Jersey Halloween

Today is Halloween in New Jersey, thanks to Superstorm Sandy. It doesn't feel like Halloween, and hasn't for the past week. In fact, our school butted the Governor's decision and decided to have Halloween celebrations on Friday. That means the kids went to school in costume on Friday, and then today they have to quickly get home, throw on their costumes and go trick-or-treating.

Anyway, the whole pumpkin carving tradition thing was delayed as well, and we finally got it done last night. There were several suggestions tossed around, but none seemed good enough to everyone. Then, one idea got everyone's approval.

I present to you our pumpkin:

The Month Ahead: November

There are free (and nearly free) things to do every month in South Jersey. Check this calendar (and the weekly articles listed below) for events near you.

Wallet-friendly family activities in South Jersey: Oct. 29-Nov. 4
Wallet-friendly family activities in South Jersey: Nov. 5-11

To add an event, email me at sjfrugalfamily@yahoo.com.

Halloween Hub

Halloween is my favorite holiday. It is the one day of the year you can dress up as someone else and not get strange looks.

Considering the amount spent by Americans on Halloween each year, I'm not alone.

You can find some costume how-tos as well as information on Halloween events in the following links:

Top Halloween Costumes for 2012
South Jersey Halloween Parades
Witch Costume How-to
Pirate Costume How-to
Superhero (Justice League & Avengers!) Costumes How-to
Ninja Costume How-to


For even more ideas, check out my Pinterest Halloween board!

What are my kids dressing up as for Halloween this year? One will be a ninja, while the other will be Cubby, a Neverland pirate.

Jersey Diva

I recently got to interview WWE Diva A.J. Lee to promote Raw coming to Trenton. It was fun chatting with the "geek goddess" about comics, video games and, of course, wrestling.

The article was published in The Trentonian today, and you can read it here:
Jersey native A.J. Lee living the dream as WWE Raw GM

And, if you like that article, you may like these, too:
WWE’s Dolph Ziggler set to make a mark on 1,000th Raw
Million Dollar Dad: DiBiases stay close through busy wrestling careers
Mt. Laurel man going for American Ninja Warrior title

Sam and Julia?

Something neat happened last week. A recipe I submitted to CBS Local Media was selected to be published in their Gridiron Grub series!

In September, contributors were asked to create recipes and the best would be published, with two being published each week throughout the football season. Since football season overlaps with apple season and I am a Giants fan, I thought a burger with apple in it would be a great idea.

My husband and I worked together to make the burgers (I gave him the ingredients, he did his thing on the grill) and the burgers turned out being incredibly juicy. After an initial taste test, we decided which toppings would work best with pure flavor of the new burger.

While I may not be ready to tackle all of Julia Child's recipes, I was pretty proud of the fact that a recipe I created was published for visitors of all the CBS Local sites to try to recreate themselves that weekend.

Ready to try my Big Apple Burgers? Find the article here: Gridiron Grub: Big Apple Burgers

Also, check out a few of my other articles published on CBS Philly's site:
Top Playgrounds In Philadelphia
Baby Nurseries 101: Setting It Up Right In Your Philadelphia Home
Family Guide To The AC Airshow

The Month Ahead: October

There are free (and nearly free) things to do every month in South Jersey. Check this calendar (and the weekly articles listed below) for events near you.

Wallet-friendly family activities in South Jersey: Oct. 1-7
Wallet-friendly family activities in South Jersey: Oct 8-14
Wallet-friendly family activities in South Jersey: Oct. 15-21
Wallet-friendly family activities in South Jersey: Oct. 22-28
Wallet-friendly family activities in South Jersey: Oct. 29-Nov. 4

To add an event, email me at sjfrugalfamily@yahoo.com.

The Month Ahead: September

There are free (and nearly free) things to do every month in South Jersey. Check this calendar (and the weekly articles listed below) for events near you.

Wallet-friendly family activities in South Jersey: Aug. 27-Sept. 2
Wallet-friendly family activities in South Jersey: Sept. 3-9
Wallet-friendly family activities in South Jersey: Sept. 10-16

To add an event, email me at sjfrugalfamily@yahoo.com.

$5.06

Like many of you, I have spent the last couple of weeks shopping for new school season. This year, I'm shopping for two for the first time since my little one is starting Kindergarten.

Fortunately, the boys didn't need much clothing-wise, but I did need to shop for a majority of the school supplies on the list. (I usually save unused and gently used items from the previous year to reuse the next year.)

Today's shopping trip to Target was my grand finale. I had the supplies and new socks for both left on my list. My grand total for the trip? $5.06.

I saved some money on items on sale, like both packs of socks, the highlighters (he only needed one, though-- saving for future school needs), the pencil box and the tape. I also saved 5 cents by using a reusable bag to tote my purchase home.

My subtotal was $19.75. Thanks to an earlier deal to earn a Target gift card with purchase of an item, I redeemed a $5 gift card. Then, I showed the cashier my phone which had a $10 Target gift card on it from Shopkick and redeemed that. I paid with my Target card, adding 24 cents to my savings.

Even though the lady behind me seemed a little annoyed with my various forms of payment, I felt the joy of one those coupon ladies on television. Not only did I save all that money, but I had finally crossed off all the items my kids need-- that is until the first day of school and the teacher hands over an additional list...

Somehow, I found the time to write a little bit between scouting and shopping trips. In case you missed it, here's the line-up:

Back to School: Consignment stores offer savings on popular styles
County fair provides free family fun this weekend
Night Out events promote safety in local communities
Free haircuts available for young students going back to school


As always, thanks for reading!

The Month Ahead: August

There are free (and nearly free) things to do every month in South Jersey. Check this calendar (and the weekly articles listed below) for events near you.
Wallet-friendly family activities in South Jersey: July 30- Aug. 5
Wallet-friendly family activities in South Jersey: Aug. 6-12
Wallet-friendly family activities in South Jersey: Aug. 13-19
Wallet-friendly family activities in South Jersey: Aug. 20-26
Wallet-friendly family activities in South Jersey: Aug. 27-Sept. 2

To add an event, email me at sjfrugalfamily@yahoo.com.

School prep, birthday prep and Raw1000 prep

It was a busy week.

Between all the mommy stuff of planning a preliminary shopping for school and preparing a Batman themed birthday for my husband (yes, my husband), I got the opportunity to talk to two stars of the WWE, Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero, for The Trentonian.

I especially loved talking to Vickie because she was incredibly sweet, humble and relatable. That may be completely against the character she plays, but that shows how good she has actually become at playing her role of a heel (bad guy for any non-wrestling fans reading this) manager.

The article will be in the print edition of the newspaper tomorrow to promote WWE Raw's 1,000th episode, but you can find online today.

Here's where you can find that article and the others I've written this week:

WWE’s Dolph Ziggler set to make a mark on 1,000th Raw
Back to School: Preparation can help families save on supplies, clothes
Back to School: Savings available for early shoppers

Heat wave, Spidey and ninjas

Did you know there's a ninja in South Jersey? For The Trentonian, I got to interview Chris Wilczewski, an American Ninja Warrior contestant. He is an enthusiastic, friendly guy who is a very encouraging teacher and coach at his gym, The Warrior Lab. The article will be published Sunday, July 8, in the print edition of the paper, but online readers can view it right now.

For that article and others I've written throughout the week, check below:

Mt. Laurel man going for American Ninja Warrior title
Is 'The Amazing Spider-Man' kid-friendly?
Heat wave encourages creative ways to play
Sneaker Sundays program explores county park this weekend

Happy Fourth!

Fireworks seem to be all over South Jersey for the nation's birthday. Fortunately, they span over a few nights so you choose which works best with your schedule.

Growing up, I always went to Red Bank's fireworks. They were amazing and set to music, making them hard to top.

Ironically, the year Red Bank had no fireworks to light the sky, Medford's returned with an impressive show. I'm so glad my children got to witness this display. The fireworks were so massive, that they were still huge even when we left Freedom Park to watch down the street (and closer to the car, making an easy exit) because the little one thought the booms were a little too loud.

I can't wait to enjoy Medford's show again next year.

Popularity contest

Some subjects are more popular than others. In world of online publishing, what's popular is determined by page views.

It's always good to check in with analytics from time to time and see what is the most interesting to you, the reader. For the first half of the year, these were the most read articles I wrote for Examiner.com:

1. Resolutions 2012: Get the Kids to play more outside
2. Toys"R"Us store closing for renovations
3. Easy Valentine's Day crafts kids can make this weekend
4. Dr. Seuss's birthday celebration lasts all week with local events
5. Ceremonies, parades honor heroes for Memorial Day
6. Best parks for family fun in South Jersey
7. Peanut butter gets new life at latest Moorestown Mall eatery
8. Money-saving motorcycles charge into town
9. Quick and easy pirate costumes take kids to Neverland, Caribbean
10. Just4Kids Consignment opens registration for spring sales

Were you one of the many who read these articles? What do you think of the list?

The Month Ahead

There are free things to do every month in South Jersey. Check this calendar (and the weekly articles listed below) for events near you.

Wallet-friendly family activities in South Jersey: July 2-8
Wallet-friendly family activities in South Jersey: July 9-15
Wallet-friendly family activities in South Jersey: July 16-22
Wallet-friendly family activities in South Jersey: July 23-29

To add an event, email me at sjfrugalfamily@yahoo.com.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog, I guess... This will basically be a hub where you can access all sorts of information, from everything I write for various publications to monthly calendars for my South Jersey Frugal Family followers to a few quick bites of what my family did that was especially awesome.

For the first time, you'll get reviews of events and places from my children. You may also find out about articles I'm working on before they are published.

There won't be daily postings, and I may only post articles published weekly, so don't fear adding this to your feed. For immediate updates when I publish a new article to Examiner.com, your best bet would be to subscribe.

Thanks for reading!