Surviving the Holidays - Financially
We are in year three of this recession and for a lot of people, things are kind of tight. This leads them to dread the holidays - which have become so commercialized that they make everyone think that they need to spends thousands of dollars to get the perfect Norman Rockwell experience.
Guess what? You don't!
My mother was a very poor child and remembers getting excited at an orange in her stocking on Christmas morning. (Keep in mind that she was a small child when dinosaurs ruled the earth and you couldn't pick up an orange at the local grocery in the middle of winter!)
I remember simple things too - (Still not wealthy, but the dinosaurs were gone...) like the sounds of holiday records on the big console player, sweet smells of cookies and candies that were often made as gifts, decorating the tree, watching the dog try to drink the water out of the tree stand, getting three gifts because that was the same amount that Jesus had gotten, and visiting good friends.
Over the next few weeks I will be sharing our current version of a homespun holiday - from decorating, to gifts, to edibles and more...I hope you see something to make your holiday a little more special and remember, it's not about the end result, but the journey that we take to create the memories for our little ones to look back on.
The first thing you need to do, is set a budget. (I know - the not so fun part)! How much money can you spend on each of those areas this year? Do you need another string of lights? How is your wrapping paper stash? Do you plan to send out holiday cards? What is your holiday meal and who is coming? Can you assign a few dishes to others? Who is on your "must gift" list? If your family is large, can you draw names so everyone gets one NICE gift instead a lot of little ones? Have you had your peanut(s) look through a toy catalog to get an insight to what they think is a good gift?
I know - a lot of questions! THIS is the time to look at them and get serious about answers.
1) Decorating: If you can reuse what you have and have the kids create your "new" things they will feel like they have input
2) Gifties: Look at your list of people and see who you can make something for and who you can buy something for...
3) Edibles: What do you plan to make and start making that grocery list! I already shared my cookie exchange party idea for you - all your baking items will soon be on bargain prices and it's going to be the time to stock up on what you need for what you want to bake.
In October, I talked about Black Friday. Guess what? It's almost here! The Blogs and websites that leak the ads early have all done there job and this can help YOU while working on that Giftie list.
OK - Enough to think about and enough homework! Work on your list and we will start talking about what I am doing for gifts next week, starting with Ms Sarah's teachers.
Breath. Get a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and make a planning session happen. You can do it!
Guess what? You don't!
My mother was a very poor child and remembers getting excited at an orange in her stocking on Christmas morning. (Keep in mind that she was a small child when dinosaurs ruled the earth and you couldn't pick up an orange at the local grocery in the middle of winter!)
I remember simple things too - (Still not wealthy, but the dinosaurs were gone...) like the sounds of holiday records on the big console player, sweet smells of cookies and candies that were often made as gifts, decorating the tree, watching the dog try to drink the water out of the tree stand, getting three gifts because that was the same amount that Jesus had gotten, and visiting good friends.
Over the next few weeks I will be sharing our current version of a homespun holiday - from decorating, to gifts, to edibles and more...I hope you see something to make your holiday a little more special and remember, it's not about the end result, but the journey that we take to create the memories for our little ones to look back on.
The first thing you need to do, is set a budget. (I know - the not so fun part)! How much money can you spend on each of those areas this year? Do you need another string of lights? How is your wrapping paper stash? Do you plan to send out holiday cards? What is your holiday meal and who is coming? Can you assign a few dishes to others? Who is on your "must gift" list? If your family is large, can you draw names so everyone gets one NICE gift instead a lot of little ones? Have you had your peanut(s) look through a toy catalog to get an insight to what they think is a good gift?
I know - a lot of questions! THIS is the time to look at them and get serious about answers.
1) Decorating: If you can reuse what you have and have the kids create your "new" things they will feel like they have input
2) Gifties: Look at your list of people and see who you can make something for and who you can buy something for...
3) Edibles: What do you plan to make and start making that grocery list! I already shared my cookie exchange party idea for you - all your baking items will soon be on bargain prices and it's going to be the time to stock up on what you need for what you want to bake.
In October, I talked about Black Friday. Guess what? It's almost here! The Blogs and websites that leak the ads early have all done there job and this can help YOU while working on that Giftie list.
OK - Enough to think about and enough homework! Work on your list and we will start talking about what I am doing for gifts next week, starting with Ms Sarah's teachers.
Breath. Get a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and make a planning session happen. You can do it!
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