(Excerpted with permission from 'A Simple Choice: A
practical guide for saving your time, money and sanity')
With the holidays right around the corner, we often hear
the familiar refrains of our favorite Christmas carols and
seasonal music. But too many of us tend to sing different
words to the familiar tune of Jingle Bells:
Dashing to the mall,
In a light blue mini-van,
Stashing all our loot,
Behind the garbage can.
We think the kids need more,
'Tho their closest's full of junk,
Then someone sends unneeded things
We'll just stow into a trunk!
Ohhhhhhhhhhh.......
Christmas bills! Christmas bills!
For Christmas we must pay!
See all of our Christmas bills
Still here on New Year's Day!..... Hey??!!!
Christmas bills! Christmas bills!
We can't pay today....
We have so many Christmas bills,
There's got to be a better way...!
Do the phrases "frugal living" and "holiday giving" seem to
be at opposite ends of the spending spectrum? Is it possible
to spend no more in December than during other months?
Will your family still love you if they don't find "the latest and
the greatest" under the tree? Our families deserve the best
we can give. But if we're paying our Christmas debts for the
next five years, complete with all the stresses that usually
accompany outstanding bills, what good is it? No matter
what our personal financial situation, we all could use a few
simple money-saving ideas for the holidays.
1) Try checking out books from the library on holiday customs
and crafts from other lands. These books can provide a wealth
of innovative ideas, often for minimal expense. Last year, in
a book on Swedish customs, we found instructions for making
an evergreen Advent wreath. Old newspapers soaked in water
and wrapped around a wire coat hanger were decorated with
pine boughs from a backyard tree. Four large nails stuck
through the paper wreath held the candles, and we added
finishing touches of small pine cones and red bows. The
Advent wreath was beautiful, incredibly simple, and made
from items found around the house. It also added a meaningful
centerpiece to our holiday celebrations.
2) Do you have solid-colored glass ornaments that you're
tired of? Let your children decorate them with glitter glue,
holiday stickers or craft paints. This tip serves a dual purpose:
new decorations for very little money, and an inexpensive,
fun holiday activity for the whole family!
3) How about giving a homemade "Dessert-of-the-Month"
gift certificate to someone special on your gift list? Or
maybe a "Cookie-of-the-Month," or "Dinner-of- the-Month?"
Each month you would deliver a different home-baked
goody to the recipient. This gift is especially enjoyed by
people who might not eat a lot of home cooking, i.e.,
college students, singles, elderly shut-ins. These are
also appreciated greatly by moms with multiple children
(a treat they didn't have to prepare! They'll be so thankful
for you and your thoughtfulness!)
4) Learn to do calligraphy. (It's much easier than it looks!)
You can make personalized gifts by writing the person's
name and framing it in a simple mat with a pressed flower
or two glued to the picture or mat.
5) Do you enjoy sending Christmas cards, but find that
the price of store-bought cards is making this tradition
almost impossible? Make your own cards by decorating
card stock with rubber stamps, pressed flowers, or
calligraphy. Better yet, make your own personalized
Christmas postcards and save on postage, as well!
6) For beautiful, inexpensive gift wrap with a country look,
sponge-paint the plain side of flattened brown grocery bags
with green, red or white tempera paint. Use holiday shapes
(trees, stars, candy canes, etc.). Tie the wrapped gifts
with raffia or twine. The finished product is rustic, yet very
elegant! This is another dual purpose tip: a money-saver
and a fun (but messy!) activity for the whole family.
7) Do you take lots of photographs and never know what to
do with all those extra prints? Small photo albums with nice
snapshots of your children taken throughout the year make
great gifts for the grandparents. Also, an album with current
photos of various extended family members is a welcome
gift for out-of-town relatives who can't make it home for the
holidays. Small photo albums can often be found at variety
stores for less than $2.
Careful stewardship of our resources during the holidays
doesn't have to mean deprivation and joylessness. Spend
time this year thoughtfully identifying your personal priorities
for your family during the holiday season. When your children
have grown and moved on to start traditions of their own, will
they remember the gripe sessions their parents had over the
stack of past-due Christmas bills? Or will they treasure the
memories of quiet times of family togetherness and joy
throughout the Advent season? Will they look back with
reverence to a time spent in reflection and thankfulness,
understanding the true meaning of the season? Or will
they focus on the crazy times each year when Mom flew
through the house, cleaning wildly and snapping at everyone
in sight because the house had to be "perfect" before the
guests arrived?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
--Deborah Taylor-Hough (wife and mother of three) is the
author of the bestselling book, 'Frozen Assets: How to
cook for a day and eat for a month,' and the new book,
'Frugal Living For Dummies(r)' (Wiley, 2003). You can
subscribe to her newest free newsletter by sending an
email to: tips-and-quips-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Visit Debi at: http://hometown.aol.com/dsimple/
011003
Owner,