Embrace the outdoors. This is a prime time for it to just be you, your loved one and nature. The best part about searching a cave or taking a stroll through the park? You can have some of the best conversations during this time because you have no distractions! If you're a hiking enthusiast or bike rider, this is a great opportunity for your partner to enjoy it with you. If you're a kid at heart, visit your local zoo or playground. The places are there, you may have to do a little exploring first though.

Cook dinner for each other. Given, it's nice to go out to a nice restaurant every now and then, but it can put a dent in your funds if done too often. Fixing your significant other's favorite dish is just one more way you can show them how much you care. Plus, this is another great way to show off what an amazing cook you are!

Make each other gifts. This is probably a favorite of mine just because you can make it really personal. Not to say that store bought gifts or cards aren't nice, but you can put a lot of thought into something that is handmade. If you know what your sweetheart likes, this won't be hard to do. Something as simple as a love letter or burning a CD with their favorite songs is sure to put a smile on their face.

Learn a new skill. Showing your loved one that you want to learn one of their skills will definitely earn you some cool points. It shows that you want to take an interest in something that they already know. Ladies, does your gentleman know how to change the oil? Learn how to! Guys, does your lady know how to sew? Fix that missing button on your shirt! Hey, you can never know too much, am I right?

Take advantage of free or cheap events around town. No matter where you live there is always something free to partake in. Art museum events, live bands to see, free craft shows, bake sales, historic tours...you name it!

These are just a few ideas to get you going. And just remember, it's the not about the amount of money being spent between the two of you, it's all about quality time together.

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1. Dinner and a movie at home. No matter how you look at it, instead of going out to do this, you'll save yourself some extra money. When buying items from the grocery store, see what's on sale first and if you can, buy generic. A dinner for two at a local restaurant is sure to be pretty pricey. We're talking well over $50 easily. However, if you do decide to go out, you can always share a main course. The best thing about dinner and a movie at home, it's just the two of you. Awww, how romantic!

2. A stroll through the park. This is a prime time to get to know your loved one even more with some one-on-one time. And what's even better? It's free! Surround yourself with nature and take advantage by walking hand in hand at a local park. There are many good memories to be had at a place like this.

3. Make your gifts. If you're feeling crafty, you can get pretty creative by making your own card. Instead of the typical generic store-bought card, why not personlize it? Print out a favorite photo of you and your significant other and decorate to your heart's content. Some other ideas to think about? Decorate a box and fill them with love notes or poems, burn a CD with songs that you both love (this is so 90's, but still a great idea!), make a collage of favorite photos you took together or bake their favorite dessert. Really, the possibilites are pretty endless. No matter what though, they will appreciate the time you took to make something for them.

4. Do some chores. So your sweetheart may hate taking out the trash or doing the dishes, so do it for them today! Take the stress away and do a few things around the house or out in the yard that they may usually do on a typical day. Is the car dirty? Surprise them by detailing it inside and out.

You can make this day special, without making it expensive. It doesn't always have to be about the fancy gifts. Anything from the heart will show your sweetheart how much you love them!

1.)Costumes - Instead of paying fistfuls of dollars for that really cool costume that turns you into a 6-foot iPhone, try piecing a wardrobe together at your local thrift store. Places like Goodwill are great sources for cheap clothing, masks, makeup, and more. The cool thing is, you can be original and not wear the same costume as everyone else! And if you do happen to have a cool costume from years past and you enjoy wearing it, why not re-use it? Halloween costume swap parties are also a great idea too. Curious about the origin of dressing up while we're on the subject? It is actually said that the Celts believed with the coming of Samhain, harmful spirits were at an all time high. In order to rid themselves of these evil spirits they would actually dress up in costumes and masks and parade around the village. (It makes complete sense as to why we dress up now, huh?)

2.)Trick-or-Treating - A survey from the National Retail Federation shows that we spend an average of $20.29 on candy alone. The best way to save on this? You guessed it, coupons! Weeks before Halloween starts, there are already coupons for candy in newspaper inserts. If you don't get the paper, make sure to get online and look   at sites like coupons.com or redplum.com where you can print them directly yourself. Also, pay attention to deals going on at your local stores. There are sometimes great buys on bags of candy the day before Halloween. And don't forget dollar stores, people! Alright, here goes your second history lesson. Trick-or-treating comes from a ninth-century European custom called "souling". On All Souls Day, people would walk from village to village collecting "soul cakes" made out of square pieces of bread and currants. The more of these soul cakes you collect, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of deceased relatives of the donors.

3.)DIY Decor - You can get pretty creative with craft materials like foam and spray paint to make gravestones. Different colored light bulbs can be cheap too. Have an MP3 player? Instead of making that impulse buy of silly Halloween CD's that you're only going to be listening to once a year, download your favorite tracks and save yourself the money. You know you like "Monster Mash" and "Thriller", so customize your own Halloween soundtrack. You can also stock up on decor by catching sales deals the day before Halloween or after. This way you can use them next year too!

There are lots of ways to save yourself money for Halloween, and keep more money for other expenses throughout the year. So have fun this weekend, be safe and don't get into too much trouble. Bwahahahaha...that's my evil laugh. Did it scare you?

Weddings are very expensive. The average wedding costs about $20,000. This is a tremendous amount of money, and if you aren't married yet, want to be, and aren't saving for yours I would recommend opening a savings account now! Many of my friends got married while they were in college, and sometimes were not able to enjoy a large amount of financial support from their families. Here are some ways that they were able to save money on their weddings.

Unique Use of Wedding Gifts
Many of us have friends with incredibly unique skills. That might come in handy for a wedding. Maybe you have a friend who is really good at coordinating events, and instead of bringing you a wedding present they would be willing to act as your wedding planner. Many of us have friends that are brilliant photographers, and they might be happy to shoot your wedding for free. There are a few caveats, of course. We never want to take advantage of our friends, and use our special event as emotional blackmail to get them to do something they otherwise wouldn't. My photographer friends have, on occasion, complained to me about their inability to get their friends to even consider paying them for their work. With that in mind, your friends still might be willing to discount their skills. In the end the cost of putting unnecessary stress on relationships might make the cost of these services worth it.

Consolidate Venues
Is there a reason to rent both a church and a reception hall? Having the ceremony in the same place as the reception, and giving 30 minutes for the room to change over can save money. There are even venues that are designed specifically for this. I've had friends get married at a great venue with two outdoor pavilions, one for the ceremony and the other already set up for the reception so that there wasn't even a delay in serving people food after the bride and groom walked down the aisle.

Regular Suits and Dresses
This might not help the bride or groom save money, but their wedding party would be thankful. Why not allow the groomsmen to all wear black suits? A tux rental can run upwards of $100, and eventually every man will need a black suit. And what about the bridesmaids? Once the colors for the wedding have been picked why not let them pick dresses that fit the color? This will give them more freedom to pick a dress they might wear again, and even give your wedding a unique look and feel. Though, I would recommend letting the bride have final say on what dresses are worn.

Elope
Yes, you rob your friends and family of the joy of sharing in the public proclamation of your unending and eternal love, but you get the satisfaction of being married without any of the costs. This could have serious repercussions on family relations for years to come. This is the nuclear option of saving on a wedding.

None of us wants to have a wedding that looks cheap, but there are definitely ways to save on the big day. What are some of the tricks that you know of for having a less expensive wedding?

Image (Via)

1) Don't Buy Textbooks

During my sophomore year at college I had a friend who sat in front of me in one of my political science classes. Before class he would borrow my book and read the section that we would have a quiz on once the professor showed up. My friend, a senior, let me know that he had not bought a textbook in 3 years and had 3.75 GPA.

The average cost of textbooks in a semester is anywhere from $300 - $500 dollars. So over the course of your education you can save about $2,800 to $4,000 dollars. The savings can add up, but it is unrealistic to go without purchasing textbooks.

However, you don’t have to buy every book brand new. Usually you can find used copies on websites like half.com. If you are even more adventurous you can buy the old edition of the book. These poor pieces of printed material are no longer relevant because their graphs are out of style, or the author had decided that he wanted to rewrite the introduction. This is usually a good idea for classes like economics. While the graphs may be updated to include more recent years, the basic principles of macro and micro haven't changed that much in the last fifty years.

2) Go Without A Cell Phone

For my first semester of school I did not have a cell phone, and I got one during Christmas break. This was a very hard time in my life because my friends could never get in touch with me. By not having a cell phone in those months I saved about $300 dollars, and if I had persisted and not had one at all during school I could have saved $3,360. That is a semesters worth of tuition!

Again, this is drastic, but if you are paying for your iPhone perhaps you should reconsider and go with a pay as you go phone with fewer features. If you can get your cell phone bill below $50 a month during school you can be accessible, and will be able to get by on less a month.

3) Only Eat For Free

This is a bit of an exaggeration, but there are plenty of student groups that offer free food at their weekly meetings. A lot of times university programs will give away food to raise awareness. These need to all be on your calendar. I'm not saying that joining 7 student groups to have free lunch 7 days a week is a commendable thing, or even something I recommend, but being aware of free food is a way to keep your day to day costs a little lower.

Also, it is hard when all of your friends are going out to lunch and dinner everyday, but there is no shame in heading home to eat, or brown bagging it. If you play your cards right you could even establish a weekly picnic with all your friends and that will lead to a great time and money saved.

4) Don't Own A Car

I did this. I do not recommend it for everyone. I lived walking distance from campus and my job was on campus. Not having a car probably saved my about $8000 during my time in school. Because I did not have a car I could also work a job that didn't pay as well because I didn't need as much money.

This did not always make me popular with my roommates, but I lived with 4 other guys, trips to Wal-Mart were frequent, and I was always able to catch a ride when I needed one.

The ability to do this will be determined by your personality type, the generosity of your friends, and the type of college town you live in. Mine was fairly small and for the most part I could walk anywhere I needed to go. Perhaps, to keep your gas costs down all you need is a bike, but don't be afraid to give up your car keys. It can be done.

5) Couchsurf
The boldest move you take to cut costs. Live on your friends’ couches.

One of my former roommates did this for a semester. He lived like a nomad and for some reason was allowed by my friends to live rent-free in their apartments.

Planning on this lifestyle is probably not realistic, but if you are able to try and live in a house or apartment with several roommates.

For two years I lived with five other guys and ended up paying about a fourth of what most of my friends paid for their whole apartments.

College is expensive, but there are ways to find savings. Even if some of the ones listed above are more humorous than realistic it is always good to find ways to save money while working towards that degree. Maybe living at home for two years and knocking out the basics at a community college is the way to go. The decisions you make while you go through school will be based on your own unique financial picture.

Some people have a college fund and will be able to live as they please and not worry about how to pay for their next semester, and others will out of necessity have to take out student loans to finish their degree. One isn’t better than the other, but in both situations it is always good to stop and take a look at what you are spending your money on and figure out if there are ways that you can make each dollar go further.

I wanted to delay replacing my Cavalier until I could get a Volt, but as my A/C went out last week and it's already unbearably hot and humid here in Lake Jackson, I now have the perfect excuse to replace it.

Truth is, I just sunk a good bit of money into having the steering unit replaced, and the frequency of minor repairs it needs just keeps increasing. The book value is pretty low, the miles are pretty high, and I don't feel comfortable driving it long distances anymore.

Enter my next option: buying a slightly used car. There are some great lease turn-ins out there, so I'm scouring eBay and leasing company websites to review my options. I bought our family car from such a dealer in 2004, an Olds Bravada with 24k miles on it, one previous owner (a lease actually), and no adverse history. Three years later, and it's still easily the best purchase I've made. Someone else took the hit on the value, and I got a great car at a great price.

The bottom line is I still love the Volt... I just can't wait on replacing the Cav.

For the last four years I was an entrepreneur; the four before that: a student. Thus I am always looking for cheap cost effective ways to decorate/eat/entertain. It's a habit that will surely drive my children mad.

Speaking of parenting, my wife and I have our first baby on the way. Last week we put the finishing touches on the nursery. We'd noticed a wall graphic in the Pottery Barn catalog, and I told my wife, "We could do that." She held me to it.

Here are photos of the process behind the tree that now covers one of the nursery walls. Not counting the green paint underneath, we got this done for around $20 - it took less than a quart of off-white paint, a roll of painters tape, a 1" brush, a fine brush, and time.

Now if we could find a cheap alternative to diapers, we'd be all set.