- Christmas Bills?!
by Deborah Taylor-Hough
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:
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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??!!! |
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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 theguests arrived?
Copyright Deborah Taylor-Hough
Used with permission. All rights reserved.
http://hometown.aol.com/dsimple/
(Excerpted with permission from 'A Simple Choice: A practical
guide for saving your time, money and sanity') |
