Get a Head Start on Christmas Baked Goods

Christmas is less than six weeks away, and it's only going to get busier from here.

Trimming the tree. Buying the presents. Baking the cookies.

But wait: You can get the cookies done now! Many recipes include instructions for freezing the dough and baking them weeks later. I've made chocolate chip cookies and popped them in the oven six weeks later, and they taste just as fresh as if I had just stirred the dough.

Planning to give homemade treats as gifts? Make them now, and bake them later!

Frightfully Low Prices on Halloween Candy

Kids clean up on candy when they trick-or-treat, but it's the day after that's the best time for chocolate for everyone else.

That's usually when grocery stores and pharmacies cut the prices on their stash of Halloween candy by 25 percent, 50 percent or even more.

Stock up! Hershey Kisses in orange wrappers are still Hershey Kisses. And coffin-shaped, caramel-filled chocolates are much tastier than they look.

The stock goes quickly, so don't wait more than a day or two after trick-or-treating in your community to make your own candy run.

3 Cheap and Easy Halloween Costumes

It's less than a week until Halloween and you're still without a costume. And without money.

Now that's scary.

But no fear! Make these 3 easy Halloween costumes on the cheap with things you already have tucked away in your closet.

1. Michael Phelps: Skip the swimsuit and put on a pair of windbreaker pants and a jacket-- red, white and blue if you can pull it off. Slap some goggles on your head and dig out those old medals you won in elementary school (or make your own with aluminum foil and ribbon). Voila. You're an Olympic superstar.

2. Ghost. It's an oldie but goody. You're never going to use that old white sheet in the linen closet anyway, so you might as well poke a couple of eye-holes in it. Bonus: You can use it as a blanket if you're outside and it's freezing. It's like a Halloween Snuggie.

3. Well-Read. Yep, I'm a bookworm and a dork and this was my last-minute costume for a holiday party at a friend's house a few years back. I carried a pail (I was a well) and wore all of my scarlet clothing (I was all red). Very punny, I know, but also very easy.

My Favorite Eggs of All Time

Item: Cadbury Eggs

Price: Less than $1

Where to Buy: Your local grocery store or drugstore

Review: Easter is in two days. Don't tell you haven't picked up a Cadbury Egg or two. Or twelve.

A Cadbury Egg has long been the easiest, cheapest way to make me happy on Easter morning. The creme egg is certainly a classic, with the frosting filling and even a "yolk" center. But the chocolate truffle egg is also a favorite, and even the caramel-filled egg when the mood strikes.

Easter just isn't Easter with a Cadbury Egg. By the same token, a Cadbury Egg is for Easter only. Last year I saw the eggs for sale in special holiday packaging (Christmas?) and it just wasn't right. It's like hanging a stocking in September or going trick-or-treating in February-- it just isn't done.

But downing a Cadbury Egg before breakfast on Easter morning? That, my friends, is certainly done.

Image from: Cadbury.com

Step Away from the Waxy Easter Bunny

Item: Cruisin' Chocolate Easter Bunny

Price: $22

Where to Buy: Lake Champlain Chocolates

Review: I'm not one to turn down candy, even if it's a waxy chocolate Easter bunny snagged at the grocery store for a few bucks.

But if you want to get something truly special for the Easter basket, get thee to Lake Champlain Chocolates.

The chocolatiers have the classic white, milk and dark chocolate bunnies, but the cruisin' bunny is a fun and tasty alternative. No matter which you choose, you'll be happy. My mouth is watering just thinking about them.

My husband and I recently visited the Lake Champlain Chocolates factory in Burlington, Vermont and had some of the best chocolate I've ever tasted. It's cliche, but their truffles really are to die for. I can't imagine that their Easter bunnies would be anything but.

Image from: Lake Champlain Chocolates

The Ultimate Easter Egg: Kinder Egg

Item: Kinder Eggs

Price: $29.99 for 24

Where to Buy: Dutch Market

Review: I was first introduced to the Kinder Egg in my high school German class. The hollow egg-shaped treat is made of milk chocolate on the outside, with a layer of white chocolate in the inside.

But that's not what makes the Kinder Egg (or Kinderei, as we referred to it in class) so special. The real prize is the toy inside the egg.

Each egg contains a capsule about the size of your big toe, and each capsule contains small pieces you put together to make your toy. It's all very Happy Meal.

Kinder Eggs aren't sold in the US, which makes it all the more special when you receive one (and all the more expensive to buy because of the shipping costs). The egg shape makes them a perfect addition to any Easter basket, but my stomach and I would happily take one at any time of the year.

Image from: Dutch Market

5 Cheap Knick Knacks for an Easter Basket

You can get some fun gifts for the Easter basket that are just as cheap as chocolate-- and a whole lot better for your teeth. Here's five:

1. Money-- but not what you're thinking. Salvage one of those hollow plastic Easter eggs and stick a Sacajawea dollar coin or (even better) a $2 bill inside. It's not much, but their rarity makes them fun to receive.
2. Slinky. Go old-school with a toy that requires no batteries or electric plug.
3. Stickers. Tiny holiday-appropriate ones can even be used for some last-minute Easter egg decorating.
4. A book. The only think I remember in the Easter baskets of my youth (besides the annual white chocolate bunny) is a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book that Mom and Dad stuck in there one year.
5. Sidewalk chalk. What better reminder that sunny days are around the corner than a bucket full of pristine pastels?

5 Cheap St. Patrick's Day Food & Drinks

Tomorrow's the big day celebrating everything Irish: St. Patrick's Day.

But not everyone has the cash (or vacation days) to take the day off work and spend it downing Guinness in the local pub. If you're hosting or attending a St. Patrick's Day Party, here's 5 cheap "Irish" foods you can present with a few bucks and maybe a bit of food coloring.

1. Potatoes are Irish. Green is Irish. Put a little food coloring in your mashed potatoes for an Ireland-inspired treat. Fun for the kids, and easy.

2. Don't put away the food coloring yet-- now it's time for an adult treat. Bars don't have to be the only ones to serve green beer. Get your favorite light-colored alcoholic beverage and tint it to your heart's content.

3. For a cheap and easy side dish on St. Patrick's Day or any day of the year, cut up a head of cabbage and place it in a large microwavable bowl. Top with a couple of tablespoons of butter and some salt. Heat until the butter is melted and the cabbage is warm. Yum!

4. Drinks all around-- the non-alcoholic kind. Make some Irish breakfast tea for the crowd.

5. No green food coloring in the cupboard? Don't have time to go to the grocery store for some sauerkraut? Tie a big green ribbon on your serving dish and call it a day.

5 Cheap Valentine's Day Gifts

You can't buy love.

Right?

Yes, that old-as-time saying still holds true, but the fact is that many people still expect a gift on Valentine's Day as proof that their significant other is as in love with them as ever.

Even typing that sentence kind of made me want to gag. I know my husband loves me, and a gift -- no matter how expensive (or cheap) -- won't prove he loves me any more (or less).

That being said, a small token of remembrance does warm my heart. Here's 5 cheap ways to say "I love you" on a budget:

1. Instead of the standard dozen roses in a vase, "hide" a flower in a different location around the house- inside a kitchen cabinet, next to her toothbrush, on the driver's seat of the car. And you don't have to get roses. Consider something cheaper but just as sweet, like daisies.


2. Buy a pack of his favorite gum and attach a note: "I'm stuck on you!"


3. Boxes of fortune cookies are available at many grocery stores for a few bucks. Wrap, and attach a note: "Every day I feel more fortunate to have you by my side."


4. Pick up a tin of Altoids and attach a note: "We're 'mint' for each other."


5. Choose her favorite candy: a chocolate bar, a bag of Tootsie Rolls, whatever. Attach a note: "Each day with you is sweeter and sweeter."

Cheap Valentine's Day gifts don't mean you love your husband, wife, boyfriend or girlfriend any less. In fact, think of cheap Valentine's Day gifts as a way to show your creativity and love at the same time.