Blog Posts by Redbook

You start out the holiday season with the best of budget intentions: You'll buy modest gifts (or even hand-make them!), keep the entertaining low-key, and stick to decorating with whatever you pull out from the basement. Once the festive spirit kicks in, though, it's tough to stick to that budget.

But listen up: This year can be different. You don't have to spend a lot to have a meaningful celebration. We asked REDBOOK readers like you for their best money-saving tips for all things holiday - from gifts and family activities to decorating and entertaining - and here are the all-stars.

1. "We sometimes host recipe parties. We provide the home, the atmosphere, the main dish, and beverages, and then each person brings a side dish or dessert with a handful of copies of their recipe. We keep a master cookbook with photos of the parties we've had through the years."
-Diane Graham, 44, Allentown, PA
Related: Simple Tried-and-True Tips for Saving Money

2. "We skimp on outdoor lights to keep

It isn't a joyous occasion if the cook is fried when the turkey hits the table. So here's a concept: Make the whole shebang in one calm day, with plenty of time to shower and sip a (much-needed) glass of wine.

Your one-day Thanksgiving plan:

What to do when. (Full recipes are here.)

7:45 a.m.
Don't hit snooze! Have coffee and cereal, do some stretches, crack your knuckles, and begin.

8 a.m.
Make pumpkin pie dough.

8:15 a.m.
Cut bread into cubes for stuffing. Toast bread and pecans for salad in oven. Cook cranberry apricot sauce and put in a serving bowl; refrigerate. Take out two sticks of butter to soften.

8:45 a.m.
Remove bread and pecans from oven. Roll out pie dough and fit into pie dish. Use remaining dough to cut out squares for pie edge. (Or say to heck with it and skip the squares - it's just an idea.)

Related: Extreme Thanksgiving - The Most Shocking Thanksgiving Traditions Ever

9 a.m.
Boil water for Brussels sprouts. Make stuffing and put in a baking dish; cover and

Eva Longoria may have given us her best turkey cooking tips in October, but now it's her husband Tony Parker, whose goose is cooked. After reportedly finding out that her husband of three years had been exchanging hundreds of texts with his teammate's wife over the course of a year, Longoria filed for divorce.

Find out how to beat divorce and keep lasting love >>

There's an unspoken rule, backed up by a recent Facebook relationship status study, that you can't break up with your significant other between Thanksgiving and New Year's, so maybe it's good that Eva found out about Tony's alleged affair in time. Though it will mean her Thanksgiving is not going to be the big gathering that she proudly hosts single-handedly every year:

Love Lessons Ripped from the Headlines: What You Can Learn from Hollywood's Happiest Marriages and Messiest Relationships >>

"My worst habit in the kitchen is not allowing anybody to help me. I like to cook by myself. Tony calls me 'the crazy

Now that Prince William has finally popped the question to his girlfriend of eight years, Kate Middleton, the world is ready for another royal fairytale wedding. But how will the impeding nuptials compare to that of William's father Charles and late mother Diana? And does their love stand a chance at lasting?

Let's look at the story the numbers tell...



Diana and Charles

The Beginning: Diana, 19, Charles, 31

The Courtship: Less than a year

CHECK OUT>> 20 Ways to Spice Up Your Next Date Night

The Proposal: February 6, 1981

The Ring: 18-carat sapphire and diamond ring made by Garrard jewelers

The Announcement: February 24, 1981

The Wedding: July 29, 1981 at St. Paul's Cathedral
750 million people watched ceremony on TV
3500 guests at wedding

The Dress: David and Elizabeth Emanuel

The Kids: William, June 21, 1982
Harry, September 15, 1984

The Separation: December 9, 1992

RELATED >> How To Solve Your Toughest Intimacy Issues

The Divorce: August 28, 1996




Kate and William

The

Dear Kate (if I may be so bold as to address you, potential future Queen, by your first name),

First, congrats on your impending nuptials! You hung in there for eight years and your patience paid off. You won the heart of a real-live prince - not to mention his royal family, and Britons at large. In a Redbookmag.com poll last week, 59% of readers said no man was worth waiting for that long...but perhaps this is why we're not all princesses-in-waiting. You're no doubt already planning for your big day, slated for next spring or summer. Just in case my engraved invitation gets lost in the mail, I thought I might offer you some expert advice (from our story "Love Lessons Ripped from the Headlines!") on how to make sure your fairytale engagement has a happily ever after:


#1: Protect Your Relationship from the Outside World
"Certain things should be kept private, or the relationship will be destroyed," says therapist Gilda Carle, Ph.D., author of Don't Bet on the Prince!. Ironic book

The quick answer: YES When a recent study found that sitting all day shortens women's lives, we gasped in our cubicles, leapt to our feet, and then...sat back down. But there's good news: You can undo the damage and the physical symptoms of stress, whether you spend your days stuck at a desk or chasing kids around.

DO YOU SIT ALL DAY LONG? It's official: Sitting too much is bad for you. Not only does it place pressure on the low back and tailbone, causing pain and even sciatic nerve trouble for some women, but two recent studies also found that the more time people spend on their butts each day, the more likely they are to die of cancer or heart disease. How to stay healthy: The way to ward off both back strain and the scarier, more serious health effects of sitting is fairly simple. "For five minutes every hour, get up and do something - a trip to the bathroom or the watercooler works, but the more active you can be, the better.
Related: The Scary Truth About What Stress Does to Your

You think your holiday traditions are crazy? Read about a woman who smoked a turkey outside - in Alaska - or the eat-a-thon at Joan Rivers's house, and other Thanksgivings served up with a heaping side of "You've got to be kidding me."

By Elizabeth Jenkins

SHE COOKED OUTSIDE...IN MINUS 38°
As an Army wife of 18 years, Michelle Polhamus, 42, has hosted Thanksgiving in every place her husband was stationed, no problem. But a few years ago, she found herself off the grid and out of her element - in North Pole, Alaska. Still, she wasn't about to let a little thing like the weather (38 degrees below zero) get in the way of a good meal, so Michelle and her husband decided to cook a 22-pound turkey in a free-standing smoker. Outside. On their front deck the night before Thanksgiving. After tossing in apple and cherry wood chips, the couple bundled up at 6 p.m. - a balmy 2 degrees at the time - and placed the turkey on the grill. They trudged outside every two hours to monitor its progress,

Another weekend watching football and chowing down with your man? If you're like me, you've tried all the usual suspects (ribs, burgers, dogs), and you're wondering how much longer you can keep gorging yourself on wings. (I love them too, but a gal can only take so much.) Before you resign yourself to munching on those lonely celery sticks, take matters into your own hands. If you're hosting, steal some winning moves from my tailgating playbook:

Instead of burgers, try Meatball Sliders.
Meatballs aren't just for spaghetti - slip 'em between buns, and you get convenient mini-sliders. (Don't forget to invite your friends and neighbors over: the recipe yields a ton of these addictive little bites.)

Instead of plain old hot dogs, try Chili-Beer Hot Dogs and Bratwurst.
Franks are always a stadium stand-by, but can be dry, and generally lackluster. These hot dogs are simmered in beer and chili to amp them up with flavor and give them a juicy snap.

Instead of packaged chips and dip, try