And, the list goes on and on.

As a busy parent it can be hard to focus on frugality when you can barely keep your head on straight. In these instances it’s the small things that can have the most impact on your financial situation.

Here are three ways busy parents can be more frugal.

Prepare Simple Meals

Keeping your meal planning simple is not only a cost effective strategy but it can free up a ton of time for you. Stock your pantry and freezer with some go-to, simple, and healthy meals that the whole family will enjoy.

What I often do is prepare several meals in advance that I can throw in the crockpot for those busy days. To do this simply gather all of your ingredients, put them in a freezer bag, and toss in the freezer. In the morning simply empty the bag into the crockpot. You’ll have a delicious meal waiting for you when dinner time comes around. Clean up is also extra easy, which is an added bonus!

Use Frugaa When Shopping Online

I tend to do much of my shopping online since it’s a huge time saver. And, every time I do I make sure to check and see if there is a coupon code to go with my purchase.

Frugaa makes this process even simpler. You simply visit Frugaa select your budget and the category or store you want to shop at and Frugaa will show all the available coupon codes that fit your chosen criteria. You won’t have to spend time weeding through different sites or searching for codes that coincide with your budget.

This is another easy way to save time and money.

Maximize Free Activities

As parents it can sometimes be hard to resist buying the latest toys or signing up children for every after school activity – but really, most of this is unnecessary.

You shouldn’t feel obligated to buy everything you see for your child. Free activities, like spending time outdoors, can be the most fun and memorable things you can do together.

Here are some ideas:

Have a “fancy” dinner in which you and your children dress up, use your good dishes, and eat at the table.
Take a walk through the woods.
Visit parks and watch your children play.
Have your kids put on a play for you.

There are endless free activities you and your children can enjoy, you just have to be willing to use your imagination.

One Small Step at a Time

It can be hard to stretch your frugal muscles when you’re always strapped for time. However, if you take a couple minutes at the start of the day to plan things out you can save time and money.

Start by making a few small changes. Once you get the hang of it you’ll be able to easily identify opportunities that will benefit your bottom line.

Brian

Brian is the founder of Kids Ain’t Cheap and is now sharing his journey through parenthood.

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Use Chippmunk to Reduce Your Valentine’s Day Costs

January 31, 2014 | Leave a Comment

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. While it’s a time to show your love to that important person in your life, it can also be a very expensive day. The traditional Valentine’s Day might include a meal out at a nice restaurant, perhaps a movie, and don’t forget gifts for one another.

Besides the expense, if you opt for this route, you’ll be spending a lot of time simply waiting. If you eat out on Valentine’s Day night, you may wait several hours just to get a table.

Instead, consider having a quiet Valentine’s Day at home. You can have a romantic dinner in and give each other gifts. Better yet, use a site like Chippmunk to get nice gifts at a deep discount.

What Is Chippmunk?

Chippmunk is a unique site. Rather than simply looking for coupons or coupon codes that can save you money, Chippmunk first asks you to choose your budget and what you are shopping for. Then, the site chooses coupons for you based on your budget.

If you enter a department that you’re looking for such as “chocolate”, the site will find you the retailers who have the best deals. You might be thinking of buying Fannie May candy, but you might find a better deal for Godiva Chocolate or Cherry Moon Farms.

Say you want to spend $30 on chocolate for the sweet in your life. Fannie May Berries can give you 25% off boxed chocolates. Or, you could save 20% off your order of $29 or more from Shari’s Berries.

Not sure which retailer you want to go with? Chippmunk also offers ratings measuring the customer experience provided by the store. In the above example, Fannie May Berries earns 4 out of 5 stars while Shari’s Berries earns 5 out of 5 stars.

In addition to searching by department, you can instead choose to shop by retailer. If your significant other loves Lindt Chocolate, for example, you can search by that store. There is currently a coupon there for 50% off. That sure beats paying retail!

Other Chippmunk Features

Chippmunk also shows what discounts are available if you spend a bit more. For instance, in some cases, if you spend $50 instead of $30, you’ll get free shipping or be able to unlock a bigger discount. You’ll have to do the math to see if increasing your budget is worth your while. Sometimes you save more when you enter a larger amount to spend.

Valentine’s Day is the perfect day to show those in your life such as your spouse and kids how much you love them. However, you don’t have to wait 3 hours for a table or rob your wallet to do so. Plan a romantic meal at home and take advantage of deal sites like Chippmunk. You’ll have a fun day, and you’ll be glad you didn’t have to fork over so much money to have a good time.

What other tips do you have for a frugal Valentine’s Day?

Brian

Brian is the founder of Kids Ain’t Cheap and is now sharing his journey through parenthood.

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Planning a Frugal Family Feast

October 16, 2013 | 2 Comments

This weekend I will be celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving by spending time with my family and stuffing my face with turkey and pumpkin pie. There’s something about Thanksgiving that I love. I think it’s the family gathering that isn’t already around another busy holiday such as Christmas or Easter, or maybe it’s just the fact that we get pumpkin pie, regardless, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of year.

Depending on where you live putting together a family feast can get very expensive. By the time you factor in meat prices, dessert and all the fixings, costs add up quickly! Today we will talk about how you can have a family feast without breaking the bank!

Skip the Meat

No where does it say your family feast has to include a turkey, ham or ”turduckin”. During Christmas, we would traditionally have a large family turkey dinner on Christmas eve after mass. Over the years though the family began to grow, a lot. Through marriages, new relationships, births and friends what started at three people blossomed into many, many people. Asking my mom to cook a turkey dinner large enough for everyone would have got very expensive, during an already expensive time of year.

Instead, she decided to skip the meat all together. A few years ago she decided to take a poll of everyone’s favorite pasta dish. A big winner was fettucine alfredo, so that year instead of turkey, she made a huge batch of pasta. Even buying all fresh ingredients from a specialty store, it was substantially cheaper to make pasta than it was to make a large traditional meal involving meat and everyone enjoyed it.

Pot Luck Style

If you’re hosting a family feast, divvy up the cooking responsibilities. Especially if you provide the meat, there is nothing wrong with asking each of your guests to bring a dish that accompanies the main course. To make sure you don’t get repeats, you tell them what to bring or you may end up with five versions of potatoes and six pies.

For Thanksgiving dinner, where will we have approximately 20 people to feed. Hubby and I are on ”dinner roll duty”. His granddad will be making a turkey and every family member has an item to bring to the meal from dinner rolls to pumpkin pie, we all know our dish.

Sometimes It’s Cheaper to Buy Pre-Made

I was going to bake a pie to bring in addition to the dinner rolls we were required to bring. My baking supplies are dangerously low so I knew there would be quite a few ingredients to buy. I went and priced out the ingredients to make my pie given what I had and it was going to cost me almost $20 to make from scratch, about $10 less if I bought a pre-made crust or $4.50 total if I just bought a pre-made pie. While people would have appreciated the effort and taste of my delicious pumpkin-apple pie, I simply don’t have the extra room in our budget this month for $20 in baking supplies. The store-made pie will be delicious, I’m sure, especially with a $4.50 pricetag.

So much about large family meals are more about spending time together rather than the food itself. While traditional meals around meat may be the norm, don’t be afraid to try something new. At the very least, new memories will be created.

How do you cut costs with family gatherings?