Kids’ parties on a budget!

If I think back to my childhood, birthday parties were more exciting than Christmas day. For one, we didn’t get our presents on Christmas day and the day wasn’t all about you and your friends. I remember dressing up and eating multi-coloured cake. I remember how I would toss around in bed the night before, too excited to sleep. My parents had to lock the door to the dining room so our little excited hands couldn’t get to the fun stuff before the guests arrived.

DIY party décor, a piñata.

What I don’t remember is what the cakes looked like. I only have vague memories of a swimming pool with naked plastic babies in and two mice under a blanket. Luckily my mom took photos, but in a child’s brain, it doesn’t have to look like a million dollars to be super exciting and beautiful. What made the parties special furthermore were the treats and decorations my mom made. To save money or get out of debt, DIY is your best bet.

This was when most sweets had tartrazine (a colorant) in, and my sister and I were allergic to this, so my mom had to MAKE marshmallows, mints, jelly…almost everything. We could eat gingerbread and liquorice and one brand of gummy sweets. Not exactly the stuff parties are made off. She used natural colorants for the icing on the cakes. You can buy those at your local baking supplies shop in small tubs, but these days there are much more to choose from. Even metallic colours and fairy dust glitter, which is great to sprinkle over cakes or cupcakes they are decorated.

They are powders and much more versatile than your run-of-of the mill food colouring. Don’t stop at the food. Mixed with a tiny bit of water, you can make face paint. Because it is non-toxic, the kids can go wild. It doesn’t stain as easily as usual paints. They can use it as make up when playing dress up, to draw on moustaches and eye lashes, or transform them into superheroes!

Looking back, my mom really was the queen on thrifty children’s parties, but nobody would have guessed. From the photos I can tell she put effort into making everything: from the tablecloths to the placemats to our outfits. The trick to catering to children on a budget is to get creative. If you’re not inspired by the icing and ice cream muse yet, visit websites like thefrugalgirls.com for party ideas on a budget. I love the cupcakes-in-cones idea and it’s very simple. A kid isn’t going to look forward to a party more if it’s over-the-top like My Super Sweet 16, and they won’t be disappointed as long as they can get their hands on cake and have a great time with their friends. So there's no reason to take a second mortgage on your house to afford your child's birthday!

Robots kids can make!

If the kids are a bit older, getting them involved in making the food is fun. You can make plan cupcakes and they can decorate them themselves. Or prepare pizza bases and set the toppings out on the table so they can each make their own pizza. Just remind them to mark it somehow to remember which is which! We loved making Pinocchio pizzas with half a banana for the nose and toppings as eyes.

Your job as parent or party-organizer is just to give them lots of things to see, do and eat. Try to plan activities beforehand, so you can distract them from covering each other in food or silly putty (or was that just us?). Don’t force them to play a game though, different kids have different things they are interested in and it’s their party after all, so the best bet would be having a few activities planned and seeing what they catch on to.

Party your way out of debt

Okay, maybe that’s a bit optimistic, as we usually associate a party with spending on food and drinks and even decorations and presents. But there is one kind of party that you can throw that will cost you no extra money: the swap party. Think about it: you get new (or at least, new to you) things or ideas, get rid of things crowding your home that you are tired of and you have a good time with your friends.

An amazing idea for an accessory swap party’s invitations! 

But don’t be fooled, not all swap parties are cheapskate. You can swap anything from books to wine to Louis Vuitton. But for now, we’ll assume we’re not that living that high! Clothes and accessory swapping is my favourite. I like vintage shopping, but sometimes you buy something that you just don’t get around to wearing. It’s probably not meant for you, but it can make someone else happy.

Recipe swap parties are also popular. You can take it one step further and make your recipe and then swap dishes. You can make an interesting meal of it if the guests taste everyone else’s dishes and take the recipes of all the dishes home. It’s a good idea to stick to a theme: casseroles, cookies, soups, or if you’re in the mood for something less housewifey and more bachelorette-friendly, swap cocktails.

The Swap Club Italia is so advanced,
you swap clothes for buttons for clothes again and
choose out of a seemingly endless variety.

I’m making it sound like swap parties are just for the feminine-inclined. In reality, if you have can get a group of people together with similar interests, you can have a swap party! You can swap games, electronics, hobby kits you are no longer interested in, decorations, crafts, furniture, music, DVD’s or anything, really! The possibilities are endless. You just need a group of like-minded people or friends who like to discover new things for next to nothing.

Happy swapping!

Thrifty travel tips

Photo John Charalambous  

Travelling has become a fixture in modern life as we travel to work, to learn, to shop, for fun, to church, to visit family... therefore it can definitely take its toll on your budget every month. Most working South Africans manage to afford petrol, the train or a taxi to get around. There’s usually not much you can do to cut back on travelling, but you can make the trip more affordable and save those pennies you’ve been meaning to use towards repaying your debt or financing your child’s future.

If you travel by car, the most drastic way to save on petrol costs would be to join or create a lift club to work. If you find two other people who live and work (or study) close enough to your work and home, you can save two thirds of your petrol expenses. If you can find the people, but they don’t have cars, you can charge them for their half (or third) of the petrol and include the AA’s vehicle operating costs. 

Photo ThisParticularGreg   

Also, make sure your car’s tyres, petrol filter, air filter and all those things that can affect petrol usage are checked regularly and replaced when needed. Try to avoid driving in traffic as far as possible by taking alternative routes or leaving at off-peak times. How you drive also has an impact on how much fuel your car is using, so go through these tips to increase fuel mileage even more.

Of course, travelling isn’t just a to-and-from-work affair. We need to see our families or go on holiday to unwind as well. Holiday travelling is more stressful as there’s so much more to plan and it can get really expensive when you look at the overall costs of your holiday, but there are ways to curb those costs. If you’re visiting your family, accommodation is probably free. But you can save a bundle if you don’t fall into the holiday spending trap we wrote about a few posts back.

Photo phunkstarr

Your mode of transport should also be planned, so do research and work out what transport will be the cheapest for the amount of people travelling that distance. Going by car can be the most affordable option for a family, but for one person, a plane ticket booked in advance is probably the cheapest way to get across the country. Being flexible with your times can mean bigger savings, so search online for a flight within a few days of your planned departure and arrival time as well. Also look into long distance train and bus fares.

Also, don’t do things you wouldn’t spend on normally, such as eating in restaurants every second day. Rather focus on sight-seeing and visiting places that locals would relax or have fun at. If you’re not sure what these are, ask! Chances are good that this will be much cheaper than tourist destinations. Pack your own food and plan your trip to fall in the off-season if you are visiting parks or museums that charge admission fees.

Most of all, remember to have fun and make the most of your trip. Holidays don’t have to be perfect, so if something goes wrong, see it as just another adventure! Unexpected things make for the best photos and the most lasting memories.

The value(s) of money: Living a better life by having a job that matters to you

In the blog article “If you’re frugal, you don’t need to earn as much as everyone else”, blogger Kristen shares what those of us who have discovered the joys of living with less know: when you’re not chasing after materialistic success and wealth, you don’t have to compromise on your values to get ahead in life. This does take a specific mind-set, though. You need to know what really matters to you to work towards it, or you might just end up blindly chasing the biggest pay check you can with no regard for your happiness in the long run.

This notion of working towards a better you rather than a bigger bank balance seems absurd in a country where people are struggling to get work. I can already imagine people declaring, “Of course you want the highest paying job you can possible get! Why struggle?” Well, it depends on what you see as “struggling”. Making the best of the money you have can be very rewarding. And while working your butt off to afford things like the best car or the biggest house or the most expensive holiday can also be rewarding, things in themselves cannot make you happy.

It’s important to have some perspective and not to over-do it. When we work too much we don’t have time for our friends and families, time to enjoy the hobbies we love or time to relax and take stock of our lives and where we’re heading. While there’s nothing wrong with having a lot of money, if you’re chasing after superficial success when you already have enough, you have to ask yourself why you’re doing this and if you’ll ever feel like you have enough.

The dilemma many of us face is that we can never have “enough”. There will always be more expensive things out there, demanding our attention and masquerading as something we have to have now. Our spending habits are geared toward this kind of instant satisfaction, and we do not value long term success that cannot be measured in Rand. This is one of the reasons why people become over indebted. By buying more and more we think we are buying better lives, but when we add the financial stress of being in debt to the mix, we’re ten steps back from where we started.

 As Kristen says in her blog, she achieved the things she wanted to achieve in life exactly because she wasn’t geared towards making a lot of money, but because she wanted to be happy with what she was doing. Think about it: you spend most of you week days working, so if you don’t like your job or you feel pressured to earn more and more, you start losing focus of the reason you chose that career in the first place and every day becomes a rush to get the job done or a drag to the finish line. Only to be back at work again the next day.

Feeling like you’re doing the job you’re meant to be doing is much more rewarding than longing for a better salary or a holiday. If you refuse to compromise on your values, you might just find that a better job finds you, one you are really good at, and the money will roll in by itself. The only difference is, this time you won’t be tempted to buy yourself a better life – you’ll already be living it.

DIY for cleaning, facial cleansing and clothing

In general we spend way too much in the shops on things we already have. You might think you’re making your life easier by buying ten kinds of detergents or five types of face care items, but in reality, we don’t need all those products. The simple truth is that advertising convinces us that we need much more products than we actually do and that only that specific, specialized product can do the job. But will you really notice if your windows were cleaned with vinegar instead of window cleaner? Of course. You won’t smell the fumes while in the process.

Vinegar can clean windows and kill weeds.
Image by lisaclarke

That’s the other problem with all the cleaners for our homes, bodies, cars, pets, hair, skin, linen…they contain a lot of chemicals. These chemicals had to be made somewhere, there was probably a lot of waste in the process, and it had to be shipped to your nearest shop so you can have chemicals poured down your drain too! It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Not to mention the dangers of nasty pest repellents. Pest repellents might kill one pest, but do you really want toxins or dangerous traps around your home where any man, pet or child can find them?

Non-toxic surface cleaners are available in most shops, but you can also use cheap vodka! It cleans bathrooms in a jiffy and doesn’t leave ugly smears marks on glass and tile. Think about it, it’s cheaper than normal cleaners, doesn’t release headache-inducing fumes while you are cleaning and it’s mostly alcohol so germs don’t stand a chance! Just be sure to hide the bottle when your mother-in-law comes around.

For an all-in-one laundry detergent, your best bet is buying a big amount from a supplier in your area. We have found one from Eco Clean that is suitable for very sensitive skin and you can buy it in different amounts, from small bags to very large ones, and it’s definitely cheaper than in the shops. You have to pay for the advertisement and packaging of these store-bought products, and if you go cheaper, you’re losing out on quality and end up spending more fixing your clothes or irritated skin.

Moths hate Sunlight

To keep those nasty moths out of your cupboards and their teeth away from your jerseys, you can put Sunlight soap in your cupboard. Slice the soap in smaller pieces (not too small) and put it between your folded clothes. For hanging clothes, grab a few sprigs of lavender and rosemary, tie them in an anti-moth bouquet and hang this by a string on your clothes hanger. These sweet smells sure beat that old moth ball smell that can stick to clothes.

If you do have clothes that have been infested with old-school moth balls, wash them with organic cleansers - vodka or vinegar instead of detergent will work a charm – and leave them out to dry and air for a few days sprinkled in bicarbonate of soda. Don’t ask why, but it works. Non-organic products do nothing for that smell.

Olive oil can also save
dry skin and hair.
Image by Kevan

Recently I’ve been exploring alternatives to breaking the bank on beauty products that are safe (and not tested on animals). With make-up I’m cool with splurging now and again, but cleansers, toners and moisturizers are a different story. 

What I’ve found to work a charm is the oil cleansing method – I use olive or sunflower oil – rose water for toner and a chain store’s very affordable “earth friendly” brand moisturiser.

Save your well-earned money or pay back that loan and discover a world of home remedies for almost everything! You will be surprized once you start looking. Today I found a recipe to make your own mineral make up – who knew?!

Tips for saving money that will always work

Whether you want to save money, avoid the debt trap or pay back your debt, there is a way to teach yourself to save. Some of these tips are geared towards learning new habits to save around the house, but the others that can really make a difference in the long run. Setting goals is important as, well as daily reminders, of where you want to go with your finances, instead of trying to stop yourself from overspending. Have a jar to put R20 notes or any small change in so you are aware of the fact that you need to save. Label the jar with your goal, like buying something you would ordinarily feel guilty about, or to go away for a weekend.

The reminder money jar, picture by Images_Of_Money

If you want to avoid being over indebted or you want to save money, the easiest and most effective way to save a bit every month is a pay-check deduction. This way, you will not be tempted to spend the money you are planning to save as it does not show on your bank balance. Instead, it is automatically paid into a savings account and even better: make sure it’s not easy for you to draw your savings.

A good idea is to arrange for a three day period between requesting a withdrawal and receiving the money and to only be allowed a withdrawal once every three months. This way, you cannot use the money for instant gratification and if you do use it, you have to save another three months before you can touch it again. This is great for people who feel like saving is impossible because once they get to the end of the month, they think about using their savings instead of spending less.

The next big thing is saving money in your everyday life. Follow tips to save water and electricity in South Africa and be aware of all the spending that you are doing. Below is a room-by-room guide on saving around the house.

It’s important to keep to a budget, especially around times like holidays and Christmas when we tend to splurge and forget about budgeting. Instead, draw up a new budget for times when you will have new expenses. A great tip for Christmas spending is to arrange with you family beforehand that everyone gets only one gift from one person. The gift giver should be someone who knows them pretty well, not Aunt Edna you haven’t seen in 10 years, as a thoughtful gift is even more valuable than an overtly expensive one. But because everyone is only buying one gift, they can buy one R200 gift instead of 20 R50 gifts. You save R800 in this scenario. Of course it will take some planning to let everyone know of the arrangement, who they have to buy a gift for and what the value of the gift must be, but in the end everyone will save time and money AND receive a gift they will appreciate.

Finally, steer clear of people you know who live lives that you can only dream. The thing is, when we are around people who buy only the best of everything we either feel like we don’t fit in because we can’t afford to live that way, we try to buy some of the things they have or we feel discontent with what we have. Either way, these people mean no harm, but if you struggle making ends meet it will only make you unhappy (and bankrupt) to be around people who are better off than you, have expensive hobbies and visit places you cannot afford. You can easily forget that money cannot buy happiness when their lives seem so much more glamorous and exciting than yours. 

Vision board part I: To get the life you want now

Many people think that a vision board is visual motivation, but life coaches have different ideas about how they work and what we can take from these approaches are two ways to use visualization. Both work, but the one is for realizing what your goals are and the other for realizing your goals.


ErinPavlina sees vision boards as most people do: it’s a collection of images of things you desire that you put together. Life coaches differ on how they work, though. Pavlina recommends that you then put it in a place where you can see it often. This works as motivation for reaching goals that need daily attention, such as losing weight or saving money. The constant reminder of what you really desire reminds you that you are working towards something and that a small sacrifice now will get you closer to your goal.

To motivate you to get out of debt, you can create a motivational board of things that you want to do, but you can’t because debt is holding you back. This seems like a silly exercise, but when you’ve assembled those images, think of their impact on your happiness and reaching your potential. If you decided you want a holiday in Mauritius and you put it up on your board but surround it with things like getting a better education, sleeping easy at night, having less stress, having more time to relax and getting to know your true purpose…suddenly a holiday doesn’t look like such a great goal. Will it really make you more content and get you where you want to be in life? Of course it will be fun, but it will take a lot of money and work and only last a few days. A motivation board helps you to put things into perspective.

If your motivation board only has pictures of cars, diamond rings, happily married couples, tropical holidays, mansions or actors, throw it out and start over. Motivation and visualizing only works if it is personal. See “Vision board part II: for long term goals" as to why this is true.

For more on vision boards:
Vision board III: You have the life you want now

Vision board part II: To get the life you need

Martha Beck writes that your vision has to come from your non-social self and not culture. She says this is easy: find pictures that trigger emotion, that make you feel “wowed”, or make you feel any positive emotion: calm, in control, focussed, positive. You don’t even have to know why the photo of two bright houses on a cliff above a crystal clear ocean makes you feel so inspired, because that is the beauty of a vision board. It makes you realize what you need as you go along.

Image courtesy of Artur Staszewski 

Many people tell their vision board stories with words like “I totally forgot about that picture of the houses on the cliff until I was looking for a place to stay and had to choose between a house surrounded by nature and one close to work and I knew the answer”. Beck says that after you have assembled these images that inspire you, you must get rid of them. A great way to make a vision board is digitally, but do not search for specific images, like typing “love” or “money” into a search engine. Instead, find websites that inspire you and take those images or even short phrases and put them all together in a collage. Then look at it, feel how they make you feel, and delete them. Forget about them.

It is the process of finding things that truly inspire you and putting them all together that will change your life, not looking the board itself. Beck says they “will stick in your subconscious mind and steer your choices toward making the vision real”. You won’t know right away why these images inspire you, but when a situation arises that gives you the opportunity to realize your true desire, you will feel that same feeling and know that this is what you’ve been waiting for. This is a powerful tool to steer the focus of your life away from material possessions and society’s idea of success and to find what you really need.

The first approach to visual boards is for short term goals, like getting out of debt and meeting monthly debt commitments, while the second one can take any amount of time to change your life, but it will give you a subconscious motivation to realize your dreams and to not be side tracked by diamond rings, mansions and sports cars.