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Articles, How-To's and Interviews -
Personal Finances
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Written by Deborah Taylor-Hough
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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 (free-lance writer, wife and mother of three)
is the editor of the
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and
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email newsletters. She's also the author of the bestselling
book, Frozen
Assets: how to cook for a day and eat for a month, and A
Simple Choice: a practical guide for saving your time, money
and sanity. Be sure to visit Debi online at "A Frugal, Simple Life":
http://hometown.aol.com/dsimple/
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