By Wendy Mihm | Monday May 23, 2011

Graduation season is fast approaching – time to plan celebrations and find some unique grad gifts for your favorite graduate!

As usual, at FinancialRx our goal is to help you fulfill these tasks in meaningful and fun ways, without crushing your budget.

With that goal in mind, let’s count down our FinancialRx Top 5 Unique Grad Gift Ideas, with our Top Pick saved for last.  We’ll tell you why it’s our top pick in a moment – stay tuned…

#5.  Mini fridge and/or a small, basic dish and flatware set
This is specifically for high school grads on their way to a college dorm.  It doesn’t seem glamorous, but these items will be extremely useful and appreciated once your grad arrives on campus in the fall.

#4.  A one-year gym membership
This is for the college grad or the high school grad who is not college-bound, as college students generally have access to free gym facilities on campus.  This will set new graduates up for a healthy habit that they can continue after your year-long gift membership expires, provided you get the membership at an inexpensive place like a YMCA or community center near where they live.

#3.  A professional photo shoot.
Your grad may love to have some beautiful, professional photos taken alone, with family, or with his or her best friend(s) at the beach, in the yard, at their school, at a sports facility or someplace that holds special meaning to them. If it’s done tastefully, this is a gift they could treasure forever. 

Alternatively, if you’re throwing a party for your grad, as a unique grad gift, you could hire a photographer to shoot for an hour or so at the party and capture these precious memories as gorgeous, professional keepsake photos.

#2. A set of “survival” books
These could include books that would help them either in college, such as “The Real Freshman Handbook” or, if they’re headed off to the “real world,” titles such as “Show Me How: 500 Things You Should Know.” Be sure to include both real words of wisdom, as well as a good dose of humor.

#1.  *** FinancialRx Top Pick *** A year’s worth of health insurance.  This is by far our top recommendation in the category of unique grad gifts, for two important reasons. 

First, health insurance protects the recent grad from catastrophic financial loss in the event that he or she suffers from an accident or serious illness.  Did you know that the average cost of one night in a hospital is over $9,000? One night. If your grad is not insured, and he or she ends up in the hospital, it could be financially devastating.

What a wonderful gift of love to protect your grad from such a possibility!

Second, it teaches your grad that health insurance is a priority, and sets up the opportunity to have a conversation about the topic.  This, of course, means that you should have this conversation, which you can do by reading this short paragraph together: “Why Should I Bother to Buy Health Insurance Anyway—Isn’t It Expensive?”  and then talking about it.

Right afterward, you can sign them up for Step 2 of our FinancialRx Free Weekly Email Series, in which we cover the importance of health insurance.  You’ll be doing your graduate a big favor, because they will also learn insider strategies for how to make their dollars go farther in other budget biggies like food, housing and car expenses. 

But hold on for just one second!  Why would I buy health insurance for my graduate now?! Didn’t health care reform just allow adult children to stay on their parents’ plans up to the age of 26?

Yes, it did. 

However, health insurance for recent grads often ends up being more expensive when they stay under their parents’ plans.

Said another way, it will often cost less to buy an individual plan for a recent grad than it will to pay the additional cost for that grad’s portion under the parent’s plan.

No kidding.

If your graduate is healthy, it often makes sense for him or her to get his or her own plan now, for two reasons.

1) If a young person is healthy, the premium on an individual plan is typically relatively low.  And there is a good chance that it will be lower than the extra payment that you’re making to keep your recent grad on your current health insurance plan.

2) If he or she gets into an accident or gets sick, this will be considered a “pre-existing condition.” Once he or she has a pre-existing condition, most other plans will reject your grad after (s)he turns 26, which is the time when he or she will be unceremoniously dropped from your plan.

So if your grad is healthy, the time to sign him or her up for their own individual plan may be now.

That’s why a year’s worth of health insurance is the FinancialRx top pick for unique grad gifts.

Is it sexy? No.  Is it an iPad? Nope.

But it just could keep your favorite grad safe, and teach them an important lesson about how to live a healthy, happy financial life.

To get you moving, here’s a site built specifically for recent grads to find health insurance plans designed specifically for them.  It’s called HealthyGrads.com.  Disclaimer: I know the owners personally, and they are real, live humans who provide top-notch customer service in case you need help navigating the health care maze to select an appropriate plan.

Congratulations to you and your new grad!

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By Wendy Mihm | Tuesday May 10, 2011

You love a great day at the ballpark, your home team’s NFL, or NBA game, but you weren’t born into a trust fund to pay for season tickets behind the dugout, the 50-yard line or at center court. 

Who cares?  You and your non-Leonardo DiCaprio friends can still have plenty of fun because we’ve got some great ideas for a potluck: host a “Home Game Potluck!”

Yes, we’ve all been to potlucks before, and maybe you’ve stood around some tired tuna casseroles, wishing you could just go home and curl up with the remote.  But these fresh ideas should make yours fabulous, frugal and fun, all at the same time.

Home Game Potluck Tip #1: Broadcast the game—all over the place!

You can do this in all sorts of fun ways by including portable broadcasting devices such as mini TVs, radios and iPads on the potluck list.  Then when people arrive, set up the broadcasting devices they bring, along with your own, all throughout the house.  That way you can broadcast the game wherever people may be sitting or standing.  For example, in addition to your regular TV(s) you can place an iPad, portable TV, or radio in all sorts of surprising and funny places throughout the house—right next to the ‘fridge, on the kitchen table between the food, even behind the toilet—just for fun.  (Don’t kill yourself trying to get perfect reception.  The effect you’re going for here is mostly comedy!)

Home Game Potluck Tip #2: Imitate the ballpark or stadium right in your own home, complete with mock stadium announcements and intermittent loud rap and rock music! 

If you don’t have one, ask a friend to bring a toy microphone and designate the funniest person in the gang to make announcements—the sillier the better.  For example, you can tease a guest for having guacamole on her chin, ask if anyone needs a drink refreshed, announce when it’s time for everyone to get up and shuffle their seats, or even have a real 7th inning stretch and sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame!”

Home Game Potluck Tip #3:  When you invite guests to your Home Game Potluck, ask them to bring a game-themed food, and provide suggestions.

 
One idea would be to include a link to your home-team stadium’s menu for inspiration.  You could even start the ball rolling by offering to prepare one or more of the items on the menu, and to provide team-themed plates and napkins.  But remember, one of the benefits of a potluck is that you get to share expenses, so don’t volunteer for everything.  Besides, when people get invited to a friends’ house the first question they generally ask, whether it’s a potluck or not, is “What can we bring?” So don’t be afraid to share responsibilities.

Home Game Potluck Tip #4:  Don’t forget to wear the home team colors!

If you’re big home team fans, you probably own a shirt or hat that you can wear for your Home Game Potluck. To make the event even more festive, suggest your friends do the same.  But remind them not to go out and buy anything new if they don’t already own any team garb – maybe they can rustle up something in one or two of the team colors instead.

Home Game Potluck Tip #5:  Designate a peanuts/popcorn/Cracker Jack person from your family to imitate a stadium concessions person. 

He or she can walk around yelling “Popcorn, get yer popcorn here!” and toss little pre-packed bags of popcorn or other stadium-themed snacks to your guests (free, of course), to liven up the crowd during commercial breaks and slow times during the game. You can make these yourself by popping some popcorn and putting it into baggies beforehand—it’s easy, quick and inexpensive that way.

So now you’ve got some ideas for a potluck and can host a Home Game Potluck that will have your friends cheering for more! Or at least wondering where you hid the iPad speakers in the bathroom.

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By Wendy Mihm | Friday January 14, 2011

There are all kinds of reasons to throw a party—a child’s or adult’s birthday, Cinco de Mayo, Halloween, 4th of July, an engagement, a baby shower – you name it.  Sometimes you just feel like having all your friends and their rowdy kids over and making some noise!

Parties can range from formal to very casual, depending on the event you’re celebrating and the preferences of the guest of honor.

If you are hosting the event at a location where you’ll need to provide seating, renting tables and chairs can become expensive, especially if your guest list is large.  At first, the cost does not seem so high.  You look at the rental website and see that one plastic folding chair costs $1.00 and you think “That’s not so bad.”  Then you see that one table for 8-10 people costs about $10.00.  Hmm. 

Then you realize that you’ve got plastic chairs and uncovered, round, splintery tables.  So you need table cloths.  Those are an additional $8.00 each.  Uh oh.  And those plastic chairs are sort of ugly.  Maybe you should get those nice wooden chairs, but they’re $2.98 each!  Oh boy.  You’re expecting 48 people. 

48 chairs x $2.98 each = $143.04
5 tables x $10.00 each = $ 50.00
5 table cloths x $8.00each = $ 40.00

Total $233.04

Wait a second!  $233.04 and you haven’t even fed anyone yet?  Seems like a lot if you, like me, plan your parties on budget.

Here’s an idea that I’ve found can work well for casual parties:  the picnic style party.  Now, if you are throwing a formal event, this is not appropriate and you should make arrangements to properly seat your guests.  But if your event is informal, a picnic style party can be festive and fun. After all, everyone loves a picnic!

To accomplish this, be sure to inform your guests ahead of time that they should bring a blanket so they can eat picnic-style in the grass.  I found this worked best by responding to my guests’ email RSVPs.  I.e. when they emailed me to say they were planning to attend our party, I informed them that it was picnic style and that they should bring a blanket to sit on. 

Everyone got on board, and some people even went the extra mile and brought pop-up sun tents and lawn toys like Frisbees and soccer balls!

Clearly you can’t do this every time, or your friends will get tired of bringing blankets to all of your parties. But for a casual occasion, a picnic style party just might be a great way to save money on table and chair rentals when you’re planning a party on a budget.

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By Wendy Mihm | Wednesday December 1, 2010

Our family is on the kids’ birthday party circuit – we get about four invitations a month.  Maybe you’re with me.  And at 90% of these parties, we come home with two colorful bags—one for each kid—full of very small crap.  Here’s a sampling of what is generally to be found in these bags:

• One Toy Story-themed lead pencil that I must wrestle from my toddler son before he accidentally pokes his own eyes out.

• A plastic Dora the Explorer ring that makes my daughter cry because it breaks three days later.

• Stickers of Disney Princesses.

• A note pad that is so small that no human could ever successfully draw anything on it.

• Several rubber bands shaped either like Star Wars characters or bugs.

• A picture of a dog with gigantic eyes that appears to move when you wiggle it up and down or side to side.

• Temporary tattoos featuring characters from the Disney movie “Cars.”

• A super ball.

You know exactly what I’m talking about.

We threw our first kids’ birthday party when our daughter turned two, and I assembled goodie bags for our guests because I thought I had to.  And I was astounded by how expensive it was.  Not only did the crap inside add up incredibly quickly, the bags themselves were expensive!

By the time our daughter turned three, our son had been born and we’d been around the kids’ birthday party block a few times.  I had come up with some budget kids’ party planning ideas by then.  Idea number one:  skip the goodie bags!

Why?  Because you can.  Really, you can.

We had our daughter’s 3rd birthday party at a swimming pool.  As party favors for each child, we gave out one “splash bomb” to each child.  A splash bomb is just a slick, fabric covered ball that you can play with in the water.  They were inexpensive, the kids had a blast with them at the party, and they took them home afterward.  And do you know what?  Two parents actually thanked me afterward for not sending them home with, and I quote one of them directly, “…a bag of crap.”

When our daughter turned four, we had her party at a local park and played hula-hoop games.  Afterward, each kid got to take home a hula hoop (or two) as their favor.  They loved it!  They loved the games, they loved picking out the color of their hula-hoop, and not a single kid asked about the “missing” goodie bags.  That year, a different parent thanked us for skipping the goodie bags. 

The hula hoops cost me one dollar each at the toy district in downtown Los Angeles.

So as a budget kids’ party planning idea, consider skipping the goodie bags and opting for one signature toy that is representative of the party itself.  The kids will enjoy it, the parents will be grateful, and you could save a bundle.

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By Wendy Mihm | Tuesday November 9, 2010

Recently, there was a frantic knocking on my front door.  Annoyed, I yanked it open, expecting yet another salesperson imploring me to subscribe to the Los Angeles times.

It was my next door neighbor, whom I adore, and who is the well-respected head of a great little private school down the street.  She was in a total panic, which was unusual.

“You’ve got to help me!”

Fortunately my husband was out with both kids, so I actually could just drop everything to help.  She grabbed my elbow, and practically dragged me straight into her dining room.  There were napkins, runners, flowers, branches, bowls, votives, and candles strewn about the dining room table. I could smell dinner simmering on the stove.

“You’ve got people coming over…?” I guessed.

“Work people.  Six o’clock.”  It was 5:40. She shrugged.  “I have no idea what to do with the table!”

Fortunately she already had everything she needed.  In fact, she had too much, which was the problem she didn’t recognize.  We shoo’ed her curious kids back into the yard and got to work.  I shared with her my three simple rules to quick, elegant and inexpensive centerpieces.

Rules for Inexpensive Elegant Centerpieces

1)  Keep them low.  Your guests will actually want to talk to each other while they eat, rather than awkwardly try to see around gigantic, expensive centerpieces.

2)  Choose one or two colors that work well together and edit everything else out.

3)  Repeat, repeat, repeat.  You see this time and again with elegant designers.  They pick one beautiful design element – apples, leaves, small pumpkins, one type of flower, old style milk jugs – and they repeat it.  This creates a look of abundance and it can be stunning.

So my neighbor and I did this.  We chose deep red and pink as our two colors for all the elements and then edited everything else out.  We trimmed down a bunch of pink flowers from both of our gardens very low and put them in a low, square red vase.  The key to making this centerpiece special was to trim the flowers so low that the buds barely peek out of the container itself.  Voila! A gorgeous centerpiece! 

Next, we focused on the napkins and runners.  We edited down to our chosen color scheme of pink and red and used her plain white china plates and beautiful, simple silverware.  Then we put a pink bloom on each guest’s plate, added a few low white tea light candles, turned down the lights and badda bing!  The room was stunning!

I thought she was going to cry.  But it was easy and fun to create the simple, elegant inexpensive centerpiece by following the three rules.

And after all the times I’d tapped her for child-reading advice, it was nice to return the favor.

Sure, you’re thinking, it was easy because she already had a vase, nice napkins and a table runner, and we both had flowers blooming in our gardens. 

But just remember the three simple rules, then look at what you already have, and be creative with what you see at Trader Joe’s or Target.  A big pile of green apples can look beautiful in that wooden salad bowl you already have.  Or how about a bunch of giant candy canes (that you buy for a couple of bucks in the candy section) sticking out of a red or white container (stuffed on the inside with Styrofoam or play-doh so they stick up straight) that’s topped with torn cotton balls to look like snow?  Poof!  The North Pole on your dining room table.  Then put one candy cane on each person’s plate, scatter a few tea light candles and call it a dinner party.

By following the three simple rules above, thinking carefully about what you already have, and being creative with basic, elements you can find at the store, you really can create inexpensive, simple centerpieces.

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