halloween costumes...the horror!

i love the fall. i love to decorate for the fall. my house is currently full of pumpkins. some people love to decorate for halloween. i'm not one of them. my decorations have to last until i pull out the christmas decorations (this usually happens before thanksgiving.) still, somehow i have gotten caught up in the throws of dressing up my kids for halloween. i don't just let them pick out a costume. no, i let them pick out a costume as long as it fits into my pre-picked theme. i can see the years of therapy lining up already.

last year, my kids were all characters from "the chronicles of narnia..."prince caspian, king peter, lucy, the baby was the lion. seriously...so stinking cute. i have had friends dress their baby up as a bee and then get little bee keeper costumes. this year it was going to be "star wars." they could pick any character i could buy as a costume. can't you just see it...a little ewok, boba fett, princess leia, master yoda. i had it all planned out and, miraculously, the kids were happy to play along.

then i looked at how much this little venture would cost me. i was looking at close to $150.00 for one night. that's when i decided my obsession was a bit ridiculous. it is dark when my kids "trick-or-treat." no one notices how cute they are except for me and while the cuteness does bring me a bit of joy, so does buying them winter clothing.

so, this year i've gone practical. i'll have one boba fett, two characters recycled from last year's "narnia" and one recycled dinosaur from three years ago. it won't be coordinated but it will be affordable and for one night of candy swapping, i think that's the smarter move. i think that matching costumes might be one of those luxuries i have to give up while having a big family. what about you? to match or not to match...i'd love to hear your stories.

saying goodbye to cable television

when we moved to a different state about a year ago my husband had this *crazy* idea that we should give up our cable television. i thought that he had lost his mind! i don't watch a ton of tv, but i do love my "friends" on grey's anatomy, desperate housewives and modern family....with a few reality shows thrown in for good measure (don't judge). i loved the idea of saving $100 or more a month, but really? no cable?! was he losing his mind?!

the reality is that we did it. we broke up with our cable company and now have entered into a committed relationship with hulu plus, netflix and roku. with the addition of these three into our lives we are now only paying around $14 a month and i still get to hang out with my "friends".

here's how we did it:

• roku. the only thing that you have to buy outright is this snazzy roku player. it connects to your tv (sort of like a dvr) and enables you to link to hulu, netflix and amazon (more about this later). It is only $99.99 and there is no monthly fee. however, i believe that if you have certain dvd players they will do the same thing.....but i am not techie enough to know for sure.

Roku 2100X XDS Streaming Player 1080p

•hulu plus. for $7.99 a month you can watch programs from your tv (via roku) or through any computer. because you are a member there are only limited commercials (although i think there shouldn't be any) and you can "subscribe" to your favorite shows just like you do with your dvr......the downside is that they are not available until the day after they are aired....so if you are one of those people that have to watch something live, this is not for you. also, they don't have everything. there are some shows and networks that are not available and some that can only be watched via the web. annoying....but when i am only paying $7.99 vs. $150+ i can't complain too much. anything that i am truly desperate to watch that they don't have i simply watch online. easy-peasy.

this link should give you 2 weeks free. 

http://hulu.com/r/_WTWSw

•netflix is the final piece of our puzzle. i am a little mad at them for changing their pricing plans recently, but for $9.99 a month you can still watch all of the movies that you watch instantly. they are adding new content daily and we have so much fun recently watching all of the old seasons of ally mcbeal and mad men (they also have fantastic content for the kiddos). they offer a one month trial for free. 

the bottom line is that getting rid of cable isn't easy and this plan certainly does not have all of the bells and whistles that cable (and your dvr) can offer you.....but if you are like most of us right now and are trying to cut back on your monthly spending this may be something to at least try. paying under $20 a month has made a *huge* difference in our monthly budget that is for sure.

anyone else made the switch?