It’s that time of year again. Here in PA, Mr. MMM and I are gearing up for another frugal fall season. Fall is our absolute favorite time of year. In fact, we think the best thing about summer is that fall is right around the corner! Yes, we’re a little weird, in more ways than one. I mean who can pass up a colorful, crisp fall day? It’s the time of year we can get cozy with sweatshirts, drink hot chocolate, and grace our homes with everything pumpkin! Yum! And Halloween! Who can forget Halloween?!

First Things First…Decorating

We like to turn decorating into an Event. This Saturday, we will pull out the boxes containing our Halloween village, neatly tucked away in our storage room. We will carefully select which skeletons, spooky trees, and haunted houses we will display this year. After the village is set up, we’ll make sure to adorn our front door with a full-size paper skeleton from days of old. This always triggers one of my favorite childhood memories. As soon as the first fall leaf would hit the ground, I would hop off the school bus to see that my mom had decorated our tiny home (I grew up in an original tiny house, read about that here) with all of the festive paper decorations of the season – the most memorable one is the full-size skeleton. Mini Monster is now enjoying this tradition. We’ll finish up the day by adding a few pumpkins and tombstones to the front yard and then whipping up a batch o’ cupcakes.

Mini is so excited to decorate this weekend that she started making her own decorations last weekend. See pic to the right. Me, being the mean mommy that I am, refused to put up any decorations before October 1st – but I did concede to some homemade Mini decorations. How could I deny her that joy? She spent hours drawing and coloring bats and zombies. That’s my girl! 🙂

And one of the best things about our decorating day…Free. Enough said.

Hiking The Beautiful Trails Around Our Town

We love taking advantage of all the beautiful hiking trails our town has to offer. There are short hikes and longer, more challenging ones. We like to pick our poison depending on a few things, including our energy level and whether or not Mini Monster will be in tow. Either way, we don’t have to go very far to enjoy the beauty of fall in PA.

Once again…Free. And good for your health!

Fall Road Trip

This year we’re going to introduce Mini Monster to Salem, Mass! We did a quick overnight stay two years ago on our own…and we loved it. It was mid-September so we didn’t get to indulge in all things Salem. Baby, that’s about to change. We’re already booked for a cute little bed and breakfast for the weekend before Halloween. We have ghost walks, fortune tellers, and witch museums crowding our itinerary. Look for this future post!

Okay, not free, but by driving and staying at a bed and breakfast we really cut down on the expense. And it’ll be a memory we cherish the rest of our lives. That’s value spending right there. 

Fall House Party!

Rounding out our fall festivities will be a house party we plan to throw for our friends and family to celebrate the season and the extra space we now have in our home. In case you missed it, read all about our home renovation here.

This one will be close to free. We will ask all those invited to share a dish or bring a drink. No costumes required. 

That about does it. How will you be enjoying fall in your neck of the woods?

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