twitter facebook stumble upon rss

Make Your Holidays Affordable

by Michele Ashamalla  posted Thursday, November 11, 2010
filed under: Michele Ashamalla
sign up for the momlogic newsletter Tweet This

Recession Mama Michele Ashamalla: Well, like it or not, it's time to start getting ready for the holidays. No matter what you celebrate, this can be a very expensive time of year.

woman shopping
First, you should determine with whom you are exchanging gifts. Make a list and then see if there are any people with whom you'd rather not exchange. If you feel awkward about cutting someone from your list, just approach them early and ask, "Are we exchanging gifts this year?" That puts the ball in their court, and in my experience, they usually feel the way you do. If you have a big group -- say, of your or your husband's siblings -- maybe everyone would be interested in drawing names. At one point, everyone in my husband's family agreed on a charity to support and sent them a check instead of purchasing presents for the adults. 

I feel like the best way to avoid big bills is to keep your eyes open throughout the year for gifts. Buy them, store them together in an out-of-the-way box or bin and put a Post-it on each one, noting the potential recipient. If you haven't been doing that, you may have some good gift possibilities just hanging around. I usually have certificates for massages or manicures around, and that's not something I use a lot. If something has your name on it, just go to the salon and have them reissue a blank certificate or one with a new name. I often purchase discount restaurant or movie certificates, and those make a great gift. In these weeks before the holidays, check Groupon, Living Social and similar websites for deals that would make good gifts. 

For little unexpected gifts, make homemade fudge, peanut brittle, granola or baklava, and put it in tins so it will be ready when you need it. Encourage your children to make something for their friends, or to write out a certificate inviting them on an outing or sleepover. 

Scale everything down. If each of your children is getting a larger item for the holidays, limit their other presents. The same goes for kids who get presents from relatives or friends. I generally get each child a new pair of PJs that we open and wear on Christmas Eve, a calendar from the 99 Cent Store and a couple of books, puzzles or a small toy. Anything else on their wish list gets sent out to grandparents, who ask us for suggestions. 

One last thing: The best way to enjoy the holidays is do all this early, so there really is some peace and joy at the end of it.


next: Cutie Pie Dancing Baby of the Day!
31 comments so far | Post a comment now
Toms Coupons January 12, 2011, 8:27 AM

Keep up the good work – for sure i will check out more posts.

tudung bidang 60 January 13, 2011, 9:26 AM

You have observed very interesting details ! ps nice web site .

tudung labuh bidang 60 January 14, 2011, 10:18 AM

I agree with your points , excellent post.

Signe January 20, 2011, 10:26 PM

I conceive other website proprietors should take this site as an model, very clean and wonderful user pleasant layout.

calories burned January 21, 2011, 8:21 AM

Went your website from facebook yours post had become a lot well-known. congratulations! do you appoint somebody to cleverly write this article? It’s newspaper quality it looks like it’s been composed by a professional.

cheap faux wood blinds January 25, 2011, 6:42 PM

First of all, this is a good site you have here. I ran upon your web site while doing a hunt on yahoo. Cool site post, I will almost certainly favorite it for future reading.Thanks again for taking the time to put this online. I definitely enjoyed every bit of it.

Onthod January 26, 2011, 9:43 AM

You made some decent factors there. I regarded on the internet for the issue and located most people will go together with with your website.

windows mobile freeware February 28, 2011, 4:26 PM

Actually fantastic studying on freeware computer software. I enjoyed your articles and I’ll check out to create a while to have again inside the long term to keep up using your posts.

automatic profit system March 23, 2011, 8:12 AM

One thing is that one of the most widespread incentives for utilizing your credit card is a cash-back or perhaps rebate supply. Generally, you get 1-5% back upon various expenditures. Depending on the cards, you may get 1% back on most acquisitions, and 5% in return on expenses made at convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores in addition to ‘member merchants’.

Kasi Bilder March 30, 2011, 3:14 PM

Incredible write-up,I think you could have without a doubt put together a website I have to come back to on the regular basis. Thanks a lot.

peugeot 1.1 April 9, 2011, 9:01 PM

I can’t say I completely agree, thanks for having the initiave to think of it


Leave a reply:



(not displayed)

     




Avoid clicking "Post" more than once
Back to top >>
advertisement

featured gallery

Gwen Stefani and Family at the Park

momlogic tweets

recent activities