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As a Halloween buff, yes, I believe there’s no time like the present to start planning your next Halloween costume.

Why?  Well, for one thing, you’ll have time to put together a much better costume if you start now.  If you are putting together your own costume, you can get a jump start on combing the thrift stores, before anyone else starts.  Some items are difficult to find, so you might really benefit from the additional time in that case.

Another reason to start looking early: Garage sale season is in the warmer summer and early fall months, and garage sales can be a great source for clothing for a Halloween costume.  Driving around to garage sales can be time- and gas-consuming, though, so I advise checking Craigslist and newspaper ads to see if the sale has clothing before you head on over.

Even if you prefer to buy a ready-made outfit, the extra time can help.  If you need a plus size women’s costume, for instance, you may find that the selection is smaller and good costumes are more difficult to find.  Starting to shop early will give you more time to find what you want.

The beautiful thing about a costume is that if you find one early, you can store it until Halloween rolls around.  So don’t be afraid to look now.  Better too early than too late, right?

Technorati Tags: garage sale season, plus size women's costume

Do your kids want to earn some extra money this summer? Are you struggling to figure out how you’re going to afford to increase their allowance? Maybe you should tell them to just get a job!

There are actually a lot of cool businesses that kids can do. Here are five of the best ones:

1. Make and sell arts and crafts. Kids can make jewelry, paper crafts, soaps and candles. They can sell these to neighbors, friends and even online.
2. Web jobs. Believe it or not, kids are pretty good at doing basic web jobs like blogging or selling photos through stock photo sites. You’ll have to help them get set up, learn online advertising and create a legal account for accepting payments but this can be a great way for them to earn cash.
3. Jobs providing a service. Kids can do yard work, house cleaning, act as a companion to the elderly or walk people’s dogs for them. All of these services can earn them money.
4. Jobs that help parents. Older kids can do jobs that involve taking care of younger kids. Babysitting, tutoring and reading to kids are all things that children can do to earn money.
5. Performance art. Creative kids can put on plays or talent shows. They can invite the neighbors to come see these things for a small fee.

Technorati Tags: jewelry

When it comes to holidays, I’m one of those kind of guys that just likes to go all out and make the surprise memorable. My girlfriend is one of those people that doesn’t like surprises. Or so she says!

On her last birthday, I thought I would get her the unexpected gift and show that I was a sensitive, animal loving kind of guy. Fortunately she only owns 3 cats, but I knew that a simple cat tree might not make the impacting statement I wanted.

For the briefest moment I thought I might want to learn how to make a cat tree since they really didn’t look that tough. After seeing some amazing pieces like a cat condo and the awesome cat tree mushroom, I opted to leave cat trees to the professionals.

Knowing that I wanted to get her cats something really cool, I started poking around in the premium cat furniture sections of some nice pet websites and found several items that were right where I wanted to be.

They were very nice looking, had tons of groovy cat features, and were relatively easy on the pocketbook. Not that my girlfriend isn’t worth it, mind you! I knew I would still be taking her out to dinner, so saving a few bucks on the gift was cool by me!

Technorati Tags: cat tree, Premium cat furniture

Have you ever been in the situation where you just didn’t have enough money at the end of the month? If you have, you’ll certainly understand that it is not the most comfortable position to find oneself in. Usually, I am very good about budgeting, and not really spending extravagantly on things I may not need. A few times during college however I really had to seek out a loan or 2 in order to make ends meet.

photo credit: eschipul

Since my days at University I have really been rather disciplined about making sure that the month isn’t over before the end of the paycheck. Recently however, I realized that I was going to have a shortfall and knew that if I was to make it to the next month, I’d have to seek some sort of assistance.

I’ve never actually gone into one of those cash advance places, but I see them all over. Given my situation I knew it would definitely worth the time to check things out. If they might be able to help me get over this financial hump, I’ll be happy to use their services.

Hopefully, the stories I’ve heard about in the news regarding check cashing places won’t apply here. Stay tuned, and I’ll be sure to update my adventure soon!

Technorati Tags: cash advance, loan

I wish that someone would come up with a diet that would work for the mid-40 set.  It’s just such a different ball of wax for us.  And for me in particular, I’m up to my ears in career plus a two year-old, so the old exercise regimen is just not going to fit in right now.  I can do a lot of walking, though. And it’s not like I’m not running my butt off all day:  I wore a pedometer and I routinely log in 10,000 steps a day.

I see a product on the market that you can buy in Wal Mart that is targeted toward addressing our mid-life female hormonal and water weight issues.  But are their specific diets for we beleaguered peri-menopausal types?  Fighting the water weight gain, in particular, is tough for us.

I’d love to go on something like a Cookie diet, and I guess I can look into one of those like the Siegal Diet.  But does anyone out there know of one that is a good match for someone like me who doesn’t have a lot of money and doesn’t have time to shop on a regular basis or prepare and cook those wonderful diet meals?